Embedded Files
Films and Documentaries
The Baddest Speechwriter of All (2026)
[documentary]
Written and directed by Stephen Curry & Ben Proudfoot
Now 93, Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter reflects on the personal cost and surprising truths of making history, offering an intimate insider’s view of the Civil Rights Movement.
Features: Clarence B. Jones
The Last Walt (2026)
[short documentary]
Written and directed by Walter Forsyth, Doug Karr
The name Walter is dying. Is Hollywood to blame?
Features: Walter Borden, Walter DeLong, Walter Forsyth
Dancing On The Elephant (2025)
[feature]
Written and directed by Julia Neill, Jacob Z. Smith
Faced with a future of chair-xercise and spoon-fed pudding, nursing home friends Nora and Edna attempt to break out of the 'fox farm' and find a life worth sticking around for.
Stars: Sheila McCarthy, Mary Walsh, Amanda Brugel, Kevin Kincaid, Reid Price
What We Dreamed Of Then (2026)
[feature]
Written and directed by Taylor Olson
A passionate swim coach and dedicated father navigates the turbulent reality of invisible homelessness when he is forced to live out of his van.
Stars: Taylor Olson, Christie Burke, Parveen Kaur, River Price-Maenpaa, Hugh Thompson
Hairy Legs (2024)
[short film]
Written and directed by Andrea Dorfman
Hairy Legs, an animated short film, documents a 13-year-old girl’s small yet life-changing act of rebellion on the road to womanhood and feminism. Deciding not to shave her legs led filmmaker Andrea Dorfman to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations. With charm, warmth and humour, Hairy Legs captures the universality of girls exploring gender, curiosity and freedom as they evolve from spending exuberant, carefree days on their bicycles to facing and defying stereotypes.
Features: Andrea Dorfman (narrator)
There's a Flower in My Pedal (2005)
[short film]
Written and directed by Andrea Dorfman
A short film about bicycles, knitting, and love.
Animated: Andrea Dorfman
The Snake (2026)
[feature]
Written by Susan Kent
Directed by Jenna MacMillan
When an ungovernable 40-something wild child collides with her venomous mother, her life blows up spectacularly leaving her newly evicted, partially single, and in bed with her best friend’s husband.
Stars: Susan Kent, Robin Duke, Jonathan Torrens, Dan Petronijevic, Emma Hunter
Blueberry Grunt (2025)
[feature]
Written and directed by Sherry White
Vivian and Harold's camping trip reveals their tensions, leading to a life-or-death situation as they confront their past.
Stars: Joel Thomas Hynes, Liisa Repo-Martell, Percy Hynes White
The Muse (2025)
[short documentary]
Written and directed by Wanda Nolan
from The National Film Board of Canada
When 74-year-old Robert Tilley agreed to take photographer Ting Ting Chen on a road trip across Newfoundland, neither could have predicted the deep, cross-generational friendship that would blossom between them, nor how Robert's role in Ting Ting's art would challenge traditional ideas of the artist-muse relationship. This touching short film explores the concepts of aging, memory and identity while demonstrating the power of creative connection.
Features: Ting Ting Chen, Robert Tilley
Another Light on The Road (2025)
[documentary]
Directed by Katrina Whalen, John Parlante
A project June initiated shortly after Robert’s death in 2019, "Another Light on the Road" stands as a testament not only to the artist couple’s powerfully intimate and creative relationship but also to their enduring ties to the Mabou community of Cape Breton, as we see friends and neighbors gather in the warmth of her kitchen to share colorful stories. Robert and June were profoundly shaped by the landscape of Mabou, with its bitterly windswept winters, its rhythms of sea and light, and its pioneering routine of wood gathering, clothes hanging, window gazing, and art making. After Robert’s death, June continued working tirelessly on new sculptures and paintings. Not long before her own death, on July 1, 2024, June was able to watch a cut of the film and share her satisfaction with Whalen and Parlante, confiding, “You must be very happy to have made this film. I am happy to have this.” — Museum of Modern Art
Features: June Leaf
Celestial Queer (2023)
[documentary]
Directed by Eryn Foster, Sue Johnson
A fittingly eclectic and colourful ode to Halifax treasure, multi-media artist James MacSwain, Celestial Queer documents MacSwain’s journey growing up gay in the ‘50s and ‘60s in small-town Nova Scotia and finding his community and artistic practice. Co-directors and long-time-Jim-disciples Eryn Foster and Sue Johnson compiled footage for this epic documentary for close to a decade to tell the story of this quietly outspoken feminist, naturalist and gay-rights activist.
Features: James MacSwain
The Last Days of April (2026)
[documentary]
Written and directed by Ree Wright and Meaghan Wright
The courageous journey of a determined advocate living with a tethered spinal cord and chronic pain, while balancing love, legacy and the fight for bodily autonomy as she chooses how she wants to leave the world: on her own terms.
Features: April Hubbard
Short Film Competition
Juried Selections
Short Film Competition
Juried Selections
From 6 to 20 minutes:
(listed in screening order)
Motherbaby Runs a Race (Rebecca E. Trembley)
A new mom trains for a 5 km race while navigating shifts in identity and postpartum depression.Buffalo (Matt Harris)
Michelle Tweed is an indigenous drum maker based in Rockfield, Nova Scotia. We follow her as she crafts a drum using buffalo hide sourced from Verhagan Bison Farms. Michelle collaborates with students from the Pictou County Forestry School to create this drum, highlighting the power of community learning alongside Mother Nature and the spirit of the land. This journey brings people together, culminating in a celebration where handmade drums are presented to the Verhagen family.Please Fix Me (Colby Conrad)
Leah wants to be fixed, but she’d rather be buried alive in another woman’s perfect fleece skin than sit with her own feelings in therapy.Evanescent (Courtni Soucy)
A young girl makes a bid for connection with her emotionally unavailable father.Last Ditch (Teagan Anderson-Léger)
Patrick and Mia, a fed-up and recently separated couple, are done. At least, they think they are. Longtime lovers of camping, they decide to give their relationship one final shot by retreating into the depths of the wilderness, where they confront their fears and future, asking the ultimate question: is their love worth salvaging?Violet After the Storm (bekky O'Neil)
In 1959 Violet Kingston, a mother of eight, was widowed when her husband, along with 34 other fishers, died in one of the worst fishing disasters in New Brunswick history. When a fund was created to support the families, Violet became its face, improbably casting her onto a public stage.All Tied Up (Madeline Toal and Erin Pitt)
Allie goes to extreme lengths while trying to overcome the greatest challenge of all time: accessing reproductive health care as a woman.17 Minutes: Jesse's Story (Terri Smith-Fraser)
A short documentary that examines the devastating impact of the opioid crisis sweeping through North America and the rest of the world, as seen through the eyes of a directly affected working class family.Guard (Tim Mombourquette)
A young lifeguard finds herself isolated from her peers as she struggles with the weight of mortality.The Bench (Tammy Boyer)
People cannot help judge others but as one mother learns, just because something may look suspicious, it’s really not sinister at all.Willow (Chabinaa Ariette)
Willow is cultivating a romance with a pen pal, leaving letters at the foot of a tree. But when letters go unanswered, her fairytale starts to fall apart.
Under 6 minutes:
(listed in screening order)
Memories of a Forest (Rose Schoonhoven)
Asking the question: "What does a forest remember?", as the filmmaker reflects on growing up in a Beech Forest now infected with Beech Bark Disease (BBD) causing the forest to die as it fails to bloom less and less each Spring.Hole in One (Brandon Hicks)
Notoriously bad golfer, Brandon Hicks, attempts to use the power of film to achieve a hole in one.Apathy is a Blueberry (Chan Polchies)
A woman struggles to define who she wants to be in a world with too much apathy, not enough empathy, and terrible coffee.Can You Watch This for Me? (Avery Morton)
A distracted woman agrees to watch a man's notebook in the café, but quickly realizes someone else is keeping a much closer eye on it.Last Day (Joseph Rosal)
A student wanders the halls during her final day of senior year. Scattered throughout are real life interviews of current seniors who reminisce about old times and hope for a better future.SHIRT! (Mel Hennigar)
A dark comedy that explores the notion of nature vs nurture through the eyes of an adult only-child on Christmas morning.
* program subject to change
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