Screen profiles the titles from Canadian filmmakers and financed by Telefilm Canada that are set to open or premiere at festivals later this year.
Brother
Dir. Clement Virgo
The latest feature from award-winning Ontario-based filmmaker Virgo is based on David Chariandy’s 2017 novel of the same name and stars Aaron Pierre and Lamar Johnson as two sons of Caribbean immigrants. The young men mature against the backdrop of Toronto’s 1990s hip-hop scene, where escalating tensions lead to a life-changing event. Producers are Damon D’Oliveira, Sonya Di Rienzo and Aeschylus Poulos for Conquering Lion Pictures and Hawkeye Pictures. Virgo’s first feature Rude premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 1995 and his further credits include Love Come Down and Lie With Me. He was nominated for a Peabody Award for his 2015 miniseries The Book Of Negroes.
Contact: Bron Studios
Noemie Says Yes
Dir. Genevieve Albert
Quebec writer/director Albert’s first narrative feature Noemie Says Yes (Noemie Dit Oui) is a French-language drama about a 15-year-old girl who runs away from the youth home she was left in by her mother and joins a gang of delinquents. Noemie falls for a flamboyant pimp who is a gifted manipulator and, though at first unwilling, eventually agrees to prostitute herself. The film, produced by Patricia Bergeron for Montreal’s Leitmotiv Films, was recently released in Quebec cinemas by K Films Amerique. Albert began her film career in documentaries and sound recording before directing shorts including La Traversee Du Salon, Pancakes & Kisses and Eroticism.
Contact: K-Films Amérique
Polaris
Dir. Kirsten Carthew
Carthew’s second feature as writer/director is a dystopian fantasy thriller set against the backdrop of a subarctic wasteland and shot in Canada’s remote Yukon territory. It centres on a human child raised by a polar bear, her unlikely friend and the pair’s attempt to evade a vindictive party of hunters. Carthew, Max Fraser, Paul Cadieux and Alyson Richards produce for Little Dipper Films, Megafun Productions and The Nightingale Company. Carthew has worked on a number of international co-productions and made her feature directing debut in 2017 with The Sun At Midnight, which won the jury award at Bentonville Film Festival and two Leo Awards in British Columbia.
Contact: Epic Pictures
Pussy
Dir. Joseph Amenta
The debut feature from Toronto-based genderqueer filmmaker Amenta is a drama following three adolescent queer friends living in the underbelly of Toronto as they revel in the freedom of their summer break. The film (originally known as Tribe) is produced by Alexandra Roberts and Danny Sedore for Ontario’s Push Pictures. Amenta has previously made a string of shorts set in subcultures of the LGBTQ+ community, which have screened at international festivals — among them Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival entry Haus — and been broadcast in Canada, Europe and Africa.
Contact: Alexandra Roberts, Push Pictures
Riceboy Sleeps
Dir. Anthony Shim
In his second feature, British Columbia-based writer/director Shim tells the semi-autobiographical story of a Korean single mother facing racial and cultural challenges as she raises an adolescent son in the suburbs of Canada in the 1990s. When the mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she and her son return to South Korea to reconnect with their roots and reconcile a tragic past. Shim, Rebecca Steele and Bryan Demore produce for Vancouver’s Lonesome Heroes Production. Shim, who himself emigrated from South Korea with his family, wrote, directed and produced 2019 drama Daughter, which screened at the Vancouver and Sao Paulo film festivals.
Contact: Sphere Media/WaZabi Films
Richelieu
Dir. Pier-Philippe Chevigny
Canada-France co-production Richelieu, the first feature from Quebec writer/director Chevigny, centres on a young woman working as a translator in a tin-can factory who takes a stand against the plant’s boss to defend the factory’s Guatemalan labourers from abuse. Produced by Genevieve Gosselin-G for her Montreal-based Le Foyer Films, the project was developed at the 2020 Berlinale Talent Project Market and Toronto’s Filmmaker Lab. Chevigny is known for contemporary socio-political stories in shorts including Tala and Rebel, which screened at international festivals and sold to Arte, HBO Europe, TV5 Unis and the CBC.
Contact: Be For Films
