Laurie (O’Farrell) desperately wants to become a social media influencer, much to the chagrin of her roommate Elizabeth (Zazham). When she befriends her idol, Clara (Gosselin), a prolific content creator who seems to have a perfect life, Laurie starts to gain a following herself, and finally gets a taste of the life she wants. But as their friendship continues, and the façade that Clara constructed starts to fall away, Laurie comes to see the dark side of internet celebrity, and that she may already be in too deep.

An insightful look at contemporary young female relationships, Mélanie Charbonneau’s debut feature Fabuleuses was nominated for 5 Prix Iris, including best film and best actress. 

In this quirky tale full of magic and wonder, the small town of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton decides to eliminate death once and for all. When the character of Death arrives in their village seemingly determined to take their souls, the extraordinary townsfolk decide to fight against their mortality as best as they can. In this story, death is not an end, but just the beginning of a fantastic legend.

 

Based on the acclaimed novel by Fred Pellerin, L’Arracheuse de temps was a box office success and received 5 Canadian Screen Award nominations, including for Pellerin’s screenplay.

Small-town life is driving Parry Tender (Orphan Black's Gavaris) crazy. It’s the fall of 1960, and Parry spends his time being pursued for truancy by the town constable (Coates) and hanging out with his best friend, Luke (Banszky), a tomboy with some dark secrets in her past. When an American military man (Madsen) brings his family to town, his daughter Debbie (Porter) steals Parry’s heart, much to Luke’s jealous frustration.

This heartfelt and often funny coming-of-age drama takes a turn when a strange weather condition suddenly allows Parry to receive a radio broadcast from New York City, and he starts to believe that a contest the station is running might just be his ticket out of town.

On August 9, 2016, a 22-year-old Cree man named Colten Boushie was killed by a gunshot to the back of his head after entering a rural farm property in Saskatchewan with his friends. When an all-white jury acquitted the white farmer of all charges, the case received international attention and sent Colten’s family and community on a quest to fix the Canadian justice system.

Sensitively directed by Tasha Hubbard, this profoundly affecting documentary weaves a narrative encompassing the filmmaker’s own family story, the history of colonialism on the Prairies, and a vision of a future where Indigenous children can live safely on their homelands.

Nîpawistamâsowin was the opening night film at Hot Docs 2019, where it won the prize for Best Canadian Documentary.

Master documentarian Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. The students at a local school for the Norway House Cree Nation discuss their aspirations for the future and reflect on the fact that they are feeling more hopeful and optimistic than previous generations.

By discussing the effects of intergenerational trauma, substance abuse and many other issues facing Indigenous communities, and by learning about their own history and culture, the students are able to undergo a process of collective healing and ensure that growing up doesn’t mean leaving one’s roots behind.

This inspiring doc shows that the strength of the community comes from the people within it, and provides a strong model for prosperity and renewal.

“Our People Will Be Healed breathes with hope for the future.” – Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

When a young Québecois girl watches the 1970 October Crisis take over the news, it gives her an idea for how to keep herself and her brother out of foster care. With their father in the hospital and their mother unable to care for them, the children hatch a plan to find and kidnap an elderly woman (Coulter) who can pose as their grandmother.

They take their victim to a remote cabin, but the authorities are soon on their trail, as their poorly planned scheme quickly gets out of hand, and the story evolves into a brilliant parallel of one of the most important moments in Quebec history. Winner of the prestigious Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Les Rois Mongols is a bittersweet and adventurous coming-of-age story with a lot of heart.

The first manned mission to Mars is in danger of failing because the crew is at each other’s throats. The solution? Put together a surrogate crew to simulate and predict the astronauts’ interactions. As the mock tensions begin to become all-too-real, the line between life and performance blurs, sending all the fake astronauts on a collision course with each other.

This unique and charming comedy from Stéphane Lafleur balances absurdist humour with a poignant reflection on the human condition.
 

Adolescence is a tough time for a lot of people. Take Juliette (Jamieson); on top of feeling misunderstood by her peers and her own family, she has to deal with her dad’s new bohemian girlfriend, her first crush, and an increasing awareness that people see her as overweight. Good thing she has her best friend (Désilets), and a precocious young boy (Beaudet) whom she babysits to help her sort through the tumult of coming of age.

This humorous and heartfelt fourth film from writer/director Anne Émond wonderfully captures the awkwardness and the pain of growing up, letting go, and learning to love yourself no matter what other people think.

“It’s remarkable... Beautifully written, and sprinkled with laughter.” — MarcAndré Lussier, La Presse (Translated from French)

When Morning Comes follows Jamal, a young boy living a fairly idyllic life in Jamaica with his single mom. After Jamal is repeatedly bullied, his mother becomes concerned for his safety and, wanting a better life for him, decides to send him to live with his grandmother in Canada. Confused, furious and hurt, Jamal decides to run away from home to avoid having to say goodbye to his friends, family and everything he knows.

A gorgeously realised look at the struggle of leaving one’s life at a young age, When Morning Comes is a love letter to Jamaica and to the strength of immigrant mothers.

As a fierce advocate for human rights, Rosalie Abella casts a long shadow. This lively documentary explores her life and career trajectory, including her successes as an attorney and judge, culminating with her historic appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, which made her both the first refugee and first Jewish person ever to sit on the country’s highest court. With Rosalie already being an icon and inspiration to many, this portrait also places a focus on Rosalie’s unique personality, style and love of life that carries through all that she does.

Featuring interviews with Margaret Atwood, Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark and, of course, Rosalie herself, this critically-acclaimed film from Barry Avrich is the perfect introduction to one of Canada’s most important figures.

Twenty-one-year-old Ricardo (Boucher) is a screenwriting student in Montreal, where he dreams about striking up a romance with his classmate Marie-Ève (Gosselin). When she announces that she’ll be going on an exchange trip to Italy, Ricardo can only see one option for himself: to follow her — and his heart — on the trip, and perhaps reconnect with his own Italian roots along the way. Of course, nothing on the trip goes as he expects, and connecting with Marie-Ève seems further away than before.

The charming and funny story is based on director Ricardo Trogi’s own coming-of-age experiences, and was a box office smash and winner of the Golden Screen Award (for biggest Canadian box office gross of the year). The film was nominated for 16 Prix Iris awards and won five, including those for best film and best director.

After going in and out of prison for over 30 years after a career of stagecoach robbing, Bill Miner is released in 1901 to a completely new reality. Lost about what to do next, Miner finds his inspiration for his next great adventure from the film The Great Train Robbery. His plan to commit the first ever train robbery leads to a thrilling heist and an intriguing tale full of twists and turns. 

Based on the true story of William Miner (nicknamed the Gentleman Bandit), The Grey Fox won 4 Genie Awards including Best Picture and has been included on TIFF’s top 10 list of the Best Canadian Films of All Time.

A powerful documentary set in the housing project of Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood, Invisible City follows two childhood friends, Kendell and Mikey, who face many challenges while growing up in single-parent homes in the inner city.

Academy Award-nominated director Hubert Davis follows the two young men over three years, setting this intimate portrait against the backdrop of a community in transition: The Regent Park housing projects are about to be torn down and it is unclear whether the redevelopment will result in a brighter future for the residents. 

Social pressures tempt the young men to make poor choices, while their families root for them to succeed. Davis doesn’t provide easy answers to the problems at hand. Instead, he shows the real uncertainty and unpredictability in the young men’s lives.

When her older sister vanishes from their Mohawk community, eight year-old Ivy (Delisle) joins her mother Susan (Moore) in a desperate search that lays bare the authorities’ indifference towards missing Indigenous Women and Girls.

Ivy and Susan’s journey to find answers is one that no family should go through, but their shared hope helps mother and daughter come together in love amongst difficult circumstances. Filmmaker Sonia Bonspille Boileau brings warmth and grace to this delicate depiction of a young girl forging a strong sense of identity while also contending with family tragedy. 

This powerful drama follows Dylan (Asivak Koostachin), a Gwich’in soldier from the Canadian Arctic, who is caught in an ambush while serving in Afghanistan. His capture and interrogation by a Taliban Commander releases a cache of memories connected to the love and death of his Inuit cousin, Asana (Miika Bryce Whiskeyjack), and binds him closer to a Pashtun family as they attempt to escape across treacherous landscapes.

Eight years after they met in Bon Cop Bad Cop (above), the comically mismatched duo of straightlaced Ontario cop Martin Ward (Feore) and scruffy Quebec cop David Bouchard (Huard) reunite to investigate yet another major crime in this long-awaited sequel. When their separate investigations unexpectedly cross paths, the pair must join forces to investigate a crime ring south of the border, giving the film plenty of hilarious opportunities to poke fun at the cultural differences between the two Canucks and their American counterparts.

One of the quirkiest and funniest films ever made in Canada, Crime Wave follows neophyte screenwriter Steven Penny (Paizs), a strangely silent young man who aspires to make the best "colour crime films" imaginable. But Steven has one major problem: he's only good at writing the beginnings and endings of movies. With the help of a young neighbour (Kovacs) and the mysterious "Dr. Jolly," Steven struggles to beat his writer's block.

Set in a 1950s fantasy world, this wryly humorous combination of post-modernism, surrealism, and genuine affection for old Hollywood films is irresistible for anyone who likes unusual movies with an inventive take on storytelling.

Katie, a popular university student, has been pretending to have cancer to gain sympathy and gain the life she’s always wanted. Through fraudulent fundraising, she has been able to pay her way through university, and her relationship with her friends and girlfriend has never been better. When she is suddenly asked to produce medical records by her university, the facade she created begins to crumble and she risks being exposed for a fraud.  

A brilliantly told cautionary tale, White Lie premiered at TIFF and was named to the Canada Top Ten list. It was also nominated for 4 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture.

“Driven by nuanced, persuasive performances and shot with an urgent, jittery tension, White Lie is a compelling close-up character study.” — Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter

A powerful and moving exploration of the horrors and lasting impact of the Residential School System, Bones of Crows follows Aline Spears (Dove), a Cree musical prodigy forcibly removed from her family as a young girl. Following her traumatic experiences, Aline serves her country as a Cree Code Talker in World War II, and thereafter tries to carve out a life for herself, but the memories of what happened to her and her siblings never leaves her. Finding that her story is one shared by hundreds of thousands displaced Indigenous people, she sets herself on a pursuit of justice for herself and future generations.

This courageous generation-spanning epic premiered at TIFF to rave reviews, and received five nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards including Best Original Screenplay.

“[It] should be required viewing for all Canadians.” – Kim Hughes, Original Cin

 

From its humble origins in Waterloo, ON, in 1996, nobody expected the massive global success that the world’s first smartphone would become. Nobody, that is, except Jim Balsillie (Howerton). Taking a chance on then-struggling startup Research in Motion (RIM), he joins BlackBerry creators Mike Lazaridis (Baruchel) and Douglas Fregin (Johnson) as co-CEO. Together, they form a massive multinational tech giant, but the power and wealth soon begin to eat away at their relationship, putting everything they built into jeopardy. 

Based loosely on the true story of the extraordinary development and spectacular demise of the BlackBerry, this high-stakes comedy featuring an all-star cast is a bona fide crowd pleaser and critical darling. 

"An instant Canadian classic." – Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail