Local talent has become increasingly noteworthy in the
Ottawa area, with the Ottawa International Animation Festival and the Ottawa
International Film Festival both expanding and attracting more filmmakers and
audiences. Likewise, 2012 saw a good rise in production with strong local films
like Undercurrent and The Maiden Danced to Death ranking as
some of the year’s notable Canuck films, among others. Ottawa also enjoyed starring
in House at the End of the Street,
which best showcased the benefits of shooting in the National Capital Region
with economical use of locations and with good post-production work by local
talents.
2012 was a great year for Canadian films, but a few titles
stood out above the rest. Without further ado, here are my picks for the top
ten Canadian films of 2012:
(Dir. Sarah Polley)
By far the best Canadian film this year, Stories We Tell ranks among the greatest
Canadian films in recent memory. Sarah Polley outdoes her fresh and frankly
personal take on the messiness of love by turning the camera back on her own
life and using her knack for storytelling to spill a captivating yarn about her
own family. It’s an excellent experiment in home movies thanks to Polley’s
innovative approach to documentary form. She takes snippets of her own life,
and those of her family members, and intuitively weaves pieces of history in a
riveting and deeply moving story. Polley’s previous films, Away From Her and Take This
Waltz, have been notable examples for the case to go local in Canadian
cinema, but Stories We Tell shows
that the reach of a film is infinite when it speaks from the heart and when it uses the
medium to touch the heart of every viewer.

(Dir. Deepa Mehta)
On the other side of the spectrum of the local/global debate of Canadian films is Deepa Mehta’s
ambitious adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s acclaimed novel. Midnight’s Children is a landmark Canadian film for its
transnational scope and resonance. Working with a screenplay scripted by
Rushdie himself, Mehta captures the scale, tone, and essence of Midnight’s Children thanks to her
playful flair for magical realism that complements Rushdie’s prose. Aided by
top-notch production value and a strong ensemble cast, Midnight’s Children is one of Mehta’s best films yet.
3. Cosmopolis
(Dir. David Cronenberg)
Canada’s “Blood Baron” is back at what he does best: making mind-blowingly
cerebral films in his home and native land. Cosmopolis
marks Cronenberg’s best made-in-Canada (by a Canadian production co.) film
since 1996’s Crash. Like Crash, Cosmopolis is an intelligent adaptation of a provocative book, featuring
a roster of Hollywood stars and Canadian talent, which Cronenberg then directs
in a chillingly monotone uniformity. Best of all, though, Cosmopolis sees Cronenberg playfully mask Toronto as New York, yet
all the while filling the cold Canuck city with flagrant nods to Canadian
content and local flavour. The city in which Eric Packer’s limo travels
resembles, to quote Manohla Dargis’s review of Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, “a copy of the world that looks –
wouldn’t you know it – a lot like a movie.”
4. Inch’Allah
(Dir. Anaïs
Barbeau-Lavalette)
My personal choice of film to send to the Oscars this year
would have been Inch’Allah. I can’t
complain about the choice of Rebelle
(look below), but I think that Inch’Allah
slightly edged out the French Canadian competition this year by boldly
confronting a western perspective on an extremely delicate situation in the
Middle East. The influence of Incendies
is all over Inch’Allah, but to its
benefit. Writer/director Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette made a behind-the-scenes documentary about
Villeneuve’s film, so it’s easy to see how she mastered the art of interconnecting
the personal and the political. Anchored by a flawless performance by Evelyne
Brochu, Inch’Allah is a compelling
film. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Another winner from producers
Kim McCraw and Luc Déry!

5. Rebelle (War Witch)
(Dir. Kim Nguyen)
As you can see, it’s only by a hair that I put Inch’Allah above Canada’s Oscar
submission, Rebelle. Kim Nguyen, like
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette and Deepa Mehta, ventures beyond the Canadian border
and looks elsewhere to tell stories for Canadian films. By treading to the war
torn lands of the Congo, Nguyen turns the lens on an important tale of a child
soldier ripped from her home and forced to become a warrior. With a mythical,
almost fable-like atmosphere, Rebelle
enwraps viewers in an unbreakable emotional spell. Canadian cinema also finds
its answer to Quvenzhané Wallis in young actress Rachel Mwanza, who conveys Komona’s heartbreaking tale of courage and survival by barely uttering a word.

(Dir. Corey Lee)
Another strong Canadian doc of 2012 (there were many), Legend of a Warrior is a poignant
exploration of one’s heritage within Canada’s multicultural mosaic. Like Sarah
Polley does in Stories We Tell,
director Corey Lee puts himself at the centre of his film and examines his
relationship with his father. Unlike Polley’s retrospection, though, Lee’s
quest is more about reparation. By studying the art of Kung Fu with his
martial-arts-master father, Lee reconnects with his estranged parent and learns
his heritage from a new perspective so that he can pass it on to his own son.
7. All That You Possess (Tout
ce que tu possèdes)
(Dir. Bernard Émond)
All That You Possess might
be the Canadian hidden gem of the year. A quiet, contemplative film, All That You Possess takes one
academic’s struggle with faith and familial devotion to offer a moving coming
of age story. Émond’s film is filled with rich and subtle symbolism that could
easily go undetected in his sparse slice-of-life style. The beautiful realism
gives perhaps the best portrait of Quebec culture that you will see onscreen
this year.

(Dir. Nisha Pahuja)
A prizewinner at Hot Docs and the Tribeca film festivals, The World Before Her is an astutely
observational study of the lives of girls and women in contemporary India. The
film makes careful and intricate use of juxtaposition as it follows two young
Indian women—one a beauty queen and the other a religious fundamentalist—who
represent polar life paths in the ever changing world. Pahuja, however, smartly
unites the two women in a collective struggle and shows that Indian culture
needs a radical change bring about gender equality regardless of whether in
comes through eastern tradition or western influence.
(Dir. Nathan Morlando)
Edwin Boyd is an
exciting genre film that finally made its way to theatres thanks to help of
TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list. It’s an exciting rarity of a film that infuses
cultural character within a tried and tested mode of filmmaking. Moreover, it
has a fresh and modern feel thanks to the funky playlist of songs by The Black
Keys. Best about Boyd, though, is the
onscreen energy by leading man Scott Speedman in the title role and the
electrifying Charlotte Sullivan in the supporting role of gangster’s moll. Like
Sarah Gadon and Emily Hampshire in Cosmopolis,
the cast of Edwin Boyd shows that we
can make Canadian stars using Canadian films.
10. The Maiden Danced to Death
(Dir. Endre Hules)
(Dir. Endre Hules)
It’s so exciting to have an Ottawa production find a spot on
this list. The Maiden Danced to Death,
a Hungarian co-production, shows that emerging film markets can take a big step
forward when they pool resources and unite talented teams. (How many Toronto
productions were shot by Vilmos Zsigmond?) I was disappointed that Maiden wasn’t selected to represent
Hungary at the Oscars this year (it made their shortlist), since it would have
been a great showcase for our local film community, especially the
post-production crews who helped make Maiden
such a beautiful, evocative dance.
Honourable mentions, in alphabetical order, go to Best Day Ever,
Burlesque Assassins, The Final Member, Payback,
Roller Town, Undercurrent, and Wetlands. (Note: I had Take
This Waltz on my list for 2011.)
The Best Canadian Short Films of 2012:
1. Frost
(Dir. Jeremy
Ball)
A short that has more scale and scope than most feature
films!
2. Margo Lily
(Dir.
Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart)
This moving little film broke my heart – even the third time
I watched it.
(Dir. Regina Pessoa)
Gothic animation meets playful narration (by Christopher Plummer)
in this vampire pic.
(Dir. Jeffrey St. Jules)
Without giving away too much, Swamp is a must-see for fans of Stories
We Tell.
5. MacPherson
(Dir.
Martine Chartrand)
Stunning paint on glass animation provides a beautiful elegy
to a musical legend.
6. Asian Gangs
(Dir.
Calum MacLeod, Lewis Bennett)
A spot-on doc that smartly makes its point through humour.
(Dir.
Franck Dion)
A strange, surreal odyssey through an animated wonderland.
8. Bydlo
(Dir.
Patrick Bouchard)
Impressive clay sculptures provide a powerful take on labour
and the land.
9. Callbacks
(Dir. Nicholaus
Hillier)
Hilarious and totally un-PC, Callbacks shows that Ottawa has quite the funny bone!
10. Big Mouth
(Dir.
Andrea Dorfman)
Playful and hilarious, Big
Mouth is an endearing little fable.
What are your favourite Canadian films of 2012?