Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

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

A talented TV host show profiles a local florist with a groundbreaking same-day-delivery florist service and a long-running flower competition for a chance to land her own show. After spending time together on their intensive project, the two continue to bond and grow closer. Will they find that love and not only their careers are on the table?

In a dystopian future, a nation of bio-titans has been created and the female sex and procreation have become obsolete. As the Earth turns toxic, the bio-titans are eager to colonise the cosmos on board a colossal spaceship, taking with them only one female body kept barely alive as a reminder of the troubled past. But everything changes when the immortal calligrapher Krypton, tasked with creating an indestructible copy of the entire written heritage of his kin, sees a forbidden book turn into a feisty girl, Gargara.

A visitor to a conference in Montreal arrives at the airport and has a strange experience with the customs officer. Short film written and directed by Atom Egoyan, as part of the Montreal vu par... anthology.

Over summer days by the lake, Toni grows closer to another young man and is forced to confront the emotional fallout of his awakened desire. As past and present blur, he navigates the quiet unraveling that follows.

A young man in his thirties goes to his father's house in the hope of telling him once and for all what he has always wanted to tell him. Then begins an endless nightmare.

This funny short animation was written and created by Tali and is inspired by the filmmaker's misadventures as a school bus driver in the Eastern Townships. Our protagonist dreams of becoming a bus driver in order to cruise down quiet country lanes and connect with nature, her young charges and their parents. But her idyllic view of her new job is sorely tested after she meets her surly boss, named Killer, and discovers that winding roads can prove treacherous in winter, especially with a faulty clutch. Through her cheeky humour and oblique look at the reality of people living in the Quebec countryside, Tali delivers a film that is unique, witty and touching.

The World is Watching is a political film about the moral issues surrounding news gathering and newsmaking in the electronic age. Who decides what constitutes the news? How do they decide? And what about the men and women who report from the field. Are foreign correspondents allowed to tell all that they see? The film examines these complex issues by focusing on several international journalists in Nicaragua as they cover the negotiations surrounding the Arias Peace Plan in November 1987. With unprecedented access to the inner workings of ABC News, what follows is a unique portrait of a news crew in the field, as it interacts with the editorial process in the newsroom in New York City.

After a late night high school graduation party, Chantal and Delphine find themselves walking home alone in the dark. Lost in the forest, their long night walk is punctuated by carelessness and an irrepressible desire to exist.

An extraordinary soup kitchen in Milan - the Refettorio Ambrosiano - run by internationally renowned chef Massimo Bottura and 40 of the world's best chefs including Ferran Adria, Rene Redzepi, Alain Ducasse, Daniel Humm and many others. All food served was made from the food waste of Expo Milano 2015. The film also tells the compelling story of several of the refugees and homeless the Refettorio served.

The Thomsons, like many families, have hit hard times as Thomas can't find steady work. Fifteen year old Booky takes the family situation in stride, being matter-of-fact about being poor. Beyond her loving family, there are some things about her life she likes, such as being the president of her local Deanna Durbin fan club, and going out with a boy named Lorne.

This feature-length film tells the story of the passion between Marie de l’Incarnation, a mid-seventeenth-century nun and God, her "divine spouse." Fusing documentary and acting by Marie Tifo, whom we follow as she rehearses for this demanding role, the film paints an astonishing portrait of this mystic who abandoned her son and left France to build a convent in Canada, where she became the first female writer in New France.

This over-the-top gorefest tells the story of a young girl who has to combat a large collection of bad guys to escape graphic torture. She takes inspiration from Arnold Schwarzenegger movies circa 1980 unleashing a parade of violence that turns the whole screen red.

Charles Renard, a police officer who has lost his hearing following an ear injury during an operation, is entrusted upon his return to work with the investigation of credit card thefts committed by a woman who uses newspaper classified ads to lure her prey.

Portrait of the Canadian artist duo Cozic, composed of Monic Brassard (1944) and Yvon Cozic (1942). United in life and creation, the couple works with industrial materials in vibrant colors to create ecological and playful artworks. From the carefree hippie years of the 1960s to major public art commissions, their work reflects the evolution of our relationship with nature and the industrial world. Today, from their remarkable estate in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Rochelle in the Eastern Townships, the duo is preparing for their major retrospective at the Musée national des beaux-arts de Québec.

A filmmaker explores his Mennonite roots and identity.

Revisiting her film set photos, director Léa Pool reflects on her prolific career. The filmmaker left Switzerland at the age of 25 to settle in Quebec and embark on a surprising career. She reinvents herself from film to film, exploring themes that deeply resonate with her: identity, exile, maternal absence, transitional spaces... In both documentary and fiction, she has directed 20 feature films that feature strong female characters and contemporary issues. Somewhere between a masterclass and an intimate conversation, this documentary invites Léa to share her cinematic journey in front of the camera.

A former jazz diva, forgotten by time, is spending the last years of her life in a seniors' residence with an orderly as her only friend. Unfortunately, she fails to keep her diva ways in check and risks losing the only person she cares about with time running out to make amends... A short film in English and Kreyol, set in Montreal (Tio'tia:ke), Canada.​ A Dios was developed and produced thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts.

Following young Anders and his father, Dr. Grant Bruno, of the Samson Cree Nation, this documentary gives viewers unique access to the world of an autistic child, and to follow his father’s journey to bring back traditional First Peoples perspectives in our contemporary world.

Independent production and very free artistically, the film will lock you in the apartment of an editor, while the latter goes crazy while finishing the assembly of a film.

This short film from the Canada Vignettes series features tenor Roger Doucet singing the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, before a hockey game in the Montreal Forum.

Researchers discover a radical cure for digestive tract illnesses by transplanting pig organs into the human body. Medical miracle morphs into pop phenomenon as eating garbage explodes in popularity, but society may not be prepared for consequences more chilling and irreversible than a fleeting fad.

Award winning animated short film.

B.K.S uses A.S.M.R video codes to tell a break-up sex story.

Deeply rooted in artistic families, young Luben Boykov and Elena Popova escape the repressions of communist Bulgaria and find refuge on the island of Newfoundland in 1990. With their 2-year-old daughter and sixty dollars they begin to build a new life. At the height of what many would define as success, they leap again, understanding that the greatest risk for art, and for love, is taking it for granted.

CORVUS follows a weary yet extraordinary police detective as he pieces together a young woman's murder. The crime reveals itself in a series of moments that allow the detective to see past the facts, and into the story with a strange sense of familiarity.

When a famous pianist demands the tuning of a barroom piano, a maverick tuner uses her weird power to teach him a terrifying lesson. Player Piano is a horror story about perfectionism.

Cry of Silence, is about a double kidnapping, and assault that is presented as an Action Packed ,Dramatic, Thriller that will keep you riveted.

A man in his mid-40s is killed by a truck just after receiving a prescription against death from his doctor. He then regains consciousness in a video store, and with some further difficulties, receives a film of his life. Although full of factual inaccuracies, it is an enjoyable examination of his birth, youth, marriage, family and death. Unfortunately, his request for a sequel is denied, and as he advances down the corridor to God, technical difficulties are experienced.

More than a year has passed since the world found out about Ceres II, a dwarf planet on a clean course to devastate earth. The initial chaos that ensued has diminished; in the final weeks leading up to impact, people everywhere are trying to live normal everyday lives just one last time. Four friends use their final days to fulfill their bucket lists and document it in hopes of preserving a time capsule they call the "Rocket List". The plan is to fire off their documentary into outer space before impact in hopes that one day someone will find it.

The film intercuts between two days, two years apart. The first: a flight from Vancouver to Halifax, where Charlotte and Cecil, two strangers, meet in seats 3a & 3c and fall in love. The second: a Saturday two years later, where Charlotte and Cecil now a couple, fight, break-up and finally reunite.

Every Child Matters: Reconciliation Through Education is a powerful 90-minute special created by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) produced in collaboration with Insight Productions and supported by Canadian Heritage. The special, airing on APTN and CBC, honours Residential School Survivors and their families through storytelling and performance by Youth, Leaders, Knowledge Keepers, and Elders from a diverse group of Indigenous Nations, communities, and cultures.

Claire, a recently retired widow, shares her suburban house with her sister Gisele. On a scorching summer day, Julien an old flame, shows up unexpectedly with the intention of winning Claire back. Proof that life never ceases to amaze us.

A struggling writer is on the verge of a creative revelation but an uninvited stranger brings on a revelation of her own.

Idle hours at a summer cottage, when her husband is at work and the children busy at play, give a wife time to dream a little and reflect on her life and her marriage. Is it enough? What else might she have made of herself? But then her husband returns and she opts for things as they are. A relaxed drama that has much of the mood of a summer outdoors.

Leslie Caron, beloved star of Gigi and An American in Paris, is one of the last witnesses to the golden age of American cinema of the mid 20th century. Discovered by Gene Kelly when she was a teenager, she became one of the great talents in the worlds of film, dance, and theatre, still performing to this day! The film reveals a story told through the prism of a living legend who reveals secrets of her work and life- a world of contradictions, ambitions and dreams, lived by one of its most luminous personalities.

Ronald, an eight year-old biracial boy, sees his life turning upside down after witnessing the brutal murder of his mother by his father. Often moved from one foster home to the next, Ronald is recruited by a street gang where he dwells in a life of crime and violence. As he waits for his father to be released to avenge his mother, he realizes that he doesn't have to follow his father's footsteps or the path chosen for him. Against all odds, he takes control of his own destiny. His awakening to new humane values enables him to change change course despite the obvious risk of losing the only family he has ever known.

This short documentary tells the story of Garret Walsh, a twelve-year-old Canadian body-builder.

A feature-length documentary from Canadian Geographic Films, and presents a powerful and emotional story celebrating the 100-year history of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Through its backdrop of rarely seen RCAF archival footage and dramatic contemporary footage, the film showcases compelling stories from past and present RCAF members from across Canada.

"This is dedicated to all the people that know sexuality is a translation of being. A translation that mustn't be isolated from the whole. This is also in memory of Blaine and Teddy, your secrets will never be forgotten." - Anita Schoepp

Struggling to survive amid urban squalor in downtown Los Angeles, transplanted Mojave Indian Triam Lee sees no other option but crime to support his family. But when he unintentionally commits murder, Triam must face the repercussions of his actions, including pursuit by racist cops, as well as his own sense of guilt. Shot in 1977, Bruce Schwartz's stark yet moving film was one of the first to star a Native American in a lead role.

Nobody ever listens to Jacob, so he always has to repeat himself. A trip to the grocery store leads to a misunderstanding and Jacob falls asleep hiding in a park. When he wakes up, he discovers that he is in trouble for insulting the store clerk. He is sent to a prison for children that is located on Slimer's Island and is run by the Hooded Fang, an ex-wrestler who outwardly hates children. Meanwhile, Child Power representatives the Intrepid Shapiro and Fearless O'Toole try to find the prison's hidden location to help free the children.

After a mysterious death, Kaujak and Sapa are separated despite being promised to each other at birth. With the help of spirit guides, efforts are made to restore harmony in this Arctic fairy tale set in an Inuit community.

Zoe is abducted by a suburban single mother named Alina, who just so happens to be a deranged yet altruistic serial killer. As Zoe battles for survival, she finds herself asking what in her life is even worth fighting for.

When Lily finds out she's being cheated on, her best friends come to the rescue to lift her spirits and get revenge on her soon-to-be ex.

A story about loneliness, acceptance and re-discovering the wonderful dream-like adventure of a child's imagination.

Two teenage boys, Alasdair and Kevin, out camping in the Ontario woods are abducted by a spaceship and are held with two other captives, a cat burglar and a teenage intellectual, by two aliens who take them on a trip through space and time while Alasdair and Kevin and their two other captives try to figure out the aliens agenda for them.

a relentlessly nerve-wracking deadlock between three convicts and an emergency response team deployed to quell the rebellion.

The story of Canada's leading poet and the A-Frame cabin he built. Now Canada's leading musicians and artists come together to tell the tale of Al Purdy.

A couple struggles to express their true feelings for each other, meanwhile their bellybuttons know the truth.

This short film brings together animated interpretations of four poems by great Canadian wordsmiths: "Riverdale Lion" by John Robert Colombo, "A Kite Is a Victim" by Leonard Cohen, "Klaxon" by James Reaney and George Johnston’s "The Bulge."

After the loss of her father, 14-year-old Kiera struggles to care for her grieving mother on her own. When she finds solace in the possibility of love, it unravels into something far more terrifying, bringing them closer again.

A short film inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Dunwich Horror", created by students for the Vancouver Film School's The Interactive Lovecraft (aka "Project Space Squid").

Everyone wants to wish Émilien a happy birthday.

Rumba Rules, New Genealogies offers an enjoyable, rough-edged glimpse into the music scene of Kinshasa, with impromptu shots drawing the viewer into jam sessions on plastic chairs, and the quest for perfection at the studio.

Teenage years, the best and worst years of our lives. Jeremy is an ordinary teenager, living an ordinary teenage life. Because of his shyness, he fantasizes conversations with his crush, Sean. But what happens when he loses control of something completely in his mind?