In 2011, close to 4000 First Nation people in Manitoba were forced from their homes after artificially diverted floodwater swamped their communities to save the city of Winnipeg. Most of the evacuees, the majority from Lake St. Martin and Little Saskatchewan First Nations, checked into Winnipeg hotels, assuming they would return to their homes within a couple of weeks. Shockingly, nearly 7 years later over 1700 evacuees remain displaced and continue to be stranded in a political firestorm between First Nation band councils, the Manitoba Association of Native Firefighters, hotel owners and the federal and provincial governments. The displacement has triggered a rise in substance abuse and suicide rates. Plans for getting people home seem to be at a standstill. Interspersing intimate clips of everyday life with footage of heated political debates, this deeply intimate documentary tells the unexpected story of the real people behind the national headlines of the 2011 Manitoba flood.

A woman searches for her lost dog and instead finds a Parisan man eager to take its place. 

A young filmmaker explores her family's past as she schemes to convince her grandmother to accept her Métis heritage. Wookey's mischievous persistence uncovers a legacy of shame and the profound courage needed to overcome it. 

Alan Zweig’s cult favourite documentary mines the comedy and tragedy of obsessive record collecting, assembling an all-star lineup of audiophiles, store clerks, DJs, Elvis fanatics and hot jazz enthusiasts. A hard-core collector himself, Zweig uses mirror confessionals to excoriate his anti-social compulsion, while approaching his interview subjects with open-hearted compassion.

With this film, Zweig established his voice as a documentarian who is not content to be merely a fly on the wall in the lives of his subjects. Instead, he deploys the camera as a tool for engagement, rooting around in the margins of contemporary society to explore themes of beauty, addiction, love and longing in a profound and unique way.

The geographical centre of North America and the birthplace of director Guy Maddin, Winnipeg is the frosty and mysterious star of this (self-described) “docu-fantasia.” A hypnotic love letter to his hometown, My Winnipeg is equal parts historical chronicle and personal portrait, seamlessly weaving real facts with wild fiction.

What is real and what is fantasy is left up to the viewer to sort out, but don’t be fooled by Maddin’s fantastical approach — some of the most shocking stories in My Winnipeg are the true ones! Shot in Maddin’s signature black-and-white style and narrated by the director, the film is funny, touching and mesmerizing.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching a Guy Maddin film, this delightfully strange ode to a surprisingly fascinating Canadian city is a great place to start.

My Winnipeg won the Toronto International Film Festival’s award for Best Canadian Feature and the Toronto Film Critics’ Association Award for Best Canadian Film.

Bradford Bilodeau tells the story of how he reconnected with his birth family after being raised apart from them due to his forced adoption in the Sixties Scoop.

In a dystopian future, the evil Count Draculon (Brooks) has taken over the world with his horde of vampire demons. The fate of the universe rests on the shoulders of a single soldier, brought back to life as MANBORG (Kennedy), the man-machine hybrid that the world has been waiting for. Together with his gang of misfit resistance fighters from Mega-Death City, Manborg sets out for his ultimate battle, facing impossible odds and near-certain death.

A hilarious sci-fi parody, Steven Kostanski’s debut feature was an instant classic and remains a goofy epic for the ages.

When Winnipeg is named the ”saddest city in the world” for the fourth year running, Baroness Port-Huntley (Rossellini) concocts an elaborate scheme to promote her beer by advertising a contest to find the saddest music in the world.

With a $25,000 prize up for grabs, composers from all over the world are soon pouring into Winnipeg to play her their woeful tunes. Things get even more interesting when her own former lover, Broadway producer Chester Kent (McKinney) enters the competition.

Realized in Guy Maddin’s signature black-and-white style that imitates the look of ’20s and ’30s cinema, this delightfully quirky film is a triumph of the imagination. A cross between a silent film and a Hollywood musical, The Saddest Music in the World is truly unlike anything you’ve ever seen before!

Ben Tyler (Jackson) is a young guy with a comfortable life, a good job as an English teacher and a sensible fiancée, Samantha (Balaban). When his doctor unexpectedly tells him he has cancer and “maybe two years, maybe one week” to live, Ben’s only chance is to start treatment immediately. Instead, he decides to buy a motorcycle and head out west.

A classic road trip movie featuring lots of Canadian icons (like Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip), One Week follows Ben’s journey from Toronto to Tofino. Along the way, Ben makes new friends and re-evaluates his life, his job and his upcoming marriage. As his fiancée and family back home struggle to understand his decision, Ben rediscovers himself, reawakens his old passion for writing and ultimately learns to appreciate life.

When Arctic bush pilot Charlie Halliday (Pepper) is given two rare walrus tusks by a group of Inuit, he agrees to fly a mission of mercy, transporting a sick girl (Piugattuk) to a hospital. It’s the early 1950s, and the brash pilot has flown through the Arctic for years without seriously thinking about the people who live there or how they survive.

Everything changes when Charlie’s plane goes down in the wilderness, leaving him alone with the young girl. Forced to rely on each other, the two form a bond of friendship as the summer months quickly end and winter’s harsh conditions begin to take hold. Based on a story by acclaimed Canadian author Farley Mowat, this is a beautifully rendered tale, set in the gorgeous but desolate Arctic. Director Smith played a key role in an earlier Mowat adaptation, Never Cry Wolf.

“The Snow Walker is a powerful, poignant and transcendent film.” — Bruce Kirkland, Jam! Movies