Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

A Hong Kong martial artist joins forces with a U.S. marshal in 2020 to stop the release of a virus that halts the aging process.

Conceived, written and shot in Newfoundland, this study in grief and adolescent longing is a sure sign of local filmmaker Adriana Magg's huge potential. The plot centers on Crystal Janes, a young girl with an odd relationship to her dead brother. Typically moody and self absorbed, Crystal is nonetheless sensitive and smart. Growing up is hard enough in average families, let alone one still working through its grief and guilt. A strong performance by Marthe Bernard as Crystal helps to anchor the story in a strong sense of realism, ghostly presences and all.

A group of youngsters discover that Mr. Templeton has 40 grand hidden in his home. They figure they can get their hands on the cash by masking themselves as Newfoundland Mummers.

An Iranian-Canadian family struggles to reconcile with their past after news of an unexpected inheritance.

Based on the book White Circus by Ken Read, this is the story of the Canadian skiing legends that became the first North Americans to crack the Euro dominated World Cup Circuit in 1975

Victoria, a hopeful young actress, prepares meticulously for the hearing of an unnamed character: bitch number two. The casting director will shake up all her expectations.

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

Freshly engaged Nicole is having second thoughts as she wonders if the one she's really meant to be with is her mystery college pen pal whose letters she has kept all these years.

David is travelling. He's on a unique trip that doesn't take him from one place to another but from one moment in time to another. Seeking to understand the strange power he has to move around in his own timeline, David will eventually have to confront the disassembled chronology of his own life as well as his repressed past.

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

A poor single mother, who is trying to turn her life around, is thrust into a fight for survival when her ex-husband relapses and spirals out of control.

Puck Hogs follows a men's recreational hockey team, The Puck Hogs, through a brutally hilarious weekend tournament. In the tradition of the cult classic This is Spinal Tap, Puck Hogs is a hocku-mentary comedy about ice-prone boys turning into real-life men, and stick handling the puck over the goal line of life.

Lii Michif Niiyanaan: We Are Métis is a documentary that addresses the invisibility of the Metis by shining a new light on the historical and contemporary experience of Métis people in Canada and providing a space for Métis people to share their diverse perspectives on what it means to be Métis today.

When Alana, a naïve stripper, is raped by her boss, Stag, and his drug dealer friend, she turns to her fellow dancers for help. Joined by the beautiful Roxy and seductive Crystal, they hatch a plan to kidnap Stag and force him to give them the combination to his safe. Using his own vices against him, they seduce and drug him. When he wakes he is cuffed in his office where three women he has wronged in different ways hold him captive. In what becomes a grim battle of wills, the girls use physical and mental torture to try to force the combination from him, needing the money to flee before he gets free and kills them all. But they quickly realize they're in over their heads as everything that can go wrong does. As the walls close in around them they have until dawn to get even, get the money and get gone.

Ulysses, a professional wrestler, is going to watch another fight in which a wrestler is up against a horde of zombies. One of the zombies kills a waitress and Ulysses and his friends decide to take matters into their own hands and track down the origins of the creatures.

In order to strengthen his connections on the street, a young man has to participate in a violent robbery. But, after surviving the war between street gangs, he becomes the main target of law enforcement and a ruthless mobster.

Inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 play The Inspector General, Revisor is part risky satire, part choreographed lip-synch and all urgent warning of unchecked power. When a lowly government employee arrives in town to revise some legal documents, he is mistaken for a high-powered official and spoiled with attention.

For the past 40 years, Bruce Beach has been preparing for a nuclear disaster. A bunker of 42 school buses is buried on his property, designed to save humanity. Curious onlookers and interested preppers regularly visit the site named Ark Two, but it's clear that the creator of this decaying shelter is the only one truly convinced of its practicality in the event of an apocalypse. Now that Bruce is in his 80s, he and his wife Jean need to spend more time taking care of their immediate needs than worrying about the future. What could easily be dismissed as evangelical paranoia becomes a tragic yet uplifting story about a risk-taking inventor who has lived without regrets. Sometimes outside-the-box thinkers become millionaires and are recognized for their genius ability to guide us into the future, while others are pushed to the margins. There’s a lot to be learned from both

This feature documentary is a portrait of Peter Watkins, an Oscar®-winning British filmmaker who, for the past 4 decades, has proved that films can be made without compromise. With the proliferation of TV channels, documentaries are enjoying an unprecedented boom fuelled by audiences seeking an alternative to infotainment. But now documentary filmmaking, too, finds itself constrained by the imperatives of television. However, there is a rebel resisting this uniformity of the spirit. Pre-eminent among today's documentary filmmakers concerned about this mind-numbing standardization, Peter Watkins has never strayed from either his principles or the cause.

Five former summer camp misfits reconnect under some seriously suspicious circumstances and soon discover that their worst nightmares were true.

A riveting account of the tragic adventure of filmmaker Varick Frissell and his filming of "The Viking" (1931) and the tragic events that befell that adventure into early film-making.

Filmmaker, Walter Forsyth sets out on a journey to make a tribute film about photographer/filmmaker, Robert Frank, deconstructing the documentary form along the way. With appearances by Albert Maysles, Nick Broomfield, ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor, Alfred Leslie and Matt Damon. "He pulled a sad poem right out of America, taking his place among the great poets of our time" - Jack Karoac.

Dr. Anne Innis Dagg re-traces the steps of her groundbreaking 1956 journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. Now, at 85 years old, Anne sees a startling contrast between the world of giraffes she once knew and the one it has become. Weaving through the past and present, her harrowing journey gives us an intimate look into the factors that destroyed her career and the forces that brought her back.

When an ignored little boy bonds with Bigfoot and discovers the human-like ape is in danger, he has to find the courage to stand up to those bigger than him to save the legendary creature and set him free.

Carnival time in Quebec, Canada, is also time for racing with sled-dogs, horse-drawn sleighs, hockey, curling the carving of ice-statues, obstacle races by youngsters, fireworks, and also the selection of a Carnival Queen.

Against the backdrop of a European cityscape, worlds intersect when a woman and a man on separate travels meet, or rather, collide on the screen. Their affects mingle, creating a zone between their bodies in which something happens: intoxication, stillness, desire and love. Something that is neither one nor the other's, but a third creation between dreaming and being awake, where possibilities are held and lost. This is URDA / BONE.

Dr. Mason Miller is a world-renowned expert in memory erasure, a man who helps others forget what they can't live with. But when he begins experiencing surreal disruptions inside the sterile environment of a luxury resort, it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems. As he reconnects with a long-lost lover, relives ethically questionable cases, and unearths a buried trauma, Mason realizes he's not treating a patient, he is the patient.

Immediately after the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, amateur detectives took the Internet chat rooms to try to find the culprits, looking for details in photographs uploaded to the sites that could point to the guilt of potential suspects.

Based on the award-nominated graphic novel by Benjamin Rivers. Dana is a woman who doesn’t deal well with confrontation. She likes her job, her friends, and the cozy comfort of her neighbourhood — Toronto’s own Queen Street West. But when the world forces her to stand up, will she be able to handle it?

An introverted teen determines to overcome his anxieties and run the Montreal marathon.

Set in an East Toronto neighborhood, THE RIVER YOU STEP IN is about a maverick social worker and the troubled people she tries to help, and engages with issues of domestic abuse, addiction, and racial prejudice.

Stage: The Culinary Internship follows a group of interns during a nine month apprenticeship at one of the best restaurants in the world, Mugaritz. While the restaurant’s notorious avant-garde cuisine and creative working environment elevates these young hopefuls to think outside the confines of a kitchen, the extremely high standards prove to be mentally and physically exhausting. Ultimately, not everyone can handle the heat.

The title of this Canadian documentary may have some relation to Canadian Marshall McLuhan's theories. It combines interview with famous U.S. militants of the '60s, such as Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, with reenactments of their Chicago trials (i.e., the "Chicago Eight," etc.). Other figures of cultural interest from the time, including Alan Ginsberg and Buckminster Fuller, are interviewed or featured. The filmmaker indicates his belief that powerful forces in the U.S. government worked together to suppress American radicals. This view, widely disbelieved at the time, has since been confirmed.

A plant left in a will becomes an unlikely and secret source of funds for a man and his wife. They soon discover that easy cash isn't always the answer.

With the help of a handsome young police officer, a social worker searches for the mother of a baby she has found abandoned in a nativity scene at her church.

After crossing 11 countries irregularly to seek asylum in Canada, Peggy, Simon and their three children are waiting for the hearing that will determine whether they get refugee status or not. Having fled political repression in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the family tries to rebuild a peaceful life in Montreal, in spite of the constant threat of deportation. Between ghosts from the past, hopes for the future, a complex legal maze and seemingly endless trial, the film delves into the struggle of the Nkunga Mbala family to remain in Canada. Offering unprecedented access to their hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, the film unveils the opaque process of claiming asylum in Canada.

An advertising executive is desperate to create a heartfelt holiday ad for her biggest client. But when the owner of the charity discovers her real motives, she risks losing him—the one person who finally taught her to love Christmas again.

A hypochondriac business manager becomes attached to a pretty receptionist who will help him fiercely oppose the shady maneuvers of an executive with excessive ambition.

Four sorority sisters accidentally unleash a trio of ghastly ghouls from an underground bunker during a weekend getaway in the country.

An obsessive choreographer on a creative retreat with her toddler awakens a fairy corpse with disturbing intentions

Rosalie Richard is found raped and dead at the foot of a cliff. This gruesome murder is the first ever in the Magdalen Islands. Her death will radically change the orderly life of Sergeant André Surprenant.

It was supposed to be a fun weekend. A trip away for a close-knit friend group to celebrate the end of high school. But when their estranged former best friend shows up, unannounced, with her douche boyfriend in tow… plans change. Tensions rise, friendships are tested, and the whole weekend seems hopeless. As a last-ditch attempt to save the trip, the group revisits a game from their childhood, a game inspired by a local ghost story. What started out as a fun activity turns deadly as real life begins to mirror the actions of the game, leading the friends to question each other and their own judgement. After all, no one really believes in ghosts… right?

In Sarajevo, three teenage boys train with their coach on a luge track left over from the 1984 Winter Games, now bullet-riddled, covered in graffiti, and swarmed by tourists. Three decades after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirza, Zlatan, and Hamza are the next generation of athletes in a country facing an uncertain future. The tensions of the past still loom large in these young Muslims’ lives, and their Olympic dreams are stunted by a lack of state support despite the efforts of their dedicated coach. Director Ryan Sidhoo takes a longitudinal approach in his directorial debut, intimately capturing the boys’ journey as they reckon with growing up under the shadow of the past. A deeply affecting coming-of-age underdog story, The Track is an ode to the power of hope, friendship, and chasing your dreams against all odds.

This short animated film features the sandman and the creatures he sculpts out of sand. These lively creatures build a castle and celebrate the completion of their new home, only to be interrupted by an uninvited guest. Cleverly constructed with nuance, the film leaves interpretation open to the viewer. The film took home an Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film.

Childhood friends turned step-sisters, Jane and Jocelyn have been drifting apart despite longing for the intimacy they once shared. In this comedic, character-driven chamber piece, Jocelyn’s attempt to reach out to her isolating step-sister sours when Jane learns she has not been invited to the upcoming family vacation.

A commercial for cat treats that cause lasers to shoot from the feline’s eyes to stop home invaders.

Canadian military accomplishments in the last hundred days of World War I, when the German Army was destroyed, surpassed those of any other army. The Canadian success was, in no small measure, due to Arthur Currie, whom a recent British historian describes as "the most successful Allied General and one of the least well known."

Jackie and Lorna share a house in Florida. Jackie is a child psychologist and Lorna a successful writer. Lorna prepares a mysterious appointment. Jackie is very curious.

What do X-rays, microwaves and light have in common? Part of the Science Please! collection for children.

In this melodramatic French Canadian comedy-drama, a sexy male escort sashays into the living room and life of a gay man and proves to be the catalyst for turmoil. Until Steve showed up to strip as a birthday present, the life of lovers Jean-Marc and Phillipe had settled into a comfortable but passionless rut. Jean-Marc is alone at the time and has sex with Steve. Later that night, Steve tries to change a light bulb and falls, causing his friends to jump to the conclusion that he tried to kill himself. Soon Phillipe too gets involved with Steve. Finding Steve a tonic to his doldrums, Phillipe begins pursuing a real relationship with him. Steve then proves to be a troubled character who is involved secretly with another man who has been diagnosed with HIV. The problem stems from the fact that the mystery lover is none other than Phillipe's dearest friend. Matters are complicated by Nathalie -- who secretly loves Phillipe -- and by his recently divorced mother.

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

In a revolutionary adaptation by Brad Fraser, this Richard is the story of a king who believes that God gives him the right to live above the rules and who ultimately suffers the consequences. The story is embedded in a time of great freedom that is soon crushed - the late 1970s and early '80s: when lives were lived at great volume against a suffocating strain of conservatism and fear. Fraser's adaptation maintains Shakespeare's text but draws on sources beyond Richard II.

Three young teens are stranded in the wilderness without their parents.

A coming-of-age comedy about a 14-year-old boy whose best friend tries to 'cure' him of being gay.

Four twenty-somethings and three businessmen are hunted by a terrible monster, while a former minister prepares to do battle with the ancient evil.

How wedge politics on key divisive issues is giving rise to a new kind of populist leaders: disruptors with a new playbook who are loved by some and challenged by others, dividing the electorate. Are they also expressing the will of the people?

Unable to get over the tragic loss of the love of his life, and stuck with a day job of editing adult videos, Chase meets an unlikely ally - a call girl (Valentine) who works under the various personas she has created for herself. Is Chase ready to uncover Valentine's dark secrets?

Jessica Jessica is the story of two friends in their very late 30's who aren't married, who aren't mothers, who aren't failures, and are both named Jessica.