The Canadian Film Festival kicks off its 8th edition this Thursday, March 20th at the Royal Cinema. This year's line-up includes six features and over a dozen short films - all, as advertised, made by Canucks. Running the full gamut of genre fare to fictional dramas to documentaries, the festival offers Torontonians a glimpse of Canada's rising stars who were passed over by TIFF and Canada's Top Ten selection committees, for whatever reason.

This year's opening night film is Craig Goodwill's feature-length extension of his own short film, Patch Town, which screened in TIFF's Short Cuts Canada program in 2011. The feature is described as a surreal vision of faux Russian folklore and a sharp satire of contemporary consumer culture. For more on the festival's line-up and schedule, or to buy tickets, visit the festival's website.

The Canadian Film Fest runs March 20th to 22nd at The Royal.