For National Canadian Film Day, celebrate the excellence of Canadian filmmaking by checking out the Made in Canada playlist available to watch for free anywhere in Canada on J-Flix.
Explore TJFF’s curated movie playlists on J-Flix, their free streaming archive. Check back often because new films are added weekly!
J-Flix is a FREE digital initiative of the Toronto Jewish Film Foundation showcasing the rich legacy of Jewish content films from Canada’s leading presenter for almost 30 years. Over 100 curated titles are available for streaming including documentaries, feature length narratives, shorts, along with beloved archival films – all of which represent the global and inclusive flavour of TJFF programming.
Register for J-Flix for free on j-flix.com. Film selections available on J-Flix include these tiles, and more!
Selected titles:
Oh Spadina!
5 mins | Canada | 2021
Director: Shel Krakofsky
Language: English
A celebration of the early vibrancy of Jewish and Yiddish life in downtown Toronto.
A Picture of His Life
Directors: Dani Menkin, Yonatan Nir
Language: English
Winner of the Audience Award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Legendary Israeli wildlife photographer, Amos Nachoum, journeys to the Canadian Arctic to capture a photograph of a polar bear hunting underwater, his photo of a lifetime. As he undertakes the challenge, he tries to find inner peace.
Skate to Survive
48 mins | Canada | 2008
Director: Astra Burka
Genre: Documentaries
Languages: English, German, Dutch
Ellen Burka was a typical young girl in prewar Amsterdam. After the Nazis occupied the city, she and her family were deported to Westerbork and Theresienstadt, where she met her future husband. After coming to Toronto, Ellen made a career of figure skating, but hid her wartime experiences and background from her two daughters until they were teenagers. She coached her daughter Petra to a World Figure Skating Championship and revolutionized the sport through the artistry of another student, Toller Cranston.
The Wonder and the Amazement: Rita Briansky On Her Life in Art
40 mins | Canada | 2018
Directors: Janet Best, Dov Okouneff
Language: English
Montreal artist Rita Briansky has had her paintings displayed in museums across Canada, the United States, Norway and France. Growing up in a small lumber town in Northern Ontario and then in Montreal, Rita was always a loner and non-conformist by nature. Now at 92 years old, while still painting, she imparts her ideas and talent as a teacher to seniors, helping them live more productive lives. Filmmakers Dov Okouneff and Janet Best (A New Life on the Land) share her life story and ideas as well as her beautiful, reflective works in this life-affirming piece of Canadiana.
Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas
An offbeat, fun and intelligent film about how Jews redefined the Christmas season. Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas explores the Jewish songwriters—Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston and many others—who wrote the soundtrack to Christendom’s most musical holiday, and transformed the holiday from a religious to a secular and inclusive one. Using Toronto’s landmark Sea Hi Famous Chinese Restaurant as a backdrop, Weinstein’s film is a unique documentary, featuring rarely-seen archival footage, musical performances and interviews with contemporary writers and performers (even Jackie Mason and Mark Breslin make appearances), as well as connoisseurs of North American popular music.
