Genre: Romance
Shook
Director
Amar Wala
Amar Wala is an award-winning Toronto-based filmmaker and alumni of York University’s Film Program. His debut feature The Secret Trial 5 earned him jury recognition as an Emerging Filmmaker at Hot Docs and was named as one of the Top Ten Docs of the Decade by Realscreen. Wala has also directed and produced award-winning television series such as the acclaimed CBC Arts program In The Making and the award-winning comedy series Next Stop.
Writer
Adnan Khan
Cast
Saamer Usmani, Amy Forsyth, Pamela Sinha
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interest
Family Relationships
Original Language
English
The New Romantic
Director
Carly Stone
Writers
Carly Stone, Kyle Mann
Cast
Jessica Barden
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language
English
Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats)
With Heartbeats, Xavier Dolan captures the beautiful absurdity of unrequited love. Two friends fall for the same enigmatic stranger, and their friendship slowly unravels under the weight of fantasy and projection. Stylish, playful, and emotionally raw, the film examines how desire often says more about our own longing than about the person we chase. Dolan’s pop-infused aesthetic turns heartbreak into something both painfully relatable and strangely glamorous.
Director
Xavier Dolan
Dolan is an acclaimed filmmaker and actor, whose films have won over 90 awards internationally. J’ai tué ma mere and Heartbeats both won the Regards Jeunes Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Laurence Anyways won the Queer Palm at Cannes, and Best Canadian Feature at TIFF, and Mommy won the Jury Prize at Cannes, 10 Jutra awards and nine CSAs. He also directed Tom at the Farm, It’s Only the End of the World, Matthias & Maxine, and others.
Writer
Xavier Dolan
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Languages
English, French
Dead Lover
A foul-smelling gravedigger's romance ends in tragedy, spurring her to attempt a resurrection through a madcap series of science experiments. Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie’s film is a zany DIY horror that zaps fresh life into Mary Shelley's classic.
Director
Grace Glowicki
Producers
Yona Strauss, Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie
Genres
Comedy, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Original Language
English
The Mourning Suit
Director
Leonard Yakir
Writers
Leonard Yakir, Joe Wiesenfeld
Cast
Helen Cooperstein
Genres
Drama, Romance
Original Language
English
Midnight at the Paradise
Director
Vanessa Matsui
Writer
Bill Robertson
Cast
Liane Balaban, Allan Hawco, Kenneth Welsh
Producer
Bill Robertson
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Mile End Kicks
Director
Chandler Levack
Levack got her start directing music videos, which earned her two Juno Award nominations for Video of the Year. She went on to debut her first narrative short, We Forgot to Break Up, at TIFF 2017. Her first feature film, I Like Movies, premiered at TIFF 2022 and was named to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list. She also directed several episodes of the 2024 Crave series My Dead Mom.
Writer
Chandler Levack
Cast
Devon Bostick, Barbie Ferreira, Jay Baruchel
Producers
Matthew Miller, Pat Kiely
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Amour apocalypse (Peak Everything)
Director
Anne Émond
Émond's debut feature, Nuit #1, won the Claude Jutra Award for Best Feature by a first time filmmaker at the 2012 Genie Awards. Her other credits include the shorts La vie commence, Sophie Lavoie and Plus rien ne vouloir, and the features Nelly and Les êtres chers, which received seven Jutra Award nominations and won for Best Direction. Her most recent film is Manuel de la vie sauvage.
Writer
Anne Émond
Cast
Gilles Renaud, Eric K. Boulianne, Patrick Hivon, Piper Perabo
Producer
Sylvain Corbeil
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Interests
Environment, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
French
The End of Sex
Featuring outrageous performances by a terrific cast, this witty look at long term relationships is a fun and fresh entry into the romantic comedy genre.
“Heartfelt and funny in all the right places.” — Rachel Ho, Exclaim!
Director
Sean Garrity
Writer
Jonas Chernick
Cast
Jonas Chernick, Emily Hampshire
Producer
Justin Rebelo
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interest
Family Relationships
Original Language
English
Youngblood
Drawing inspiration from the 80s cult classic of the same name, Director Hubert Davis expertly captures the drama both on and off the ice, with incredible performances and exhilarating hockey sequences.
“In an age when sports movies often feel either overly sentimental or clumsily macho, ‘Youngblood’ finds a refreshing sweet spot that’s emotionally intelligent, grounded, and deeply human.” — Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots
Director
Hubert Davis
Davis’s first film, Hardwood, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Documentary. He went on to receive the Don Haig award at Hot Docs for Invisible City, and direct numerous award winning commercials, as well as the short films Aruba and Rivolta, which won a Cannes Film Lion, and the feature documentaries Giants of Africa and Black Ice, which premiered at TIFF in 2022 where it won the People’s Choice Documentary Award.
Writers
Seneca Aaron, Josh Epstein, Peter Markle
Cast
Shawn Doyle, Ashton James, Blair Underwood
Producers
Anthony Leo, Andrew Rosen
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interest
Sports
Original Language
English