100 Best Canadian Films – Stacey Donen

It’s been quite the pleasure organizing this 100 Best Canadian Films series. For those who are passionate about Canadian cinema these lists, I hope, should spark a completest curiosity towards discovery. The lists in the series are meant to be personal and subjective histories of Canadian cinema which should showcase its fluidity, richness and diversity. We’re nearing the end of the series, though I’ll wait for a few more others before concluding it, but once it’s over I plan to put them all together into one mast list. I think it’ll be quite special.

But for now, I need to thank Stacey Donen for this new contribution, as he’s always been someone that I looked up to in terms of seriously engaging and promoting Canadian cinema. Some of these accomplishments include programming one of the all-time great films Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y. at TIFF when he was there as a Canadian film programmer from 1999 to 2006. This programming of Canadian films was also the impetus behind his distribution company College Street Pictures, which released two of the important early Toronto DIY films, Kazik Radwanski’s Tower and Igor Drljaca’s Krivina. This active engagement to increase an awareness of the best of Canadian cinema is such a great quality. More folks could definitively benefit from this approach.

Other 100 Best Canadian Films lists includes those by Michael Marlatt, Jim Sheddan, Philippe Gajan, Kevin Laforest, Steve Gravestock, Olena Decock, Dan Browne, Réalisatrices Équitables and Films Fatales Montréal, Helen Faradji, Fabrice Montal, Stephen Broomer, Paul Corupe, David L. Pike, Jerry White, André Loiselle, Paul Williams, Greg Klymkiw, Pat Mullen, Jason Anderson, Daniel Kremer, Yves Lever, Piers Handling, Marcel Jean, Mike Hoolboom and myself.  – D.D.

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Stacey Donen’s 100 Best Canadian Films (in alphabetical order)

1. 32 Short Films About Glen Gould (Francois Girard, 1993)

2. A Hard Name (Alan Zweig, 2009)

3. A Life (Frank Cole, 1986)

4. A Married Couple (Allan King, 1969)

5. A Place To Stand (Christopher Chapman, 1967)

6. À tout prendre (Claude Jutra, 1963)

7. Adventure of Faustus Bidgood, The (Andy Jones, Michael Jones, 1986)  

8. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The (Ted Kotcheff, 1974)

9. Archangel (Guy Maddin, 1990)

10. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Zacharius Kunuk, 2001)

11. Au claire de la lune (Andre Forcier, 1983)

12. Automatic Writing (Ann Marie Fleming, 1996)

13. Avoir 16 ans (Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, 1979)

14. Bar Salon (Andre Forcier, 1974)

15. Big Snit, The (Richard Condie, 1985)

16. bons debarras, Les (Francis Mankiewicz, 1980)

17. chapeau, Le (Michèle Cournoyer, 2000)

18. Chat dans le sac, Le (Gilles Groulx, 1964)

19. Churchill's Island (Stuart Legg, 1941)

20. Continental, un film sans fusil (Stéphane Lafleur, 2007)

21. Continuous Journey (Ali Kazami, 2004)

22. Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)

23. C.R.A.Z.Y. (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2005)

24. Crime Wave (John Paizs, 1985)

25. Dancing in the Dark (Leon Marr, 1986)

26. Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)

27. dernières fiançailles, Les (Jean Pierre Lefebvre, 1973) 

28. Deux actrices (Micheline Lanctôt, 1993)

29. Double Happiness (Mina Shum, 1994)

30. Dying at Grace (Allan King, 2003)

31. Emporte-moi (Lea Pool, 1999)

32. esprit des lieux, L’ (Catherine Martin, 2006)

33. États nordiques, Les (Denis Côté, 2005)

34. Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994)

35. face cachée de la lune, La (Robert Lepage, 2003)

36. Fix: The Story of an Addicted City (Nettie Wild, 2002)

37. Gambling, Gods and LSD (Peter Mettler, 2002)

38. Gina (Denys Arcand, 1975)

39. Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000)

40. Goin’ Down the Road (Don Shebib, 1970)

41. Grey Fox, The (Phillip Borsos, 1983)

42. Hard Core Logo (Bruce McDonald, 1996)

43. Heart of the World, The (Guy Maddin, 2000)

44. How Heavy This Hammer (Kazik Radwanski, 2015)

45. I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (Patricia Rozema, 1987)

46. It's All Gone Pete Tong (Michael Dowse, 2004)

47. J.A Martin Photographe (Jean Beaudin, 1977)

48. Jesus Of Montreal (Denys Arcand, 1988)

49. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (Alanis Obomsawin, 1993)

50. Kissed (Lynne Stopkewich, 1996)

51. Last Night (Don McKellar, 1998)

52. Last Train Home (Lixin Fan, 2009)

53. Laurentie (Simon Lavoie, Mathieu Denis, 2010)

54. Leolo (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1991)

55. Life Classes (William MacGillivray, 1987)

56. Like a Dream That Vanishes (Barbara Sternberg, 2000)

57. Lonely Boy (Wolf Koenig, Roman Kroitor, 1962)

58. Maelstrom (Denis Villeneuve, 2000)

59. Man That Got Away, The (Trevor Anderson, 2012)

60. Manufactured Landscapes (Jenifer Baichwal, 2006)

61. Matins infidels, Les (Francois Bouvier, Jean Beaudry, 1989)

62. Memorandum (Donald Britain, John Spotton, 1965)  

63. Mon Oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra, 1971)

64. My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, 2007)

65. Neighbours (Norman McLaren, 1952)

66. Nobody Waved Goodbye (Don Owen, 1964)

67. On est loin du soleil  (Jacques Leduc, 1970)  

68. Ordes, Les (Michel Brault, 1974)

69. Outrageous! (Richard Benner, 1977)

70. Perfectly Normal (Yves Simoneau, 1991)

71. plante humaine, La (Pierre Hébert, 1996)

72. Post Mortem (Louis Belanger, 1999)

73. Pour la suite du monde (Pierre Perrault, Michel Brault 1963)

74. raquetteurs, Les (Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx, 1958)

75. Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen (Michael Snow, 1974)

76. Reason Over Passion (Joyce Wieland, 1969) 

77. Rhapsody in Two Languages (Gordon Sparling, 1934)

78. Ryan (Chris Landreth, 2004)

79. Sea in the Blood (Richard Fung, 2000)

80. signes vitaux, Les (Sophie Deraspe, 2009)

81. Silent Partner (Daryl Duke, 1978)

82. Skip Tracer (Zale Dalen, 1977)

83. Sleeping Giant (Andrew Cividino, 2015)

84. Sonatine (Micheline Lanctôt, 1984)

85. Street, The (Caroline Leaf, 1976)

86. Sur la trace d'Igor Rizzi (Noël Mitrani, 2006)

87. Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2011)

88. Tales From the Gimli Hospital (Guy Maddin, 1988)

89. Ten Cents a Dance (Parallax) (Midi Onodera, 1985)

90. Tom (Mike Hoolboom, 2002)

91. Unarmed Verses (Charles Officer, 2017)

92. Up the Yangtze (Yung Chang, 2007)

93. Very Nice, Very Nice (Arthur Lipsett, 1961)

94. Vic and Flo Saw a Bear (Denis Côté, 2013)

95. Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1982)

96. Waiting for Fidel (Michael Rubbo, 1974)

97. Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967)

98. What these ashes wanted (Phil Hoffman, 2001)

99. When The Day Breaks (Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, 1999)

100. Zyklon Portrait (Elida Schogt, 1999)