Interest: Strong Female Leads
The Girl Who Hated Books
Director
Jo Meuris
Writer
Sugith Varughese
Cast
Thor Bishopric, Harry Standjofski, Elizabeth Lofranco, Michael Rudder
Producer
Tamara Lynch
Genre
Family
Interests
Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Languages
English, French
La vraie nature de Bernadette (The True Nature of Bernadette)
This subversive and light-hearted classic premiered at Cannes, won three Canadian Film Awards and was selected in TIFF’s first list of its Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.
“Bernadette is one of the most memorable protagonists in all of Gilles Carle’s films, and in Quebec cinema as a whole.” — François Lévesque, Le Devoir
Director
Gilles Carle
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Carle was an important figure in Quebec cinema whose work includes shorts and features, documentaries, and television. His credits include the classics La vie hereuse de Léopold Z, Les Plouffe, La Vraie nature de Bernadette, and Maria Chapdelaine. Carle was a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec and a Knight in France’s Légion d'honneur. He also received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Writer
Gilles Carle
Cast
Micheline Lanctôt, Donald Pilon, Reynald Bouchard
Producer
Pierre Lamy
Genre
Drama
Interest
Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
Sitting in Limbo
Boasting an infectious reggae score by Jimmy Cliff, the film was developed as part of the National Film Board’s Alternative Drama program, which placed non-professional actors in realistic situations. Issues including racism, poverty and teenage pregnancy are highlighted in what is also a very warm and pleasing film.
Sitting in Limbo achieved Honourable Mention for “its freshness and vitality” at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Director
John N. Smith
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Smith’s credits include award-winning TV docudramas such as Dieppe, Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story, and the Gemini Award-winning The Boys of St. Vincent. He also directed numerous feature films, including Sitting in Limbo, which won Best Canadian feature at TIFF in 1986, Dangerous Minds, A Cool Dry Place, Geraldine’s Fortune and Love & Savagery among others. In 2013, he won the Directors Guild of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award.
Writers
David Wilson, John N. Smith
Cast
Pat Dillon, Fabian Gibbs, Sylvie Clarke
Producers
John N. Smith, David Wilson
Genre
Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Classics, Discrimination, Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
45 R.P.M.
This heartfelt and often funny coming-of-age drama takes a turn when a strange weather condition suddenly allows Parry to receive a radio broadcast from New York City, and he starts to believe that a contest the station is running might just be his ticket out of town.
Director
David Schultz
Winnipeg-born writer and director Schultz has worked in TV, shorts and feature films. He wrote and directed the features Jet Boy, Rufus, and Considering Love and Other Magic and wrote screen adaptations of Joy Fielding’s novels Don’t Cry Now, and The Other Woman, as well as the screenplay for The Humanity Bureau, starring Nicolas Cage. He’s currently writing the feature The Side of the Road.
Writer
David Schultz
Cast
Jordan Gavaris, Michael Madsen, Kim Coates, Justine Banszky, MacKenzie Porter
Producers
Anand Ramayya, Michael Frislev, Chad Oakes
Genre
Drama
Interests
Arts and Culture, Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
The Snow Walker
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
James Cromwell, Annabella Piugattuk, Barry Pepper
Producers
William Vince, Rob Merilees
Genres
Action/Adventure, Drama
Interests
BIPOC Stories, ESL, Literary Adaptation, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Les triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville)
A young boy is raised in the French countryside by his grandma, who buys him a bicycle and encourages his dream of winning the Tour de France, in this whimsical animation. However, he gets kidnapped by a group of Mafia gangsters and taken to the big city of Belleville, where he is used for his bicycling prowess in an elaborate gambling scheme. Along with her faithful companion Bruno, his grandmother sets out to rescue him, and ends up befriending a trio of aging musicians who were once the '30s jazz trio known as The Triplets of Belleville.
Features an original jazz musical score by Benoît Charest.
Director
Sylvain Chomet
Writer
Sylvain Chomet
Cast
Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, Béatrice Bonifassi, Lina Boudreau
Producers
Viviane Vanfleteren, Didier Brunner, Paul Cadieux
Genres
Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Interests
Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
French
My Salinger Year
Director
Philippe Falardeau
Québécois 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.
Writers
Joanna Rakoff, Philippe Falardeau
Cast
Seana Kerslake, Douglas Booth, Sigourney Weaver, Margaret Qualley
Producers
Kim McCraw, Luc Déry
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