The Kingston Canadian Film Festival is the largest festival in the world dedicated exclusively to Canadian film. The festival is over for 2022, but the fun continues with these films and books that pair well with the films in the KCFF lineup! The links will take you to all of the formats we have available.
Find Part One of our KCFF 2022 collection here.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: What Inuit have Always Known to be True
Pairs with ATANARJUAT: The Fast Runner. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangitis is a compilation of traditional knowledge by Inuit elders including how they relate to their environment, the transmission of knowledge, and how colonization impacted these practices and worldviews.
Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel by Mitiarjuk Nappaalu
Pairs with ATANARJUAT: The Fast Runner. This novel is comprised of vignettes that depict the life of an Inuit family during the early colonial period.
Hunter With Harpoon by Markoosie Patsauq
Pairs with ATANARJUAT: The Fast Runner. Originally written in Inuktitut, this translated work follows a hunter in pursuit of a polar bear which serves as a rite of passage and a battle for survival.
Words of the Inuit: A Semantic Stroll Through a Northern Culture by Louis-Jacques Dorais
Pairs with ATANARJUAT: The Fast Runner. An exploration of the structure and meanings behind the Inuktitut language. Louis-Jacques Dorais explores the complex, multiple meanings to words, and how these words shape the world view of Inuit communities.
Before Tomorrow (film)
Pairs with ATANARJUAT: The Fast Runner. A feature-length film depicting the last days before Inuit contact with Europeans. Ningiug, a community Elder, has heard of the newcomers on their shores and struggles to shelter her grandson from an uncertain future.
Maïna (film)
Pairs with ATANARJUAT: The Fast Runner. Follows the titular character, an Innu woman named Maïna, who rescues a child captured by an Inuit clan. Nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards, Maïna is based on a book of the same name by Dominique Demers.
Don’t Let Go by Michel Bussi
Pairs with The Boathouse. In this masterful vacation thriller by French author Michel Bussi, the members of a wealthy Parisian family disappear one by one from a posh resort on the idyllic island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
The Hunted by Roz Nay
Pairs with The Boathouse. In this vacation thriller by Canadian author Roz Nay, a young woman accompanies her boyfriend on a work trip to a beautiful island off of Tanzania. Things take a frightening turn for the couple when they meet a seemingly friendly pair of backpackers.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Pairs with The Boathouse. Patricia Highsmith may have coined a subgenre with this psychological thriller about a couple’s increasingly unsettling vacation acquaintance with the eponymous con artist.
Us (film)
Pairs with The Boathouse. In Jordan Peele’s second horror film, a family’s beach vacation becomes a living nightmare when they are terrorized by doppelgängers.
Winter's Bone (film)
Pairs with The Boathouse. In this early Jennifer Lawrence thriller, a teenager navigates lies, evasions, and threats in search of the father who put their home up for his bail bond and then disappeared.
The House Of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara
Pairs with C.R.A.Z.Y. A gritty and gorgeous debut that follows a cast of gay and transgender club kids through ups and downs as they navigate the Harlem ball scene of the 1980s and '90s.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Pairs with C.R.A.Z.Y. In this 2021 National Book Award winner for Young People’s Literature, the daughter of Chinese immigrants risks everything for love in 1950s San Francisco.
The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
Pairs with C.R.A.Z.Y. In Booker prize winner Alan Hollinghurst’s beautifully written debut novel, a wealthy young gay man saves an older man’s life and is recruited to work as the man’s biographer.
Handsome Devil (film)
Pairs with C.R.A.Z.Y. Opposites attract – or at least, forge a meaningful bond – when a star rugby player and an awkward outsider are reluctantly made roommates at an all-boys boarding school in Ireland.
Maurice (film)
Pairs with C.R.A.Z.Y. An oldie but a goodie, James Ivory’s adaptation of E.M. Forsters’ suppressed 1914 novel about forbidden love in aristocratic Great Britain features a young Hugh Grant and Rupert Graves.
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by Helen Knott
Pairs with KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: The Meaning of Empathy. An account of addiction, violence, trauma and finding the power to prevail. Knott’s journey is fueled by her deeply personal efforts to connect with her lineage and building relationships within her community.
The Hollow Tree: Fighting Addiction with Traditional Native Healing by Herb Nabigon
Pairs with KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: The Meaning of Empathy. Explores Herb Nabigon’s journey through alcoholism and rehabilitation by way of spiritual teachings. With assistance from a community Elder and the Four Sacred Directions, Nabigon is able to overcome a battle once thought to be unwinnable.
Structures of Indifference: An Indigenous Life and Death in a Canadian City by Mary Jane McCallum
Pairs with KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: The Meaning of Empathy. Explores the neglectful and demeaning treatment of Indigenous peoples within the healthcare system. The book exposes this reality by focusing on the case of Brian Sinclair who died while awaiting care for an easily treatable infection at a Winnipeg hospital.
Medicine Unbundled: A Journey Through the Minefields of Indigenous Health by Gary Geddes
Pairs with KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: The Meaning of Empathy. The author records Elder accounts of maltreatment within the health system, and the consequences it had for them and future generations.
Finding Dawn (film)
Pairs with KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: The Meaning of Empathy. Christine Walsh’s documentary focuses on the current and historical causes of violence against Indigenous women. The effects of violence in relation to mental health, substance abuse, and society’s responsibility to deter violence are topics discussed throughout.
Survivors Rowe (film)
Pairs with KÍMMAPIIYIPITSSINI: The Meaning of Empathy. Gives voice to the Indigenous survivors of Ralph Rowe, convicted pedophile and priest. Rowe worked out of nearly twenty communities in Ontario, whose victims are estimated at 500, is now free.
Through, Not Around
Pairs with The Secret Society. A collection of personal stories about what it’s like to go through the emotional and physical facets of infertility, miscarriage, and pregnancy loss.
Modern Families by Joshua Gamson
Pairs with The Secret Society. Stories showcasing the extraordinary ways that today’s families come to be. These personal and political tales provide an intimate account of the hurdles faced by those using adoption or assisted reproduction.
One More Shot (film)
Pairs with The Secret Society. Check out Kanopy to view this award-winning documentary film about one couple’s journey through infertility.
Brother by David Chariandy
Pairs with Scarborough. A touching novel set in poverty-stricken neighbourhoods of Scarborough. Well-developed characters survive racism, economic inequality, and exposure to violence through strong community support.
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Pairs with Scarborough. A gritty story of life in a Jamaican village in which young girls are taught to trade their sexuality for survival. It’s about a struggle for survival alongside vast wealth.
The Florida Project (film)
Pairs with Scarborough. A stunningly shot accurate portrayal of poverty in America. We experience a motel in Florida through the eyes of a six year old.
The Lover, the Lake by Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau
Pairs with Ste. Anne. Translated from French, this passionate love story explores the relationship between Wabougouni, an Algonquin woman, and Gabriel, a Métis man.
A Girl Called Echo - Road Allowance Era by Katherena Vermette
Pairs with Ste. Anne. Echo travels back in time to 1885 and witnesses her family's move to Winnipeg following the Northwest Rebellion. Book four of the A Girl Called Echo series, Road Allowance demonstrates how the Métis of Canada’s cities are testaments to cultural perseverance.
Halfbreed by Maria Campbell
Pairs with Ste. Anne. Maria Campbell’s memoir explores the post-war experiences of a Métis woman in the Canadian west.
Kuessipan (film)
Pairs with Ste. Anne. This French language feature-length film is a coming of age story centred on two Innu women. Shaniss and Mikuan face growing pains as they consider their futures within and beyond their community.
The Lesser Blessed (film)
Pairs with Ste. Anne. Based on a novel of the same name, The Lesser Blessed follows Larry and his struggle to adapt to life as a youth in Fort Simmer. Larry is faced with bullying while circumstances around his arrival are the source of community speculation.
The Beadworkers by Beth H. Piatote
Pairs with Run Woman Run. Told with humour and subtlety, this short story collection explores Indigenous live in the contemporary world. It’s filled with vibrant characters and unifying themes of kinship, longing, and language.
Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith
Pairs with Run Woman Run. An inspirational and hopeful story about eight elders on their ultimate bucket list road trip to attend a Pow Wow. Hopes, dreams, secrets and stories are shared on this epic adventure.
The Sun at Midnight (film)
Pairs with Run Woman Run. A charming coming of age film about an unexpected friendship between a caribou hunter and a teenage rebel on the run. Set in the stunning Arctic Circle, it deals with family relationships and contemporary Indigenous life.
Speak, Silence by Kim Echlin
Pairs with The White Fortress. An astounding, poetic novel about war and loss, suffering and courage, and the strength of women through it all, showcasing love in a post-war Sarajevo.
The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
Pairs with The White Fortress. A moving story of women who try to build a life in post-war Germany. Like The White Fortress, it’s about survival and finding a way to flourish after great tragedy.
Twice Born (film)
Pairs with The White Fortress. A tragic and touching story about a woman who visits Sarajevo with her son after their escape sixteen years ago and the loss of her boy’s father in the Bosnian War.
