Canadian Crossing

2020 TIFF Canadian film preview

The 2020 version of the Toronto International Film Festival will be dramatically reduced in terms of presence and number of films, especially Canadian films. Like most of the TIFFs in the 2010s, the opening night film is not Canadian.

Spike Lee's take on David Byrne's American Utopia is the opening night film for 2020 TIFF. There are only 50 films in the 2020 TIFF.

Here are the full-length Canadian films for the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival:

Beans is a coming of age story in the time of the Oka Crisis in 1990. The film comes from Tracey Deer, who created the documentary and subsequent TV show Mohawk Girls.

Inconvenient Indian is an adaptation from Michelle Latimer of the Thomas King book on the cultural colonisation of Indigenous peoples. Latimer's future CBC show Trickster, adapted from the Eden Robinson novel Son of a Trickster, will get a premiere of the opening episode during 2020 TIFF.

The New Corporation: An Unfortunately Necessary Sequel is the sequel to the Canadian documentary The Corporation (2003). Joel Bakan wrote the original film and the sequel; he co-directed the sequel. Jennifer Abbott co-directed the sequel with Bakan and the original film with Mark Achbar. The original documentary delved into the modern-day corporation. Can easily imagine the potential for a sequel.

No Ordinary Man is a documentary that explores the legacy of American jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton. Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt co-directed the film. Chin-Yee had her directorial debut at 2019 TIFF with The Rest of Us with Heather Graham and Sophie Nélisse.

Violation centres on a traumatic betrayal and the revenge that follows. The film is the feature debut from Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinell.

A traumatic betrayal drives a woman to seek revenge in Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli's debut feature VIOLATION, starring Madeleine Sims-Fewer, @annacmaguire, Jesse LaVercombe, and Obi Abili. #TIFF20 https://t.co/qGK2GnbYR7 pic.twitter.com/Tbrs5svFpr

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) July 30, 2020

There are a few co-productions to note. Viggo Mortensen makes his directorial debut in Falling (Canada/UK). Mortensen starred in 3 David Cronenberg films: A History of Violence; Eastern Promises; and A Dangerous Method. The other titles are Fauna by Nicolas Pereda (Mexico/Canada); Night of the Kings | La Nuit des rois by Philippe Lacote (Cote d’Ivoire/France/Canada/Senegal); Pieces of a Woman by Kornel Mundruczo (USA/Canada/Hungary); and Shiva Baby by Emma Seligman (U.S./Canada).

Molly Parker is in Pieces of a Woman.

Enemies of the State from Sonia Kennebeck is a documentary about an American family seeking refuge in Canada after their hacker son is targeted by the U.S. government.

Just to be crystal clear: these aren't the highlights. This is the whole list.

Canadian film notebook: TIFF offering a digital version of Bell Lightbox

Windsor International Film Festival cancels the 2020 festival

2020 CBC television upfront preview

2019 TIFF Canadian film preview

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

While there will be Indigenous languages in some of the films, none of the 2020 TIFF entries are French-Canadian. We were critical of the 2018 Windsor International Film Festival for only having 2 Quebec films.

Canada's entry for the Best International Feature Film is guaranteed not to run at the 2020 TIFF. Antigone from Sophie Deraspe won Best Canadian Film at the 2019 TIFF and went on to be Canada's entry in the Best International Feature Film category.

The unofficial front runner for Canada's entry into the Academy Awards in Pascal Plante's Nadia, Butterfly, depending on whether the film has "too much English." The film was on the original list at Cannes in 2020.

The film festival often adds films at the last minute. The cap this year is at 50 films, so we aren't sure how that will work.

We are also keeping at eye out of the 2020 version of TIFF Rising Stars. Priority is given to candidates with a principal role in a feature film in the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. 40% of the list are documentaries, so that narrows the list.

TIFF will announce showtimes on August 25. The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival runs a day shorter than usual, going from September 10-19.

photo credit: Beans film
Twitter capture: @TIFF_net

Top 10 Canadian films I still want to see

I would love to spend all day watching Canadian films. Just because you have time doesn't mean you can see the films you are trying to chase. I have seen plenty of Canadian films that are easily available and some that were hard to find but got fortunate to see them.

Here are 10 full-length Canadian films and 2 short films that I would love to add to my collection of films I have seen.

1. August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 août sur terre (1998) Denis Villeneuve films should be easier to find once he became famous. Unfortunately, this film has been elusive. iTunes claims the film is available but when you download iTunes, you can't find the film. Pascale Bussières plays a woman who, after a traffic accident, wants to have a baby with her best friend. His provision was that they conceive the baby in the desert.

2. Emporte-Moi | Set Me Free (1999) The Léa Pool film stars a young Karine Vanasse set in Quebec in 1963. Vanasse's character compares herself to Anna Karina's character in Vivre sa vie from Jean-Luc Godard. Pascale Bussières plays her mother. This film was scheduled to be shown but the people offering the film could not find a copy with English subtitles.

3. Life Classes (1987) The William D. MacGillivray film starts out with Mary, who is pregnant woman, leaving her small town for Halifax. After she has the baby, she poses in art school classes to earn a living.

4. Blue (1992) The Don McKellar short film, his directorial debut, is about a mild-mannered guy obsessed with hardcore porn. The film features Brad Armstrong (aka Rod Hopkins), David Cronenberg, and McKellar's long-time partner Tracy Wright. We don't normally feature too many shorts but this is an exception.

5. Les Salopes or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin | Les salopes ou le sucre naturel de la peau (2018) Don't know too much about this film but the approach toward female sexuality in an aggressive fashion was highly intriguing, especially from female writer/director Renée Beaulieu.

6. Bird (2017) This is another short film on the list mostly because this is the writer/director debut from Molly Parker, one of my favourite Canadian actors. Sam is a woman dealing with a lot of issues, including the disappearance of her mother's pet bird. Always curious with an actor I like watching them try their hands at writing/directing.

7. The True Nature of Bernadette | La vraie nature de Bernadette (1972) This Gilles Carle film is about how Bernadette leaves behind her wedding ring and her husband and goes off with their young son to find her natural self in nature.

8. Columbus of Sex (1970) Before Ivan Reitman became famous for Meatballs, Stripes, and Ghostbusters, Reitman and Dan Goldberg made a film where they were convicted under Canada's decency laws and put on probation. Given Canada's standards back then, the film can't be all that bad. I still want to know.

9. Montréal Stories (1991) The film is a collection of 6 short films from acclaimed directors with stories about Montréal. Denys Arcand, Michel Brault, Atom Egoyan, Jacques Leduc, Léa Pool, and Patricia Rozema each write and direct a film. We are particularly interested in Desperanto (Rozema) starring Sheila McCarthy as a Toronto housewife who crashes a Francophone party. The languages rarely mix in Canadian film so we are intrigued.

10. Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation (1999) "Just watch me" is a phrase made famous by Pierre Trudeau. Catherine Annau created a documentary on about the legacy Trudeau's work toward a bilingual nation. She interviews 8 people on their view on bilingualism in their lives.

11. Eclipse (1994) Jeremy Podeswa is best known for The Five Senses (1999) but this earlier work centres on unerotic sexual couplings in Toronto in the days leading up to a total eclipse.

12. Desire in Motion | Mouvements du désir (1994) An earlier film from Léa Pool features a man and woman falling in love on a train ride from Montréal to Vancouver.

Canadian film review: Maelstrom

Canadian film review: Polytechnique

Oscar nomination should help people find Denis Villeneuve Quebec films

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The chase for entries in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards is certainly a factor. Films listed as 1, 2, and 7 fall in that category, though they are on this list for their own merit as a film. Un crabe dans la tête | Soft Shell Man (2001) might be more about knocking off a film from that list. Am still interested in this André Turpin film.

French-Canadian films are often more difficult to find than English-Canadian films, though that does depend on the film.

Don McKellar and Molly Parker worked together in Twitch City (1998), a Canadian TV show. Their short film ideas elevate themselves to this list.

If I somehow view all 12 of these films someday, there are more to add. For right now, this list has plenty going for these Canadian films.

photo credit: August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 août sur terre film

Canadian film notebook: TIFF offering a digital version of Bell Lightbox

The Toronto International Film Festival has launched the digital TIFF Bell Lighbox. The site offers up new films, including Canadian films, that otherwise would have been seen at the Bell Lightbox. This is a lot more relevant across Canada to improve access to Canadian films that otherwise might not get to those parts of Canada. You can find out more details.

The rental fees are $5.99 + HST for new releases and $4.99 + HST for catalogue titles. That exchange rate would be good for non-Canadians, but the catalogue is limited to Canadians. Americans and other can look at the site to get inspired to find those films.

One of those films is Guest of Honour, the latest from Atom Egoyan. Egoyan was on Q with Tom Power promoting the film. The film is also available on demand on the U.S. side. 

The TIFF folks point out that the digital TIFF Bell Lightbox lasts until August 14 and picks up in mid-October, factoring in time for the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

❄️HOW TO PRONOUNCE❄️
❄️MY NAME❄️
My name is Kaniehti:io, I made a short lil video teaching non-kanien’kéha speakers how to pronounce it properly.
Taking the time to learn someone’s name is important and respectful, so I hope you enjoy this little how-to. pic.twitter.com/CXJCP8uXsy

— Tiio Horn (@kaniehtiio) June 10, 2020

Kaniehtiio Horn is a Canadian television and film actor. You might have seen her under the name Tiio Horn, especially earlier in her career. Horn put out this charming video (we posted a link on our Twitter page @canadian_xing) about how to pronounce her name.

She makes a really good point about learning to pronounce names that might seem different from ones we might know better. She does so in a calm manner different from some of her characters, such as her work on Letterkenny, The Trotsky, and Leslie, My Name Is Evil.

We don't necessarily know what would have been the Chicago selection for a Canadian film leading up to Canada Day. We have a strong hunch the film would have been And the Birds Rained Down | Il pleuvait des oiseaux (2019) from Louise Archambault.

The Chicago International Film Festival offered the film for online rental and held a Q&A with Archambault.

I asked her about the dogs in the film. Archambault pointed out that they let what the dogs did happen naturally. The dogs reacted in good ways they had not anticipated.

They talked mostly about this film but also pointed out Archambault's other 2019 film Thanks for Everything | Merci pour tout. Archambault previous directed Gabrielle (2013), which was Canada's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture, and Familia (2005), which made the TIFF Top Ten list.

You can watch the Q&A.

Oscar nomination should help people find Denis Villeneuve Quebec films

"I didn’t have the desire to work in Hollywood because I was afraid of the Hollywood system, I was afraid of all those stories. In Canada we don’t have a lot of money but we have a lot of freedom, and for me that was something that was very precious ... Here [in Canada], you cannot make a lot of movies. It’s a system that’s based on government funds. You have to wait your turn. But when you make the movie, you are totally in control."

This was from Denis Villeneuve in a recent interview with indiewire.com. Villeneuve talked about being wary about working for American studios. He has found great success and acclaim with American studios, though we miss what could have been in terms of that control. Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallée made some great films in Canada yet moved down south for bigger budgets and more prestige.

A key difference is that they still direct but don't write the scripts that brought them notice in Canada. The only 2 films Vallée wrote and directed were C.R.A.Z.Y. and Café de Flore. That is not a coincidence.

The article also gives some love to the cinematography work of Roger Deakins on Villeneuve's films. Deakins was nominated for an Oscar for Prisoners, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049, winning an Oscar for Best Cinematography for Blade Runner 2049.

Canadian film review: The Decline

Netflix is accepting English-language pitch proposals from Canadian creators for series or films until August 5. You might recall that Netflix did something similar in Quebec with French-language producers. The byproduct of that was Jusqu'au Declin | The Decline, which seemed to exist as a way to make us think Quebec films are poorly made.

The Canada Virtual Pitch Day is scheduled for September.

Netflix does carry some cool Canadian television shows and a few good Canadian films. Quite frankly, the channel carries some crappy Canadian content as well.

"Netflix is proud to help bring Canadian stories to the world. We are continuing our search to discover amazing stories from both seasoned storytellers and undiscovered talent all over Canada. Diverse and underrepresented stories told authentically are important to us," the U.S. streamer wrote on its company blog.

Let's hope the programmers with taste are the ones deciding about potential Canadian content. Canadians are producing amazing Canadian content. Please find projects better than Jusqu'au Declin | The Decline. 

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Walrus and the Whistleblower won the top prize at the Hot Docs International Film Festival. The documentary from Nathalie Bibeau is about Phil Demers, who was an animal trainer at MarineLand in Niagara Falls. Demers later made claims of animal abuse in the park.

The film is available in Canada on CBC Gem.

photo credits: TIFF; Chicago International Film Festival
Twitter capture: @kaniehtiio

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late July 2020

If the NHL does start in 2 weeks, this will be the last look at CBC running Canadian films for awhile. Enjoy them while you can.

CBC is digging deep into its archives for Canadian films deep into the summer.

Canadian films on Saturday nights on CBC. Here are the latest Canadian films coming to the CBC airwaves:

July 18

10p Angelique's Isle (2018)
12a River (2015)

July 25

10p The Grand Seduction (2013)
12:30a Jean of the Joneses (2016)

Angelique's Isle is a film about stranded newlyweds left on Lake Superior Isle Royale as winter is coming during the great copper rush of 1845. Julia Jones, Charlie Carrick, and Tantoo Cardinal are in the cast. River is set in the south of Laos where an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. The film features Rossif Sutherland, Sara Botsford, and Douangmany Soliphanh.

The Grand Seduction is the English-language remake of La grande séduction | Seducing Doctor Lewis. The French version had better chemistry between the romantic leads: Taylor Kitsch and Liane Balaban. The English version has more recognisable stars such as Brendan Gleeson, Gordon Pinsent, Mark Critch, Peter Keleghan, Mary Walsh, and Matt Watts.

Canadian film case study: Paper Year/Jean of the Joneses

Jean of the Joneses was featured at the Season 2 of The Filmmakers on CBC. This may be the most "Canadian" film that Stella Meghie will ever do, given where her career has gone since this film debuted. If you are a fan of her most recent work, check out this film that started her feature film career. The film also ran on May 2 as part of the CBC Saturday night series.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early July 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late June 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early June 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late May 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early May 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late April 2020

CBC is showing Canadian films to fill time on Hockey Night in Canada

COVID-19 notebook: How Canada is faring in the coronavirus pandemic

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

If this is the last of Canadian films on the CBC Saturday night schedule, we will run a wrapup of all the Canadian films since the NHL shutdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

photo credits: Jean of the Joneses film; The Grand Seduction film

Canadian film review: Canadian Strain

Canadian Strain paints an world in Ontario once marijuana becomes legal. The film uses actual footage of various related events with a fictional story about your well-versed neighbourhood drug dealer who is forced to rethink her world when marijuana becomes a legal product.

In reality, black market drug dealers in Ontario did quite well since there were no stores and limited supplies on mail order. The film takes that world in a different direction.

Anne (Jess Salgueiro) is captivating as the drug dealer with steady clients who leave her for apps and points. The idea that Shoppers Drug Mart would sell marijuana was a very popular joke.

Anne is in financial trouble, getting kicked out of her apartment. She feels like she is losing a battle to government-controlled marijuana, eventually getting a job at the CDCBO (Cannabis Distribution and Control Board of Ontario), a play on LCBO in Ontario.

Marijuana in Canada on 4/20/20

Colin Mochrie has some nice moments as Anne's father. Marcia Bennett is wonderful as Anne's grandma and client. Naomi Snieckus steals the show as Anne's CDCBO boss Judy. The film's cast is largely female. The film uses marijuana to tell larger stories about women in business and looking out for each other.

Writer/director Geordie Sabbagh presents an odd mixture of reality and pretend, an interpretation that is parallel to reality and also very close to it. The less you know about the early days of legal marijuana, especially in Toronto, the less confused you will be in the film.

This is the second full-length film for Sabbagh, who also used Salgueiro, Benjamin Ayres, Angela Besharah, and Ashleigh Rains in A Sunday Kind of Love (2016).

That said, writing a film that is riffing off what is happening in the real world is difficult. Enjoy the ride.

The commentary on the government and CDCBO is poignant and funny.

"We Canadians like to keep our drugs and our fucking behind closed doors."

The name Canadian Strain tells you the film is Canadian. This film feels Canadian. You will know this is Canadian without the need for stereotypes (sorry Bob and Doug McKenzie).

Trying to find the quintessential Canadian film

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Canadian Strain got caught in the list of films that were headed to theatres but were halted to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The film did play the Whistler Film Festival last December.

video credit: YouTube/Pacific Northwest Pictures
photo credit: Canadian Strain film

Canadian film review: Cardinals

Cardinals looks to be a simple, quiet film. A middle-aged woman gets released from prison after serving time for vehicular manslaughter. A young man who was affected by what happened has a lot of questions.

Valerie (Sheila McCarthy) is the woman just out of prison. Mark (Noah Reid) is the young man. We find out that Valerie killed Mark's father. He tells her that his mother killed herself as a result of what happened.

Valerie has two daughters: Zoe (Grace Glowicki) and Eleanor (Katie Boland). Secrets abound in the small town. Eleanor knows more than Zoe does. Zoe tries to maintain a friendship with Mark.

Wendy (Catherine Fitch) is Valerie's best friend from when they worked at the plant. Wendy leaves the plant shortly after the accident.

Jonah (Peter Spence) is Valerie's parole officer. Jim (Peter MacNeill) is still technically Valerie's husband but lives in a different house.

Secrets abound in a small town.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Often in films, the viewer knows more than some of the characters. The viewer is in as much suspense as some of the characters. You might think you know what is happening but that is mostly speculation. The awkwardness between characters adds to the suspense. The finely crafted screenplay from Grayson Moore and direction from Moore and Aidan Shipley keep the audience in suspense.

The casting is stellar. McCarthy is very understated in her presentation. Reid's character is full of contained anger and questions, a definite departure from his work on Schitt's Creek.

The pacing is slow and deliberate as well as being captivating and you want to know more.

Moore and Shipley weave nice subtle elements into the film such as Strasberg subbing for Stratford (the 2017 film was shot in Stratford, Kitchener, and Barrie in Ontario) and springtime filled with snow.

Cardinals can be considered a psychological drama in the sense of being curious as to what happened as opposed to the Hollywood version designed to freak out the viewers. This film delivers suspense in a more authentic fashion.

Cardinals is available in the United States on Amazon Prime.

video credit: YouTube/TIFF Trailers
photo credit: Cardinals film

Telefilm Canada helps you find Canadian films on streaming services

We have noted of the difficulty in the past of finding Canadian films on streaming services. The good news for Canadians is that Telefilm Canada wants to help you find Canadian films on those services.

The Telefilm Canada Web site gives you options to find Canadian films on CBC Gem, Crave, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, the new Air Canada service, and the National Film Board. The French language Web site substitutes Illico and unisTV for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and ICI Tou.TV for CBC Gem.

There are a few films in the mix that would fit in well with our Canadian film case study feature that we feature in our film reviews.

"We have content for families, content for teens, content made by Indigenous creators, content that represents our racialised minorities," said Francesca Accinelli, Telefilm director of promotion and communication in a press release. "What makes Canadian content so special is that uniqueness of voice."

Canadian films on streaming video need a lot more publicity

Some of the Canadian films on CBC Gem have been featured on Saturday nights on CBC television. You might have missed a few, despite our best attempts to provide a schedule. Or you can see them without commercials (for a nominal fee).

Amazon finally has an original Canadian series: Kids in the Hall

Buying a film versus renting a film in the digital landscape

South Park realizes the dream of a Canadian content streaming service

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

You can let us know in the comments section if you find the Telefilm Canada setup useful or distracting.

video and photo credit: Telefilm Canada

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early July 2020

No more cheeky Stanley Cup playoffs references. The NHL and NBA may return soon. MLS is scheduled to play next week.

Canadian films on Saturday nights on CBC. Here are the latest Canadian films coming to the CBC airwaves:

July 4

10p The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019)
12:30a The Right Kind of Wrong (2013)

July 11

10p Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014)
12:30a Last Night (1998)

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

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open is a wonderful film. The continuous shot might feel awkward with commercial breaks. If you see the film via CBC Gem, you will get commercial breaks as well. Just get yourself back into the mood once the breaks are over. Ideally, CBC would show Canadian films without commercial breaks.

I started watching The Right Kind of Wrong at one point. The film might be fine as a rom-com of sorts.

Canadian film review: Last Night

Hector and the Search for Happiness is a UK-Germany-Canada collaboration. Last Night is one of the finest Canadian films ever. The film goes into the last 6 hours of the world and how people choose to spend that time.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late June 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early June 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late May 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early May 2020

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late April 2020

CBC is showing Canadian films to fill time on Hockey Night in Canada

COVID-19 notebook: How Canada is faring in the coronavirus pandemic

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The starting times are later than we saw during the normal Stanley Cup playoffs time. This is typical of the CBC as I recall. The beauty of the PVR (DVR in the United States) is that you can record Canadian films and watch them later.

photos credit: The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open film; Last Night film

Canadian film review: Through Black Spruce

Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is a topic I know mostly from listening to CBC News. The lack of interest from police forces is rather appalling.

Through Black Spruce is a film adaptation of Joseph Boyden's novel of the same name.

Annie Bird and Susanna Bird are identical twins, Cree women from Moosonee, Ontario. Susanna is a model who took off to Toronto with her abusive boyfriend Gus. Annie is a homebody who feels more comfortable hunting than posing.

Susanna turns up missing. Her mother gets a lawyer in Toronto who doesn't do much to find Susanna. Annie gets invited by a local friend to go to Toronto on vacation, Annie is reluctant to go but ends up staying behind to look for her sister.

As the search goes on, Annie takes on the persona of Susanna, whom we only see in 2-dimensional pictures. The transformation reminded me of re was a bit of Jack Nicholson's identity transformation in The Passenger (1975) from Michelangelo Antonioni. Tanaya Beatty succeeds with the heavy responsibility in playing the sisters.

The other subplot involves their Uncle Will (Brandon Oakes). Marius thinks Will is a snitch of their local drug dealing. Marius and his gang think Will knows where Susanna is hiding. The irony is that so many Indigenous females are truly missing but somehow this is the lone exception. Who said drug dealers were smart.

At one point, Will escapes to a nearby island. That tale could have been a film on its own and feels like a necessary escape from the big city of Toronto and the big village of Moosonee.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

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Don McKellar takes long chunks in the middle of the film to explore each storyline and then uses smaller chunks toward the end of the film. The segments seem pretty long in the middle to where you might forget about the other story. His veteran director experience builds up a proper level of momentum that matches the tone in the film. McKellar makes a cameo in the film.

Tantoo Cardinal and Graham Greene have small poignant roles. The cast also includes Parveen Kaur and Roseanne Supernault.

Through Black Spruce showcases the dual identities of living as an Indigenous person within their own society and living in the white people society. Annie and Susanna are obvious but Uncle Will also wrestles with these different worlds. The 2018 film offers us a complex portrayal of these divided lives in an engaging fashion.

Through Black Spruce received Canadian Screen Awards nominations for Best Actor (Oakes) and won for Best Original Score for Alaska B.

video credit: YouTube/D Films
photo credit: Through Black Spruce film

Celebrating Pride with Canadian films and television

Pride is celebrated in late June in the United States, yet is often spread out in different weeks in Canada. I noticed this first-hand in St. John's when the Pride celebration was in late July.

Pride among the LGBTQiA+ can't be as loud and proud as normal during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. We definitely recommend adding a few Canadian films and television to your Pride celebration in 2020.

Giant Little Ones

The question of who is gay or not gay is often ambiguous in high school. This film deals with several characters and points of view.

Better Than Chocolate

This is one of my favourite Canadian films. Lesbians and censorship are in the spotlight in this 1999 film. Judy, a trans character excellently played by Peter Outerbridge, is such a cool character.

Lost and Delirious

This Lea Pool film explores experimentation at a girls' school. The cast includes a young Jessica Paré along with American actors Piper Perabo and Mischa Barton.

Weirdos

Alice wants sex with Kit but Kit is interested in a boy they meet while hitchhiking. Not Andy Warhol talks only to Kit.

Breakfast with Scot

I was in Windsor in November 2007 and saw this film was playing. I had read about this film playing at TIFF. The main memory was that the Toronto Maple Leafs allowed the film to use its logo even though the former player on the team was gay. Marriage equality had been law in Canada since 2005. Canada had a booming tourism business of people coming to Canada to get married and then go back to the United States.

This film does play the gay relationship and potential issues as perhaps too cute for some audiences.

Canadian film review: Better Than Chocolate

Canadian film review: Weirdos

Other Canadian films that explore these themes include Mambo Italiano; When Night is Falling; Grown Up Movie Star; À tout prendre; Closet Monster; Genesis; and Vic and Flo Saw a Bear.

Thom Fitzgerald and Xavier Dolan are filmmakers in the LGBTQiA+ section of proverbial video stores. Fitzgerald is known for The Hanging Garden; Cloudburst; The Event; and Splinters. Dolan has covered this world in I Killed My Mother; Les Amours Imaginaires | Heartbeats; Laurence Anyways; Tom at the Farm; It's Only the End of the World; The Death & Life of John F. Donovan; and Matthias & Maxime. Every film except Mommy.

Pride is very applicable to Canadian television. You might have heard of a tiny show called Schitt's Creek. Wynonna Earp, Lost Girl, Orphan Black, Bomb Girls, and Workin' Moms are among many Canadian series that fit right into LGBTQiA+ themes. The Web series Carmilla is another good example.

Dan Levy created a world where homophobia didn't exist. Even Chris Elliott's mayor character Roland Schitt is cool with the LGBTQiA+ world. Love is love. Hoping your 2020 Pride is as celebratory as possible.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

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Did we accidentally leave out a favourite Canadian film or Canadian TV title? Let us know in the comments.

photos credit: Giant Little Ones film; Orphan Black/Bell Media