Canada’s top 10 movies in 2012, according to TIFF

TIFF announced Canada’s Top Ten list of features and shorts tonight at a Toronto event hosted by actress Sarah Gadon and filmmaker Don McKellar. The list of feature directors offers mostly familiar names—David Cronenberg, Sarah Polley, Deepa Mehta, Peter Mettler, Michael Dowse, Xavier Dolan and Michael McGowan—along with lesser known filmmakers such as Nisha Pahuja and Kim Nguyen. The cultural balance is unusually tipped toward English Canada, with only two Quebec directors in the mix. (Denis Arcand, Denis Villeneuve and Philippe Farardeau didn’t release movies in 2012.) Four of the 10 features are set in foreign countries. Noticeable by its absence is Picture Day, which just won the Whistler Film Festival’s $15,000 Borsos Prize for  best Canadian feature.

Canada’s top 10 features, ordered alphabetically:

Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg (Entertainment One Films) The End of Time, Peter Mettler (Mongrel Media, National Film Board) Goon, Michael Dowse (Alliance Films) Laurence Anyways, Xavier Dolan (Alliance Films) Midnight’s Children, Deepa Mehta (Mongrel Media) My Awkward Sexual Adventure, Sean Garrity (Phase 4 Films) Rebelle, Kim Nguyen (Mongrel Media) Still, Michael McGowan (Mongrel Media) Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley (Mongrel Media, NFB)The World Before Her, Nisha Pahuja (KinoSmith)

The top 10 shorts:

Bydlo, Patrick Bouchard (NFB) Chef de meute (Herd Leader), Chloé Robichaud Crackin’ Down Hard, Mike Clattenburg Kaspar, Diane Obomsawin (NFB) Ne crâne pas sois modeste (Keep a Modest Head), Deco Dawson Lingo, Bahar Noorizadeh Malody, Phillip Barker Old Growth, Tess Girard Reflexions, Martin Thibaudeau Paparmane (Wintergreen), Joëlle Desjardins Paquette