If you are looking for upbeat, happy-go-lucky Canadian films this fall, you might need to wait another year.
"Rebelle" or "War Witch" is Canada's foreign-language entry into the Oscars. The film is about a 14-year-old girl who is forced to fight with a rebel commander in Sub-Saharan Africa, and later becomes a sex slave for that rebel commander.
Newcomer Rachel Mwanza stars in the title role; she was abandoned by her parents and lives on the streets in Congo's capital Kinshasa. Mwanza has already won best actress trophies at Tribeca and Berlin.
"War Witch" is one of four full-length Canadian films to play in next month's Chicago International Film Festival.
"Antiviral" is the latest movie from Brandon Cronenberg, son of David. The film's plot centers around selling diseases from famous people to those who worship celebrities. "Antiviral" also played in the Toronto International Film Festival.
"In Their Skin" is a horror film about stylish urbanites confronting neighbors that turn out to be more menacing than first believed. When you hear the phrase "claustrophobic atmosphere," this won't be a light-hearted comedy.
Also known as "Replicas," "In Their Skin" stars American actress Selma Blair and Canadian actor Josh Close.
"The Final Member" is a documentary about an Icelandic man who has assembled a collected of penises from different species, but is still looking for one from a human being. If you go check this out, let us know. Thinking we're skipping this one.
Antiviral and In Their Skin should get a moderate number of showings in the United States outside of film festivals. Suspense and horror do better with "American" mainstream movie audiences. Though that doesn't explain why "Daydream Nation" didn't take off more in the States, especially when the female lead is a now more-famous Kat Dennings.
"Rebelle" is another example of a Canadian entry in the foreign language Oscars category that has little to do with Canada. "Incendies" and "Water" are two recent examples that made the cut to the Top 5. We still have a long way to go to see whether "Rebelle" makes that list. The film does have an American distributor, which should get the film into more theaters than last year's Oscar entry, "Monsieur Lazhar."
The international world of film is becoming more mixed where Canadian filmmakers are shooting films set and based outside Canada. That trend will probably get more entrenched. In that spirit, hopefully non-Canadian films will do more than shoot their films in Canada, but also bring the spirit and actors from the Great White North onto the big screen.
Sarah Polley's new documentary "Stories We Tell" isn't a part of the Chicago festival, though we're hoping that the film, and some of the other titles that played in Toronto will also be at the upcoming Windsor International Film Festival, this year from November 7-11. Maybe some of those titles will be less depressing and more "Canadian."
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