Born and raised on the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people in Truro, Nova Scotia, Wayne Burns is carving a space for himself in Canadian screens, stages, and scripts. That creative journey continues to extend on the international scene with his latest feature-length project Longing, directed by Savi Gabizon and starring the likes of Richard Gere, Suzanne Clément, and Diane Kruger. The plot unfolds after the sudden discovery by Gere’s Daniel Bloch that he is the father to a long-estranged son who has just died. Bloch’s journey to unravel the life and death of his son pinballs through the psychological labyrinth of the people who knew him, including Burns’s character Mikey. Longing is a Hollywood remake of an Israeli film by the same name and director, which was released in 2017, the same year that Burns was named “Breakthrough Theatre Artist” by NOW Magazine.

L: Wayne Burns. R: Poster for Longing

The trajectories of his careers in film, theatre, and as a writer come together to reveal an artistry deeply inspired by the sharp edges of storytelling and characters that embody more than what meets the eye. Burns has also released his latest short film, fastLOVE, which was screened in Toronto this fall.

Wayne Burns — Cannopy asked me to compile a list of my top ten favourite Canadian films in anticipation of my latest film, Longing, where I’m featured opposite Golden Globe® Winner, Richard Gere. I had a difficult time ranking these, so here they are in no particular order. I have a penchant for darkness, intensity, and stories about people who exist on the edges of society. These films continue to influence my performance style and the projects I gravitate towards.

1. Blackbird by Jason Buxton takes place in a juvenile detention center. I auditioned for this movie several times and finally booked it after I shaved my head for another project. This was the film that started it all. Not only did this film help me get my ACTRA card, but it laid the foundation for how playful and free shooting something like this can be—especially with Jason at the helm. One of my favourite scenes is the ping pong ball moment which all happens in one shot.

   

2. Elliot Page is a huge inspiration to me, and one of my favourite films of his is The Tracey Fragments by Bruce MacDonald. The images of a young woman wearing a shower curtain on a city bus are burned into my mind. I loved how tragic and messy it all felt, like scraped knees in dirt. Elliot’s performance in this film continued his string of damaged characters hellbent on justice, like in Hard Candy and Mouth to Mouth. Bruce MacDonald is a genius and this made me a lifelong fan.

   

   
   

3. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Kelly McCormack last year in LA, and I was effusive about my love of her film Sugar Daddy. The costume design by Mara Zeigler was impeccable, the music by Montreal artist Foxtrott was haunting and gorgeous, and the performances felt so frenzied and grounded at the same time. I loved the choices that director Wendy Morgan made, which really juxtaposed the reality and the fantasy of making music—it falls perfectly in line with my curiosities about the stories we tell ourselves as artists.

   

   
   

4. Ashley MacKenzie is someone I’ve admired for a long time, and her film Werewolf surpassed all my expectations. Not only did she craft a devastating look at people trying to survive on the fringes of a small Nova Scotian town, but she got incredible performances out of her cast. I will never forget the hospital sequence where Blaise tries to get help from a doctor. Having grown up in rural Nova Scotia myself, these people are all too familiar.

   

   
   

5. Xavier Dolan’s films are featured on many people’s lists, and for good reason. I saw Mommy at TIFF when it premiered at the festival in 2014. I had just graduated from theatre school and was starting to explore filmmaking myself. Xavier is someone who, out of the gate, felt assured as a filmmaker, and watching this piece, which is so claustrophobic and violent in only the ways a mother and son can understand, was absolutely brilliant. That moment when the frame changes from 4:3 to 16:9 is iconic. No wonder Adele nabbed him.

   

   
   

6. Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs is another hard watch, up there with the best of them. Violence has never felt so operatic and beautiful. It’s not for the faint of heart, but the message of survival is potent and visceral. From the first moment of a little girl escaping from a building to the final ascension, I couldn’t look away. The growing theme here is I am fascinated by the ways in which people hurt one another, and this movie takes that to the next level. Truly an unforgettable piece of work.

   

   
   

7. Les 7 jours du talion (7 Days) is a hard watch. I found this on DVD in Montreal and became obsessed with it. It’s a raw and unflinching story about a father who wants justice from the man who murdered his daughter, and the lengths he goes to achieve it. Despite the intense violence that takes place, I found myself drawn into the father’s transformation from a grieving parent to a vengeful monster to an empty shell. It’s a powerful performance from Claude Legault and one that I think of often.

   

   
   

8. The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open by Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is exceptional cinema. The elusive one-shots orchestrated by Norm Li, the deeply nuanced and almost documentary-style performances by Elle-Máijá and Violet Nelson, and the lavish use of colour and sharp editing by Adrian Dark is next level. This is a quintessential film for me, and one that deftly navigates lateral violence and the pitfalls of privilege in one fell swoop.

   

   
   

9. Kevin Funk’s masterful Hello Destroyer continues to do just that. Destroy me. It’s a dark, meandering, violent (go figure), and masculine ode to adolescence. It feels like an underage drunk stumbling home at 3 AM. The party sequence lives in my mind rent-free and I became obsessed with Jared Abramson’s career after this. It makes sense that Kevin moved to directing music videos after this because his world-building felt like an apex predator. I’m not a huge sports fan, but this is what small-town hockey looks like in my mind.

   

   
   

10. I watched Anthony Shim’s Rice Boy Sleeps on the plane back from LA last year and wept. Granted, not the best screen to watch the film on, but its power came through. I have a deep relationship with my mother, and this film, although drawing on Anthony’s life, felt universal. There is a scene where the mother has to stand up for herself at work after being harassed by the men there which echoes profoundly. It doesn't help that I was reading Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner at the same time. Mothers, man, we don’t deserve them.