Such a Long Journey

Director Sturla Gunnarsson
Year 1998
Run Time 113min
Genre Drama
Based on the award-winning novel by Canadian author Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey is the story of Gustad Noble (Seth), whose life is thrown into turmoil when he is asked by an old friend to deposit a large sum of money at the bank where he works. Set in Bombay on the eve of the war between India and Pakistan, Gustad’s troubles become an allegory for the chaos and upheaval occurring around him.

His son would rather become an artist than attend engineering school, his daughter has malaria and his wife (Razdan) spends an increasing amount of time with a neighbour that he fears is a witch. On top of all this, the local government threatens to tear down the wall surrounding his housing complex. Ingeniously, Gustad asks an artist (Chowdhry) to paint a multi-faith mural on the wall so believers of all religions will be compelled to save it. A rich and thoughtful portrayal of the power of spirituality and how to overcome even the most daunting of circumstances.

Director

Sturla Gunnarsson

Born in Iceland and raised in Vancouver, Gunnarsson earned an Oscar nomination for his debut feature doc, After the Axe. His films include Beowulf and Grendel, Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie and Monsoon, and he has directed hit TV shows such as Motive, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Art of More, and most recently Schitt’s Creek and Ransom.

Writer

Sooni Taraporevala

Cast

Roshan Seth, Soni Razdan, Ranjit Chowdhry, Om Puri, Kurush Deboo

Producers

Paul Stephens, Simon MacCorkindale

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Global Experiences, History, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

The Snow Walker

Director Charles Martin Smith
Year 2003
Run Time 110min
Genre Action/Adventure, Drama
When Arctic bush pilot Charlie Halliday (Pepper) is given two rare walrus tusks by a group of Inuit, he agrees to fly a mission of mercy, transporting a sick girl (Piugattuk) to a hospital. It’s the early 1950s, and the brash pilot has flown through the Arctic for years without seriously thinking about the people who live there or how they survive.

Everything changes when Charlie’s plane goes down in the wilderness, leaving him alone with the young girl. Forced to rely on each other, the two form a bond of friendship as the summer months quickly end and winter’s harsh conditions begin to take hold. Based on a story by acclaimed Canadian author Farley Mowat, this is a beautifully rendered tale, set in the gorgeous but desolate Arctic. Director Smith played a key role in an earlier Mowat adaptation, Never Cry Wolf.

The Snow Walker is a powerful, poignant and transcendent film.” — Bruce Kirkland, Jam! Movies

Director

Charles Martin Smith

Actor/director Smith is known for roles in the 1973 classic American Graffiti and The Untouchables. He has directed episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Da Vinci’s Inquest, and his films include Stone of Destiny and Dolphin Tale. He directed A Dog’s Way Home, and most recently A Christmas Gift From Bob. He is currently completing the film Maybe This Time.

Writer

Charles Martin Smith

Cast

Barry Pepper, Annabella Piugattuk, James Cromwell

Producers

Rob Merilees, William Vince

Genres

Action/Adventure, Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, ESL, Literary Adaptation, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

My Salinger Year

Director Philippe Falardeau
Year 2021
Run Time 101min
Genre Drama
Based on a true story, Joanna (Margaret Qualley), an aspiring writer, takes a job at a literary agency in New York that represents the notoriously reclusive writer J.D. Salinger, and is tasked with responding to his many fan letters. While it begins as a tedious desk job, she finds herself taken in by the letters and decides she wants to help the fans get their letters to their idol, going against the wishes of her strict manager (Sigourney Weaver).

Director

Philippe Falardeau

Quebecois 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, the political satire Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre, and the recent My Salinger Year as well as the TV show Le temps des framboises

Writers

Philippe Falardeau, Joanna Rakoff

Cast

Margaret Qualley, Sigourney Weaver, Douglas Booth, Seana Kerslake

Producers

Luc Déry, Kim McCraw

Genre

Drama

Interests

Arts and Culture, Literary Adaptation, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

The Dingles

Director Les Drew
Year 1988
Run Time 7min
Genre Family
Created by award-winning animator/director Les Drew, this animated short features Doris Dingle and her family of three cats. Sure to appeal to children of all ages, The Dingles shows what happens when an unexpected violent wind disrupts the family's idyllic life. The film is based on the book The Dingles, written by Helen Levchuk and illustrated by John Bianchi.

Director

Les Drew

Cast

Emma Levine, Christine Olivier

Producer

William Pettigrew

Genre

Family

Interests

Family Relationships, Literary Adaptation

Original Languages

English, French

Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire

Director Peter Raymont
Year 2004
Run Time 90min
Genre Documentary
Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire was in command of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission to Rwanda in 1994 when a bloody genocide erupted. Over the course of 100 days, more than 800,000 Tutsis were killed by Hutus, the rival tribe in their country.

Dallaire attempted to stop the killing by alerting the world through the United Nations and the international media. Though his attempts were unsuccessful, Dallaire emerged as a hero. Ten years later, Dallaire returns to Rwanda to personally commemorate the anniversary of that holocaust.

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005.

“Dallaire is not only the protagonist of Shake Hands with the Devil, he is a compelling reason to see it.” — Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Director

Peter Raymont

Raymont has produced and directed over 100 documentaries, which have earned more than 50 international awards. His producing credits include West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson, Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr and Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. He recently directed the doc Margaret Atwood: A Word after a Word after a Word is Power, and produced Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, which premiered at TIFF 2022.

Writer

Roméo Dallaire

Producers

Linda Lee Tracey, Peter Raymont

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Biography, Discrimination, Global Experiences, History, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Trickster

Director Michelle Latimer
Year 2020
Run Time 264min
Genre Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Jared (Oulette), a teenaged drug dealer in Kitimat, BC, finds his life upended by a series of preternatural events that expose the magical undercurrent both in his community and in his own family. When a mysterious stranger (Queypo) comes into town looking for his mother (Lightning, in a CSA-winning performance), Jared is forced to come to terms with his own powers in order to save the people he loves.

Based on the critically-acclaimed novel Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (Haisla/Heiltsuk) and steeped in Haisla mythology, Trickster was named by Playback as the top scripted series of 2020 and received 11 CSA nominations, winning three.

Director

Michelle Latimer

A filmmaker and actor, Latimer’s first short, Choke, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her credits include several documentaries and dramatic shorts, such as The Underground and Nuuca. She has directed the television series Rise, Burden of Truth and Trickster.

Cast

Crystle Lightning (Cree), Joel Oulette (Cree/Métis), Kalani Queypo (Blackfoot), Anna Lambe (Inuk)

Genres

Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Literary Adaptation, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Alias Grace

Director Mary Harron
Year 2017
Run Time 267min
Genre Drama
Inspired by true events, Alias Grace tells the story of Grace Marks (Gadon), a housekeeper who is convicted of the murders of her employers in the mid-1800s. When a psychiatrist, Dr. Jordan (Holcroft), is brought in to make a report on her condition, Grace is given the opportunity to tell her side of the story and plead her innocence. As a high profile case with the general public waiting on the outcome of their sessions, Dr. Jordan attempts increasingly radical procedures, while at the same time slowly developing romantic feelings for Grace. As their relationship reaches a head, new truths come to light and both of their lives are changed forever.

Adapted from Margaret Atwood’s Giller prize-winning novel of the same name, this miniseries has received universal acclaim, earning 5 Canadian Screen Awards including best limited series.

Director

Mary Harron

Harron is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter, and former entertainment critic. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including writing I Shot Andy Warhol, and co-writing as well as directing American Psycho. Her most recent film, Daliland starring Sir Ben Kingsley, premiered at TIFF 2022.

Writer

Sarah Polley

Cast

Edward Holcroft, Rebeccah Liddiard, Sarah Gadon

Producers

Sarah Polley, D.J. Carson

Genre

Drama

Interests

Biography, Female Filmmaker, History, Literary Adaptation

Original Language

English

Monkey Beach

Director Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis)
Year 2020
Run Time 105min
Genre Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

In this charming supernatural mystery, Lisa (Dove), a young Haisla woman with clairvoyant abilities, returns to her hometown of Kitamaat and tries to come to terms with the fact that her brother Jimmy (Oulette) has gone missing at sea. Soon, she finds herself drifting between her life in Kitamaat and the spirit world, in an attempt to save him.

Set in the stunning natural landscape of the Pacific Northwest, Monkey Beach draws on Haisla symbolism and culture. This debut feature from renowned documentarian Loretta Todd is a heartfelt and often funny look at grief and the importance of family.

Based on the celebrated novel by Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach received international acclaim and a CSA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Director

Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis)

Writers

Johnny Darrell, Andrew Duncan

Cast

Grace Dove (Secwépemc), Adam Beach (Anishinaabe), Nathaniel Arcand (Cree), Joel Oulette (Cree/Métis)

Producers

Loretta Todd (Cree/Métis), Paddy Bickerton, Jason James, Matthew O'Connor, Patricia Poskitt

Genres

Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Literary Adaptation

Original Language

English

The Stone Angel

Director Kari Skogland
Year 2007
Run Time 115min
Genre Drama
Margaret Laurence's much-lauded heroine Hagar Shipley may by 90 years old, but she is not ready to lie down and die just yet. When her son, Marvin (Dylan Baker), takes his mother to look at a nursing home, she takes it as her cue to leave her family behind and set out on one great last journey. Her mission is to locate the seaside home she remembers from her youth, but Hagar's memory is quickly fading, making it difficult for her to distinguish the past from the present. As she makes her way toward the seashore, Hagar realizes her time is running far too short to make up for a lifetime of unacknowledged mistakes.

Director

Kari Skogland

Writer

Kari Skogland

Cast

Ellen Burstyn, Dylan Baker, Sheila McCarthy, Judy Marshak

Producers

Kari Skogland, Liz Jarvis

Genre

Drama

Interests

Female Filmmaker, History, Literary Adaptation

Original Language

English

Payback

Director Jennifer Baichwal
Year 2011
Run Time 82min
Genre Documentary
Based on Atwood’s bestselling book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, this doc by award-winning director Baichwal is a sweeping examination of the notion of indebtedness.

Director

Jennifer Baichwal

Baichwal and de Pencier are known for their CSA-winning docs, Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark and Anthropocene. They are frequent collaborators, with Baichwal directing and de Pencier as her cinematographer and producer. Their credits include The Holier it Gets, Act of God and Payback, and their newest film together, Into the Weeds.

Writer

Jennifer Baichwal

Producer

Ravida Din

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Female Filmmaker, Literary Adaptation, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English