Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

When a new father suddenly loses his own dad, an opportunity to travel back in time for an evening gives him a chance to end things on a better note.

A Quebec dealer leads his American cousin into illegal fights. A dramatic and violent descent into a merciless world.

Creatures from space in search of a new home arrive at the Solar System and discuss each planet. An educational animated short made for IMAX.

Edyth Fellows is a nurse recruited for an research project with a time travel device that can snatch any being from any time and bring it to the present. The first such test brings an Neanderthal child to the project and Fellows is responsible for his care for the interim. As she manages this task, Fellows is increasingly revolted at how the scientists dismiss him as little more than an animal, especially when his real intelligence shows. This growing moral dilemma comes to a head when Fellows realizes what they plan to do with him and she cannot stand by and let it happen.

An animated film compiled by David Ehrlich consisting of 27 animators from different countries all explaining themselves through their animation.

A portrait of Gregory Bateson, celebrated anthropologist, philosopher, author, naturalist, and systems theorist. His story is lovingly told by his youngest daughter, Nora, with footage from Gregory's own films shot in the 1930s with his wife Margaret Mead in Bali and New Guinea, along with photographs, filmed lectures, and interviews.

In Montréal, a retired hitman is forced to take charge again and commit two murders without knowing he is about to trigger a series of events that will put his daughter's life in danger in Paris.

Eryka is a documentary filmmaker who has just returned from filming at the Saharawi refugee camps in Africa. Arriving on the coast in southern Spain to meet her boyfriend, Marc, she discovers he has vanished when he was hang-gliding over the ocean. Thinking the Coast Guard search is ineffective, she begins her own search with the help of Marc’s best friend, David.

By 1314, through effort and intrigue, Scottish King Robert Bruce had captured every major English-held castle except Stirling. Now English King Edward II would try to stop him - and subdue the Scottish rebellion forever. This is the story of the pivotal campaign culminating at the decisive Battle of Bannockburn, in the shadow of Stirling Castle. Today as Scotland contemplates a countdown to a referendum for renewed Scottish independence, we search the hearts and minds of the characters whose efforts at the Battle of Bannockburn would build a nation. Filmed in the style of 300 and Sin City and with intense and bloody battle scenes, we bring to life one of the most iconic times in Scottish history.

A meditative and mysterious dramatic film, Bison ultimately explores the violent legacy of colonialism in a contemporary context. The film is anchored by thematic concerns around implicit cultural culpability, systemic issues of failure surrounding the contemporary and historical relationship with First Nations peoples and notions of responsibility in an individual and societal context.

An actor experiences self doubt and imposter syndrome until she has a conversation with her inner-self to find a unique way of accepting who she is.

Through the stories of four women that embody the themes of transmission and social commitment, Fermieres takes a sensitive look at the Country Women's Circles, Quebec's oldest women's association.

After experiencing her first heartbreak, Anais declares war on all the boys in 6th grade.

Last Christmas is a suspenseful short film about a ten year old boy, who struggles to care for his demented grandmother when he is left alone with her on Christmas Eve. By captivating her with family stories from happier times, he protects her from a terrible secret about their world.

After receiving a gift from a mysterious stranger, a 7-year-old boy begins collecting small, delicate objects, retreating into the quiet sanctuary of his bedroom, his cocoon.

A formerly successful Montreal musician trudges through the darkest days of winter, armed with a backpack full of weed and a repertoire of Alanis Morissette covers. Dogged by her ex-band mate’s new hit song, Jaine mourns the loss of her career, her band and her self respect. In the heart of the city’s independent music scene, the snow covered Plateau, Jaine encounters both allies and obstacles, including her best friend-slash-roommate Mari, her married ex-lover-slash- manager David, and her charming new customer-slash-potential love interest, Darren. When a glittering opportunity in the Emerald City of Toronto threatens to lure her into a shiny new life, Jaine struggles to sever old ties. Her ex wants her to move on, her mom wants her to move to Toronto, her best friend wants things to stay the same forever, and her clients just want weed, but Jaine has other plans.

Struggling with depression, Louis finds out that his family is planning a prank on him for April Fools' day. Problem is: we're still in March...

A series of very brief clips celebrates the 50th anniversary of the National Film Board of Canada.

Beatnik contemporary revival in the voice of a francophone queer métis gives voice to thoughts, desires, and struggles of a queer indigenous Manitoban.

This short film from 1946 presents an outline of the fur trade's history and the commercial use of fur in Canada. A thirst for fur by the kings and courts of the Old World positioned the fur trade as part of the country's industrial economy. Fur farming and conservation became increasingly important, although the lonely life of the trapper remained the same. This film offers a view of both.

Claude Goretta brings to life the age-old tale of Orpheus and Eurydice in a fresh adaptation of Monteverdi’s Orfeo.

Welcome to Kapture Technologies, where Gary and Jeff test the latest new gadgets.

Italian navigator and explorer John Cabot discovers the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and runs "aground" on a bounty of fish.

A meek young man allows a stripper to stay in his house while his domineering mother is hospitalized.

Fists of Pride follows Little Tiger and his fellow fighters as their Thai coaches prepare them for the annual Water Festival competition. In a boxing camp on the Thai-Burmese border the children of mostly illegal migrant workers fleeing Burma live and train for prize fights. In a region where combat sports have always been a matter of honor and money, the film reveals their daily struggles. Bets are open and as the hope of prize money rizes, the young boxers contemplate what it could mean for them and their families

Based on the short story, 'NONA' by Stephen King, LOVE NEVER DIES is a psychological thriller about a drifter who wanders the night, seeking to escape his tormented past. One night, he meets the mysterious and seductive Nona, a woman cast from his darkest fantasies, who lures him on a deadly chase to uncover the horrifying truth he so desperately wants to avoid. Inspired by the creepy corners of King's imagination, LOVE NEVER DIES explores the razor-thin line that separates the allure of love from the romance of murder.

Pierre Mercure 1927-1966 is composed of a three-minute montage filmed by Gagnon at Mercure's funeral and burial, which is looped 11 times and processed using colour filters and optical printing techniques that reverse and double the image.

How safe is the future of the world’s food? This documentary explores a growing crisis in world agriculture. Plant breeding has created today’s crops, which are high yielding but vulnerable to disease and insects. To keep crops healthy, breeders tap all the genetic diversity of the world’s food plants. But that rich resource is quickly being wiped out. (NFB)

One night, Andie, figurehead of a four friends group, plans out her death in front of all her relatives. Through a broken monologue, Andie reveals her deep thoughts about each person she has harmed. This staging destabilizes the group and questions the links previously made. While each member of the gang tries to regain control of the group, both emotionally and physically, a fifth person interferes from the outside and comes to stir up chaos.

This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, a high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. As a defender of his people's culture and traditions, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis. Offering a unique look behind the barricades at one man's impassioned defence of sacred territory, the film is both a portrait of Horne and the generations of daring Mohawk construction workers that have preceded him.

Ghost Island follows a team of paranormal investigators to a desolate island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Amid eerie ruins and whispered legends, they uncover not just ghostly encounters, but the human stories behind the island’s folklore—a haunting journey where history and the supernatural meet.

This drama tells the harrowing story of an immigrant family in the New World. On arrival in Canada, their hopes for a better life were dashed when immigration officials refused to grant entry to their daughter. During a routine medical examination it was found that Kasia had contracted an infectious eye disease. She is separated from her family and sent back to Europe alone.

Based on the tale by Dale Jarvis, "Lady at Number 16" tells the story of two sailors in the 1800s that help a young lady back into her mansion. They return a few hours later to realize that their night was not all that it had seemed, and it may have had a more sinister twist than expected.

Written and directed by Jason Young (Animals, Inside Time), Gun Killers takes us into the rural, secluded paradise that retired blacksmiths John and Nancy Little call home. As the tranquil light of a typical day of harvesting vegetables descends into night, we experience the secret work that John and Nancy are sometimes called upon to undertake for the RCMP.

An ensemble of interconnected twentysomethings struggle with the complications of life, work, and love as they cross paths in the city throughout one day.

A witch is late for the date she is hosting at her messy, magic-filled apartment. To make matters worse, her "normal" date arrives in the middle of her cleaning. The witch must quell the growing magical chaos in her kitchen while also maintaining her magical secrecy from her date!

Seventeen minutes of a gory shoot-out in a diner.

When two young people mysteriously disappeared in police custody in mainland China, their families began a 20-year dangerous search for them within the communist state. What they encountered was merciless rejection, a shocking state crime, and eventually, a sense of hope as a renewal of traditional faith emerged in China. The atrocity of state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting in China is comparable to the holocaust in World War II, with tens of thousands of victims, but the difference is: it is still going on. From Peabody Award-winning Filmmaker and Emmy Award-winning Composer.

Young, gifted and black! In an act of self-empowerment, a group of young Black people, mainly first and second generation immigrants from the Caribbean, have occupied the public space of the Toronto underground to perform their agitprop concept of edutainment – poets, rappers, singers and musicians.

Tonight, Karine will fight for the coveted belt. Facing a formidable opponent, will she have the strength to win the fight?

Larry Towell is a photographer with the prestigious Magnum agency. For 40 years, he has travelled our troubled planet, capturing the unspeakable. In this cinematic diary, he looks back on his profession, his doubts, the need for images, the absurdity of borders, the danger of “getting used to war” and the essence of his quest, which is also that of the film: humanity. Yet another impressive work by Matthieu Rytz, talented filmmaker born in Nyon!

August 19th, 1989. Small-town teen Wyatt Stevens is gifted a Sony Camcorder for his birthday, unaware of what he's about to capture on tape.

A worker on satellite wants to escape to earth and go to Montevideo.

It's about a serial killer with terminal cancer who leaves numbered cards on his victim's bodies, a girl who falls in love with him, a loser cabbie who becomes the prime suspect, an old asshole police sergeant, and a radio reporter who takes the law into his own hands.

While gift shopping at an "enlightened" toy store, a mother and son are out of luck finding the latest Spider-Man and Transformers toys-because all this eccentric shopkeeper proudly sells are Rick Mercer-themed toys that are meant to inspire the next generation of Canadian youth.

Alex has just met the love of his life who is leaving to go back home to Argentina forever. Rationally, Alex knows that a relationship is impossible, but in his last ten minutes with Sebastian, will he let him go or take a chance on love?

As they enter their teenage years, twin brothers Raphaël and Rémi see their fraternal relationship crumble as one of them, suffering from an increasingly marked disability, remains a prisoner of childhood. But for one last summer, as they contemplate nature, time seems to stop momentarily.

Engaging themes of love and betrayal, hope, belonging and place, Glad You’re Here documents my nineteen--year journey through building a family life, seeing it suffer the damage of mental illness, grief and separation, and then rebuilding with empathy. A story about an extreme moment of crisis has turned into a documentary that deals not just with the subjective but with the important issue of spousal abuse.

A young shaman must face her first test: a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill.

After running into his childhood best friend at a convenience store, Daniel reflects on how much they have grown, and the feeling of not knowing someone who used to be so close.

A teenager growing up in a poor industrial town struggles to create a better life through music.

On the eve of a war that will engulf the world, the British government agrees with a plan to extinguish a people. In 1755, English colonial officials forcibly expel close to 10,000 French-speaking Acadians from their lands in Nova Scotia, lands that have been in Acadian hands for almost 150 years. What follows is the epic story of a group of people played as pawns in a struggle between two empires. It is a saga of death and dislocation that reverberates to this day - an event unparalleled in the history of the colonizing on North America. Drawing from the highly acclaimed series, Canada: A People's History, this one-hour documentary examines the events leading up to the brutal expulsion. Through dramatic re-enactments and interviews with Acadian descendants, it brings to life a human tragedy, one that changed the course of history and established a legacy and culture that lives on to this day.

In Montreal, Iranian man Nima helps the diaspora to fulfil their vows with unexpected consequences.

A young woman selectively arranges viewings for her one-bedroom house, which she may not be genuine about actually renting.