Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

Kellie, a widow with a successful yet demanding company, and longing for a companion, takes to the world of online dating where she meets Dan. He seems too good to be true--is he?

18-year-old Jack get's kicked out of school after an extreme attempt at fitting in. But back at home he doesn't quite fit either. Against the backdrop of his father's death, Jack must navigate the expectations of his family and his friends to discover, on his own terms, what it really means to be a man.

A young man runs from the voices in his head into the arms of an elderly cowgirl.

Unhinged by his girlfriend's sudden departure, artist Angus begins slipping into a dark layer of reality ruled by a powerful demon. Believing that the key to finding her lies within, Angus plunges deeper into the infernal netherworld.

An epidemic of yellow crawling brains threatens the lives of inhabitants in a reclusive Northern Quebec town.

After an unexpected pregnancy The Patient is terrified at the prospect of fatherhood, and after being denied an orchiectomy by their doctor they seek to have the surgery performed illegally at a seedy motel.

An ensemble comedy about love, choreographed dance, kitchen safety, stranger danger, planetary physics, and the idea that it’s never too late in life to figure out who you really are.

A young journalist returns home to work in the local newspaper. There again see his girlfriend, who is now engaged. For her, this reunion will be a great emotional impact.

The film tells the story of three couples on the road between the Atlantic coast and the Northwest Territories in Canada.

Young people took to the streets with political muralism all over Chile in the late 60s, at the same time that young people in New York were starting modern graffiti, and May 68 took place in Paris. Chile Estyle is a documentary film which explores the past and present of Chile's unique street art tradition, which comes from a remix of political muralism and graffiti, and has been part of Chilean cultural and political life since the 60s. The result is a visually arresting, informative, and entertaining film.

Two children discover a black hole and imagine what it would be like to travel through time.

Various women run afoul a tickling psychopath in the middle of the woods.

When layoffs are announced at a remote oilfield office, team morale deteriorates with both humorous, and heartbreaking, results. With support, and often-questionable guidance from her co-workers, new engineer Wendy must navigate personal ethics and corporate industry within one of the world's most controversial industries.

A sudden rainstorm is unleashed on a city. Everyone seeks refuge. When the clouds thin out, life continues.

The PJ Masks can't wait to use their PJ Vehicles against Carly and Cartoka. But as a result, they don't work well with Newton or their PJ Animals.

Defying modernity, 90-year-old Agatha forges a solitary existence on her ancestral farm preserving heirloom seeds.

A young woman travels to a secluded resort where her estranged and criminal father seeks to mend their relationship. Upon her arrival, she and her girlfriend are confronted by dangerous men from her father's past and must fight for their lives.

A day in the life of two Québec families reunited for their children's wedding.

In this Canadian rendering of a potential "apocalypse then", in 1990, after the collapse of modern civilization (due to atomic "accidents" and the "failure" of the world's economy), a young couple tries to carry on a quiet life in an uncivilized world. They are joined by a wandering soldier-of-fortune, who helps them survive the repeated attacks of mutant packs of human scavengers that have begun to evolve (mysteriously) back into animals. Mister soldier also eats their dog at one point. But an even darker threat comes from a lone figure, shadowing them wherever they go...

DJ, a mentally-plagued electronica musician, stumbles upon the “Master Frequency”—a dangerous sound wave that distorts the body and mind. As DJ falls deeper into the frequency’s grasp, they must save their mind and loved ones.

Seasoned drug smuggler and thief François “Chico” Tremblay is tired of his modest lifestyle. Given the opportunity to earn $50,000 killing a prominent New York City gangster, he leaps at the opportunity, ignoring the warnings of Montreal’s leading mob boss, who has forbidden local criminals from taking the assignment. Upon his return, Chico discovers he is being pursued from all sides, prompting an unlikely response: he calls a local talk radio show and starts revealing the mafia’s most carefully guarded secrets. As his revelations get more shocking, so do the tactics of his adversaries, culminating in a devastating gut punch of a finale.

Two ambulance paramedics put their lives on the line when a routine call becomes a deadly race against time.

A girl and boy. Brother and sister. Living in poverty and neglect. Lost in the woods. They see a house, rush toward it... it is magical. Full of good food, soft sheets, love and care. But in this house, danger lurks. And all they have is each other. The Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel takes a modern, neorealistic twist in H&G.

Gunman Don Borisenko is hired by the townsfolk to mete out justice to a cruel land baron. Instead, Borisenko gets romantically involved with Tass Tory, the wife of a local farmer. When the smoke clears, the gunman has killed the rancher, and the farmer has killed the gunman.

Acclaimed documentarian John Walker catches the legendary Cape Breton Miner’s singing group The Men of the Deeps just as the last mines on the island are shut down. Featuring ravishing cinematography of Cape Breton, and plenty of music, Men of the Deeps is a deeply touching portrait of a culture that still survives despite the ultimate end of an industry, and a tribute to the men and the songs that kept things moving on the Island for almost two hundred years.

The incredible life of the Toronto Raptors’ biggest fan is the focus of this inspirational documentary.

This short biopic profiles Montreal lawyer-turned-politician George-Étienne Cartier as he campaigns to unite English and French Canada under Confederation. The political world of a century ago comes to life as we hear debates in the Parliament of Upper and Lower Canada amidst political strife and personal feuds. Ultimately, Cartier skilfully allays the fears of party and sectional leaders, convincing them that federal union would protect, rather than weaken, Quebec’s cherished rights of language and religion. The eloquent and enigmatic Cartier was instrumental in shaping the Canada that was soon to emerge.

Inspired by real Canadian stories, The Last Timbit follows a group of strangers who wait out the snowstorm of the decade in a Tim Hortons. In this hilarious and heartfelt new musical, this unlikely group comes together to explore family, community and finds the best in hard times — all while battling for the last Birthday Cake Timbit.

Will the Ghostwriter team finally put an end to Gooey Gus, before more innocent people become entangled in his slimy grip?

This is a lonely New Year's Eve for Hank Williams as he spends it en route to a huge New Years Day concert in Ohio. Hank Williams died that night on the road. A fictional biography is shown in flashback.

It is a Sunday afternoon in the universe. When a mysterious musical force causes scorching heat, tornadoes, and raging fires to devastate our planet, four very different people await the impending disaster at a local corner store. A film about the human ties that bind us when catastrophe is imminent.

A starving gendarme, wasting away from hunger, is reduced to grabbing castoff snacks from fat American tourists. When he sees as old woman feeding pigeons, in desperation he hits on the bizarre idea of dressing up as one...

Whether it's bots in the bloodstream, a silent stranger by the road or even a single, all-consuming thought, death comes in peculiar forms in this wildly creative collection of shorts, offering five gruesome tales of the strange and the unnatural.

The story of a war between men and women in the 23rd century.

Photojournalist Nika Printz is struggling to accept the mysterious death of her younger brother when she discovers his obsession with trepanation; an ancient procedure that involves drilling a hole in one's head.

The documentary Little Big Girls by director Hélène Choquette sheds light on the phenomenon of early-onset puberty. Today, it isn’t unusual to see the earliest signs of puberty in girls younger than the age of 9, though this was not the case a few decades ago. The result, inevitably, is a disconnect between the girls’ physical and emotional maturity. Far from being a marginal issue, early-onset puberty is fast becoming a worldwide public health concern. A number of causes are suspected: Could obesity and exposure to environmental contaminants, for instance, be to blame? While the causes may still be misunderstood, the physical, psychological and psychosocial repercussions on young girls going through this change so early are all too visible. Little Big Girls alerts us to the need to adapt, as a society, so as to minimize the impact of this phenomenon on our children.

A woman and man in their early sixties try to cure loneliness on a second date. However, when the man eagerly convinces the apprehensive woman to sneak into an abandoned bowling alley, the discord in their personalities becomes apparent.

A man uses an instant photo booth with bizarre results.

Chronicling the heydays of Spectral Theatre Society, an independent theatre company from Vancouver, BC, Canada that defied convention and broke all the rules in their quixotic quest to produce theatre for people that don't like theatre.

New carpet factory footage intercut with old porn creates a brief but telling glimpse into the human psyche.

Yearning for the confidence to give his crush a New Year's kiss, Riley takes pills with unpredictable side effects.

David happily brings his wife and new baby to his parents to celebrate his birthday. All goes well until the next day, when he finds that his mother – a filmmaker – has committed suicide. His second shock comes on the day of the funeral, when he is told that the man who raised him is not his biological father. Bewildered, he starts to look for answers and finds a hidden side of his mother’s life.

Martha Barlow, a modern day outlaw, must reconcile her dark past after her teenage son commits a horrible crime.

A young girl named Pearl tries to help her father navigate the world of online dating.

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

In Jordan, in the heart of the Middle East, Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese refugees are working on the filming of "Incendies", an adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad's play. Whether extras or onlookers, these exiles once experienced scenes very similar to the ones depicted in Denis Villeneuve's movie. "Remembering the Ashes: Incendies Through Their Eyes" explores their views on the vicious war and cycle of violence being recreated before their eyes, and by their own efforts.

A suicidal teen develops a candid rapport with the student from Shanghai assigned to watch her in hospital. A nightly exchange of secrets, text messages and possessions quickly expands the boundaries of their relationship and alters their inner chemistry.

When prim and proper New England college professor Gwen Barry (Titanic's Frances Fisher) hires handsome young prison inmate Dalton Roy (Derwin Jordan) to tend her yard through a prison work furlough program, their mentor-student relationship soon turns into a passionate love affair. But when Dalton completes his prison sentence, meets a pretty young college student (Kandyse McClure), and attempts to start over again on his own, Gwen becomes obsessed with remaining a part of Dalton's life or destroying it completely.

Tanya's parents are Russian spies posted as a sleeper's cell to North America. With no mission, they got a lot of time in their hands. So, they spend most of it spying on their daughter.

A man suffering from memory loss defends his home from intruders.

A behind-the-scenes documentary that chronicles the making of the Crave television series. It explores the casting challenges, Indigenous representation, and the creative process of adapting the cult film franchise into a multi-lingual, 6-episode series.

A historical drama set in 1889, Chandler's Mill examines the plight of workers, and particularly child workers, in the New Brunswick wool industry. The story revolves around the efforts of one young teenage girl to better the lives of her friend and other workers, on the eve of a public hearing of the Canadian Royal Commission on Capital and Labour. Through the use of historical re-enactment, Chandler's Mill explores the issues of child labour, worker's rights and union organizing in 19th-century Canada.

While waiting for his date at a café, Florian bumps into Hassan, a charming but nosy ex-lover, who decides to join him on the wait. What starts out as a lively discussion about online dating quickly turns into a conscience-stricken heated debate over straight-acting gay guys and the quest for the elusive Mr. Wonderful. Eventually, egos are bruised, and old wounds are ripped open once more. Alas, only Goliath could save the day...if only he'd show up.

Stuck in a creative rut, filmmaker Gilda Pourjabar returns to Iran, her homeland, to talk with her brother Siamak, an illustrator based in Tehran. This encounter raises questions about their relationship to Western popular art, as they grew up in a culture that the current political regime describes as “westoxicated.” This documentary uses playful animations by Siamak, inspired by Franco-Belgian comics and rock concert posters, superimposed on archival footage of the most recent popular uprisings in Iran to become a logical collaboration for these artists who shared a record collection as children. Together, they examine how art slips through the cracks of repression to light the rebellious sparks in the hearts of young people.

When Buddy's pizza is cursed by the delivery guy, his Saturday night becomes a lot messier than he had imagined.

Vancouver's esports scene is on the cusp to unstoppable growth. The local fighting games community tells all on what it took to get this far.

An environmental morality tale. A divine gate gives one all that one desires, on the condition that one takes only what one needs and one gives something good in return.

Antoine, 13, spends the summer vacation with his parents in a rented cottage on an island in the middle of the Saint-Lawrence River. His neighbour, 17-year-old Anna, is an enigmatic and lively young woman. Antoine begins to experience the first stirrings of love-which soon yield a troubling brew of anxiety, desire and obsession. He eventually comes across a terrible secret that will forever change his life.

Mistaken for a dangerous Islamist, Saadi - a regular guy who happens to be an illegal Arab immigrant - sets out on the most dangerous day of his life. A satirical and thrilling comedy where a wrongly accused suspect gets mixed up in a worldwide terrorist plot.