Northern Lights
The next wave of Canadian and Indigenous storytellers.
Presented by
Series Media Partners
Image: You Can Live Forever, VIFF 2022
Anyox
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.
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back home
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.
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Concrete Valley
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.
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Golden Delicious
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.
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I Like Movies
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.
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The Maiden
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.
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North of Normal
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.
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Riceboy Sleeps
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.
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Rosie
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.
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Soft
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.
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Something You Said Last Night
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.
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This House
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.
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Until Branches Bend
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.
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When Time Got Louder
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.
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You Can Live Forever
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.
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