Documentary Shorts | 77 Min
Language: English
Genre: Youth, Social Justice
Post-Film discussion at 5:00 PM

This screening showcases short films created by and for youth. These include the films of the participants in CJFF’s Youth Documentary Film Pilot Project. Over the summer, young filmmakers explored justice topics that matter to them, their families, and their communities, learning to research, interview, film, and edit their own stories. Made by young people and full of heart, these films offer fresh, honest perspectives and a hopeful look at the change the next generation wants to see.

Bam Beni
Short Film | 7 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Immigration, Belonging

In this reflective short, an immigrant youth thinks about what it means to belong and how hard it can be to find a place that feels like home. After arriving in Calgary, Beni finds community at 1919, a place where he feels supported and heard. It is a quiet, honest look at a young person finding his footing and making a home in a new city.

Director: Beni Mahoro
Country: Canada

Just Listen
Short Film | 8 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Mental Health, Youth Voices

Through candid interviews, young people and teachers speak openly about the parts of youth mental health that schools and communities ignore or misunderstand, and the barriers that keep youth from finding help. They also look at what peers overlook or get wrong, and at the realities that many adults never see. The film asks what it takes for support to feel safe, and to actually help.

Director: Lenora Fisher
Country: Canada

TIFFIN
Short Film | 5 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Racism, Culture and Identity

Most of us agree that racism is wrong, yet it can live on in small, everyday moments, like an offhand remark, a lazy assumption, or a laugh at someone else’s expense. This short film asks how easily those moments become routine, and how a line meant as harmless fun can chip away at another person’s culture and sense of self.

Director: Saina Johar
Country: Canada

Butter Chicken To Go
Short Film | 12 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Belonging, Labour

Three South Asian delivery drivers work Toronto’s winter dinner rush, carrying a cuisine Canadians love to a country that does not always welcome the people who make it. Through intimate portraits, the film asks what it means to belong when your presence is both essential and contested.

Director: Prajj
Country: Canada

King’s Court
Short Film | 20 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Friendship, Identity

Two lifelong friends from Toronto’s Bleecker Street neighbourhood spend their days on and off their favourite basketball court. Blending documentary and fiction, the film follows two young men as they navigate love, friendship, family, and the search for identity and acceptance.

Director: Serville Poblete
Country: Canada

Bannock is Love
Short Film | 11 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Indigenous Culture, Food and Community

Family, friends, and community gather around bannock in this film about food as a carrier of Indigenous identity, memory, and connection. Stories passed across generations show how cultural traditions nourish the spirit and the future of a people as well as the body.

Director: Tyra Delver
Country: Canada

RE/ROUTE
Short Film | 9 min
Language: English | Subtitles: English
Genre: Urban Design, Community

Documentary footage and collage set two visions of city life side by side. One is shaped by cars, productivity, and individualism, the other by connection, leisure, and inclusion. As real streets turn surreal, the film asks how urban design shapes communities, relationships, and the future.

Director: Gabrielle Côté
Country: Canada

BE EARLY! CJFF is entirely free, so we open a few extra spots to make sure our seats are full. Registration does not guarantee a seat, so please arrive early. Seating is first come, first served!

Film and schedule information: https://justicefilmfestival.ca/cjff-2026-films