TIFF’s Top Ten – 2023
by Staff Editors
(December 6, 2023 – Toronto, ON) Curated by TIFF’s programmers in collaboration with their counterparts from across Canada, the Top 10 films in Canada is actually the Top 20 as 10 films are selected in both the feature and short film categories.
The Top 10 Features Films are:
BlackBerry directed by Matt Johnson | Ontario
Hey, Viktor! directed by Cody Lightning | Alberta
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person directed by Ariane Louis-Seize | Quebec
Kanaval directed by Henri Pardo | Quebec
The Queen of My Dreams directed by Fawzia Mirza | Nova Scotia/Ontario
Seagrass directed by Meredith Hama-Brown | British Columbia
Seven Veils directed by Atom Egoyan | Ontario
Solo directed by Sophie Dupuis | Quebec
Someone Lives Here directed by Zack Russell | Ontario
Tautuktavuk (What We See) directed by Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk | Nunavut
The Top 10 Short Films are:
Baigal Nuur – Lake Baikal directed by Alisi Telengut | Quebec
Gaby’s Hills directed by Zoé Pelchat | Quebec
I Used to Live There directed by Ryan McKenna | Quebec
Katshinau directed by Julien G. Marcotte, Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush | Quebec
Madeleine directed by Raquel Sancinetti | Quebec
Making Babies directed by Eric K. Boulianne | Quebec
Motherland directed by Jasmin Mozaffari | Ontario
Mothers and Monsters directed by Edith Jorisch | Quebec
Sawo Matang directed by Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto | Ontario
Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie directed by Nicole Bazuin | Ontario
Not a contest, but worth noting, Quebec and Ontario each had three features in the list, with Alberta, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Nunavut each with one film. In the short film category, Quebec had seven of the ten with Ontario taking the remaining three.
As the media release states,”Canada’s Top Ten champions 10 feature films and 10 short films that reflect a richness of voices and perspectives from some of Canada’s finest established and emerging filmmakers. The final selections for Canada’s Top Ten were determined by TIFF’s Canadian Programmers and the Senior Programming team, taking into consideration the recommendations of consultant programmers from film festivals across the country.”
Feature Film Committee:
Pahull Bains, Safia Abdigir (Reelworld Film Festival)
Vincent Georgie (Windsor International Film Festival)
Lisa Haller (Atlantic International Film Festival)
Brenda Lieberman (Calgary International Film Festival)
Émilie Poirier (Festival du Nouveau Cinéma)
Alex Rogalski (Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival)
Curtis Woloschuk (Vancouver International Film Festival)
Short Film Committee:
Mélissa Bouchard (REGARD: Le Festival international du court métrage au Saguenay)
Lisa Haller, Sandi Rankaduwa, Seán Maheux Galway (Atlantic International Film Festival)
Adam Keresztes (Calgary International Film Festival)
Patrick O’Hearn, Michael Scherzinger, Brandon Patry, Christa Corbiere (Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival)
Émilie Poirier (Festival du Nouveau Cinéma)
Casey Wei (Vancouver International Film Festival)
Miriam Zaidi (Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival)
SOURCE: TIFF
Also see: Northernstars reviews Blackberry
Also see: Northernstars reviews Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Also see: Northernstars reviews Kanaval
Also see: Northernstars reviews Solo
Also see: Northernstars interviews Zack Russell about Someone Lives Here.
