Don’t miss our 2019 – 2020 season opener!

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love

A story of enduring love between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse, Marianne Ihlen. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield chronicles their relationship, from the early days in Greece to how their love evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
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Their love affair began on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960. Through never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with their friends and former colleagues, a portrait emerges of the woman behind the lyrics and the long-lasting influence she had on Cohen.

Broomfield himself was inspired by Ihlen. After a brief romantic dalliance with Broomfield in 1968, she encouraged him to make his first film. They remained friends until her death in 2016, three months prior to Cohen’s death. Much of Ihlen and Cohen’s story is made up of the time they spent apart, though Cohen continued to write to her after leaving Hydra to pursue his music career. “I was always escaping. I was always trying to get away,” Cohen expressed in an interview. The interviews in Words of Love are a tell-all of Cohen’s concerts and conquests, revealing the women in his life to be the source of many
of his songs.

But Ihlen was his longest-lasting influence. Famously, he wrote to her not long before her death: “Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine.” Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a remarkable and rare portrait of a love that lasted a lifetime, from its intoxicating beginning to its poetic end. While the proof of it will live on in Cohen’s songs, this documentary captures the time, place, and circumstance that ignited the heart of a soulful singer-songwriter.

97 minutes

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Can I Get a Witness

Wednesday, May 14th, 2024 | Sponsored by The Norwood Theatre

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In the not-too-distance future, we have solved all the world’s problems, mitigated climate change, eradicated poverty and achieved true trans-species equality. There’s just one catch… humans are only allowed to live to 50. In this low-tech future, teenage artists must bear witness to end of life ceremonies and make sure protocols are followed. It’s Ellie’s (Sandra Oh) daughter, Kiah’s (Keira Jang), first day on the job.

This film is a powerful look at personal grief, accepting death and kindness towards one another, asking the questions: What are you willing to do for the greater good? It was designed to be a commentary on societal expectations and the value of present-day living by talking about the fundamental truth of living, which is dying and the love and responsibility between a
parent and a child.

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Superboys of Malegaon

Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 | Sponsored by Muskoka Lawn Bowling Club

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Superboys of Malegaon is a film based on the life of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur filmmaker from the town of Malegaon. The residents of the town look to Bollywood cinema for a much-needed escape from daily drudgery. Nasir gets inspired to make a film for the people of Malegaon, by the people of Malegaon. He bands together his ragtag group of friends to bring his vision to life, thereby bringing a fresh lease of life into the town. The film is a poignant yet uplifting take on both filmmaking and friendship – and what happens when those two worlds collide.

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Drive Back Home

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025 | Sponsored by Hospice Muskoka

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In the winter of 1970, a cantankerous, small town plumber from rural New Brunswick, must drive his beat-up work truck to Toronto to get his estranged, gay brother out of jail after being arrested for having sex in a public park. At the insistence of their strong willed mother, the two brothers must make the 1000 mile trip back home together – discovering each other and themselves along the way.

This Canadian drama, starring Alan Cumming and Charlie Creed-Miles, is inspired by a true story.

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I’m Still Here

Wednesday, April 9th, 2025 | Sponsored by Chestnut Realty, Baysville

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One afternoon in 1971, Rubens Paiva, a former congressman and outspoken critic of Brazil’s newly instituted military dictatorship, was taken from his home in Rio de Janeiro by government officials, told nothing more than that he must give a “deposition” to authorities, and disappeared. Adapted from his son’s memoir, this overwhelming, richly realized political drama from Walter Salles stays tightly wedded to the perspective of Rubens’s wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), whose indefatigable search for the truth about her husband would stretch out for decade

2025 Academy Award Winner for Best International Feature Film (Brazil)
Nominee for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role ~ Fernanda Torres
Nominee for Best Motion Picture of the Year ~ Maria Carlota Bruno and Rodrigo Teixeira

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Shepherds

Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 | Sponsored by Robertson Financial

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Mathyas trades his life as an advertising executive in Montreal for a shepherd’s life in Provence. However, the harsh reality of pastoral life forces him to question his romantic vision of the profession. His encounter with Élise, a civil servant who has left her job, gives a new direction to the young man’s quest. Together, they embark on a transhumance with a flock of sheep in their care. Facing the challenges of the mountains, they begin to shape a new life for themselves.

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Goodrich

Wednesday, March 12th, 2025 | Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bracebridge

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Andy Goodrich’s (Michael Keaton) life is upended when his wife and mother of their nine-year-old twins enters a 90-day rehab program, leaving him on his own with their young kids. Thrust into the world of modern parenthood, Goodrich leans on his daughter from his first marriage, Grace (Mila Kunis), as he ultimately evolves into the father Grace always wanted.

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Flow

Wednesday, February 26th, 2025 | Sponsored by Muskoka Naturopathic Family Practice

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The world seems to be coming to an end, teeming with the vestiges of a human presence. Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world.

2025 Winner Golden Globe
Best Motion Picture, Animated

2025 Oscar Nominee for
Best International Feature Film (Latvia)
Best Animated Feature Film

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Treasure

Wednesday, February 12th, 2025 | Sponsored by Claudette Wheeler

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A father-daughter road trip set in 1990s Poland, TREASURE follows Ruth (Lena Dunham), an American music journalist, and her father, Edek (Stephen Fry), a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland. While Ruth is eager to make sense of her family’s past, Edek embarks on the trip with his own agenda. This emotional, funny culture clash of two New Yorkers exploring post-socialist Poland is a powerful example of how reconnecting with family and the past can be an unexpected treasure.

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Small Things Like These

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025 | Sponsored by Muskoka Audiology

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Small Things Like These takes place over Christmas in 1985, when devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) discovers startling secrets kept by the convent in his town, along with some shocking truths of his own. The film reveals truths about Ireland’s Magdalene laundries — horrific asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820s until 1996, ostensibly to reform “fallen young women.” Adapted from the Booker Prize nominated novel by Claire Keegan.

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Thelma

Wednesday, January 8th, 2025 | Sponsored by Dr. Stuart Robson

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Inspired by a real-life experience of director Josh Margolin’s own grandmother, THELMA shines the spotlight on a 93 year old as an unlikely action hero. In the first leading film role of her 70-year career, June Squibb portrays the strong-willed Thelma who gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.

2025 Nominee Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Movie

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