BiTS

Blood in the Snow Laurels for Award Winners

THE 2022 BLOODIES AWARDS

Congratulations to all of our award winners!

BEST PICTURE:
Relax, I'm from the Future
Luke Higginson - Director
Tim Doiron and James van der Woerd - Producers

BEST SHORT FILM:
Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice
Director - Zacharias Kunuk

BEST DIGITAL SERIES (web series, music video or TV series):
Shadow of the Rougarou
Jordan Waunch - Director

BEST LEAD ACTING PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE:
Cassandra Naud - Influencer

BEST LEAD ACTING PERFORMANCE IN A SHORT FILM:
Blakely David - Darkside

BEST SUPPORTING ACTING PERFORMANCE IN A SHORT FILM:
Daniel Coo - Vicinal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTING PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM:
Gabrielle Graham - Relax, I'm From the Future

BEST DIRECTOR:
Berkley Brady - Dark Nature

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Kurtis David Harder and Tesh Guttikonda - Influencer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
David Schuurman - Influencer

BEST EDITING:
Amelie Labreche - L'Inhumain

BEST SPECIAL FX (makeup):
Daniel Baker, Chris Cooper - The Breach

BEST POSTER:
Matthew Therrien - Cult Hero

BEST MUSICAL SCORE:
Adrian Ellis - Cult Hero

ISABEL BADER THEATRE LINEUP

Films will screen at The Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto with Q&A to follow.

After-parties will take place following each screening at the Tranzac Club starting from 9:30 pm to close.

DJ D-ROCK on Opening Night, DJ Johnny Revelation on Friday and Saturday.

Lineup Quick View

Purchase Pass

2022 AWARD NOMINATIONS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21st

7:00 pm
THE PROTECTOR (Dir. Lenin M. Sivam) Canadian Premiere, 93 mins Trailer
After being released from a correctional facility and moving to a small town, Evelyn struggles and searches for meaning that is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious book about a powerful God who brings peace wherever he goes.

Opening with the short film:
THE RIGHT ONE (Dir. A.J. Demers) 4:47 mins
A woman works dark folk magic in hopes of finding her lost sister.

9:30 pm
INFLUENCER (Dir. Kurtis David Harder) Canadian Premiere, 92 mins
While struggling on a solo backpacking trip in Thailand, social media influencer Madison meets CW, who travels with ease and shows her a more uninhibited way of living, but CW's interest in her takes a darker turn.

Opening with the short film:
MY SOUL TO TAKE (Dir. Laura Vandervoort) 13:35 mins
After a year filled with hopelessness, low self-esteem and loneliness, Quinn retires for the night in her downtown high-rise. A software update on her phone appears and is accepted without hesitation. An update, which summons her into a dream world of antiquities and powerlessness.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd

7:00 pm
BITS & BYTES: WEB SERIES PROGRAM Total program 105 mins
A feature length program of highlights of the best Canadian horror and sci-fi digital programming:

CREEPY BITS CHAPTER 5: PITTER PITTER (Dir. David J. Fernandes) 3 mins
Frank follows tiny footsteps around a closed school at night.

CCF'S SOLSTICE STORIES (Dirs. Kai Damali Little-White and Marel Alemany) 6:05 mins
During a 3-day summer solstice weekend in the woods, four teens discover a mysterious chest with five gifts, five stories, and one warning—don’t sleep. Together, they must unravel this mystery and stay awake if they hope to make it to the final sunrise.

FIRST KILL CLUB (Dir. Tyler Belluz) 6:29 mins
A world-wide cult consisting of their members performing a single, random act of murder for a single granted wish.

HURTS SO BAD (Dir. Paula Vergara) 3:32 mins
Music video for Bella Rosa.

THE FOREST KING (Dir. Lubomir Arsov) 19:58 mins
A young boy's desire for success and status in a VR game leads him into a terrifying new reality.

VRDLK: FAMILY OF VURDULAK (Dir. Samuel Chou) 13:16 mins
VRDLK: (pronounced Vor-Du-Lac) centers around a traveling diplomat that is caught in a snowstorm and forced to take shelter with a poor Serbian family.

BE MY VICTIM (Dir. Cary McKnight) 5:02 mins
New single from Toronto's only heavy metal horror band BLOOD OPERA - "Be My Victim" featuring all new voice over from Tony Todd.

CREEPY BITS CHAPTER 6: SOUL SUCKER (Dir. David J. Fernandes) 5 mins
Lina is interrogated about the brutal and possibly supernatural death of her boyfriend.

SHADOW OF THE ROUGAROU (Dir. Jordan Waunch) 39:33 mins
“Shadow of the Rougarou” is an energetic and gripping supernatural thriller that uses horror elements and traditional Métis storytelling to tell the tale of Sâkowêw, a westward bound Métis-Cree fur trapper called back home to rally recruits for the 1885 NorthWest Resistance. Ambushed in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains by a hostile group of American Wolfers and stalked by an ancient evil deep within the woods, this young Métis woman must unravel the truth of her past if she is to return to her childhood village alive.

9:30 pm
L'INHUMAIN (THE INHUMAN) (Dir. Jason Brennan) Toronto Premiere, 85 mins Trailer
Mathieu is a brilliant neurosurgeon whose perfect life is falling apart. Impending divorce, job loss, substance abuse, and a mid-life crisis are all factors that can cause him to go off the rails. In addition, the sudden death of his father forces him to return home to Anishinaabe territory, a place he has tried to avoid since his youth.

Opening with the short film:
ADD TO WISH LIST (Dir. Navin Ramaswaran) 10 mins
When an avid online shopper stumbles upon a loophole for free products, he quickly discovers that the orders aren’t being sent by mistake – and the most sought-after product of all is actually him.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd

7:00 pm
FUNNY FRIGHTS & UNUSUAL SIGHTS Total program 94 mins
A feature length program of our horror comedy shorts and things generally on the lighter side of death:

ITTY BITTY IZZY (Dir. Ryan Couldrey) 6:30 mins
After being shrunk down to 1/10 their size by a malfunctioning video game, Izzy must find a way to undo their shrinkage before they're turned into cat food.

THE LAST CHRISTMAS (Dir. Ryan Port) 11:37 mins
A mischievous 8-year-old girl unleashes a twisted Christmas nightmare, when her plans to capture Santa Claus go horribly wrong.

THE HUNTERS (Dir. Kevin Reeves) 2:53 mins
Two hunters run into trouble in a remote, wintry part of Northern Ontario.

BANQUET ON THE BEAGLE (Dir. Joel Van Dyk) 5:56 mins
The mostly true story of Charles Darwin’s historic voyage to the Galapagos Islands, and the culinary delights that followed aboard the HMS Beagle.

DAMNED SUPPER (Dir. Ariel Hansen) 8:14 mins
On Halloween a group of wannabe witches conjure up more than they bargained for during their dumb supper.

FIELDTRIP (Dirs. Soren Bendt, Paul Arion) 20:30 mins
A science fiction short movie about a man in a robotic spacesuit, who crashes into his own minefield and has to navigate through it.

DEATH & THE MYSTERIES OF RAISING POWERFUL CHILDREN (Dir. Joel Richardson) 13 mins
An absurd celebration of pop culture parenting that finds a way to make animal sacrifice fun again.

OLDTIMERS (Dir. Brian Quintero) 15 mins
Two associates finally get together during the holiday season to reminisce on their past glory days, hash out their differences, and rejoice by embracing a new, disturbing legacy.

SECRET SANTA (Dir. Lynn Kristmanson) 10:20 mins
Robin is Santa's biggest fan. It's Christmas Eve and Robin has hatched a plan to stow away in Santa's sleigh and hitch a ride to the North Pole. Won't Santa be surprised! But it's Robin who’ll be getting the surprise. Robin is about to find out that you should never meet your heroes.

9:30 pm
CONTROL (Dir. James Mark) Canadian Premiere, 92 mins Trailer
Locked in a mysterious room, commanded by an unknown voice, Eileen must complete several tasks in order to save her daughter’s life. As the tests and the stakes intensify Eileen discovers unexpected skills. Armed with new confidence and powerful force, alone against an army, she plans a daring escape…

Opening with the short film:
SECOND LIFE (Dir. Darrin Rose) 8:24 mins
After she is abandoned by her human husband, a robot replacement wife discovers she lived a violent second life she didn't know about.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24th

7:00 pm
DARK VISIONS Total program 87 mins
A feature length program of our darkest, creepiest and weirdest films at Blood in the Snow:

GONE (Dir. Randy Daudlin) 12:43 mins
An unsuspecting housewife is grabbed outside a grocery store and wakes inside a plywood cell, the prisoner of a silent captor with a dark agenda.

INSIDE (Dirs. Alex Chung, Giulio Calisse) 6:31 mins
A young woman faces her stalker with whom she's inexplicably switched bodies with.

FIRST BLOOD (Dir. Olivia Loccisano) 7:51 mins
A teenage girl goes through a bizarre transformation after she gets her first period.

REGALO (Dir. Fernando Derpo Dalayoan) 10:20 mins
A family member visits Canada from the Philippines: strange occurrences happen!

FIND ME (Dir. Scott Weatherall) 13 mins
While working from home during lockdowns, Vanessa sees a young girl playing outside who leads her into a very dangerous game.

THE FARAWAY PLACE (Dir. Kenny Welsh) 11:31 mins
The Faraway Place is a fantasy/horror about a young woman and her father, both of whom have horns, living in the forest. Meanwhile, a violent cult hunts them down in order to eradicate their kind.

THE UNDERTAKER (Dir. Sergei Kibus) 13:10 mins
Undertaker Adrian, a gloomy and silent man, didn’t have much of a laugh. One day he made a joke and invited his dead clients to a housewarming party, the joke turned out to be his last one.

DIASPORA (Dir. Tyler Mckenzie Evans) 16:08 mins
In a Black suburb, a couple begins to notice that their neighbours are disappearing and white people are moving in, they soon discover something much darker is happening.

9:30 pm
POLARIS (Dir. KC Carthew) Toronto Premiere, 90 mins Trailer
A young girl raised by a polar bear pursues her destiny after escaping capture by brutal warriors intent on killing her mother. Set in 2101, against the backdrop of a subarctic wasteland, SUMI narrowly escapes capture and stumbles across FROZEN GIRL, and an unlikely friendship is forged. Together they race towards the only guiding light Sumi knows, the POLARIS star.

Opening with the short film:
ONE OF THOSE GOOD LIVES (Dir. Joseph Carney) 8 mins
When the young, white and unencumbered Steve (Sean Depner - Riverdale, Deadly Class) is hit by a truck, he awakens in a cavernous and decaying opera house.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25th

7:00 pm With Open Captioning and ASL Interpreter
DARK NATURE (Dir. Berkley Brady) 85 mins Trailer
Joy Higgins—a survivor of domestic abuse—invites her friend Carmen Bazzoli on an Indigenous-led women’s weekend retreat in the Canadian wilderness, led by Joy’s group-therapist, Dr. Rachel Dunnley. It tells the story of a therapy group that is forced to confront the monsters of their past when an isolated weekend retreat tests their emotional resilience and ability to survive.

Opening with the short film:
FISHBOWL (Dir. Ryan M. Andrews) 12 mins
Fed up with the limelight, a rock legend hides out at the apartment of an overzealous fan. But he will soon learn that he can’t hide from his struggles with addiction and his enabling wife forever.

TICKETS GOING FAST 9:30 pm
RELAX, I'M FROM THE FUTURE (Dir. Luke Higginson) Toronto Premiere, 90 mins
CASPER, a charming, but embarrassingly underprepared Time Traveller, now trapped in the past befriends HOLLY, a jaded drifter, she helps him exploit his trivial knowledge of the future for a series of quick payouts, oblivious to the consequences they have set in motion. When DORIS, a more competent Time Traveller, tracks them down, Casper and Holly are forced to figure out if the future they’ve threatened is even worth saving.

Opening with the short film:
THE FALL (Dir. Desirae Witte) 2:51 mins
Leafie is a plucky little maple leaf who loves to groove. But when their latest performance takes an unexpected turn, the harsh realities of the season come crashing down.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH

7:00 pm
THE BREACH (Dir. Rodrigo Gudiño) Toronto Premiere, 92 mins Trailer
Counting down his last days as Chief of Police in the tiny town of Lone Crow, John Hawkins must investigate one last case when a mangled body with uncanny wounds washes up on the shores of the Porcupine River.

Opening with the short film:
MOTHER TONGUE (Dir. Shelly J. Hong) 5:12 mins
Grace has always harboured resentment towards her mother for abandoning her. After years of avoidance, Grace returns to her childhood home for answers when her daughter starts to exhibit unusual behaviour. But, the confrontation doesn’t go as Grace imagined and she comes to understand her mother had a story she never knew. A fever dream exploring the effects of immigration on families and their relationships.

TICKETS GOING FAST 9:30 pm
CULT HERO (Dir. Jesse Thomas Cook) Toronto Premiere, 94 mins Trailer
Manager-summoning control freak Kallie Jones attempts to rescue her husband from a "wellness center" with the help of a washed-up expert Cult Buster.

Opening with the short film:
NOT ANOTHER SERIAL KILLER (Dirs. Angela Hanna Goulene, Alessandro Russotti) 9 mins
Meet Tessa Fey. She’s cute, smart … there’s just one tiny problem, however -- every guy she attracts is a serial killer.

For the schedule of our industry events please go to: deadly exposure

SUPER CHANNEL LINEUP

Films will screen on

with Q&A to follow.

Lineup Quick View

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21st

12:00 am EST (9:00 pm PST)
MOURNFUL MEDIUMS (total program 88 mins)
Not too short, not too long! A shorts film program of the best in Canadian medium length shorts:

VICINAL (Dir. Andrew David Osborne) 19:59 mins
Thom and Romina have just scored the coolest apartment in the city. When a former tenant, an eccentric older man named Walter Severich, shows up and asks for a tour, things start to get really strange

SPARK (Dir. Camille Hollett-French) 18:55 mins
When a disillusioned woman is implicated in the disappearance of a lonely aging scientist, she must convince the police that hope has the power to bridge dimensions.

ALIENATION (Dir. Ray Raghavan) 13:57 mins
A young Mexican girl and her mother, separated in the forest, are hunted by Border Patrol agents and something even more sinister.

THE FORE-MEN (Dir. Adrian Bobb) 14:32 mins
Weeks after a mysterious time-compression event violently splices environments from the past into the present, two survivors encounter the foreboding figures responsible for the event and experience firsthand their sinister nature.

ANGAKUSAJAUJUQ - THE SHAMAN'S APPRENTICE (Dir. Zacharias Kunuk) 20:57 mins
A young shaman must face her first test—a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill. Facing dark spirits and physical challenges, she must trust her mentor and grandmother's teachings and learn to control her fear.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd

12:00 am EST (9:00 pm PST)
EMERGING SCREAMS (total program 88 mins)
A feature length program of new or first time Canadian genre directors:

GNAW (Dir. Rosalee Yagihara) 7:10 mins
A pesky hangnail sends Cote into an obsessive state while creating a disconnect her relationship with her girlfriend resulting in an unsettling terror.

LECON DE CONDUITE (DRIVING LESSON) (Dirs. Maxime Girard) 10:58 mins
Looking for adrenaline during a driving lesson, Léa and Florence decide to spy on their friend's mother.

FOLK (Dir. Gabriel Miron) 13:00 mins
Late on Halloween night, a girl is harassed by young trick-or-treaters with a sinister agenda.

SMILEY FACE (Dir. François Ricard-Sheard) 9:22 mins
Three young women experience the nightmare of being devoured by a humanoid creature.

444 (Dir. Alexandre Nachi) 16:40 mins
Inside a house he doesn’t recognize, with a family he doesn’t know, a young man tries to make some sense of what is happening to him. Everything keeps changing, his mind is sick. ''Trust the protocol'' is all he can do.

L'ABATTU DES VENTS (THE WIND DOWN) (Dir. Félix-Antoine Garneau-Chouinard) 5:25 mins
Alone on a secluded island, a lightkeeper is a prisoner of his own madness.

STITCHED UP (Dir. Keisha James) 4:51 mins
Two friends find themselves in a fight for their lives when a sewing machine comes to life.

CRUISE (Dir. Sam Rudykoff) 6:44 mins
We’ve all received scam phone calls, but what about the person making the calls? Cruise is a dark workplace satire about a hapless telemarketer trying mightily to give away a free cruise. And if he fails, there will be dire consequences.

THE CRADLE (Dir. Massimo Meo) 3:28 mins
An angry mob interrupts a witch as she prepares breakfast for her collected children.

DARKSIDE (Dir. Spencer Zimmerman) 10:52 mins
After a devastating tragedy, an astronaut struggles to complete his interstellar mission to rescue a lost crew.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd

12:00 am EST (9:00 pm PST)
THE RESIDENTS OF ARCADIA (Dir. Dom Cutrupi) 83 mins
Steve and Anika are two social media influencers and entrepreneurs, living an accomplished and ideal life. One night, a man breaks into their backyard, disrupting the peaceful life they had created. The ensuing fear culminates with the appearance of a mysterious countdown on screens and mirrors throughout their home. As the countdown approaches zero, it reveals the true nature of what is hiding behind their perfect lives.

Opening with the short film:
VIEWFINDER (Dir. Tiffany Wice) 4:30 mins
During a night time photoshoot, a photographer encounters a mysterious entity.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24th

12:00 am EST (9:00 pm PST)
SHIFTED (Dir. Adrian Konstant) 89 mins
Strange murderous creatures roam the streets. A group of neighbors are trapped inside a house. Leaving means certain death. How are they going to survive when someone inside the house starts killing the others? Trapped between a monster inside and monsters outside. Who is going to save you when the world has Shifted?

Opening with the short film:
ZOMBIE CRISIS HOTLINE (Dirs. Nathaniel Goselwitz, Jarred Datu) 10:51 mins
Zombie Crisis Hotline follows a group of agents who undergo hilarious misadventures of operating a call center during a zombie apocalypse. While the newest agent, Sam, tries to find success in the twisted corporate landscape or face termination.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25th

12:00 am EST (9:00 pm PST)
THE DEVIL COMES AT NIGHT (Dir. Scott Leaver) 98 mins (World Premiere)
A washed up boxer searching for his inheritance must fight for his life when he is trapped in his deceased father’s farmhouse by a local cannibal cult.

Opening with the short film:
MINDFUL MEDITATION (Dir. Louie La Vella) 2:24 mins
A woman connects with an entity during a guided meditation.

2:00 am EST (11:00 pm PST)
CRYO (Dir. Barrett Burgin) 108 mins
Trapped in an underground facility, five scientists wake from cryogenic sleep with no memory of who they are or how long they've been asleep for. They soon make a shocking realization: a killer is hunting them down there, and even may be hiding among them.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH

12:00 am EST (9:00 pm PST)
FOLLOW HER (Dir. Sylvia Caminer) 94 mins
Jess Peters, a struggling actress and live streamer, has finally found her hook: secretly filming creepy interactions she encounters via online job listings, and using the kinks of others to fuel her streaming success. For her next episode, she’s been hired to write the ending of a screenplay in a remote, lavish cabin. Once there, the alluring self-proclaimed screenwriter hands her a script in which the two of them are the main characters. This client isn’t what he seems, and even though the money is great… the real payment here could cost her life.

Opening with the short film:
CONSUMER (Dir. Stephanie Izsak) 12:13 mins
Tortured by toxic beauty standards, thirteen-year-old Rein discovers an unconventional and disturbing way to lose weight. She thinks she's found a fast track to perfection...but ends up biting off more than she can chew.

2:00 am EST (11:00 pm PST)
CURSE OF AURORE (Dir. Mehran C Torgoley) 90 mins
A “Dark Web” thumb drive reveals footage of three American filmmakers in rural Quebec researching an historic child murder case. After witnessing several disturbing paranormal occurrences, they attempt to communicate with the spirit of the child.

For the schedule of our industry events please go to: deadly exposure