FILM​​ SCHEDULE
All screenings at the Charlottetown Film Festival take place at City Cinema (64 King Street)
There is no overlap between films, so you can see as much as you like with no schedule conflicts!
Individual tickets can be purchased here.
DAY 1 Thursday October 17th
THURSDAY OCT. 17th – 7:30PM
Opening Night Film:
MATT AND MARA
(1h 20m) Drama/Comedy, dir. Kazik Radwanski | Ontario
Mara, a young creative writing professor dealing with a strained marriage, reunites with Matt, a charismatic, free-spirited author from her past. But as their mutual connection grows, pressure also mounts against their close, but undefined, relationship.​ Starring Matt Johnson (Blackberry, Nirvana the Band the Show​) and Deragh Campbell (Anne at 13,000 Feet), from critically acclaimed director Kazik Radwanski.
DAY 2 Friday October 18th
FRIDAY OCT. 18th – 2:30PM
Shorts Program 1: GROWING PAINS
(1h 32m) – Q&A following screening
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These short films tell stories of overcoming challenges big and small – a program that blends together perspectives of precocious children, stoic mothers, and reflective portraits of one’s place amidst the lives of others. Every Atlantic region is represented in this emotional lineup.​
Hairy Legs (Andrea Dorfman, NS) Pearls (Mike Simms, NL) 6 min/km (Catherine Boivin, QC)
The Kitchen Sink (Olivia King, NS) 8 Times (Adam Mbowe, QC) Julian and the Wind (Connor Jessup, ON)
Hum (Rebecca Tremblay, NB) Where My Branches Stem (Teresa Kuo, PE)
FRIDAY OCT. 18th – 5:00PM
Atlantic Premiere:
THERE THERE – Q&A following screening
(1h 05m) Drama, dir. Heather Young | Nova Scotia
The follow up to Heather Young's award-winning first feature (Murmur, 2019) captures the poignant loneliness of two women separated by decades. Shannon, a young pregnant woman, cares for Ruth, an elderly woman suffering from dementia. With striking austerity, this film explores themes of aging and everyday life – a artful work of great quiet power.
FRIDAY OCT. 18th – 7:45PM
Atlantic Premiere:
DRIVE BACK HOME – Q&A following screening
(1h 40m) Drama/Comedy, dir. Michael Clowalter | New Brunswick
In the winter of 1970, a cantankerous, small-town plumber from rural New Brunswick must drive his beat-up work truck 1000 miles to Toronto to get his estranged, gay brother out of jail after being arrested for having sex in a public park. The two men are then forced to drive back home together at the behest of their hard-nosed mother before they kill each other. Inspired by a true story. The feature directing debut of filmmaker Michael Clowalter, starring the legendary Alan Cumming.​​
FRIDAY OCT. 18th – 10:30PM
SEEDS
(1h 24m) Comedy/Horror/Sci-Fi, dir. Kaniehtiio Horn | Ontario
Ziggy (played by writer/director Kaniehtiio Horn) a Mohawk hipster living in the city, receives her first internet influencer job offer to promote the seed and fertilizer company Nature’s Oath. When her cousin calls her back to the reservation, she is compelled to fight to preserve the history of her people and discovers her strength in the process. The feature directorial debut from comic talent Kaniehtiio Horn (Who's Yer Father?).​
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This film contains violent depictions – viewer discretion is advised.
DAY 3 Saturday October 19th
SATURDAY OCT. 19th – 3:00PM
International Spotlight:
HOUSEWIFE OF THE YEAR
(1h 17m) Documentary, dir. Ciaran Cassidy | Republic of Ireland
Former contestants of the Housewife of the Year competition tell the story of a resilient generation of women, and how they changed a country. The Canadian Premiere of a heartwarming, funny, and thoroughly Irish story – winner of Best Irish Feature Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh.​
SATURDAY OCT. 19th – 5:00PM
SWEET ANGEL BABY – Q&A following screening
(1h 36m) Drama, dir. Melanie Oates | Newfoundland & Labrador
A community pillar in her small town, Eliza (Michaela Kurimsky, Firecrackers) harbours a secret life as a viral internet cam girl. When the secret gets out, she must face the betrayal of her village and reckon with how she's perceived by her community, how she's viewed online, and how she sees herself. Featuring a commanding supporting role from Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Night Raiders), this film is a highly contemporary reflection on community and the modern world.
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SATURDAY OCT. 19th – 7:45PM
MUSIC SPOTLIGHT:
TEACHES OF PEACHES
(1h 42m) Doc., dir. Philipp Fussenegger/Judy Landkammer | Germany
Seamlessly weaving together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage, this documentary captures the transformative journey of queer & feminist Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches. Rediscover the album and the artist that changed the electroclash genre – and all of pop music – forever.​​
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SATURDAY OCT. 19TH – 10:00PM
Shorts Program 2: WEIRD VIBES
(1h 32m) – Q&A following screening
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And now for something completely different: the strange, the comedic, and the otherwordly all blend together into a pulp anthology of a short film program. Enjoy an eclectic mixtape of late night delights in this genre-defying selection of our weirdest and most wonderful shorts.​
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Grenfell Adrift on an Iceberg (John Hollands, BC)
Gaslit (Anna MacLean, NS)
Cart Girls (Katelyn McCulloch, NS)
Whisper Cap (Logan Fulford, PE)
Bedlamer (Alexa Jane Jarrett, NL)
My Son Went Quiet (Ian Bawa, MB)
Serve The Country (Milos Mitrovic/Fabian Velasco, MB)
Gender Reveal (Mo Matton, QC)
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DAY 4 Sunday October 20th
SUNDAY OCT. 20th – 1:30PM
SO SURREAL: BEHIND THE MASKS
(1h 28m) Documentary, dir. Neil Diamond, Joanne Roberton | QC/ON
The storied journey of traditional Indigenous masks and their profound impact on one of the most iconic art movements of all time. Following documentarian Neil Diamond, So Surreal explores the connections between Surrealism (featuring some of the biggest artists of the movement) and the ceremonial masks native to the Pacific Northwest in this globe-trotting, witty, and illuminating film.
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SUNDAY OCT. 20th – 3:30PM
Shorts Program 3: ON THIS LAND
(1h 30m) – Q&A following screening
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Short films that sing of the land and the world we’ve built around it. These stories issue from a connection to the natural world – and question the frameworks we’ve come to regard as natural. A dreamlike and fiercely urgent lineup that artfully imagines the path ahead.​​
Welima'q (Shalan Joudry, NS)
Paper (Charles Wahl, NS)
Fort Garry Lions Pool (Ryan Steel, MB/ON) Isabel's Clam Bar (Katie DeRoche, PE)
Himalia (Clara Milo/Juliette Lossky, QC)
Freedom (Scott Jones, ON)
An Impression of Everything (Millefiore Clarkes, PE)
Inkwo: For When the Starving Return (Amanda Strong, BC )
SUNDAY OCT. 20th – 6:00PM
​UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
(1h 29m) Comedy/Drama, dir. Matthew Rankin | Québec/Manitoba
Underground auteur Matthew Rankin's startling and compassionate love letter to his native Winnipeg by way of an ode to Iranian cinema.Two girls find a bank note frozen in the ice and set out to retrieve it. A tour guide leads confused tourists around a brutalist landscape in the snow. A man leaves his government job to visit his estranged mother. Time, geography and identities crossfade, interweave and collide into a surreal comedy of misdirection.
[In Farsi/French – subtitled in English]​
SUNDAY OCT. 20th – 8:00PM
Closing Night Film:
SHARP CORNER
(1h 50m) Drama/Thriller, dir. Jason Buxton | Nova Scotia/Ontario
A dedicated family man becomes obsessed with saving the lives of the car accident victims on the sharp corner in front of his house – a fixation that could cost him everything. Starring Ben Foster (Hell or High Water) and Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) in the much anticipated film from assured director Jason Buxton (Blackbird).
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