New visions, new voices, new passions. 🇨🇦
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) December 6, 2023
Announcing TIFF’s annual Canada’s Top Ten list of features and shorts for 2023, presented by @mubicanada. https://t.co/jP5NP89pn8 #SeeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/k5uXuQ5EJj
The TIFF Top 10 list of Canadian films in 2023 is strong (mostly). The 2022 list has more incredible films.
Then again, there are titles that may be difficult to find, even for Canadians. To Kill A Tiger from the 2022 list is finally getting a small push in the United States. Ste. Anne from the 2021 list is virtually invisible.
Let's get acquainted with the list of Canadian films. Here is the 2023 Top Ten list with the directors:
BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
Hey, Viktor! (Cody Lightning)
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Ariane Louis-Seize)
Kanaval (Henri Pardo)
Seagrass (Meredith Hama-Brown)
Seven Veils (Atom Egoyan)
Solo (Sophie Dupuis)
Someone Lives Here (Zack Russell)
Tautuktavuk (What We See) (Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk)
The Queen of My Dreams (Fawzia Mirza)
Kanaval might be our unofficial Canadian film winner of TIFF 2023. The film directed by Henri Pardo won the Amplify Voices Award for Best BIPOC Canadian Feature. Kanaval also won Honourable Mention for Best Canadian Feature Film, which these days is better than winning the award.
Tautuktavuk from directors Carol Kunnuk and Lucy Tulugarjuk won the Amplify Voices Award for Best BIPOC Canadian First Feature. We applaud that this category has an overall winner and rewards first-time feature filmmakers. We just want the Best Canadian First Feature Film award back for Canadian films overall.
Solo from Sophie Dupuis won the Best Canadian Feature Film award. Unfortunately, this heralded award has lost a lot of its credibility in the last 3 years. Ste. Anne and To Kill a Tiger, the previous 2 winners, were also not the "best" Canadian film in the festival. Much better films win Honourable Mention.
Seagrass from Meredith Hama-Brown won the FIPRESCI Prize given by international critics and a Canadian film rarely wins this award. The plot intrigued me for a lot of personal reasons. This feels more significant this year than the actual Best Canadian Feature Film award.
The only 2 films on the list that didn't play at TIFF are BlackBerry and Someone Lives Here.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant won the 2023 WIFF Prize in Canadian film.
Your humble narrator has seen 6 of the Canadian films on the list: BlackBerry, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Seven Veils, Solo, Someone Lives Here, and Tautuktavuk (What We See). We have previously weighed in on these films in our 2022 Windsor International Film Festival reviews as well as BlackBerry.
Of the remaining 4 films, Seagrass and Kanaval would be at the top of my list. Hey, Viktor! is close behind. Even The Queen of My Dreams has potential. All of them are likely better than Solo.
Rojek, Canada's Oscars entry for Best International Feature Film, which didn't play at TIFF, did not make the list. Drunken Birds | Les oiseaux ivres (2021) was the last Academy Awards entry to make the Top Ten list. Perhaps more subjective than objective but Fitting In and Backspot deserved to be on the list.
TIFF selects Top 10 Canadian films of 2022
TIFF selects Top 10 Canadian films of 2021
TIFF selects Top 10 Canadian films of 2020
When the 2022 list was released, we had seen 5 of the Canadian films: Brother, I Like Movies, Something You Said Last Night, Riceboy Sleeps, and Rosie. We saw them at the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival.
In the last year, we saw Viking, Black Ice, and Crimes of the Future. We enjoyed the first 2 films as opposed to the other film.
Your humble narrator has seen all but 6 films from the lists from the last 3 years.
2022 Cette Maison (Miryam Charles); the infamous To Kill a Tiger (Nisha Pahuja)
2021 the almost impossible to find Ste. Anne (Rhayne Vermette); Canadian film in name only The White Fortress (Igor DrljaÄŤa)
2020 Canadian film in name only Fauna (Nicolás Pereda) and Judy Versus Capitalism (Mike Hoolboom)
Ste. Anne has all but disappeared into the atmosphere. To Kill A Tiger is theoretically available on Canadian soil via nfb.ca. Fauna features a "trailer" with a single scene with no dialogue.
We have seen every film on the 2019 list and the 2017 list. We will soon post a review of the final film from the 2018 list.
2023 WIFF Canadian films in review
2023 TIFF wrapup
One way for those in Toronto to see the Canada’s Top Ten selections is to watch them January 25-28 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. We also have the list of Top 10 short films from TIFF for 2023.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person wins 2023 WIFF Prize in Canadian film
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
The great thing about the list is that we have Canadian film options to find to watch over the holidays and into the winter. We also have a source for potential conversations about what films would belong on our list.
Twitter capture: @TIFF_NET
photo credit: Seagrass
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