Canada’s Top 10
By Ingrid Randoja
Young kids, Inuit people and the city of Montreal dominate 2008’s 10 best Canadian films. The list (unveiled in alphabetical order) is chosen by a panel of filmmakers, journalists, programmers and industry professionals assembled by the Toronto International Film Festival Group. The films will be screened in Toronto between January 30th and February 7th at Cinematheque Ontario (topten.ca for tickets), and then a select group of flicks will travel to Vancouver and Ottawa for screenings (check local listings in those cities for details).
ADORATION
Director: Atom Egoyan
Egoyan’s multi-layered drama focuses on a teen (Devon Bostick) who causes havoc when he creates a false history for himself and shares it with the world online.
BEFORE TOMORROW
Directors: Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu
An elderly Inuit woman recounts the oral history of her people to her grandson while helping prepare him for manhood.
C’EST PAS MOI, JE LE JURE!
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Set in suburban Montreal in the summer of 1968, this dark comedy focuses on 10-year-old Leon (Antoine L’Écuyer), whose family makes him feel suicidal.
CE QU’IL FAUT POUR VIVRE
Director: Benoît Pilon
An Inuit hunter (Natar Ungalaaq) with tuberculosis is sent to a sanatorium in Quebec City, where he bonds with an Inuit orphan.
FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING
Director: Kari Skogland
This thriller is based on the life story of Martin McGartland (Jim Sturgess), a Belfast lad recruited by the British police to infiltrate the IRA.
HEAVEN ON EARTH
Director: Deepa Mehta
A beautiful Indian woman (Preity Zinta) comes to Canada to marry and discovers her new husband (Vansh Bhardwaj) is an abuser.
LOST SONG
Director: Rodrigue Jean
Summer at a remote cabin turns ugly for a young couple and their baby when the wife (Suzie LeBlanc) suffers a mental breakdown.
MAMAN EST CHEZ LE COIFFEUR
Director: Léa Pool
This coming-of-age tale focuses on 10-year-old Élise (Marianne Fortier), who spends the magical summer of 1966 in rural Quebec.
LA MÉMOIRE DES ANGES
Director: Luc Bourdon
Montreal filmmaker Bourdon creates a love letter to his hometown using snippets of NFB films set in Montreal during the ’50s and ’60s.
PONTYPOOL
Director: Bruce McDonald
A horror set in a radio station in a small Ontario town, where an on-air personality (Stephen McHattie) realizes the English language is responsible for spreading a virus that turns people into bloodthirsty killers.