Interest: Newcomer Stories
Double Happiness
Sandra Oh won the Best Actress Genie for her performance. The film also won prizes in Vancouver, Berlin and Turin.
Director
Mina Shum
Vancouver-based Shum is best known for her feature films Double Happiness and Meditation Park, both starring Sandra Oh. Her documentary Ninth Floor was on TIFF’s 2015 list of Canada’s top ten films. Other features include Long Life; Happiness and Prosperity; Drive She Said; and One (Nine). She has also directed episodes of Frankie Drake Mysteries, Murdoch Mysteries, The Good Doctor, and October Faction.
Writer
Mina Shum
Cast
Sandra Oh, Callum Keith Rennie
Producers
Stephen Hegyes, Rose Lam Waddell
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, ESL, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre (My Internship in Canada)
Frozen in the spotlight, Guibord’s closest ally becomes Souverain (Exantus), his naïve intern from Haiti, who commands the situation with playful quips, charming idealism and a good dose of humour.
Written and directed by Oscar nominee Philippe Falardeau, Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre’s satirical spin is a fun — and relevant — political farce. The film was nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Picture, and earned the Special Jury Citation for Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
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, 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.
Writer
Philippe Falardeau
Cast
Patrick Huard, Suzanne Clément, Irdens Exantus
Producers
Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics
Original Languages
English, French
In her last year of high school, straight-A student Antigone (Ricci) finds her life suddenly overturned when one of her brothers is murdered by a police officer, while the other is arrested. Having lived in Montreal since arriving as a refugee with her family over a decade ago, Antigone faces a terrible choice. She wants desperately to help her brother in prison, but doing so will put not only her promising future in jeopardy, but also her ability to stay in Canada. As her story becomes a media sensation, Antigone becomes a symbol for a movement of justice, as she makes a decision that will change her life forever.
Despite being based on a tragedy over 2,000 years old, Antigone is an urgent and extremely timely story. It was the official Canadian submission for International Feature Film at the Oscars in 2019.
“An intelligent, moving reworking of Sophocles' tragedy, electrified by a breakout turn from star Nahéma Ricci.” - Jessica Kiang, Variety
Director
Sophie Deraspe
Deraspe has made several feature and documentary films, including Rechercher Victor Pellerin, Les loups and Les signes vitaux, which won 15 awards and played over 30 film festivals worldwide. Her documentary work includes A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile, and the series La Vie nous arrive. Most recently, she directed the series Bête noire, and the series Motel Paradis.
Writer
Sophie Deraspe
Cast
Nahéma Ricci, Rawad El-Zein, Antoine DesRochers
Producer
Marc Daigle
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Monsieur Lazhar
Coming from a completely different culture, Monsieur Lazhar must go through a steep learning curve as he comes up against a stubborn class of quirky 11- and 12-year-olds and the school’s rigid administrative standards. And while the school goes through the long process of grieving and healing, it is gradually suspected that Monsieur Lazhar is not entirely who he has claimed to be. This is a touching story of loss and an emotionally powerful exploration of how adults help children cope with intractable issues of life and death for which none of us is truly equipped.
The film was short-listed for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
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.
Writer
Philippe Falardeau
Cast
Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx, Bridgette Poupart
Producers
Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Newcomer Stories
Original Language
French
Found
Director
Paramita Nath
Writers
Souvankham Thammavongsa, Paramita Nath
Cast
Souvankham Thammavongsa
Producers
Paramita Nath, Ted Biggs
Genre
Experimental
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Newcomer Stories
Original Language
English
Welcome to Canada
In this feature drama based on an actual incident, Newfoundlanders share their food, culture and homes with a group of Tamil refugees found off the coast. Starring Brendan Foley and Noreen Power.
Director
John N. Smith
Smith’s credits include award-winning TV docudramas such as The Boys of St. Vincent, Dieppe and Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story, as well as numerous feature films, including Dangerous Minds, A Cool Dry Place, Geraldine’s Fortune and Love & Savagery among others. Sitting in Limbo won the Best Canadian Feature Film award at TIFF 1986.
Writers
John N. Smith, Sam Grana
Cast
Noreen Power, Brendan Foley
Producer
Sam Grana
Genre
Drama
Interests
Classics, Newcomer Stories
Original Language
English
The World is Bright
Director
Ying Wang
Writer
Ying Wang
Producers
Jordan Paterson, Ying Wang, Su Jian Ping
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
The Waiting Room
A Bosnian immigrant, once a famous actor in his home country, struggles with the challenges of a new life in Canada and the memories of what he was forced to leave behind. Starring Jasmin Geljo and Cintija Asperger, who were both nominated for Canadian Screen Awards.
Director
Igor Drljaca
Writer
Igor Drljaca
Cast
Jasmin Geljo, Cynthia Ashperger
Producers
Igor Drljaca, Albert Shin, Jordan Barker, Borga Dorter, Munire Armstrong
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Newcomer Stories
Original Languages
English, Other Language
Meditation Park
Meditation Park opens with Maria (Cheng Pei Pei), the matriarch of a Chinese-Canadian family, hosting a birthday celebration for her workaholic husband, Bing, (Tzi Ma), along with her similarly overworked daughter (Sandra Oh in a brilliant performance) and her own family.
Maria clearly reveres Bing and the sacrifices he has made for their family – so when she discovers another woman’s panties in his pocket, she's forced to confront the harsh reality that her world may not be what it seemed.
As Maria wrestles with what to do about her discovery, she befriends a group of local eccentrics and a grumpy neighbour (Don McKellar). Maria’s journey of self-discovery soon teaches her everyone’s lives are more complicated than she has been led to believe.
“Shum mines her favourite theme – immigrant experience in Canada – in what seems at first to be a gentle slice of life but eventually develops a powerful emotional force.” – Susan G. Cole, NOW MagazineDirector
Mina Shum
Vancouver-based Shum is best-known for her feature films Double Happiness and Meditation Park, both starring Sandra Oh. Her documentary Ninth Floor was on TIFF’s 2015 list of Canada’s top ten films. Other features include Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity; and Drive, She Said. Most recently, she has directed episodes of Frankie Drake Mysteries, Murdoch Mysteries and October Faction. She is currently directing the feature One (Nine).
Writer
Mina Shum
Cast
Tzi Ma, Pei-Pei Cheng, Sandra Oh
Producers
Raymond Massey II, Mina Shum, Stephen Hegyes
Genre
Drama
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, ESL, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Les noces de papier (Paper Wedding)
Director
Michel Brault
Writer
Jefferson Lewis
Cast
Geneviève Bujold, Manuel Aranguiz
Producer
Aimée Danis
Genre
Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics
Original Languages
English, French, Other Language