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ShortsSpotlight on Canada

Shorts: Stories We Tell

May 30, 2026
11:45 AM

TIFF Lightbox Cinema 2

We’re back for our annual journey across Canada to offer up the best of the best of 2SLGBTQ+ filmmakers from coast to coast to coast. A love letter to the work created here, this program is Made in Canada and proud of it. 


The D Word

A butch lesbian is accosted by a manifestation of their Catholic-school-going, homophobic, younger self.

Director(s): Mya Van Dyk
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Duration: 4 mins


Can You Feel It Now?

In a speculative future, a First Nations Welcomer and an Arrivant from the African Diaspora reshape first contact, weaving solidarity and healing through poetic exchange.

English, Anishinaabemowin, Yoruba, and Fulani with English subtitles

Director(s): Isak Vaillancourt
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Duration: 9 mins


ACCISMUS

A woman enters a nightclub where she is desired but never truly seen.

Director(s): Brandy Marien
Country: Canada
Year: 2026
Duration: 11 mins


Same Time Next Year?

Expecting another uneventful Jummah, Safa finds herself trapped between her overbearing family and an angry ex.

Arabic, English, and Urdu with English subtitles

Director(s): Anushay Sheikh
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Duration: 8 mins


Can't make a flower grow by pulling on it / On tire pas sur une plante pour qu'elle pousse

During a summer in their chosen Haute-Gaspésie, Rosie-Roch confides in us about their complex relationship with their body and the recent unfolding of their identity.

French with English subtitles

Director(s): Gabrielle Bergeron-Leduc
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Duration: 16 mins


Niimi

An Indigenous ballerina attempts to reignite her passion for dancing following a traumatic incident with her previous coach.

Director(s): Dana Solomon
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Duration: 15 mins


Good Daze

On the rez and restless, two best friends, Jas and Ari, light up, break free, and stumble into an adventure that will change how they see home, and themselves, forever.

Director(s): Jonelle Belcourt
Country: Canada
Year: 2024
Duration: 14 mins


Queen Mother / Inang Reyna

When a mother visits her son, a drag performer, a night of raw confessions forces them to confront the unhealed wounds of their past.

English and Tagalog with English subtitles

Director(s): King Louie Palomo
Country: Canada
Year: 2024
Duration: 14 mins


Pink Light

Scott, a transgender man and ex-pro hockey player, is injured during a beer league game. Disoriented from the hit, he is pulled to a moment from his past: a college frat party.

Director(s): Harrison Browne
Country: Canada
Year: 2025
Duration: 11 mins

May 30, 2026
11:45 AM

TIFF Lightbox Cinema 2