The Breadwinner

Director Nora Twomey
Year 2017
Run Time 94min
Genre Animation, Drama, Family
Parvana (Saara Chaudry) is an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. When her father is wrongfully arrested, Parvana cuts off her hair and dresses like a boy in order to be able to get a job and help to support her family. Working alongside her friend Shauzia, Parvana discovers a new world of freedom and danger.

With courage and imagination, Parvana draws strength from the fantastical stories she invents, as she embarks on a quest to find her father and reunite her family. The Breadwinner is an inspiring and beautifully animated tale about the power of stories to sustain hope and carry us through dark times.

The Breadwinner has been nominated for 38 international awards, including six Canadian Screen Awards and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Director

Nora Twomey

Twomey is an animator whose credits include directing the Oscar-nominated The Secret Of Kells, as well as producing the Oscar-nominated film Wolfwalkers . She also created the popular and long-running children’s show Puffin Rock. She most recently directed the animated features My Father’s Dragon and The Brilliant World of Tom Gates.

Writers

Anita Doron, Deborah Ellis

Cast

Soma Chhaya, Noorin Gulamgaus, Saara Chaudry

Genres

Animation, Drama, Family

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Languages

English, French

L’Arracheuse de temps (The Time Thief)

Director Francis Leclerc
Year 2021
Run Time 105min
Genre Drama, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

In this quirky tale full of magic and wonder, the small town of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton decides to eliminate death once and for all. When the character of Death arrives in their village seemingly determined to take their souls, the extraordinary townsfolk decide to fight against their mortality as best as they can. In this story, death is not an end, but just the beginning of a fantastic legend.

 

Based on the acclaimed novel by Fred Pellerin, L’Arracheuse de temps was a box office success and received 5 Canadian Screen Award nominations, including for Pellerin’s screenplay.

Director

Francis Leclerc

Francis Leclerc is a Québécois filmmaker who has directed over 20 short films and numerous features. He won Genie Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay for his second feature, Mémoires Affectives, as well as the Jutra Award for Best Direction. His latest film, L’Arracheuse de temps, was nominated for four Canadian Screen Awards and won one. He is currently working on the upcoming feature Le Plongeur.  

Writer

Fred Pellerin

Cast

Jade Charbonneau, Céline Bonnier, Marc Messier, Roy Dupuis

Producer

Antonello Cozzolino

Genres

Drama, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Interests

Literary Adaptation, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

French

La guerre des tuques (Snowtime!)

Directors Jean-François Pouliot, François Brisson
Year 2015
Run Time 82min
Genre Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
This remake of the 1984 French Canadian classic La guerre des tuques (The Dog Who Stopped the War) catapults the story of the most epic snowball fight ever into the realm of 3D animation.

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.

François Brisson

Brisson is a visual artist, animation director, and comic book creator who was instrumental in the early development of Quebec's animation scene, directing the animated films Gene Fusion, La guerre des tuques (Snowtime!), and La course des tuques (Racetime),  as well as episodes of Arthur and The Lost World.

 

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

Indigenous-made Short Films

Director Various
Genre Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
In addition to the feature films in this catalogue, we also offer a wealth of Indigenous-made short films suitable for various grade levels. They cover a variety of themes and topics, and encompass fiction and documentary, live action and animation. For the full list, check out our Short Film Programme and filter by Indigenous filmmaker. 

 

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

Short Film Programme

Director Shorts Programme
Year 2022
Genre Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
In addition to the feature films in this catalogue, we also offer a wealth of Canadian short films suitable for various grade levels. They cover a variety of themes and topics, and encompass fiction and documentary, live action and animation. For the full list, check out our Short Film Programme page, and use the filters at the top to find something that meets your needs. 

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

Shorts Programme

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

Tia and Piujuq

Director Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Year 2018
Run Time 80min
Genre Drama, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Tia (Bshara) is a 10-year-old refugee from Syria, living in Montreal and struggling to make friends and feel comfortable in her new environment. While her parents are preoccupied with her mother’s pregnancy and the challenges of everyday life in a new place, Tia is left mostly to her own devices. 

Everything changes when she discovers a magical portal that transports her to Igloolik, a community in the Arctic Circle. There she meets Piujuq (Tulugarjuk), an Inuk girl who she quickly forms a deep bond with in spite of their cultural differences. Through their friendship, the stories of Piujuq’s grandmother, and their wanderings across the striking northern landscape, the girls are immersed in Inuit myth and magic. 

A heartwarming magical-realist fable about friendship and discovery, Tia and Piujuq is a delightful adventure for all ages. 

Director

Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)

Tulugarjuk is an actor, throat singer, writer and director who has starred in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, L’iceberg, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen and Maïna, among other films. Tia and Piujuq was her directorial debut. She wrote, directed and starred in What We See, which won the Amplify Voices Award at TIFF 2023.  

Writers

Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk), Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Samuel Cohn-Cousineau

Cast

Tia Bshara, Nuvvija Tulugarjuk (Inuk), Madeline Piujuq Ivalu (Inuk)

Genres

Drama, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Indigenous Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads

Original Languages

English, French, Inuktitut, Other Language

Hockey Night

Director Paul Shapiro
Year 1984
Run Time 74min
Genre Drama, Family
Cathy (Follows), an avid youth hockey player, moves with her mother to Parry Sound and finds no leagues for girls her age. After securing a spot in the lineup of an all-boys team, she finds that regardless of how well she plays on the ice, she continues to face opposition from a major sponsor who insists he doesn’t want her on the team. As the team nears a major final, she has to rely on the support of her teammates, and particularly its star player (Bisson) to let her achieve her hockey dreams.

A Canadian sports classic, Hockey Night features the on-screen debut of Yannick Bisson (Murdoch Mysteries) and memorable performances from Rick Moranis and Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables).

Director

Paul Shapiro

Writers

Jack Blum, Paul Shapiro

Cast

Megan Follows, Rick Moranis, Gail Youngs

Producer

Martin Harbury

Genres

Drama, Family

Interests

Classics, Discrimination, Sports, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang

Director George Bloomfield
Year 1999
Run Time 96min
Genre Family

After a shopping trip gone wrong, Jacob Two Two goes on an adventure to liberate a terrible prison run by a crazy wrestler. Based on the classic Mordecai Richler novel.

Director

George Bloomfield

Writer

Tim Burns

Cast

Gary Busey, Mark McKinney, Miranda Richardson, Max Morrow, Ice- T

Producers

Greg Dummett, Christina Jennings

Genre

Family

Interests

Arts and Culture, Literary Adaptation

Original Language

English