Region: ON
- Own Voice
Hyphen: Gabriela’s Story
Renaud explores her hyphenated identity through a portrayal of the complexities of her multiracial family.
Director
Gabriela Warrior Renaud
Writer
Gabriela Warrior Renaud
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker
Original Languages
English, French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Monsoon
By treating this natural phenomenon with the respect it commands, this Canada’s Top Ten audience award–winner becomes an epic journey into a phenomenon many call “the soul of India.”
With swells of music by the Bombay Dub Orchestra, Monsoon is wet, wild and utterly astonishing.
Director
Sturla Gunnarsson
Born in Iceland and raised in Vancouver, Gunnarsson earned an Oscar nomination for his debut feature doc, After the Axe. His films include Beowulf and Grendel, Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie and Monsoon, and he has directed hit TV shows such as Motive, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Art of More, and most recently Schitt’s Creek and Ransom.
Writer
Sturla Gunnarsson
Producers
Ina Fichman, Sturla Gunnarsson
Genres
Documentary, Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment, Global Experiences
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
KinoSmith
Our Man in Tehran
These events were fictionalized in the Hollywood film Argo, but this fascinating doc sets the record straight through archival footage and the words of those who experienced it, all culminating in the fantastical plan devised to smuggle the fugitives out.
“Sometimes, the truth can be more entertaining than fiction. If Argo was a high-stakes political thriller…it was also a simplistic and escapist escape movie about the power of Hollywood to defeat evil. So now…we Canadians respond with a documentary to reclaim our true story.” — Simon Houpt, The Globe and Mail
Directors
Larry Weinstein
Weinstein has received three Gemini awards for his work, including Best Direction for Beethoven’s Hair. Weinstein also directed the docs Mulroney: The Opera, The Devil’s Horn, Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star, and Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas, and co-directed Our Man In Tehran. His latest, Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies, premiered at Hot Docs 2019.
Drew Taylor
Our Man in Tehran was Taylor’s first film after careers in baseball and bio-engineering. He has also directed Lost and Found.
Writers
Drew Taylor, Robert Wright
Producers
Niv Fichman, Larry Weinstein, Drew Taylor
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, Global Experiences, History, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire
Dallaire attempted to stop the killing by alerting the world through the United Nations and the international media. Though his attempts were unsuccessful, Dallaire emerged as a hero. Ten years later, Dallaire returns to Rwanda to personally commemorate the anniversary of that holocaust.
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005.
“Dallaire is not only the protagonist of Shake Hands with the Devil, he is a compelling reason to see it.” — Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Director
Peter Raymont
Raymont has produced and directed over 100 documentaries, which have earned more than 50 international awards. His producing credits include West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson, Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr and Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. He recently directed the doc Margaret Atwood: A Word after a Word after a Word is Power, and produced Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, which premiered at TIFF 2022.
Writer
Roméo Dallaire
Producers
Linda Lee Tracey, Peter Raymont
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, Discrimination, Global Experiences, History, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
White Pine Pictures
Warrendale
Originally produced for the CBC (but not aired on TV due to profanity), Warrendale is one of Allan King’s most searing and revealing pieces of work. King places us inside Warrendale (a facility for troubled youth in Toronto’s Rexdale community) like a fly on the wall, and we witness the full spectrum of emotions displayed by 12 fascinating children and the caregivers trying to nurture and guide them.
The stunning Warrendale won the Prix d’art et d’essai at the Cannes film festival and a special documentary award from the National Society of Film Critics.
Director
Allan King
Writer
Allan King
Producer
Allan King
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
Allan King Films
Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr
His subsequent detention at Guantanamo Bay, a harsh prison on the southern coast of Cuba, became the topic of a major political debate, as child soldiers have not been prosecuted for war crimes since WWII.
Guantanamo’s Child gives Khadr a chance to speak for himself on camera for the first time. More than just a stirring story, this documentary delivers an engrossing intimate portrait of how a teenager from a Toronto suburb became the first juvenile to ever be tried for war crimes.
Directors
Michelle Shephard, Patrick Reed
Producers
Peter Raymont, Patrick Reed, Michelle Shephard
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
White Pine Pictures
A Married Couple
In 1969, Allan King crafted one of the most intimate portraits of domestic life ever captured on film with A Married Couple. Billy and Antoinette Edwards are experiencing some marital crises: Power struggles and gender politics have come between them, and their relationship is in deep, deep trouble.
Inviting the cameras into their home, the Edwards allow King to film their life over 10 weeks in Toronto, which — like the film itself — is intense and hectic, frightening and funny. It’s a cinéma verité documentary unlike any other. Throwing the conflict and intimacy of the bonds of marriage into a spotlight that is at once both harsh and tender.
Director
Allan King
Writer
Allan King
Producer
Allan King
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, Classics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Criterion Collection
Stories We Tell
As Polley interrogates each of her subjects in turn, contradictory accounts emerge, and longstanding efforts to hide some painful truths eventually become futile.
The “stories we tell” — that all families tell in one way or another — turn out to obscure as much as they reveal, and the whole idea of the purpose of narrative is called into question in a way that is both fascinating and poignant.
Director
Sarah Polley
Polley won a screenwriting Oscar nomination for Away From Her, and directed Take This Waltz and Stories We Tell. She wrote and produced Alias Grace, a miniseries based on Margaret Atwood’s novel, which premiered at TIFF 2017. In 2022 she published the essay collection Run Toward the Danger. Her most recent feature, an adaptation of Miriam Toews’ Women Talking, premiered at TIFF 2022.
Writer
Sarah Polley
Producers
Silvia Basmajian, Anita Lee
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, Female Filmmaker, History
Original Language
English
Language Version
FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
Mongrel Media
Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
In 1997, at the Summer Series in Montreal, Hart put his WWF (now WWE) title on the line against Shawn Michaels, where the two privately agreed to end the fight with a no contest conclusion.
Referred to in the wrestling community as the “Montreal Screwjob,” the agreement was believed to be a secret betrayal of Hart, who was one of the WWF’s most popular performers. In the end, Michaels won the match, and Hart lost his title.
Jay’s award-winning documentary is an honest and engaging look at a world-famous career of highs and lows.
Director
Paul Jay
Writer
Paul Jay
Producers
Silva Basmajian, Sally Blake, Paul Jay, David M. Ostriker
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Biography
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
This powerful documentary takes you right to the heart of the action, painting a sensitive and deeply affecting portrait of the people behind the barricades.
Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Best Canadian Feature Film prize.
Director
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Legendary Abenaki filmmaker Obomsawin has made over 50 documentaries on issues affecting Indigenous peoples in Canada, including Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Trick or Treaty?, Is the Crown at War with Us?, Our People Will Be Healed and Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger. Her most recent film is the short documentary Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair. Next, she is set to appear in an episode of Marie Clements’ Bones of Crows: The Series.
Writer
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Producers
Wolf Koenig, Colin Neale, Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Classics, Environment, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, EN Subtitles, FR CC, FR Dub, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
- Own Voice
Trick or Treaty?
One of the masters of Canadian documentary cinema, Alanis Obomsawin has spent decades chronicling the injustices visited on First Nations communities, creating a remarkable body of work. In her latest film, she digs into the difficult history of Treaty 9, the infamous 1905 agreement in which First Nations communities allegedly relinquished their sovereignty over their traditional lands.
Setting the film against the recent resurgence of First Nations activism (Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike and the Idle No More movement), Obomsawin interviews legal, historical and cultural experts — as well as people whose ancestors were present when the treaty was signed — to explore some fundamental questions about Canada’s relationship with our First Nations.
“Obomsawin’s documentaries inform, inspire and shock us. Trick or Treaty? is no different.” — Nadya Domingo, Toronto Film Scene
Director
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Legendary Abenaki filmmaker Obomsawin has made over 50 documentaries on issues affecting Indigenous peoples in Canada, including Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Trick or Treaty?, Is the Crown at War with Us?, Our People Will Be Healed and Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger. Her most recent film is the short documentary Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair. Next, she is set to appear in an episode of Marie Clements’ Bones of Crows: The Series.
Writer
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Producers
Annette Clarke, Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)
Genre
Documentary
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
National Film Board (NFB)
Long Time Running
Long Time Running chronicles the emotional and epic 2016 tour that The Tragically Hip embarked on after iconic frontman Gord Downie announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Intimate moments, behind-the-scenes and on-stage footage, personal interviews with the band and close friends reveal the heart-breaking final performances of that now-legendary final tour.
No other band encapsulated the rugged soul of Canada quite like the Hip, and it was completely in character for Downie – the everyman poet laureate of Canada – to go out on his own terms, with a powerfully galvanizing tour that delivered some of the most exhilarating performances of band’s history.
“Long Time Running, named after a languid blues song from the band's second album, is both a history lesson and a eulogy for a group with 16 Juno Awards to its credit.” – Brad Wheeler, The Globe and MailDirectors
Nicholas de Pencier
Baichwal and de Pencier are known for their CSA-winning docs, Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark and Anthropocene. They are frequent collaborators, with Baichwal directing and de Pencier as her cinematographer and producer. Their credits include The Holier it Gets, Act of God and Payback, and their newest film together, Into the Weeds.
Jennifer Baichwal
Baichwal and de Pencier are known for their CSA-winning docs, Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark and Anthropocene. They are frequent collaborators, with Baichwal directing and de Pencier as her cinematographer and producer. Their credits include The Holier it Gets, Act of God and Payback, and their newest film together, Into the Weeds.
Writer
Jennifer Baichwal
Cast
Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Paul Langlois, Davis Manning, Johnny Fay
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Elevation Pictures
- Own Voice
The Book of Negroes
This CBC mini-series is based on the internationally celebrated novel by Canadian author Lawrence Hill. A compelling tale of loss, courage, love and the triumph of the human spirit, it follows the extraordinary journey of Aminata Diallo (Ellis), an indomitable African woman.
In 1750, 11-year-old Aminata is kidnapped from her village in West Africa and begins a rich journey that takes her through the harrowing ordeal of slavery, to the turmoil of the American Revolution and ultimately to freedom in the British colony of Nova Scotia. Brilliant and determined, Aminata is a remarkable heroine whose unshakeable connection to her own African heritage guides her over unimaginable obstacles in her quest for freedom and ultimately allows her to assume the mantle of leadership for which she is destined.
Deeply moving and inspiring, The Book of Negroes explores painful historical realities through the unblinking eyes of a strong female protagonist whose story will stay with you long after the telling.
Director
Clement Virgo
Virgo rose to prominence with his first feature, Rude, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and garnered two Genie nominations. He has also directed the films Poor Boy’s Game and Lie With Me, and hit TV shows such as The Wire, Regenesis and The Listener. He recently produced the show Greenleaf and directed episodes of Empire and Billions. His most recent film, Brother, premiered at TIFF 2022.
Writers
Lawrence Hill, Clement Virgo
Cast
Aunjanue Ellis, Lyriq Bent, Cuba Gooding, Jr, Ben Chaplin, Allan Hawco
Producers
Damon D'Oliveira, Clement Virgo
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, History, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Hurt
Although his charity marathon in 1984 was a glorious success, his subsequent exploits — precarious jobs and petty crimes —find him in a state of financial ruin in one of Canada’s toughest neighbourhoods. The unbelievable run that became his life’s greatest achievement is now a crushing burden.
Zweig’s rare and sensitive portrait of a complex one-time hero won the inaugural Platform prize at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Director
Alan Zweig
Writer
Alan Zweig
Cast
Steve Fonyo
Producers
Peter Gentile, Mikey Lalonde
Genre
Documentary
Interest
Biography
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
greenHAT Digital
I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
Though timid on the outside, Polly’s inner life is rich and full of charming fantasies which Rozema brings to life in black & white sequences that punctuate the film with humour and whimsy.
The film won the award for Best First Feature at the Cannes Film Festival, and in 1993 was ranked as one of TIFF’s Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.
Director
Patricia Rozema
Writer
Patricia Rozema
Cast
Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, Ann-Marie MacDonald
Producers
Don Haig, Alexandra Raffe, Patricia Rozema
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, FR Dub, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
eOne
In Her Place
Set against the misty South Korean countryside, the film treats its three subjects with equal affection, and Shin delivers an honest, powerful drama that packs an enormous emotional punch.
Director
Albert Shin
Writers
Pearl Ball-Harding, Albert Shin
Cast
Ji-hye Ahn, Hae-yeon Kil, Kyung-Ik Kim, Da-Kyung Yoon
Producers
Igor Drljaca, Albert Shin, Hyun Chan Yoon
Genre
Drama
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Global Experiences
Original Language
Other Language
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
A71 Entertainment inc.
Hyena Road
Under the command of Captain Pete Mitchell (Gross), ace sniper Ryan Sanders (Sutherland) has caught wind of a dangerous insurgency. Stopping it will take the cooperation of Afghan locals and the dogged efforts of Canadian troops. Showing how forces on either side can work together to prevent senseless tragedy, Hyena Road goes down a dusty, dirty, thunderous path.
Hyena Road won three Canadian Screen Awards.
“The goal of the movie is truth-telling rather than flag-waving, but it also succeeds as impactful storytelling.”
— Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Director
Paul Gross
Gross starred in the hit TV series Due South and Slings & Arrows. He directed, wrote and starred in Men With Brooms, which won a Canadian Comedy Award, as well as Hyena Road and Passchendaele, which won a Genie for best film. Gross also starred in the mini-series Alias Grace and Caught, the series Tales of the City and Y: The Last Man, and the films Falling and The Middle Man.
Writer
Paul Gross
Cast
Allan Hawco, Rossif Sutherland, Paul Gross, Christine Horne
Producers
Paul Gross, Niv Fichman
Genres
Action/Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Interests
Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, FR Dub
Canadian Distributor
Elevation Pictures
Vinyl
With this film, Zweig established his voice as a documentarian who is not content to be merely a fly on the wall in the lives of his subjects. Instead, he deploys the camera as a tool for engagement, rooting around in the margins of contemporary society to explore themes of beauty, addiction, love and longing in a profound and unique way.
Director
Alan Zweig
Writer
Alan Zweig
Cast
Alan Zweig, Harvey Pekar, Alan Williams, Don McKellar
Producers
Alan Zweig, Greg Klymkiw, Bruce McDonald, David McCallum
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Arts and Culture, Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
The Asylum
Into the Forest
As with many science fiction stories, the scariest thing isn’t the loss of power, but the quick disintegration of human society. Without electricity or fuel, the threat of a lawless and terrifying existence looms near, even in the remote woods that the sisters call home. Page and Wood deliver fabulous performances, showcasing a range of emotions as the limits of their sanity, safety and family are tested.
Director
Patricia Rozema
Writer
Patricia Rozema
Cast
Elliot Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie
Producers
Niv Fichman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Elliot Page
Genre
Drama
Interest
Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
Elevation Pictures
Highway 61
When naïve barber Pokey Jones (McKellar) meets Jackie Bangs (Buhagiar), a flamboyant roadie on the run, it doesn’t take her long to persuade him to leave Thunder Bay for New Orleans. Jones f inds himself taking not only Jackie, but also a frozen corpse he found in his backyard, which she claims is her brother. Meanwhile, in hot pursuit of the fleeing couple is Mr. Skin (Pastko), a bizarre and deluded character who thinks of himself as the Devil. As the three travel south, sparks fly and romance blooms between Pokey and Jackie.
“The triumphant return of two talents firing on all cylinders.” — Festival of Festivals
Director
Bruce McDonald
McDonald directed the cult hits Highway 61, Roadkill, Hard Core Logo, The Tracey Fragments, starring Elliot Page, Pontypool, and the award-winning series Twitch City, episodes of Degrassi and Heartland. His recent films include Trigger, The Husband, Hellions, Weirdos and Dreamland. He recently directed the series Creeped Out and Malory Towers and is currently working on the films Switched at Death and I Have a Bad Feeling About This.
Writers
Allan Magee, Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar
Cast
Valerie Buhagiar, Earl Pastko, Don McKellar
Producers
Colin Brunton, Bruce McDonald
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
Classics, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC