WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28
6:30PM
Small World Centre
180 Shaw Street, Unit 101
Toronto, Ontario
ACCESSIBILITY
Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Open Captions
Harrison Houde / 2026 / French, English / Canada / 90 min / Toronto Premiere
TOPIC: ADDICTION, FAMILY, OPIOID CRISIS
TYPE: FILM
CONTENT WARNING: Drug usage
Tight Lettuce is a rare look at the darkly comic side of drug addiction and the toll it takes on everyone involved. The film follows Joel (Dakota Daulby) as he attempts to balance life with his partner (Christie Burke), his mother (Maxim Roy), his grandmother (France Castel), and his father, Bodo (Emmanuel Bilodeau).
Bodo has been struggling with an opioid addiction for most of his son’s life, and hasn’t been able to hold down a job or a place to live. Based on a true story, the film flips the script on the usual story of parents caring for children in the throes of addiction. Despite relying on Joel for his stability and support, Bodo’s relationship with his son is filled with real love and affection, and Joel never stops believing he can get his father’s life back on track.
The beauty of Harrison Houde’s debut feature (co-written by Daulby) is that, while Joel may think love is enough, it’s clear the situation isn’t quite that simple or clean-cut. With charismatic performances from its two leads, Tight Lettuce is an unvarnished look at what addiction can do, and how life rarely offers easy answers or simple cures.
— Emma Badame, Rendezvous with Madness 2026 Film Programmer
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Canadian Screen Award winner Harrison Houde began acting on Vancouver Island before expanding into directing, writing, and music. His Cannes-debuted short I Dare You and festival-hit Cafe Racer led to a feature debut with Tight Lettuce. Known for his quirky, genre-bending style, he works between Canada, LA, and Tokyo as a true multi-hyphenate.
WITH SHORT FILM ——— Terminal —— Alexandre Siqueira | 2026 | Portugal, France, Spain | Animation | 17 minutes | Catalan, Portuguese with English Subtitles
Jorge, a man in his fifties, returns to his mother’s house after more than thirty years traveling the world.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Alexandre Siqueira is a animation filmmaker, illustrator and teacher. Since 2000, Alexandre has developed, directed and collaborated in several shorts and
features animated films, TV shows, music videos and illustration projects. In 2019 he
directs Purpleboy, a multi-awarded short animated film presented in more than 200 festivals. Terminal is his last film.
CO-PRESENTERS
PANEL DISCUSSION
CAMILLE
ALIZADEH
Founder of Lived Collective
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Camille Alizadeh is the founder of Lived Collective, a community and therapeutic space honouring the lived experiences of mad and neurodivergent people. With a background in clinical psychology, her work focuses on integrating lived experience into mental health practice, challenging systemic barriers, and creating spaces that nurture diverse experiences of madness.