Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

A Yakuza hitman travels to North America for his 27th job, only to find lingering memories of lost love through a chance encounter with a beautiful prostitute.

Valerie leaves behind her life at a convent for the wild side of life. Getting a job as a topless dancer, Valerie quickly graduates to becoming a high-class hooker. After amassing a small fortune, she falls in love with an artist, a man who is more-than-willing to overlook Valerie's sordid past.

After a game of hide-and-seek, 11-year-old Aaron is hypnotized to solve the mystery of his missing friend.

An immersive look into the life of an 8th grade students mandatory dance class

Through Ukrainian songs and dances, a Canadian woman who came to Ukraine learns about her family history.

Living with a progressive disease like multiple sclerosis means annual tests and doctor’s visits, and with that comes the usual anxiety about whether this will be the year. Conclusion: Stable Disease is an experimental video made from the artist’s personal MRI image scans from 2018-2022

Heading north to avoid the US draft in the summer of 1971, Monty meets the beautiful, enigmatic Marianne. They share an unexpected connection yet when he awakes, she is gone. He spends the rest of the heady summer thinking of her, as he begins to realize the land to which he ran is not as benign as imagined.

Louis Maltais loves challenges. At 27, this ex-circus artist begins his training to become the first male midwife in Quebec. During 4 years, the movie follows Louis on his initiatory journey. Beyond midwifery, it tells a universal tale. A tale of transformation, about a man who, despite ordeals, doubts, and misconceptions, is determined to live out his passion.

Theatre director Robin Phillips rehearses actor Mark McKinney over the course of 3 years.

One Sunday in Canada visits an Italian community in the northwest sector of Montreal, where about half of the city’s 150,000 Italians live.

In this adaptation of the 1977 sci-fi novel, "The Adolescence of P-1," a high school whiz kid's computer program accidentally hooks into the mainframe computer of a nuclear power plant.

The life of pop superstar Sarah McLachlan comes alive in this intimate documentary that has McLachlan talking about her fame, her loves, her family and her music. Learn about her relationship with her adoptive parents, when she first discovered her musical talent, and how she came up with the idea for the Lilith Fair music festival. The film also includes performances of hits "Building a Mystery," "Into the Fire" and "I Will Remember You."

December 31, 1999. Quebec is a few hours from year 2000 and its potential bug. Trapped in a Montreal appartement, Momo needs only one thing to survive this nightmare: couscous.

Documentary about the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, part of the Seven Years War between Britain and France. Both leaders, Wolfe and Montcalm, died in the battle, which decided control over what would become Canada. Includes re-enactments of the battle and the personalities of the two commanders. For two months Montcalm and Quebec City endured English bombardments. However, in what the documentary describes as an exceptionally well planned operation during the night of September 12th, Wolfe got 4500 men and two cannons up L’Anse-au-Foulon cliffs to the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm, who never commanded an army before being posted to New France, chose to leave the city walls and try to fight a linear battle against a better trained army.

After rescuing an abandoned potted plant, Phil spirals into an absurd plant obsession to avoid visiting his father on his deathbed.

Patrick Bourgeois dives into the history of one of the worst naval tragedies that ever occurred in Quebec. In 1711, Admiral Hovenden Walker lead a 75-ship English fleet, carrying 15 000 soldiers, towards Quebec City. Eight of his boats shipwrecked on l’Île-aux-oeufs and 1000 people lost their life.

Caught in the tensions of the returning Pierrot, an ex-con, and the neighboring outlaws, Coralie attempts to distance herself from an ambiguous if not tormented past. Set against a busy highway, the butting houses dominated by a boss loosing sight of his operation are suspended as an anarchic surge approaches.

Eva and Christian find their relationship on the verge of crumbling; when a routine trip forces them to reconsider if their love is worth the pain and if they can ever learn to trust one another again.

Author John Dykstra, who writes under the pen name Rick Hardin, has been up for hours. The drive back to Sarasota from his mystery writers group in Jacksonville has proven too much for him, and he desperately needs to find a rest stop. When he finally reaches a roadside stop, he begins witnessing strange events. But are they strange sleep-deprived halucinations or warnings, through echos in time?

The biggest snowstorm of 1988 leaves Tom stranded in a tiny basement apartment with his worst nightmare.

Marie, a Canadian editor specialized in testimonies of Genocide survivors, starts to receive anonymous large envelopes with the narrative of Ali, a young Palestinian who grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Intrigued, Marie investigates the origin of these envelopes and finds out who is the anonymous writer. This is how she establishes a connection with Joseph, a Lebanese worker hired to paint the offices. A strange relation develops between these two persons who come from very different worlds. But after a while, Joseph abruptly disappears and Marie, overwhelmed by the mission fallen on her, starts a journey into the past, through a small village in Lebanon, in the heart of a bloodthirsty culture were lies the key of all the enigmas.

Two researchers realize that destroying "Wattleseed" won't stop the coming singularity. To halt the arms race, they devise a plan to stage a lethal incident.

Escape the Usual follows a day in the life of three teenage boys during the spring of 2002 in a small fishing village along the south shore of Nova Scotia.

Tien is the first Asian trans man to publicly come out in the Vancouver, then, gay and lesbian community of 2001. In this profound and inspiring film, Tien shares his story as a trailblazing, racialised, transgender immigrant and his journey to discovering his true purpose in life — cultivating and becoming joy.

A boyfriend's jealous impulse spirals out of control in 16 minutes of continuous time.

Gore, Quebec tells the story of two acquaintances who are set up by their mutual friends on a cottage weekend in Quebec. What was supposed to be an exciting and fun weekend, quickly turns into the blind date from hell, as the Couple discover that the cottage is not safe, and that their friends are already dead. The film begins in a home movie found-footage style, but quickly shifts into a more cinematic style once things start unraveling. With a serial killer terrorizing them, the Couple have to either protect one another to survive, or try to escape separately. Do you protect your fellow man, or is survival a solitary journey?

Two close friends from Sudbury, Ontario take a road trip to Toronto that will change the nature of their relationship.

A dropout gets the margins of society and resists his father’s pressure to return to the bosom of the village. The film transcends anecdote by diving into a wacky and unusual universe, full of fantasy, imagination, and visual and sound gags.

In 1951, the body of Maxime Montenegro was found on the banks of the Lachine Canal a few days after his mysterious disappearance. Detectives Antonio Gratelli and Eduardo Ramirez were at the heart of the investigation. The trail led them to the victim's widow; Suzanne, an enigmatic and seductive woman who would become the prime suspect in the tragedy, along with Daniel Legrand, her new husband and mafia boss.

A documentary featuring 30 Argentinian women aged between 4 and 80, sharing their stories of resilience, strength, and unique perspectives on womanhood through performance art.

Walker takes us on a personal journey into a world of myth and imagination that he learned from his grandmother. He travels from the Moors of Devon and the Highlands of Scotland to the brooding Celtic landscapes of Ireland and the intimate hills of Cape Breton, in his search of this potent “otherworld” of the imagination.

Once in a while a person comes along and flat changes it all. For the world of snowboarding, Craig Kelly was that guy. Craig Kelly led the charge, and led it with more class, skill and energy than anyone else would have or could have. Craig Kelly was snowboarding's original captain, and remained on top until his tragic death by avalanche in 2003.

A man with Alzheimer's disease leaves home to enjoy Christmas with his family.

As the waters of the river Seine overflow their banks and surround a Parisian café, composer Erik Satie nurtures bittersweet memories of his one-time lover Suzanne Valadon.

Elders in the LGBTQ2+ community come together to navigate concerns around inclusion late in life, while learning how to support each other in a safe space that celebrates their sexuality.

After years of requests, Nardwuar the Human Serviette has finally entered the digital age with a compilation of over 60 of his favourite video interviews. Based around his two MuchMusic Specials, Nard Wars I and Nard Wars II and clocking in at over 5.5 hrs on 2 DVDs, "Doot Doola Doot Doo .... Doot Doo!" encompasses everything from former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Snoop Doggy Dogg to your mother!

A dramatization of Canadian author W.O. Mitchell's penetrating story about the racial prejudice encountered by a Polish immigrant farmer in a rural Saskatchewan community.

A group of Israelis and Palestinians come together in Oslo for unsanctioned peace talks during the 1990s in order to bring peace to the Middle East.

Mastering classic pinball arcade games requires focus, agility and dedication. Robert Gagno has all these traits. It might explain why he surged from a complete unknown to one of the world's best players in five years. The achievement is even more impressive considering he was diagnosed with autism at age three. His success on the pinball circuit made him part of a community that provided acceptance and encouragement. With his parents' support and determination, Robert has exceeded every expectation placed upon him. As he approaches adulthood, his next challenge is to become more self-sufficient and gain his independence. From high-stakes tournaments across the continent to his day-to-day search for employment, we follow Robert's persistent progression to overcome obstacles and manage the highs of success and lows of falling short. In Wizard Mode, flashing lights and triple combos highlight an outstanding individual who continues to beat the odds and set records.

Red Riding Hood is tried for the murder of The Wolf.

A long and thoughtful look at those desperate days of October 1970, when Montréal awaited the outcome of FLQ terrorist acts. This film puts the October Crisis in the long perspective of history. Compiled from news and other films, it shows independence movements past and present, and their leaders; it reflects the mingled relief, dismay, defiance, when the Canadian army came to Montréal; and it shows how political leaders viewed the intervention.

In an underground fighting ring, two fighters, (gooners) are connected by a former love. After an affair they try to get revenge on each other. Engaging in a brutal fight lasting 3 rounds.

This short documentary pays tribute to the craftsmen everywhere whose work adds color and richness to life. Filmed in the Canadian Arctic, Finland, India, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, and Poland, it shows the special skills of artisans working at their crafts - stone sculpture, pottery, ceramics, weaving, dyeing, puppet making, embroidery. Each indigenous skill is a reflection of the culture of the country.

Noise is a video comprised of the footage taken from surveillance monitors at subway stations.

Largely composed of immigrants and first-generation Canadians from Vancouver’s suburbs, The Notic underground basketball collective overcame all odds to achieve global fame 20 years ago. In defiance of their high school coaches’ casual racism and desire for oppressive conformity, this gregarious group discovered self-expression through streetball’s loose structure and aversion to rules. Bursting onto the scene at the NBA-sponsored Hoop It Up tournament near Science World, the group unleashed a devastating arsenal of bravura tricks and moves. DIY VHS highlights of their showstopping exploits would soon be collected on their first "mixtape". With copies finding their way to every corner of the globe, it was anointed "the bible of streetball".

Three kids in a low-income neighborhood find friendship and community in an unlikely place.

Analysis of sadomasochism and our obsession with power through the centuries.

A 10-year-old, gender non-conforming student navigates his way through the school, in search of a safe washroom.

A documentary recounting the kidnappings of British Trade Commissioner James Cross and Quebec Vice-Premier & Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte by the FLQ on October 5, 1970 in Quebec.

In a rush for a meeting, Fred declines phone calls from her mom. When she finally gets back to her, their conversation leaves her speechless.

After a lengthy virtual relationship over the Internet, Milena and Philip take the plunge and agree to finally meet. Having lived in Montreal for over a decade, Milena, an immigrant of Bulgarian descent, accepts to greet her correspondent Philip, a flirtatious photographer from Sofia. Out in an isolated cottage in Quebec's countryside, the couple abandon themselves to one another. Between periods of cultural clashes and fleshly pleasures, the two assess each other and the possibilities for true love. But strange, uncanny events soon disrupt Milena and Philip's quiet intimacy as secrecy and silence slowly set in -nihilproductions

Chantal (60 years old) picks up Suzanne (92 years old) to go to the hair salon where she works. Once there, Chantal is intercepted by her boss who asks her to give him what she owes him. But this week, she has no money for him... This week, she has a surprise for him.

Dan has found a simple way to make a living: Introducing suicidal people to psychopaths. Things hit a snag, however, during his latest “introduction” when one of the people involved doesn’t show up…

An interactive film for computers.

This short surrealistic film portrays a growing boy and the bizarre world of imposed conditions and contradictions he evolves in. Made by students of Queen's University, A One/Two/Many/World is social commentary expressed in symbolic language.

Through an intimate and artistic lens, yet investigative and political, Milk brings a universal focus on the politics, commercialization and controversies surrounding birth and infant feeding over the canvas of stunningly beautiful visuals and poignant voices from around the globe.

In the midst of a profound social conflict, the director, a blind activist based in Canada, returns to her native Chile to follow five activists who embark on a transformative process to dignify their lives.

In an oppressive setting in the middle of the ocean, three women, accused of witchcraft by the sailor guiding their life boat, seize control of their destiny. Their quest for justice and freedom transforms into a mystical journey, unleashing powerful occult forces. Based on the short story "Dans la barque" by Geneviève Blouin.