True North

Opens Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Please note that there are additional showtimes of TRUE NORTH that screen with open captions (on-screen display of dialogue and sounds). For those showtimes, click here.

Set against the backdrop of 1960s Montreal, TRUE NORTH unearths two pivotal but underrecognized events, the Congress of Black Writers and the Sir George Williams Affair, positioning the city as a powerful nexus in the global Black liberation movement. Through never-before-seen archival footage and intimate first-person testimonies, the film revisits a charged era of resistance, where Black students and activists challenged institutional racism that sparked reverberations across the globe.

Taking a hemispheric view of Black resistance, TRUE NORTH connects threads from the Caribbean, Canada, and the US, tracing the shared legacies of colonialism and state oppression. At the heart of the film are the voices of elders, who lived through this period and whose contributions have largely gone unrecognized. Their stories ground the film’s narrative, offering a rare and poignant perspective on the era.  Through their lens, TRUE NORTH becomes both an act of remembrance and a call to action for new generations.

Visually striking and emotionally resonant, TRUE NORTH is a love letter to 1960s Montreal and a radical reimagining of its place in history. With its bold artistic approach and commitment to truth-telling, TRUE NORTH invites audiences into an immersive experience that is as relevant now as it was revolutionary then.

Official Selection: TIFF, DOC NYC

  • Country USA, Canada
  • Language English and French with English subtitles
  • Running Time 96 minutes
  • Format DCP
  • Distributor Rada Studio
  • Director Michèle Stephenson

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.