Cinema Reignited

The images contained in decaying film stock tell incredible Canadian stories and they’re at risk of extinction. Teams of dedicated preservationists and archivists at organizations like the Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre are bringing new life to endangered films. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, we will be speaking with Natania Sherman, Collections and Services Manager, Film Reference Library at the Toronto International Film Festival and Jesse

First released in 1988, Guy Maddin’s Tales From the Gimli Hospital has now been restored in 4K. The new release premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.Set in the idyllic town of Gimli on the shores of Lake Winnipeg in the late 19th century, it’s a tale of jealousy, revenge, and peculiar erotic fixations. Shot in black and white on 16mm film and paying homage to both old Hollywood and surrealism, the feature draws on Maddin’s family heritage and the Icelandic

The coming-of-age story is one that is often explored in film, television, and other art forms, and one that captures a specific and unique time. For filmmakers Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault, making a film about teenage life in suburban Quebec City was about more than just capturing the drama of daily high school life. In their 2008 film À l'ouest de Pluton, they present teenage characters in an impressively uncensored and hyper realistic way, often leaving the audience wondering if they’re

In 1966, at nine years old, Zacharias Kunuk was no longer able to live on the land with his family—the only way of life he’d known. Like many other Inuit and indigenous children, he and his siblings were required to go to school in larger communities like Igloolik in the territory of Nunavut. The community was a place of transition, where the old ways of Inuit life were being replaced by the culture and traditions introduced by christian religion and government policy. Zacharias Kunuk’s 1985

In 1984, filmmakers Janis Cole and Holly Dale turned their lens towards a marginalized group that had been the focus of a short film they had made as students at Sheridan College. The groundbreaking documentary film, Hookers on Davie, follows the lives of sex workers in Vancouver’s downtown West End during 1983 and the complex challenges they face including violence, prejudice, and poverty. The film was groundbreaking and controversial when it premiered in 1984 and it highlights a conversation

For decades, Canadian films have been making us laugh, cry, learn, and come together as a nation united by our differences. Now, it’s time to revisit some of the films that have shaped our cultural identity. Welcome to Cinema Reignited, a new podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada. In each episode, host Samah Ali explores a different Canadian film that’s been digitized as part of the Canadian Cinema - Reignited initiative. By taking you on a journey