100 Best Canadian Films – Piers Handling

The reputation of Piers Handling precedes him: not only is he the director of TIFF but also a passionate cinephile and a valuable supporter of Canadian cinema. This includes having published two books on some of Canada's most important directors: Donald Shebib and David Cronenberg. Other contributions to 100 Best Canadian Films include those by Marcel Jean, Mike Hoolboom and myself. They’re meant to be fun, subjective forays into the history of Canadian cinema. I’m also excited to to highlight the great new TIFF Canada on Screen website where many of these films are beautifully described and illustrated. There’s more to come! – D.D.

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Piers Handling’s 103 Best Canadian Films

- Back to God's Country (David Hartford, 1919)

- Carry on Sergeant! (Bruce Bairnsfather, 1928) 
 

- Rhapsody In Two Languages (Gordon Sparling, 1934)

- Churchill's Island (Stuart Legg, 1941)

- Listen to the Prairies (Gudrun Parker, 1945)

- Neighbours (Norman McLaren, 1952)

- Corral (Colin Low, 1954)

- Paul Tomkowicz: Street-railway Switchman (Roman Kroitor, 1954)
- City of Gold (Colin Low, Wolf Koenig, 1957)

- Les raquetteurs (Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx, 1958)

- The Days Before Christmas (Wolf Koenig, Terence Macartney-Filgate, Stanley Jackson, 1958)

- Very Nice, Very Nice (Arthur Lipsett, 1961)

- Lonely Boy (Roman Kroitor, Wolf Koenig, 1962)

- Bûcherons de la Manouane (Arthur Lamothe, 1962)

- Jour après jour (Clément Perron, 1962)

- Pour la suite du monde (Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault, Marcel Carrière, 1963)

- À tout prendre (Claude Jutra, 1963)

- Le chat dans le sac (Gilles Groulx, 1964)

- Nobody Waved Good-bye (Don Owen, 1964)

- Memorandum (Donald Brittain, John Spotton, 1965)

- La vie heureuse de Léopold Z (Gilles Carle, 1965)

- Winter Kept Us Warm (David Secter, 1965)

- Entre la mer et l'eau douce (Michel Brault, 1967)

- Warrendale (Allan King, 1967)

- Il ne faut pas mourir pour ça (Jean Pierre Lefebvre, 1967)

- Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967)

- Rat Life and Diet in North America (Joyce Wieland, 1968)

- A Married Couple (Allan King, 1969)

- Good Times Bad Times (Donald Shebib, 1969)

- The Act of the Heart (Paul Almond, 1970)

- Surfacing on the Thames (David Rimmer, 1970)

- Sad Song of Yellow Skin (Michael Rubbo, 1970)

- Goin' Down the Road (Donald Shebib, 1970)

- Les mâles (Gilles Carle, 1971)

- Mon oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra, 1971)

- The Only Thing You Know (Clarke Mackey, 1971)

- La vraie nature de Bernadette (Gilles Carle, 1972)
- La vie rêvée (Mireille Dansereau, 1972)

- Wedding in White (William Fruet, 1972) 

- Le Temps d'une chasse (Francis Mankiewicz, 1972)

- Réjeanne Padovani (Denys Arcand, 1973)

- Les dernières fiançailles (Jean Pierre Lefebvre, 1973)

- The Hard Part Begins (Paul Lynch, 1973)

- Paperback Hero (Peter Pearson, 1973)

- Between Friends (Donald Shebib, 1973)

- Les Ordres (Michel Brault, 1974)

- Bar Salon (André Forcier, 1974)

- Cree Hunters of Mistassini (Boyce Richardson, Tony Ianzelo, 1974)

- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Ted Kotcheff, 1974)

- Waiting for Fidel (Michael Rubbo, 1974)

- Montreal Main (Frank Vitale, 1974)

- She Is Away (Bruce Elder, 1976)

- The Far Shore (Joyce Wieland, 1976)

- J.A. Martin photographe (Jean Beaudin, 1977)

- Chronique de la vie quotidienne: Samedi (Pierre Bernier, Jean Chabot, Roger Frappier, Claude Grenier, Jacques Leduc, 1977)

- Le vieux pays où Rimbaud est mort (Jean Pierre Lefebvre, 1977)

- The Rubber Gun (Allan Moyle, 1977)

- Mother Tongue (Derek May, 1979)

- Mourir à tue-tête (Anne Claire Poirier, 1979)

- Les Bons débarras (Francis Mankiewicz, 1980)

- La cuisine rouge (Paule Baillargeon, Frédérique Collin, 1980)

- Sifted Evidence (Patricia Gruben, 1981)

- The Grey Fox (Phillip Borsos, 1982)

- Poetry in Motion (Ron Mann, 1982)

- La bête lumineuse (Pierre Perrault, 1982)

- Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)

- Sonatine (Micheline Lanctôt, 1984)

- La femme de l’hôtel (Léa Pool, 1984)

- Crime Wave (John Paizs, 1985)

- My American Cousin (Sandy Wilson, 1985)

- Le Déclin de L'empire Américain (Denys Arcand, 1986) 

- White Museum (Mike Hoolboom, 1986)

- Family Viewing (Atom Egoyan, 1987)

- Un zoo la nuit (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1987)

- Life Classes (William D. MacGillivray, 1987)

- I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (Patricia Rozema, 1987)

- Loyalties (Anne Wheeler, 1987)

- Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)

- The Making Of Monsters (John Greyson, 1990)

- Archangel (Guy Maddin, 1990)

- The Adjuster (Atom Egoyan, 1991)

- Highway 61 (Bruce McDonald, 1991)

- Calendar (Atom Egoyan, 1993)

- Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (François Girard, 1993)

- Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance (Alanis Obomsawin, 1993)

- Save My Lost Nigga Soul (Clement Virgo, 1993)

- Picture of Light (Peter Mettler, 1994)

- Rude (Clement Virgo, 1995)

- Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)

- Last Night (Don McKellar, 1998)

- The Five Senses (Jeremy Podeswa, 1999)

- The Heart of the World (Guy Maddin, 2000)

- Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk, 2001)

- Gambling, Gods and LSD (Peter Mettler, 2002)

- La neuvaine (Bernard Émond, 2005)

- Water (Deepa Mehta, 2005)

- C.R.A.Z.Y. (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2005)

- Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal, 2006)

- My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, 2007)

- Polytechnique (Denis Villeneuve, 2009)

- Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)

- Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)

- Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau (Mathieu Denis, Simon Lavoie, 2016)