Film Categories: Canada

  • Pur Laine

    PUR LAINE is a story about Ruby, a filipina, married to Roy, a Quebecois man, who dies and leaves her penniless. Ruby struggles with Roy’s drug addict daughter, Marie Claire, over who gets to sell Roy’s house, which also happens to be Marie Claire’s childhood home. A dramedy of errors, their collision reveals what they really want on the inside.

  • Petal to the Metal

    This hand-processed 16mm film reflects on botanical animism. It is a song written for night-crawlers, compost, and shadows, inspired by human flower-lust. Water, fire, earth and air are interwoven with the garden’s creature crew. The work draws a parallel between the photographic alchemy of cinematic experiments and the photosynthetic processes of plants. Honourable mention, Top Canadian Short Jury Award, GIRAF 17 (2021).

  • From Tanzania, With Love

    After appearing in a remake of the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit single “Same Love”, Dayon Monson is forced to flee her home in Tanzania. Facing extreme persecution for identifying as trans and promoting LGBTQ human rights, Dayon connects with Rainbow Railroad in hopes of seeking asylum in Canada. This is her story.

  • Ruthless

    Ruthless (2019) Go back in time and witness a ruthless tale of unrequited love. The black and white film was shot on 16mm Bolex film camera using a KODAK 7222 Double-X Negative film, and processed by Niagara Film Lab in Toronto. Filmed in a few hours and is inspired by the Dogme 95 cinema movement. Thank you to The Marías, The Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa (IFCO), Kodak, Pudgyboy’s, Marie-Hélène Villeneuve, Justin Pariat, and Warwick Walton. Screenings: September 2019 – The Independent Filmmakers Cooperative of Ottawa at Headquarters (Ottawa, Canada) November 2019 – A Night of Misfit Films at Onyx…

  • Mother’s Bond

    When Aisha’s husband is convicted of being a “leading” member of a vicious street gang, she and her six children must confront a world of judgment in order to survive

  • Toe the Line

    TOE THE LINE follows Gloria Chau, a closeted teenage hockey player. When she’s not on the ice, she’s got a guitar in her hands and a snapback on her head. Her mother Nancy, a stylish Hong Kong woman, spends sleepless nights worrying about Gloria’s failing grades. Gloria is torn between two worlds: the fun but cutthroat world of hockey where she gets to be loud and proud in her queerness, and the one at home where she’s a recluse, using music to cope with being forced into becoming someone she’s not. Underlying these tensions is a deep racial divide. She…

  • Contents under Pressure

    An anxious young party-goer finds love at a party, but after committing a party faux pas, is destroyed in a washing machine accident. From here, the project pivots, self-conscious and needing to recast its hero, who quickly has an existential crisis (“what’s my motivation?”). A poetic, quirky, singular meditation on identity and personal history, populated with the beautiful vistas of Atlantic Canada.

  • Island Cowboy

    Island Cowboy is a documentary that follows a Canadian beekeeper on Prince Edward Island during one of his last years of work. At the age of 68, Stan Sandler would like to retire, but impending threats to his island home’s ecosystem threaten the future of the bees, and the health of the environment. The relationship between a beekeeper’s labour and the economy of the island’s blueberry crop is explored through a season of beekeeping, as we get an intimate look at Stan and the “bee cowboys”.

  • Harmony Road

    Lorena who is pregnant tries to cross the Canadian border to seek refugee asylum during the U.S anti-immigration sentiment

  • Beyond Curls & Kinks

    Beyond Curls & Kinks follows a group of women who are challenging beauty standards and empowering each other and the next generation to embrace their coily kinky curly hair. The film explores the complex relationship they have with their Afro-textured hair and issues such as self-esteem, confidence and identity. It also challenges society to see women and girls beyond their curls & kinks.