A graduate of the film programme at Toronto's Ryerson University (where he studied with avant garde filmmaker R. Bruce Elder, among others,) Bruce McDonald is a fan favourite in the world of independent Canadian film. His career actually began in high school, including one film that made $100 at a sc

Clever, Eclectic, Funny, Gritty, Pioneering, Playful, Representational, Witty

Pedro Costa has made digital works since the turn of the 21st Century due to a number of influences and philosophical premises. Through his 1997 film, Ossos (Bones), Costa shot on film and perfected a style of shadow and elision equal parts Bresson, Rivette, Ford and Tourneur. After working in the Li

Architectural, Beautiful , Bright, Collage, Contemplative, Egalitarian, Event, Experimental, Geometric, Gritty, Intimate, Joyful, Perceptual, Political, Quiet, Rhythmic, Rough, Severe, Spare, Spectral, Subtle

Lynne Ramsay has the qualities of a good ghost: she swings open doors and pulls back curtains, not to nag or threaten but just to remind the present of the values of the past. In her short career as a director and writer, Ramsay has brought a beautiful, slowed-down sensibility back into contemporary

Depressive, Gritty, Moody, Psychological, Urban, Young british/kitchen sink/free cinema

If Britain had a blacklist during the Thatcher era, Ken Loach was on it. Pound the pavement though he might, he couldn't persuade anyone to fund his films. His made-for-TV documentaries met with steep resistance -- in fact, his depiction of the 1984 coal miners' strike was banned outright. Why? Loach

British documentary movement, Gritty, Industrial, Intense, Political, Sincere, Violent, Young british/kitchen sink/free cinema