Canada’s Top Ten Short Films and Top Ten Student Films annually showcase the finest work made in the short film form in this country – as well as turning a spotlight on our emerging talents. Last year’s line-up included Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant, whose feature version based on the same characters is on the Best Features list. This year’s selection is no exception with returning filmmakers like Patrice Laliberté (winner of the Best Canadian Short Films prize at TIFF) and Sol Friedman (on the list for the second year in a row) and iconic auteurs like Guy Maddin – in a slate which stretches across the country and features everything from heartfelt and powerful dramas to affecting, often very personal documentaries. The student shorts, where filmmakers like Kazik Radwanski got their start, include the finest student work from coast to coast. (Steve Gravestock)
Overpass (Viaduc)
Dir. Patrice Laliberté, 2015, Canada, 19 min
(French w/ English subtitles)
Police chase a teenager after he scrawls graffiti on an over-pass for reasons only he understands. Patrice Laliberté’s deeply moving drama captures the power of self-expression in the midst of upheaval.
Interview with a Free Man (Entrevue avec un homme libre)
Dir. Nicolas Lévesque, 2015, Canada, 6 min (French w/ English subtitles)
Responses to questions posed in a job interview offer candid insights into the personal lives of three men in this intimate documentary short from Chicoutimi-based director Nicolas Lévesque.
Never Steady, Never Still
Dir. Kathleen Hepburn, 2015, Canada, 18 min
Driven back to his childhood home by a horrible mistake, a troubled young man discovers that he is not alone in his struggle, in this quietly powerful work that beautifully captures the solace of home.
Bacon & God’s Wrath
Dir. Sol Friedman, 2015, Canada, 9 min
In this endearing and playful mixed-media docu-collage from 2011 Talent Lab alum Sol Friedman, 90-year-old Razie’s discovery of “the Google” leads her to a reckoning with her lifelong Jewish faith.
My Enemy, My Brother
Dir. Ann Shin, 2015, Canada, 18 min
Two men who met during a war are reunited 20 years later in Toronto writer-director
Ann Shin’s documentary meditation on kindness and fate
Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival is generously sponsored by IATSE 856 and Radio Canada Manitoba.
