Set in Depression-era Eastern Ontario, "The Fires of Joanna" tells the story of a woman struggling to endure a harsh and unforgiving life. Joanna McVeigh is a young epileptic woman, who, burdened by an illness for which she is shunned, illuminates her isolation with the pleasures of her one great gift: her ability to set fires with her mind. A tale of sin, guilt, and redemption.
Various citizens of Toronto anxiously await the end of the world, which is occurring at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.
Ten years after ending their partnership as rock musicians, two women become re-acquainted in the course of one night.
Dark Comedy of an alienated, gothic private school girl coming to terms with a terminal illness.
Several story threads about consciousness and perception intertwine in this film by video installation artist Daniel Cockburn.
Two ex-revolutionaries living underground have their lives turned upside down by a sexy young radical who goes from smashing SUVs to fighting gentrification with firebombs.
A young man, whose girlfriend has just left him and taken their dog, falls for another woman who is also on the rebound, but who prefers the company of her dog to the company of men.
A bisexual female pornographer searches for sexual and economic independence in a male-dominated industry. But most of all, the girl just wants to have fun.
Josephine has her eye on Joe, a hot-headed, petty criminal who taps phones for a living. When she finally worms her way into his heart she realises it's not a nice place to be. But is it too late?
A naive Canadian barber who knows US popular culture inside and out meets a flamboyant roadie who needs someone to drive her and her "brother's" corpse from Thunder Bay, Ontario to New Orleans. Chaos ensues after the barber agrees to drive her, the corpse, and the drugs stashed within all the way.
An experimental filmmaker takes a job as a driver for a foul-mouthed child actor and his ambitious stage mother.
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.
Interconnected stories examine situations involving the five senses. Touch is represented by a massage therapist who is treating a woman, while her daughter accidentally loses the woman's pre-school daughter in the park. The older daughter meets a voyeur (vision), a professional house-cleaner has an acute sense of smell, a cake maker has lost her sense of taste, and an older man is losing his hearing.
A round of unerotic sexual couplings in Toronto, interspersed with interviews about an impending total eclipse.
Marlene Moore has spent most of her life in prison, and is considered so dangerous that the authorities want her locked up indefinitely — though she has never committed a serious crime.
Bruno wakes up in bed next to Caroline, his long time crush. But tomorrow she's off for school in France, and maybe she only granted this miracle as a parting gift for her long time friend. So tonight is Bruno's last chance. And tonight, as it happens, Broken Social Scene, her favourite band, is throwing a big outdoor bash. Maybe if Bruno, with the help of his best pal Blake, can score tickets and give Caroline a night to remember, he can keep this miracle alive.
The film explores the relationships that a limousine driver, a doctor, and a real estate agent have amongst each other and with Yo-Yo Ma as he travels to Canada to perform Bach's Cello Suites.
Joe is a twenty-something gay man who decides to film people he meets on the street with a camera given to him by his boyfriend.
Matt, although married, is completely in love with a hustler called Dick. One night Matt leaves his wife and goes to Dick’s apartment where he waits for his loved one. But Dick’s roommate tells Matt that if Dick catches him there he will kill him.
An ex-con returns to his rural Ontario roots and outwits a corrupt and wealthy thoroughbred owner trying to take over a slew of local farms. Ray Dokes, a charming ex-ballplayer, returns from jail to discover the rural landscape of his childhood transformed by urban development. Determined to stay out of trouble, Ray heads to the farm of his old friend Pete Culpepper, a crusty Texas cowboy who trains losing racehorses and whose debts are growing faster than his corn.
Orphan Mary Katherine Gallagher, an ugly duckling at St. Monica High School, has a dream: to be kissed soulfully. She decides she can realize this dream if she becomes a superstar, so her prayers, her fantasies and her conversations with her only friend focus on achieving super-stardom.
Book of Knives is based on seven psychiatric case histories dating from 1905 up to the present. These stories are linked through the interrogation of a modern day woman, Iris, who has murdered her plastic surgeon. “Book of Knives” is a short history of women, technology & madness in the twentieth century, and calls into question both the ethics and methodologies of western scientific enquiry.
New carpet factory footage intercut with old porn creates a brief but telling glimpse into the human psyche.
Ever more bizarre criteria are used to eliminate couples from a secret dance event.
Quebec native Claire Beaucage has a one-night stand with a photographer of some renown. Despite the language barrier between them, he invites her to visit him in Toronto. She shows up on his doorstep after an arson attack leaves her homeless, but soon finds herself caught up in a case of murder and mistaken identity.
Rebecca, a video artist from Toronto who is working on a project in Wasaga Beach takes driving lessons from driving instructor Judy because of the town's much more car-oriented lifestyle, only to find Judy becoming a love interest.
Single dad Richard meets Christine, a starving artist who moonlights as a cabbie. They awkwardly attempt to start a romance, but Richard’s divorce has left him emotionally damaged. Meanwhile, Richard’s sons—one a teenager, the other 6-years-old—take part in clumsy experiments with the opposite sex.
A married journalist unexpectedly dials up true love over the telephone while doing research for a story.
Camille is a professor at a Protestant college and is in a long-term relationship with Martin, a respected minister and fellow professor. When Camille meets Petra, a bold and flamboyant performer in a circus troupe, she is inexplicably drawn. Pursuing Petra, Camille throws her whole conservative life into disarray.
A brief glimpse into the life a single urban gay male.
A young jury member becomes infatuated with Leslie, a troubled teenager and former homecoming princess, who became a follower of Charles Manson's cult and is now on trial for murder.
(a 1/2 hour short 16 mm black and white about a female heroin addict re-incarnated as a cute gay sailor)
A boy's desire to play with a Barbie doll prompts a father to question both his son's masculinity and his own.
Clean Rite Cowboy is a 2000 Canadian short drama film, directed by Michael Downing. The film stars John Robinson as Henry, an unhappily married man with a dead-end job as a carpet cleaner, who knocks on a client's door one day only to have his high school girlfriend Diane (Christie MacFadyen) open the door.