Out Standing

Director Mélanie Charbonneau
Year 2025
Run Time 106min
Genre Drama
An eye-opening look at Sandra Perron’s journey through the Canadian military, chronicling her start in basic training, to her rise as the first female officer in the organization’s history and the circumstances leading to her controversial resignation.

Director

Mélanie Charbonneau

Quebec-based director Charbonneau started her career directing commercials. Her first short film, Seule (Single), played at several international festivals, including Cannes, and her short film Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous collected over 30 prizes at festivals internationally. Fabuleuses (Fabulous) was her first feature. She has also directed episodes of Je ne suis pas un robot (I am Not a Robot).

 

Writers

Mélanie Charbonneau, Martine Pagé, Sandra Perron

Cast

Antoine Olivier Pilon, Nina Kiri, Vincent Leclerc

Producers

Marcel Giroux, Julia Rosenberg

Genre

Drama

Interests

Biography, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, History, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Meadowlarks

Director Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Year 2025
Run Time 91min
Genre Drama
Four siblings, torn apart by the Sixties Scoop, reunite for one week in Banff, Alberta. Inspired by her 2017 documentary Birth of a Family on the same subject, Meadowlarks is a moving drama that features emotional performances, and thoughtfully explores the generational effects of the Sixties Scoop on Indigenous families.

Director

Tasha Hubbard (Cree)

Hubbard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and an associate professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies. Her NFB documentary 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 Familynîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which won 14 awards, including the CSA for best documentary and Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2019. She is a founding director of the International Buffalo Relations Institute. Her documentary Singing Back the Buffalo won three awards and was nominated for four others.

Writer

Tasha Hubbard (Cree)

Cast

Carmen Moore (Wet'suwet'en), Michael Greyeyes (Plains Cree), Michelle Thrush (Cree)

Producers

Tyler Hagan, Julia Rosenberg

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Aki

Director Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe)
Year 2025
Run Time 83min
Genre Documentary
A visually stunning documentary following a Northern Ontario Anishinaabe community over the course of a year. With almost no spoken dialogue, and a strong focus on the natural beauty of the land, this poetic portrait is truly unique.
 

Director

Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe)

Writer

Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe)

Producers

Darlene Naponse (Anishinaabe), Jamie Manning

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

Other Language

Nika & Madison

Director Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)
Year 2025
Run Time 87min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Madison (Star Slade) returns from university to the reserve where she grew up and receives a frosty welcome from her estranged cousin, Nika (Ellyn Jade). After a night out leads to a violent encounter with a police officer, the two find themselves in a dire situation. Fearing they won't be believed, and with the authorities closing in, they go on the run together, and begin to rediscover the close friendship they thought they’d lost.

Eva Thomas’ urgent and thoughtful debut film premiered at TIFF to critical acclaim, was nominated for the Director’s Guild of Canada Team Award, and won several awards at festivals internationally.

“A gripping film that tackles systemic racism through the bond of two Indigenous women. Powered by authentic performances, it’s a timely, unflinching, and deeply human story.” — Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots
 

Director

Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)

Writers

Michael McGowan, Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)

Cast

Ellyn Jade (Ojibwe), Star Slade, Shawn Doyle

Producer

Eva Thomas (Ojibwe)

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Gagne ton ciel (The Cost of Heaven)

Director Mathieu Denis
Year 2025
Run Time 96min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Nacer has a good life, with a stable job, a loving family and a nice house. But what he really wants is a great life, with all the luxuries that come with it. When he’s passed over for a promotion he thought he deserved, he becomes obsessed with still achieving the wealth he thinks will make him happy, sending him on a dangerous downward spiral.

A perfectly crafted modern parable, this slow-burn thriller from acclaimed director Mathieu Denis will have you on the edge of your seat.

“Like a banquet that gets better dish by dish, so does this picture reward anyone willing to sit before the plate to be served a stylish rendition of a sweet life turned sour.” — Kent Hill, Film Threat
 

Director

Mathieu Denis

Denis is a filmmaker who has directed the short films Le silence nous fera écho, and Code 13 (which was named to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten, and won him a Best Director Award at the Fantasia International Film Festival), and the features Laurentia, Corbo, The Cost of Heaven, and Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves), which won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF.

 

Writers

Mathieu Denis, Alexandre Auger

Cast

Meriem Medjkane, Samir Guesmi, Crixus Lapointe

Producer

Hany Ouichou

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Family Relationships

Original Language

French

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood

Directors Andy Jones, Michael Jones
Year 1986
Run Time 110min
Genre Comedy
2026 spotlight contributor Mary Walsh
Faustus Bidgood is a man torn between very different realities. In one, he’s a mundane clerk at the Newfoundland Department of Education, diligently fulfilling his duties. In the other, he’s a prophet and revolutionary that is unexpectedly leading Newfoundland’s quest to secede from Canada. 

This brilliantly wacky and satirical cult comedy took almost a decade to make and was the first film to be produced entirely in Newfoundland. It was nominated for three Genie Awards including Best Screenplay.

Directors

Andy Jones, Michael Jones

Writers

Andy Jones, Michael Jones

Cast

Andy Jones, Greg Malone

Producers

Andy Jones, Michael Jones

Genre

Comedy

Interest

Cult & Offbeat Cinema

Original Language

English

40 Acres

Director R.T. Thorne
Year 2024
Run Time 113min
Genre Action/Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
In the aftermath of a series of devastating plagues leading to a global food shortage, a former soldier and her family try to make the best of their isolated life on a small farm. But as they become the target of a violent militia trying to take over their land, they are forced into a defensive battle that they didn’t want, but are more than prepared for.

Anchored by an incredible performance from Danielle Deadwyler, 40 Acres is a pulse-pounding action thriller that was met with critical acclaim when it premiered at TIFF, and was named to their annual Canada’s Top Ten list.

“A riveting and fiercely political thriller as poignant as a T.S. Eliot poem and as gory as a George A. Romero flick.” — Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail

Director

R.T. Thorne

Writers

R.T. Thorne, Glenn Taylor, Lora Campbell

Cast

Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Greyeyes (Plains Cree), Kataem O'Connor

Producer

Jennifer Holness

Genres

Action/Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller

Interest

Black Filmmaker

Original Languages

Cree, English

The Apprentice

Director Ali Abbasi
Year 2024
Run Time 122min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Long before he set his sights on politics, Donald Trump (Stan) had a singular ambition - to expand his real estate empire and take over New York City. This drive, and his willingness to do anything to make it happen, makes him the perfect protégé for notorious attorney Roy Cohn. As their relationship develops through the 70s and 80s, Trump makes his fortune — but at what cost?

Featuring Academy Award nominated performances by Stan and Strong, and winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture, this revelatory film is truly a biopic unlike any other.

“Thoughtful and inspired in its direction, engaging in its visual textures and featuring fully committed performances from its primary cast.” — John Serba, Decider

Director

Ali Abbasi

Writer

Gabriel Sherman

Cast

Jeremy Strong, Sebastian Stan, Martin Donovan

Producers

Ali Abbasi, Ruth Treacy, Louis Tisné

Genre

Drama

Interests

Biography, History

Original Language

English

Boxcutter

Director Reza Dahya
Year 2024
Run Time 93min
Genre Comedy, Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Adam Nayman
Rome (Ashton James), an aspiring rapper, has a golden opportunity to share his work with a top record producer. But tragedy strikes as thieves break into his apartment, and steal his laptop with the only copies of his demos. With his career hanging in the balance, Rome goes on a quest across Toronto to recover his music before it’s too late.

This inspiring first feature from longtime radio host Rez Dahya won the award for Outstanding Direction in a Feature Film at the Reelworld Film Festival and went on to play at South By Southwest.

“It is a portrait of a city that feels both nuanced and universal” — Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail

Director

Reza Dahya

Writer

Chris Cromie

Cast

Zoe Lewis, Ashton James

Producers

Soko Negash, Reza Dahya, Alison Almeida, Kirthiga Rajanayagam

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interest

Arts and Culture

Original Language

English

Bye Bye Blues

Director Anne Wheeler
Year 1989
Run Time 117min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Jayne Eastwood
With her British husband fighting overseas during World War II, Daisy (Jenkins) returns home to Alberta with her family, in need of a way to support them. She starts taking piano and vocal lessons from Max (Ontkean), a trombonist in a local swing band that she joins, and starts to improve to the point where she can travel with them. With her husband missing in action and assumed dead, she becomes torn between her loyalty to him and her newfound feelings for Max.

This acclaimed musical drama is a true Canadian classic, and was nominated for twelve Genie Awards, winning three, including Best Actress for Jenkins.

Director

Anne Wheeler

Writer

Anne Wheeler

Cast

Michael Ontkean, Rebecca Jenkins, Chad Krowchuk, Jyoti Dhembre, Sumant Mastaher

Producers

Anne Wheeler, Arvi Liimatainen

Genre

Drama

Interests

Arts and Culture, Family Relationships, History

Original Language

English