The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin

Director Janet Perlman
Year 1981
Run Time 10min
Genre Animation, Comedy

The classic Cinderella fairytale is given an endearing twist, presented by a cast of penguins!

Director

Janet Perlman

Genres

Animation, Comedy

Interests

Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker

Original Language

No Dialogue

Menteuse (Compulsive Liar 2)

Director Émile Gaudreault
Year 2025
Run Time 102min
Genre Comedy

A sequel to the smash-hit comedy Menteur (Compulsive Liar), this hilarious film was the highest grossing Canadian film of the year in 2025. Virginie lies all the time, but only because she cares about protecting people’s feelings. As her lies build, her whole world gets turned on its head, when all her lies become true! 

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

Catherine Chabot, Antoine Bertrand, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé

Producers

Émile Gaudreault, Marie-Alexandra Forget, André Dupuy

Genre

Comedy

Interests

Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

French

Space Cadet

Director Kid Koala
Year 2025
Run Time 86min
Genre Animation, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
In this charming animated adventure set in the distant future, a young girl raised by a robot becomes a space cadet, and gets selected for her first interstellar adventure. As she encounters challenges on her quest, she is guided by the lessons and memories of her childhood.

Director

Kid Koala

Writer

Mylène Chollet

Producer

Ginette Petit

Genres

Animation, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Interests

Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

No Dialogue

Deux femmes en or (Two Women)

Director Chloé Robichaud
Year 2025
Run Time 100min
Genre Comedy, Drama
Two mothers living next door to each other each feel overwhelmed by societal pressures, and undervalued in their respective marriages. When one enters into a spontaneous affair, it sends both of them on a journey of self-realization.
 

Director

Chloé Robichaud

Writer

Catherine Léger

Cast

Laurence Leboeuf, Mani Soleymanlou, Karine Gonthier-Hyndman

Producers

Martin Paul-Hus, Catherine Léger

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interests

Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

French

Mille secrets, mille dangers (Lovely Day)

Director Philippe Falardeau
Year 2025
Run Time 119min
Genre Comedy, Drama
In this new comedy from Philippe Falardeau, a neurotic groom finds his anxieties and insecurities bubbling to the surface as plans start to go awry on the day of his wedding, threatening to spoil the big day.

Director

Philippe Falardeau

Québécois director and screenwriter Falardeau has won more than 32 international awards for his films, which include Monsieur Lazhar, La moitié gauche du frigo, C’est pas moi, je le jure!, The Good Lie, Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre, and My Salinger Year. He also directed the TV shows Le temps des framboises, and Lac-Mégantic - ceci n’est pas un accident

Writers

Philippe Falardeau, Alain Farah

Cast

Rose-Marie Perreault, Clodine Desrochers, Georges Khabbaz

Producers

Luc Déry, Kim McCraw

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interests

Family Relationships, Literary Adaptation

Original Language

French

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

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

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

The End of Sex

Director Sean Garrity
Year 2022
Run Time 87min
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
2026 spotlight contributor Emily Hampshire
Gifted a brief reprieve from the pressures of parenthood with their kids off at a sleepaway camp, Josh (Jonas Chernick) and Emma (Emily Hampshire) decide to use the opportunity to attempt to rekindle the passion in their relationship. Their efforts to spice things up quickly lead to a series of hilarious misadventures with unexpected complications.

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