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Short Cuts Canada


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Short Cuts Canada

These can be short documentary, animated or narrative films from emerging and established filmmakers across Canada.

programme films


Above the Knee

Greg Atkins

Canada

Jack’s suit-and-tie career never quite fit. As he summons the courage to dress for the job he wants, he risks changing the way his co-workers and his wife see and treat him.


The Adder's Bite

Firas Momani

Canada

On the surface, all is calm. In a dark and humid cavern, an abominable ceremony to which grotesque creatures devote themselves is interrupted by the arrival of an intruder. The piercing short The Adder's Bite, inspired by the bol...


Animal Control

Kire Paputts

Canada

Larry is an amateur taxidermist who, as the pick-up man for the local Animal Services, gets all his specimens through work.


The Camera and Christopher Merk

Brandon Cronenberg

Canada

Quiet Christopher Merk just found a new apartment. Getting to know his neighbours doesn’t require borrowing a cup of sugar; it means picking up the remote.


Champagne

Hans Olson

Canada

Clara’s birthday is just another night shift of staging beds at the local furniture store, until she learns her secret crush James is working his final shift.


The Closer You Get to Canada

John Bolton

Canada

Adapted from Thomas King’s darkly comic story, two old friends trapped in a futuristic American seniors’ residence try to escape to Canada.


Eggcellent

Martin Sokol

Canada

An underperforming chicken is under enormous pressure to produce at work.


File Under Miscellaneous

Jeff Barnaby

Canada

Resigned to assimilate and shed his identity, a spiritually exhausted Mi’kmaq man visits a dystopian clinic.


A Fine Young Man

Kevan Funk

Canada

Pete – with his perfect job, perfect home and perfect wife – seems to epitomize the American Dream. But is his life really so spotless?


Green Crayons

Kazik Radwanski

Canada

Director Kazik Radwanski narrows his lens on Xavier and Liam, two second-grade boys who are moulded by their actions and moralistic educators.


The High Level Bridge

Trevor Anderson

Canada

Edmonton’s High Level Bridge has a morbid notoriety; it’s a frequent spot for suicides. Anderson pays homage to the people and events surrounding an odd landmark.


Home: Life Advice

Aaron Phelan

Canada

A young woman works at a retirement home where an elderly man makes scathing comments about her appearance.


How to Rid your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused by You!

Nadia Litz

Canada

Like any other couple, Sadie and Dennis have problems. Will Sadie’s trust issues remain insurmountable, or will she finally decide to open up?


Interregnum

Nick Fox-Gieg

Canada

As a Nazi-occupied France has a population under threat, one man’s attempt to thwart a corrupted system shapes a dramatic sequence of events.


The Legend of Beaver Dam

Jerome Sable

Canada

This musical horror comedy follows an unlikely hero – nerdy Danny Zigwitz – at a summer camp listening to fireside stories.


Les fleurs de l'âge

Vincent Biron

Canada

Selling ice cream, smoking pot, falling in love, dealing with family: it’s just another summer day for a regular group of school kids.


Lipsett Diaries

Theodore Ushev

Canada

Deconstructing a visionary in experimental film, this animated documentary presents the incredible creativity and emotional tumult that defined filmmaker Arthur Lipsett’s life.


Living History

Isaac Cravit

Canada

Living History follows a father and his teenaged son as they make their way to the annual reenactment of the Upper Canada Rebellion.


Love. Marriage. Miscarriage.

Darragh McDonald

Canada

In the wake of a miscarriage, Magda finds herself at a family gathering,caught between denial and acceptance.


MANÈGES

Sophie Goyette

Canada

Trying to avoid some big decisions, Nadège spends a restless night at an arcade and go-kart track.


Marius Borodine

Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais

Canada

A mockumentary about inventor Marius Borodine who is on the brink of completing his master stroke creation when something goes terribly awry.


La Métropolitaine

Dan Popa

Canada

At once an essay and an epic story where we never get to really meet the protagonist, La Métropolitaine conveys with grandeur that love can be everywhere and nowhere.


Mokhtar

Halima Ouardiri

Canada

Based on a true story, Mokhtar recounts the tale of a young boy in a remote Moroccan village as he adopts a fallen owl.


Negativipeg

M. Rankin

Canada

In part three of the Burton Cycle, Rory Lepine gives a personal account of his fateful 1985 encounter with The Guess Who’s legendary lead singer, Burton Cummings, at a 7-Eleven in Winnipeg.


The Old Ways

Michael Vass

Canada

When a judge sentences a child to the death penalty, the court mitigates a public relations crisis with an elaborate and dubious scheme.


On the Way to the Sea

Tao Gu

Canada

On May 12, 2008, the largest earthquake in China’s history devastated the Wenchuan region. Director Tao Gu visits his parents’ home to capture the physical and emotional aftermath.


Open Window

Cam Woykin

Canada

A backyard birthday party is consumed with tension when an abusive relationship between the birthday boy’s parents is revealed.


Poudre

Ky Nam Le Duc

Canada

Two young men, who have recently returned from military missions, struggle to reintegrate with civilian life while coping with the impact of their respective experiences.


Le Projet Sapporo

Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre

Canada, Japan

This homage to acclaimed calligrapher Gazanbou Higuchi utilizes rotoscope animation to illustrate the craft of Japanese shodo.


Sad Bear

Liz Van Allen Cairns, Joe LoBianco

Canada

Sad Bear collects people’s saddest objects to help them process past regrets. People are generally amenable to this, except for Steve, who can’t let go of his prized possession.








Les Softies

Emmanuel Shirinian, Russell Bennett

Canada

Chooch and Ponch are hit men. While waiting to knock off a mark, they ponder what life might have in store if they quit their day jobs and pursued their unrealized potential.


Sophie Lavoie

Anne Émond

Canada

Anne Émond delivers a stripped-down study of a young woman participating in a patient interview during her doctor’s appointment.


The Trenches

Claude Cloutier

Canada

Trench warfare is brought to harrowing life as Claude Cloutier creates a high-stakes world of physical and psychological dangers, by animating archival images with India ink.


Tsunami, Horses and Civilization

Carla Susanto

Canada

A tsunami approaches a city where the human residents are incapable of saving themselves from imminent disaster.


Turkey

Sara St. Onge

Canada

Ally is doing her best to accommodate her husband, two stepdaughters and her husband’s ex-wife for a Thanksgiving dinner, but even she has her limit.


Vapor

Kaveh Nabatian

Canada

In this stunning portrait of a shattered psyche, a Mexican man begins to understand his life when he confronts his own deep-seated phobias.


Wapawekka

Danis Goulet

Canada

Josh and his father visit their family cottage for the last time. They are leaving their traditional Cree territory, but Josh has already adopted an urban lifestyle and finds it hard to relate to his heritage.


Warchild

Caroline Monnet

Canada

On a solitary portage between the barren wilderness and a desolate city, a young man reflects on his troubled past and hopeful future.


Woman Waiting

Antoine Bourges

Canada

A middle-aged woman searches for a place to live in Vancouver. The system should be there to assist her, but amidst all the red tape of applications and waiting periods, she longs for human help.


Yesno

Brian D. Johnson

Canada

Adapting esteemed poet Dennis Lee’s recent collection of poetry, film-critic-cum- filmmaker Brian Johnson creates a vivid visual language to lift Lee’s words off the page.


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