Genre: Romance
Sinking Ship
Director
Sasha Leigh Henry
Writer
Tania Thompson
Cast
Pip Dwyer, Edsson Morales, Madeleine Claude
Genre
Romance
Interest
Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Short Film Programme
If you’d like to show several short films together as a programme, please feel free to get in touch for advice and tips on selecting the perfect combination for your needs.
Director
Various
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Bullying, Classics, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Discrimination, Environment, ESL, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Sports, Strong Female Leads
Original Languages
English, French
- Own Voice
Indigenous-made Short Films
Director
Various
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Languages
English, French, Other Language
- Own Voice
Aviliaq (Entwined)
Director
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk)
Arnaquq-Baril is an award-winning Inuk filmmaker whose work has screened on CBC, APTN, and at festivals like Hot Docs, imagineNATIVE, TIFF and many others. Her credits include the award-winning doc Angry Inuk, Aviliaq, Inuit High Kick, Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos and The Embargo Project. She also produced the award winning film The Grizzlies, the 2022 film Slash/Back, and co-founded the Inuit production company Red Marrow Media. She is currently producing the documentary Twice Colonized.
Writer
Dallas Varcoe
Cast
Miali Buscemi, Malaya Qaunirq Chapman
Producers
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk), Miriam Levin-Gold, Anne-Marie Stuart
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
Inuktitut
Language Version
EN Subtitles
- Own Voice
Imran and Alykhan
Director
Shakil Jessa
Genre
Romance
Interests
BIPOC Stories, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
Nadine
Director
Patrick Péris
Writers
Sylvain Charbonneau, Patrick Péris
Cast
Émilien Néron, Jade Charbonneau
Producer
Marc Bertrand
Genres
Animation, Romance
Original Language
French
Vive la rose
Based on the last recording by one of Newfoundland's foremost traditional music performers, Emile Benoit's tender delivery of the 18th century French song is the heart of Vive la rose. The story of unrequited love and tentative obsession throughout the beloved's life, sickness and early death is the narrative focus, accompanied by an emotional interpretation of Benoit's strong Newfoundland French accent and wavering old man's voice. Vive la rose is animation on location, rooting the film in a location that evokes the past, and combines ink drawings with a variety of romantic and associative elements and objects.
Director
Bruce Alcock
Producers
Tina Ouellette, Annette Clarke, Michael Fukushima
Genres
Animation, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, History
Original Language
French
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR CC
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
Spinster
On her 39th birthday, Gaby (Chelsea Peretti) finds that she's hit a crossroad in her life. Fresh off of yet another failed relationship, everyone in her life is asking when she's going to settle down. It doesn't help that as a wedding caterer, she's constantly reminded of this pressure. With the dating scene looking bleaker than ever, Gabye begins to wonder whether she'd be happier if she never finds 'the one'.
Andrea Dorfman’s clever twist on the romantic comedy genre features a brilliant performance from Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine Nine), who brings a touching depth of character along with her trademark acerbic wit.
Director
Andrea Dorfman
Writer
Jennifer Deyell
Cast
Chelsea Peretti
Producers
Jay Dahl, Bill Niven, Marc Tetreault, William Woods
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Interest
Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
Game Theory Films
When Night is Falling
Director
Patricia Rozema
Writer
Patricia Rozema
Cast
Pascale Bussières, Rachael Crawford
Producer
Barbara Tranter
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Café de Flore
Director
Jean-Marc Vallée
Vallée garnered nine Genie nominations for his first feature, Liste noire. C.R.A.Z.Y. was a box office hit and was honoured at film festivals worldwide. He directed the Oscar-nominated films Dallas Buyers Club and Wild, as well as Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the hit TV series Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects. He tragically passed away in December 2021.
Writer
Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast
Vanessa Paradis, Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent, Evelyne Brochu
Producers
Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, Family Relationships, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
eOne
- Own Voice
Run Woman Run
Single mother Beck (Hebert) finds her life upended when she faces a health scare and is forced to make big changes to the way she lives. Beck decides to start training for a marathon to prove to herself and her family that she’s able to get back on track.
Guided by the ghost of her ancestor, legendary long distance runner Tom Longboat (Koostachin), she sets out on a journey that is both emotional and inspiring. Told in a lighthearted and charming way, Run Woman Run is a feel-good anti-rom-com about a woman who has to tackle the ghosts of her past before she can run toward a better future. Winner of the Audience Choice Award and Moon Jury Prize at imagineNATIVE.
“It’s one of the year’s best” – Alex Heeney, Seventh Row
Director
Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Heiltsuk/Mohawk)
Hopkins is an alumna of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, and has directed numerous shorts, including Button Blanket, Mohawk Midnight Runners, Impossible to Contain and a segment of The Embargo Project. She has directed the features Kayak to Klemtu and Run Woman Run, which won the Audience Choice award at imagineNATIVE 2021. She is currently writing and directing the series Little Bird.
Writer
Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Heiltsuk/Mohawk)
Cast
Lorne Cardinal (Cree), Braeden Clarke (Cree), Asivak Koostachin (Cree/Inuk), Jayli Wolf (Anishinaabe), Dakota Ray Hebert (Dene)
Producers
Paula Devonshire (Mohawk), Pj Thornton, Laura Milliken (Ojibway)
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
BIPOC Stories, ESL, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Sports
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
levelFILM
1991
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.
Director
Ricardo Trogi
Writer and director Trogi’s first film, Québec-Montréal, earned him a Jutra Award for Best Direction and Best Screenplay. His credits also include Horloge biologique, Le Mirage, and the coming-of-age trilogy 1981, 1987, and 1991. He recently co-wrote two seasons of La Maison-Bleue and directed the feature Le Guide de la famille parfaite.
Writer
Ricardo Trogi
Cast
Sandrine Bisson, Jean-Carl Boucher, Mamoudou Camara, Giuseppe Cantore, Juliette Gosselin
Producer
Nicole Robert
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Interest
Biography
Original Language
French
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR CC
Canadian Distributor
eOne
White Elephant
Director
Andrew Chung
Writer
Andrew Chung
Cast
Zaarin Bushra, Gurleen Singh, Dulmika Hapuarachchi
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Jaded Pictures
Venus
Director
Eisha Marjara
Writer
Eisha Marjara
Cast
Jamie Mayers, Debargo Sanyal
Producer
Joe Balass
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
FunFilm Distribution Inc.
- Own Voice
Winter Kept Us Warm
Doug (John Labow) is a well liked senior and Peter (Henry Tarvainen) is a shy freshman at the University of Toronto. The two young men become fast friends and start spending a lot of time together. But when their friendship” starts to move toward romance, they face the tough challenge of how to deal with their newfound emotions (and their girlfriends). The first example of an LGBTQ-themed story by Canadian filmmakers, it remains a universally relatable story about young romance and the struggles of youth.
One of the first Canadian feature films to receive international critical attention, Winter Kept Us Warm was the first English-language film to premiere at Cannes and received a Special Jury Prize at the Montreal International Film Festival.Director
David Secter
Writers
David Secter, John Clute, Ian Porter
Cast
John Labow, Joy Fielding, Henry Tarvainen, Janet Amos, Iain Ewing
Producer
David Secter
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interest
Classics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Filmmakers Distribution Center
- Own Voice
Learn to Swim
Director
Thyrone Tommy
Writers
Marni Van Dyk, Thyrone Tommy
Cast
Thomas Antony Olajide, Emma Ferreira
Producer
Alona Metzer
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributors
Mongrel Media, Wildling Pictures
Stay the Night
Driven by amazing chemistry between the two leads, Stay the Night is a quiet and touching adventure that showcases both the beauty and the loneliness of Canada’s biggest city.
“A modern-day Before Sunrise” – Chris Knight, The National Post
Director
Renuka Jeyapalan
Writer
Renuka Jeyapalan
Cast
Joe Scarpellino, Andrea Bang
Producers
Glenn Cockburn, Brian Robertson
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Photon Films
- Own Voice
Ava
Director
Lea Mysius
Writer
Lea Mysius
Cast
Laure Calamy, Juan Cano, Noee Abita, Tamara Cano
Producer
Jean-Louis Livi
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
FunFilm Distribution Inc.
Luck
Director
Peter Wellington
Writer
Peter Wellington
Cast
Sarah Polley, Luke Kirby, Jed Rees
Producers
Simone Urdl, Jennifer Weiss
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Interests
History, Sports
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Cineplex Odeon Films
- Own Voice
Love, Sex and Eating the Bones
Falling for the girl of his dreams and unable to perform, Michael must contend with the limits of fantasy or risk losing Jasmine. As the pair navigate the complex world of modern love, they must come to savour all that life brings – to “eat the bones” – in this raunchy yet crowd-pleasing romantic comedy.
Love, Sex and Eating the Bones was named Best Canadian First Feature at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival.
Director
Sudz Sutherland
Writers
Jennifer Holness, Sudz Sutherland
Cast
Meriaka Weathered, Mark Taylor, Hill Harper, Marlyne Barrett
Producer
Jennifer Holness
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interest
BIPOC Stories
Original Language
English