5 Canadian screenings that music fans need to watch at this year's Toronto International Film Festival
The 47th annual TIFF kicks off on Sept. 8
It's a good year to be a fan of music films, particularly ones about or involving Canadian musicians. This year's Toronto International Film Festival, set to kick off on Sept. 8, has a robust offering of documentaries, variety shows and fictional films that focus on homegrown talent. Whether you want to learn about the history of one of Canada's most important songwriters, or are hoping to catch a sneak peek at an upcoming adaptation of a pop duo's recent memoir, music fans are guaranteed to find something in this year's lineup.
Individual tickets go on sale to the public on Sept. 5, and below are our top five picks for music-related films and TV shows you should add to your watch list immediately.
What are you most excited to see at this year's TIFF? Share with us @CBCMusic.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry it On
Starring Buffy Sainte-Marie, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson
Directed by Madison Thomas
Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of Canada's most important musicians, and director Madison Thomas's new documentary, Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry it On, honours the artist's almost 60-year career. From establishing herself in the '60s folk scene in New York City's Greenwich Village and finding success with her first hit "Universal Soldier," to becoming the first (and currently only) Indigenous person to win an Oscar for her 1983 original song "Up Where we Belong," Sainte-Marie's art has always intersected with her activism and her constant goal of lifting up Indigenous peoples and cultures. The film will feature interviews with Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson, Taj Mahal, Jeremy Dutcher and more.
Disclaimer: CBC Music's Andrea Warner was a writer on this documentary.
Ever Deadly
Starring Tanya Tagaq
Directed by Tanya Tagaq, Chelsea McMullan
Tanya Tagaq brought the art of throat singing to the national stage when the Inuk musician won the Polaris Music Prize in 2014. Ever Deadly, a film co-directed by Tagaq herself, promises to take a deep dive not only into Tagaq's art, but also her family's painful history of being forcefully relocated, as well as broader issues affecting Indigenous peoples, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and seal hunts, two subjects that Tagaq has been very outspoken about over the years. Whether you're a fan of Tagaq's, or are just curious to learn more about throat singing, Ever Deadly is an enriching watch that presents an essential slice of Indigenous culture, art and history.
Lido TV
Starring Lido Pimienta
Directed by Maya Annik Bedward, Alicia K. Harris
2017 Polaris Music Prize winner Lido Pimienta brings her "unhinged, unapologetic and unique" style and vision to the world of TV in her upcoming CBC Gem series, Lido TV. Described as "a variety show with a mission," each episode features a theme accompanied by a number of interview segments, documentary footage and funny sketches. Themes range from feminism to colonialism, the latter of which inspires a hilarious sketch called "Canada's Top Land Acknowledger." Prepare to laugh, learn and immerse yourself in Pimienta's bright, kaleidoscopic universe.
High School
Starring Railey Gilliland, Seazynn Gilliland, Cobie Smulders
Directed by Clea DuVall
Tegan and Sara have adapted their 2019 memoir, High School ,into a teen drama TV show that will explore the "teenage highs and lows of two future Canadian pop icons." Starring TikTok stars Railey and Seazynn Gilliland, who play a young Tegan and Sara respectively, the series (which is set in the grunge-obsessed '90s) will follow the twin sisters as they grow up in Calgary and navigate first loves, explore their queer identities and channel their love of music into a burgeoning career.
I Like Movies
Starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Percy Hynes White, Romina D'Ugo
Directed by Chandler Levack
I Like Movies is the feature debut by Chandler Levack, a former arts and entertainment journalist and budding director who cut her teeth directing music videos for Toronto punk-rockers Pup and former Polaris Music Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher. (Levack has earned two Juno Award nominations for her work on Pup's "Guilt Trip" and "Dark Days" videos.) While the film itself — about a teenage cinephile named Lawrence, whose dream is to attend NYU — isn't about music, indie-rock experts will want to check out the film's original score by the Dears frontman Murray Lightburn.