La soeur de Margot (Margot’s Sister)

Director Christine Doyon
Year 2022
Run Time 17min
Genre Drama

A shy pre-teen struggles when her classmates begin to make fun of her sister’s disability, until she finds the courage within herself to stand up to them.

Director

Christine Doyon

Genre

Drama

Interests

Bullying, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

French

Who’s Yer Father?

Director Jeremy Larter
Year 2023
Run Time 110min
Genre Comedy, Drama
Named for a question that’s an essential conversation opener in a place where everyone’s got some kind of connection, Jeremy Larter’s comedy feels like a thoroughly authentic expression of Prince Edward Island’s very particular sensibility. It’s also wildly funny for its loopy spin on detective-movie tropes. The gumshoe in this case is Larry (Chris Locke), a private investigator of obviously limited means and abilities who nonetheless ends up smack dab in a juicy case involving compromising photos, blackmail and black-market lobster. All of this makes for a very good time thanks to Larter’s brand of lunacy and the comedic chops of players like Locke and Susan Kent as Rhonda, a convenience store clerk who becomes Larry’s eager sidekick as he bumbles his way through this Maritimer mystery. There’s a local connection too: formerly from Prince Edward Island, Larter is now a resident of Prince Edward County.

Director

Jeremy Larter

Writer

Jeremy Larter

Cast

Susan Kent, Chris Locke, Jess Salgueiro

Producers

Jenna MacMillan, Jeremy Larter, Jason Arsenault

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interests

Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Tautuktavuk (What We See)

Directors Carol Kunnuk (Inuk), Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Year 2023
Run Time 82min
Genre Drama

Blurring the line between narrative and non-fiction, Uyarak and her eldest sister Saqpinak, embark on a difficult healing journey after a traumatic event that reminds them of the importance of community, culture, and family. Tautuktavuk (What We See) explores issues of trauma, resilience, and domestic violence from the perspective of two Inuit women.

Directors

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), Gillian Robinson, Samuel Cohn-Cousineau, Norman Cohn

Cast

Carol Kunnuk (Inuk), Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)

Producers

Jonathan Frantz, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

Inuktitut

Le temps d’un été (One Summer)

Director Louise Archambault
Year 2023
Run Time 120min
Genre Comedy, Drama
Down on his luck and facing financial ruin, a priest is unexpectedly bequeathed a vacation home in the Bas-du-Fleuve region. Feeling inspired to make the most of this gift, he brings a group of homeless people with him to the property, to provide them with one beautiful summer.

Featuring breathtaking cinematography and powerful performances, this latest feature from acclaimed director Louise Archambeault demonstrates the power of love and care, and the importance of supporting those who have fallen on hard times.

“Archambault delivers a delicately balanced, deeply moving story with One Summer.” – Pat Mullen, That Shelf

Director

Louise Archambault

Archambault’s first short film, Atomic Saké, won the Jutra Award for best short. Her first feature, Familia, won her the Jutra for best debut feature, and her follow-up Gabrielle was nominated for six CSAs. Archambault also directed the TV series Catastrophe and wrote and directed Il pleuvait des oiseaux, which premiered at TIFF. She has also directed the films Merci pour tout, Le temps d’un été, and Irena’s Vow, which won the Audience Award at VIFF.

 

Writer

Marie Vien

Cast

Patrice Robitaille, Sylvio Archambault, Élise Guilbault, Guy Nadon

Producers

Brigitte Léveillé, Antonello Cozzolino

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Interests

Family Relationships, LGBTQ2S+

Original Language

French

Cette maison (This House)

Director Miryam Charles
Year 2023
Run Time 75min
Genre Documentary, Drama, Experimental

Drawing from the events surrounding her fourteen-year-old cousin’s murder in 2008, director Miryam Charles wants to finally unpack her grief and the trauma associated with it. Through dream-like reenactments of her own childhood and an imagined life for her cousin, Charles delves into the changing emotional, political, and historical climates surrounding her family as Haitian-Canadians in Quebec.


This beautifully crafted film is a bold and thought-provoking look at family, and a moving tribute to a life tragically cut short.


“A daring blend of documentary and fantasy that invests a deeply personal drama with a wide historical scope.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Director

Miryam Charles

Charles is a filmmaker and cinematographer who has directed, produced, and shot many short films, including A Fortress, Drei Atlas, and Chanson pour le Nouveau Monde. She directed the features Mosaic, and Cette maison (This House), which premiered at the Berlinale Forum and was included in TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten, and Sight and Sound’s Best Films of the Year. She was the inaugural recipient of TIFF’s Charles Officer Award for her body of work.

 

Writer

Miryam Charles

Cast

Schelby Jean-Baptiste

Producer

Felix Dufour-Laperriere

Genres

Documentary, Drama, Experimental

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories

Original Language

French

Ru

Director Charles-Olivier Michaud
Year 2023
Run Time 120min
Genre Drama, Family
A family of Vietnamese refugees settles in Montreal in the hopes of starting a new life, charting successes and setbacks as they adapt to their new country. The film weaves together their experiences in Canada with a series of flashbacks to their comfortable life in Vietnam, the political upheaval that forced them to flee, and their perilous journey across the Pacific.

Brilliantly adapted from Kim Thúy’s Governor General Award-winning novel of the same name, this compassionate story of resilience in the face of adversity is uplifting and deeply moving.

“An exceptional and beautiful film.” – Isobel Grieve, Montréal Guardian

Director

Charles-Olivier Michaud

Charles-Olivier Michaud is a director, writer, and producer from Saint-Romuald, Quebec. His directing credits include 4 Minute Mile, On the Beat, and Snow & Ashes, which have won awards from the Slamdance Film Festival and the Washington DC Independent Film Festival. Ru had its world premiere at TIFF 2023 and was nominated for nine Canadian Screen Awards.

Writers

Kim Thúy, Charles-Olivier Michaud, Jacques Davidts

Cast

Chloé Djandji, Jean Bui, Chantal Thuy

Producers

André Dupuy, Marie-Alexandra Forget

Genres

Drama, Family

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Global Experiences, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories

Original Languages

French, Other Language

The Queen of My Dreams

Director Fawzia Mirza
Year 2023
Run Time 96min
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
Azra (Kaur), a young Queer Pakistani-Canadian woman, has long felt disconnected from her mother, Mariam (Bucha). Reuniting in Pakistan for her father’s funeral in 1999, flashbacks to 30 years earlier show a young Mariam (played in a Canadian Screen Award-winning dual role by Kaur) falling in love with Azra’s father, Hassan (Haq). Jumping back and forth between these two coming-of-age stories, the connections between mother and daughter become more and more clear – but will they realise this in time to save their relationship? 

Sumptuously capturing the feel of a Bollywood film while telling a relatable cross-continental story, Fawzia Mirza’s impressive debut feature is an instant classic.

“Mirza has created a film bursting with creative energy and distinctive aesthetic sensibilities.” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter

Director

Fawzia Mirza

Mirza is a writer, producer, actor and director whose work focuses on the Queer and Muslim experience in Canada, particularly on the intersection between the two. Her short films include The First Session, I Know Her, The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night and The Queen of My Dreams, which she adapted into her critically acclaimed debut feature of the same name.

Writer

Fawzia Mirza

Cast

Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq

Producers

Marc Tetreault, Jason Levangie, Andria Wilson

Genres

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Interests

Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, LGBTQ2S+, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads

Original Languages

English, Other Language

Bones of Crows

Director Marie Clements (Métis/Dene)
Year 2022
Run Time 124min
Genre Drama

A powerful and moving exploration of the horrors and lasting impact of the Residential School System, Bones of Crows follows Aline Spears (Dove), a Cree musical prodigy forcibly removed from her family as a young girl. Following her traumatic experiences, Aline serves her country as a Cree Code Talker in World War II, and thereafter tries to carve out a life for herself, but the memories of what happened to her and her siblings never leaves her. Finding that her story is one shared by hundreds of thousands displaced Indigenous people, she sets herself on a pursuit of justice for herself and future generations.

This courageous generation-spanning epic premiered at TIFF to rave reviews, and received five nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards including Best Original Screenplay.

“[It] should be required viewing for all Canadians.” – Kim Hughes, Original Cin

 

Director

Marie Clements (Métis/Dene)

Clements works within a variety of mediums including film, television, radio, and live performance. Her work has screened at Cannes, TIFF, MOMA, VIFF, American Indian Film Festival and imagineNATIVE, and has garnered numerous awards. Her films include the musical documentary The Road Forward and Red Snow, her dramatic debut. She is currently directing the TV show Bones of Crows.

Writer

Marie Clements (Métis/Dene)

Cast

Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis), Phillip Lewitski (Mohawk), Grace Dove (Secwépemc), Rémy Girard, Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki)

Producers

Trish Dolman, Christine Haebler

Genre

Drama

Interests

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

Original Languages

Cree, English

Through Black Spruce

Director Don McKellar
Year 2018
Run Time 111min
Genre Drama, Thriller
The disappearance of a young Cree woman in Toronto traumatizes her Northern Ontario family, and sends her twin sister on a journey south to find her.

Director

Don McKellar

A Member of the Order of Canada, McKellar is a prolific writer, filmmaker and actor whose work has garnered numerous awards. He wrote Highway 61, The Red Violin and Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, and he wrote, directed and starred in Childstar and Last Night (which won the Prix de la jeunesse at the Cannes film festival). As an actor, he has starred in films such as Meditation Park and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future. McKellar has also worked extensively in television, directing the series Sensitive Skin, as well as creating and showrunning The Sympathizer with Park Chan-wook.

Writer

Barbara Samuels

Cast

Tanaya Beatty (Kwakwakaʼwakw)

Producers

Tina Keeper (Cree), Phyllis Laing, Robert Lantos, Barbara Samuels

Genres

Drama, Thriller

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Big Drive

Director Anita Lebeau
Year 2011
Run Time 9min
Genre Animation, Family

Stuck in a seemingly endless car ride with nothing to do, four sisters use their imagination to create something amazing together.

Director

Anita Lebeau

Writer

Anita Lebeau

Cast

Nathalie Daudet, Emma Collins, Annie Rose Daudet, Maggie Collins, Anita Lebeau

Producer

Derek Mazur

Genres

Animation, Family

Interests

Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker

Original Language

English