Based on an inspiring true story, The Grizzlies is a powerful film about the determination and resilience of a group of Inuit youth struggling with the legacy of colonization.

When Russ Sheppard (Schnetzer) moves to Kugluktuk, NU, to be a teacher, he is shocked by the challenges facing the community, most especially the ongoing epidemic of teen suicide. Russ introduces a lacrosse programme and gradually wins the trust of his students. Together, the youth find a sense of pride and purpose in themselves and their community.

The Grizzlies was called “transcendently moving” by The Hollywood Reporter and has won multiple awards and been screened to acclaim at film festivals around the world. Cast members Paul Nutarariaq and Anna Lambe earned Canadian Screen Award nominations for their performances.


* Please note that this film has Indigenous producers, but not an Indigenous director. imagineNATIVE defines an Indigenous-made film as one directed or co-directed by an Indigenous person.
 

As the year 2000 drew near, paranoia around “Y2K” was rampant. Don McKellar responded to the anxiety around potential computer meltdowns by coming up with this witty and dystopic film. As the film begins, the last day of 1999 has truly become the “last night.” The apocalypse is here: Humanity will die at midnight. As rioting and looting begin to take place in Toronto, disparate groups of people prepare to meet their fate. A young architect (McKellar) plans to go out solo, while his best friend (Rennie) attempts to have as many sexual conquests as possible. When the architect meets a stranded young woman (Oh) who can’t f ind her husband (Cronenberg), a strange and intense relationship quickly develops.

Last Night received 13 Genie nominations, winning Best Actress (Oh), Best Supporting Actor (Rennie) and the Claude Jutra Award for the direction of a first feature film (McKellar). The film also won the Prix de la jeunesse at the Cannes film festival.

Set in India during the rise of Mahatma Gandhi, Water recounts the story of Chuyia (Kariyawasam), a child bride. When her husband dies suddenly, Chuyia is forced to live in an ashram for Hindu widows, essentially cut off from society.

Fortunately, she finds friends in the beautiful Kilyani (Ray) and in the forward-thinking Narayan (Abraham). With their help, Chuyia attempts to escape the confines of her existence. Boasting lush visuals, Water could easily be a bleak story of deprivation and loss, but in Mehta’s gentle hands, it becomes one charged with hope and optimism.

Water was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

A lawyer (Holm), pursued by concerns of losing a daughter to drugs, comes to a Canadian town where 20 children have died in a school bus accident. He wants the parents to sue to make those at fault pay. Told partly in flashbacks that dramatize the days leading up to the accident, this heart-wrenching story follows the lawyer from family to family as he coaxes each to join the lawsuit.

As momentum for the case builds, he finds himself squaring off against the lone survivor of the accident (Polley), battling against the power of long-held family secrets. Based on the bestselling novel by Russell Banks, this shattering film won eight Genie Awards and garnered two Oscar nominations for Egoyan.

“Cuts to the bone and stays there long after its end credits have finished rolling.” — Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

In her last year of high school, straight-A student Antigone (Ricci) finds her life suddenly overturned when one of her brothers is murdered by a police officer, while the other is arrested. Having lived in Montreal since arriving as a refugee with her family over a decade ago, Antigone faces a terrible choice. She wants desperately to help her brother in prison, but doing so will put not only her promising future in jeopardy, but also her ability to stay in Canada. As her story becomes a media sensation, Antigone becomes a symbol for a movement of justice, as she makes a decision that will change her life forever.

Despite being based on a tragedy over 2,000 years old, Antigone is an urgent and extremely timely story. It was the official Canadian submission for International Feature Film at the Oscars in 2019.

“An intelligent, moving reworking of Sophocles' tragedy, electrified by a breakout turn from star Nahéma Ricci.” - Jessica Kiang, Variety

Bachir Lazhar (Fellag) is an Algerian immigrant who is hired at a Montreal elementary school to replace a teacher who has died unexpectedly and tragically.

Coming from a completely different culture, Monsieur Lazhar must go through a steep learning curve as he comes up against a stubborn class of quirky 11- and 12-year-olds and the school’s rigid administrative standards. And while the school goes through the long process of grieving and healing, it is gradually suspected that Monsieur Lazhar is not entirely who he has claimed to be. This is a touching story of loss and an emotionally powerful exploration of how adults help children cope with intractable issues of life and death for which none of us is truly equipped.

The film was short-listed for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Franky (Wiggins) and Ballas (Mann) have been best friends since childhood. Coming to high school, they are both beloved young stars on the swim team. Life is good and trouble-free until Franky's 17th birthday. During an evening of celebration, a defining incident changes the relationship between the two young men and forces the celebrant to re-examine his identity, his friends and his estranged relationship with his homosexual father (McLachlan) who is trying to get closer. 

Heartfelt and intimate, this film explores friendship, self-discovery and the power of unlabeled love. 

Based on Alice Munro’s short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” this moving film tells the story of Fiona (Christie) and Grant (Pinsent), a couple who have been married for over 40 years. As Fiona’s “forgetfulness” grows worse, the couple are forced to come to terms with the fact that it is actually Alzheimer’s, and she is placed in a new nursing home.

At the end of the difficult 30-day “no visitor” policy, Grant comes to visit Fiona, except there are some wrinkles: Fiona remembers little of the life they shared, and has found a new partner in the home. Beginning a journey that will test the bond they’ve shared for decades, Grant must draw upon his deep love for Fiona in order to adjust to this reality, and help ensure her continued happiness and support.

An enduring love story with a powerful message about friendship, generosity and devotion, Away From Her was nominated for two Oscars and won over 39 other awards. It won seven Genies, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, among others.

Winner of the Best Actress Oscar for Brie Larson and nominated for four Academy Awards in total, this adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s best-selling novel follows a young mother and her son as they make an escape after years of captivity.

A Canadian-Irish co-production, Lenny Abrahamson’s moving, enchanting film is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that won’t leave a dry eye in the house. Room is a movie with massive heart, anchored by incredible performances by Larson and gifted Canadian child actor Jacob Tremblay.

Room also won nine Canadian Screen Awards and the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award.

The difficult existence of a pair of homeless drug addicts is shown with harsh honesty and surprising sensitivity in McKenzie’s highly acclaimed debut feature. Shot almost entirely in close-ups that capture the disorienting world these characters inhabit, McKenzie teases out intimate and intense performances that inspire empathy as well as concern.

Werewolf’s stark filmmaking never romanticizes the lives of junkies Blaise (Andrew Gillis) and Vanessa (Bhreagh MacNeil), preferring instead to capture the frustration and futility of their lives with a startling power.

Werewolf won the Toronto Film Critics Association prize for best Canadian film of the year.

“In plumbing the pitch black, Werewolf offers the distinct hope of a brighter future – at least, a brighter future for Canadian cinema.” – Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail