CBC’s fall season continues with highly anticipated premieres including three-part limited series BLACKBERRY (all episodes available Nov. 9) starring Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel, charting the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone; the final season of award-winning SORT OF (two episodes available weekly beginning Nov. 17) starring co-creator Bilal Baig; and four-part docuseries SWAN SONG (all episodes available Nov. 22), an immersive look at Karen Kain’s final year at the National Ballet of Canada
Hosted by comedian and author Rick Mercer upon its 30th anniversary, THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE recognizes the best in Canadian fiction on November 13 at 9 p.m. ET
International series include Seasons 1 and 2 of comedy-drama series YOUNGER (Nov. 1) from creator Darren Star (Sex and the City); Season 2 of drama CRIME (Nov. 10) created by Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and starring International Emmy® and BAFTA Scotland-winner Dougray Scott; the exclusive Canadian English-language premiere of drama SIX WOMEN (Nov. 17); and the third and final season of provocative drama HARLOTS (Nov. 24)
CBC Gem originals this month include Season 3 of FARM CRIME (Nov. 3), exploring the dark side of Canada’s agriculture industry, and offbeat queer comedy I HATE PEOPLE, PEOPLE HATE ME (Nov. 7) created by Bobbi Summers
Documentaries include MARIANNE & LEONARD: WORDS OF LOVE (Nov. 3) upon the sixth anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s passing; the exclusive Canadian premiere of ANOTHER BODY (Nov. 22) following a college student’s search for justice after a horrific online discovery; and award-winning ETERNAL SPRING (Nov. 29), bringing to life an unprecedented story of defiance
Canadian feature films include poignant family drama LE COYOTE (Nov. 10); SOUTERRAIN (UNDERGROUND) (Nov. 17) from director Sophie Dupuis (Chien de garde, Solo); and acclaimed film THE WHITE FORTRESS (Nov. 24) from Igor Drljača (The Stone Speakers, Krivina).
CBC FALL SEASON
BLACKBERRY (3×60, Drama, Rhombus Media and Zapruder Films)
All episodes begin streaming Thursday, November 9
Directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show), BLACKBERRY follows the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men who charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone. Seemingly overnight, the duo revolutionized the way people work, communicate and connect, with millions of people around the world addicted to their Blackberrys and the company completely dominating the market. That is, until some shady business dealings, personal grievances, and, perhaps most dangerously, the iPhone, devastated the company’s incredible success. Co-written by Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller and adapted from the book Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. BLACKBERRY originated at CBC, where Losing the Signal was optioned and developed over the course of four years as a feature film and extended three-part series that includes exclusive never-before-seen footage. The series stars Jay Baruchel (This Is The End, Knocked Up) as Mike, Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, A.P. Bio) as Jim, and Johnson as Mike’s friend and business partner Doug Fregin.
SORT OF Season 3 (8×30, Comedy/Drama, Sphere Media) *Final Season*
Two episodes available weekly beginning Friday, November 17
The third and final season shows Sabi Mehboob (co-creator Bilal Baig) coming to terms with feelings of grief and an unexpected sense of freedom following the death of their father. Without the constraints of living up to their father’s expectations Sabi confronts big questions about their identity, prompting some massive life choices. In a season that has the entire ensemble grappling with aftermaths, a rebirth comes in a sort of messy, sort of hopeful, sort of ‘Sort Of’ way.
SWAN SONG (4×60, Docuseries, Visitor Media, Mercury Films Inc. and Quiet Ghost)
All episodes begin streaming Wednesday, November 22
SWAN SONG is an immersive, character-driven series following Karen Kain’s final year with the National Ballet of Canada, as she steps into the role of director for the first time with a monumental new production of Swan Lake. Following Kain and a diverse group of dancers from the rehearsal room to intimate moments at home to the backstage chaos of the highest-stakes opening night in the company’s 70-year history, SWAN SONG cuts through the pristine images projected by the world of ballet to reveal the human stories, sacrifices, conflicts and triumphs that drive the dazzling artistry.
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ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL SERIES
YOUNGER Seasons 1 and 2 (24×30, Comedy/Drama, Hudson Street Productions, USA)
Begins streaming Wednesday, November 1
Forty-year-old Liza (Sutton Foster, Bunheads) is having trouble getting back into the working world until a chance encounter with tattoo artist Josh (Nico Tortorella, The Walking Dead: World Beyond) convinces her she looks younger than she is. Armed with a makeover from her best friend Maggie (Debi Mazar, Entourage) and a carefully crafted online identity, Liza passes herself off as a twenty-something and lands a job in the field of her dreams. Now she just has to keep the secret from her younger colleague Kelsey (Hilary Duff, How I Met Your Father) and her boss Diana (Miriam Shor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). Created by Darren Star (Sex and the City).
CRIME Season 2 (6×60, Drama, Buccaneer, Off Grid Film & TV, UK)
Begins streaming Friday, November 10
For the first time ever, the great Irvine Welsh—the colossus of Scottish fiction—turns his attention to a television drama series with a story adapted from his best-selling novel. As with his masterpiece Trainspotting, the streets of Edinburgh are the setting for Irvine Welsh’s Crime—the story of a tormented detective in a city on the edge of the abyss. Prepare to enter this dangerous world and the troubled mind of Detective Inspector Ray Lennox (International Emmy® and BAFTA Scotland® award-winner Dougray Scott)—a man engaged in his own disturbing battle, all while undertaking serious crime investigations in the glaring light of the public arena.
SIX WOMEN (6×60, Drama, Habanita Federation, France)
Begins streaming Friday, November 17
SIX WOMEN is the story of an unlikely combination of six women who come up with a wild idea: to hike up Dôme de la Lauze mountain, an impressive landmark that stands some 12,000 feet tall. On this magnificent backdrop, they rise to this crazy challenge, made even more acute by the fact that they are all affected, to some degree, by cancer. Despite the difficult mountain trails, exhaustion, discouragement, bickering and danger, the hikers’ shared adventure creates a lifelong bond between them. Received its World Premiere at 2023 Series Mania where Clémentine Célarié won the Best Actress award in French Competition.
HARLOTS Season 3 (8×60, Drama, Monumental Pictures, UK) *Final Season*
Begins streaming Friday, November 24
Margaret Wells (Oscar™ nominee Samantha Morton, In America, Sweet and Lowdown) struggles to reconcile her roles as brothel owner and mother to daughters Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay, Brave New World, Black Mirror) and Lucy (Eloise Smyth, Cyn, I Am Mortal). When her business comes under attack from Lydia Quigley (Oscar™ nominee Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread), a rival madam with a ruthless streak, Margaret must fight back even if it means losing her family and possibly her life.
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CBC GEM ORIGINALS
FARM CRIME Season 3 (6×20, Documentary, Big Cedar Films)
Begins streaming Friday, November 3
FARM CRIME is a true crime documentary series exploring the largely unseen dark side of Canada’s agriculture industry. Each episode examines a case that wouldn’t typically make the front page. Instead of kidnappings, cold cases and serial killers, the series examines the fascinating, lesser-known incidents that unfold in the margins – the fields, farms and unassuming small towns that dot the Canadian countryside.
Rare sheep gone missing. Potatoes sabotaged with sewing needles. A multi-million-dollar pigeon breeding Ponzi scheme. These are farm crimes, and they exact a real toll on rural victims who don’t always get their due. Farm Crime approaches these stories with respectful curiosity, focusing on the people at the centre of the incidents, seeking answers, closure and justice.
I HATE PEOPLE, PEOPLE HATE ME (6×15, Comedy, Loco Motion Pictures)
Begins streaming Tuesday, November 7
Perpetually disturbed by the world around them, two friends navigate their lives as outliers in Toronto’s queer community. This offbeat comedy explores queer identity in a time when queerness has not only been mainstreamed, but commodified. Creator and writer Bobbi Summers poses the question – who wants to fit in with society anyway? The series stars Summers and Lily Kazimiera and is produced by LoCo Motion Pictures with Lauren Corber, Evan Dell’Aquila, and Lisa Filipelli serving as executive producers.
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DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
MARIANNE & LEONARD: WORDS OF LOVE (102min, directed by Nick Broomfield, Canada/UK)
Begins streaming Friday, November 3
From acclaimed documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney, Battle for Haditha), MARIANNE & LEONARD: WORDS OF LOVE is an in-depth look at the relationship between the late musician Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The film received its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Audience Award at the 2019 Warsaw International Film Festival and the Documentary Award at the 2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival.
ANOTHER BODY (61min, directed by Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn, USA/UK) – as part of THE PASSIONATE EYE
*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
Begins streaming Wednesday, November 22
ANOTHER BODY is one of the most shocking documentaries of the year. Put yourself in the shoes of one university student as she discovers that her face has been pulled from her social media account and digitally altered to appear in an adult video without her consent. Determined to uncover how this happened and who the culprit is, she dives headfirst into the underground world of deepfake technology, where she discovers a society of men terrorising women—influencers, colleagues, friends. Official Selection at Hot Docs 2023 and winner of the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival.
ETERNAL SPRING (58min, directed by Jason Loftus, Canada) – as part of THE PASSIONATE EYE
Begins streaming Wednesday, November 29
In March 2002, a state TV station in China was hijacked by members of outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal was to counter the government narrative about their practice. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee.
He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea. Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, Eternal Spring retraces the event on its 20th anniversary, and brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance, harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution, and an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost.
An Official Selection at Hot Docs 2022 where it received both the Hot Docs and the Rogers Audience Awards, and winner of the Grand Jury Award as well as the prize for Social Issues & Current Affairs at the 2023 Banff World Media Festival Rockie Awards.
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CANADIAN FEATURE FILMS
LE COYOTE (89min, Drama, directed by Katherine Jerkovic)
Begins streaming Friday, November 10
A cook in his heyday, Camilo is now a worn-out fifty-year-old who works for a cleaning company in Montreal. However, Camilo wants to get back on track and an opportunity to recover his culinary passion finally presents itself. Everything is in place for this new beginning when Camilo receives a visit from his daughter Tania, with whom he had cut ties because of her drug addiction. She tells him that he is a grandfather and asks him to take care of the child while she undergoes her umpteenth rehab. The arrival of this grandson will upset Camilo’s plans. There will be a new beginning for him, certainly, but not as he imagined it. Winner of Best Narrative Feature Film at 2023 Venice Film Week and the Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature Award at the 2022 Whistler Film Festival.
SOUTERRAIN (UNDERGROUND) (97min, Drama, directed by Sophie Dupuis)
Begins streaming Friday, November 17
Maxime, a Val-d’Or native in his early twenties, works in an underground mine near his hometown. He shares his life between his girlfriend with whom he’s patiently trying to father a child and his childhood friend Julien, now disabled following a car accident caused by Maxime a year before. Since then, guilt eats him slowly as he intends to redeem himself, only to find Julien’s father on his path, slowing the process down. Through the daily life of these mine workers, SOUTERRAIN puts forward the contrast between the harshness of the setting of underground mines and the great humanity who work there. SOUTERRAIN had its world premiere at the 2020 Whistler Film Festival where Sophie Dupuis won Best Achievement (director).
THE WHITE FORTRESS (88min, Drama, directed by Igor Drljača, Canada/Bosnia)
Begins streaming Friday, November 24
In a rundown Sarajevo suburb, Faruk is an orphan who lives with his ill grandmother and spends his days foraging for scrap metal and dabbling in petty crime. One day he meets Mona, a timid teen from a politically powerful and affluent family. As Mona dreams of escaping the overbearing toxicity of her home life, she seeks refuge and opens herself up to Faruk, a boy from a world entirely different from her own. Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Pavle Cemerikic) and Best Original
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LIFESTYLE
ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY Season 29B (cont) Episodes 43-55 (13×60, Lifestyle, Naked Television, UK)
Begins streaming Wednesday, November 1
When homeowners are reviewing their quality of life and questioning the need to live in expensive and polluted urban spaces, ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY’s satisfying journeys of rural property searches and lifestyle changes have never felt more relevant. Having been on screen for twenty years, this heritage brand now focuses on escaping to the countryside in its broadest sense, presenting practical lifestyle content and constructive suggestions for the viewer, all the while capturing the seasonal beauty of the British landscape. A warm and knowledgeable cast of presenters helps a broad range of property hunters with differing budgets and wish lists.
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CBC SPORTS
Billie Jean King World Cup Finals
Streaming November 7 – 12
Formerly known as the Federation Cup and Fed Cup, this competition was launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation and is firmly established as the biggest team event in women’s sport. In September 2020, the competition was officially renamed in honour of 39-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King, who won it seven times as a player and four times as a captain (including once as a player-captain). It is now the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with a record 134 nations entering this year’s competition. The 12 nations, including Canada, who have qualified for the Finals will battle it out in Seville, Spain, for the most prestigious team prize in women’s tennis.
Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships
Streaming November 10 – 12
Taking place at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, UK, the Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships brings together gymnasts from more than 40 countries to compete in the pinnacle event in the discipline of Trampoline Gymnastics. Events include: Individual and Synchronised Trampoline, Double Mini Trampoline (DMT) and Tumbling.
Parapan American Games
Streaming November 17 – 26
The Pan and Parapan American Games are the largest multisport event in the Americas where the best athletes from all over the continent compete. Held every four years, this year’s Parapan American Games take place in Santiago, Chile where athletes from more than 40 countries are expected to participate across 18 Paralympic sport disciplines. The 17 sports include: para archery, para athletics, para badminton, boccia, para cycling (track and road), football 7-a-side, football 5-a-side, goalball, para judo, para powerlifting, shooting para sport, para swimming, para table tennis, para taekwondo, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis.
U Sports Fall Championships
Streaming November 1 – 25
Throughout November, CBC Gem is home to U Sports Fall National Championships including: women’s rugby (Nov. 1 – 5); women’s field hockey (Nov. 3-5); men’s and women’s soccer (Nov. 9 – 12); men’s and women’s cross country (Nov. 12); and the championship game for Canadian university football, the Vanier Cup (Nov. 25). The two teams facing off for the coveted trophy will be decided the week prior (Nov.18), at the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl, the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football.
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KIDS AND TWEENS
PEPPA PIG Season 2 (52×5, Kids, Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation, UK)
Begins streaming Friday, November 3
Peppa is a loveable, cheeky little piggy who lives with her little brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. Peppa’s favourite things include playing games, dressing up, days out and jumping in muddy puddles. Her adventures always end happily with loud snorts of laughter.
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THE BEST OF CBC
The Canadian streaming home of past and current seasons of hit CBC series including HEARTLAND, KIM’S CONVENIENCE, MURDOCH MYSTERIES, THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW, SCHITT’S CREEK and WHEN CALLS THE HEART, plus ARCTIC VETS, BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW, MR. D, PRETTY HARD CASES, THE PORTER, RUN THE BURBS, SKYMED, SON OF A CRITCH, SORT OF, STILL STANDING and TALLBOYZ, and classic CBC hits like BEING ERICA.
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COMING IN DECEMBER
BARDOT
BEST IN MINIATURE Season 3
DAS BOOT Season 4 (final season)
WAR & PEACE
YOUNGER Season 3
