Canadian Crossing

CBC presents Meet the Filmmakers

The Filmmakers — the 2 seasons of examining Canadian film and the people behind them — is done. Meet the Filmmakers captures some of that spirit from the TV show.

Johanna Schneller is back as the host. The first interview was with Andrew Cividino, the Emmy-winning director from Schitt’s Creek.

The format of the old show was 3 segments in a half-hour on TV with commercials. This debut has an almost 1-hour interview format online where they aren't in the same room.

Cividino is a filmmaker yet Schneller spends most of the time focused on his TV work on Schitt's Creek. Directing TV is similar but not the same as directing film. This is especially true with Canadian filmmakers who also write, such as Cividino on Sleeping Giant.

The 2015 Toronto International Film Festival major Canadian film awards went to Sleeping Giant for Best Canadian First Feature Film and Closet Monster from Stephen Dunn for Best Canadian Feature Film. Cividino and Dunn both made their directorial debut with those films.

2020 TIFF wrapup

The argument at the time in Canadian film was to give those up-and-coming directors a chance to make that follow-up film after initial success. Cividino has worked on Schitt's Creek while Dunn has worked on the Web series Pop-Up Porno. Neither has had a follow-up film since those debut films.

There may be extenuating circumstances. Cividino and Dunn aren't the only young Canadian filmmakers in this dilemma. There are more storytelling options nowadays. Maybe their success in other formats might lead them back to the film genre. Maybe that won't happen.

Looking back at the impact of The Filmmakers on CBC

The Filmmakers shows what Canadian female directors go through to make a film (2018)

Season 2 of The Filmmakers showcases female Canadian film creators (2018)

The Filmmakers on CBC helps the audience to appreciate Canadian film (2017)

The Filmmakers to run before Canadian films this summer on CBC (2017)

Last month, during the historical #schittssweep, Andrew Cividino (@AndrewCividino) won an Emmy for @SchittsCreek w/ co-Director @danjlevy.

Watch Andrew recount that magical night on #MeetTheFilmmakers - our digi series w/ @CBCArts & host @JoSchneller https://t.co/0SDFyPBnOJ

— DGC Ontario (@OntarioDGC) October 23, 2020

Arts coverage, specifically Canadian arts coverage, is where CBC should shine. The arts coverage on CTV, Global, and Citytv leans heavily American. CBC is a public broadcaster. We've seen more and more new Canadian films heading to CBC Gem. CBC should have plenty of Canadian arts coverage on television and online.

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

We don't know how many episodes there will be or whether this placement is random. A long interview segment with Andrew Cividino is manna with fewer Canadian films in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic. Let's hope to meet more Canadian filmmakers.

video and photo credit: CBC Arts
Twitter capture: @OntarioDGC

Saskatchewan Party wins a fourth straight majority government

Even with 40,000 mail-in ballots still to come, there was little doubt that the Saskatchewan Party would win a fourth straight government in Saskatchewan. Scott Moe finally had an election after more than 2½ years as Saskatchewan premier.

The Saskatchewan Party tentatively won 48 seats in the 61-seat legislature. The Sask Party won 51 seats in the 2016 election and had 46 seats when the election was called. Ryan Meili and the NDP tentatively have 13 seats, the same total when the election was called and up from 10 from the 2016 election. At press time, Meili's seat could still go either way.

Unlike British Columbia, those counting the mail-in ballots will start on Wednesday, 2 days after the election. British Columbia law does not allow for counting those ballots until 13 days after the election.

The best chance for the NDP to crack through would be gains in the "urban" areas of the province, notably Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Moose Jaw. The Saskatchewan Party has been in power since 2007 and had gained seats every time. The party had not lost a seat in an election so far.

Meili's speech was about 4 minutes and there wasn't much in that speech. The NDP has not had consistent leadership in their 12 years out of power. A leadership switch is always a possibility in a loss; Meili would have to win his seat to have that discussion.

British Columbia Saturday, Saskatchewan on Monday: Election results likely to be delayed

2020 Saskatchewan election preview

Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic

Unfortunately in an election dominated by one party, issues don't always get a lot of attention. The Saskatchewan minimum wage actually went up during the campaign. On October 1, the Saskatchewan minimum wage went up a measly 13¢ from $11.32 per hour to $11.45 per hour. The $11.45 mark is the worst in any Canadian province or territory (except where tips are involved).

The CBC News coverage mentioned that the Saskatchewan Party still hasn't balanced a budget, even before the pandemic.

Saskatchewan has had a rather good record on dealing with COVID-19. Then again, the province is rather spread out outside the urban areas.

CanadianCrossing.com Saskatchewan coverage

2020 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

These numbers will change but the Saskatchewan Party got about 64% of the popular vote, more than in 2016. The NDP at 28% was the worst in the modern era for the party.

photo credit: CBC News

British Columbia looks like a NDP majority government

Given the last 2 British Columbia elections, the pandemic election turned out to be relatively boring. The results are leaning in a direction but there are at least 500,000 mail-in ballots still to count and that won't happen soon.

The New Democratic Party was leading or elected in 55 of the BC ridings to 29 for the Liberals and 3 for the Green Party. If this pace continues after the full count, Premier John Horgan becomes the only 2-time NDP premier and the party gets its first majority government since 1996.

The NDP won seats in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver and suburbs) away from the Liberals on election night, based on the current results. The party only needed 44 seats for a majority.

The Liberals under Andrew Wilkinson ran under the idea of getting rid of the 7% provincial sales tax (PST) for a year. The BC HST consists of 5% federal and 7% provincial for a combined 12% rate. Wilkinson had to deal with issues over candidates. A prime example was when Liberal MLA Jane Thornthwaite was caught making sexist comments about NDP MLA Bowinn Ma on a Zoom call. Ma won her riding Saturday night while Thornthwaite lost her seat.

BC Liberal MLA Laurie Throness resigned from the party caucus after controversial statements. The action came too late to take his name off the ballot. Throness said if he wins, he will sit as an independent in the legislature.

Sonia Furstenau — who became Green Party leader just 7 days before the election was called — and Adam Olsen both won their seats. The Greens were at 2 when the election was called. Former Green Party leader Andrew Weaver had stepped down as leader and left the party to sit as an independent. The Greens have reportedly won a third seat, the first on the BC mainland. Jeremy Valeriote is expected to win the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding.

The Greens had 74 candidates in the 87 ridings.

Even with the Green Party adding a new MLA to Victoria, the huge loss is no longer being able to directly influence the NDP government as the Greens had done since 2017. This departure will be felt most significantly on environmental issues such as pipelines and other climate crisis concerns.

The 2017 election gave Christy Clark and the Liberals 43 seats versus 41 for the NDP and 3 for the Greens. Clark was unable to form government and the NDP and Greens formed an unofficial coalition. Clark ran an amazing come from behind election in 2013 to beat out then NDP leader Adrian Dix. Clark's Liberals won the election but Clark lost her seat and had to win a by-election to get into Parliament in Victoria.

Clark's 2017 election win is still the only time a female provincial premier won re-election in Canada, even if only for a short time.

British Columbia Saturday, Saskatchewan on Monday: Election results likely to be delayed

2020 British Columbia election preview

We won't know the proportion of vote count for the parties until all the votes are counted. The Green Party has argued for proportional representation as opposed to the current first-past-the-post system. A proposal to switch to proportional representation lost by a 61.3% vote in the 2018 referendum.

The Greens had at about 16% in the vote tabulated on Saturday night but only won 3 seats.

Elections BC is aiming for November 16 to have a complete count of the ballots.

British Columbia transitions power from Liberals to NDP with Greens help

BC elects Liberal minority government for the moment

2017 British Columbia provincial election preview

Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic

CanadianCrossing.com British Columbia coverage

2020 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

We like to track female party leadership in Canadian provinces since sadly there aren't that many of them these days. Sonia Furstenau has been the Greens leader since September. The party's performance was quite solid so Furstenau should remain in leadership. The Liberals will wait until all the votes are counted for a possible change in party leadership.

photo credits: CBC News

British Columbia Saturday, Saskatchewan on Monday: Election results likely to be delayed

The results of the British Columbia provincial election Saturday and the Saskatchewan election on Monday are expected to run into delays in getting results.

There were more than 700,000 requests for mail-in ballots in British Columbia for this election compared to about 6,500 requests in 2017. The province has 3.4 million registered voters.

Elections BC CEO Anton Boegman said the agency would have been ready with electronic voter books and tabulation machines to count the mail-in ballots in October 2021, the original date of the next election. Under current legislation, counting can't start until 13 days after the election, which is Saturday.

For those voting Saturday in British Columbia, polls are open from 8 am to 8 pm, Pacific Daylight Time.

2020 British Columbia election preview

2020 Saskatchewan election preview

Saskatchewan will have a smaller percentage of vote-by mail applications as compared to British Columbia. As of October 15, the province received nearly 63,000 vote-by mail applications with 817,000 registered voters.

The vote-by-mail ballots will be counted in Regina starting 2 days (Wednesday) after the election. The final voting results won't be known until November 7.

For those voting on Monday in Saskatchewan, polls are open 9 am to 8 pm, Central Standard Time.

Annamie Paul is the new Green Party leader in Canada

Monday marks federal by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre in the Toronto metropolitan area. Liberals have held these seats; the openings were due to resignations. Newly elected Green Party leader Annamie Paul is running in Toronto Centre. Maxime Bernier, aka the People's Party of Canada, is running in York Centre. That party has 0 seats in Parliament.

Blaine Higgs wins a majority government for Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick

2020 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The New Brunswick election didn't have these delays. The province only had about 13,000 requests for mail-in ballots with 547,000 registered voters. Paul Harpell, a spokesman for Elections New Brunswick, said about 100 people typically vote by mail. Harpell noted that machines were able to tabulate the votes by late in the evening on election night.

Let's be patient about getting the results. The neighbours to the south should take that same advice. We will report on all these elections as the results are complete.

photo credit: Elections BC

4 years later, hopefully Canadians still think America is already great

0 score and 4 years ago, the Garden Collective released a compilation of videos from actual Canadians explaining why the United States is already great. This played off the "Make America Great Again" slogan.

Now, Canadians love Americans, not so much "America" right now. The anger and intensity from the angry toddler against Canada. Damaging tariffs and a one-sided trade "deal" not by negotiation but by threats. A border where casual travel is banned and Canada not being eager to change the status quo.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has showcased what was great about cross-border travel between the countries and how important that was to each country's economy.

Anecdotally, my Canadian friends weigh in with empathy, sympathy for what is happening in the United States. Individual Americans and individual Canadians like each other. The country-country relationship has struggled mostly due to one individual person.

We aren't big fans of surveys but sadly these results are likely more true than we would want.

Canadians weigh in on why America is already great

Factoring Canada in the 2016 presidential campaign

We cover a lot of politics on this blog. We know there is a U.S. election on November 3. We know U.S. citizens living in Canada are getting ready to vote for the U.S. president.

As a lifelong journalist, we don't believe in endorsements. No endorsements. Fans of Canada know where the U.S.-Canada relationship is now, was before 2017, and knows what might happen in 2021 and beyond.

Did we mention that the U.S. vice presidential candidate from the Democratic Party lived in Montréal as a teenager?

Looking back at when Joe Biden was in Canada

Kamala Harris, Jackie Robinson, and their association with Montreal

Tucker Carlson shows ignorance of Canada by mispronouncing Ottawa

The Canadians who participated in the Garden Collective campaign would love to see an improvement in the Canada-U.S. relationship. The Canadian Crossing blog would love to see an improvement in the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Canadians watching from north of the 49th parallel might be paying attention to the presidential race. They should also, if they choose to do so, focus on Senate races and House races that can change the power dynamic in Congress. The CUSMA | USMCA trade trap can't change unless there is a power shift in the U.S. Senate. The dynamic of the unelected Canadian Senate is very different from the U.S. version.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

CanadianCrossing.com U.S. politics coverage

The U.S. election is on November 3. The next U.S. presidential inauguration is January 20, 2021.

video and photo credit: The Garden Collective

Canadian film review: Nose To Tail

If you read the late Anthony Bourdain, you would gather that the cooking areas in restaurants are toxic environments. Nose to Tail gives us that world perhaps only slightly exaggerated.

Daniel (Aaron Abrams) oozes toxic. Daniel has toxic reactions to everything and everyone. Chloe (Lara Jean Chorostecki), Daniel’s part-time girlfriend/front of the house, staggers back and forth between confronting him and holding back.

Nose to Tail takes place over about 24 hours where several elements fall into place to make Daniel as angry and toxic as he has been. He is worried about the potential investors coming by the restaurant on a day where things slowly go wrong around him. How far will Daniel go with his anger and toxicity.

Daniel is afraid of technology aka blogs as well as food trucks. He considered himself old-school but not in the ways of presenting food with his ultra-tiny portions. The restaurant is full every night yet the place is losing money. The restaurant has been around for 10 years, longer than a lot of restaurants, yet no one would put up with his crap for longer than 6 weeks.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Abrams does well by Daniel, giving him a tiny bit of humanity in what is otherwise a monster. The only person who Daniel is nice to is his sommelier Steven (Salvatore Antonio). Daniel treats Chloe as badly as any of his employees, which seems unlikely given they are supposedly in a relationship.

Daniel can't even hold back the anger in trying to get a high school friend (Ennis Esmer) to invest in his restaurant.

Chorostecki, whom we loved in X Company, holds her own, the diplomatic to the jackass who gives as well as she receives.

Jesse Zigelstein, as writer/director in his debut, gives us an intimate setting for the film. The film is mostly inside a restaurant, in the back of the restaurant, and then briefly onto College Street in Toronto to the food truck across the street. The film is not well-lit but in a good way. You are in tight corners with intimacy with a culinary monster, good and bad.

The script is tight and flows like someone who has worked in restaurants. Daniel's dressing down of the servers on how to interpret the menu deserves simultaneous applause and disgust.

Zigelstein has very small parts for most in the film: exceptions are Keith (Brandon McKnight), the sous chef who smartly leaves for a much better offer, and Angela (Genevieve Kang), who Chloe insists Daniel utilise to replace Keith.

You do wonder how people stay with someone that bad for a long time. Fortunately for the audience, they only have to know Daniel for around 80 minutes.

The film is intense and intimate. If you are a highly sensitive person, you might want to skip this film. Otherwise, watch it to see someone worse than you (hopefully).

Nose to Tail is available on Crave in Canada.

video credit: YouTube/1091 Pictures
photo credit: Nose to Tail film

U.S. NHL coverage has a large hole with Doc Emrick retirement

After 3,750+ Professional and Olympic hockey games, 100 different verbs used to describe a pass or shot, and 22 Stanley Cup Finals, the legendary Mike "Doc" Emrick has announced his retirement from broadcasting.

From hockey fans around the world, we say #ThankYouDoc! pic.twitter.com/Pt27Dp63TW

— #ThankYouDoc (@NHLonNBCSports) October 19, 2020

The U.S. coverage of the NHL will change significantly with the retirement of Mike "Doc" Emrick. Known to a generation for his work on NBC and NBCSN, Emrick's career took him to CBS, ABC, and Fox among other outlets.

Emrick liked Canada, something a certain NBCSN announcer (John Forslund) can't say himself. He had an appreciation for old-time hockey. Emrick cut back his workload in the last couple of years.

When the NHL All-Star Game was in Ottawa in 2012, Emrick noted the 126-mile length of the Ottawa Canal and pointed out that the canal was open for skating until the thaw. Emrick's style was about the small things but making them seem big. That will be missed.

Chris Cuthbert would have been on a list of possible replacements. Cuthbert specifically noted wanting to call the Stanley Cup for a Canadian broadcaster.

Chris Cuthbert picks Stanley Cup final over TSN, jumps to Rogers Sportsnet

The battle for the #1 voice is generally between John Forslund and Kenny Albert. Forslund could not work out a deal to continue broadcasting for the Carolina Hurricanes (all on the Hurricanes, not on Forslund). Albert would be the logical pick except for his many sports duties, including New York Rangers radio and MLB and NFL on Fox Sports. Both announcers will get more NHL games when the league is back.

Gary Thorne has been put into exile at MASN for Baltimore Orioles telecasts in 2020. Thorne would only be a short-term substitute given his age, assuming he is interested.

Brendan Burke and Alex Faust are rising stars at NBCSN but not likely to jump into the #1 seat. Mike Tirico is an option but has a very busy schedule for NBC Sports, including the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, if that happens.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Dave Randorf is a free agent with big game experience but might find a home at TSN for NHL and CFL. Rick Ball might be available depending on the status of Rogers and the Calgary Flames. Paul Romanuk and Mark Lee have plenty of time. NBCSN still needs to account for the lost games Cuthbert covered since 2014. Gord Miller remains an option for NBCSN but has a busy day job at TSN.

Rick Peckham is also retiring from Tampa Bay; Peckham helped out on some NBCSN telecasts. Dave Strader would be the favorite if he were still alive. Perhaps NBCSN would look into Steve Levy or John Buccigross from ESPN as a possible #1 pick.

The 2020-2021 season is the final season for the current NBC contract with the NHL.

Emrick called the 2014 Winter Classic involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and the 2016 Winter Classic involving the Montréal Canadiens. NBCSN didn't use him in any of the Heritage Classics or the Centennial Classic in Toronto. Here is the shootout call in Ann Arbor on January 1, 2014. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.

Twitter capture: @NHLonNBCSports
video and photo credit: YouTube/NHL

Saturday Night Live pokes fun at Montreal, Drake with Bonjour Hi

The last time the CBC logo was on Saturday Night Live, host Sandra Oh was wearing a CBC T-shirt while hosting the show about 18 months ago. Saturday Night Live came up with a skit over the weekend about a morning news show called Bonjour Hi from Montréal. Bowen Yang and Kate MacKinnon were Jean-Lawrence (John-Larry) and Anne-Marie, the bubbly hosts.

Jean-Lawrence asked Anne-Marie about her weekend. She suffered an injury after having sex with a Cirque de Soleil performer. She pointed out her surgery was free. Her traffic report mentioned Jacque Cartier as many times as was feasible.

SNL host Issa Rae hosted a Drake Watch segment where she spoke of near sightings of the Toronto rapper. She thought she saw Drake in a wheelchair but realised that Drake was only in a wheelchair on Degrassi. Rae was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Insecure, but lost out to Catherine O'Hara for Schitt's Creek.

There was an American journalist in the sketch (Mikey Day) who was from De-troi (Detroit). His prize for staying through the sketch was a basket of Montréal bagels.

Bonjour Hi plays on the unofficial greeting in Montréal, showcasing the bilingual status of the city. Some want to see the Hi part of Bonjour Hi phased out.

Rachel McAdams even got some love in the sketch.

The theme of the sketch felt more French than French-Canadian. Jean-Lawrence noted that Montréal was the best parts of Canada and the worst parts of France.

CBC or Radio-Canada would never have a show like this. The sketch had a CBC joke that Schitt's Creek would have been followed by the reboot Schartt's Cavern. An okay joke but funny that Saturday Night Live made a Schitt's Creek joke.

The episode also featured Justin Bieber as a musical guest. The show has been using Canadian Jim Carrey as Joe Biden since the season started on October 3. Carrey does a very good job as the former vice president, though his characterization is greatly exaggerated.

Made Nous and other ways to promote Canadian content

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels is Canadian. Michaels hasn't used Canada as a background too often in sketches. As SNL sketches go, this was pretty funny. A bit silly and a bit too much French. There was definitely knowledge of Montréal in the sketch. Thought we heard Yang say "tabarnac."

The sketch might have also been a nod to missing Montréal since normally there is an unofficial pipeline between Montréal and New York City for tourism. J'adore Montréal bagels.

Saturday Night Live airs on NBC in the United States and Global in Canada.

video and photo credit: Saturday Night Live/NBC

Canada celebrates 2 years of legal marijuana

We did joke back in March that the worldwide pandemic would be tough, but at least Canada had legal marijuana.

Today is the second anniversary of Canada making marijuana legal.

While U.S. states made edibles legal when they made marijuana legal, Canadians had to wait to get legal edibles in the marketplace in mid-December 2019. As late as that was, the timing was good before the pandemic started.

Edibles were crucial for renters since they can't generally smoke in their apartments. Going outside and smoking wasn't a handy option in the pandemic, plus smoking makes mask wearing difficult.

Edibles are more convenient but Canadians had to be aware of consuming them in public, which is illegal. Being encouraged to stay at home may have increased sales.

Retail marijuana sales had good numbers this summer in Canada. 

Opening Day (finally) for marijuana edibles in Canada

Marijuana in Canada on 4/20/20

Opening Day for legal recreational marijuana in Canada

The avalanche of horrible stories that many feared about legalising marijuana in a country as large as Canada never materialised. This isn't to say everything went perfect. This is a reminder that the absence of bad news is actually good news that most journalists don't report.

The potential for horrible stories as a result of legal marijuana was certainly thrown out there. The speculation that the U.S. would recoil that its next-door neighbour could get high any time (being of legal age). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, like Helen Lovejoy on The Simpsons, wanted us to think of the children in terms of marketing marijuana products to young people.

There are plenty of issues and concerns with the legalisation of marijuana. A still thriving black market. Quebec having such a huge contrast between the drinking age (18) and marijuana age (21). Are Quebecers in Gatineau crossing over into Ottawa for marijuana access? Ontario relying on private sales as opposed to province-run shoppes. The business community focuses on federal and provincial mistakes.

There are fewer Canadians in jail on drug charges. Canada gets tax money from legal sales. The police aren't making marijuana arrests simply for possession. Defund the Police is a real thing in Canada as we've seen stories about the need to reallocate police funding.

Prime Minister Trudeau can be criticised for moving too slow and cautious on marijuana in Canada but gets points for not running into major issues or concerns.

Canadian film review: Canadian Strain

The U.S. gets credit for more and better stoner films than Canada. We do need to point out that Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong is Canadian and they met in Canada.

Canadian Strain isn't really about stoners but a look at what happens when a illegal product suddenly becomes legal. Jess Salgueiro is really good as the lead in the film. The Canadian film is insightful and entertaining.

CanadianCrossing.com marijuana coverage

We went through the archives to categorise our extensive marijuana coverage at Canadian Crossing. We have a few "are we there yet" stories telling the history leading up to legalisation in Canada. We also talk marijuana tourism, something that would have really kicked in for 2020 had there not been a pandemic.

photo credit: CBC News

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late October 2020

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the October 31 listings.

About a year ago, we were excited about the Heritage Classic with the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. Saturday nights in the autumn are now for Canadian films on CBC instead of Hockey Night in Canada.

As we noted earlier, CBC will run Canadian film doubleheaders at 9 pm and 11 pm local time (add 30 minutes in most of Newfoundland) until the NHL season starts up again.

October 17

9p American Woman (2019)
11p Mean Dreams (2016)

October 24

9p Red Snow (2019)
11p Unclaimed (2016)

October 31

9p Incendies (2010)
Midnight Rebelle (2012)

The inability to copyright movie titles can lead to some confusion. CBC is likely showing the 2019 film American Woman, the directorial debut from Semi Chellas, who also wrote the screenplay. The film takes on a fictionalised version of what happened to Patty Hearst. Sarah Gadon plays the role of someone who resembles Hearst. The CBC schedule lists a 2018 film that is definitely not Canadian.

Mean Dreams is a boy-meets-girl who run away from her father. The primary cast is a split of Americans Josh Wiggins and Bill Paxton and Canadians Sophie Nélisse and Colm Feore. Paxton is the mean part of this story, a truly scary character. This was one of Paxton's final roles before his untimely death. Nélisse is also very good. Wiggins was also the lead in Giant Little Ones.

Canadian film notebook: Making Canada look like Afghanistan

Canadian film review: The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

We wrote about Red Snow since the film made us think we weren't in Canada but we were. The story is compelling: an indigenous Canadian solider gets captured in Afghanistan. The idea of indigenous in Canada vs. Afghanistan is key to the plot of the film.

Unclaimed aka On the Farm is a TV film about women in Vancouver's infamous Downtown Eastside area. The film focuses on events leading up to the arrest of Canadian serial killer Robert "Willie" Pickton. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers stars in this film. You might recall that The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open also takes place in that neighbourhood. Tantoo Cardinal is in both Red Snow and Unclaimed.

Drive-ins are making a comeback: Here are some Canadian films to show

Canadian film review: Ginger Snaps

Canadian film review: Cannibal Girls

As we noted some time back, CBC had scheduled Incendies (2010) and Rebelle (2012) for August 1 before the NHL postseason schedule was announced. These films were bookends on the 3-year run where Canadian films made the Top 5 cut for what then was the Best Foreign Language Film category. They were Canadian films that took place mostly outside Canada; Rebelle was completely outside Canada. Incendies provides a chance to see Denis Villeneuve's work before he went south to the United States.

We aren't normally critical of CBC schedules for Canadian film but having October 31 on a Saturday should have been horror films. Ginger Snaps might not be available but our official best Canadian horror film of all time. Canada has a lot of great horror films for possible selections.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early October 2020

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in spring and summer 2020

When CBC showed Canadian films in previous summers, the potential numbers might have been low since people were enjoying the limited summer weather. This might have been true even in the summer of 2020.

Now that Canadian films will be part of the autumn schedule, we will see if that changes Canadians and their TV/film habits.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Canadian films are available in Canada on CBC Gem.

photo credit: Mean Dreams film