National Canadian Film Day 150 is a massive one-day celebration of Canadian cinema in honour of Canada's sesquicentennial.
Taking place on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, some of the greatest Canadian films produced will be available to watch at over 1,700 screenings across the nation. We've rounded up 10 screenings (and one panel) in Toronto that any Canadian cinephiles won't want to miss.
Best of all? All screenings listed are free!
As the year 2000 grew near, paranoia around "Y2K" was rampant. Don McKellar responded to the anxiety around potential computer meltdowns with Last Night, a witty and dystopic film. As the film begins, the last day of 1999 has truly become the "last night." The apocalypse is here: Humanity will die at midnight. As rioting and looting begin to take place in Toronto, disparate groups of people prepare to meet their fate.
Screening 6:30 p.m. at Revue Cinema. Q&A with director, Don McKellar, hosted by Richard Crouse.
Regent Park Film Festival will host a free screening of The Skin We’re In, in celebration of National Canadian Film Day. The Skin We're In follows acclaimed journalist Desmond Cole as he explores what it is to be Black in 21st century Canada. Following the screening, there will be a discussion moderated by Lu Asfaha, with Desmond Cole and Charles Officer.
Screening starts at 6:30 p.m. at Cineplex Yonge-Dundas.
The Royal Cinema will be hosting a special 20th-anniversary screening of this Canadian science fiction cult classic. Cube is an inventive thriller that follows a group of strangers who wake up to find themselves in a booby-trapped prison made of interconnected cubic cells. Following the film, guests are invited to join a Q&A featuring a panel of special guests, including the film's own director, Vincenzo Natali who will be there via Skype.
Screening starts at 8:00 p.m. at the Royal Cinema
The Spadina Museum will be showing Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster, a real-life adventure story is based on an actual Canadian WWII veteran and family man turned bank robber. The film follows Eddie Boyd, who is disillusioned by post-war life and torn between his desire to provide for his wife and his dream of making it big in Hollywood.
Screening starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Spadina Museum
Screening at the Aga Khan Museum, Midnight’s Children is a colourful collaboration between Deepa Mehta — one of Canada’s most fearless directors, and Salman Rushdie — one of the world’s most imaginative and controversial novelists.
Screening starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Aga Khan Museum
A misfit among his brainy family members, lovable bouncer Doug "The Thug" Glatt (Scott) has a righteous left hook. His fighting skills are so strong, in fact, that he unexpectedly lands a spot on a minor-league Canadian hockey team, where his role as "enforcer" has him dropping gloves with opposing players to put them "on ice." Michael Dowse’s brilliant comedy, Goon is big on character and bigger on heart, sure to appeal to both die-hard hockey fans and sports-phobic audiences alike.
Screening starts at 7:00 p.m. at Humber Cinemas.
A remarkable meditation on humanity’s impact on the environment, this doc follows internationally acclaimed photographer Edward Burtynsky to China, where he documents industrial landscapes and their impact on the surrounding natural world. An impactful but subtle statement about humanity’s impact on the world, Manufactured Landscapes’ powerful images raise more questions than answers.
Screening starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Design Exchange.
Barney’s Version tells the story of Barney Panofsky, played by Paul Giamatti in a Golden Globe–winning performance. As he progresses from young adulthood to old age, Barney ricochets from one romantic entanglement to another, trying to keep his outrageous father (Hoffman) under control while being pursued by a cop who suspects him of murdering his best friend, Boogie (Speedman). Based on Mordecai Richler’s Giller Prize–winning bestseller of the same name.
Screening starts at 8:00 p.m. at The Spadina Theatre at Alliance Francaise de Toronto, with special guest Canadian producer Robert Lantos.
The Art Gallery of Ontario will be screening The Embargo Project, an anthology of short films by Canadian Indigenous women. Â The anthology was commissioned by imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. In order to push each artist into new creative territory, the participating directors created a film under restrictions imposed on them by their peers.
Short films featured include:
Roberta by Caroline Monnet
Skyworld by Zoe Hopkins
Bihttoš (Rebel) by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Intemperance by Lisa Jackson
Aviliaq (Entwined) by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
Screening starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
As part of TIFF's Canada on Screen program, TIFF presents a program of short films, spotlighting some of the most significant live-action, animated, and avant-garde works ever produced in Canada. If you can't make this programme, TIFF will be screening Canadian films throughout the day.
Shorts films featured include:
Mindscape by Jacques Drouin
Corral by Colin Low
Lonely Boy by Roman Kroitor and Wolf Koenig
Rhapsody in Two Languages by Gordon Sparling
Begone Dull Care by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambert
The Heart of the World by Guy Maddin
The programme will be introduced by Toronto-based director and producer Jody Shapiro.
Screening starts at 6:00 p.m. at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
It isn't a screening but any fan of the documentary form does not want to miss this event. Taking place at Hot Docs, the event invites doc fans to join in on a conversation with some of the country's leading filmmakers and journalist to discuss some of the best Canadian documentaries. The debate asks the question: what is Canada's hottest doc?
The panel of documentary experts includes:
Oscar-nominated director (Giants of Africa) and film programmer Hubert Davis
Director (Waterlife) and writer Kevin McMahon
POV Magazine editor Marc Glassman
NFB producer Anita Lee (Stories We Tell, The Apology)
NFB producer Rina Fraticelli (Forbidden Love)
Event starts at 6:30 p.m. at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
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