Films galore this month at Sudbury’s Indie Cinema

April will be a busy month at Sudbury Indie Cinema, with an international documentary film festival to kick things off, followed by film fundraisers, books turned into films and the premieres of four new Canadian films.

10th Edition of Junction North International Documentary Film Festival, which brings together award-winning documentaries, including the Oscar winner, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, and emerging voices.

Having grown into a Canadian Screen Awards-qualifying festival, this year the programme will feature three Canadian, four continental, and three global premieres, as well as four in-person Q&As with incredible filmmakers. A third of this festival has never been shown on a Canadian screen before.

Opening Night Thursday, April 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man

Northern Ontario premiere; Audience Choice Feature at ImagineNative

From DCG Discovery-Award winner Trevor Solway, an intimate look at Indigenous masculinity.

True North, Northern Ontario premiere

An astounding work of archival filmmaking from Michèle Stephenson, who brings a forgotten moment of pivotal Canadian history to life, unearthing Montréal’s untold role in the Black Power movement.

2026 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature

A gripping documentary following a Russian teacher who, horrified by the spread of state propaganda in his school and community, risks everything to become an international whistleblower.

Closing Feature, Sunday, April 12 at 4 p.m.

Northern Ontario Premiere; 2026 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature

A profile of the first elected councilwoman of a remote Iranian village who fearlessly breaks patriarchal traditions, training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages.

For tickets and passes: sudburyindiecinema.com/jnff.

Wednesday, April 15-6 and 8:15 p.m.

In celebration of National Canadian Film Day, CION and Sudbury Indie Cinema present The New Romantic and Mile End Kicks.

Starting at 6, in celebration of the upcoming Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards (NOMFA), CION presents the 2019 NOMFA winner, Sudbury-shot romantic comedy The New Romantic with free admission. NOMFA programming will also be announced at the event.

Then at 8:15 p.m., sponsored by Sudbury Credit Union, the Indie presents Mile End Kicks from Chandler Levack, director of I Like Movies as our Indie fundraiser, with the first 50 tickets free.

Saturday, April 18, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party — Easter Edition

Join us for the Easter edition of our Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party, featuring three hours of retro cartoons and commercials and unlimited bowls of cereal.

book club at 1 p.m., film at 6 p.m.

Sudbury Indie Cinema and Greater Sudbury Public Library present Page-to-screen: Howl’s Moving Castle.

Sudbury, you’ve been asking for it and we’re finally delivering … with a slight twist.

“Join Sudbury Indie Cinema in partnership with the library as we launch a book club dedicated to books with film adaptations,” a release said. “Read the book or watch the movie, and join us as we discuss the differences and similarities between the two. Our first film will be Howl’s Moving Castle.”

The book club is free to join. To get a copy of the book, email Brittany.McNamara@greatersudbury.ca.

Sudbury Indie Cinema, in partnership with Nickel City Roller Derby, presents a special screening of Les Furies.

This special screening of Les Furies is your chance to meet Sudbury’s roller derby players; $5 from every ticket sold will go toward supporting Nickel City Roller Derby.

About the film: Quebec’s first all-female sports comedy, Les Furies follows an unlikely group of women who form an underground roller derby team after the local women’s hockey league is pushed out of the arena by a semi-professional men’s team.

Celebrate Canadian Films at the Indie, with four new Canadian features opening.

• Les Furies opens Thursday, April 2

See synopsis in above section regarding roller derby fundraiser.

• Middle Life opens Thursday, April 16

Starring July Talk singers Leah Fay Goldstein – Canadian Screen Award-nominated for her starring turn in Diamond Tongues – and Peter Dreimanis, who made his screen debut in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.

• Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie Opens Thursday, April 16

A feature spun out of Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s epic Canadian web series, following the duo as they travel back in time to revisit their younger selves and imagine what might have been if they had played that coveted Rivoli gig.

• Montreal, ma belle, opens Thursday, April 23

A deeply emotional family drama and May–December lesbian love story starring Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks, Lust, Caution). It is a landmark in queer Asian diaspora cinema and the first theatrical feature to centre a repressed Chinese lesbian protagonist.

For tickets, visit sudburyindiecinema.com.