In an underwater city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms – a treasure that she believes is an angel’s egg. A boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in his dream. At first it seems as if feelings of sympathy are developing between the two. Then, one night, the boy crushes her precious egg. Forty years after the film’s original release, GKIDS is proud to present an all-new 4K restoration of the film, which is being supervised by director Oshii, in cinemas nationwide for the first time. First released directly to home video in 1985, the film is a creative collaboration between internationally acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), who wrote and directed the feature, and revered artist Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D). The film beautifully intertwines Oshii’s thematic reflections on philosophy and theology, with Amano’s distinctive ink painting style, culminating in an arrestingly beautiful hand-drawn allegorical fantasy.

Lost and nihilistic drifter Utamaro chances upon Giko, a female-presenting shoplifter who immediately catches his eye. One thing leads to another and the couple soon find themselves on the lam for murder. This provides for a delightful pretext to explore notions of societal malaise, free love and gender fluidity in a rapidly evolving 1970s Japan, as both Utamaro and Giko begin to know each other on the road by way of a variety of encounters, alternating between surrealistic, psychedelic and sexual. The sole feature film directed by Isao Fujisawa, who learned his craft as an assistant director to Hiroshi Teshigahara on New Wave classics such as Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another, Bye Bye Love is a deeply personal reckoning with sexual identity. Bridging the distance between Pierrot le fou, Bonnie and Clyde and Funeral Parade of Roses with an impeccable sense of style, splashes of Godardian color as well as strong anti-imperialist and existentialist themes, this iconic jishu eiga (self-produced film) was long thought lost until recently shepherded towards restoration by director and programmer Akihiro Suzuki. A new landmark of Japanese queer cinema, it is now distributed in North America for the very first time in 50 years. “Anticipates the transgressive New Queer Cinema movies of Gregg Araki and Gus Van Sant...” — Luke Goodsell, Metrograph Content warning: This film contains scenes of violence and nudity. Welcome to Cult-O-Rama, our brand-new monthly screening series exploring beloved sleaze, trash, and underground cinema! A celebration of bad taste curated and introduced by Cinematheque Film Programmer Olivia Norquay. Presented in partnership with Sookram’s Brewing Co. Generously sponsored by IATSE 856 Manitoba.

The narrative directorial debut of Penelope Spheeris (Wayne’s World, The Decline of Western Civilization), Suburbia will kick your ass. Made for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures after Spheeris’ phenomenal success with Decline, this nuanced look at a patchwork family of punks banded together against their bad parents and shitty authority figures is made even radder by hammering live sets from SoCal hardcore squads D.I. and TSOL. Fuck the world. Content warning: This film contains scenes of violence, racism, and animal cruelty. Welcome to Cult-O-Rama, our brand-new monthly screening series exploring beloved sleaze, trash, and underground cinema! A celebration of bad taste curated and introduced by Cinematheque Film Programmer Olivia Norquay. Presented in partnership with Sookram’s Brewing Co. Generously sponsored by IATSE 856 Manitoba.

From renowned filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, Die My Love is a visceral and uncompromising portrait of a woman engulfed by love and madness. Anchored by a ferocious, tour de force performance from Jennifer Lawrence, and co-starring Robert Pattinson. The film follows Grace (Lawrence) and her partner Jackson (Pattinson), who have recently moved into an old house deep in the country. With ambitions to write The Great American Novel, Grace settles into her new environment, and the couple welcome a baby soon after. However, with Jackson frequently – and suspiciously – absent, and the pressures of domestic life starting to weigh on her, Grace begins to unravel, leaving a path of destruction in her wake. Based on Ariana Harwicz’s celebrated novel and co-starring Sissy Spacek, LaKeith Stanfield and Nick Nolte, Ramsay marks her eagerly-awaited return with this fearless new cinematic vision that charts the complexity of love and how it can change and transform over time.

What happens when a young and curious filmmaker challenges his creativity with the limitless possibilities of a fake A.I.? A surprising mix of various stories, from new and old times, about the original myth of Dracula: a vampire hunt, zombies and Dracula crashing a strike, a science-fiction tale about Vlad the Impaler’s return, an adaptation of the first Romanian vampires novella, a tragic romance, a vulgar folktale, A.I. generated kitsch stories... and much more! Content warning: Very vulgar and violent!

Freedom Road is a five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of Shoal Lake 40 Anishinaabe First Nation and their battle to build a road, after their community was forcibly relocated and cut off from the mainland over 100 years ago, so that water could be diverted to the city of Winnipeg. Director and Shoal Lake 40 member Angelina McLeod uses an innovative, community-driven approach to storytelling that highlights the community’s dignity, strength and perseverance, as they take back control of their narrative and their future in the process of building Freedom Road.

Returning to cinemas for it’s 40th Anniversary, in glorious standard definition and mono-sound, Monty Python delivers a scathing, anarchic satire of both religion and Hollywood's depiction of all things biblical with their 1979 feature film Life of Brian. Highly controversial upon its original release and banned in several countries, the film is now frequently ranked as the greatest comedy feature of all time by magazines and media outlets around the world. As Monty Python member Terry Gilliam says, “It rips bare and makes you laugh at the world we’ve created for ourselves.” Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah. When he’s not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python’s signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian’s life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.

Inspired by her own acclaimed documentary "Birth of a Family", Tasha Hubbard’s "Meadowlarks" tells the story of four Cree siblings, separated since childhood and now in their fifties, who agree to meet for the first time over a holiday weekend in Banff.

In 1974, acclaimed photographer Peter Hujar describes the routines and rituals that define an artist's life to his friend, the writer Linda Rosenkrantz, capturing a single day's activities in touching and funny detail: from interactions with cultural icons of the day, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Susan Sontag, to the texture and energy of downtown New York in its heyday. Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall star in the elegant and intimate new piece from filmmaker Ira Sachs (Passages) — a dazzling showcase for the two performers at its centre — that is both a masterful portrait of a time & place and a captivating film about the way art emerges from the intimate details of everyday life.

Leaders of iconic Indigenous basketball team, the Skidegate Saints as they compete for two titles - defending their championship title at the 2024 All Native Basketball Tournament, and the political title battle for their lands and waters.

Darren Aronofsky took the independent film world by storm with his fleetly edited techno-scored high style debut, shot on high contrast black-and-white reversal stock. Pi plunges the viewer into the manic mind of Max, a math prodigy living in a dingy Chinatown apartment who must protect his breakthrough research from the prying eyes of a Hasidic congregation seeking to unlock Kabbalah secrets and a Wall Street exec with dreams of using Max’s mind to make stock market billions. Join us for our Staff Picks series, where our Winnipeg Film Group staff select and introduce new and old favourites. This month’s selection was chosen by Distribution and Collections Coordinator Skye Callow. Generously sponsored by IATSE 856 Manitoba.

In 1897, in an alleyway located in the sordid neighborhood of Pigalle, an old chapel converted into a performance space was transformed into a theater steeped in naturalism, controversy, and macabre spectacles. Over the next 65 years, the Grand Guignol would provoke both repulsion and celebration in equal measure. Narrated by Barbara Steele and featuring state-of-the-art visual effects, Theatre of Horrors chronicles the sociocultural impact of France's most infamous creation. Plays with The Occupant of The Room Dir. Kier-La Janisse 2025, Canada, 31 min A school teacher's late-night arrival without a reservation at a hotel in the Alps leaves him with no other option than to accept the room of a missing guest, leading to a sleepless night full of strange and mysterious occurrences.

There, There tells the parallel stories of Ruth, an elderly woman with dementia obsessed with feeding the neighbourhood birds, and Shannon, her young homecare worker who is pregnant and has been deserted by the baby’s father. The two women find comfort in one another at these very different stages in their lives.

Igloolik, Nunavut, 2000 BCE. Teenage lovers Kaujak (Theresia Kappianaq) and Sapa (Haiden Angutimarik) were promised to each other at birth. After the sudden death of Kaujak’s father, her mother marries a man from another camp, tearing the two apart. The promise of a better life quickly turns to a nightmare, with aggressive suitors backed by an evil shaman vying to win Kaujak’s hand. But Kaujak resists, holding on to hope that Sapa will one day make things right.

A film about a film that was never made, this boldly original essay begins as an exploration of one man's obsession with catching the Zodiac Killer but quickly unfolds into an anti-true crime investigation into our cultural obsession with the genre. Against the backdrop of sun-drenched landscapes, deserted hallways and empty homes, T/F alumni Charlie Shackleton guides us through the film his team would have made, projecting a speculative narrative into our imaginations with irreverent humour and razor sharp precision. Zodiac Killer Project subverts the visual shorthand of evocative b-roll, “back-tors” and slow zooms to dissect and playfully turn the now pervasive genre on its head. A distinct and singular vision, this meta rollercoaster ride of a film is a richly layered examination of documentary ethics, implicating both filmmaker and audience.