The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organization behind the film festival is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Lightbox cultural centre, located in Downtown Toronto.
Alanis Obomsawin, is an Abenaki American-Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues. Obomsawin is a member of Film Fatales independent women filmmakers.
William Adam MacDonald is a Canadian actor, writer, and director. He is known for portraying Josh MacIntosh on the CBC show Being Erica, Peter McGregor on Wild Roses, and Detective Steve Peck on Rookie Blue, and for his guest-starring roles in several other shows, including Murdoch Mysteries and Republic of Doyle.
Stories We Tell is a 2012 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Sarah Polley and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The film explores her family's secrets—including one intimately related to Polley's own identity. Stories We Tell premiered August 29, 2012 at the 69th Venice International Film Festival, then played at the 39th Telluride Film Festival and the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015, it was added to the Toronto International Film Festival's list of the top 10 Canadian films of all time, at number 10. It was also named the 70th greatest film since 2000 in a 2016 critics' poll by BBC.
When Jews Were Funny is a 2013 Canadian documentary comedy film, directed by Alan Zweig. It was produced by Jesse Ikeman and Jeff Glickman for Sudden Storm Entertainment. The film features two dozen interviews with a variety of Jewish comedy professionals in North America and explores the role of Jewish humour in the context of North American comedy. The filmmaker asks whether earlier generations of Jews were funnier than the present generation and, if so, why. The film becomes more personal as its focus shifts to the filmmaker's desire to reconnect with a culture that has changed.
Jeff Barnaby was a Mi'kmaq and Canadian film director, writer, composer, and film editor. He is known for his films Rhymes for Young Ghouls and Blood Quantum.
Kasper Collin is a Swedish film director, documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Our People Will Be Healed is a 2017 Canadian documentary film by Alanis Obomsawin. The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The film explores the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre, an N-12 Frontier School Division school in Norway House, Manitoba where Cree students are taught about their own history and culture alongside the regular Manitoba school curriculum.
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch is a 2018 Canadian documentary film made by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky. It explores the emerging concept of a geological epoch called the Anthropocene, defined by the impact of humanity on natural development.
Roads in February is a 2018 Canadian drama film directed by Katherine Jerkovic. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. The film centres on Sara, a young Hispanic Canadian woman visiting her grandmother in Uruguay.
Tammy's Always Dying is a 2019 Canadian black comedy film directed by Amy Jo Johnson and written by Joanne Sarazen. It stars Felicity Huffman, Anastasia Phillips, Jessica Greco, Clark Johnson, Lauren Holly, Aaron Ashmore and Kristian Bruun.
American Woman is a 2019 drama film written and directed by Semi Chellas, in her feature directorial debut. It stars Hong Chau, Sarah Gadon, John Gallagher Jr., Lola Kirke, David Cubitt, Jordan Pettle, Richard Walters and Ellen Burstyn. Based on the 2003 novel of the same title by Susan Choi, the film is a fictional account of Wendy Yoshimura, the real-life woman who cared for heiress Patty Hearst after she was abducted.
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Tasha Hubbard and released in 2019. The film centres on the 2016 death of Colten Boushie, and depicts his family's struggle to attain justice after the controversial acquittal of Boushie's killer. Narrated by Hubbard, the film also includes a number of animated segments which contextualize the broader history of indigenous peoples of Canada.
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band is a 2019 Canadian documentary film, directed by Daniel Roher. A portrait of the influential roots rock group The Band, the film is based in part on Robbie Robertson's 2017 memoir Testimony.
White Lie is a 2019 Canadian drama film written and directed by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas. The film stars Kacey Rohl as Katie Arneson, a university student who fakes a cancer diagnosis for the attention and financial gain, but gets caught up in having to maintain her lie.
The Twentieth Century is a 2019 Canadian surrealist black comedy film written and directed by Matthew Rankin in his directorial debut. The film presents a fictionalized portrait of the rise to power of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King as played by Dan Beirne. It won three Canadian Screen Awards.
There's Something in the Water is a 2019 Canadian documentary film, directed by Elliot Page and Ian Daniel. An examination of environmental racism, the film explores the disproportionate effect of environmental damage on Black Canadian and First Nations communities in Nova Scotia. The film takes its name from Ingrid Waldron's book on environmental racism, There's Something in the Water.
Anne at 13,000 Ft. is a 2019 Canadian drama film. Directed and written by Kazik Radwanski, the film stars Deragh Campbell as Anne, a shy, socially awkward daycare worker whose attitude to her life and work is radically transformed after she skydives for the first time. It premiered in the Platform Prize program at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, and received an honourable mention from the Platform Prize jury. In December 2019, the film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list. After premiering on the festival circuit in 2019, the film's 2020 theatrical release was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cave is a 2019 Syrian-Danish documentary film directed by Feras Fayyad and written by Fayyad and Alisar Hasan. A companion piece to his earlier film Last Men in Aleppo, the film profiles Dr. Amani Ballour, a physician in Ghouta who is operating a makeshift hospital nicknamed "the Cave" during the Syrian Civil War. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 5, 2019.
No Ordinary Man is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, and written by Aisling Chin-Yee and Amos Mac. It is a portrait of Billy Tipton, the jazz musician who was revealed after his death to have been transgender.
