Genre: Romance
Ava
Director
Lea Mysius
Writer
Lea Mysius
Cast
Laure Calamy, Juan Cano, Noee Abita, Tamara Cano
Producer
Jean-Louis Livi
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Love, Sex and Eating the Bones
Falling for the girl of his dreams and unable to perform, Michael must contend with the limits of fantasy or risk losing Jasmine. As the pair navigate the complex world of modern love, they must come to savour all that life brings – to “eat the bones” – in this raunchy yet crowd-pleasing romantic comedy.
Love, Sex and Eating the Bones was named Best Canadian First Feature at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival.
Director
Sudz Sutherland
Writers
Jennifer Holness, Sudz Sutherland
Cast
Meriaka Weathered, Mark Taylor, Hill Harper, Marlyne Barrett
Producer
Jennifer Holness
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interest
BIPOC Stories
Original Language
English
Stay the Night
Driven by amazing chemistry between the two leads, Stay the Night is a quiet and touching adventure that showcases both the beauty and the loneliness of Canada’s biggest city.
“A modern-day Before Sunrise” – Chris Knight, The National Post
Director
Renuka Jeyapalan
Writer
Renuka Jeyapalan
Cast
Joe Scarpellino, Andrea Bang
Producers
Glenn Cockburn, Brian Robertson
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, Female Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Molly Maxwell
Director
Sara St. Onge
Writer
Sara St. Onge
Cast
Lola Tash, Krista Bridges, Rob Stewart, Charlie Carrick
Producers
John Nadalin, Aeschylus Poulos, Mark Van de Ven
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
In this, one of his most personal films, Atom Egoyan plays a photographer hired to capture images of Armenian churches for a calendar. He takes his wife (real-life wife and frequent star Arsinée Khanjian) along as a translator, and as they travel with their Armenian guide, their relationship begins to unravel. While he struggles to connect to the history that surrounds them, his wife forms a deep bond with the place. Ultimately, the photographer returns to Canada with his pictures, but without his wife, who has gradually been drawn to her own ethnic roots and has fallen in love with their guide.
In a series of flash-forwards, the photographer struggles to accept the end of his relationship while his now-estranged wife leaves messages on his answering machine, asking why he doesn’t contact her. Visually arresting, thought-provoking and emotionally charged, Calendar is one of Egoyan’s greatest films, and won the Genie for Best Director and Screenplay.
Director
Atom Egoyan
Egoyan received the Governor General’s award in 2015 for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. He was the first-ever Canadian director to earn two Oscar nominations (for The Sweet Hereafter). His award-winning films include Exotica, Ararat and The Captive. His most recent film, Guest of Honour, premiered at TIFF 2019.
Writer
Atom Egoyan
Cast
Arsinée Khanjian, Ashot Adamyan, Atom Egoyan
Producers
Atom Egoyan, Arsinée Khanjian, Doris Hepp
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, Global Experiences
Original Language
English
Brooklyn
Brooklyn tells the profoundly moving story of Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother's home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her new life is disrupted by her past, and Eilis must choose between two countries and two paths in life.
Director
John Crowley
Writers
Nick Hornby, Colm Tóibín
Cast
Saoirse Ronan, Hugh Gormley, Brid Brennan
Producers
Finola Dwyer, Pierre Even, Susan Mullen, Amanda Posey, Marie-Claude Poulin
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Café de Flore
Director
Jean-Marc Vallée
Vallée garnered nine Genie nominations for his first feature, Liste noire. C.R.A.Z.Y. was a box office hit and was honoured at film festivals worldwide. He directed the Oscar-nominated films Dallas Buyers Club and Wild, as well as Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the hit TV series Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects. He tragically passed away in December 2021.
Writer
Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast
Vanessa Paradis, Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent, Evelyne Brochu
Producers
Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Arts and Culture, Family Relationships, LGBTQ2S+
Original Language
French
Félix et Meira (Felix and Meira)
In this story of unlikely romance, Meira (Yaron), a young Hasidic Jewish mother, and Felix (Dubreuil), a young francophone man who is mourning the death of his estranged father, prove the age-old saying: opposites attract.
Showing off the multiculturalism and diversity of Montreal’s beautiful Mile-End district, this unique gem of a movie thrusts its characters into situations they are not familiar with and tells a relatable tale of human connection, which triumphs in spite of many cultural, personal and faith-based differences.
For his unusual love story, director Maxime Giroux took home the Toronto International Film Festival’s Best Canadian Feature Film Award and a slew of international prizes.
Director
Maxime Giroux
Writers
Maxime Giroux, Alexandre Laferrière
Cast
Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron, Luzer Twersky
Producers
Sylvain Corbeil, Nancy Grant
Genres
Drama, Romance
Original Languages
English, French
Aviliaq (Entwined)
Director
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk)
Arnaquq-Baril is an award-winning Inuk filmmaker whose work has screened on CBC, APTN, and at festivals like Hot Docs, imagineNATIVE, TIFF and many others. Her credits include the award-winning doc Angry Inuk, Aviliaq, Inuit High Kick, Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos and The Embargo Project. She also produced the award winning film The Grizzlies, the 2022 film Slash/Back, and co-founded the Inuit production company Red Marrow Media. She is currently producing the documentary Twice Colonized.
Writer
Dallas Varcoe
Cast
Miali Buscemi, Malaya Qaunirq Chapman
Producers
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk), Miriam Levin-Gold, Anne-Marie Stuart
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
Inuktitut
Indigenous-made Short Films
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