Tomson Highway: Permanent astonishment

“Cree is a joyful language and that’s why I laugh all the time.” Tomson Highway

Author, composer, playwright, pianist, grandfather and world traveller Tomson Highway is the subject of a new feature documentary commissioned by CBC Docs. Directed by Cree/Metis filmmaker, Barbara Todd Hager, the film follow Tomson as he travels to his childhood home on Reindeer Lake in northern Manitoba, to the National Arts Centre theatre where his play "Rose" premiered in 2026, and to his writing studio in Quebec where his plays and musicals come to life.

Since his first play, "The Rez Sisters", premiered at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto in 1986, Highway has gifted the world with multiple award-winning plays, books, cabarets, and albums based on the people, places, and experiences amassed during his seven decades of life.

The documentary, infused with Tomson’s superpowers—laughter and his Cree language—offers a rare glimpse into the creative life of one of Canada’s artistic icons. A trip home to Brochet, Manitoba, reveals Tomson's early years fishing, boating and camping with his family on Reindeer Lake, spending summers exploring islands with his brother René and his father, Joe, a fishing guide, caribou hunter and champion dog sled racer. 

A year before the premiere of "Rose" at the National Arts Centre in April 2026, Tomson travelled to Banff for a two week residency and table read, directed by Kevin Loring, along with 19 Indigenous actors and singers. Conversations with actors Gary Farmer and Gloria Miguel, offers a window into Tomson's early plays, "The Rez Sisters" and "Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing".

Inspired by his memoir "Permanent Astonishment" (Doubleday), the documentary celebrates Tomson’s unique Cree-influenced view of life and storytelling, and the people and places that shaped his plays, books and music.