Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

To celebrate the latest release of a famous authoress' book series, Middleton becomes the enchanted town of Tarynsville during her stay.

When a rebel and a poet leave the town of Whylah Falls for a better life, their love is tested by harship

When camps around the country were shutting down every year and Camp Kitchikewana made the economically necessary move to turn co-ed, the result was a very real clash of the sexes.

A social dropout joins a gang of bikers portrayed by members of the Satan's Choice motorcycle club.

NATE couldn't be more excited for the mandatory lock-down that was just announced; the government is going to pay him to just hang out at home and play video games? Count him in. However, when his overbearing mother, SYLVIE, and his aloof father, BILL, insist Nate shouldn't spend the pandemic alone, Nate has only one option - create a fake live-in girlfriend using all varieties of social media tricks of course.

A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term 'documentary film'.

Taking "Isle of the Dead," a work by the Swiss symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin as his starting point, Norman McLaren creates a deeply disturbing surrealist dream.

In 1858 Charles Darwin struggles to publish one of the most controversial scientific theories ever conceived, while he and his wife Emma confront family tragedy.

A road trip through rural Québec unites Mathilde and a teen searching for his mother, leading to friendship and blurred lines between past and present.

The story of the Hare Krishna movement in the West, contrasting the spiritual exploration of its devotees with the leadership's systemic, long-term cover-up of criminality, moral decay and abuse of power.

Rougish painter, needing money to pay off debts to his ex-wife and mistress, considers agreeing to do a banal portrait for a wealthy woman.

Eric and Louise's honeymoon is disrupted by a stranger who claims he will perform a miracle. Meanwhile, Eric's brother and best friend are both experiencing trouble with their own relationships and want to warn him about challenges of marriage.

A naive and socially repressed June hits the road with her new boyfriend, Max, on their first romantic trip down the coast. When a hitchhiker suddenly winds up dead in their RV, June can't deny the overwhelming thrill and lust for blood.

The story takes place during the colonization of the Laurentian region in Quebec towards the end of the 19th century (approx. 1885-90), near Sainte-Adèle. An unscrupulous man, Séraphin Poudrier, dominates the small community using his wealth. Mayor of the village, he will marry Donalda Laloge, after her father, unable to repay his debt, gives her to him in marriage. Donalda, a gentle and submissive woman who was promised to the handsome Alexis Labranche, rather, he will live his life according to the wishes of this petty and contemptuous miser, but will never let his situation get him down.

The rich Westerner embarks on a journey to find his daughter who vanished in Montreal and Zurich. The disappearance is linked to a sect that selects its followers for its heritage, education and physical beauty.

This highly acclaimed feature film on Pope John Paul II was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. Focusing on the papacy of John Paul and the tremendous impact he had on the Church and the world, Karol: The Pope, The Man stars actor Piotr Adamczyk in a deeply moving portrayal of the beloved pontiff. It is the powerful true story of a charismatic spiritual leader who helped bring down Communism, renewed the life of the Church, greatly impacted youth worldwide with love for Christ, and a Pope who reached out to other religions and world leaders with a message of peace and love. Also stars Raoul Bova (Saint Francis), Michele Placido (Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth) and Adriana Asti as Mother Teresa. The beautiful film score is by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.

During the Christmas holiday season, Félix and Céline find themselves working as volunteers for the drive-home service Opération Nez Rouge. Right from the first, Félix falls for Céline. But Céline doesn't feel the same way: she can't forget the fact that Félix once wrote a scathing review of her first piece of writing, crushing her literary ambitions in the process. Worse, Félix doesn't even remember her name. Céline decides to take her revenge. Just as things seem to be going from bad to worse for Félix, Céline realizes that he is vulnerable, tender... and madly in love with her. She is ready to surrender to love... but a chance encounter causes her to wonder whether Félix isn't playing some twisted love game.

A psychotic spaceman takes over a deep-space observatory manned by a scientist, his wife, and their teenage daughter.

Twenty-three-year old Peter Foster is an only child who lives at home, where he constantly hears his parents arguing. Because Peter does nothing all day, the family goes to a clinic where a therapist videotapes them. After Peter watches his tape, he views the tape of a troubled Armenian family, who gave their only son away for adoption when they arrived in Canada. Peter decides to visit this family, and he pretends to be their son, Bedros Deryan. The Deryan family welcomes him with open arms, and Peter tries to patch up the poor relationship between George Deryan and his daughter Azah.

During a nature retreat class, two incompatible students and their oddball instructor are forced to get along after everyone else drops the course.

An author of a best selling holiday book becomes entangled in tinsel when she and her kids are dispatched by a TV talk show to a rural town where she is given two weeks to recreate the magical childhood Christmas described in her book.

In the 1960s, a dreamy kid tells how he thinks he can change his alcoholic father's personality: with magic flowers. First film of a trilogy on father-son relationships.

A seasoned news correspondent and cameraman embed themselves with a posse that set off into the rugged wilderness of the Rocky Mountains to find a missing child who may become the next victim of what is believed to be a rogue grizzly...

Blaise Dumas, war correspondent, covers an armed conflict in Eastern Europe. When he wakes from a temporary coma in his home town of Quebec City, Blaise discovers that his long time collaborator and photographer has not come back with him. He then sets out to recapture the events that led to his friend's disappearance and his own narrow escape from the war zone.

Two lifetimes from now the world hangs in the balance. Dove, a young, enigmatic, gender-shifting warrior, discovers the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters. Dove’s courage, resilience and alliance with the Earth culminates in a battle against these flesh-consuming creatures, who become stronger with each body and soul they devour. Inkwo for When the Starving Return is a call to action to fight and protect against the forces of greed around us.

Floundering twenty-something Nicolas Sinclair attempts to win the heart of a married woman by befriending her 12-year-old son in this independent comedy. His life in ruins, Nicolas arrives to live with his parents at a seaside retirement home, disrupting their peaceful retirement. When Nicolas meets Nina, he falls head over heels in love. But Nina is only using Nicolas as a means of getting back at her cheating husband André, a prominent theater director. Determined to win Nina's heart at any cost, Nicolas goes against her wishes by striking up a friendship with her son Quang, and attempting to gather enough information to charm the elusive beauty out of her turbulent marriage.

A writer has a mental breakdown, unable to deal with the society around him.

When currently black-listed former child star Lissa Lliad is invited to screen test for a new superhero movie, she knows her big break has finally come. When she accidentally ingests a lot of LSD and makes the decision to be unstoppable and get to that audition no matter what, she embarks on an epic spiritual Odyssey which will confront her with the essence of who she is and transform her life in profound ways.

The Hungry Squid is 2002 animated short film by John Weldon, about a young girl whose homework and personal life is being disrupted by creatures, including a giant ravenous squid.[1] The film was animated using Weldon's personal style of do-it-yourself filmmaking, combining low-budget computer animation with puppets, photos and stop-motion animation in a technique he calls "digital recyclomation." The film's producer, Marcy Page, had coined the term "recyclomation" during production of Weldon's 1991 film, The Lump

A woman learns secrets about her family while attending the funeral of her father.

Haunted by disturbing dreams from an inherited book, a young man becomes interested in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

A gay film historian enlists his tech-savvy teenage niece to help him pursue the 70-year-old man of his dreams.

A young girl and her new friend investigate a series of supernatural happenings in the Austrian children's film SUMMER WITH THE GHOSTS. Caroline departs from her home in Montreal to join her father a famous film director on the set of his latest film in Austria. When she arrives however she learns of a series of accidents and problems on the film set with everyone at odds to explain how they happened. Suspecting that someone means to sabotage the film she begins to investigate the ancient castle being used as the set. Along with her newfound friend Jakob she discovers that the film's difficulties may in fact have a supernatural cause.

Maggie is an ordinary Canadian girl with the best of intentions who has signed on to work in a Catholic mission in Zimbabwe. With an ample supply of enthusiasm and ignorance, she consistently demonstrates her lack of understanding of the local culture. When she is robbed, she fights for the release of the man convicted of the crime and belatedly makes some attempt to understand her environment.

A Canadian couple reunites with the German POW they befriended during World War II.

Sex. Something that is part of human nature. Everyone does it and strives to have their happily ever after… Right? In a society where intimacy and romance are constantly everywhere, someone breaks from the mould after years of self-discovery. They send a letter to their past self full of their experiences and lessons learned, in the form of a short documentary. A-Okay brings attention to the hyper-sexualized and romanticized society we live in and how it’s expectations, stigmas, and stereotypes can be harmful to individuals on the aromantic and asexual spectrums.

Recent widower Angelo is forced to confront a deeply hidden personal truth when he meets and strikes up an unlikely friendship with openly gay dancer Edmond.

A blistering rock opera about the rise of fascism. Through soaring vocals and epic guitar riffs, men sink under the weight of an enduring loneliness while political and financial opportunists exploit their vulnerability to the detriment of us all.

A young couple buys a rotten house with the intention of turning it into their dream home. But the more the renovations progress, the more their life turns into a nightmare. Bungalow is a comedy-drama about the financial, social and sexual anxieties that millennials experience in our performance society.

A rebellious teenage girl wrestles with the true nature of miracles when her father begins to believe in a religious hoax which she has secretly created.

Burt Lancaster stars as the titular merchant in this classic adaptation of Pope John Paul II's best-selling play "The Jeweller's Shop," an inspiring drama about three married couples and their ups and downs in holy matrimony. With a faithful jeweler acting as their spiritual adviser, three sets of husbands and wives struggle to live their lives with love, steering clear of avarice and infidelity. Olivia Hussey and Ben Cross also star.

Unknowingly under the influence of various drugs and substances, a local private investigator is suddenly tasked with solving a “case” that threatens to breach “national security”.

After a mysterious car accident, photo journalist Jackie Delaney wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. Haunted by flashbacks of the accident, she checks out of the hospital determined to unravel the mystery behind her recent past. Who was in the car with her, and who is following her now? After an attempt on her life, Jackie is assigned police protection and detective Sean MacFern enters her life. Together, they will solve a mystery that goes beyond a mere accident and that enters the shady world of internationals arm smuggling.

A government-trained killing machine must turn his lethal skills against his top-secret squad's AWOL leader

A womanizing reality-TV producer (Spencer) unwittingly sleeps with a mysterious woman (Alison), who turns out to be his own stalker. Alison then kidnaps Spencer and holds him hostage while she humiliates and abuses him, recording every moment on camera for her own twisted reality-TV show

When you’re young, some of your strongest and most rewarding relationships are with your friends. The kind who support you to become who you really are. Inspired by U-turn and classic girl crew nostalgia, we want to celebrate those kinds of bonds with this short film from director Emma Higgins.

A tough rich female ranch owner in Africa wants to cut off the water supply to the locals, since she holds them responsible for the murder of her husband. She hires two charming gunrunners as help, but they suspect her shady competitor.

After learning that their young daughter, Emily, is suffering from leukemia, Cheryl and Greg have no choice but to seek out Cheryl's violent ex-husband, Kurt, to have him tested as a possible bone marrow donor. Cheryl is particularly disturbed about seeing Kurt again, since her testimony sent him to prison ten years earlier.

A mind-body disconnect - that's what causes sleep paralysis, a terrifyingly real experience in which someone awakes momentarily made of stone. Molly Duggan is determined to discover a treatment, because in rare cases, it can kill: Her mother was one of its victims. But what science can't explain is why Molly suddenly starts experiencing episodes herself and during them, feels a sinister presence surrounding her. So she turns to legends, and that's when her real nightmare begins. Haylie Duff stars in this pulse-pounding chiller.

CTRL + Z is an experimental short film structured as a descent into the obsessive mind, that visualizes the intrusive thoughts and consuming nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The film unfolds across three visual spaces - the tunnel, the bathtub, and the snow, each reflecting a different layer of the protagonist’s psychological state. The film’s soundscape is built from non-synchronous delayed piano notes, dripping water, whispers, screams, footsteps, and distant echoes, all layered and distorted to create a disorienting rhythm that mirrors her obsessive, looping state of mind. CTRL + Z immerses the audience in the never-ending cycle that consumes her.

A professional hockey player who is only happy when he is miserable signs a long-term contract that covers his entire career only to ruin it in his first year due to substance abuse and alcoholism. He rides his good luck in the final month of the final year of his contract when he gets a last chance at redemption in the seventh game of the finals.

An aimless playboy returns to his hometown for his best friend's wedding, only to find that the bride is his high school sweetheart.

The story of an endangered Newfoundland community and the struggles of one man determined to resist its extinction.

After a few years absence, Evan unexpectedly returns one night to face his now-famous former bandmates. The surprise reunion is bittersweet, in this intimate depiction of the knotty complexities of relating to old friends after everything has changed.

In the 19th century, young Charles Dickens is a promising young writer who is obsessed with material success in his career. His misguided priorities are soon challenged when he encounters a mysterious little girl. That girl takes Dickens on a strange and moving journey in which he is shown the future he could have if he doesn't change his ways and, more importantly, he is shown a better purpose for his writing as a way of speaking for the oppressed who need his help. It is these events and lessons that would inspire Dickens to write an extraordinary Christmas tale that would become his greatest work, A Christmas Carol.

In order to to see his idol, Jimi Hendrix, a twelve year old boy attempts a journey from his Quebec village to Woodstock.

1977 adaptation of Conan Doyle's The Adventure of Silver Blaze

When Lila is hired by the Royal Family of Ancadia to repair a carousel, she must work with the Prince to complete it by Christmas.