Canada’s Top Ten
TIFF’s picks for the best Canadian shorts and features of 2021
Canada’s Top Ten celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The brainchild of former TIFF director Piers Handling, who was seeking ways to expand awareness of Canadian cinema, the series has gone through numerous metamorphoses since its inception in 2001. The separate Canada’s Top Ten Short Films list was added in 2006. Over the years, Top Ten has mounted cross-country tours and hosted onstage conversations, musical performances, and art installations. But one thing has remained consistent: each year’s lists have showcased the incredible wealth of talent in the Canadian film industry, spanning the entire country, spotlighting work in every genre, and honouring a diverse group of filmmakers.
Canada’s Top Ten 2021 includes its share of veterans, but also looks towards the future. There are eight first appearances among the feature-film selections, and six debuts. (That said, these first-timers are hardly unknown: Igor Drljaca, Thyrone Tommy, and Rich Williamson have all had short films in Top Ten before.) The shorts lineup includes two of Canada’s most revered directors — Zacharias Kunuk and Alanis Obomsawin — as well as returning filmmaker Terril Calder and established talent Albert Shin, but the other six titles are by newcomers to the list.
And while the future of Canadian cinema looks extraordinarily bright, it’s worth noting that many of the films on the very first Top Ten list, from 2001, are still widely celebrated.
Canada’s Top Ten Features (listed alphabetically):
1) All My Puny Sorrows
director Michael McGowan
2) Charlotte
directors Eric Warin, Tahir Rana
3) Drunken Birds
Les oiseaux ivres
director Ivan Grbovic
4) Learn To Swim
director Thyrone Tommy
5) Maria Chapdelaine
director Sébastien Pilote
6) Night Raiders
director Danis Goulet
7) Scarborough
directors Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson
8) Ste. Anne
director Rhayne Vermette
9) Subjects of Desire
director Jennifer Holness
10) The White Fortress
Tabija
director Igor Drljaca
Canada’s Top Ten Shorts (listed alphabetically):
1) Ain’t No Time for Women
director Sarra El Abed
2) Angakusajaujuq – The Shaman’s Apprentice
director Zacharias Kunuk
3) Boobs
Lolos
director Marie Valade
4) DEFUND
directors Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Araya Mengesha
5) Fanmi
directors Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers, Carmine Pierre-Dufour
6) Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair
director Alanis Obomsawin
7) Les grande claques
Like The Ones I Used To Know
director Annie St-Pierre
8) Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
director Terril Calder
9) The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night
director Fawzia Mirza
10) Together
Ham-Gye
director Albert Shin