TIFF PICKS TOP CANADIAN FLICKS
Festival’s chosen films will screen in Montreal on Jan. 14 -31
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced its picks for the top Canadian films of 2016.
And if you haven’t seen them all — some have played only at sporadic festivals to date — they will be screening at Toronto’s Lightbox cinema Jan. 13-27, and at select cities including Vancouver (Jan. 13-22), Montreal (Jan. 14 -31) and Edmonton (Jan. 20-29) through the winter and spring.
The films, in alphabetical order:
Angry Inuk: by Alethea ArnaquqBaril, is a documentary that looks at seal hunting from the point of view of the Inuit for whom it is part of a way of life.
Hello Destroyer: by Kevan Funk, is a drama about a hockey player who must overcome the effects of an in-game act of violence.
It’s Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde): by Montrealer Xavier Dolan, won the Grand Prize at Cannes last May, and tells the story of a dying writer’s attempts to reconnect with his family.
Maliglutit (Searchers): by Zacharias Kunuk, is an Inuit take on the 1956 John Ford western The Searchers, and tells of a man’s hunt for his kidnapped wife and daughter.
Mean Dreams: by Nathan Morlando, stars Sophie Nélisse and Josh Wiggins as a teen couple in possession of a twice-stolen bag of money, on the run from the girl’s violent father, who’s also a cop. Nelly: by Anne Émond, is inspired by the short life of Canadian sex-worker-turned-novelist Nelly Arcan, played by Mylène MacKay.
Old Stone: by Johnny Ma, is a gritty drama, set in China, in which a cab driver’s act of kindness toward a man injured in a traffic accident leaves him on the hook for the man’s medical bills.
Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les revolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau): by Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie, is a drama set during Quebec’s student-led “Maple Spring” of 2012.
Werewolf: by Ashley McKenzie, is a first feature that tells of two methadone users struggling to survive in a small town.
Widow Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming): by Ann Marie Fleming, is a feature-length animated movie about a young Canadian poet on a journey of discovery.