The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has just revealed its annual Canada’s Top Ten list, highlighting the standout films of 2024. This year’s selections showcase a dynamic range of voices and perspectives from across the country, offering audiences a glimpse into the creativity and diversity that define Canadian cinema.
The list features works from renowned filmmakers alongside fresh, emerging talent. David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds stands out as a haunting meditation on loss, while R.T. Thorne’s 40 Acres tells a gripping story of perseverance and justice. Sophie Deraspe’s Shepherds (Bergers) and Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language (Une langue universelle) offer bold, imaginative narratives. At the same time, documentaries like Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story bring deeply personal stories to light.
This year’s short films are equally compelling, with a range of works spanning experimental visual narratives to emotionally gripping storytelling, including perfectly a strangeness by Alison McAlpine to Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong. All of these shorts highlight the creative talent thriving in Canada’s film industry today.
Canada’s Top Ten selections will be celebrated with screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox from February 5-9, offering audiences the chance to experience the best of this year’s Canadian cinema. Here is the full list of films announced this morning:
Canada’s Top Ten Feature Films
- 40 Acres | dir. R.T. Thorne | 113 minutes | English and Cree
- Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story | dirs. Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee | 98 minutes | English
- Can I Get a Witness? | dir. Ann Marie Fleming | 110 minutes | English
- Matt and Mara | dir. Kazik Radwanski | 80 minutes | English
- Paying For It | dir. Sook-Yin Lee | 85 minutes | English
- Rumours | dirs. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson | 103 minutes | English, French, Swedish, and German
- Seeds | dir. Kaniehtiio Horn | 82 minutes | English and Kanien’kéha
- Shepherds (Bergers) | dir. Sophie Deraspe |113 minutes | French
- The Shrouds | dir. David Cronenberg | 119 minutes | English
- Universal Language (Une langue universelle) | dir. Matthew Rankin | 89 minutes | Farsi and French
Canada’s Top Ten Short Films
- On a Sunday at Eleven | dir. Alicia K. Harris | 9 minutes | English
- Are You Scared to Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? | dir. Bec Pecaut | 17 minutes | English
- EarthWorm | dir. Phillip Barker | 16 minutes | English
- Inkwo for When the Starving Return | dir. Amanda Strong | 18 minutes | English and Tlicho
- Julian and the Wind | dir. Connor Jessup | 15 minutes | English
- Maybe Elephants | dir. Torill Kove | 17 minutes | English
- Mercenaire | dir. Pier-Philippe Chevigny | 15 minutes | French
- One Day This Kid | dir. Alexander Farah | 18 minutes | Dari/Farsi and English
- perfectly a strangeness | dir. Alison McAlpine | 15 minutes | No dialogue
- Who Loves the Sun | dir. Arshia Shakiba | 20 minutes | Arabic
