Annie Jean

After a Dantean journey, women from Nigeria arrive alone and ever younger in Italy, looking for a better life. Such horrors as human trafficking and sexual slavery are waiting for them, as we discover in this ensemble film featuring harrowing stories told in a sensible way that spares us from the unbearable. These tales provoke a broader reflection on migration and otherness.

The TNO (Unorganized Territory) Lac-Boisbouscache is a 150 square kilometer public forest located in the Lower St. Lawrence region of Quebec, Canada. Through the eyes of the forest's residents and users, the film paints a portrait of a territory that has long been coveted by private groups with diverse interests. Boisbouscache is a story of dispossession based on current commercial uses combined with the absence of any political will.

After marrying a settler, Mary Two-Axe Earley lost her legal status as a First Nations woman. Dedicating her life to activism, she campaigned to have First Nations women's rights restored and coordinated a movement that continues to this day. Kahnawake filmmaker Courtney Montour honours this inspiring leader while drawing attention to contemporary injustices that remain in this era of truth and reconciliation.

I, Barnabé takes a luminous look at a desperate man’s existential crisis. During a night of stormy drunkenness, he receives a visit from a mysterious bird and is forced to reconsider his life.

According to the official history of Afghanistan, ruthless destruction has always prevailed over art and creation; but there is another tale to be told, the forgotten account of a diverse and progressive country, seen through the lens of innovative filmmakers, a story that survives thanks to a few brave Afghans, a small but very passionate group that secretly fought to save a huge film archive that was constantly menaced by war and religious fanaticism.

This film tells the life story of Ziva Postec, emphasizing the period when she was editing Shoah from 350 hours of footage.

Raymonde is really fed up with peas, aphids, dirty panties and her kitchen garden to dig. After all, she would prefer sex, and love, and the immensity of the sky...

Standing still in front of the open window, a woman stares at the dark clouds that obscure the sky. Immobile, she fights against the remembrances of the past. In the clouds, a passionate embrace appears.

A recent widow living in a small Quebec town goes to Montreal to visit her busy adult son and daughter, and then on a whim decides to travel to the town of her childhood, where she hadn't set foot in decades.

Inuit artist Asinnajaq plunges us into a sublime imaginary universe—14 minutes of luminescent, archive-inspired cinema that recast the present, past and future of her people in a radiant new light. Diving into the NFB’s vast archive, she parses the complicated cinematic representation of the Inuit, harvesting fleeting truths and fortuitous accidents from a range of sources—newsreels, propaganda, ethnographic docs, and work by Indigenous filmmakers. Embedding historic footage into original animation, she conjures up a vision of hope and beautiful possibility.

Hôtel La Louisiane is, at its core, a film about freedom and dignity. Freedom for those who wish to live in a place where they are able to feel inspired. Dignity for the hotel owner to stand by his promise to his father and keep their mission alive: to provide an affordable sanctuary for artists and students in search of fulfilling employment, which they certainly won’t find at other hotels. Freedom, too, to be in an environment of tolerance and rid of prejudice. This film is not just a story about a mythical setting in Paris; it portrays the microcosm of a lifestyle in which collective values reign supreme. A film where what’s real and true is placed above national borders or cultural barriers.

The population is the battleground in "one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world," where war continues between rebels and the Ugandan government. As rebels abduct and force children and adults into their ranks, thousands flood into towns searching for security. In response, the government forces 1.7 million people into camps in an attempt to cut off the rebel's supplies and recruits. Instead of protection, the camps offer disease and death. Politically crisp and salient, the film captures the realities of war in northern Uganda through the interconnected stories of five people.

Richard and Clément, two cousins who grew up together in Québec’s Côte Nord region, decide to team up to raise money for their ailing grandfather. Inspired by their childhood idol Terry Fox, the cousins leave Sept-Îles to reach the place where the famous one-legged runner prematurely ended his Marathon of Hope : Thunder Bay, Ontario. In a sincere attempt to pay tribute to Terry, Richard travels on his bike without ever touching his handlebars, while Clément follows him in his beat-up pick-up truck. The road is long, and sometimes, the best way forward might be backwards.