Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival 2012

Australia's seventh annual Canadian film festival is back this August

First published on 17 May 2012. Updated on 20 Aug 2012.

This event has finished

Think of your favourite Canadian film. Tricky, huh? It seems the difficult part is trying to remember any. That’s what’s bugging Matt Ravier, director of Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival. “Canadian cinema is one of the world’s most entertaining and diverse national cinemas,” he says, “yet it is still criminally under-appreciated.”

It’s true that in an industry where Hollywood dominates, everything else is in danger of being cast aside to the unfortunate ‘World Cinema’ category. But on closer inspection, Canada is home to world-class filmmakers such as David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis) and Jean-Marc Vallée, who directed last year’s Café de Flore. Heck! They can even add James Cameron to the list. (But we’re guessing blockbusters like Avatar don’t count.)

Ravier and his team at Possible Worlds want people to understand and appreciate that Canadian cinema isn’t Hollywood. For seven years running they’ve been putting together stellar programmes in Sydney to prove it, and this year’s is no exception. The festival this year includes 20 features and documentaries on a range of Canuck topics.

Surviving Progress
Wed Aug 15, Dendy Opera Quays, 6.30pm
From the team behind The Corporation and executive producer Martin Scorsese, this is a doco about the science and thought behind the big evolutionary, ecological and social changes facing humanity.

Roller Town
Fri Aug 17, St Stephen’s Hall, 8pm
This spoof on disco movies – about a small town in the 1970s fighting to save their roller-disco – could well be the feelgood pick of the festival.

War Witch
Sun Aug 19, Dendy Opera Quays, 6.30pm
Directed by Kim Nguyen, this closing-night film about the love between two child soldiers in an African war zone is sure to be a powerful ending to the bumper week.