Following a national call for submissions, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) received more than 240 proposals. From these, they have selected five short documentary projects for {RE}DEFINED, a new initiative dedicated to young Canadian and Indigenous creators aged 30 and under.
Launched last September during the 50th edition of TIFF, {RE}DEFINED will pair the filmmakers with NFB producers to create short documentaries of 10 minutes or less. These works will showcase diverse perspectives from a new generation, revealing what inspires and motivates them, and pushing the boundaries of documentary storytelling. They will reimagine Canadian and Indigenous identity during a pivotal period in the country’s history, and propose new angles for examining who we are and what we are becoming.
The NFB will offer the selected creators production support, full funding, marketing, press relations, and distribution services, as well as mentorship. The documentaries resulting from {RE}DEFINED will premiere at TIFF 2026, then be distributed globally on the NFB’s platforms.
This initiative is part of TIFF Next Wave, the core programming for young audiences; it celebrates the strength for this audience of not only seeing themselves, but seeing their community represented on screen. The annual TIFF Next Wave Film Festival and its year-round monthly programming connect young people with creators to explore new perspectives and new voices in cinema together. The festival is organized and curated by the TIFF Next Wave Committee, a group of 12 young film enthusiasts from the Greater Toronto Area.
The 5 Selectees
Butter Chicken to Go, by Prajj Raj | Produced by Kate Vollum with the Documentary Unit at the NFB’s Toronto Centre
Butter Chicken to Go follows South Asian delivery workers during the dinner rush hour, in the depths of a Toronto winter. As hostility toward communities of Indian descent in Canada rises, the film examines what it feels like when one’s presence is both essential and contested.
Prajj Raj, a screenwriter, filmmaker, and artist from Toronto, enjoys creating works that add an experimental dimension and artisanal texture to bold storytelling. His films have been screened at TIFF Next Wave, the Reel Asian International Film Festival, the Toronto Youth Shorts festival, and others. Alongside filmmaking, Prajj creates installations, video art, and zines: his decidedly playful approach blurs genres and renews forms.
Là où nos fleurs poussent (Where Our Flowers Grow), by Maxime Kornachuk | Produced by Jelena Popović with the French Animation Unit, in Montreal
Là où nos fleurs poussent gives a voice to Métis people of all ages who are seeking to re-establish a connection with their culture, which has been marked by silence and erasure. Through stop-motion beadwork and rotoscoping, the film illustrates how each of these personal stories has sown the seed of a collective identity that is coming back to life.
Maxime Kornachuk is a 23-year-old Red River Métis animator, a graduate of the Multimedia Communication program at the Université de Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg. His culture, which is at the heart of his life and practice, guides his exploration of stop-motion animation, through which he pays homage to the rich heritage of Métis beadwork, as demonstrated in his student film Nos fleurs en perles (2024). Drawing also from his dance training, he integrates rotoscoping into his work to create a poetic dialogue between human movement and animated matter.
pâkwêsikan sâkihtin: Bannock is Love, by Tyra Delver | Produced by Chehala Leonard with the Western Documentary Unit, in Edmonton
pâkwêsikan sâkihtin: Bannock is Love addresses the theme of food sovereignty through a traditional recipe: the preparation of bannock. The film reminds us that cultural traditions nourish not only the body, but also the soul and spirit of a people.
Hailing from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta, Two-Spirit Cree artist, photographer, and filmmaker Tyra Delver weaves evocative visual narratives from their lived experience. Their work, driven by imagination and personal truth, offers an intimate glimpse into the dreamscape of a young Indigenous creator. Influenced by various Indigenous artists while maintaining a strong foundation in their own upbringing, they continue to learn about and reveal their heritage in each of their creations.
Restaurant Kids, by Sylvia Mok | Produced by Liz Cowie with the Eastern Documentary Unit, in Halifax
Restaurant Kids offers a portrait of a tight-knit community of Chinese restaurant owners in Halifax, and second-generation children who grew up more in the restaurant than at home.
Screenwriter and director Sylvia Mok’s stories are bold, sincere, ambitious, and frankly fun. Originally from Halifax but now based in Toronto, the filmmaker creates films that give a voice to those in the shadows and present perspectives rarely heard. All while imbuing each story with a dose of humor.
Vite ! Vite ! Vite ! (Quick! Quick! Quick!), by Gabrielle Côté | Produced by Christine Aubé with the French Documentary Unit, in Moncton
Vite ! Vite ! Vite ! is an experimental documentary that transforms real images into surreal tableaux illustrating two visions of northern urban life. One is dominated by cars, money, time, and individualism. The other is designed to foster sharing, leisure, and inclusivity. The contrast between these two societies leads us to question how urban planning influences our collective lives.
Gabrielle Côté is an emerging filmmaker from Montreal who uses image collage as a tool for social observation. Her films reveal her fascination with urban planning and collective life, and show how urban landscapes shape our ways of living.
