The 10 Canadian films we'd bring with us into quarantine

It's once again National Canadian Film Day, except this time there's a twist: it's happening in the midst of a terrifying global pandemic that has left most of us indefinitely trapped inside our houses. So the team here at CBC Arts decided to ask our team and some regular contributors the age-old question: if you could bring one Canadian film with you into quarantine, what would it be? These were our answers.

Anne of Green Gables

As a fellow Anne With an E™, I grew up wanting to be Anne Shirley — the book-loving, opinionated, ambitious young woman with a penchant for wearing puffed sleeves. As a child of the 1980s and 1990s, there is no greater fictional Anne than the one played by Meghan Follows in the made-for-TV miniseries (technically a film — I asked!) Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel. Arguably the greatest Canadian cinematic offering of the 20th century, and one that will forever have my heart — and how could it not? From the moment Anne meets Matthew at the train station to the storied friendship between herself and BFF Diana Barry to her evolving relationship with Gilbert Blythe (truly, honestly, we were not worthy of the late Jonathan Crombie), Anne of Green Gables and its beautiful follow-up deliver a buffet table of feelings that manage to maintain their hold over us for decades. Which, in quarantine, is a necessary gift. As we're currently cooped up at home and in desperate need of processing emotion, Anne creates and upholds a precious and necessary space where we can weep openly, cheer for our heroine, and then spend several hours subsequently talking ourselves out of attempting to dye our hair (just like Anne did). -Anne T. Donahue, CBC Arts columnist

Café de Flore

If I could only take one Canadian film with me into quarantine, I would want to take something that I can watch multiple times and still enjoy and get something out of. Therefore, I'm pretty sure Jean-Marc Vallée's Café de Flore might be the perfect film for isolation. The film — starring Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent and Évelyne Brochu — is basically a two-for-one with the puzzle-like decade-spanning storylines at its heart. It's in French, so I can pick up some language skills. The soundtrack features dreamy music by Elisapie, Sigur Rós, and Pink Floyd, so you could even just listen to the film if you wanted to. Quarantine also offers the perfect opportunity to learn the flight attendant dance! Oh, the opportunities. -Mercedes Grundy, CBC Arts producer

eXistenZ

My head first went to the David Cronenberg classic The Fly. But maybe watching a guy slowly mutate into something less than human while he works from home is ill-advised right now. Instead, I'd try the director's under-appreciated and equally goopy turn-of-the-millennium sci-fi quester eXistenZ — his final entry in the body horror subgenre he's famous for. The film follows foremost game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Ted Pikul (Jude Law), a lowly marketing trainee with Geller's company, who go on the lam after an assassination attempt on Geller at a focus group session for her revolutionary new VR game. The twisty, loop-the-looping adventure that proceeds includes enemy gaming corporations, a terrorist plot against the virtual world, double agents, multiple layers of reality, some 100-level philosophy about simulation and free will, guns made of bone and cartilage that shoot teeth, and, at the centre of it all, the pulsating, organ-like gaming console built from bioengineered amphibian guts that players jack into their spine via a port, which looks like an orifice, installed in the smalls of their backs. The film manages to a be seriously fun escapist fantasy while offering some serious questions about our escapes. And it's a trip I'll happily take — play/boot up/port into, whatever the situation may be — over and over again. -Chris Hampton, CBC Arts contributor

The F Word

If COVID's going to steal my Toronto summer, then lock me away with a time capsule of all the best bits (circa 2013). I want lazy beach hangs and noisy house parties and long aimless walks from Queen West to Riverdale Park — all without the psychosexual ick of a Take This Waltz or Chloe. Give me something completely predictable instead — something like The F Word, a trifle of a rom-com with a plot as cozy and worn as a vintage Parkdale tee. Boy (Daniel Radcliffe) meets girl (Zoe Kazan). Girl already has a cartoonishly aggro boyfriend (Rafe Spall). And so, our twee heroes stay friends...until the inevitable happily-ever-after ending. Corny? Sure. But Radcliffe and Kazan have an easy chemistry, and a couple of likeable dorks who really-really like each other can make for good company — at least to an involuntary shut-in like me. (Stream it now on CBC Gem!) -Leah Collins, CBC Arts senior writer

Juno

The one film I'd take to quarantine is Juno, which although, not technically a Canadian production, was directed by one (Jason Reitman) and stars two (Elliot Page and Michael Cera) so we're letting it count. It's also funny, smart and heartwarming...and from beginning to end, you'll feel bonded to the characters. It tackles a complicated subject — teen pregnancy — with a very delicate approach by using humour to make a serious topic easily digestible but still educational. It strikes the perfect balance between clever, sensitive, and realistic. And Page and Cera's performances and chemistry makes it all the more worthwhile. 13 years after its release, it's still my go-to. -Kiah Welsh, CBC Arts producer

Last Night

When everything in the news makes it feel like the world is ending, there's something oddly comforting about watching a genial late-'90s meditation on the end of the world. (Just me?) There are plenty of resonances with our time in Don McKellar's 1998 Cancon classic, if you choose to look for them: the isolation, the empty, windblown streets, the transfixing power of a great Sandra Oh performance. (Did I mention she and McKellar are both participating in the National Canadian Film Day live-stream?) But what gets me when I think about Last Night in 2020 is what didn't happen in our timeline. Faced with an overwhelming challenge, our society didn't break down. People didn't just fend for themselves. Instead we're putting on shows on Zoom, donning (non-medical!) masks and banging on pots at 7:30 like it's our job. So yes, go back and watch Last Night this National Canadian Film Day, if for no reason than to remind yourself that this isn't, in fact, the end of the world. (Plus, it's streaming now on CBC Gem!) -Andrew D'Cruz, CBC Arts executive producer

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Obviously the perfect quarantine film is one where the main character has to defeat his crush's seven evil ex boyfriends. Starring Michael Cera, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World levels up awkward comedy with its adrenaline fuelled pacing and video game style. Shot and based in Toronto (a rare combo) and featuring iconic landmarks like Casa Loma and Honest Ed's (RIP), this film is inherently Canadian. Scott Pilgrim even reps a CBC shirt in one scene. And the cherry on top for Canadiana details is that whenever an ex-boyfriend is defeated, they explode into loonies and toonies! The film's dreamlike transitions are strangely relatable while living in quarantine; they have a similar feeling to losing track of what day it is or when you realize that you just wasted three hours watching that conspiracy video. Based on Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel series, this film is unserious, action-packed, hliarious, and exactly what you need to float into an abyss of righteously ridiculous content to take your mind off of the scary world we currently live in. -March Mercanti, CBC Arts video producer

Stories We Tell

When it comes to Canadian film, there is no national treasure quite like Sarah Polley. And while the actress, writer, director, and producer's decades-long career has offered us entire days' worth of quarantine content, her reigning magnum opus (though there's more where that came from: she's still only 41 years old!) is the brilliantly layered and remarkably compelling 2012 documentary Stories We Tell. Delving into the secrets and lies of Polley's own family, particularly with regard to the relationship between her parents, Stories We Tell is a masterclass in, well, storytelling. And it might just be enough to inspire you out of your COVID-19 creative lethargy ready to create something yourself (or not, and that's okay too). -Peter Knegt, CBC Arts producer

Tkaronto

Post-apocalyptic films used to be my go-to, but now that grocery shopping is more anxiety provoking than anything Contagian ever dreamt of, all I want is hope, love, and jogging pants. So for National Canadian Film Day, I'll be watching Tkaronto...in my jogging pants. Written and directed by Shane Belcourt, the 2007 film is warm, vulnerable, and familiar.  The story centres around two artists: Ray, a half-Metis writer, and Jolene, an Anishinaabe painter navigating complex questions of spirituality, identity, place, and love in their work and relationships. It's kind of like a will they, won't they...but for real though can't they? situation that'll give you a new couple to root for now that you've binged every reality dating series on Netflix. Watch it here. -Lucius Dechausay, CBC Arts video producer

Tu dors Nicole

The movie I've chosen to watch to celebrate National Canadian Film Day in quarantine is Tu dors Nicole. Stéphane Lafleur's deadpan coming-of-age tale follows 22-year-old Nicole as she spends a summer in her small town playing mini-putt, working at a thrift store, and generally putting off adulthood. "We can do whatever we want; we can go anywhere," she realizes — so she and a friend use a newly acquired credit card to buy tickets to Iceland simply for the chance to continue doing nothing somewhere else. Tu dors Nicole makes for perfect viewing in this liminal stage because it mirrors how I've spent most of my time sheltering in place: never getting a good sleep, confined to close quarters with family, and making impractical fantasy plans while harbouring a sense of distrust toward the future. Plus, it's very funny, and we could all probably use some more laughter. -Oliver Skinner, CBC Arts contributor

CBC Arts understands that this is an incredibly difficult time for artists and arts organizations across this country. We will do our best to provide valuable information, share inspiring stories of communities rising up and make us all feel as (virtually) connected as possible as we get through this together. If there's something you think we should be talking about, let us know by emailing us at cbcarts@cbc.ca. See more of our COVID-related coverage here.