PEIA new series in Charlottetown, Beyond the Frame, is shining a spotlight on Canadian films often overlooked by mainstream audiences and highlighting stories from underrepresented communities.Beyond the Frame at City Cinema plans monthly films through next yearThinh Nguyen · CBC News · Posted: Nov 16, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Nathan Lacroix is the curator of the Beyond The Frame film series, which he launched on P.E.I. to bring diverse Canadian stories from underrepresented communities and filmmakers to the Island. (Thinh Nguyen/CBC)Since moving to P.E.I. nearly a decade ago, Nathan Lacroix has watched the Island grow more diverse, and he wants local movie screens to reflect that change.Lacroix, a film enthusiast who has also worked in the Island’s movie industry, launched Beyond the Frame, a series aimed at showcasing Canadian stories from underrepresented filmmakers and communities.“Just because some movies don’t have those million-dollar budgets doesn’t mean they’re not good movies,” Lacroix told CBC’s Island Morning.“We have very talented Canadian directors and producers who deserve their spotlight.”LISTEN | Beyond The Frame film series:Island Morning7:10Beyond The Frame film seriesA new film series is showcasing Canadian stories from underrepresented communities and filmmakers. Beyond The Frame curator Nathan Lacroix joins us to talk about the project and what audiences can expect.The series kicked off this week with Village Keeper — the story of a Black mother and widow living in Toronto trying to protect her children from neighbourhood violence — shown Thursday at City Cinema.Starting in January, Lacroix plans to host one screening each month until the end of August.Celebrating queer, BIPOC filmsTo get the project off the ground, Lacroix received support from the Canadian Independent Screen Fund, which helps BIPOC creators.He said the lineup will include films from Black and Indigenous people, as well as those from the queer community.“Those films and stories don’t always get to be told and seen here [but] more and more they’re being created,” he said.Lacroix hopes the screenings will not only give Islanders access to a wider range of Canadian stories but also attract attention from potential funding partners.“Funders can see that, ‘Hey, these films are good. Communities here are liking them. We can fund them more,’” he said. “A lot of the time, films are mainly funded through organizations. So… they can know that these are deserved to [be] made.”To select movies for the series, Lacroix attended events like the Toronto International Film Festival and the Lunenburg Doc Fest, which he said help curators like him discover Canadian films.The Beyond the Frame film series kicked off this week at City Cinema with a screening of the Canadian drama Village Keeper. (Travis Kingdon/CBC)He also finds movies through distributors like the National Film Board that give him access to catalogs of local independent filmmakers. He tries to watch two or three films a week as part of his curation process.Many of these independent works, he noted, aren’t widely known.“They can sometimes be hard to find just because… they’re not in the big movie theatres. So you might not hear about them, you know might not see them being in the big marketing campaigns that other big movies have,” he said.Beyond simply screening films, Lacroix said some events will feature Q&A sessions with the filmmakers, giving Islanders a chance to connect directly with the people behind the stories.With files from Island Morning
Island film series brings diverse Canadian stories to P.E.I. screens
