Fanny, a 17-year-old student from France, goes on a language exchange trip to Germany where she will stay with her pen pal, Lena. Lena is cool, easygoing, seems to make friends with ease, and is extremely politically active. Fanny is troubled, shy, lonely, and dreams of a life like Lena’s. Willing to do anything to impress Lena, Fanny sees her time in Germany as an opportunity to invent a different life for herself but as her and Lena grow closer, she runs the risk of becoming caught up in her own web of lies.

This film contains sexual content.

North American Premiere

New school, new classmates, new crushes, and a new sport. Ace’s first day at her new school starts out on the wrong foot and ends up with her becoming the newest member of the volleyball. team against her will. Jana, the team captain, sees Ace as a threat, and a rivalry is born. But love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and little by little, they will discover their feelings for each other. But just when everything seems to shine brighter, a black shadow returns. Rookie is a charming coming-of-age story where love, in all forms, takes centre stage. No matter the obstacles and challenges one might face, believing in yourself and protecting the ones you love is always the right choice.

North American Premiere

In this fresh coming-of-age story, an 18th birthday mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self. But when Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what’s becoming a transformative summer.

There will be an extended Q&A from our 2020 festival immediately following the screening.

Tunde Johnson, an African-American teen, is stuck in a Groundhog Day nightmare, waking up to experience the same day over and over again—the day he dies at the hands of Los Angeles police officers.

On the day of his death, Tunde attends a film seminar; visits his secret boyfriend Soren (who happens to be dating his best friend Marley), and comes out to his supportive parents, all the while trying to survive as a Black gay high school student. We witness each ‘new’ day a little differently, as Tunde is forced to confront difficult truths about the world he lives in.

Written by Stanley Kalu at the age of nineteen, The Obituary of Tunde Johnson tackles issues of racism, police brutality, LGBTQ acceptance, mental health, and addiction, offering an urgent and timely commentary on what it means to grow up as a Black American.

Available with closed-captions Canada-wide

The Obituary of Tunde Johnson

Available with closed-captions Canada-wide

Tickets on sale February 26 at noon ET.

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When all else fails, Troy and his son, Joe, head out into the Montana wilderness toward the Canadian border, and their freedom.

Troy has struggled in his life but has always been a great father to Joe. When Joe’s mother, Sally, refuses to accept him, Troy sees no other option than to take Joe away. When Sally discovers he is missing, she enlists the help of local police detective, Faith, but as Faith unearths more clues about the case, she realizes there is more to this than Sally has admitted. As the manhunt intensifies, Faith must find the father and son before less understanding members of the search team do, and Sally must embrace Joe for who he is.

With standout performances by Steve Zahn, Ann Dowd, Jillian Bell, and young trans actor Sasha Knight, Cowboys is the captivating story of a young man who knows exactly who he is, and a father who will do anything to protect that.

Cowboys

Available Canada-wide with closed captions.

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French with English subtitles.

The film will be preceded by the short film Iridescence and followed by discussions with Sébastien Lifshitz and Maxime Beauchamp. 

Sasha has always known exactly who she is and, at seven years of age, she is letting the world know, too.

As society fails to treat her like other children her age, Sasha’s supportive family lead a constant battle to ensure that her life is understood and accepted. Throughout her daily life at school; during dance lessons, and attending birthday parties, we see at close range moments of Sasha’s joy and her heartbreaking challenges, as the family works to provide the best possible childhood for their little girl.

Award-winning filmmaker Sébastien Lifshitz follows the family for a year, capturing with insightful and delicate, subtle camerawork, a year in the life of a family who are setting an example for trans youth and for families around the world.

Sasha, 7 ans, se vit comme une petite fille depuis l’âge de 3 ans. Le film suit sa vie au quotidien, le questionnement de ses parents, de ses frères et soeur, tout comme le combat incessant que sa famille doit mener, pour faire comprendre sa différence. Courageuse et intraitable, Karine, la mère de Sasha, mène une lutte sans relâche portée par un amour inconditionnel pour son enfant.

Iridescence (dir. Maxime Beauchamp) is an experimental visual short film which exposes society’s need to label a person by their sexuality. In this story, dance and interpretive movement replace the dialogue, allowing us to use the body to communicate the relationship between the characters and their true human emotions. Through stylized lighting and abstract visuals, Iridescence tells the story of an emotionally repressed abusive father and his son who struggles to accept himself and his sexuality.

Un jeune adolescent vit avec un père oppressif qui tatoue sur son corps des mots qui représentent comment ne pas agir en tant qu’homme hétérosexuel.

Jan 21, 7 PM to Jan 24, 10 PM (ET)

Online, Ontario-wide

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Ciné Fierté is a project conducted in partnership with Cinéfranco and FrancoQueer.

Three French-language feature films with English subtitles preceded by 3 Franco-Ontarian shorts will be screened online from January 21 to the end of March.

Ciné Fierté was made possible thanks to the financial support of Ontario Ministry of Francophone Affairs.

Eddie and Amber decide to stage a relationship in order to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality.

Eddie is determined to follow in his father’s footsteps and enlist in the military after graduation. Amber has her sights set on moving to London. Dreams are good, but dreams don’t help in the schoolyard when you’re being teased and accused of being gay. And so the two friends hatch the perfect plan: to be each other’s beards, posing as high school sweethearts to deflect further speculation. The plan seems solid, but as their arrangement begins to fall apart, Eddie’s denial grows deeper as Amber realizes that a perilous future awaits her best friend unless she intervenes.

Fionn O’Shea (Handsome Devil, Normal People) and newcomer Lola Petticrew deliver delightful performances in this gentle, bittersweet Irish charmer that quickly became the quarantine summer sleeper hit across the UK.