Interest: Strong Female Leads
My Salinger Year
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
Tadoussac
Director
Martin Laroche
Cast
Isabelle Blais, Camille Mongeau, Juliette Gosselin
Genre
Drama
Interests
Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Incendies
Incendies is the kind of film you’ll want to watch more than once. With intricate timelines and a family drama spanning two very different continents, the twists and turns of Denis Villeneuve’s celebrated adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s award-winning play are explosive, frightening and emotionally intense.
Winner of eight Genie Awards and nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Director
Denis Villeneuve
Writer
Denis Villeneuve
Cast
Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard
Producers
Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Global Experiences, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Trickster
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
When it was released in the late 1990s, Fire’s incendiary subject matter led to protests and government interventions in India. Years later, the internationally acclaimed film is as seductive and moving as ever.
The film won seven awards at film festivals around the world, including "Most Popular Canadian Film" at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Director
Deepa Mehta
Mehta gained acclaim for her trilogy, Fire, Earth and the Oscar-nominated Water. Her adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children was nominated for eight CSAs. She has also directed Bollywood/Hollywood, Beeba Boys, Anatomy of Violence, and many others. Her most recent film Funny Boy has also won multiple awards, including the CSA for best direction. Most recently, she directed an episode of the series Yellowjackets. She has numerous projects in development as a writer, director and producer.
Writer
Deepa Mehta
Cast
Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Karishma Jhalani
Producers
Bobby Bedi, David Hamilton, Deepa Mehta
Genres
Drama, Romance
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, LGBTQ2S+, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Riot Girls
In this spirited, punky post-apocalyptic adventure film, all the adults are wiped out by a mysterious plague, leaving kids and teens to fend for themselves. In the town of Potter’s Bluff, there is a sharp divide between two groups: the have-not Eastsiders vs. the tyrannical Westside Titans.
When one of their own is captured by the Titans, it's up to female punk rockers and best friends Nat (Iseman) and Scratch (Kwiatkowski) to lead the East side teens on a dangerous, high-octane mission that forever alters the future of their community.
Riot Girls is a punchy, poppy tribute to girlhood that raises a studded middle finger against classism and conformist culture. Packed with punk rock anthems and comic-book undertones, this film is a love letter to teenaged misfits everywhere.
“Riot Girls confidently and entertainingly sets itself apart from the pack rather nicely thanks to a well rounded script, playful direction, and a whole lotta swagger.” - Andrew Parker, The Gate
Director
Jovanka Vuckovic
Writer
Katherine Collins
Cast
Madison Iseman, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Munro Chambers
Producer
Lauren Grant
Genres
Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Interests
Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
The High Cost of Living
In the days to come, Henry is overcome by guilt and sets out to find the woman he hit. Her life nearly destroyed by the accident, Nathalie needs a friend, and ends up finding one in the compassionate and charming Henry. Slowly, Nathalie comes out of her shell and starts to rebuild her life.
As their unlikely relationship develops, Henry must work hard to conceal his real identity and keep the truth from ruining his new friendship.
Director
Deborah Chow
Chow’s short films have played numerous festivals and have been broadcast worldwide. The High Cost of Living won Best Canadian First Feature at TIFF 2010. She directed an adaptation of Flowers in the Attic and many TV shows including Reign, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Better Call Saul, The Mandalorian, American Gods, and most recently, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Writer
Deborah Chow
Cast
Zach Braff, Isabelle Blais, Patrick Labbé
Producers
Kim Berlin, Susan Schneir
Genre
Drama
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Birth of a Family
Between 1955 and 1985, the federal and provincial governments in Canada took an estimated 20,000 Indigenous children from their homes and placed them in the child welfare system. Often referred to as the Sixties Scoop, this policy was part of the same trend of forced assimilation as residential schools.
Betty Ann was one of these children, and over several decades has worked tirelessly to track down her three siblings. As the foursome piece together their shared history, their family begins to take shape.
This film tackles grief, redemption and discovery as it chronicles the family’s emotional reunion and captures an event that remains painfully elusive for many Indigenous people.
Director
Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Hubbard is an award-winning filmmaker and an assistant professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of English. Her writing-directing project 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 Family and nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which won Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs and at the CSAs. She is currently directing the feature doc Singing Back the Buffalo.
Writers
Betty Ann Adam (Dene), Tasha Hubbard (Cree)
Producer
Bonnie Thompson
Genre
Documentary
Interests
Biography, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, ESL, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Soon, though, she finds herself falling in love with him, and as the physical terrain becomes more dangerous, so does the landscape of the heart. Beautifully shot and featuring screen legend Peter O’Toole in one of his last roles, Iron Road revisits an important and controversial time in Canadian history.
Originally broadcast as a CBC miniseries, REEL CANADA is proud to present the feature version of this epic tale that spans two continents.
Director
David Wu
Wu is a master editor who has worked with many legendary Hong Kong filmmakers. His directorial credits include the films The Snow Queen with Bridget Fonda, Plague City: SARS in Toronto (for which he earned the DGC Best Director nomination), See You Tomorrow, and the TV show Once a Thief. He recently edited the films You Are In My Heart and Bai du ren.
Writers
Barry Pearson, Raymond Storey
Cast
Sun Li, Luke Macfarlane, Sam Neill, Peter O’Toole
Producers
Zhao Haicheng, Anne Tait, Raymond Massey II
Genre
Drama
Interests
Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Discrimination, ESL, History, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
Other Language
White Lie
Katie, a popular university student, has been pretending to have cancer to gain sympathy and gain the life she’s always wanted. Through fraudulent fundraising, she has been able to pay her way through university, and her relationship with her friends and girlfriend has never been better. When she is suddenly asked to produce medical records by her university, the facade she created begins to crumble and she risks being exposed for a fraud.
A brilliantly told cautionary tale, White Lie premiered at TIFF and was named to the Canada Top Ten list. It was also nominated for 4 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture.
“Driven by nuanced, persuasive performances and shot with an urgent, jittery tension, White Lie is a compelling close-up character study.” — Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter
Directors
Yonah Lewis
Lewis made his first feature film, Amy George, in 2011 with his frequent collaborator, Calvin Thomas. The duo has continued to work together, co-writing, directing and producing all their films, which include the features The Oxbow Cure and Spice It Up. They recently produced the short Every Day’s Like This, which premiered at TIFF 2020.
Calvin Thomas
Thomas made his first feature film, Amy George, in 2011 with his frequent collaborator, Yonah Lewis. The duo has continued to work together, co-writing, directing and producing all their films, which include the features The Oxbow Cure and Spice It Up. They recently produced the short Every Day’s Like This, which premiered at TIFF 2020.
Writers
Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas
Cast
Kacey Rohl, Amber Anderson, Martin Donovan
Producers
Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas, Karen Harnisch, Lindsay Tapscott, Katie Bird Nolan
Genre
Drama
Interests
Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English