Tautuktavuk (What We See)

Directors Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)
Year 2023
Run Time 82min
Genre Drama

Blurring the line between narrative and non-fiction, Uyarak and her eldest sister Saqpinak, embark on a difficult healing journey after a traumatic event that reminds them of the importance of community, culture, and family. Tautuktavuk (What We See) explores issues of trauma, resilience, and domestic violence from the perspective of two Inuit women.

Directors

Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)

Writers

Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk), Gillian Robinson, Samuel Cohn-Cousineau, Norman Cohn

Cast

Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)

Producers

Jonathan Frantz, Lucy Tulugarjuk (Inuk)

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

Inuktitut

In Flames

Director Zarrar Kahn
Year 2023
Run Time 98min
Genre Drama, Horror

Set in modern-day Karachi, the film opens with the death of the family patriarch. Mother and daughter find themselves in a precarious situation where their existence is ripped apart. In order to survive in a hostile world dominated by men, the two women have to work together in the face of threats both real and supernatural.

Director

Zarrar Kahn

Writer

Zarrar Kahn

Cast

Ramesha Nawal, Bakhtawar Mazhar

Producer

Annam Abbas

Genres

Drama, Horror

Interests

Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Global Experiences, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

Other Language

Black Life: Untold Stories – Northern Beats

Director Will Prosper
Year 2023
Run Time 44min
Genre Documentary

A musical look at the rise of hip hop in Canada, as told by some of its earliest pioneers, culminating in the worldwide success of artists like Drake and The Weeknd.

Director

Will Prosper

Writers

Leslie Norville, Margot Daley

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, History

Original Language

English

The Great Salish Heist

Director Darrell Dennis
Year 2024
Run Time 95min
Genre Action/Adventure
Steve Joe is a traditional archaeologist with the Moquohat Nation. Down on his luck, with bad things befalling him and others, Steve wants to set things right. The ancestors demand the repatriation of sacred artifacts so loved ones can finally be at rest, including a loved one whose tragic death haunts Steve in his sleep. Alas, the artifacts are in the hands of the dreaded Royal Western Canadian Museum, who's shipping the First Nations exhibition to Europe so "white peoples can gawk." So, turning to others on the Rez, Steve assembles a crack team of burglars while trying to bamboozle a wealthy and diabolical Russian mobster obsessed with collecting artifacts.

Director

Darrell Dennis

Writers

Leslie D. Bland, Harold Joe, Darrell Dennis

Cast

Graham Greene, Darrell Dennis, Tricia Helfer

Producers

Leslie D. Bland, Harold Joe

Genre

Action/Adventure

Interest

Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Before I Change My Mind

Director Trevor Anderson
Year 2022
Run Time 89min
Genre Drama

1987: While the other students wonder if new kid Robin is a boy or a girl, Robin forges a complicated bond with the school bully, making increasingly dangerous choices to fit in.

Director

Trevor Anderson

Writers

Trevor Anderson, Fish Griwkowsky, Katrina Beatty

Cast

Lacey Oake, Dominic Lippa, Vaughan Murrae, Matthew Rankin, Shannon Blanchet

Producers

Alyson Richards, Katrina Beatty

Genre

Drama

Interests

Bullying, LGBTQ2S+

Original Language

English

Café Daughter

Director Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka)
Year 2023
Run Time 93min
Genre Drama

Tells the story of a nine year old half-Chinese half-Cree girl, Yvette Wong. On top of struggling to find her place in a small Saskatchewan community in the 1960s, she is also faced with the passing of her mother, who always told her children not to let anyone know they were Native Indian, as she believed they would have a better life if this information was kept hidden. Yvette confronts racism on the prairies in the classroom, with teachers and fellow students letting her know she is different from them. Despite wanting to be a doctor, her teacher states that girls can't be doctors, and that maybe she would be better suited as a nurse. Yvette begins to explore and embrace her Cree identity when she befriends Maggie Wolf, a part Mi'kmaq girl who encourages Yvette to be proud of her ancestry. When her Cree ancestry is revealed at school, Yvette confronts discrimination, but perseveres to pursue her dream of going to medical school.

Director

Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka)

Shelley Niro is a Mohawk filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist. She is widely recognized for her photography, and in 2023, was recognized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian with a career retrospective. Her latest film, Café Daughter, premiered at imagineNATIVE in 2023 where it won the Audience Choice Award.

Writers

Shelley Niro (Kanien'kehaka), Kenneth T. Williams

Cast

Violah Beauvais (Mohawk)

Genre

Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Hey, Viktor!

Director Cody Lightning (Cree)
Year 2023
Run Time 102min
Genre Comedy

Twenty-five years after starring in the hit 90s film Smoke Signals, Cody Lightning directs and stars in this uproarious mockumentary about a fictionalized version of himself attempting to make a sequel. When a mysterious fan offers a full budget for the film, Cody jumps at the chance, promising the full participation of the original cast. The only thing standing in his way is the small fact that the entire original cast hates him. 


A refreshing and occasionally raunchy comedy, this charming underdog story is a great movie about how to make a terrible one.

Director

Cody Lightning (Cree)

Writer

Cody Lightning (Cree)

Cast

Cody Lightning (Cree)

Producers

Blake McWilliam, Sara Corry, Samuel Miller, Kyle Thomas

Genre

Comedy

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Indigenous Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Cette maison (This House)

Director Miryam Charles
Year 2023
Run Time 75min
Genre Documentary, Drama, Experimental

Drawing from the events surrounding her fourteen-year-old cousin’s murder in 2008, director Miryam Charles wants to finally unpack her grief and the trauma associated with it. Through dream-like reenactments of her own childhood and an imagined life for her cousin, Charles delves into the changing emotional, political, and historical climates surrounding her family as Haitian-Canadians in Quebec.


This beautifully crafted film is a bold and thought-provoking look at family, and a moving tribute to a life tragically cut short.


“A daring blend of documentary and fantasy that invests a deeply personal drama with a wide historical scope.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Director

Miryam Charles

Writer

Miryam Charles

Cast

Schelby Jean-Baptiste

Producer

Felix Dufour-Laperriere

Genres

Documentary, Drama, Experimental

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Black Filmmaker, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Newcomer Stories

Original Language

French

My Animal

Director Jacqueline Castel
Year 2023
Run Time 104min
Genre Drama, Horror, Romance

Living with a curse that turns her into a wolf if she’s out of the house after midnight, Heather (Menuez) is kept on a tight leash by her overbearing parents. But everything changes when she falls for the new girl in town, Jonny (Stenberg). The two form an instant connection, but as their relationship develops, it causes Heather to rebel, increasing the risk that her secret could be exposed – with disastrous consequences.


A stylish and tense horror-romance, this exciting first feature from director Jacqueline Castel features amazing performances from its two emerging leads, brought together with a cast of Canadian icons.


My Animal marks an impressive, confident feature debut for several key talents.” – Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter

Director

Jacqueline Castel

Writer

Jae Matthews

Cast

Amandla Stenberg, Bobbi Salvör Menuez

Producers

Andrew Bronfman, Michael Solomon

Genres

Drama, Horror, Romance

Interests

Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+

Original Language

English

The Queen of My Dreams

Director Fawzia Mirza
Year 2023
Run Time 97min
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
Azra (Kaur), a young Queer Pakistani-Canadian woman, has long felt disconnected from her mother, Mariam (Bucha). Reuniting in Pakistan for her father’s funeral in 1999, flashbacks to 30 years earlier show a young Mariam (played in a dual role by Kaur) falling in love with Azra’s father, Hassan (Haq). Jumping back and forth between these two coming-of-age stories, the connections between mother and daughter become more and more clear – but will they realise this in time to save their relationship?

Sumptuously capturing the feel of a Bollywood film while telling a relatable cross-continental story, Fawzia Mirza’s impressive debut feature is an instant classic.


“Mirza has created a film bursting with creative energy and distinctive aesthetic sensibilities.” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter

Director

Fawzia Mirza

Writer

Fawzia Mirza

Cast

Amrit Kaur

Producers

Marc Tetreault, Jason Levangie, Andria Wilson

Genres

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Interests

Asian Filmmaker, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Newcomer Stories, Strong Female Leads

Original Languages

English, Other Language