Skip to content
Accessibility
On the road
Road films are never just about the trip; they're also about the transformation that happens along the journey. Here's a selection of films about being en route and occasionally veering off-course.
New – A ride of a lifetime
A Motorcycle Saved My Life
Join director lori lozinski on the open road in this delicate and personal ode to the complexities of grief, familial influence and the trip towards loving oneself.
-
100 MilesLouis Bodart 2022 1 minAre we there yet? When the kids act up in the back seat, a family road trip gets knocked hilariously off course.
Produced as part of the 13th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
WintopiaMira Burt-Wintonick 2019 1 h 28 minWintopia is an intimate father-daughter story and poignant search for the meaning of utopia. Following the quick and tragic death of Peter Wintonick, Canada’s “documentary ambassador to the world”, his daughter Mira Burt-Wintonick dives into her father’s obsession with untangling the contradiction that is utopia. The remains of his unfinished film and several hundred hours of raw footage shot over 15 years leads Mira to surprising places and connections with her father, compelling all of us to live life with purpose.
-
Snow WarriorKurt Spenrath & Frederick Kroetsch 2018 8 minSnow Warrior is a love letter to the splendour of winter. It captures the beauty of a northern city through the eyes of a bicycle courier named Mariah. We see her ready herself and her bike for a gruelling day’s work of racing through the snow and traffic to get her deliveries into the hands of her customers.
-
The Last KeyJulien Capraro 2017 23 minA young immigrant arrives in Canada from France—and brings his Citroën 2CV with him. The iconic post-war car stands out on the streets of Vancouver, and before long he meets up with a group of like-minded car buffs. In Julien Capraro’s documentary short, Franck, Lionel, Harjeet and Johnny Mac, who are busy preparing for an upcoming antique-car show, explain how these vehicles not only evoke nostalgia for a past era but are also a powerful marker of identity and a link between two cultures. Produced as part of the Tremplin competition, in collaboration with ICI Radio-Canada Télé.
-
Bus StoryTali 2014 10 minThis funny short animation was written and created by Tali (At Home with Mrs. Hen) and is inspired by the filmmaker’s misadventures as a school bus driver in the Eastern Townships. Our protagonist dreams of becoming a bus driver in order to cruise down quiet country lanes and connect with nature, her young charges and their parents. But her idyllic view of her new job is sorely tested after she meets her surly boss, named Killer, and discovers that winding roads can prove treacherous in winter, especially with a faulty clutch. Through her cheeky humour and oblique look at the reality of people living in the Quebec countryside, Tali delivers a film that is unique, witty and touching.
-
A Motorcycle Saved My Lifelori lozinski 2022 12 minIn A Motorcycle Saved My Life, the open road presents a point of departure for director lori lozinski to process deep-seated grief. Revisiting the formative experiences that drove her ambition, lozinski examines the influence of her parents in the present light of day
-
My Prairie HomeChelsea McMullan 2013 1 h 16 minIn this feature documentary-musical by Chelsea McMullan, indie singer Rae Spoon takes us on a playful, meditative and at times melancholic journey. Set against majestic images of the infinite expanses of the Canadian Prairies, the film features Spoon crooning about their queer and musical coming of age. Interviews, performances and music sequences reveal Spoon’s inspiring process of building a life of their own, as a trans person and as a musician.
Official selection at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. -
Finding DawnChristine Welsh 2006 1 h 13 minAcclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh brings us a compelling documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy – the epidemic of missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The film takes a journey into the heart of Indigenous women's experience, from Vancouver's skid row, down the Highway of Tears in northern BC, and on to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of these women remain unsolved.
-
Big DriveAnita Lebeau 2011 9 minThis short animation film tells the story of a family road trip across the Canadian prairies set in the 1970s. In an era before in-car movies and video games, 4 sisters squeeze into the back of the family car for a long journey. While the parents keep a steady watch on the road ahead, restlessness gradually gives way to mayhem in the car’s close quarters. Just before the ride becomes unbearable, the sisters are inspired to combine their creative energy and the big drive becomes an even bigger adventure.
-
Vanishing PointStephen A. Smith & Julia Szucs 2012 1 h 22 minThis feature documentary tells the story of 2 Inuit communities of the circumpolar north—one on Canada’s Baffin Island, the other in Northwest Greenland—that are linked by a migration led by an intrepid shaman. Navarana, an Inughuit elder and descendant of the shaman, draws inspiration and hope from the ties that still bind the 2 communities to face the consequences of rapid social and environmental change.
-
Reema, There and BackPaul Émile d'Entremont 2006 52 minFilmmaker Paul Émile d'Entremont's documentary presents Reema, a lively and sensitive young girl confronted with difficult questions about her identity. After spending the first 16 years of her life with her Canadian mother, Reema re-connects with her Iraqi father by spending 2 months with him in Jordan. On returning home to Nova Scotia, she realizes she will always have a double identity, and that it is both a burden and a treasure.
-
Exiles in LotuslandIlan Saragosti 2005 1 h 10 minThis feature documentary tells the story of 2 teens who head out west in search of self. Like a quarter of Vancouver’s itinerant youth population, Mélo and Ti-criss made the trip from Quebec, hopeful for a better life. Still minors, the pair seeks escape and adventure, perhaps the meaning of life. From east to west, from the streets to a hotel, with a welcome interlude in the country, they seek their place in society.
-
On the Road with La MouettePhilippe d' Hauterive & François Aubry 2001 52 minThis feature documentary follows Le Théâtre de La Mouette, a travelling puppet theatre company comprised of a husband, his wife and their 3 teenage sons. The family has crossed Canada from east to west, and north to the Yukon, taking their amusing play (with a serious ecological message) to remote towns and villages. This film traces their 7th trip in 10 years, this time to the Maritimes and Newfoundland.
-
REW-FFWDDenis Villeneuve 1994 30 minIn this film by Denis Villeneuve, a young photographer is on assignment in Jamaica. It's a cultural shock! First anguished, he later becomes quite fascinated by the people he meets, their neighbourhood and their music.
-
Jack Kerouac's Road - A Franco-American OdysseyHerménégilde Chiasson 1989 54 minPart documentary, part drama, this film presents the life and work of Jack Kerouac, an American writer with Québec roots who became one of the most important spokesmen for his generation. Intercut with archival footage, photographs and interviews, this film takes apart the heroic myth and even returns to the childhood of the author whose life and work contributed greatly to the cultural, sexual and social revolution of the 1960s.
-
Pukaskwa National ParkBill Mason 1983 17 minThis short documentary by Bill Mason explores Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Superior, providing a background of the park's geological past and plant life. The film also shows scenes of hiking, canoeing and camping. The result is to put us back in touch with the natural elements that our ancestors both fought and enjoyed.
-
Travel LogDonald Winkler 1978 9 minThis short, experimental road movie is a study in mystery and atmosphere. Juxtaposing photographs on the screen with a woman's words, the film tells the story of a couple who drifts apart, of a journey with no return. Introspective and haunting, this mood piece is a travel album about intimacy and dispossession.
-
The RailrodderGerald Potterton 1965 24 minThis short film from director Gerald Potterton (Heavy Metal) stars Buster Keaton in one of the last films of his long career. As "the railrodder", Keaton crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to Keaton's genre, the film is full of sight gags as our protagonist putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the old days of the silent slapsticks.
-
Trans Canada SummerRonald Dick , Jack Olsen , … 1958 56 minThe camera follows the Trans-Canada Highway from east to west, revealing the people, the resources and the geography of Canada. Included are some of the engineering feats accomplished in the building of the highway.
