La fonte des glaces (The Thawing of Ice)

Director François Péloquin
Year 2024
Run Time 106min
Genre Drama
Louise Denoncourt, a parole officer unlike any other, skillfully manages an experimental rehabilitation wing for murderers. A new inmate in her custody is suspected of killing her mother. Tormented by doubt, Louise embarks on a mission that quickly spirals out of control. How far will she go to stop her from killing again?
 

Director

François Péloquin

Cast

Lothaire Bluteau, Christine Beaulieu

Producer

Ziad Touma

Genre

Drama

Interests

Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

French

À hauteur d’enfant

Directors Olivier Higgins, Melanie Carrier
Year 2024
Run Time 93min
Genre Documentary
Little Béatrice, with her boundless 3-year-old energy, plunges us into her lively world of make-believe. While her elder brother Émile, now learning to read and write, begins to ask questions like, "Are atoms alive?" Through a mix of observational style and lyrical visuals from a child's point of view, this cinematographic journey prompts us to reflect: What do we lose as we grow up? And what stories of life do we wish to pass down to our children?
 

Directors

Olivier Higgins, Melanie Carrier

Cast

Beatrice Higgins, Emile Higgins

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Family Relationships, Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

French

4 or 5 things I want you to know about me (An Essay)

Director Carl Bessai
Year 2026
Run Time 71min
Genre Documentary, Drama
Carl Bessai's playful Godardian riff on actors and acting gives us a portfolio of dramatic portraits and monologues focused on half a dozen female performers at different points in their journey. It's a grab-bag of a film, sparky and specific.

Director

Carl Bessai

Cast

Vincent Gale, Lauren Akemi Bradley

Producer

Laura Lightbown

Genres

Documentary, Drama

Interests

Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

The Track

Director Ryan Sidhoo
Year 2025
Run Time 90min
Genre Documentary
A coming-of-age journey following three friends going for gold in post-war Bosnia while training on their destroyed luge track from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games.
 

Director

Ryan Sidhoo

Cast

Zlatan Jakic, Mirza Nikolajev, Senad Omanovic

Producers

Jasmina Djikoli, Ervin Golubovic

Genre

Documentary

Interests

History, Social Justice & Politics, Sports

Original Language

English

In Bed With an Elephant

Director Kent Martin
Year 1987
Run Time 60min
Genre Documentary
This feature documentary provides a gripping retrospective of United States-Canada relationships through a study of successive presidents and prime ministers. 

Director

Kent Martin

Cast

James Laxer

Producer

John Taylor

Genre

Documentary

Interests

History, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Out Standing

Director Mélanie Charbonneau
Year 2025
Run Time 106min
Genre Drama
An eye-opening look at Sandra Perron’s journey through the Canadian military, chronicling her start in basic training, to her rise as the first female officer in the organization’s history and the circumstances leading to her controversial resignation.

Director

Mélanie Charbonneau

Quebec-based director Charbonneau started her career directing commercials. Her first short film, Seule (Single), played at several international festivals, including Cannes, and her short film Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous collected over 30 prizes at festivals internationally. Fabuleuses (Fabulous) was her first feature. She has also directed episodes of Je ne suis pas un robot (I am Not a Robot).

 

Writers

Mélanie Charbonneau, Martine Pagé, Sandra Perron

Cast

Antoine Olivier Pilon, Nina Kiri, Vincent Leclerc

Producers

Marcel Giroux, Julia Rosenberg

Genre

Drama

Interests

Biography, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, History, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

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

Hebron Relocation

Director Holly Anderson (Labrador Inuit)
Year 2022
Run Time 15min
Genre Documentary
Decades after being forcibly relocated from the town of Hebron, a community of Labrador Inuit reflect on the residual trauma of losing the connection to their ancestral home.

Director

Holly Anderson (Labrador Inuit)

Writer

Holly Anderson (Labrador Inuit)

Producers

Latonia Hartery, Katherine Baulu

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Biography, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Doors of War

Directors Taras Lesiuk, Annick Sheedy McLellan
Year 2025
Run Time 66min
Genre Documentary

Directors

Taras Lesiuk, Annick Sheedy McLellan

Writers

Annick Sheedy McLellan, Taras Lesiuk

Producers

Annick Sheedy McLellan, Taras Lesiuk

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Social Justice & Politics

Original Languages

English, Other Language