This year’s lineup consists of 22 feature films stemming from 26 countries, and 9 shorts from some of Canada’s best emerging voices. With a blend of political dramas, documentaries and feel-good love stories, this year’s festival has something for every kind of film lover. New this year, BMFM will screen works from 10 digital creators in a unique partnership with Buffer Festival, who specialize in curating acclaimed creators and storytellers from across YouTube and TikTok.
In addition to serving the public with robust programming, the BMFM will also host a 3-day Creative Forum bringing together some of the industry’s brightest minds from film and TV as well as the digital space. Running from Thursday, May 30- Sunday, June 2, 2024, the festival goes beyond great cinema with events, parties, entertainment, outdoor adventures, and appearances from fan favourites from film, YouTube, TikTok, and more.
Festival’s feature films lineup
Àma Gloria, directed by Marie Amachoukell (France)
This may be the most precious love story you will see all year: On the one hand, Gloria, a middle-age caregiver from Cape Verde with a couple of kids back home. And then, Cléo, a chirpy Parisienne, all of six years old.
Banel & Adama, directed by Ramata-Toulaye Sy (France, Senegal, Mali, Qatar)
Banel can scarcely stand to be separated from her lover, Adama, even for a few hours. But her passion and defiance alarm the elders, and the drought that consumes their village feels like a curse…
Call me dancer, directed By Leslie Shampaine, Pip Gilmour (USA) ** Opening Night Film
Billy Elliot meets Slumdog Millionaire… for real. This “real life Billy Elliot” is the remarkable tale of a Mumbai taxi driver’s son who is determined to follow his dreams and become a dancer – even more so when his demanding teacher introduces him to ballet…
Chuck Chuck Baby, directed by Janis Pugh (UK)
This feelgood Welsh musical comedy turns the stuff of dreary social realism into a fabulous ode to love. Helen’s depressing life is transformed by the return of Joanne, an old flame from their far-distant school days.
Close your eyes, directed by Víctor Erice (Spain, Argentina)
Twenty years after his star disappeared without a trace mid-shoot, retired filmmaker Miguel agrees to reopen the mystery for a TV show… He needs the money, and he’s ready for a reckoning. A late masterpiece from Spirit of the Beehive director Victor Erice.
COPA 71, directed by James Erskine, Rachel Ramsay (UK, Mexico)
Interspersing contemporary interviews with copious archives of on-field soccer action and breathless news reports, this is the revelatory story of the tournament the world forgot, the first, unsanctioned, Women’s World Cup.
Girls will be girls, Shuchi Talati (India, France, Norway)
A prize-winner at Sundance, this sensitive debut feature is an unusual coming-of-age drama for its nuanced and sympathetic portrait of mother-daughter dynamics in a sexually repressive culture; it doesn’t go where you expect.
Green Border, directed by Agnieszka Holland (Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belarus)
Polish master Agnieszka Holland has made a ferocious, emotionally charged film about the brutal treatment of refugees arriving across the land border from Belarus. This is a vehement denunciation of resurgent fascism and utterly compelling cinema.
The Gulspång Miracle, directed by Maria Fredriksson (Sweden)
May and Kari are amazed to meet an older sister they understood had passed away decades earlier. But this is just the first in a series of startling revelations and reversals in a jaw-dropping doc which will leave audiences buzzing.
Happy clothes: a film about Patricia Field, directed by Michael Selditch (USA)
A candid fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the creative process and the extraordinary life and career of Emmy-winning costume designer Patricia Field (Sex and the City; The Devil Wears Prada).
If only I could hibernate, directed by Zoljargal Purevdash (France, Mongolia)
In freezing temperatures in an impoverished suburb of Mongolia’s capital, 15-year-old Ulzii provides for two younger siblings while studying for a science scholarship.
In the land of the brothers, directed by Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli (Iran, France, Netherlands)
This smartly-plotted film – a prize winner at Sundance – charts the history of an extended Afghani refugee family in Iran across three chapters, each set ten years apart, from 2001-2021.
Last summer, directed by Catherine Breillat (France)
The fearless Catherine Breillat (Fat Girl; The Last Mistress) returns with another highly-charged drama of lust and transgression. Anne, a lawyer with two young daughters, begins a reckless affair with her 17-year-old stepson.
Madame Luna, directed by Daniel Espinosa (Italy, Sweden)
In this gripping thriller set in a refugee detention centre in Calabria, Italy, Almaz (a riveting Meninet Abraha Teferi), an Ethiopian refugee, hopes to put her former role as an underworld operator behind her. No such luck.
The Missile, directed by Miia Tervo (Finland, Estonia)
Lapland, 1984. Single mom Niina (Oona Airola) volunteers at the local paper to pay off a debt – but when she stumbles across a story with profound political implications she’s treated like a nuisance by everyone, even her editor.
The queen of my dreams, directed by Fawzian Mirza (Canada, Pakistan)
Fawzia Mirza’s extravagant feast of a movie explores a fraught mother-daughter relationship across two different continents and three decades, filtered through the characters’ shared love for the 1969 Hindi musical, Aradhana.
Singing back the buffalo, directed by Tasha Hubbard (Canada)
Once on the verge of extinction, the buffalo is currently reclaiming its rightful place at the heart of the North American plains. Tasha Hubbard’s rhapsodic doc is the story of a remarkable ecological revival led by Indigenous peoples.
Songs of earth, directed by Margreth Olin (Norway)
This stunning, meditative documentary tracks a year in and around the breathtaking fjord where filmmaker Margreth Olin grew up, and where her 84-year-old father Jorgen has lived his entire life.
Sujo, directed by Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez (Mexico, USA, France)
Grand Jury Prize-winner in the World Cinema competition at Sundance, the latest from Identifying features filmmakers Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez plots a fragile redemptive path for the son of a Mexican sicario.
The taste of things, directed by Tran Anh Hung (France, Belgium) *** Closing Night Film
Set in France in 1885, and photographed like an Impressionist painting come to life, this sublime foodie film surveys the intuitive, intimate partnership between famed gourmand Dodin (Benoit Magimel) and his beloved cook Eugénie (Juliette Binoche).
The teacher who promised the sea, directed by Patricia Font (Spain)
Based on a true story, Patricia Font’s drama excavates a dark period in Spanish history. Antoni Benaiges takes up a village teaching position in 1935. But his new-fangled ideas about learning outrage the local priest.
That they may face the rising sun, directed by Pat Collins (Ireland, UK)
John and Kate have moved from London to a farm in Ireland, to the bemusement of the locals. This lyrical Irish reverie taps deep wells of feeling in the stuff of everyday life.
Canadian shorts
A good day will come, directed by Amir Zargara
A professional wrestler from a country in turmoil must decide between using his platform to stand up to tyranny, or put his head down and remain silent.
Nix’s symphony, directed by Karina Xiao Loerchner
At a tender age, Nix, an aspiring musician and inventor in her own right, is now burdened with the responsibility of upholding her mother’s remarkable legacy.
Return to Hairy Hill, directed by Daniel Gies
In an isolated prairie home, a young girl shoulders the burden of caring for her three siblings when her mother mysteriously transforms into a bird.
Sam’s town, directed by Tessa Oxtoby
Following the death of an estranged childhood friend, Riley returns home to face those she’s left behind.
Side Launch, directed by Finn McLean
In a walk down memory lane, witness Collingwood’s once busting tourist industry, history in shipbuilding and the passion of its beloved workers.
Smoke break, directed by Lisa Robertson
A mother’s uncomfortable reunion with her daughter exposes how their deep bond broke and why it may remain forever – in pieces.
The colours of Ontario, directed by Terissa Hosein
Fall brings Ontario to life with a myriad of colours on display through stunning sunsets along Georgian Bay, and breathtaking views.
The fabulous life of Nancy Green Raine, directed by Andrea Wing
A playful tribute to one of Canada’s most beloved skiers.
Three trees, directed by Mathias Richard Horhager, Aaron Hong
As the seasons change, three little trees learn about themselves, friendship and their place in the world.
Buffer Festival Screening
The delivery, directed by Tope Babalola (Canada)
A hard-boiled ace detective sets out to investigate the grisly murder of a millionaire tech magnate, but a slew of interjections by an unexpected visitor threaten to disrupt the case—and the detective’s sanity.
Miscarry, directed by Julie Nolke (Canada)
A raw, unblinking look at the aftermath of losing a pregnancy. In this short film, Nolke explores the emotions and heartache that envelop a woman after loss.
How to build a restaurant on the moon, directed by Underknown (Canada)
While visiting the moon, Chase, a seasoned traveller and foodie, debates over a lengthy and costly delivery versus how to grow his own food. Why not try both? Could Chase recreate his favorite burger? And how could this kill him?
