Post-apocalyptic farmers, live-streaming tombs? TIFF's top Canadian films of 2024 honours 'risk-taking' cinema

Imagine an alternate Canada where Tim Hortons is a Persian tea lounge. Or a near-future where a revolutionary technology allows people to stay connected to their loved ones after they've departed. What about a world where no one is allowed to live past 50? These were some of the boldest and most memorable cinematic visions brought to the screen by Canadian filmmakers in 2024. 

Last week, the Toronto International Film Festival honoured homegrown filmmakers by celebrating the best Canadian feature films and shorts of the year with the 24th edition of the Canada's Top Ten showcase.

Including titles from across the country, this year's Top Ten shows just how regional cinema is finding success — as are indie productions and genre films. "The selection reflects Canada's eclectic cultural landscape and a renaissance in risk-taking cinema," said Anita Lee, TIFF's chief programming officer. Filmmakers are betting on themselves with wild ideas and winning recognition for it. Many, however, would like to see even more support from a national film industry that doesn't always reward risk.  

The Top Ten list boasted work by celebrated filmmakers, such as David Cronenberg for The Shrouds; Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson for Rumours; and Michael Mabbott for the documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story. The latter was co-directed by Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, marking his first time on the list. 

Their documentary tells the story of Black trans artist Jackie Shane, who was a prominent figure in the Toronto R&B scene in the 1960s, before she left public life. She is finally given her due in this remarkable documentary feature.

Rosenberg-Lee is thrilled that the documentary hasn't been overlooked, sharing that he got an email from someone who called his film "an incredible piece of art." In a video interview with CBC Arts, he said, "One of my favourite pieces of feedback about the film is that it's artistic, but also docu-storytelling."

Mabbott added, "It just feels like being part of this pantheon of incredible Canadian films this year, and it means a lot to me as a Toronto filmmaker, as a Canadian filmmaker, and for Jackie, whose adopted home was Toronto."

Matthew Rankin's Universal Language not only made the Top Ten list, but was also Canada's official submission for the Academy Awards' Best International Feature Film category. The French and Persian-language absurdist comedy proceeded to make the Oscars' shortlist, becoming the first Canadian film to make the shortlist since 2016.

"It's an improbable film," said Rankin in a video interview. "It does have a story, but it's kind of an abstract film. It's a poetic piece. To see it connect on such a level and even to the point of schlepping Canada's official submission all the way to the Oscar shortlist is, of course, very beautiful."

Universal Language envisions a fictional Canada, where Persian and French are the two official languages. It follows the lives of several characters, including two grade schoolers who find cash frozen in the ice and try to claim it, while Matthew (played by Rankin) quits his government job and visits his mother. 

Rankin's film transcends boundaries and can't easily be defined. The Winnipeg-born filmmaker doesn't think of his film as either Iranian or Canadian, but rather one that reworks the codes to create something new and transnational. "We really made this movie in the spirit of sharing and also in a spirit of creating a broader definition of human belonging than our current politics would typically allow. I feel like what's exciting about it is that it involves stepping outside of ourselves. I think that when you look at a familiar thing through an unfamiliar prism, it can create a new familiarity, actually."

This year's features selection also included Kazik Radwanski for Matt and Mara and Sophie Deraspe for Shepherds — the second time either filmmaker has made the list. Making the list for the first time was Kaniehtiio Horn with Seeds and R.T. Thorne with 40 Acres.

Toronto's Thorne grew up attending TIFF, and last year, he got to premiere his film at the festival. The filmmaker smiled as he reminisced how he had applied to the TIFF Talent Lab (now called TIFF Filmmaker Lab) and was turned down multiple times with other projects, before he was finally accepted with this story. He said in an interview, "It was the very first version of the story. And then, years later, I got a chance to premiere it here, which is already a dream — that you get into the festival that you love — and then for them to select it to be top ten? It's a dream I wouldn't even dare to dream. It's just a blessing."

40 Acres is a dystopian thriller that follows the descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada following the American Civil War. The animal population has been wiped out by a pandemic and farmers have to grow their own crops to survive. Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler) and her husband Galen (Michael Greyeyes) have acclimated to the new world order, raising their children in isolation while trying to protect their land.

"Canada doesn't make a lot of action thrillers, but it doesn't mean that we can't and it doesn't mean that we shouldn't," Thorne said. "I wanted to make sure that people knew that we have a voice in that, too. So to tell a story about a Black and Indigenous family fighting together felt very uniquely Canadian to me."

Another filmmaker tackling the future is Ann Marie Fleming with Can I Get a Witness?   The live-action and animated feature looks at a future where resources have been depleted by e-waste and overpopulation. To manage, people aren't allowed to live past the age of 50. The film follows Ellie (Sandra Oh) and her teenage daughter Kiah (Keira Jang), who have to navigate this new world and its emotional complexity. 

Fleming travelled from Vancouver to attend the Top Ten celebration because she finds it meaningful to be able to engage with other filmmakers — something she doesn't always have the opportunity to do during the festival circuit.

"I love that TIFF is doing this and putting a spotlight on Canadian films," she said in an interview. "I think that independent Canadian films don't have the sort of marketing budget to be able to create some sort of buzz…. To be able to have an organization like TIFF make an event around this, I think it's just so helpful to get attention to Canadian films, and it's very meaningful for me as an individual filmmaker."

Equally thrilled is Sook Yin-Lee, whose third feature Paying For It made the list, marking her first time on the Top Ten. She credits her team for the success they've achieved. "It's just so wonderful to be acknowledged, specifically because I am very proud of the team behind Paying for It. You're only as good as your team, and I have an amazing group of intergenerational, independent and underground artists and filmmakers who galvanized all of their efforts to put this movie together."

Lee's Paying For It is an adaptation of Chester Brown's autobiographical 2011 graphic novel of the same name, a story which personally involves the director, who was Brown's long-time partner. Dan Beirne stars as Brown and Emily Lê as Lee. After their break-up, Brown begins seeing sex workers for pleasure without the emotional attachment, and in the process, discovers a new side to intimacy. 

"It was a challenging adaptation," said Lee. "Chester wrote a book that really cast a light on the unfair, inhumane labour practices that put consensual sex workers in harm's way." Her film contributes to the conversation around destigmatizing sex work and challenges the preconceived notions around it. 

The filmmakers are excited about the current climate of Canadian cinema, but say there's much more to be done to champion Canadian storytelling. 

Lee believes there's a new wave of audiences who are excited to support indie films. "[It's] a very wonderful time for Canadian film, and there's tiny little micro cinemas that are bubbling up where people are just packing the places more so than mainstream cinemas to go and see super indie films."

Rankin hopes to see the rise of independent cinema that champions passion and innovation. "I'm a big believer that we should encourage personal filmmaking and independent voices and new images. I really feel that if we don't create new images, we will actually die…. We need new images in order to survive."

He cites the rise of Cronenberg, stating that when he made Shivers in 1975, the audience's appetite for body horror was questionable, but he found a way to make the kinds of movies he likes — and an audience followed. 

"I feel like every great filmmaker in Canada that we can think of has followed a similar trajectory," he continued. "We've been on this path in the last couple of decades where we have not encouraged independent filmmaking very much, and I feel like we're now getting back into that, and that's really exciting. I'm seeing all of this regional work emerging and it's very exciting and new audiences are going to be created." 

Thorne recognizes that Canada doesn't have a massive box-office industry dictating the type of films that need to be made. He also believes much more needs to be done regarding what voices get to make films. "So much of it is government-funded, grant-based funding and I think there's some bias as to what films should be made or what films get funded."

Fleming argues that filmmakers need more support to be able to flourish. "We still have our very busy neighbour to the south that sucks up a lot of the attention for cinema. We still need institutional help. We need Telefilm [Canada] and the CMF [Canada Media Fund]. We need festivals like TIFF. We need these initiatives. We need to be fostered. But I'm so excited by the depth and breadth of filmmaking."