Director: Sophie Farkas Bolla
A runaway dog pulls a boy far past the edge of his uncle's settler village and into a forest that holds far more than he expected.
What is The Adventures in the Land of Asha about?
Set in 1940, the story follows young Jules after his family relocates to a remote settlement in northern Quebec run by his uncle. A rare skin condition gets him barred from the local school, leaving him isolated and fixated on finding a cure. When his dog Spark bolts into the surrounding wilderness, Jules sets out after him with no real plan beyond bringing the animal home. Deep in the woods he meets Asha, an Indigenous girl who moves through the forest with a familiarity he lacks entirely. What begins as a simple search turns into a shared journey to the far side of the forest, where the two encounter a landscape far more alive — and far stranger — than either expected. Their unlikely friendship crosses the divide between the settler village and the land beyond it, reframing what Jules thought he understood about his new home. Director Sophie Farkas Bolla builds the film around this crossing point, letting the forest itself carry much of the story's emotional weight.
Cast & crew
Alex Dupras plays Jules, the boy whose search for his dog becomes a journey of self-discovery, while Gaby Jourdain appears as Asha, his guide through the forest's hidden corners. Kevin Papatie, Marilyse Bourke, Emmanuel Schwartz, Elliot Miville-Deschênes, Andrew Shaver, and Lendan Kistabish round out the cast spanning both the settlement and the wider wilderness.
Context & significance
The film draws on the historical setting of a 1940s settler community in northern Quebec to explore contact between newcomers and Indigenous life, filtered through a child's perspective rather than a strictly adult lens. Its high audience rating points to strong reception for its gentle, adventure-driven approach to themes that could easily have been handled more heavily.
Where & how to watch
The Adventures in the Land of Asha is available on K-Time with a Farsi dub; no Persian subtitle track is currently included for this title. Watching it requires logging into a free K-Time account, though the film's page can be browsed by anyone beforehand.