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A psychedelic doomscroll through the mind of a master Canadian politician by the trailblazing Winnipeg director. World premiere for Matthew Rankin’s NFB feature documentary Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney at TIFF’s Midnight Madness.

PRESS RELEASE
06/08/2026

August 6, 2026 – Toronto – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Matthew Rankin’s maximalist new National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature documentary Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney will have its world premiere as part of Midnight Madness at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, September 10 to 20, 2026.

In a genre-bending collage of Canadiana, Rankin remixes a wealth of archival material into a fever dream of politics, propaganda and pop culture as he charts the ascent of Canada’s 18th prime minister, Brian Mulroney, the “Boy from Baie-Comeau.”

TIFF’s showcase of some of the most bizarre and boundary-pushing works in contemporary cinema, Midnight Madness is a fitting home for the Montreal filmmaker from Winnipeg, whose visionary works—including the features The Twentieth Century and Universal Language—have won acclaim from audiences and critics around the world. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney is one of three NFB world premieres at TIFF. The festival is also presenting Carol Nguyen’s feature documentary Still Night, Burning House (Metafilms/NFB/Portage Films), as well as the September 16 launch of the NFB/TIFF short documentary initiative REDEFINED, featuring works by five next-generation filmmakers from across the country.

About Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney (105 min)
Producer: Pierre-Mathieu Fortin | Executive producer: Nathalie Cloutier
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/ladies-and-gentlemen-brian-mulroney 

Haunted by visions of the future. Vilified by the political establishment. Charming beyond belief. Behold the dazzling ascent of Brian Mulroney, the “Boy from Baie-Comeau” who built a brand-new Canada.

In 1976, Brian Mulroney launched a charm offensive the likes of which Canada had never seen, dismantling the political establishment one dad joke at a time.

In this psychedelic doomscroll through the mind of a master politician, filmmaker Matthew Rankin charts the flamboyant rise of Canada’s 18th prime minister. From the backwoods of Baie-Comeau to the backrooms of power, Mulroney plots his ascent, trouncing his enemies with a smile and preparing Canada for the unlimited prosperity and permanent unity we live in today.

In this genre-bending collage of VHS-ravaged Canadiana, Rankin remixes and reimagines 80,000 pieces of archive, chronicling Mulroney’s crash course with destiny as he clobbers Joe Clark and ushers in a new kind of conservatism for the 1980s. 

About the filmmaker 

Matthew Rankin was born in Winnipeg and studied Quebec history at McGill University and Université Laval. His work has been presented at TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, Annecy, the Berlinale, Cannes Critics’ Week and the Directors’ Fortnight, as well as on the Criterion Channel. His first feature, The Twentieth Century, won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival and his second feature, Universal Language, was awarded the 2024 Chantal Akerman audience award at Cannes and the 2024 Best Canadian Discovery Award at TIFF. His previous NFB work includes the multi-award-winning 2017 experimental animated short The Tesla World Light.

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Press release – PDF here.

Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 7,000 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 12 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.