The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled its annual Canada’s Top Ten list for 2023, which includes seven debut features.

The list, presented by new partner MUBI, is curated by TIFF’s programmers in consultation with programmers from film festivals across Canada.

The debut features in the list include Meredith Hama-Brown’s drama Seagrass (Experimental Forest Films, Ceroma Films), Cody Lightning’s Hey, Viktor! (North Country Cinema), Ariane Louis-Seize’s Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Art et essai; pictured) and Fawzia Mirza’s The Queen of My Dreams (Shut Up & Colour Pictures, Baby Daal Productions).

Other debuts features include Henri Pardo’s Kanaval (Yzanakio Productions), Carol Kunnuk and Lucy Tulugarjuk’s Tautuktavuk (What We See) (Kingulliit Productions) and Zack Russell’s documentary Someone Lives Here, produced by Matt King and Andrew Ferguson.

Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry (Rhombus Media, Zapruder Films), Sophie Dupuis’ Solo (Bravo Charlie) and Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils (Rhombus Media, Ego Film Arts) round out the top 10 features list.

The shorts list includes Alisi Telengut’s Baigal Nuur – Lake Baikal; Gaby’s Hills by Zoé Pelchat; I Used to Live There by Ryan McKenna; Katshinau by Julien G. Marcotte and Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush; and Madeleine by Raquel Sancinetti.

Eric K. Boulianne’s Making Babies; Motherland by Jasmin Mozaffari; Mothers and Monsters by Edith Jorisch; Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto’s Sawo Matang; and Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie by Nicole Bazuin complete the shorts selection.

“These films not only showcase the depth of our homegrown talent, but also underscore the cultural richness of our nation and the many stories we have to tell,” said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey in a statement.

The films will be available at the TIFF Bell Lightbox from Jan. 25 to 28. Following their theatrical run, several titles will travel across Canada with TIFF’s Film Circuit programme.

Photo courtesy of Art et essai