The Apprentice

Director Ali Abbasi
Year 2024
Run Time 122min
Genre Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Long before he set his sights on politics, Donald Trump (Stan) had a singular ambition - to expand his real estate empire and take over New York City. This drive, and his willingness to do anything to make it happen, makes him the perfect protégé for notorious attorney Roy Cohn. As their relationship develops through the 70s and 80s, Trump makes his fortune - but at what cost?

Featuring Academy Award nominated performances by Stan and Strong, and winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture, this revelatory film is truly a biopic unlike any other.

“Thoughtful and inspired in its direction, engaging in its visual textures and featuring fully committed performances from its primary cast.” - John Serba, Decider

Director

Ali Abbasi

Writer

Gabriel Sherman

Cast

Jeremy Strong, Sebastian Stan, Martin Donovan

Producers

Ali Abbasi, Ruth Treacy, Louis Tisné

Genre

Drama

Interests

Biography, History

Original Language

English

Endless Cookie

Directors Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver (Cree)
Year 2025
Run Time 97min
Genre Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama
2026 spotlight contributor Staff Pick
Seth Scriver, living in Toronto, has always looked up to his half-brother Pete, a gifted storyteller who lives in Shamattawa, a First Nations reserve in Northern Manitoba. Using his signature psychedelic animated style, Seth brings Pete’s stories to life, intersplicing them with satirical vignettes about Canadian culture and perspectives.

Wildly imaginative and lovingly crafted over the course of nearly a decade, this unique animated documentary won the Audience Choice Award at Hot Docs in 2025 and Best Animated Film from the Toronto Film Critics Association. 

Endless Cookie is not like anything else and yet it is very much like life.” - Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

Directors

Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver (Cree)

Writers

Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver (Cree)

Cast

Peter Scriver, Seth Scriver

Producers

Daniel Bekerman, Alex Ordanis, Chris Yurkovich, Jason Ryle (Anishinaabe), Seth Scriver

Genres

Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Languages

Cree, English

Tomson Highway: kipimâtisinaw tapâhpeyahk

Director Barry Bilinsky (Métis/Cree)
Year 2022
Run Time 5min
Genre Documentary
Legendary Cree playwright Tomson Highway finds that his purpose in life always comes back to music, storytelling and laughter.
 

Director

Barry Bilinsky (Métis/Cree)

Writer

Barry Bilinsky (Métis/Cree)

Cast

Tompson Highway (Cree)

Producer

Chehala Leonard (Aseniwuche Winewak)

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

Cree

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

Paying for It

Director Sook-Yin Lee
Year 2024
Run Time 85min
Genre Comedy

Director

Sook-Yin Lee

Writers

Sook-Yin Lee, Joanne Sarazen

Cast

Andrea Werhun, Dan Beirne, Emily Lê

Producers

Matt Code, Sonya Di Rienzo, Aeschylus Poulos

Genre

Comedy

Interest

Female Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Young Werther

Director José Lourenço
Year 2024
Run Time 101min
Genre Comedy, Romance

While on a simple errand to Toronto, a carefree and charming young writer named Werther (Douglas Booth) meets Charlotte (Alison Pill), who he believes love of his life. There's only one thing standing in the way - her engagement to another man. Despite the urgings of his hypochondriac best friend, Werther turns his world upside down in a desperate, misguided and hilarious quest to win her heart.

Director

José Lourenço

Writers

Johann Goethe, José Lourenço

Cast

Alison Pill, Patrick J. Adams, Iris Apatow

Producer

Douglas Booth

Genres

Comedy, Romance

Interest

Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story

Directors Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
Year 2024
Run Time 98min
Genre Documentary
Jackie Shane, a jazz singer who rose to prominence in the 1960s as a Black transgender musician, had disappeared almost entirely from the public eye. Decades later, her work gets rediscovered and reassessed, giving her one last chance to be appreciated properly.

A moving portrait that shines a light on the career of a trailblazer who was ahead of her time, this incredible story won the Special Jury Prize for Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs 2024.

“A compelling investigation of an elusive life, as well as a talent so striking you’ll be amazed it remained forgotten for so long.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety 
 

Directors

Michael Mabbott

Writer/director Mabbott made his debut with 2005’s Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, winning Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. He followed with Citizen Duane and television shows like Baxter and The Yard. His short documentary Music Lessons premiered at Hot Docs 2015. He also wrote, produced, and co-directed Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, which was named to the TIFF 2024 Top Ten List.

Lucah Rosenberg-Lee

Lucah Rosenberg-Lee is an independent filmmaker, speaker and entrepreneur. He is passionate about telling the stories of marginalized voices through film and he specializes in documentary and LGBTQ+ content. He produced For Nonna Anna, which won the Best Narrative Short Award at the Atlanta Film Festival, and he co-directed the 2024 films Passing and Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, which won the DGC Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs 2024.

Writers

Alison Duke, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, Michael Mabbott

Cast

Rob Bowman, James Baley, Bobby Dean Blackburn

Producers

Janet Bradey, Justine Pimlott, Michael Mabbott

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Discrimination, History, LGBTQ2S+, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

Boat People

Directors Kjell Boersma, Thao Lam
Year 2023
Run Time 9min
Genre Animation
Watching the resilience and determination of ants, Thao Lam sees parallels with the story of her own perilous journey from Vietnam to Canada.

Directors

Kjell Boersma, Thao Lam

Writer

Kjell Boersma

Producers

Jelena Popovic, Justine Pimlott

Genre

Animation

Interests

Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Newcomer Stories

Original Language

English

Les Plouffe (The Plouffe Family)

Director Gilles Carle
Year 1981
Run Time 169min
Genre Drama
Les Plouffe is an adaptation of Roger Lemelin’s WWII-set novel, chronicling seven years in the lives of a poor family living in the Basse-Ville area of Quebec City.

This is kitchen-sink drama at its most satirical, dramatizing an entire era in the quirks of this memorable clan. The lovable characters and unforgettable moments make Les Plouffe a simultaneously sad, funny and loving account of life in WWII-era Quebec.

This French Canadian classic won seven Genie Awards, including Best Achievement in Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Filiatrault).

Director

Gilles Carle

An important figure in the development of Québec cinema, Carle was a prolific filmmaker whose work includes shorts and feature films, documentaries, and television. He made several films with the NFB, including the classic La vie heureuse de Léopold Z. His credits also include Les Plouffe, La Vraie nature de Bernadette and Maria Chapdelaine. An Officer of the Order of Canada, a Grand Officer of the Ordre National du Québec and a Knight in France’s Légion d'honneur, he has received numerous international prizes, Genies, Canadian Film Awards and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

Writers

Gilles Carle, Roger Lemelin, Jacques Vigoureux

Cast

Gabriel Arcand, Pierre Curzi, Émile Genest, Juliette Huot, Denise Filiatraul

Producers

Denis Héroux, Justine Héroux, John Kemeny

Genre

Drama

Interests

Family Relationships, History, Literary Adaptation

Original Language

French

Little Italy

Director Donald Petrie
Year 2018
Run Time 102min
Genre Comedy

A decade-long feud between neighbouring pizza shops heats up when the children of the rival owners, Nikki (Emma Roberts) and Leo (Hayden Christensen) enter into an unexpected romance. With their love soaring higher than a spinning pizza pie, the feud between their parents also reaches new hilarious heights and they are forced to choose sides and compete against each other in the neighbourhood’s legendary pizza bake-off.

Set in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood, and as tempting and saucy as a margherita pizza, this fun-filled romantic comedy with a lot of heart is sure to leave audiences feeling satisfied.

Director

Donald Petrie

Petrie has directed many iconic box office hits, including How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Miss Congeniality and Mystic Pizza. His television credits include episodes of Chicago P.D., The Kominsky Method, Chicago Justice, and many others. He is currently developing several feature films, including Your Perfect Angel, Million Dollar Mustang and Jack vs. Future Jack.

Writers

Steve Galluccio, Vinay Virmani

Cast

Hayden Christensen, Emma Roberts, Danny Aiello, Andrea Martin

Producers

Vinay Virmani, Pauline Dhillon, Ajay Virmani

Genre

Comedy

Interests

ESL, Family Relationships

Original Language

English