Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time

Routinely cited as the greatest Canadian film ever made, this quiet masterpiece captures rural Quebec life and the awakening of a young boy's consciousness in a small mining town. The National Film Board called it the finest Canadian film ever produced.

Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-nominated tragedy follows twins unravelling their mother's devastating past in the Middle East with structural brilliance and devastating emotional impact. It launched Villeneuve onto the global stage.

David Cronenberg's controversial adaptation of J.G. Ballard's novel explores the intersection of technology, desire, and automobile crashes with unflinching provocation. It won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes and remains deeply divisive.

Atom Egoyan's heartbreaking adaptation of Russell Banks's novel examines a community's grief after a school bus accident with fractured, poetic storytelling. Ian Holm's performance as a grief-exploiting lawyer is devastating.

Cronenberg's body-horror masterpiece predicted the derangements of media saturation and screen addiction with James Woods absorbing a snuff TV signal that begins to literally merge with his flesh. It is Canadian horror at its most original.

Xavier Dolan's fifth film uses a square aspect ratio that occasionally expands to widescreen as metaphor for freedom, telling the story of a volatile teenage boy and his fierce single mother with raw emotional power.

Michel Brault's docudrama about the 1970 October Crisis arrests remains one of the most powerful films about civil liberties and state repression ever made in Canada. Shot in stark black-and-white with non-actors playing themselves.

Sarah Polley's directorial debut — an adaptation of Alice Munro's story about a man watching his wife disappear into Alzheimer's at a care facility — is the most emotionally precise Canadian drama of the 21st century. Julie Christie earned an Oscar nomination.

Bruce McDonald's mockumentary following a legendary Vancouver punk band on a disastrous reunion tour is the most authentic document of Canadian rock and roll ever committed to film, featuring Hugh Dillon's career-defining performance.

Routinely cited as the greatest Canadian film ever made, this quiet masterpiece captures rural Quebec life and the awakening of a young boy's consciousness in a small mining town. The National Film Board called it the finest Canadian film ever produced.

Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-nominated tragedy follows twins unravelling their mother's devastating past in the Middle East with structural brilliance and devastating emotional impact. It launched Villeneuve onto the global stage.

David Cronenberg's controversial adaptation of J.G. Ballard's novel explores the intersection of technology, desire, and automobile crashes with unflinching provocation. It won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes and remains deeply divisive.

Atom Egoyan's heartbreaking adaptation of Russell Banks's novel examines a community's grief after a school bus accident with fractured, poetic storytelling. Ian Holm's performance as a grief-exploiting lawyer is devastating.

Cronenberg's body-horror masterpiece predicted the derangements of media saturation and screen addiction with James Woods absorbing a snuff TV signal that begins to literally merge with his flesh. It is Canadian horror at its most original.

Xavier Dolan's fifth film uses a square aspect ratio that occasionally expands to widescreen as metaphor for freedom, telling the story of a volatile teenage boy and his fierce single mother with raw emotional power.

Michel Brault's docudrama about the 1970 October Crisis arrests remains one of the most powerful films about civil liberties and state repression ever made in Canada. Shot in stark black-and-white with non-actors playing themselves.

Sarah Polley's directorial debut — an adaptation of Alice Munro's story about a man watching his wife disappear into Alzheimer's at a care facility — is the most emotionally precise Canadian drama of the 21st century. Julie Christie earned an Oscar nomination.

Bruce McDonald's mockumentary following a legendary Vancouver punk band on a disastrous reunion tour is the most authentic document of Canadian rock and roll ever committed to film, featuring Hugh Dillon's career-defining performance.