Films

Marie Kreutzer’s biopic takes us to the late 19th century, when Empress Elisabeth of Austria has been politically sidelined. Imagining her as a proto-feminist rebel, Kreutzer is not afraid to depart from the historical record to do so.

Veteran director Jerzy Skolimowski returns in triumphant form with this tale of animal life. Sometimes harsh, sometimes sweet, always beautiful, EO tells the story of a donkey and its journey through a world dominated by humans.

A single mother working to support her young daughter and her ailing father, navigates the labyrinthine system of care homes, with their financial and logistical burdens. Then, an encounter with an old friend blossoms into a passionate affair.

In Claire Denis's Cannes Jury prize winner, a US journalist is marooned in Managua, stripped of her passport and forced to trade sex for protection. An English businessman seems a good prospect, but gradually she sees he's in more trouble than she is.

Vancouver-born Dene/Métis writer-director Marie Clements lays out a hard history of Indigenous resilience in this urgent, harrowing epic, spanning most of the 20th century; the story of a Cree woman from childhood, through residential school, WWII, and beyond.

Shoplifters director Kore-eda fashions a sprawling, compassionate crime story set in South Korea about a half-baked baby adoption scam led by Song Kang-ho (Parasite; The Host). Winner of Best Actor at Cannes Film Festival.

Virtuoso Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden; Oldboy) picked up the Best Director Prize at Cannes for this teasing, tantalizing genre piece, a neo-noir mystery about a homicide detective who falls in love with the widow of an apparent suicide.

Kathleen S. Jayme (Finding Big Country) is out to solve a true sports crime: who robbed us of the Vancouver Grizzlies? Jayme revisits the short history of those bad luck bears, connecting the dots and reconnecting with the Grizzlies heroes and villains.

Teenager Nicolas is suffering from severe depression. It's so bad, his mom (Laura Dern) hands him over to his father, Peter (Hugh Jackman), who is celebrating a baby with his new wife, Beth. Like The Father, this is sharp, insightful, devastating.

A luxury cruise for the super rich goes very, very wrong in this Cannes-winning social satire from the director of The Square. Uproariously funny at times and deeply cynical, this is a must-see.

Charlie (Brendan Fraser) may finally realize his wish of eating himself to death. First, he reaches out to the teenage daughter he hasn't seen in 10 years. This compassionate chamber piece is a change of pace from Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky.

Sarah Polley's adaptation of Miriam Toews' novel is the most compelling movie to come out the #MeToo movement to date, with stellar performances from Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, and Frances McDormand as Mennonite women confronting a terrible truth.

When Colm (Brendan Gleeson) decides he's had enough of his best pal (Colin Farrell) because he's just too boring, the entire village is consumed in the drama in this contemplative and uproarious comedy from Martin McDonagh (In Bruges; Three Billboards).

Olivia Colman shines as an unhappy woman rediscovering romance with a young Black man in the English seaside cinema where they both work in this classy, transformative valentine to the movies from 1917 director Sam Mendes.

Dreamlike, sensual, and intensely lyrical, Kamila Andini’s Indonesian 1960s period drama is a rare glimpse into the emotional life of a woman who escapes war and enters into the pampered existence of a passionless marriage.

Adam, a young man studying at a leading religious institution in Egypt, becomes a pawn in the struggle between government spies and radical religious leaders. A shrewdly plotted thriller with a superbly expressive performance from Tawfeek Barhom.

Returning to the Naples of his childhood, Felice (Pierfrancesco Favino) is overwhelmed by memories of his adolescence both joyful and painful. He is compelled to stay to try to make peace with his best friend from those days, now a feared crime boss.

Steeped in the warmth of summer and the sweetness of peaches, Alcarràs tells the tale of a family in Catalonia suddenly faced with eviction from the land they’ve farmed for generations. A bittersweet tale of love and family in a last idyllic summer.

This sweeping dissection of systemic racism in Canadian hockey culture documents the personal stories of Black hockey players dealing with racism from fans, coaches, other players, and the institutional pressure to remain silent about their mistreatment.

Against the backdrop of suburban Scarborough, two brothers strive to justify their mother’s sacrifices and realise their own ambitions. However, fate has other plans. An elegant and authoritative exploration of both violence and the healing process.

A privileged housewife in 1968 Chicago finds herself at odds with the patriarchal medical establishment when she requires an abortion to save her life. A timely and relevant film about reproductive justice in the year that Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Léo and Rémi's summertime adolescent friendship is scrutinized by their classmates, making Léo pull away in self-conscious fear. A stunningly lyrical tour de force that explores that explores the fragile nature of friendship and masculinity.

This sublime documentary captures the National Ballet of Canada's rebirth through their staging of Angels' Atlas—their final show before the pandemic shutdown in 2020 and their first performance when the company returned in November 2021.

In her impressive directorial debut, Frances O'Connor plausibly imagines how a shy, demure preacher's daughter (played by the sensational Emma Mackey) might come to write something as bold and primal as Wuthering Heights.

In Mashhad, Iran, a serial killer known as The Spider has murdered over a dozen women. Rahimi, a journalist obsessed with finding the killer, soon finds a skewed social morality that praises the perpetrator and condemns his victims.

In 2014 in Ukraine's Donbass region, Irka, who's seven months pregnant, and her partner Tolik face the dilemma of whether or not to flee the area. As the tense, haunting, and tragic film unfolds, the conflict threatens to tear them apart.

Ryuichi Hiroki’s film tells the story of a woman who loves her mother but can’t muster the same feelings for her daughter. Shot through with the spirit of Greek tragedy, Hiroki creates a rich atmosphere of psychological danger.

De Roller, the High Commissioner of French Polynesia, has a problem on his hands: the French Marines have arrived on the islands, and their presence coincides with rumours that nuclear testing is soon to commence. A lush and moody delight.

This gender-reversed take on Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant sees director Peter suffer the ultimate heartbreak when his young lover dumps him. Features scene-stealing turns from Stéfan Crépon, Hannah Schygulla, and Isabelle Adjani.

Director Cristian Mungiu takes the bull by the horns in this gripping smalltown drama which confronts xenophobia, globalization, and economic injustice head on. Matthias returns home to Transylvania to find the community up in arms.

In the latest from the Dardenne brothers (Two Days, One Night) we are invested in the plight of two West African immigrants to Europe, children who pass themselves off as siblings but whose fate hangs by a slender thread. The movie pummels the heart.

When the first manned mission to Mars hits turbulence due to personality clashes amongst the crew, the higher-ups devise a bizarre solution involving a simulacrum and surrogates. As the deadpan absurdity escalates, Viking mines poignancy from folly.

In the Dominican Republic, Yarisa works as a maid and a nanny for a wealthy, powerful family. When she suffers a personal tragedy, she must re-evaluate the last two decades of her life and her relationship with the family to whom she has given so much.

Steely and determined tequila factory owner María Garcia (played by Teresa Sánchez) fights an uphill battle against nature, chance, and the impending global takeover of the local economy in Juan Pablo González' first narrative feature.

A grieving writer is visited by the troubled protagonist of her novel, who has come to life to torment her. In her novel, the protagonist awaits trial for a serious crime, and the circumstances leading up to it are gradually revealed.

When their families get together for a summer vacation, Bastien, a shy teenage boy, finds himself captivated by Chloé, a slightly older girl. But as they grow closer, lines of emotional and physical intimacy get blurred, and heartache ensues.

In this thriller about a French couple starting a new life in rural Galicia, Spain, director Rodrigo Sorogoyen presents the feral underbelly of country life where tensions between foreigners and locals, educated and uneducated, brutally come to the fore.

Richly erotic and deeply moving, Maryam Touzani’s queer-themed film takes us to urban Morocco and into the lives of three beautiful souls. Halim is a master tailor; Mina is his loyal wife; Youssef is the man who slowly comes between them.

Fernanda returns to her hometown of Goiás, Brazil, to scatter her adoptive mother's ashes and to learn the truth about her origins. In scenes infused with magical realism, she learns her disturbing family history and the limits of her strength.

Based on a true story, Cioma Schönhaus, a young Jewish man living in 1942 Berlin, forges passports for Jewish people to escape the country. Instead of hiding, he impersonates military personnel so he can live life, risking discovery by the Gestapo.

Unemployed and emasculated in the shadow of his father and older brother, Haider accepts a job at a theatre as a backup dancer for Biba, a trans woman trying to succeed as an erotic dancer, hiding the truth from his family as he begins an affair with her.

A flashy new neighbour transforms the life of aging couple Meir and Tova, initially in ways that promise renewal, in this sharp Israeli comedy of manners, the Audience Award winner at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Sasson Gabay (The Band's Visit) stars.

Veering away from the standard biopic, Paolo Taviani's latest film follows the ashes of celebrated Italian writer Luigi Pirandello on their journey back to Sicily, then ends with a blunt adaptation of one of his short stories.

When their seemingly happy four-year-old son stops talking, Haleh and Amir consult a series of experts, but it's not long before their own relationship begins to suffer. This superbly acted, spare, empathetic film is completely transfixing.

In one summer afternoon in Denmark, lives are irrevocably changed. A Matter of Trust features five unrelated stories which are seamlessly woven as characters discover trust and mistrust between strangers and those with whom they are closest.

Waleed struggles with depression, married life, and writer’s block. Upon learning that his cocky new neighbour Jalal is indebted to some dangerous men, he starts tagging along for Jalal’s shake-downs, ostensibly as research for a crime novel.

Already enduring microaggressions and inept attempts at wokeness from her Manhattan employers, a Senegalese immigrant must also contend with supernatural figures manifesting in both her dreams and waking world. A haunting tale of immigration's realities.

Yara, a politically censored rap artist in Angola, is on the run from the police. An encounter with an intruder brings the scars of the past into stark relief. Dreams, reality, myth, past, and present fluidly intertwine in this stunning animated feature.

Novelist Junhee is taking a break from writing, going on a daytrip to a small town where her encounters with friends, both old and new, causes her to reconsider an idea she has been mulling over: what if she were to write and direct her own film?

Aditya Vikram Sengupta explores the depths and vagaries of the human condition through an agoraphobic recluse, a young man working in a chit fund, and a TV host striking out for a new life against the backdrop of a crumbling, nostalgia-mired Calcutta.

Timid foley artist Eva's latest project, creating sound effects for a medication commercial starring a dark bay horse, releases her inhibitions and transforms her physical form beyond the realm of possibility.

In a remote alpine village, Anna, a young mother, falls in love with Marco, a strong and silent farmhand. After they get married, Marco’s behaviour grows erratic, leading up to a transgression that threatens to tear their family apart.

Recovering from a suicide attempt, a neurodiverse Cape Breton teen is drawn into the orbit of a genderqueer hospital volunteer who hails from Shanghai. Despite their disparate backgrounds, the pair operate on identical idiosyncratic frequencies.

Feisty Turkish-German housewife Rabiye Kurnaz must cut through red tape, international political tensions, and language barriers to free her son from Guantánamo Bay. Hope persists in the form a new friendship with her lawyer-turned-travel-companion.

Using tinted archival footage and shot in lush, saturated colours, Scarlet is a romantic coming-of-age period tale about a young woman who is ostracized by her small French village. Featured in 2022 Cannes Film Festival's Directors’ Fortnight.

Lynn (Yao Honggui), a 20-something looking forward to a career as a flight attendant, has a pushy, patriarchal boyfriend and a mother deep in debt. When she finds herself pregnant, she decides to sell her unborn child to her mother's debtors.

Faced with the challenge of making movies under quarantine conditions, Andrew Bujalski came up with six two-handers, and shot each actor separately in this series of wry conversation pieces—a technical feat he carries off with casual elan.

After leaving her convent in the Swiss Alps, 17-year-old Elisabeth seeks spiritual enlightenment through sexual exultation via her late sister's journal. A bold debut from writer-director Carmen Jaquier.

High in the Bolivian Andes, a llama farmer confronts his own mortality and the impending demise of an ancient way of life in this visually expressive, strikingly authentic Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner.

Veteran Hong Kong star Eric Tsang (Infernal Affairs) has a field day here as a terrible actor (actually a retiree who works as an extra) whose unwaveringly sunny disposition makes him a natural for WeFamily, a rent-a-mom-and-pop operation.

A New York City councilwoman, a corporate lawyer, and a newly released convict are pitted against each other in a web of blackmail as they walk the razor’s edge between their morals and the standard judicial process.

From the window of a Parisian apartment willed to her by a late friend, a young woman begins a series of video correspondences with two filmmakers to process her grief. A collaborative meditation on the vital role of community in healing.

In 1968 Czechoslovakia, a small-town notary refuses to join the Communist Party. Inspired by director Beata Parkanová's own grandparents, The Word depicts the intimate lives of Václav and Věra and their bond in the face of political intimidation.

David Ondříček's thoroughly winning biopic tells the story of the legendary long distance runner Emil Zátopek, still the only man to have won Olympic gold medals in the 5000m, 10,000m, and the marathon in the same year (1952).

In the aftermath of a young woman’s bloody murder in Paris—her identity shrouded in mystery—detective Jules Maigret (Gérard Depardieu) begins to unravel the strange details surrounding her life and death.

An engineer becomes entranced by the lure of the Alps, abandons his job, pitches his tent high above the snow line, and explores. This simple but remarkable movie goes high and deep. It will inspire and infuriate according to your taste for adventure.

An Iranian doctor returns to her home country after 30 years upon learning of her estranged father's death, bringing her young autistic son with her. Nominated for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay at the 2022 Fajr Film Festival.

On holiday in Turkey, a young father and his adolescent daughter are often mistaken for siblings as they carouse like impish kids. However, his personal demons are about to come calling. An affecting and frequently astonishing debut from Charlotte Wells.

In a near future Japan, seniors aged 75-plus are encouraged to voluntarily euthanize themselves for the good of society. While the plan seems to solve the dilemma, everyone involved questions the morality of it.

Yamada, an ex-con dealing with the sudden death of his estranged father, makes a fresh start by moving to a small fishing village, and into an old apartment building populated by a group of quirky misfits. Based on director Naoko Ogigami's own 2019 novel.

These shorts from seven of Hong Kong’s best filmmakers is an elegiac tribute to the city's past—and a subversive commentary on its present. From kung fu to the cultural politics of cuisine, the filmmakers mine their city's history with wit and poignancy.

With her semi-autobiographical screenplay finally going into production, Hanieh must now contend with the nonplussed cast's cutting remarks. This filmmaker's tragicomic living hell is fueled by anarchic energy, palpable anxiety, and biting humour.

Ten-year-old Moja has her hands full taking care of her pregnant sister Vesna and their grief-stricken father, all reeling from the sudden loss of their mother. A stirring debut by Cannes Cinéfondation alumna Sara Kern.

Fausto and Ivan are making important preparations. Both are careful to maintain boundaries and honour their side of the arrangement. Except they keep postponing the main event. That’s understandable, as it involves taking a human life.

Running an important errand across south Seattle, two teenagers become aware that their rapidly gentrifying city is slowly forcing out people of colour like themselves. An Emerald City odyssey that investigates identity, responsibility, and community.

A young woman shows up in a remote Slovakian mountain village looking for answers about her tragic family past, but her arrival sparks vicious rumours, resurrecting old superstitions that reveal a troubled family history.

Centering on the story of a young couple trying to come to terms with the loss of their daughter, Tortoise Under the Earth positions an intimate story of loss against the backdrop of cultural and environmental devastation caused by uranium mining.

In the 1980s Balkan countryside, a family prepares for the arrival of their uncle, who will inspect every detail of the Christmas presentation. They eat turkey, sing, watch family videos, and open presents. But something is amiss.

A delightfully tender drama following a man returning to his native village to tie up loose family ends, where he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 10-year-old orphan boy determined to claim his place in the vast Mongolian grasslands.

Originally constructed around a copper mine, the once thriving company town of Anyox now boasts only two year-round residents. An immaculately crafted portrait of the damage wrought by the callousness of colonial ambition.

A Syrian doctor struggles to hold on to his identity as his family adjusts to life in Canada. Director Antoine Bourges (Fail to Appear) continues his social realist project, turning a lens this time to struggles faced by new immigrants to Canada.

Miryam Charles’ haunting work examines the circumstances surrounding her cousin Tessa’s death, while speculating on the life that she might've had. A lyrical reminder of violence’s capacity to rupture reality and shake the foundations of family.

Intent on earning his film school tuition, a teenage cinephile lands a video store job. This humane comedy traces this pretentious curmudgeon’s path from practically sociopathic self-involvement to his first fraught encounters with self-awareness

After losing his best friend Kyle in a tragic accident, Colton’s life is turned upside down when he uncovers a missing girl’s diary. A debut feature that's visually arresting, revealing an achingly tender side of adolescence.

Raising her son Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang, then Ethan Hwang) in Vancouver’s suburbs, So-young (Choi Seung-yoon), a South Korean immigrant, desperately wants to instill a sense of pride in the boy. Meanwhile, he just wants to fit in.

Set in 1980s Montréal, Rosie is a love letter to misfits and found families. When an English-speaking Indigenous orphan is deposited at the doorstep of her Francophone aunt, they must learn to find beauty and magic amidst their trying circumstances.

After some petty theft grants three queer adolescents admission to a Toronto gay club, they are left to confront dark consequences. Joseph Amenta’s debut feature is a love letter to friendships and a testament to the queer community’s perseverance.

Having already suffered the humiliation of losing her job, Ren must now endure a week of summer vacation with her overbearing parents and extroverted, overachieving younger sister. A disarmingly intimate debut feature by Luis de Filippis.

Discovering a potentially invasive insect inside a peach, fruit packer Robin immediately reports it. When management refuses to take action, she goes public with her concerns and precipitates a widescale shutdown in her Okanagan town.

In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search leads her to the door of Josh's chosen family. An eloquent collage that asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.

Set in a Jehovah’s Witness congregation, the film follows queer teenager Jamie as she resists the tight community hold while falling in love with Marike, a charming young Witness tasked with welcoming Jamie into the fold.

Golden Delicious is a coming-of-age story about an Asian-Canadian teenager who is torn between his girlfriend’s dreams of their future and his father’s ambition, all the while struggling with finding himself and his feelings for the boy next door.

Having spent her early years in a wilderness commune founded by her anti-establishment grandfather, Cea must shed her alternative upbringing and acclimatize to civilization when her mother, Michelle, desires even greater freedom.

Leaving home for university, Abbie (Willow Shields) thrives and experiences self-actualization. However, she’s tormented by the knowledge that her brother Kayden (Jonathan Simao), who has autism and is non-verbal, is reeling in her absence.

Ran Tal's sobering film captures over 50 years of Israeli history through the lens of photojournalist Micha Bar-Am, providing a deep focus on the beauty and horror of humanity as chronicled through his camera.

One of the best rock climbers in the world, Adam Ondra prepares for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. An intimate portrait of devotion and dedication to the art of climbing alongside the mental and physical toll it takes along the path to greatness.

During Australia's apocalyptic bushfires in 2019-2020, volunteer firefighters put their lives on the line to save their communities. A clarion call about climate change and an ode to the camaraderie of strangers standing together in the midst of a crisis.

Two brothers are determined to nurse back to health New Delhi's ailing black kites—the megacity's ubiquitous birds of prey. Striving to keep their wildlife rescue clinic afloat, political tensions loom over their neighbourhood as ominously as the smog.

Exhuming transcripts from a 1950s study on transgender individuals, Chase Joynt and his collaborators employ re-enactments, reinvention, and personal reflections to examine the trans stories that are told and how—and by whom—they are authored.

Sent on a mission to Mars with a life expectancy of 90 days, the exploration rover Opportunity instead lived for 15 years. With incredible interviews and awe-inspiring re-creations, this documentary doubles as an open-hearted, intergalactic underdog tale.

Thirteen-year-old Opio works at a gold mine in Burkina Faso. It’s a harsh existence, and to earn the money for an education that might liberate him from it, the child must take a new, dangerous step in his occupation.

Matt Sarnecki explores the murder of a Slovak reporter in a documentary that grips like a true page-turner: among the story ingredients are gangsters, crooked cops, blackmail, hidden thumb drives, and assassination plots via emoji-laced text messages.

The Klabona Keepers is a fierce account of the Tahltan Nation's struggle to protect the Klabona Sacred Headwaters from commercial mining. Interspersing verité cinematography with interviews, the film documents the tactics used by the land defenders.

In January 2021, filmmaker Ondi Timoner's father Eli told his family that he was ready to die—as soon as California law would allow. A vérité record of the patriarch's last few weeks on earth and a testament to a different measure of fulfillment.

Like many young Moroccans, Samir considers marrying a foreigner the key to a better life in Europe—but his family would rather arrange a marriage for him with a Moroccan woman. When he falls in love with a tourist, he weighs a life-changing decision.

Patricio Guzmán is the poet laureate of Chilean cinema and its foremost historian. Here he returns to his early work of frontline reportage, documenting the recent, extraordinary uprising which promises to transform Chile for the better.

This candid observational documentary gives us the inside story on the rise of Extinction Rebellion, the environmental protest movement which injected new urgency into climate activism. An empowering testament to the inspiring impact of direct action.

Retrograde captures details of American and Afghan soldiers navigating the politics of the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan, focusing on General Sami Sadat, who is left bearing the brunt of responsibility to fight an unwinnable war.

In this zippy doc, we learn about a new way of representing the past, and meet community curators and archivists from across BC whose mission is to share the secret, neglected, and untold histories of this place we only think we know.

In this autobiographical documentary, director Charo Mato flits between childhood stories, the science of hearing loss, and the poetry of life and language to explore the stories of the d/Deaf and hard of hearing while resisting a monolithic experience.

The Rocket—a paddle steamer—has been ferrying rich and poor through Bangladesh for the best part of a century. This kinetic and artfully chaotic hybrid documentary immerses us in a two-day journey and gives us a vivid snapshot of the country.

Directors Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor utilize micro-cameras to wander the human body without limit. The horror of open surgery gives way to the abstract beauty of medical imaging, repurposing it to craft a harrowingly immersive documentary.

In the personal and poetic documentary, Nataša Urban (b. 1977) revisits the conflict that tore Yugoslavia apart through the prism of her immediate family and friends' often reluctant recollections, piercing a web of self-protective amnesia.

Jacquelyn Mills immerses us in the natural wonders of Nova Scotia's stunning and remote Sable Island, home to wild horses, sparrows, invertebrates, and a devoted researcher. Winner of multiple awards at the Berlinale and Hot Docs.

In this rather special film, Lizzie MacKenzie trains her camera on octogenarian Ken Smith, who has lived more than four decades off-the-grid on the shores of Loch Treig, in the Scottish Highlands. This cheerful hermit is a personable storyteller.

Compiled from government and TV news footage from the 1960s (with commentary and brief on-screen contextual notes), this transfixing, resonant essay film looks at the widespread civil unrest of the period, and how the establishment chose to respond.

Iranian filmmaker and author Ebrahim Golestan finds a new pen pal in Jean-Luc Godard. Their correspondences are full of poetic contemplations, cryptic riddles, and mutual reverence as they meditate on being an artist in the 21st century.

Ever Deadly is an intimate portrait of the acclaimed Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq, combining exceptional performance recordings with interviews, verité camerawork, archival material, and hand-drawn animation.

The late, great French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière—Buñuel's closest collaborator—guides us through the extraordinary riches of Francisco Goya's work, with further commentary by Julian Schnabel, Carlos Saura, and others.

A realist on the surface, Edward Hopper always suggested worlds beyond his compositions, distilling a vivid, solitary sense of life in the 20th century. This doc from the Exhibition on Screen series explores America's favourite artist. World Premiere.

Ana Sofia Fonseca's documentary about legendary singer Cesária Évora offers a rare glimpse into the Queen of Morna's mischievous humour, her love of Capo Verde, and her extraordinary ability to translate emotion into melody.

Choreographer Pina Bausch's brilliance lives on as the Dresden Semperoper Ballet rehearses her Iphigenia in Tauris and dancers in Senegal breathe new life to The Rite of Spring. A fascinating insight into the lives of dancers and the power of movement.

Lin Jing-Jie’s film is a detailed, deeply poignant tribute to master filmmaker King Hu (1932-1997). Actors, crew members, and fellow directors pay tribute to the man and his work, and their recollections and analyses form a mosaic-like depiction.

Marie Clements' Lay Down Your Heart is a touching tribute to Niall McNeil, a multi-talented artist in theatre who happens to be a person living with Down Syndrome. A heartwarming celebration of a local artist who has succeeded on his own terms.

The Melt Goes On Forever chronicles the elusive and provocative African-American artist David Hammons' body of work, which is firmly rooted in the questioning of dominant culture and exposing racial injustice.

Ben Chace (Sin Alas) dips into four recording sessions, beginning with the Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas; Benny Jones from the Treme Brass Band; Little Freddie King; and finally, father and son Ellis and Jason Marsalis.

Filled with infectious melodies and catchy earworms, Okay! (The ASD Band Film) chronicles the band preparing to record their first album of original songs and play their first live show, while exploring their experience of being autistic.

It may sound esoteric but this is a joyous film about the historical anomaly of whimsical, eccentric, aesthetically audacious bus stops that permeated the vast Soviet Bloc, lovingly, obsessively tracked down by Canadian photographer Chris Herwig.

After witnessing a brutal assault, 12-year-old Blaze (Julia Savage) takes shelter in an imaginary world that’s home to Zephyr, a papier-mâché dragon who’ll stoke her warrior spirit and allow her to roar. A towering debut by Del Kathryn Barton.

Soon-to-be mother Valeria starts experiencing disturbing visions and night terrors, finding little support from those closest to her—until she is forced to seek help from a mysterious group of women specializing in this type of threat.

In 1870s Arizona, a pair of drifters take a deep dive into a multiverse in which a dozen different mediums—including 16mm, paper cutouts, rotoscoping, handdrawn animation, oil paints, 8k video, collage, and digital animation—depict disparate realities.

Once-prominent action filmmaker Leonor spends her old age daydreaming in her apartment, until she falls into a coma and magically finds herself in one of her own long-forgotten screenplays, blurring the lines between reality and dream, life and death.

When loner Julia infiltrates a local “rodeo”—an underground motocross circuit where brash bikers one-up one another—she’ll need to deliver something showstopping to earn acceptance. As it so happens, she has an idea for an audacious heist.

When her boyfriend becomes a cause célèbre in conceptual art circles, Signe’s (Kristine Kujath Thorp) attention junkie tendencies hit overdrive. Inhaling banned meds in order to incur hideous side effects, she’s elated when a wave of sympathy follows.

After a battle with a foam-rubber turtle, superheroic, hard-smoking Tobacco Force are ordered to undergo a week of team-building. Alas, there’s no rest for the spandex-clad, as the reigning Emperor of Evil schemes to annihilate the universe.

After witnessing an inexplicable event, neighbours and conspiracy theorists Levi and John become intent on monetizing the paranormal activity by shooting a Netflix-style docuseries. A captivating lo-fi sci-fi spectacle.

What kind of alchemy occurs to transform hardship into fortune? Here, the extraordinary burn brightly.

Fear, doubt, and loneliness give way to pleasure, empowerment, and reclamation—or, is it the other way around?

The camera eye knows no bounds in these stories that push the limits of gravity and grace.

Bouncing through nostalgic aesthetics and genre storytelling, a contemporary point of view comes into focus.

Growing up is hard to do, often harder as we get older.

Cinematic form is given to life’s big mysteries: luck and fate, love and loss, and the spiritual supernatural.

The films in this shorts program are all about connections. People connecting with one another, dealing with change, or rediscovering a part of themselves and their past.

The bonds of family form the basis of this program of short films. Bonds with history and responsibility—sometimes close, sometimes strained—now and for the future.

Misadventures, bad choices, and a series of unfortunate events are all present in this program of short films. There is some serious drama and a bit of comedy on display in these exhilarating, thoughtful, and unpredictable tales.

Morals are being challenged on many fronts. The protagonists in this program of short films are all faced with difficult moral choices and they don’t always make the right decisions.

The films in this shorts program are all about discovery. Beautiful and thought-provoking voyages of internal and external discovery that honour relations and history, while encountering stimuli that promote a new understanding of self.

The Reel Youth Film Festival is a diverse collection of short films from emerging filmmakers around the world. Chosen by an international youth jury from 1300+ global submissions, the RYFF will show you the world through the eyes of its talented youth.

Visions of dark impulses are given the spotlight and invite an opportunity to reflect on the personal in relation to the political. From Congo to China, and the Philippines to Poland, the end is nigh.

Looking closer at archival images and stories from the past, these artists re-examine and re-create to establish history anew. A daring mix of approaches that excavate new ways of seeing old perspectives.

Whimsical, questioning and utterly absorbing, a collection of animated work delving into worlds of wonder, subversion, and Marxist mystery. These works are fun and some re-construct ideas of animation, paying homage to experimentalists who came before.