Canadian and Indigenous films to add to your TIFF 2024 watchlist

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From science fiction to romantic comedies, thrillers to documentaries, this year’s official selection showcases a diverse range of stories from Canadian and Indigenous filmmakers.

The Toronto International Film Festival’s 49th edition takes place from September 5 to 15, 2024. As always, Canada will be there with our Canada Pavilion, events, and exceptional Canadian and Indigenous films and coproductions. First, fresh off the Cannes red carpet, we’ve got some exciting North American premieres at TIFF by famed filmmakers you know and love. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson’s Rumours; Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language (Une langue universelle) – which took home the Chantal Akerman audience award for best Directors’ Fortnight film at Cannes; and David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds.

The TIFF Classics program features two of the 23 titles being digitized and/or restored through Telefilm Canada’s Canadian Cinema – Reignited digitization initiative, in partnership with TIFF. They are Atom Egoyan’s 1997 Oscar-nominated drama The Sweet Hereafter and Srinivas Krishna’s 1991 drama Masala.

From established directors to emerging talent, TIFF’s official selection also includes two first directorial features that were supported by Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch Program: Karen Chapman’s Village Keeper, which follows a mother processing her grief, and Arianna Martinez’s Do I Know You From Somewhere? – a multiverse rom-com that explores a couple’s ‘what-if’s.’ Another film for the sci-fi fans is Marie-Hélène Viens and Philippe Lupien’s You Are Not Alone (Vous n’êtes pas seuls), about a pizza-delivery man whose blossoming romance is disrupted by an alien.
Karen Chapman's VILLAGE KEEPER and Arianna Martinez's DO I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
Among the themes explored in our world premiere features are climate change, the environment, and our relationship to the land. Vancouver-based Ann Marie Fleming combines live action and animation in Can I Get a Witness?, which reunites the filmmaker and Sandra Oh, in a world where people die at age 50 to save the planet.

Ryan Cooper and Eva Thomas’s Aberdeen follows a climate change refugee from Peguis First Nation fighting for the stability of her grandkids. And in Seeds, the directorial debut of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) actress Kaniehtiio Horn (who also stars in this comedy), an influencer protects her aunt’s cache of seeds from a home invasion.
Sophie Deraspe's BERGERS
Movies based on literature also take centre stage! Sophie Deraspe’s Canada-France coproduction Shepherds (Bergers) is an adaptation of Mathyas Lefebure’s D’où viens tu, berger?. Oscar-nominated Chloë Sevigny stars in Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse, a Canada-Germany coproduction that adapts Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel.

Making its world premiere is Sook-Yin Lee’s Paying for It, an adaptation of a 2011 graphic novel written by Chester Brown. And based on Canadian writer Russell Wangersky’s short story “Whirl Away,” Jason Buxton’s thriller Sharp Corner stars Cobie Smulders and Ben Foster.

We’ve also got Amar Wala’s Shook, the documentary filmmaker’s first narrative feature about a writer in the fallout of his father’s health crisis; Johnny Ma’s Canada-Chile coproduction The Mother and the Bear which follows the antics of an overbearing mom as she cares for her comatose daughter; and much more…

Keep your eyes on our TIFF event page for news on our Canada Pavilion, events, and screenings. Here’s your roundup of Canadian films and coproductions at TIFF 2024!

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

DISCOVERY

CENTREPIECE

PLATFORM

  • Sook-Yin Lee’s Paying for It

GALA PRESENTATIONS

PRIMETIME

  • Tanya Talaga’s The Knowing
  • Mike Downie’s The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal

WAVELENGTHS

  • Rhayne Vermette’s A Black Screen Too
  • Chris Kennedy’s Go Between
  • Nicolás Pereda’s Lázaro at Night (Lázaro de noche) (Canada-Mexico)
  • Daphne Xu’s Notes of a Crocodile

TIFF DOCS

TIFF CLASSICS

  • Srinivas Krishna’s Masala
  • Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter

SPECIAL EVENTS

  • Mina Shum’s Double Happiness

SHORT CUTS

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