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A celebration of the best of Canada's filmmaking from across the country featuring drama, documentary, and French-language work from some of Canada's top directors, actors, and industry professionals.
Full Festival Pass $75 (Includes all screenings and events for 3 days)
Single Evening Pass: $35 (includes all screenings and events for that day)
PURCHASE TICKETS & PASSES ONLINE
Friday, January 27
5:30pm: Doors open/check-in
5:45pm: Opening Reception at The Central, (next door at 301 2nd Ave)
7pm: Short film: Canary. Feature film: Ashgrove
9pm: Q&A with Amanda Brugel in the theatre
Saturday January 28
5:30pm: Doors open
6:00pm: Short film: Rocket Fuel. Feature film: Stay the Night
7:50pm: Door Prizes and Intermission
8:15pm: Local reel: Shred Kelly’s Sing to the Night; Interview with Dylan Siggers. Short film: Thompson Highway. Feature film: Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song
Sunday January 29
4:15pm: Doors open
4:45pm: Local reel: The Lost Girls War by SHINE Afterschool Arts. Feature film: Niagara
6:55pm: Closing Reception in the Vogue Arcade
7:40pm: Short film: Corvine. Feature film: Riceboy Sleeps
Stay the Night
After the reserved and chronically single Grace is passed over for an office promotion for being too standoffish, she goes out for a night on the town and meets Carter, who is at a crossroads in his career as a professional hockey player. In a move totally out of character, Grace instigates a one night stand with Carter, which quickly goes awry. The two end up walking and talking throughout the night, finding in each other possible solutions to the personal problems they face, bringing them together in ways they could not have predicted. Beautifully filmed under Toronto’s night lights, the movie explores the delicate and vulnerable act of revealing who you truly are to a complete stranger.
Director: Renuka Jeyapalan / Writer: Renuka Jeyapalan / Starring: Andrea Bang and Joe Scarpellino / Drama/Romance / Runtime: 94 minutes / Language: English /Film Location: Toronto
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song
This documentary explores the life of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, Hallelujah. Spanning decades of his life and work, Hallelujah traverses Leonard Cohen’s rise from a Canadian poet to an iconic musical artist. Cohen worked on the song Hallelujah for many years, and wrote dozens of verses, but his record label chose not to record it. The song only became a hit after being covered by numerous other artists. The film includes excerpts from Cohen’s personal notebooks, photographs, performance footage, and many interviews.
Directors: Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine / Writers: Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine / Starring: Leonard Cohen / Documentary / Runtime: 118 minutes / Language: English / Film Location: Montreal and multiple locations
Three brothers in their fifties struggle to overcome their considerable differences as they meet in Niagara Falls to bury their recently deceased father. Two of the brothers embark on a road trip from Montreal to Niagara Falls and along the way they bicker, relive old memories, party, and make new friends. They finally reach Niagara where they join the third brother, and learn of the circumstances surrounding the death of their irrepressible father. The film is a hysterical romp, as three very different brothers finally come together and recognize the importance of family.
Best Screenplay in a Borsos Competiton Film at Whistler Film Festival 2022 / Director: Guillaume Lambert / Writer: Guillaume Lambert / Starring: François Pérusse, Éric Bernier, Guy Jodoin, Marcel Sabourin / Comedy / Runtime: 106 minutes / Language: French / Film Location: Quebec and Southern Ontario
Set in the near future, Dr. Jennifer Ashgrove, one of the world’s eminent research scientists, is working frantically to find a cure to a crisis affecting the world’s water supply. With the weight of the world on her shoulders, her supervisor orders her to take a few days off, and she and her husband retreat to their country home in order to clear her mind. But their relationship is strained, and they come to realize that their ability to save their marriage may determine the fate of humankind itself.
Best Ensemble Cast and the William F White Reel Indie Award at the Canadian Film Festival 2022 / Director: Jeremy Lalonde / Writers: Amanda Brugel and Jonas Chernick / Starring: Amanda Brugel and Jonas Chernick / Drama/Thriller / Runtime: 92 minutes / Language: English / Film Location: Kitchener
So-young, a South Korean immigrant and single mom, raises her young son Dong-hyun in Vancouver’s suburbs in the 1990s. At work, So-young battles loneliness and faces racist and sexist comments, while her young son is bullied at school. She wants to instill Dong-hyun with a sense of pride in his heritage, but as he becomes a teenager, he only wants to fit in as a ‘Canadian’. As they negotiate their separate circumstances, a rift grows between the mother and son. The film balances the very different perspectives of the boy and his mother, capturing her isolation and sacrifices, and his frustration about knowing nothing about his father, until an unwelcome piece of news sparks an unplanned trip to South Korea.
Platform Award at Toronto International Film Festival 2022 / Best Canadian Feature Film at Vancouver International Film Festival 2022 Outstanding Canadian Feature Film Award at Cinefest Sudbury 2022 / Director: Anthony Shim / Writer: Anthony Shim / Starring: Choi Seung-yoon, Ethan Hwang, Dohyun Noel Hwang, Anthony Shim / Drama / Runtime: 117 minutes / Language: English and Korean / Film Location: Vancouver and South Korea
The festival features evening gala celebrations, Q&A sessions and screenings of full-length feature films plus shorts and special presentations over three days featuring a wide variety of genres and storylines. Come and see what makes Canadian Cinema so great!
The Reel Canadian Film Festival is an independent program of the Reel Canadian Film Society. All screenings and events are held at the Vogue Theatre, except where otherwise noted.
