WHY THE HOLLYWOOD OF THE NORTH FAILS TO MAKE RENOWNED MOVIES ABOUT ITSELF
By Felix Hughes
The Canadian film industry: The 'Hollywood of the 'North.' Such a comparison encapsulates the struggles of filmmakers across Canada.
While many producers flock to Vancouver or Toronto in search of tax incentives and a billion-dollar creative industry, Canadian movies rarely receive the international recognition expected from a nation with such a strong film industry.
At the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards – which recognises the very best of Canadian film – all nominated films had little impact overseas. Despite being the most successful movie in the awards history with 14 wins, Matt Johnson's Blackberry failed to garner an international release. Instead, it was released as a TV miniseries in America.
In 2023, Canadian films made up just 3% of Canada's box office and 60% of Canadian independent films failing to break even at the box office. As foreign filmmakers' dominate the cinematic production that occurs in Canada, Canadian filmmakers are being brushed aside and forgotten. In Quebec and other French speaking parts of Canada things are better but not significantly. This side of the industry experience a strong renewal in the 1960s when 350 films where made during a New Wave for French-canadian films, with a large focus on documentaries that captured the struggles of French-Canaidans. But, the Quebec industry has been beset by problems as of late, with half of all VFX and animation jobs in Quebec being lost during the Hollywood writers strike. Their have also been problems with funding from Telefilm Canada producing just $4 million, despite requests for $44 million from filmmakers.
An Identity Crisis
A large part of this issue is the lack of distinct identity in Canadian film. To Canadians, there are many distinct aspects of the country, and, in turn, there is a lot of unique filmmaking. But Canadian filmmakers don’t need to prove that to their fellow canucks, rather they must convince foreign audiences.
When asked about how they saw Canada, people around the world referred to it as "the European version of America," "a better America", or simply "a country north of the USA." Around the world, Canada is often continuously linked with America, and this psychological effect can impact international audiences. To audiences in America, Britain or wherever, there is no perceived difference between watching American and Canadian films from a cultural standpoint. To them, the settings are similar, the character archetypes are similar, and chances are, the plotlines are similar. For them, the films are cut from the same Western cloth. Yet, to the same international audience, a Korean or Bollywood movie does feel different because it is in stark contrast to Western filmmaking traditions, whether its differences in language or simply different filmmaking cultures.
Canada does not have that distinct identity. As a result, the talent it does produce heads to Hollywood. To illustrate this, we only need to look at some movies filmed at our own University of Toronto. A host of great pictures have been filmed here, from Good Will Hunting, Mean Girls and The Enemy, to TV shows like The Handmaid's Tale. Yet, of these movies, only The Enemy was a film set in Toronto, with the others all using the university for settings in America, reinforcing the stereotype that Canada is no different from the U.S. No film industry can grow a unique culture if its primary function is to initiate a different nation; this reinforces the idea that it is a safer bet at the box office for producers to make films about America set in Toronto than movies about Toronto made in Toronto.
Filmmakers Flock South
However, this only explains the struggle with Canadian movies to break out internationally. It does not explain why Canada does not produce enough filmmakers to inspire change.
Let’s examine the romantic feelings of many aspiring filmmakers. Take Steven Spielberg. When he was young, he was inspired by Hollywood hitters including The Day the Earth Stood Still or How Green Was My Valley. As a result, the second he was old enough, Spielberg headed to Hollywood because that's where he knew he wanted to make movies. In the same way, Christopher Nolan stated that the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me was one of the first films he remembered watching. Both directors were inspired by movies created by their own nation's film industries, which showed them that they, too, could make a great film in their home country. Such films don't exist for Canadian filmmakers.
While Dennis Villeneuve is a great Canadian filmmaker, Canadian movies are absent from the films he cites as key influences or favourites. And while young filmmakers may well be inspired by the movies of Villeneuve, it is fair to say that there is nothing distinctly Canadian about his work, with Enemy being his only film set in Toronto. How could you blame budding young Canadian filmmakers to feel disillusioned with an industry that does not appreciate their voice or national culture in the same way that British or American movies do.
To a young, aspiring Canadian filmmaker, very little out there shows you that you can succeed. That is not to say there are not successful Canadian filmmakers or that there are not great Canadian independent films, but these two are often not linked. Great Canadian directors like Villeneuve make their name in Hollywood rather than their native country.
While an aspiring American filmmaker may be inspired to run away to Hollywood and fulfill the dream they've seen play out in so many movies, or a Brit is inspired by a love of James Bond to make something equally stylish, no Canadian filmmaker seems to be inspired to run off to Toronto to pursue their dream.
Denis Villeneuve is the preeminent Canadian filmmaker working today yet there are few Canadian directors outside of him currently making a global mark.
Denis Villeneuve is the preeminent Canadian filmmaker working today; there are few Canadian directors outside of him currently making a global mark. Image courtesy of Kickass Canadians.
Problems at TIFF
The state of TIFF this year is further cause for concern. Traditionally, TIFF is second only to Cannes in terms of its influence on the film festival world. Yet, while many of the year's biggest films made it to the festival, very few premiered there. Films like Anora, The Brutalist and Emilia Perez, all tipped to compete for the biggest prizes at the Academy Awards, had already premiered months earlier and thus lacked hype. This gave the festival less gravitas than it had enjoyed previously and less weight in this year's awards race, a feeling further dampened when the film that won the People's Choice award, The Life of Cuck, set a release date for six months away, by which time any festival buzz it had will have long cooled off.
Furthermore, the Venice Film Festival ended two days into the Toronto Film Festival, When media should have been focusing on TIFF, their attention was still on the big films coming out of Venice, like The Room Next Door or The Brutalist. At a time when Canadian film needed TIFF to shine a light on its industry, it failed to live up to lofty expectations, making it feel no different to any other stop on the festival circuit.
TIFF is still one of the world’s biggest film festivals, but a lack of big premiers in recent years risks hurting its influence and minimising the power of the Canadian film industry.
TIFF is still one of the world’s biggest film festivals, but a lack of big premiers in recent years risks hurting its influence and minimizing the power of the Canadian film industry. Image courtesy of Destination Toronto.
The situation in which the Canadian film industry finds itself presents a host of challenges and a few simple solutions. Every nation's film industry struggles to create its own brand when unique movies are often less profitable and set aside for safe, well-known film formulas.
However, the landscape is not completely hopeless. Hundreds of great Canadian filmmakers are waiting for the opportunity to embrace their nation's identity and culture. If they are to do so, the focus must be on filming movies or TV shows in Vancouver, Toronto, or wherever they are set in these locations, not America.
Banner Image courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter