​On April 20th, communities all over the country will be screening great Canadian films in honour of National Canadian Film Day. This event, created by Reel Canada, is a fantastic way to celebrate our national cinema, which is often lost in a sea of Hollywood films. I’ve had a great time this past month helping the Reel Canada team plan for this event, and I am very proud to support this initiative to get Canadians excited about Canadian film! Seeing the diverse range of films being sent across the country got my thinking about some of my favorite Canadian films. Here’s a list of top 5 films to watch on National Canadian Film Day:

1)Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2014): One of the winners of the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, this film is an extraordinary accomplishment for the 27-year-old director. Dolan tells the story of a single mother, her violent son, and the shy neighbour who enters their lives. The most beautiful aspect of the film is the three main characters and their relationship with each other. No one is presented as strictly good or evil, as each have their virtues and flaws, and they all try to help each other be the best versions of themselves. Dolan presents heart-felt moments of the three characters forgetting their worries and enjoying each other’s company, which brings light to the dark subject matter. Each actor gives an amazing performance, especially Anne Dorval, who won a Canadian Screen Award for her portrayal of the mother. Combined with unique editing and a great soundtrack, this is a very moving film.

2)The F Word (Michael Dowse, 2013): A movie that was filmed in Toronto, and actually takes place in Toronto, how refreshing! This film is filled with charm, witty dialogue, and lovely shots of Toronto.  Everything about this film is so natural and fun to watch: the story of two friends struggling with becoming more than friends is relatable, Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan have great chemistry and the writing reflects how young people talk to each other today. Can you think of 10 other names for Cool Whip?

3) The Red Violin (Francois Girard, 1998): A poetic film about the transcendent power of music. The story unravels the mystery behind this iconic instrument in a brilliant way, and displays the unique impact that music has in each country and time period it reaches. With beautiful sets, and an Oscar-winning score, this is a gorgeous film that takes you on a journey around the world, across time, through the move of music.

4) Being Canadian (Robert Cohen, 2015): A hilarious documentary that follows Robert Cohen as he travels across Canada to figure out what it really means to be Canadian. Along the way, he chats with locals, Canadian celebrities, and non-Canadians to discover that no one really knows how to define our culture. It’s a light-hearted film that pokes fun at Canada, while still making you feel proud to be part of such a multi-faceted culture. It’s also fun to be able to relate to the topics they discuss on screen, such as our love of Tim Hortons, tendency to be too nice, and the fact that a scandal to us is 30 million dollars’ worth of maple syrup stolen.

5) My Internship in Canada (Philippe Falardeau, 2015): A comedic take on Canadian politics following the partnership between an indecisive Member of Parliament, Steve Guibord,  and his hopeful intern from Haiti, Souverain Pascal. When Guibord has to break the tie-breaking vote deciding if Canada will go to war in the Middle East, he travels across Quebec to see if the public can help him make this decision. The clash between the stubborn Canadian and the idealistic immigrant is enjoyable to watch, and the absurd arguments presented by the different lobby groups are hilarious.

Those are my favorite Canadian films. Which ones are yours?

Don’t forget to celebrate National Canadian Film Day tomorrow by watching a great Canadian film! Visit www.canadianfilmday.ca to see which screenings will be held in your area, as well as the full broadcast schedule to see what will be playing on T.V! 

I'm stoked to see another round of the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI for short) taking place this year. With screenings, workshops, a marketplace, and industry talks featuring some of the biggest pros in the business like Pixar and Hanna-Barbera, this is the event you cannot miss if you either have an interest in working for the animation industry or a fan of watching animated films.

TAAFI features an impressive lineup of local and international feature and short form animated works. Gary Ye's Antelope Richards (TYS2014) will be playing as part of their student shorts program. Their opening night film is the Canadian-Korean co-production, Spark, and will feature an introduction and follow up Q&A with director Aaron Woodley.

Being such great friends of Toronto Youth Shorts, TAAFI has offered us a discounted rate for their events. Use promo code FRIENDofTAAFI for 15% off on passes. Visit the TAAFI website for more information.

-Henry

Last week, Hot Docs announced their Special Presentations programme, consisting of films that explore food, music, dance and both the comic and tragic sides of life.

Highlights include:

Thank You Del: The Story of the Del Close Marathon: A tribute to the comedy giant, Del Close, who inspired the Upright Citizens Brigade improv group and taught such comedy icons as Amy Poehler and Bill Murray.

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You: A profile of the man behind groundbreaking sitcoms, including All In the Family.

Weiner: The Sundance Award winner about the ex-congressman's surprise comeback campaign in the New York mayoralty race that crashes and burns amidst new sexting allegations.

Gary Numan: Android in La La Land: This film follows the 80s electro-pop pioneer as he emerges from depression to return to the stage.

Strike a Pose: Features the dancers from Madonna’s 1991 concert doc Truth or Dare who open up about becoming queer icons at a young age.

What Tomorrow Brings: Optimism and excitement imbue a remote Afghanistan village’s first school to accept female students—an all-girls institution founded by an inspiring local woman. As U.S. troops depart, the next generation of Afghans study their past and dream of their future.

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival runs April 28 to May 8, 2016. The full lineup will be announced on March 22.

-Michelle

The Canadian Film Festival is back for their 2016 edition at the end of March and they will be screening 8 features and 17 shorts, all produced by Canadians. Their Opening Night film is How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town, directed by Jeremy Lalonde and starring Jewel Staite of Firefly fame. 

Everyone should come out and support the amazing Canadian talent on display. Amongst the short film lineup is Worst. Day. EVER. by  Adam Goldhammer (dir. Jesse, TYS2015) Cody Campanale (dir. Roofies and Romance, TYS2011) will be hosting the Toronto Premiere of his latest feature, Jackie Boy.

For tickets and more details, visit http://www.canfilmfest.ca

-Henry

I had the pleasure of volunteering with TIFF Kids this weekend, and was happy to see how engaged these young film buffs were with the festival. I was working at the Passport Bureau, a new initiative where kids receive a passport to keep track of how many films they see. I was amazed to see that on the opening weekend, some kids had already seen 3 films, and were planning on seeing more. It was great to see how excited these youngsters were about catching as many festival films as they could, especially since the caliber of these films is a lot higher than the average Hollywood kids film. 

Many of the films focus on different cultures and lifestyles, such as Landfill Harmonic (Graham Townsley), a documentary about children who live on a landfill site in Paraguay and make a living by selling recycled items from the trash. The programming also features films which do not shy away from revealing the diverse struggles that youth face today, such as Hear Me, a series of shorts that deal with issues such as growing up transgendered and facing discrimination from classmates in a new country. I am glad to see that Torontonians are being exposed to such thought-provoking films at a young age.

Another component of the festival which I admire is the TIFF Kids Young People’s Jury. Every year, TIFF selects a jury of ages 8-13 to attend the films at TIFF Kids and select the winners of The Young People’s Jury Award for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film. As a programmer for Toronto Youth Shorts, I am thrilled to see this opportunity for young kids to develop their love of film, and critical thinking skills in such a sophisticated way. If these kids aspire to work in the film industry, TIFF is giving them a great head start!

I am looking forward to volunteering again at TIFF Kids this coming weekend to share in the excitement of these young and cultured film fans! 

-Julia

I had the chance to volunteer with TIFF Kids this past weekend and was amazed as always by the quality of the films on offer and the level of audience engagement. One of the most rewarding parts of the festival each year is seeing how diverse youth-oriented films from around the world can really be—and how different cultures value youth engagement with the arts. As film fans and filmmakers alike know, it’s possible to create sophisticated, high-quality work for all audiences. 

TIFF Kids has even succeeded in creating loyal fan bases for some international franchises, such as the German Famous Five series and Denmark’s Antboy. During Sunday’s Q+A with Famous Five director Mike Marzuk, the audience demonstrated passion and interest on par with the most seasoned festival crowd. And based on the quality of questions and technical knowledge in the crowd, I think it’s safe to say there were a lot of future filmmakers in attendance. 

TIFF Kids will continue through April 19.

-Paul

Yesterday I attended the Women in Film and Television Toronto (WIFT-T) Showcase at The Royal. Eight short films by WIFT-T members were screened, a mix of work by emerging talent and established professionals. It was great to see some familiar faces, including Heidi Tao Yang (TYS2014 jury member), Alison Rheaume (My Brother's Keeper, TYS2011), who now works with WIFT-T and Elaine Poon (EXT 5683 L-O-V-E, TYS2009), who showed her most recent short, Entrain, at the event. 

One of the evening's highlights included Lines by Amy Jo Johnson who also stars and reunites with her Flashpoint co-star, Enrico Colantoni in shiny plastic makeup playing a sleazy dermatologist who tries to sell Johnson on his botox injections. One of the producer of Lines is Jessica Adams, (The Highwayman, TYS2009). Arranged by Renuka Jeyapalan stars Anne Blythe from the webseries Space Janitors and is a light-hearted take on the dreaded tale of relationship woes and the need to find companionship and love. Emily Piggford returns to the frosty screens of the CFC in Slater Jewell-Kemker's Still, who continues to impress with her range. Given Your History by Molly McGlynn is a poignant portrayal of familial love and loss starring Katie Boland from Reign.

The shorts were diverse in content and the one thing I was personally pleasantly surprised about was that it didn't beat you over the head with "female themes" for the lack of a better term. While most of the shorts centered around a female protagonist, the stories would be equally effective if the genders were reversed. It's nice to see universal stories like these that celebrate a particular community without the need to emphasize how different they are. 

If you're in the industry and are looking for a supportive network that aids in your career development as a filmmaker, consider becoming a member of WIFT-T. They also have student rates available. Perhaps you can have your work shown alongside some of these big names at next year's showcase.

-Henry