National Canadian Film Day: advert-top-1 by Leo Burnett Toronto

Canadian actress Sandra Oh is starring in a promo film for National Canadian Film Day in which she plays a woman who is unable to lie.

Aptly titled “The Woman Who Can’t Lie,” Oh plays the role of Esther Parks, a woman who is literally incapable of lying since doctors say “the part of her brain that filters thoughts is missing.”

Throughout the short film, her inability to lie puts her in some awkward, albeit amusing, situations. At one point, she says to a woman with a gummy smile that she thinks her “lip to gum ratio” is fascinating. Later in the film, she tells a man she’s just slept with that his lovemaking skills are subpar.

While the majority of the film is just Parks hurling insults at people, her lying deficiency comes in handy at the end when she gives her honest opinion of the films she saw at National Canadian Film Day.

“I saw the films. They’re fantastic,” she says, promising attendees that they won’t be disappointed.

The film is one of two promos for National Canadian Film Day, which takes place on April 19 this year. A second film, called “The Man Who Was Always Late,” stars Canadian actor Vinay Virmani. In the video, Virmani plays Abe Verma, a man that was “born eleven days late” and couldn’t even manage to make it to his own funeral on time. Despite having a biological clock that’s “permanently jet lagged,” Verma tries his hardest to make a National Canadian Film Day screening – only to be disappointed when he arrives and realizes he’s one day late.

“Don’t be like Abe,” a voiceover says at the end. “Join us April 19th.”

Both promo films were created by Leo Burnett Toronto for Reel Canada, the nonprofit that hosts the annual film event. Since 2017 marks Canada’s 150th anniversary, this year’s film day will honor the country by putting on more than 1,500 screenings in schools, theatres and public squares across Canada and in consulates and embassies around the world.