Interest: BIPOC Stories
Le coyote (The Coyote)
Director
Katherine Jerkovic
Writer
Katherine Jerkovic
Cast
Enzo Desmeules Saint-Hilaire, Jorge Martinez Colorado
Producer
Nicolas Comeau
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories
Original Languages
French, Other Language
Canadian Distributor
Game Theory Films
Fractured Land
Directors
Sylvia Jonescu Lisitza, Damien Gillis, Fiona Rayher
Writers
Daniel Conrad, Fiona Rayher
Producers
Damien Gillis, Fiona Rayher
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Moving Images Distribution
- Own Voice
Black Life: Untold Stories – Northern Beats
A musical look at the rise of hip hop in Canada, as told by some of its earliest pioneers, culminating in the worldwide success of artists like Drake and The Weeknd.
Director
Will Prosper
Writers
Leslie Norville, Margot Daley
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, History
Original Language
English
Another Planet
Director
Christene Browne
Writer
Christene Browne
Cast
Sandy Daley
Producer
Christene Browne
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Female Filmmaker
Original Languages
English, French
- 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
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
- 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
- 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
Ru
Brilliantly adapted from Kim Thúy’s Governor General Award-winning novel of the same name, this compassionate story of resilience in the face of adversity is stunningly captured and deeply moving.
“An exceptional and beautiful film.” – Isobel Grieve, Montréal Guardian
Director
Charles-Olivier Michaud
Writers
Kim Thúy, Charles-Olivier Michaud, Jacques Davidts
Cast
Chloé Djandji
Producers
André Dupuy, Marie-Alexandra Forget
Genres
Drama, Family
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Global Experiences, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories
Original Languages
French, Other Language
Canadian Distributor
Immina Films
- Own Voice
The Queen of My Dreams
Azra (Kaur), a young Queer Pakistani-Canadian woman, has long felt disconnected from her mother, Mariam (Bucha). Reuniting in Pakistan for her father’s funeral in 1999, flashbacks to 30 years earlier show a young Mariam (played in a dual role by Kaur) falling in love with Azra’s father, Hassan (Haq). Jumping back and forth between these two coming-of-age stories, the connections between mother and daughter become more and more clear – but will they realise this in time to save their relationship?
Sumptuously capturing the feel of a Bollywood film while telling a relatable cross-continental story, Fawzia Mirza’s impressive debut feature is an instant classic.
“Mirza has created a film bursting with creative energy and distinctive aesthetic sensibilities.” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
Director
Fawzia Mirza
Writer
Fawzia Mirza
Cast
Amrit Kaur
Producers
Marc Tetreault, Jason Levangie, Andria Wilson
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads
Original Languages
English, Other Language
Canadian Distributor
Cineplex Pictures
- Own Voice
Roses Sing on New Snow
Director
Yuan Zhang
Genre
Animation
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Global Experiences
Original Languages
English, French
Language Versions
EN CC, FR CC
- Own Voice
Angakusajaujuq – The Shaman’s Apprentice
Director
Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk)
In 2015, Atanarjuat was selected as TIFF’s number one Canadian film of all time. Kunuk has directed shorts such as Exile and Home and features such as Maliglutit, which was nominated for two CSAs. He recently directed the series Hunting With My Ancestors and executive produced SGaawaay K'uuna (Edge of the Knife). His latest feature, One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, premiered at TIFF 2019. Most recently, he directed the short The Shaman’s Apprentice, which won the CSA for Best Animated Short among other awards at festivals worldwide.
Writers
Jonathan Frantz, Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk)
Cast
Madeline Piujuq Ivalu (Inuk), Jacky Qrunnut, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Producers
Neil Christopher, Jonathan Frantz, Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk), Nadia Mike
Genre
Animation
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Languages
English, Inuktitut
- 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
Foster Child
At 35 years old, filmmaker Gil Cardinal makes the decision to seek out his biological family, sending him on a journey into his own roots, uncovering an ancestry he knew nothing about. As Cardinal discovers that he was forcibly taken from his Métis mother, the film shifts into addressing the ongoing systematic oppression of Indigenous peoples.
This incredibly personal documentary was a landmark in Indigenous storytelling on film, and received many accolades including the Gemini award for directing.
Director
Gil Cardinal (Métis)
Cast
Gil Cardinal (Métis), Don Cardinal (Métis)
Producer
Jerry Krepakevich
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, BIPOC Stories, Classics, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Two Worlds Colliding
Director
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Hubbard is an award-winning filmmaker and an assistant professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of English. Her writing-directing project Two Worlds Colliding won a Gemini and a Golden Sheaf Award. She has also directed the short film 7 Minutes, and the feature docs Birth of a Family and nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which won Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs and at the CSAs. She is currently directing the feature doc Singing Back the Buffalo.
Writer
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Cast
Andrea Menard
Producer
Bonnie Thompson
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Frost
Director
Jeremy Ball
Writer
Jeremy Ball
Cast
Emily Piggford, Lara Daans, Oscar Hsu
Producer
Lauren Grant
Genres
Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Interests
BIPOC Stories, History
Original Language
English
Language Version
None
Canadian Distributor
Canadian Film Centre
Viola Desmond Is On The Money
Directors
Pat Jeflyn, Kim Kristy
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Wildfire
Director
Bretten Hannam (L'nu)
Writer
Bretten Hannam (L'nu)
Cast
Guillermo Knockwood, Bobby Pierro
Producers
Bretten Hannam (L'nu), Gharrett Patrick Paon
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
- Own Voice
Indigo
Director
Amanda Strong (Michif)
Writer
Daniel T. Fischer
Producers
Luke Sargent, Brett Long, Amanda Strong (Michif)
Genre
Experimental
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Vtape