Justin
Canadian independent genre media artists are supported and showcased at the annual Blood in the Snow Film Festival, a one-of-a-kind and inventive celebration of Canadian horror, genre, and underground movies. The BITS Cinema Festival is an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, that showcases and celebrates Canadian genre film and is attended by viewers, media, community partners, and the filmmaking industry.
BITS is back with more thrills and chills!
Beginning on November 21st, horror lovers may watch a new hybrid version of the event brought to them by Super Channel and Blood in the Snow.
Six of the festival’s films will air on Super Channel Fuse only, while nine more will be shown at the Isabel Bader Theatre.
The Blood in the Snow Film Festival (BITS), a one-of-a-kind and inventive presentation of current Canadian horror films, and Super Channel are thrilled to announce that a hybrid edition of the BITS film festival will return this November. The on-air section of the festival contains six horrific horror flicks and a selection of spine-chilling shorts for fans throughout the country to watch nightly on Super Channel Fuse from November 21 – 26, including the World Premiere of writer/director Scott Leaver’s The Devil Comes at Night. The Festival’s new in-theatre site, the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, will host screenings at 7 and 9:30 p.m. each night, showing an altogether fresh line-up of twelve programs comprising of nine features and chosen short film programs.
Polaris by KC Carthew, the sci-fi comedy Relax, I’m From the Future by Luke Higginson, Rodrigo Gudio’s The Breach, featuring music from the film’s producer, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, and Jesse Thomas Cook’s Cult Hero round out the festival.
Press Release Comments for BITS 2022
“We are proud to once again partner with BITS and present another selection of some of the best new horror films that Canadian independent genre cinema has to offer and bring them to a national audience,”
Don McDonald, President & CEO, Super Channel
“This is the biggest and most diverse lineup we’ve ever had for the festival, with 15 features and 54 short films playing over both platforms. We are so grateful to have had the support of Super Channel that hosted the festival during the pandemic, and we wanted to keep that relationship going to give fans multiple experiences of Blood in the Snow.”
“We really have the best of both worlds now with this incredible new 500-seat theatre for the best in-person experience possible and this great opportunity to have audiences from all across Canada join the festival as well on Super Channel.”
Kelly Michael Stewart, Festival Director and Founder of the Blood in the Snow Film Festival.
The following is the roster of features and shorter programs that are set to air weekly on Super Channel Fuse and in-person at the Isabel Bader theatre as part of BITS. All of the films, whether they are shown on television or in theatres, will only have one screening during the festival. Horror lovers are strongly encouraged to watch the films while they are still available. Every feature film at the festival will begin with a short film and be followed by a question and answer session with the directors.
Tickets for the upcoming lineup at the Isabel Bader Theatre are now available for purchase and may be done so on this page. The majority of television service providers in the United States provide Super Channel as a streaming service, in addition to making it available via Amazon Prime Video Channels and Apple TV+.
Monday, November 21
7 pm – The Protector (dir. Lenin M Sivam) 93 mins
After being released from a correctional facility and moving to a small town, Evelyn struggles and searches for meaning, but her search is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious book about a powerful God who brings peace wherever he goes.
9:30 pm – Influencer (dir. Kurtis David Harder) 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.
12 am ET / 9 pm PT – Mournful Mediums (88 mins)- Not too short, not too long! A short film program of the best in Canadian medium length shorts.
Tuesday, November 22
7 pm – BITS and BYTES (105 mins) – A feature length program of highlights of the best Canadian horror and sci-fi digital programming.
9:30 pm – L’Inhumain (dir. Jason Brennan) 85 mins
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.
12 am ET / 9 pm PT – Emerging Screams (88 mins)– A feature length program of new or first-time Canadian genre directors.
Wednesday, November 23
7 pm – Funny Frights and Unusual Sights (94 mins) – A feature length program of our horror comedy shorts and things generally on the lighter side of death.
9:30 pm – Control (dir. James Mark) 92 mins
Locked in a mysterious room and 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 to the point where succeeding seems impossible, Eileen discovers unexpected skills. Armed with new confidence and powerful force, alone against an army, she plans a daring escape…
12 am ET / 9 pm PT – 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.
Thursday, November 24
7 pm – Dark Visions (87 mins) – A feature length program of our darkest, creepiest and weirdest films at Blood in the Snow.
9:30 pm – Polaris (dir. Kirsten KC Carthew) 90 mins
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, a human-child raised by a POLAR BEAR, narrowly escapes capture from a brutal MORAD hunting party. When Sumi stumbles across FROZEN GIRL, an unlikely friendship is forged. Together they race ahead of the vindictive hunters towards the only guiding light Sumi knows, the POLARIS star.
12 am ET / 9 pm PT – 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 will they 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?
Friday, November 25
7 pm – Dark Nature (dir. Berkley Brady) 85 mins
Joy Higgins—a survivor of domestic abuse—invites her friend Carmen Bazzoli on an Indigenous-led women’s weekend retreat in the Canadian wilderness, helmed by Joy’s group-therapist, Dr. Rachel Dunnley. As they become more isolated on the trip, terrifying circumstances reveal there is more to survive than just their trauma.
9:30 pm – Relax, I’m From the Future (dir. Luke Higginson) 90 mins
RELAX, I’M FROM THE FUTURE follows CASPER, a charming, but embarrassingly underprepared Time Traveler, now trapped in the past. When he 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 Traveler, tracks them down, Casper and Holly are forced to figure out what they mean to each other and whether the future they’ve threatened is even worth saving. Will they embrace their fate, or do they have the courage to change it?
12 am ET / 9 pm PT – 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.
2 am ET / 11 pm PT – 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. They soon make a shocking realization – a killer is hunting them down and may even be hiding among them.
Saturday, November 26
7 pm – The Breach (dir. Rodrigo Gudiño) 92 mins
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.
9:30 pm – Cult Hero (dir. Jesse Thomas Cook) 94 mins
Manager-summoning control freak Kallie Jones attempts to rescue her husband from a “wellness center” with the help of a washed-up “Cult Buster” expert Dale Domazar.
12 am ET / 9 pm PT – 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.
2 am ET / 11 pm PT – Curse of Aurore (dir. Mehran C Torgoley) 90 mins
A “Dark Web” thumb drive reveals footage of three American filmmakers researching a historic child murder case in rural Quebec. After witnessing several disturbing paranormal occurrences, they attempt to communicate with the child’s spirit.
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