Discoveries from Canada World Cinema

Jacques Plante becomes the first NHL player to wear a goaltender mask in regular play.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the École Nationale de l'Humour presents a gala, gathering thirty graduates on stage who talk about their love for the establishment that saw them come into being.

After a mysterious car accident, photo journalist Jackie Delaney wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. Haunted by flashbacks of the accident, she checks out of the hospital determined to unravel the mystery behind her recent past. Who was in the car with her, and who is following her now? After an attempt on her life, Jackie is assigned police protection and detective Sean MacFern enters her life. Together, they will solve a mystery that goes beyond a mere accident and that enters the shady world of internationals arm smuggling.

A young woman offers her special services as a virtual après-ski partner.

When her father dies, MacKenzie keeps his tradition of the town's fundraising "The Reindeer Games" alive, but when high school crush Chase shows up and plays against her, the spark between them is undeniable.

Zoe can only see her mom once a year on her birthday. On the day that she turns six, Zoe has some hard questions for her father to answer.

Locked in a room with nothing but memories of a tragic love, a man ventures through nostalgia, madness, and despair, until a surreal encounter with a mysterious stranger changes everything.

Disturbed teenager Jo Fay loses it and attacks a nurse at the hospital when she is told her critically ill mother won't qualify for a liver transplant due to her chronic alcoholism. Years later, when she is released from a mental institution, Jo seems normal but harbors a ferocious rage to take revenge on everyone she blames for her mother's death. Ashley Jones, Carlena Britch star. (2017)

Jo, a Jamaican native, moves to Canada to help support her family. But she quickly learns that earning money and respect will be more difficult than she ever imagined.

A poignant story of redemption that takes us into the relationship between a man and a woman trapped in a spiral of mutual destruction after 26 years of marriage, the Spine continues Landreth's pursuit of a twisted, beautiful and highly original visual aesthetic, using digital imagery to create characters whose physical appearances are metaphors for their unique souls.

Julia and Rich are about to get married, but Rich has a hairy secret. Will Julia still marry him when she finds out about the monster "inside"?

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese descent in Canada were sent to internment camps. The former Asahi members survived by playing ball. Their passion was contagious and soon other players joined in, among them RCMP officials and local townspeople. As a result, the games helped break down racial and cultural barriers.

Aspiring reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the remarkable secret behind a holiday phenomenon: money-filled glass jars anonymously given to people in need.

Director Dominique Leclerc spent years depending on medical devices for her survival. Then, looking for alternative solutions, she entered the world of emerging technologies. Posthumans follows her as she meets with cyborgs, biohackers, and transhumanists who are trying to use these technologies to outsmart illness, aging—and even death. The documentary looks at pressing ethical and political questions that are sure to impact the future of our species.

Kira's skin starts to age rapidly, dry out and crumble away. But then she discovers that she can replace her own skin with somebody else's.

A dramatic comedy that invites us to an eventful reunion between three high school friends. As the evening progresses, the young thirtysomethings form an increasingly discordant trio.

A dying lawyer belonging to a cult, seeks to be reincarnated through a young artist with the ritual involving the sacrifice of a virgin. With limited time, he searches for someone to pass on his accumulated memories. His path crosses with a struggling artist, raising questions of destiny and a mystic ritual that may alter their fates.

Donald Marshall is imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit.

Five years after sending a man to jail for the murder of her father and fiancé, Diana returns home to find that he has escaped from prison and has come to confront her. However, the man has not come for revenge, but rather wants her to understand that she put an innocent man away. Captive in her own home, Diana is resistant - she knows what she witnessed the night of the murder. But as time progresses, Diana starts to question what she saw that night as well as her own testimony.

Achille, 13, awaits, full of hope, the release from prison of his father, unknown and fantasized. His dream of living as a threesome, like a real family, will be seriously undermined by a mother exhausted from waiting and this father who is unsuitable and made irresponsible by so many years of incarceration. Will this vulnerable person with a flamboyant past be able to keep the promise he made to his son to never live apart from him again?

Leila, a lonely young soul spends the night partying with her friends Nancy, David and Nash in a warehouse. As the boys drink up and smoke pot all social barriers between the sexes crumble. Leila, hit on by both men, hides away from them. Alone she senses there is someone else who wants her and certainly he is not of this world. A 200 year old Dracula escapes from a crate and reveals himself to Leila and tells her that she is his lost love. For him to live again and be with her, she must bring him the blood of her friends to drink and make love to him. Hypnotized by his sexual powers, Leila does as she is told. Leila and a handsome young Dracula get away and live happily ever after.

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?

Two hopeful migrants must make the long, arduous journey across a desolate landscape toward the promise of a better life only to discover their destination may no longer be the place they believed it was.

A man discovers his wife is having an affair and decides to win her back with a romantic candlelit dinner, champagne and chloroform.

In a town where half the men die down the coalpit, Margaret MacNeil is quite happy being single in her small Cape Breton island town. Until she meets Neil Currie, a charming and sincere bagpipe-playing, Gaelic-speaking dishwasher. But no matter what you do, you can't avoid the spectre of the pit forever.

"Chop Chop" Frankie Carbone has made a career out of stealing cars for the mob in Chicago. An attempted assassination by a mob boss goes badly and Frankie retaliates, only to wind up in the hands of the Feds. Frankie agrees to testify against the mobsters and his life is suddenly worthless - unless he submits to going into federal protection.

The human tale behind the creation of a blockbuster game.

By the turn of the 20th century, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Billy the Kid and virtually all of the West's legendary outlaws are either dead or in jail pending execution. Well, all, except train robber and escape artist extraordinaire, Harry Tracy. As the last survivor of the Wild Bunch, Tracy pulls off a series of profitable robberies before making his way west to Portland, Oregon, in search of Catherine Tuttle -- a judge's daughter who has captured his heart. But on the way, Tracy is betrayed, arrested, and imprisoned. However, no jail can hold him for long and after making his escape, Tracy becomes the target of the largest manhunt in the history of North America.

Look out: Beryl's back. With Affairs of the Art, British animator Joanna Quinn recounts another gloriously unhinged chapter in the adventures of Beryl, the comic everywoman she unleashed upon the world with her debut film, Girls' Night Out, which took home three major awards from Annecy in 1987.

Celluloid Horror explores Kier-La Janisse's tireless crusade to bring obscure cult horror film to the masses through her independently run international film festival.

A teenage girl runs away from home after her mother's fiance attempts to molest her. On her own in the city, she is taken in by a man who convinces her to work as an exotic dancer. After discovering what led her daughter to run away, her mother begins a frantic mission to save her daughter.

A naive and socially repressed June hits the road with her new boyfriend, Max, on their first romantic trip down the coast. When a hitchhiker suddenly winds up dead in their RV, June can't deny the overwhelming thrill and lust for blood.

In 1940s outport Newfoundland, young Sadie struggles to cope with the tragic death of both her parents.

In this holiday prequel, it’s 1997 and Sunnyvale Trailer Park is getting ready for the holiday season. Julian’s got a great idea to make money this Christmas, Ricky gets confused between God and Santa, and Bubbles tries to get the Boys together for an annual Christmas bonfire. Meanwhile, Mr. Lahey is thrilled because Christmas is the only day of the year that his wife Barb allows him to have a few drinks. Directed by series creator Mike Clattenburg, this hour-long special takes place before Jamie was J-Roc, before Randy and Lahey were a couple, and before the Shitmobile was missing a door.

Billionaire businessman Noel Noel is long on cash but short on social graces; so when he finds himself falling for the fairy Beatrice, he mistakenly thinks he can buy her love with material gifts. It takes a little girl named Zooey, her dog Snooze, and a blue-eyed reindeer to help Noel Noel learn the true meaning of love in this animated Christmas fable that features narration by Leslie Nielson (AIRPLANE, NAKED GUN) and music by French-Canadian songstress Ariane Moffatt.

Rosy is a 25-year-old bank teller who ‘aged out’ of the foster care system at 18 and has since managed to build a solid yet unspectacular life for herself. Desperate to fill that parental void, she seeks out an online service that connects older adults looking for adult surrogate children. In turn, this takes Rosy on a surreal journey to find that familial love she has long been searching for.

The Strangest Dream tells the story of Joseph Rotblat, the history of nuclear weapons, and the efforts of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs - an international movement Rotblat co-founded - to halt nuclear proliferation.

A romantic comedy about Pascale, an agent for musicians, who is betrayed by Lewis Carl, her fiance and most important client.

Following the journey of fossils from their discovery in remote corners of the earth to laboratories, museums, auction houses and collectors’ living rooms, the film weaves together interlocking stories of eccentric characters caught between the demands of commerce and the basic human drive to unlock the most profound mysteries of life. THE BONES takes us deep into the Gobi, Sahara, and North American badlands, and through laboratories, museums, high-end auction houses, and grungy hotel rooms at the Tucson gem show. Wrapped in elusive questions about the origins of life on earth, and its potential future demise, THE BONES unearths the deep passions at the heart of the dinosaur world.

A one-hour behind the scenes featurette with the cast and crew about the Ginger Snaps trilogy released with the Scream Factory Blu-Ray collectors edition in 2014. This mini documentary offers a wealth of information, answering most of the questions that could be posed of the film. Importantly, the cast and crew discuss not only the success of the film, but also what they wish they could have done better.

This highly acclaimed feature film on Pope John Paul II was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. Focusing on the papacy of John Paul and the tremendous impact he had on the Church and the world, Karol: The Pope, The Man stars actor Piotr Adamczyk in a deeply moving portrayal of the beloved pontiff. It is the powerful true story of a charismatic spiritual leader who helped bring down Communism, renewed the life of the Church, greatly impacted youth worldwide with love for Christ, and a Pope who reached out to other religions and world leaders with a message of peace and love. Also stars Raoul Bova (Saint Francis), Michele Placido (Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth) and Adriana Asti as Mother Teresa. The beautiful film score is by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.

An ambulance transferring dangerous convicts crashes in the middle of nowhere. It soon becomes clear that the crash was no accident, and the survivors are being stalked by a killer. Just 30 feet to the road, but will anyone reach it alive?

Leo, a lonely, anxious pizza delivery guy, stumbles upon John, a mysterious taxi driver seeking lonesome souls. This unusual encounter throws the young man into a dizzying delirium, disrupting his blossoming romance with Rita. As the leaves start falling from the trees, days are getting shorter, and the cold is settling in... Luckily, the first flames of love warm Leo’s heart. But beware: if you play with fire, you might get burned.

Hannah has been trained in the lethal art of assasination by her father Luc, a former sniper with the special forces in Vietnam. When her father is unexpectedly killed she is forced to choose between the violent world she knows and the ordinary world she does not. As the sun rises on Capitol Hill, Senator Harmon prepares to announce his candidacy for leadership of the Republican party and ultimately the presidency of the United States. The only thing that could deny his dream is the exposure of an evil past full of deception and murder. Hannah engages herself on an action-packed journey that takes her from the Mafia underworld to corruption in the highest levels of government. What she is about to discover could be the greatest and most sinister conspiracy of all time.

In 1929, Mr. Messier, owner of a small print shop in a village in Quebec became a widower, he lives with his two children, Rachel, 9 years old, and Gaëtan, 7 years old. In this closed universe and in the absence of their mother, a great complicity is established between the children.

Busy navigating his final year of high school, brainy aspiring teacher Tom is determined to land an elusive scholarship, but his hard work is constantly interrupted by his real obsession: pursuing the opposite sex. Before long, he develops a romance with former classmate Elaine, who persistently declines his sexual advances. This inspires Tom to consider other options, including his good-natured study buddy Kathy. But when they take their friendship to the next level, shocking complications threaten to derail Tom’s future, inspiring his friends to take drastic action.

It is 1889, New Mexico. The gold rush is over and most of the prospectors have moved on. In the middle of nowhere stands a crumbling Antebellum mansion - a bordello that has seen better days. Enoch, the inept pimp, owes a considerable amount of money to the town's psychopathic Sheriff. Money is tight: business is down and the five-woman in the house are tearing each other apart. The only thing they can agree on is their love for Angel, a seven-year-old child whose mother died in childbirth.

Set in the late 90s, Rustic Oracle is a dramatic feature about Ivy, an 8-year-old girl trying to understand what happened to her big sister who has vanished from their small Mohawk community. With minimal clues, Ivy and her mother Susan embark on an unwelcome journey to find Heather which will ultimately bring the pair closer together despite challenging circumstances. Behind the story of desperation, told through the eyes of a child, lies one of hope, growth, awakening and love.

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...

A group of Canadian university students agree to partake in a grisly psychological experiment, which renders them incapable of speech but able to communicate telepathically.

Fouad, a 15-year-old Moroccan immigrant, and Max, a 27-year-old "old stock" Quebecer, both live frustrating lives. Their respective destinies lead them face to face, in a situation from which neither will emerge unscathed.

Successful Hallie has it all - power, wealth, status - but she has no man in her life. Together with her friend Donnelee she goes out into the night to search for the right one. New lovers come and go without Hallie understand that true love is closer than she thinks - just across the street

A war vet finds out that a former prostitute had his baby. Doubting it's his, he gives it away, so she reports him. Twenty years later, she still wants to find her son. She meets a young man and falls in love, but the vet's prison term ends.

All Melvyn Rosenbloom wants is to go back to the days when things were simpler and people were kinder -- the good old days. Deciding to renounce women altogether, he finds a house in his old neighbourhood and persuades his elderly crotchety father Harvey to move in with him. Harvey is something of a comic and, as Mel rediscovers, none too easy to live with. To add to the friction, there's the landlady, Jackie. From Mel's point of view as an aspiring celibate, she's all wrong: far too intelligent, attractive and unconventional. But, strangely enough, Jackie becomes the focus of the Rosenblooms' refashioned lives.

A woman is kidnapped and taken to the Krakenhall Penitentiary For Women. Here the warden samples the delights of each inmate...

A former police officer puts aside his differences with the force in order to track down his brother's murderer. He teams with a younger detective to bring the case home.

When the peaceful Morris family move to a small town and buy the town grocery store, they run afoul of the Cullen family. The Cullen's have been bullying the town's folk for years, and now they are harassing the Morris family every chance they get. Matt meanwhile meets and starts seeing a lot of Becky who also likes him. Unfortunately her last name is Cullen, and when the rest of the family finds out about their relationship, they decide to get even, and their harassment is elevated to vicious assault.

After driving his car off a cliff while trying to tweet, comedian Seth Rogen finds himself in Hell where Satan makes him a deak. If he started a charity, he'd get another chance at life. Back on Earth, Seth gets Nick Kroll, Sarah Silverman, and a bunch of other comedians to perform their standup routines for Seth's own charity to raise money for Alzheimer's, Hilarity for Charity. —Jamie Fairles

Christmas enthusiast Steph, has created a program, Six Degrees of Santa. When Steph's own gift lands in the hands of a leading internet entrepreneur, Jason, he's convinced that the original Santa might be his soul mate.

When a tragic accident takes the life of her dog, Tara is forced to cancel her wedding. With a little help from above, their small town rallies together to make sure these two are able to have the wedding of their dreams.