A  new Canadian streamer will hit the market at the end of the month as Mongrel Media unveils its curated subscription-based VOD service Mongrel Home Cinema.

Set to launch on Friday (April 30), the SVOD was created in partnership with U.S. distributor Magnolia Pictures and will feature a collection of more than 100 indie films from both companies.

Among the Canadian titles available at launch are Sarah Polley’s feature Take This Waltz (pictured), and the Canada/Ireland copro Brooklyn, directed by John Crowley. Other titles available include The Hunt, directed by recent Oscar winner Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round), Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash.

Ten new titles will be added to Mongrel Home Cinema on the first Tuesday of each month, starting in May with The Rider, directed by two-time Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland). Mongrel Media’s film catalogue includes more than 1,000 titles.

The goal of the new service is to “make subscribers feel as if they are entering a boutique rather than a big-box store,” according to Hussain Amarshi, Mongrel Media president and founder, in a statement.

The service is priced at $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually, and is available online and as an Android or iOS app.

Mongrel Home Cinema is one of the latest curated streaming services available in Canada, including the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) digital TIFF Lightbox, which was launched following the 2020 festival. In the global market both MUBI and the Criterion Channel feature an evolving collection of indie darlings.

Canadian distributors have entered the VOD arena as well to combat lost revenue from theatre closures across the country. Montreal’s MK2 | Mile End launched its own movie rental platform in 2020, offering titles such as Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Image courtesy of Mongrel Media; photo by Michael Gibson