Canadian Crossing

Canadian film review: Room for Rent

The premise of a life after a young lottery winner blew the winnings has great potential for a film. Does Room for Rent reach that potential?

Mitch Baldwin (Mark Little) is a general loser until he wins $3.5 million in the lottery. He funds every crappy idea and lets people take significant advantage of him. Mitch is forced to live with his parents: Betty (American actor Stephnie Weir) and Warren (Mark McKinney).

Warren loses his job and forced into early retirement. The parents threaten to sell the house, which would ruin Mitch's spoiled lifestyle. Mitch convinces his parents to rent out his room. Carl Lemay (American actor Brett Gelman) ends up taking the offer.

Carl is a dream compared to Mitch. Mitch lets his mother do everything for him while Carl helps around the house. Carl pays rent while Mitch doesn't. Carl undermines Mitch's limited life view.

Carl even brings back Mitch's old girlfriend Lindsay (American actor Carla Gallo) into the picture to plan a retirement party for Warren. Huey (Patrick J. Adams) was one of those who took advantage of Mitch and is now a cop.

Room for Rent is definitely not realistic. Cartoonish. Mitch's life is along the lines of Sideshow Bob (The Simpsons) encounters with the rakes. He always run into people who remind him of his failures. He has a lot of failed inventions, such as an umbrella that dries itself one you are inside. "Aren't you the guy who bought a time machine? Did it work?" The answers are Yes and No.

He is awful at apologizing for what he did and excessively passive with those who wronged him.

The introduction is decent and the ending is better than expected. The main critique of the film is very little happens in the middle of the film. You know there will be an explanation at the end (there is) but you could fall asleep in the middle and still follow along.

A pleasant surprise in the film is writer/director Matt Atkinson giving Lindsay more of a fuller female character than one might expect in this type of a film. Lindsay still exists to serve the main character but you get the feeling that Lindsay sticks around to get some closure for what happened a few years back.

The hope is that Atkinson wrote Carl's character with Brett Gelman in mind because the casting and direction of Gelman is worth the watch. White handles the cartoonish, sad sack aspect of Mitch. Patrick J. Adams is having a lot of fun as Huey in a small role. Why do more famous actors take such roles in indie films? The real question is why couldn't all of the characters be as interesting as the very off-beat cop.

Weir and McKinney have as much fun as they can with 1-dimensional characters. Weir, in particular, gets why she is there and does really well in a limited role.

Atkinson gives us a tight cast to tell the story, something your humble reviewer can appreciate.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early July 2024

Room for Rent does pretty well with its limitations. Easier to recommend with a stronger middle part of the film but the beginning and ending are enough for a decent film. Set your expectations low and you will be reasonably entertained.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

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Room for Rent (2017) is available on CBC Gem in Canada and Tubi in the United States.

2024 TIFF preview

The best of Canadian cinema lives at #TIFF24. 🍁

Tell us your favourite Canadian film. 👇 pic.twitter.com/JfWlo5vGJi

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 2, 2024

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival begins tonight, though full days don't kick into tomorrow. The film festival runs today through September 15.

The buzzy part (can we come up with a better word than buzzy) is mostly about films with marketing budgets that they don't deserve and stars you actually recognize. Some of these films will play in the next 2-3 months in theatres or even come into your home via streaming. Aim for the films that don't get the hype and stick in your mind years after the flavour of the week.

You can check out Elle Canada's take on Canadian films in the festival. The Globe and Mail weighs in on the "buzziest" films at TIFF24 if you are one of the privileged few who can read the whole article.

That Shelf, which is a good resource, has their top festival picks. There are no Canadian films in the significant profiles, though the "Also excited for:" area lists Bonjour Tristesse, The Canadian Press "buzzy" list does not list any Canadian films.

RDV Canada has a nice wrapup of Canadian titles at TIFF24.

We inadvertently added Heretic to our Canadian film preview since there was a maple leaf. We have updated our Canadian film preview.

Universal Language is Canada's entry into the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film

I have been on the case for years for TIFF to bring back the Best Canadian First Feature Film. The award was last given out to The Twentieth Century from Matthew Rankin in 2019.

TIFF has finally conceded the need to recognize up and coming Canadian filmmakers. The festival is now presenting the Best Canadian Discovery Award with the new name and criteria. The award will now be an option for first- or second-feature films of those "in Official Selection by Canadian filmmakers are eligible for this award."

The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, same as the winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film Award, which specifically excludes first- or second-feature films.

The irony is that Universal Language | Une langue universelle would be eligible since this is Matthew Rankin's second feature film.

2023 TIFF Rising Stars

2022 TIFF Rising Stars

We get back an award that had been missing for 5 years and then we lose TIFF Rising Stars. While we haven't seen an official announcement, TIFF is not doing Rising Stars in 2024. The festival has been promoting young Canadian talent since 2011. The initial exercise was to spotlight young talent, even if they didn't have a film in that year's festival. The last few years has seen a shift where the Rising Stars specifically had films in the festival.

We were thinking about the benefits that, as an example, Sara Montpetit would get as a TIFF Rising Star. Montpetit was the lead in Maria Chapdelaine, co-lead in Falcon Lake, and the lead in Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant.

2015 TIFF Rising Star Deragh Campbell had 2 films at TIFF24. 2016 TIFF Rising Star Sophie Nélisse is very busy in 2 languages in 2 countries. 2017 TIFF Rising Star Théodore Pellerin is in high demand, mostly in French. 2018 TIFF Rising Star Devery Jacobs is juggling success in TV and film.

TIFF should be rewarding young Canadian talent. Hopefully, we won't have to wait 5 years for that to happen again.

We are a bit envious of Eric Tisch, The record-setting pace of seeing the most films in a festival would be rather impressive on its own. I know the Windsor International Film Festival record is 77.

More impressed on some level is that Tisch, programming manager for National Canadian Film Day, is out to watch every single Canadian film at TIFF. My Windsor experience would be very different if I could watch all of them at TIFF. Of course, Windsor adds Canadian films that don't play at TIFF.

His goal is 80 films. Tisch caught 63 films, including every Canadian film, at TIFF 2023.

Good luck to Tisch in his film-going adventure. We recommend a hearty cereal that doesn't need milk or granola to keep your energy up to absorb all those films.  

#TIFF24's @cameron_tiff shares which Canadian filmmakers are already making waves at the festival this year 🇨🇦✨ pic.twitter.com/fiMHb6ULvE

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 3, 2024

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey mentions the obvious in the Canadian films coming to TIFF: David Cronenberg, Guy Maddin, and Matthew Rankin. Bailey also mentions Sophie Deraspe's new film Shepherds. You might feel like there are a lot of current French-Canadian female filmmakers named Sophie and you have a difficult time remembering which ones are the ones you like. We would argue they are all good, except of course, for Sophie Dupuis.

2024 TIFF Canadian film preview

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Oh, Canada played at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, though the film is definitely not a Canadian film. Richard Gere plays the older version of a writer who goes to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. Uma Thurman is also in the film, written and directed by Paul Schrader.

Leonard Fife, the character played by Gere and Jacob Elordi as a younger version, is a documentary filmmaker living in Montréal.

Ironically, a film about running away to Canada was not actually shot in Canada. I don't have a crystal ball but I doubt his character will reflect someone who has lived in Canada, much less Montréal, for well over 50 years. Hopefully, the character will be more "Canadian" than Sandra Bullock's lame presentation of a Canadian in The Proposal.

Tegan and Sara, the Canadian music duo, are the subject of a documentary coming to TIFF24. Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara of is not a Canadian film yet telling a Canadian story. Our American readers can catch the documentary on Hulu starting October 18.

Saturday Night from Canadian director Jason Reitman makes its Canadian premiere at TIFF24. The story is the lead up to the debut of Saturday Night (later Saturday Night Live) in 1975. Canadian characters in the film include Lorne Michaels (creator of the show), Dan Aykroyd (writer and performer), and Paul Shaffer (part of the band).

BC native Pamela Anderson is back in The Last Showgirl, playing a seasoned Vegas showgirl trying to find her next act in life. The film is from Gia Coppola.

Denis Villeneuve will be at TIFF24 to talk about his very non-Canadian films, the Dune films.

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs through September 15.

Twitter captures: @TIFF_NET (x2)
photo credits: @NFB_Jennifer; Seeds/@levelFILM
Facebook capture: Reel Canada/National Canadian Film Day

Upcoming Canadian film coverage for September 2024

We are expecting 2 major #cdnfilm stories this week. @TIFF_net list of #RisingStars as well as @Telefilm_Canada announcement for Best International Feature Film for @TheAcademy. Please have those announcements on different days. Please don't wait until Friday. #Oscars

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) August 26, 2024

Welcome to September!! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend for Labour Day (Labor Day for our U.S. friends and readers).

We got the Academy Awards announcement with Telefilm Canada selecting Universal Language | Une langue universelle as Canada's entry into the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars.

While we don't have official confirmation about TIFF Rising Stars, we gather the festival people skipped that for TIFF24. We will have more about that in our 2024 TIFF preview on Thursday.

Universal Language is Canada's entry into the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film

2024 TIFF Canadian film preview

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Universal Language is Canada's entry into the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film

Press Release - 'Universal Language' is Canada’s Choice in the race for Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Oscars®@MetafilmsInc @OscopeLabs @TheAcademy https://t.co/LRnh8MHHNo

— Telefilm Canada (@Telefilm_Canada) August 27, 2024

Telefilm Canada has selected Universal Language | Une langue universelle as Canada's entry into the Best International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards for next March.

The Matthew Rankin film did well at Cannes and seemed to be the logical pick for the Oscars. Rankin is the director and co-writer of the film along with Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi.

The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and its North American debut will be at TIFF on September 10. Universal Language | Une langue universelle will have a theatrical run in Canada starting September 20. Any qualifying film needs a theatrical run for at least 7 consecutive days between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.

The film stars Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Soleymanlou, and Matthew Rankin. The languages are French and Farsi within the film.

Screen Daily reported that there were 28 entries for last year's Oscars in this category. Telefilm Canada picked Rojek out of that group. There were 16 films 2 years ago and 10 films 3 years ago. Telefilm Canada doesn't release the list of films under contention.

The publication also reported that Telefilm Canada gives up to $100,000 in promotional support with $40,000 for submissions that make the shortlist of 15 titles.

This is the first feature from Canada in 3 years in this Academy Awards category. Telefilm Canada went with documentaries in the last 2 years with Rojek last year and Eternal Spring 2 years ago. Drunken Birds | Les Oiseaux ivres was the last feature in this category 3 years ago.

The hope is that Universal Language | Une langue universelle will be part of the worldwide conversation for the Best International Feature Film for the Academy Awards.

Canadian film "A Shrine," directed by Abdolreza Kahani, is in the final list for Canada's Oscars entry in the International Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards. The final representative will be announced in two weeks. #Oscars2024 @AbdolrezaKahani pic.twitter.com/w2u7CesPVC

— Reihane Taravati (@reihanetaravati) August 14, 2024

We almost never know any other nominees than the one Telefilm Canada picks for the honour. Stumbled upon this tweet. Surprised more films don't announce their status.

We should clarify that while the tweet says "96th Academy Awards," the films are up for the 97th Academy Awards. More like #Oscars2025.

We were curious if Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant made the shortlist.

Matthew Rankin's new film was a highlight at Cannes 2024

France and Poland had prominent debates last year over the film selected for the Best International Feature Film. Poland selected The Peasants over The Green Border more than likely due to government interference. Though Anatomy of a Fall won major "foreign film" awards, France picked The Taste of Things | La Passion de Dodin Bouffant for its official selection.

In these instances, there were 2 strong films and a discussion. In Canada, there is no talk or speculation — at least in English language circles — as to what films missed the cut.

2024 TIFF Canadian film preview

Universal Language won the first-ever Chantal Akerman award at Cannes: an audience prize presented to the best film in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival. Akerman is one of our favourite filmmakers, regardless of country. She is known for Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles and Je Tu Il Elle.

Looking back at the last 20 Canada Oscars entries for international films

Looking back at Canada's Oscars entries for international films

This might seem early for Canada to make its submission to the 97th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, but these countries have already submitted their entries: Austria, Germany, Iraq, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Palestine, Taiwan, Turkey, and Uruguay.

All countries submitting films have until October 2.

Rojek misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film

Canadian film case study: Rojek

Rojek is Canada's entry into the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Your humble narrator is looking forward to seeing Universal Language | Une langue universelle with the idea of joy at seeing Canada'e entry into the Oscars. Watching Rojek was a legit chore. I have seen the last 27 Canadian entries in the Best International Feature Film category. The most recent one I haven't seen is Not Me! | Sous-Sol from the Oscars in 1997.

We will know the films to make the shortlist on December 17. The Oscars nominations get released on January 17, 2025 with the Academy Awards ceremony on March 2, 2025.

Twitter captures: @Telefilm_Canada; @reihanetaravati
photo credit: Universal Language | Une langue universelle
video credit: Telefilm Canada

Canadian film notebook: Season 3 of the Maple Popcorn podcast

We have a Season 3 of the Maple Popcorn podcast thanks to Telefilm Canada. Each season has had 6 episodes as does Season 3.

As we have previously noted, Maple Popcorn is about the world of Canadian film as opposed to actual Canadian films.

Canadian entertainment reporter Marriska Fernandes is the host. Fernandes is candid in her observations.

Season 3 gives us encounters with Atom Egoyan, Cody Lightning, Kari Skogland, Karen LeBlanc, Mark O’Brien, and Mary Walsh.

The release notes Egoyan's work in Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, and Chloe. Egoyan shares about the time he and Bruce McDonald screened their short films on a wall during TIFF.

Lightning got a lot of acclaim for his directorial debut Hey, Viktor!. Skogland is known for her contributions to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and The Handmaid’s Tale.

LeBlanc talks about her career, "feeling seen by Charles Officer when filming Nurse.Fighter.Boy," a beautiful Canadian film. Mark O'Brien may be known broadly for his work on Republic of Doyle though his recent work shows different sides of the actor and filmmaker. Mary Walsh has had a legendary career in Canadian film besides her amazing television work with CODCO and This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Here are the 6 podcast episodes:

• Filmmaker Atom Egoyan
• Cree actor and filmmaker Cody Lightning
• Filmmaker and showrunner Kari Skogland
• Actor, singer, and performer Karen LeBlanc
• Actor and filmmaker Mark O’Brien
• Actor, comedian, writer, and even director Mary Walsh

You can look into more about the Season 3 episodes. You can find out more details about the podcast.

Canadian film notebook: Season 2 of the Maple Popcorn podcast

Maple Popcorn podcast offers insight into those who make Canadian film

Looking back at Telefilm Canada efforts to promote Canadian film

There was the Quebec cinq aka the Quebec 5 — the first 5 films for Xavier Dolan. Then a shift with Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World and then the long wait for The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. Finally, we had Matthias et Maxime.

Xavier Dolan did come out and say he wants to stop making films. Now Dolan is working on a period piece (1880s France) horror film. The current timeline is for Dolan to start shooting in late 2025.

Dolan has felt a lot of outside frustration from his recent films. We feel like Dolan should do what works best for him in filmmaking, even if those films don't approach what he did early in his filmmaking career.

The Deadline article noted that Dolan talked to the Canadian cinema podcast Sans Filtre. We recognise that a Canadian cinema podcast on this level has to be in French. English subtitles are available by clicking on the CC button on the video.

We aren't wild about jumping back and forth between retiring and not retiring but we also recognise that this could happen. We want the future Xavier Dolan films to be thoughtful, entertaining, and hopefully, Canadian.

Xavier Dolan says he wants to stop making films

Canadian film review: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Tomorrow, we will explore summer travel through road trip Canadian films. You can take an early peek at the Canadian films coming to the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Opening night is September 5.

photo credit: Maple Popcorn/Telefilm Canada
video credits: Sans Filtre

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late August 2024

The 2024 Paris Olympics are done so we resume Canadian films on Saturday nights on CBC.

Islands is a very quiet film about Joshua, a middle-aged Filipino immigrant searching for a partner after his parents' health starts to fade. A terrific character study with a look at the Filipino-Canadian community.

Splinters is the next to last film from Thom Fitzgerald. Belle comes back home to Nova Scotia after her father passes. Her mother was not happy when Belle came out as a lesbian. Now she wants to hide her current relationship with a man.

You might know Thom Fitzgerald from The Hanging Garden (1997) or Cloudburst (2011).

Night Raiders presents a dystopian world as a nod to the reality of residential schools. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Brooklyn Letexier-Hart are in sync on screen.

Werewolf is a strong film about 2 meth addicts in Nova Scotia. Yet CBC showed this film on July 13 this year. Honey Bee might seem like a simple plot yet is surprisingly deep as a story. Julia Sarah Stone has proven she can carry a film. Her character is dealing with a foster home.

We do have a bonus movie on August 17. CBC is running Absolutely Canadian: The Pizza City You've Never Heard Of about Windsor, ON at 8 pm local time. We have reviewed that film.

Some of these Canadian films may have been featured on CBC in the past. The films should also be available on CBC Gem.

The CBC coverage of the Paralympics from Paris will interrupt Canadian films on Saturday nights on August 31 and September 7.

August 17

9p Islands (2021)
11p Splinters (2022)

August 24

9p Night Raiders (2021)
11p Werewolf (2019)
1a Honey Bee (2018)

Canadian film review: Islands

Canadian film review: Splinters

Canadian film review: The Pizza City You've Never Heard Of

Canadian film review: Night Raiders

Canadian film review: Werewolf

Canadian film review: Honey Bee

These Canadian films offer a decent variety in the next couple of weeks. Maybe you missed Werewolf last month.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late July 2024

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early July 2024

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late June 2024

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in the 2023 offseason

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in the 2022 offseason

A reminder to our American friends who are fortunate enough to get a CBC signal — such as Detroit, Buffalo, and Seattle — that this is a really good opportunity to get a glimpse into Canadian content through cinema. A lot of English Canadians also need this reminder.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Feel free to leave a comment on these Canadian films or even Canadian films you would love to see on a Saturday night on the CBC.

logo credit: CBC
photo credit: Splinters

Canadian film review: Growing Op

Growing Op is funnier now that Canada has legalized marijuana coast to coast to coast. The movie plays on the idea of a regular family being normal except for the fact that the family grows and sells marijuana.

Quinn (Steven Yaffee) is one of 2 children in the house along with his sister Hope (Katie Boland). After being home schooled for all of his education, Quinn decides he wants to go to public school. Quinn then falls in love with Crystal (Rachel Blanchard).

This feels like a lot of terrible American films at this point. I promise you Growing Op is a very different film without divulging secrets.

The film does a really nice job at treating the parents as real human beings: American actors Wallace Langham and Rosanna Arquette as parents to Quinn and Hope as well as Alberta Watson and Daniel MacIvor as Crystal's parents.

Quinn has trouble fitting in with his peers unless the subject is the quality of marijuana. A reminder that in the illegal days, you didn't always know what you were getting.

Michael Melski has created a sweet and pleasant film about family and fitting in within other worlds. The 2008 film doesn't follow conventional paths, treating its audience like mature people. You can definitely classify Growing Op as a quirky Canadian film, a comedy on its own level.

The acting is top notch as they understand the rhythms within the script and do a wonderful job bringing that to the audience.

This is also a reminder of the films that Rosanna Arquette did while being blacklisted from major Hollywood productions thanks to Harvey Weinstein. #metoo

CanadianCrossing.com marijuana coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Growing Op can be found on Tubi in the United States.

2024 TIFF Canadian film preview

Norm Wilner, Senior International Programmer, Canada, gives you a taste of the debut Canadian features in the #TIFF24 “Discovery section that are very important to us.” pic.twitter.com/LbIpV6av74

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) July 24, 2024

The Toronto International Film Festival may not put Canadian films in the spotlight of Opening Night or even Closing Night. The festival is a great source of Canadian films that are new and hopefully to be found in theatres, even in Canada.

Let's start with the Centrepiece films in the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, which were announced last week. Universal Language | Une Langue Universelle from Matthew Rankin sparkled at Cannes this year. The film has a shot at being the Best Canadian Film at TIFF 2024 and Telefilm Canada's nominee to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.

This is Rankin's second feature film. His debut, The Twentieth Century, was TIFF's last winner for Best Canadian First Feature Film in 2019.

Deragh Campbell is what we would call an actor's actor, one appreciated by fellow thespians. Campbell stars in 2 films at TIFF 2024. Kazik Radwanski, who featured Campbell in Anne at 13,000 Feet, is back with a romantic dramedy Matt and Mara, co-starring BlackBerry actor and director Matt Johnson.

Campbell has also worked with Sofia Bohdanowicz and they are reunited in Measures for a Funeral. We recently reviewed Bohdanowicz's earlier film, Maison du Bonheur.

David Cronenberg and Guy Madden have new films at TIFF 2024. Madden's film stars Cate Blanchett.

Rogers is the new presenting sponsor for TIFF, replacing Bell in that role. The theatre is now known as the TIFF Lightbox. There really aren't that many companies in Canada that can sponsor the arts on a high level.

Here are 5 other Canadian films where we are paying extra attention:

Ann Marie Fleming is back with her first full-length feature since 2016: Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming. Can I Get a Witness? with a mix of live action and animation. The idea of not being able to live past 50 has an updated Logan's Run feel. Sandra Oh voiced the protagonist in the 2016 film and is featured in the cast of the new film.

Sophie Deraspe mostly impressed us with Antigone (2019) and is back with Shepherds | Bergers about a Montréal copywriter starting a new chapter as a sheep herder in the French Alps.

We are always pleased when an actor we like and respect goes into writing and directing. Kaniehtiio Horn has her debut film Seeds at TIFF 24 with a thriller with Kanienʼkehá꞉ka connections.

Arianna Martinez is an unknown yet Do I Know You From Somewhere? has great potential to blow our minds (in a good way). A couple finds themselves losing their history. This is reportedly the first New Brunswick film to premiere at TIFF in over a decade. We wrote earlier this year about how underrepresented that province is in the world of Canadian film. 

40 Acres from R.T. Thorne offers food shortages, a Black family in Canada, and cannibalism.

The full schedule is out today. Let's look at all the Canadian feature-length films coming to the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

Matt and Mara is a Toronto film through and through. It would not have been possible to make this without our incredible cast, crew, collaborators, friends, family and community. Can’t wait to finally share it with everyone and have a hometown screening at TIFF. pic.twitter.com/DkpZxAzT5v

— Kazik Radwanski (@redvineski) August 7, 2024

Centrepiece

Matt and Mara (Kazik Radwanski) Struggling with a new baby and a distracted husband, an academic is more than happy to hang out with a college pal who crashes back into her life. But what sort of relationship are they resuming, precisely?

Measures for a Funeral (Sofia Bohdanowicz) The film brilliantly spotlights a young academic’s run towards one woman — acclaimed early 20th-century Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow — as she simultaneously flees from another, her failed musician mother.

Sweet Angel Baby (Melanie Oates) Eliza is an unassuming and beloved member of a small fishing community in Newfoundland who sees all of her relationships put in jeopardy after her secret social media persona is exposed.

The Mother and the Bear (Johnny Ma) Canada, Chile | When her grown daughter Sumi has a bad fall in Winnipeg, anxious widow Sara (Kim Ho-jung) travels from Korea to be with her — and discovers she doesn't really know Sumi at all.

Universal Language | Une Langue Universelle (Matthew Rankin) Matthew Rankin’s second feature is a lovingly detailed, charmingly impossible story of a Canada where Persian and French are the two official languages, and loneliness is the common currency.

Platform

Paying For It (Sook-Yin Lee) Canadian filmmaker, musician, and actor Sook-Yin Lee connects the past with the present, bringing together Canadian underground artists and innovative cross-generational musicians in a cultural snapshot of turn-of-the-millennium Toronto in Paying For It. With subtle comic energy and a great cast, this adaptation of Chester Brown’s autobiographical 2011 graphic novel is a movie only Lee could make … because it’s her story, too.

NEW: Lots of intriguing Canadian titles getting their world premieres as part of #TIFF24 Discovery program, including first-time feature films from @amarwala, @durgapolashi and @KNAAN. pic.twitter.com/6xnDXUdU9E

— Barry Hertz (@HertzBarry) July 24, 2024

Discovery

Aberdeen (Ryan Cooper, Eva Thomas) A tour-de-force performance by Gail Maurice (Bones of Crows, TIFF ’22) sees her inhabit the role of Aberdeen, a woman who must rise above hardships to save her grandkids, and herself.

Bonjour Tristesse (Durga Chew-Bose) Canada, Germany | Durga Chew-Bose’s adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s unforgettable coming-of-age novel of the same name, is a sun-soaked heralding of a singular artist.

Do I Know You From Somewhere? (Arianna Martinez) A committed couple finds their life slipping away, not because they’ve done anything in particular, but because their history is unwriting itself. Sort of.

Really Happy Someday (J Stevens) A rising musical-theatre star before his transition, Z (Breton Lalama) has to figure out how to sing in his new register in order to return to the thing he loves most — and, in the process, integrate his past and present selves.

Seeds (Kaniehtiio Horn) Kaniehtiio Horn (Alice, Darling, TIFF ’22) wrote, directed, and stars in this tense thriller that weaves Kanienʼkehá꞉ka connections to the land with a cat-and-mouse game.

Shook (Amar Wala) Struggling Scarborough writer Ashish is thrown for several loops when he falls for flinty barista Claire and learns his estranged father has just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, in Amar Wala’s first dramatic feature.

Village Keeper (Karen Chapman) After her husband’s murder, an overwhelmed Toronto mother discovers a very unusual way to process her grief. With her first dramatic feature, writer-director Karen Chapman creates an emotionally authentic study of a single mother trying to hold herself together in the face of unimaginable loss.

You Are Not Alone | Vous n'êtes pas seuls (Marie-Hélène Viens, Philippe Lupien) In Montréal, twentysomething Léo (Pier-Luc Funk) delivers pizza and gets drunk, and that’s pretty much it. He’s alone and he’s sad, and doing nothing about it … until he meets Rita (Marianne Fortier), a sweet-natured musician who thinks he might be a keeper. The thing is, Léo is already taken; he’s just been targeted by an alien (François Papineau) who preys on Montreal’s lonely and alienated men and doesn’t much care if Léo’s luck has turned.

Galas

The Shrouds (David Cronenberg) | Canada/France | Still grieving the loss of his wife, a technological entrepreneur (Vincent Cassel) finds what’s left of his world collapsing into a nightmare of sex, paranoia, and grief in David Cronenberg’s most personal film.

#TIFFTribute Jury Chair Sandra Oh stars in Ann Marie Fleming’s CAN I GET A WITNESS? which will have its World Premiere at #TIFF24.

The film also stars Keira Jang and Joel Oulette.https://t.co/CTPQX2f7Ld pic.twitter.com/oJWQDNwWsG

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) July 22, 2024

Special Presentations

40 Acres (R.T. Thorne) In a post-apocalyptic future where food is scarce, the last descendants of a Black family of farmers who settled in Canada after the American Civil War must protect their homestead from a band of hungry cannibals.

Can I Get a Witness? (Ann Marie Fleming) Keira Jang, Joel Oulette, and Sandra Oh star in this introspective live-action and animated feature set in the near future when technology and travel are almost completely banned, and nobody is allowed to live past age 50.

Rumours (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson) Canada/Germany | Cate Blanchett (The New Boy, TIFF ’23) joins a strong ensemble cast and plays the German chancellor in an absurd satire of a G7 world leaders meeting that spins wildly out of control — the latest from co-directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson.

Sharp Corner (Jason Buxton) Canada/Ireland | After a car crashes into his front yard, a family man develops an unhealthy obsession with being ready for the next accident. And the next.

Shepherds | Bergers (Sophie Deraspe) Canada/France | A Montréal copywriter sets out to reinvent himself as a sheep herder in the French Alps despite knowing literally nothing about the centuries-old craft, in this adaptation from director and co-writer Sophie Deraspe.

Young Werther (José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço) Inspired by the popular 1770s novella The Sorrows of Young Werther, this modernization stars Douglas Booth and Alison Pill in a fast-paced and bright romantic comedy, set in Toronto.

#TIFF24 World Premiere: Sophie Deraspe’s SHEPHERDS starring Félix-Antoine Duval and Solène Rigot.https://t.co/ItvCyAaJqm pic.twitter.com/nLeHkKK21r

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) July 22, 2024

Primetime

The Knowing (Courtney Montour, Tanya Talaga) Acclaimed journalist Tanya Talaga brings her evocative storytelling from the page to the screen with her search for a long-lost matriarch named Annie, solving an 80-year-old family mystery.

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal (Mike Downie) Director Mike Downie assembles The Tragically Hip for an emotional look at the origin, impact, and legacy of the band that defined Canada, to the world and to itself.

#TIFF24 World Premiere: Mike Downie’s THE TRAGICALLY HIP: NO DRESS REHEARSAL starring @thetragicallyhip, Gord Downie, Gord Sinclair, Rob Baker, Paul Langlois, and Johnny Fay.https://t.co/sOOzGcKkRs pic.twitter.com/JOgVfMviGr

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 9, 2024

Wavelengths

Lázaro at Night | Lázaro de noche (Nicolás Pereda) Canada/Mexico | In the sly and pleasurable Lázaro at Night from prolific Mexican Canadian auteur Nicolás Pereda, a love triangle between three actors elicits a reflection on the different roles one plays and the interplay between desire and realism.

Rhayne Vermette has a short film in this category: A Black Screen Too. Vermette's last full-length film was Ste. Anne, which somehow won Best Canadian Film at TIFF 2021.

Documentaries

Living Together | Cohabiter (Halima Elkhatabi) Halima Elkhatabi's disarming documentary eavesdrops on dozens of Montréalers as they interview one another in the hopes of finding a roommate they won’t want to change the locks on after a week.

Men of War (Jen Gatien, Billy Corben) USA/Canada | “Rambo meets Fyre Fest” could be the pitch for this tragicomedy about American-trained mercenaries who try to overthrow the Venezuelan government.

Russians at War (Anastasia Trofimova) Canada/France | Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova's gripping first-person documentary takes us beyond the headlines to join Russian soldiers in Ukraine placing themselves in harm’s way for reasons that become only more obscure with each gruelling day.

So Surreal: Behind the Masks (Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson) So Surreal: Behind the Mask unveils the fascinating connection between the work of famed Surrealist artists and ceremonial masks from the Yup’ik and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nations, and follows the quest to bring them home.

The Freedom of Fierro (Santiago Esteinou) Mexico/Canada/Greece | At 63, newly freed César Fierro must rebuild his life after being wrongfully convicted in Texas 40 years earlier. In this documentary, the audience accompanies Fierro on his journey, observing his often painful transition back into society.

Your Tomorrow (Ali Weinstein) Ali Weinstein's documentary captures the final year of Ontario Place as we know it, as the celebrated provincial park is sectioned off for redevelopment and concerned citizens do their best to save it.

Classics

Masala (Srinivas Krishna)

The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan)

Special Anniversary Screenings

Double Happiness (Mina Shum)

2023 TIFF wrapup

2023 TIFF leftovers

2023 TIFF preview

2023 TIFF Rising Stars

2023 TIFF Canadian film preview

Matthew Rankin's new film was a highlight at Cannes 2024

Canadian film notebook: Évelyne Brochu gets caught in a love triangle in French Girl

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

We will update this story if more Canadian films are added. The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5-15.

Twitter captures: @TIFF_NET; @redvineski; @HertzBarry; @TIFF_NET (x3)
photo credits: Matt and Mara; Seeds

Canadian film review: Islands

Those who take care of others often neglected care for themselves. Such as seems the case with Joshua (Rogelio Balagtas), a middle-aged man who takes care of his elderly parents Alma (Vangie Alcasid) and Reynaldo (Esteban Comilang). After his mother dies, his cousin Marisol (Sheila Lotuaco) comes to help take care of Reynaldo.

Joshua has the chance to chase after a partner for himself. That doesn't come too easily for Joshua.

Islands is a very quiet film examining the life of someone searching for love who also could learn about independence. We also get a glimpse of the Filipino-Canadian community in Toronto.

The obvious twist from writer/director Martin Edralin is that this type of caretaker character is usually a woman. Joshua's loneliness and awkwardness also speaks to what happens to some middle-aged men who don't even know how to ask for help.

This is part of why Marisol's character is so important within the film. Joshua knows very little about women, even his female cousin Marisol.

Islands is a really nice presentation of a difficult story. The presentation is laid back so this isn't a film to watch if you are very tired.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Islands received 3 Canadian Screen Awards nominations in the 2022 ceremony. The film got a Best Actor nomination (Rogelio Balagtas) and Best Supporting Actor nomination (Esteban Comilang) as well as a nomination for the John Dunning Best First Feature award.

Islands is available on CBC Gem in Canada.

video credit: Circus Zero Films
photo credit: Islands

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late July 2024

The summer continues in late July in our look at Canadian films on Saturday nights on CBC.

Xavier Dolan's sole English language film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan dominates the evening block on July 20. Most reviewers will point to the arduous process of the production and the need for a bit more editing. Your humble narrator would point out that the film is still above average even if not by Dolan's standards.

The film made its CBC debut last August.

The film features international stars Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, and Thandie Newton as well as actual Canadians Jacob Tremblay, Jared Keeso, Sarah Gadon, Emily Hampshire, and Ari Millen.

Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny, Good Neighbours, The Trotsky) co-wrote the film with Dolan.

The Song of Names from François Girard is a Canadian film in name only. Tim Roth and Clive Owen (not Canadian) star in a look back at children who were rivals with the violin in common. One disappears and the other looks for him. Your humble narrator found the film mostly boring with sprinkles of somewhat interesting. The flashback story is somewhat interesting but you have waded through to get to that part. The Red Violin is, safe to say, Girard's best film involving a violin.

Girard's previous film Hochelaga, Terre des âmes | Hochelaga, Land of Souls (2017) was Canada's submission for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

The 2024 Paris Olympics coverage starts on July 26 so the CBC will take a break with Canadian films during the Olympics.

Some of these Canadian films may have been featured on CBC in the past. The films should also be available on CBC Gem.

July 20

9p The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018)
Midnight The Song of Names (2019)

Xavier Dolan says he wants to stop making films

Canadian film review: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

Both of these Canadian films on July 20 are long and elaborate so you can savor them during the break for the Olympics. You can also check out other Canadian films we have reviewed.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early July 2024

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late June 2024

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in the 2023 offseason

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in the 2022 offseason

A reminder to our American friends who are fortunate enough to get a CBC signal — such as Detroit, Buffalo, and Seattle — that this is a really good opportunity to get a glimpse into Canadian content through cinema. A lot of English Canadians also need this reminder.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Feel free to leave a comment on these Canadian films or even Canadian films you would love to see on a Saturday night on the CBC.

logo credit: CBC
photo credit: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan