Region: QC
Avoir 16 ans (To Be Sixteen)
Director
Jean Pierre Lefebvre
Writers
Claude Paquette, Jean Pierre Lefebvre
Cast
Aubert Pallascio, Yves Benoit, Gilles Renaud
Producer
Marguerite Duparc
Genre
Drama
Interest
Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
Parlimage
- Own Voice
Beans
Beans takes place at the height of the 1990 Mohawk Resistance at Kanehsatà:ke (also known as the Oka Crisis), a 78-day standoff between Indigenous land defenders, Quebec police, the RCMP and the Canadian military, over the proposed expansion of a golf course on to a Mohawk burial ground. Twelve-year-old Tekehentahkhwa (nicknamed “Beans”, played by Kiawentiio) is forced into an early coming of age by these events, as her innocence turns to anger over the treatment of her people.
Drawing from her own experiences as a child, director Tracey Deer provides a poignant and engaging chronicle of these real-life events that shook the nation, as well as a much-needed look at how the traumatic events impacted youth in the community.
Beans premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the 2021 Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture.
Content Note: This film includes coarse language, violence, and thematic elements that may not be suitable for all audiences.
Director
Tracey Deer (Mohawk)
In 2008, Deer won a Gemini Award in Best Documentary Writing, for Club Native. Her debut doc was the award-winning Mohawk Girls, which she adapted into a TV series that ran for five seasons and was nominated for seven CSAs. Beans has won eleven awards, including Best Picture at the CSAs. Most recently, she directed episodes of the series Three Pines, and is currently working on the feature Thorpe, about Native American Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe.
Writers
Tracey Deer (Mohawk), Meredith Vuchnich
Cast
Kiawentiio (Mohawk), Dawn Ford, Violah Beauvais (Mohawk), Rainbow Dickerson (Rappahannock), Brittany Leborgne (Mohawk)
Producer
Anne-Marie Gélinas
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Bullying, Discrimination, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, FR Dub, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
Mongrel Media
- Own Voice
Rhymes for Young Ghouls
It’s a tough life, but she’s making it work. That is, until the precarious balance of her world is threatened by her father’s return from prison and the theft of her drug money.
Part fable, part small-town drama, Rhymes for Young Ghouls is a richly imaginative and striking drama about growing up during a very dark time in Canada’s treatment of Indigenous people.
“A savvy [Indigenous] genre film with a strong, beautiful and ingenious heroine whose courage helps right an injustice.” — Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
Director
Jeff Barnaby (Mi’qmaw)
Writer
Jeff Barnaby (Mi’qmaw)
Cast
Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Mohawk), Glen Gould (Mi’qmaw), Brandon Oakes (Mohawk), Roseanne Supernault (Cree/Métis)
Producers
Aisling Chin-Yee, John Christou, Justine Whyte
Genres
Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Maurice Richard (The Rocket)
But this is much more than a sports movie. Director Binamé frames the story in a cultural context: It isn’t until Richard, a man of few words, begins to speak his mind about the inequalities and prejudice directed toward French Canadians that he finds his voice.
Many feel that the riots caused by Richard’s suspension in 1955 were the spark that fuelled the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. This hockey blockbuster is chock-full of heart and history.
The Rocket was nominated for 13 Genie Awards and won nine.
Director
Charles Binamé
Binamé’s Eldorado screened at the prestigious Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1995. He also directs for hit TV shows such as Reign, Flashpoint, Rookie Blue and Republic of Doyle. His latest film, Elephant Song, won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Writer
Ken Scott
Cast
Roy Dupuis, Julie Le Breton, Stephen McHattie, Patrice Robitaille
Producers
Daniel Louis, Denise Robert
Genre
Drama
Interests
Biography, Discrimination, History, Social Justice & Politics, Sports
Original Languages
English, French
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR CC
Scanners
Scanners are social outcasts, the by-product of a failed experimental drug given to their mothers during pregnancy, and possess the unusual ability to read and control minds.
Security firm ConSec wants to harness these telekinetics and turn them into a powerful new weapon; however, Revok (Ironside) is hellbent on destroying ConSec and taking over the world. The only man who may be able to stop him is the stoic but equally powerful Vale (Lack).
Chaos reigns as the duo face off in a series of dramatic duels featuring some of cinema’s most jaw-dropping practical effects.
Busting heads and box-office numbers when it opened in 1981, Scanners demonstrates Cronenberg’s talent for accessible, fun and truly awesome science fiction.
Director
David Cronenberg
Writer
David Cronenberg
Cast
Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, Patrick McGoohan
Producers
Pierre David, Claude Héroux, Victor Solnicki
Genres
Action/Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Interests
Classics, Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
Groupe Laurem inc.
Le sens de l’humour (A Sense of Humour)
With little to trade for their freedom other than their comedy skills, the duo offer to teach Roger the art of comedy and make him a local star. Thinking it might help him win the girl of his dreams, Roger accepts, and the hilarity and hijinks begin.
Director
Émile Gaudreault
Gaudreault co-wrote Louis 19, le roi des ondes, which Ron Howard adapted into EDtv. Gaudreault both co-wrote and directed De pere en flic (the highest-grossing French-language film in Canadian history), Le vrai du faux, Le sens de l'humour and Mambo Italiano, which earned six Canadian Comedy Award nominations. He also wrote and directed De père en flic 2, and most recently, the comedy Menteur. He also co-wrote the upcoming Lignes de fuite, and is producing the English-language remake of De père en flic, Fathers and Guns.
Writers
Émile Gaudreault, Benoît Pelletier
Cast
Michel Côté, Louis-José Houde, Benoît Brière, Anne Dorval
Producers
Daniel Louis, Denise Robert
Genre
Comedy
Interest
Bullying
Original Language
French
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR CC
Canadian Distributor
eOne
La guerre des tuques (Snowtime!)
The result is a family-friendly contemporary hit full of chilly thrills, snow-fort hills, and a rollicking energy that is unstoppably fun. Fortunately, there’s also a brilliant anti-war message packed in the ice that’s sure to melt hearts.
Snowtime! (La Guerre des tuques) 3D was a bilingual box-office smash, winning the Golden Screen Award for being the highest-grossing Canadian film in 2015.
Directors
Jean-François Pouliot
In addition to over 500 commercials, Montrealer Pouliot’s credits include feature films Guide de la petite vengeance and the 2015 box-office success Dr. Cabbie as well as the hit animated film Snowtime!. Recently, he directed the feature films Les 3 p’tits cochons 2, Votez Bougon and the Snowtime! sequel, Racetime.
Writers
Paul Risacher, Normand Canac-Marquis, Roger Cantin, Danyèle Patenaude
Cast
André Sauvé, Nicholas Savard L'Herbier, Mariloup Wolfe, Sandra Oh, Ross Lynch
Producer
Marie-Claude Beauchamp
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
Interest
Bullying
Original Languages
English, French
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Starbuck
David’s life is fast falling apart — he’s in trouble with local thugs and owes a lot of money – but his unwitting support network of children, none of whom know who David really is, give him hope to carry on as he visits them in their daily lives.
Full of heart and with tons of laughs, this French Canadian contemporary classic was remade two years later in America under the title of Delivery Man — but with its blockbusting original release, we’d argue you shouldn’t mess with perfect!
Director
Ken Scott
Writers
Ken Scott, Martin Petit
Cast
Patrick Huard, Julie LeBreton, Antoine Bertrand
Producer
André Rouleau
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interest
Family Relationships
Original Language
French
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR CC, FR Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
Colm Feore is brilliant as Gould, humanizing the difficult genius whose studio recordings, imaginative radio documentaries and insightful writings are still influential in contemporary classical circles.
“Instead of a laborious bio-pic, we get a sly, quick-witted meditation on a character always likely to elude our grasp.” — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
Director
François Girard
Girard won a Grammy for Secret World Live, a Peter Gabriel concert film. Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould won four Genie Awards, including Best Picture. The Red Violin won eight Genies and an Oscar for Best Original Score. His recent films include Boychoir, starring Dustin Hoffman, and Hochelaga terre des âmes, which was nominated for eight CSAs, winning four. His latest, The Song of Names, premiered at TIFF 2019.
Writers
François Girard, Don McKellar
Cast
Colm Feore, Gerry Quigley, Gale Garnett, Don McKellar
Producer
Niv Fichman
Genre
Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, Classics, History
Original Language
English
Language Version
EN CC
Canadian Distributor
Rhombus Media
The Trotsky
Leon sets out to change the world, immediately butting heads with his new principal (Feore). Getting his apathetic peers to stand up to the school’s repressive administration proves more difficult than Leon first imagines, leading him to resort to some extreme and often hilarious tactics.
“The most genuine, authentic, legitimately funny teen movie since Heathers or John Hughes’ movies.” — Jane Stevenson, Sun Media
Director
Jacob Tierney
As an actor, Tierney has appeared in over 45 feature films and TV shows. His first feature was Twist, and he has also directed Good Neighbours, Preggoland and the hit series Letterkenny (in which he also starred). The Trotsky won three Genies. He wrote The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which premiered at TIFF 2018, and is currently starring in Gran Turismo.
Writer
Jacob Tierney
Cast
Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Saul Rubinek, Colm Feore, Geneviève Bujold
Producer
Kevin Tierney
Genre
Comedy
Interests
Biography, Bullying, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
eOne
La vraie nature de Bernadette (The True Nature of Bernadette)
Subversive and light-hearted, the film pokes fun at Bernadette’s romantic idealism with affectionate humanity.
Director
Gilles Carle
Writer
Gilles Carle
Cast
Micheline Lanctôt, Donald Pilon, Reynald Bouchard
Producer
Pierre Lamy
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
Equinox Films
Tu dors Nicole (You’re Sleeping Nicole)
A critical hit at the Cannes film festival, Stéphane Lafleur’s third feature is an indie comedy that showcases his trademark absurdist and deadpan humour.
Nicole (Côté) is adrift after college graduation, working a dead-end summer job in her hometown and hanging out with her best pal, Véronique. When her older brother Remi (Grondin) unexpectedly returns with bandmates in tow to record a new album, it becomes clear to Nicole that her summer must — and will — change.
Shot in black-and-white, Tu dors Nicole is a funny, wry and charming snapshot of the fleeting, in-between moments between childhood and the grown-up world.
Director
Stéphane Lafleur
Writer
Stéphane Lafleur
Cast
Julianne Côté, Catherine St-Laurent, Marc-André Grondin, Francis La Haye
Producers
Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributors
Christal Films, eOne
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
Rebelle (War Witch)
Montreal’s Kim Nguyen — who won several directing awards for his thoughtful work — travels a long way from Canada to tell this important tale.
A poignant and impossible love story filled with wonder, the film was nominated for an Oscar and won 10 Canadian Screen Awards.
Director
Kim Nguyen
Writer
Kim Nguyen
Cast
Rachel Mwanza, Alain Lino Mic Eli Bastien, Serge Kanyinda
Producers
Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
Genre
Drama
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
Mongrel Media
Il était une fois les boys (When We Were Boys)
In this original, fun and hilarious prequel set in 1965, we find Les Boys as they originally were: hardy teenagers. Dreaming of victory in the Holiday tournament, the team is on Christmas vacation, but it’s anything but a restful experience: they have goals to make and trophies to win.
Full of wonderful highs and lows that evoke the rollercoaster experience of adolescence, When We Were Boys is a rare thing in cinema: a terrific and successful prequel.
Director
Richard Goudreau
Writer
Richard Goudreau
Cast
Simon Pigeon, Derek Poissant, Maxime Desjardins-Tremblay, Samuel Gauthier
Producers
Michel Gauthier, Richard Goudreau, André Rouleau
Genre
Comedy
Interest
Sports
Original Language
French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
eOne
La femme de l’hôtel (A Woman in Transit)
Truth may indeed be stranger than fiction in this intriguing drama by one of Canada’s best female filmmakers. Winner of two Genies and the Toronto International Film Festival’s Best Canadian Feature Film award, this intimate and emotional film is sure to captivate.
Director
Léa Pool
Pool has earned three Genie Award nominations for Best Direction. Her films include Emporte Moi, Mouvements du désir, Lost and Delirious, La dernière fugue and the documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc. Her recent films include the doc Double Sentence and the features La passion d'Augustine and Et au pire, on se mariera.
Writers
Michel Langlois, Léa Pool, Robert Gurick
Cast
Paule Baillargeon, Serge Dupire, Louise Marleau, Marthe Turgeon, Gilles Renaud
Producer
Bernadette Payeur
Genre
Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Classics, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
Films du 3 Mars
Antigone
In her last year of high school, straight-A student Antigone (Ricci) finds her life suddenly overturned when one of her brothers is murdered by a police officer, while the other is arrested. Having lived in Montreal since arriving as a refugee with her family over a decade ago, Antigone faces a terrible choice. She wants desperately to help her brother in prison, but doing so will put not only her promising future in jeopardy, but also her ability to stay in Canada. As her story becomes a media sensation, Antigone becomes a symbol for a movement of justice, as she makes a decision that will change her life forever.
Despite being based on a tragedy over 2,000 years old, Antigone is an urgent and extremely timely story. It was the official Canadian submission for International Feature Film at the Oscars in 2019.
“An intelligent, moving reworking of Sophocles' tragedy, electrified by a breakout turn from star Nahéma Ricci.” - Jessica Kiang, Variety
Director
Sophie Deraspe
Deraspe has made several feature and documentary films, including Rechercher Victor Pellerin, Les loups and Les signes vitaux, which won 15 awards and played over 30 film festivals worldwide. Her documentary work includes A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile, and the series La Vie nous arrive. Most recently, she directed the series Bête noire, and the series Motel Paradis.
Writer
Sophie Deraspe
Cast
Nahéma Ricci, Rawad El-Zein, Antoine DesRochers
Producer
Marc Daigle
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Language Versions
EN Subtitles, FR CC
Canadian Distributor
Maison 4:3
De père en flic 2 (Father and Guns 2)
A few years after they infiltrated a therapy program for fathers and sons (as depicted in the hit film De pere en flic) in order to find a kidnapped colleague, Commander Jacques Laroche (Côté) and his son Marc (Houde) still have a pretty rocky relationship.
When the two cops find out that a Mafia lieutenant they’ve been tracking has signed up for a “bootcamp for couples” with his wife, Marc and his aspiring-Commander girlfriend Alice quickly sign up. Of course, getting close to his intended target while trying to save his relationship with Alice is going to be a tougher assignment than Marc realized. Especially when his father invites himself along, pretending to be the psychologist’s assistant.
This funny and feel-good take on the buddy cop genre was a box office hit in Quebec, winning the Golden Reel Award as the highest grossing Canadian film of 2017.
Director
Émile Gaudreault
Gaudreault co-wrote Louis 19, le roi des ondes, which Ron Howard adapted into EDtv. Gaudreault both co-wrote and directed De pere en flic (the highest-grossing French-language film in Canadian history), Le vrai du faux, Le sens de l'humour and Mambo Italiano, which earned six Canadian Comedy Award nominations. He also wrote and directed De père en flic 2, and most recently, the comedy Menteur. He also co-wrote the upcoming Lignes de fuite, and is producing the English-language remake of De père en flic, Fathers and Guns.
Writers
Eric K. Boulianne, Émile Gaudreault, Sébastien Ravary
Cast
Michel Côté, Louis-José Houde, Karine Vanasse
Producer
Denise Robert
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Tout ce que tu possèdes (All That You Possess)
While the world outside his work hardly seemed to exist for Pierre at the start of the film, he is soon opened up to the possibility of reconnecting with his own past, which arrives in the form of an estranged daughter whom he abandoned years before.
This quiet, subtle and poetic drama about forgiveness, atonement and love is anchored by Drolet’s exquisite performance as the lonely Pierre.
Director
Bernard Émond
Writer
Bernard Émond
Cast
Patrick Drolet, Willia Ferland-Tanguay, Isabelle Vincent, Gilles Renaud
Producer
Bernadette Payeur
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French
Canadian Distributor
eOne
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
As his business ventures backfire in different ways, Duddy must come to terms with the fact that he’s attaining his goals at the expense of something more important — friendship and love. Both funny and touching, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is a true Canadian classic.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and won Film of the Year at the Canadian Film Awards.
Director
Ted Kotcheff
Toronto-born Kotcheff has produced and directed films in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada, including Fun with Dick and Jane, Joshua Then and Now, First Blood, and Weekend at Bernie’s. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. He has won Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Directors Guild of Canada and the CSAs.
Writers
Lionel Chetwynd, Mordecai Richler
Cast
Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid
Producer
John Kemeny
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
Classics, ESL, Family Relationships, Literary Adaptation
Original Language
English
Language Versions
EN CC, FR Dub
Canadian Distributor
eOne