Educational Film: No
A Canadian Tarantella With Claudio Santaluce
If you grew up in the Toronto-area and attended family weddings or community fundraisers, you would have witnessed the rise of this young star. Despite his notable presence, there has never been a biopic on his life and artistic pursuits, until now. In this special documentary, viewers will learn about this old world master musician and what drives his passion for traditional music-making.
Directors
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Arts and Culture
Original Language
Other Language
The Fruit Machine
The homosexual witch-hunt of public servants and military personnel in Canada from the 1950s through the early 1990s and its effects on the people whose lives and careers were disrupted or destroyed by it.
Director
Sarah Fodey
Producers
Han Nguyen, Sarah Fodey, Derek Diorio
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Discrimination, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Café Daughter
Tells the story of a nine year old half-Chinese half-Cree girl, Yvette Wong. On top of struggling to find her place in a small Saskatchewan community in the 1960s, she is also faced with the passing of her mother, who always told her children not to let anyone know they were Native Indian, as she believed they would have a better life if this information was kept hidden. Yvette confronts racism on the prairies in the classroom, with teachers and fellow students letting her know she is different from them. Despite wanting to be a doctor, her teacher states that girls can't be doctors, and that maybe she would be better suited as a nurse. Yvette begins to explore and embrace her Cree identity when she befriends Maggie Wolf, a part Mi'kmaq girl who encourages Yvette to be proud of her ancestry. When her Cree ancestry is revealed at school, Yvette confronts discrimination, but perseveres to pursue her dream of going to medical school.
Director
Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka)
Shelley Niro is a Mohawk filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist. She is widely recognized for her photography, and in 2023, was recognized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian with a career retrospective. Her latest film, Café Daughter, premiered at imagineNATIVE in 2023 where it won the Audience Choice Award.
Writers
Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka), Kenneth T. Williams
Cast
Violah Beauvais (Mohawk)
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
levelFILM
The Brood
A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
Director
David Cronenberg
Writer
David Cronenberg
Cast
Art Hindle, Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar
Producers
Victor Solnicki, Claude Héroux, Pierre David
Genres
Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
La boite à Fanny
True Confections
Verna is searching for herself and Mr. Right, at the same time. Burdened with a 1990s sensibility in a 1950s/1960s conservative era, Verna tries to come to terms with a place in time that is not hip enough for her.
Director
Gail Singer
Writers
Gail Singer, Sondra Gotlieb
Cast
Leslie Hope
Producer
Roy Krost
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interest
Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Ariel: Back To Buenos Aires
A brother and sister return to the country of their birth, Argentina, for the first time in their adult lives they fall in love with tango and uncover dark family secrets.
Director
Alison Murray
Writer
Alison Murray
Producers
Felicitas Raffo, Alison Murray
Genre
Drama
Interest
Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Intersection
Chilean refugee Daniela came to Canada as a child after her mother was assassinated during Chile's dictatorship. Her father, Pepe, never wants to speak about Chile, but when her daughter Rocío starts to ask questions, Daniela decides to apply for Chilean citizenship for a first trip back. This triggers the Chilean government to piece together records never before connected in the paper days and leads them to uncover much more than Daniela expected.
Director
Cecilia Araneda
Writer
Cecilia Araneda
Cast
Carmen Aguirre
Producers
Cecilia Araneda, Joseph Novak
Genre
Drama
Interests
Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences
Original Language
English
Enter the Drag Dragon
An amateur detective Drag Queen finds herself heading off with gangsters, zombies, and other bad guys.
Director
Lee Demarbre
Writer
Mark Pollesel
Cast
Jade London
Producer
Lee Demarbre
Genres
Action/Adventure, Comedy
Interest
LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
Mother of All Shows
In order for Liza to cope with the impending death of her estranged mother, she retreats to a 70's variety show in her mind where the all-powerful host is her own mother, Rosa, who leads a cast of people from Liza's past and present.
Director
Melissa D'Agostino
Writers
David James Brock, Melissa D'Agostino
Cast
Wendie Malick, Melissa D'Agostino
Producers
Matt Schichter, Matthew Campagna
Genre
Drama
Interest
Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Mi’ma’omakw: People of the Salmon
For well over ten thousand years, the First Nations of BC’s Broughton Archipelago have lived in harmony with their environment, thriving on a diet of wild salmon and seafood which they’ve stewarded sustainably… that is, until Norwegian owned open net pen fish farms showed up and began polluting these coastal waters with their waste, parasites and diseases. Now, these nations are reclaiming their territories, leading the science-based removal of fish farms in an effort to bring back wild salmon.
Director
Damien Gillis
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment
Original Language
English
The King Tide
After the mayor of an idyllic island village discovers a child with mysterious powers awash on their shores, the once peaceful community devolves into civil war, torn over the belief that the child is the next saviour.
Director
Christian Sparkes
Writers
Kevin Coughlin, Ryan Grassby, Albert Shin, William Woods
Cast
Frances Fisher
Producers
William Woods, Allison White
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Original Language
English
Simple comme Sylvain (The Nature of Love)
Director
Monia Chokri
Writer
Monia Chokri
Cast
Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Monia Chokri, Magalie Lépine Blondeau, Francis-William Rhéaume
Producers
Nathanaël Karmitz, Sylvain Corbeil, Nancy Grant, Elisha Karmitz
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
Immina Films
I Used to be Funny
Director
Ally Pankiw
Ally Pankiw is an accomplished writer and director who has worked on such television shows as Schitt’s Creek, The Great and Shrill. She directed the first season of the Netflix comedy series Feel Good, and recently wrote and directed her first feature film I Used to Be Funny which won the Audience Award for best narrative feature film at Inside Out. She is currently developing the TV show Standing By with Dan Levy.
Writer
Ally Pankiw
Cast
Rachel Sennott, Olga Petsa, Jason Jones
Producers
Breann Smordin, James Weyman, Jason Aita
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
levelFILM
Autumn and the Black Jaguar
A young girl who befriended the last remaining black jaguar in the world goes on an incredible journey to fight the poachers who have depleted the jaguar population, and to prevent the extinction of the species.
Director
Gilles de Maistre
Writer
Prune de Maistre
Cast
Emily Bett Rickards, Lumi Pollack, Wayne Charles Baker, Paul Greene
Producers
Jonathan Vanger, Sylvain Proulx, Gilles de Maistre, Catherine Camborde, Marco Colombo
Genres
Comedy, Family
Interest
Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Photon Films
Lovable
Love: Why is it so difficult? That’s the question at the heart of Alan Zweig’s poignant and personal meditation about heartache and the inability to find ‘the one’. But rather than focusing solely on himself, he turns the camera outwards, getting a range of perspectives from single female friends that show the highs and lows of their relationships, and why they think it’s never worked out for them.
Using his distinctive style and wit, Zweig manages to make a film that anyone, no matter their relationship status, can relate to, and resonate with.
Director
Alan Zweig
Writer
Alan Zweig
Cast
Alan Zweig
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Biography
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Cette maison (This House)
Drawing from the events surrounding her fourteen-year-old cousin’s murder in 2008, director Miryam Charles wants to finally unpack her grief and the trauma associated with it. Through dream-like reenactments of her own childhood and an imagined life for her cousin, Charles delves into the changing emotional, political, and historical climates surrounding her family as Haitian-Canadians in Quebec.
This beautifully crafted film is a bold and thought-provoking look at family, and a moving tribute to a life tragically cut short.
“A daring blend of documentary and fantasy that invests a deeply personal drama with a wide historical scope.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Director
Miryam Charles
Writer
Miryam Charles
Cast
Schelby Jean-Baptiste
Producer
Felix Dufour-Laperriere
Genres
Documentary, Drama, Experimental
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
H264 Distribution
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe
For so many Canadians, Ernie Coombs and his character Mr. Dressup was an enduring childhood fixture, promoting the power of creativity, play and imagination. This heartwarming documentary traces the roots of this universally celebrated and uniquely Canadian children’s programme, its enduring legacy, and how it stayed true to its aim throughout its run of almost 30 years.
Winner of the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary at TIFF, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is an absolute crowd-pleaser that is sure to bring a tear to your eye.
“The Magic of Make-Believe not only serves as a reminder of the joy Coombs brought to our young lives, but it also emphasizes the need for Mr. Dressup's patience and kindness today more than ever.” – Rachel Ho, Exclaim!
Director
Robert McCallum
Writers
Robert McCallum, Jordan Christopher Morris
Producers
Nina Keogh, Matthew Hornburg, Mark J.W. Bishop, Jordan Christopher Morris, Aeschylus Poulos
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, ESL, History, Newcomer Stories
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Amazon
- Own Voice
Hey, Viktor!
Twenty-five years after starring in the hit 90s film Smoke Signals, Cody Lightning directs and stars in this uproarious mockumentary about a fictionalized version of himself attempting to make a sequel. When a mysterious fan offers a full budget for the film, Cody jumps at the chance, promising the full participation of the original cast. The only thing standing in his way is the small fact that the entire original cast hates him.
A refreshing and occasionally raunchy comedy, this charming underdog story is a great movie about how to make a terrible one.
Director
Cody Lightning (Cree)
Writer
Cody Lightning (Cree)
Cast
Cody Lightning (Cree)
Producers
Blake McWilliam, Sara Corry, Samuel Miller, Kyle Thomas
Genre
Comedy
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
levelFILM
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Young vampire Sasha is going to die if she doesn’t kill. Being entirely opposed to taking a human life to feed on, she has long relied on her family’s murderous habits to get her blood, until they suddenly cut her off. Enter Paul, a lonely teen who is considering ending his own life, and is more than willing to do so to help Sasha survive. As they each prepare for the next step in their budding doomed relationship, a true bond forms between them – one that is as sweet as it is inconvenient.
This truly unique coming-of-age story is a heartwarming and clever spin on the vampire genre, and has captured awards at festivals around the world.
“Ariane Louis-Seize makes her feature-length directorial debut with this daring and daffy horror-comedy that plays like Romeo and Juliet meets Beetlejuice and Amelie [sic].” – Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Director
Ariane Louis-Seize
Writers
Ariane Louis-Seize, Christine Doyon
Cast
Félix-Antoine Bénard, Sara Montpetit
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
H264 Distribution
- Own Voice
My Animal
Living with a curse that turns her into a wolf if she’s out of the house after midnight, Heather (Menuez) is kept on a tight leash by her overbearing parents. But everything changes when she falls for the new girl in town, Jonny (Stenberg). The two form an instant connection, but as their relationship develops, it causes Heather to rebel, increasing the risk that her secret could be exposed – with disastrous consequences.
A stylish and tense horror-romance, this exciting first feature from director Jacqueline Castel features amazing performances from its two emerging leads, brought together with a cast of Canadian icons.
“My Animal marks an impressive, confident feature debut for several key talents.” – Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter
Director
Jacqueline Castel
Writer
Jae Matthews
Cast
Amandla Stenberg, Bobbi Salvör Menuez
Producers
Andrew Bronfman, Michael Solomon
Genres
Drama, Horror, Romance
Interests
Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English