The 40th Toronto International Film Festival taking place September 10 to 20, 2015, revealed a lineup of bold Canadian works by filmmakers including Patricia Rozema, André Turpin, Anne Émond, Kazik Radwanski and Guy Édoin, documentarians Mina Shum and Avi Lewis, trailblazers Bruce McDonald, Guy Maddin and Philippe Falardeau, promising new work from Andrew Cividino, Adam Garnet Jones and Stephen Dunn, and an impressive first feature by renowned visual contemporary artist Mark Lewis. From hardcore horror and political comedy to intense dramas and true tales of bravery, Canadians continue to carve their own place in filmmaking.
The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film will be given to one of many outstanding Canadian filmmakers, with the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film being presented to the Canadian filmmaker with the most impressive debut feature film at the Festival. This year’s Canadian awards jury is composed of filmmaker Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction), Jacqueline Lyanga (Director of AFI Fest), and Ilda Santiago (Programming and Executive Director of Rio de Janeiro International Film
Festival).
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Born to be Blue. Robert Budreau, Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere (pictured above)
Born to be Blue is a reimagining of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker’s life in the 1960s. When Chet is cast to star in a film about himself, a romance heats up with his female co-star, the enigmatic Jane. But his comeback bid is derailed when his past returns to haunt him and it appears he may never play music again. Starring Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo.
Into the Forest. Patricia Rozema, Canada World Premiere
In a not-too-distant future, sisters Nell and Eva find themselves shuttered in their home. Surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest, the sisters must fend for themselves using the supplies and food reserves they have before turning to the forest to discover what it will provide. They are faced with a world where rumour is the only guide, trust is a scarce commodity, gas is king and loneliness is excruciating. And yet somehow miraculously, love still grows. Starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood.
Ville-Marie. Guy Édoin, Canada World Premiere
An actress shooting a movie hopes to reconcile with her son. A paramedic haunted by his past tries to stay the course, while a caring nurse keeps an eye on him from afar as she tries, at the same time, to keep an emergency room running. It is at the Ville-Marie Hospital that these four lives will take an unexpected turn. Starring Monica Bellucci, Patrick Hivon, Pascale Bussières and 2015 TIFF Rising Star Aliocha Schneider.
TIFF DOCS
Al Purdy Was Here. Brian D. Johnson, Canada World Premiere
Al Purdy was Canada’s unofficial poet laureate, though he admits he didn’t write a good poem until he was 40. He found his voice in an A-Frame cabin he built in Ontario’s Prince Edward County. Canada’s leading musicians and artists from Bruce Cockburn and Sarah Harmer to Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje come together to tell his story and celebrate his poetry.
Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr. Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard, Canada World Premiere
Omar Khadr: child soldier or unrepentant terrorist? The 28-year-old Canadian has been a polarizing figure since he was 15. In 2002, Khadr was captured by American forces in Afghanistan and charged with war crimes, including murder. After spending half his life behind bars, including a decade at Guantanamo, Khadr is released. This is his story, in his own words.
Ninth Floor. Mina Shum, Canada World Premiere
It started quietly when six Caribbean students, strangers in a cold new land, began to suspect their professor of racism. It ended in the most explosive student uprising Canada had even known. Over four decades later, Ninth Floor reopens the file on the infamous Sir George Williams Riot: a watershed moment in Canadian race relations and one of the most contested episodes in the nation’s history. Director Mina Shum (Double Happiness) locates the protagonists in clandestine locations throughout Trinidad and Montreal — the wintry city where it all went down. In a cinematic gesture of reckoning and redemption, she listens as they set the record straight.
This Changes Everything. Avi Lewis, Canada/USA World Premiere
Seven powerful portraits of community resistance around the world lead to one big question: what if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world? Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international bestseller and directed by her partner Avi Lewis, This Changes Everything is an affecting and hopeful call to action
Welcome to F.L. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, Canada World Premiere
Welcome to F.L. portrays a community of teenagers navigating their environment, identity and other questions of youth within their high-school world in a small town in Quebec. Learning to define themselves inside and outside school boundaries as they transition into the challenges of adulthood, they expose refreshing points of view filled with humour, philosophy and courage.
DISCOVERY
Closet Monster. Stephen Dunn, Canada World Premiere
Oscar Madly hovers on the brink of adulthood — destabilized by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality, and haunted by horrific images of a tragic gay bashing he witnessed as a child. A talking hamster, imagination and the prospect of love help him confront his surreal demons and discover himself. Starring 2015 TIFF Rising Star Aliocha Schneider and 2014 Rising Star Connor Jessup.
Fire Song. Adam Garnet Jones, Canada World Premiere
When a teenage girl commits suicide in a remote Northern Ontario Aboriginal community, it’s up to her brother Shane to take care of their family. Shane was supposed to move to the city for university in the fall, and has been trying to convince his secret boyfriend to come with him, but now everything is uncertain. Torn between his responsibilities at home and the promise of freedom calling him to the city, circumstances take a turn for the worse and Shane has to choose between his family and his future.
The Rainbow Kid. Kire Paputts, Canada World Premiere
Part gritty coming-of-age story, part episodic road film filled with magic realism, The Rainbow Kid follows Eugene, a young man with Down syndrome as he embarks on a life-changing adventure to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
River. Jamie M. Dagg, Canada/Laos World Premiere
In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant’s body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control. Starring Rossif Sutherland.
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
How Heavy This Hammer. Kazik Radwanski, Canada World Premiere
Erwin, a 47-year-old father of two, spends his time idly procrastinating between work and family, and is seemingly more engaged by playing a crude Viking computer game. His listless energy is contrasted on weekends by throwing himself into ‘old boys’ rugby matches. As Erwin’s marriage with his wife becomes increasingly compromised, something stirs inside him… or maybe something has stopped stirring.
My Internship in Canada. Philippe Falardeau, Canada North American Premiere
Guibord is an independent Member of Parliament representing a vast county in Northern Quebec who unwillingly finds himself in the awkward position of determining whether Canada will go to war. Accompanied by his wife, daughter and Souverain (Sovereign) Pascal, an idealistic intern from Haiti, Guibord travels across his district in order to consult his constituents and face his own conscience. This film is a sharp political satire in which politicians, citizens and lobbyists go head-to-head tearing democracy to shreds.
Our Loved Ones (Les êtres chers). Anne Émond, Canada North American Premiere
The story begins in 1978 in a small town on the Lower St. Lawrence, where the Leblanc family is rocked by the tragic death of Guy, found dead in the basement of the family home. For many years, the real cause of his death is hidden from certain members of the family, his son David among them. David starts his own family with his wife Marie and lovingly raises his children, Laurence and Frédéric, but deep down he still carries with him a kind of unhappiness. Our Loved Ones is a film of filial love, family secrets,
redemption and inherited fate. Featuring 2015 TIFF Rising Star Karelle Tremblay.
The Waiting Room. Igor Drljaca, Canada North American Premiere
Jasmin, once a successful actor in former Yugoslavia, now lives in Toronto with his second wife and young son. While juggling a construction job and a busy audition schedule, he dreams of re-launching an old televised stage show that made him famous in his homeland. When he is cast in a role that triggers recollections of the civil war, he is forced to reconcile his current reality with memories of his past success. From the team behind Krivina and In Her Place.
VANGUARD
Endorphine. André Turpin, Canada World Premiere
Thirteen-year-old Simone is trying to feel emotion again as a trauma survivor. Twenty-five-year-old Simone is a solitary woman trying to control panic attacks. Sixty-year-old Simone is an accomplished physician who gives a conference on the nature of time. The new film from celebrated director and cinematographer André Turpin intertwines the lives of three women in an intoxicating cinematic puzzle.
Hellions. Bruce McDonald, Canada Canadian Premiere
Strange trick-or-treaters plague conflicted teenager Dora Vogel at her isolated home on Halloween. Under siege by forces she can’t understand, Dora must defend both body and soul from relentless hellions, dead set on possessing something Dora will not give them. Set in a visually haunting landscape, Hellions redefines the boundaries of horror with its potent brew of Halloween iconography, teenage angst and desperate survival. Starring Chloe Rose.
No Men Beyond This Point. Mark Sawers, Canada North American Premiere
Sixty years ago, women began reproducing asexually, and now are no longer able to give birth to male babies. This deadpan mockumentary follows 37-year -old Andrew Myers — the youngest man alive —who is at the centre of a battle to save men from extinction. No Men Beyond This Point asks what would happen if only women ran the world.
WAVELENGTHS
The following feature films will screen as part of the Wavelengths program:
88:88. Isiah Medina, Canada North American Premiere
A digital cinema incendiary, Isiah Medina’s anticipated feature debut explodes with ideas about time, love, knowledge, poverty, and poetry, all erupting within a densely layered montage that is formally rigorous and emotionally raw. 88:88 (or –:–) is what appears when bills are paid after the electricity has been abruptly cut off, demonstrating that people who live in poverty live in suspended time.
88:88 will be preceded by Denis Côté’s short film May We Sleep Soundly.
The Forbidden Room. Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin, Canada Canadian Premiere
Honouring classic cinema while electrocuting it with energy, Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s grand ode to lost cinema begins (after a prologue on how to take a bath) with the crew of a doomed submarine chewing flapjacks in a desperate attempt to breathe the oxygen within. Suddenly, a lost woodsman wanders into their company to tell his tale of escape from a fearsome clan of cave dwellers, and we are taken high into the air, around the world, and into dreamscapes, spinning tales of amnesia, captivity, deception and murder, skeleton women and vampire bananas. Like a glorious meeting between Italo Calvino, Sergei Eisenstein and a perverted six-year-old child, created with the help of master poet John Ashberry, Mathieu Amalric, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Geraldine Chaplin, Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Maria de Medeiros, Jacques Nolot, Adèle Haenel, Amira Casar and Elina Löwensohn make up a cavalcade of misfits, thieves and lovers.
Invention. Mark Lewis, United Kingdom/Canada World Premiere
Shot in Paris, São Paulo and Toronto, Mark Lewis’ anthology of films captures the ever-changing textures of these cities through moving images of glass, light, shadows and reflections, offering homage to the City Symphony films of the 1920s, while also juxtaposing modernist architecture with the compositional structures of old master paintings.
Minotaur. Nicolás Pereda, Mexico/Canada World Premiere
Acclaimed Mexican-Canadian auteur Nicolás Pereda (Greatest Hits) returns to the Festival with this lovely, wraithlike fantasy that observes three thirty-somethings as they sleep, dream, read and receive visitors in a Mexico City apartment.
Free and open to the public during the Festival, the following Wavelengths Installations will be showcased at various venues throughout downtown Toronto:
Bring Me The Head of Tim Horton. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson World Premiere
Guided by the spirit of Maddin’s “Cuadecec Manifesto” (which calls for makings-of en masse), Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton is a strange and stirring behind-the-scenes look at Paul Gross’s new feature, Hyena Road. Shot on location at CFB Shilo near Brandon, Manitoba and in Aqaba, Jordan, the film summons psychedelic energy from the main event. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.
The Forbidden Room – A Living Poster. Galen Johnson World Premiere
Initially designed to promote Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, A Living Poster employs the same digital techniques used to create the text-based intertitles and treat the footage within the film. A looping collection of living, moving, morphing posters, it blurs the boundaries between poster and trailer and suggests an anachronistic collision between digitally corrupted video files and a damaged film print from the silent era forming a beguiling hybrid aesthetic of digital data loss and decaying analogue emulsion. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.
La Giubba. Tony Romano and Corin Sworn, Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere
The first major collaboration between Canadian artist Tony Romano and English-born, Toronto-raised Corin Sworn, La Giubba follows the intersections of five drifters over the course of two summer days in southern Italy. This installation is presented in partnership with Clint Roenisch Gallery (190 St Helens Ave, Toronto).
Stories are Meaning-Making Machines. Annie MacDonnell and Maïder Fortuné, France/Canada International Premiere
A live in-cinema reading at TIFF Bell Lightbox performed by Canadian artist Annie MacDonnell and French artist Maïder Fortuné which explores a new form of cinematic memory. Originally commissioned by Le Centre Pompidou’s Hors Pistes Festival, Paris.
Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys, Jon Cassar’s Forsaken, Paul Gross’ Hyena Road (Hyena Road: Le Chemin du Combat), and Atom Egoyan’s Remember are Canadian features previously announced in the Galas Programme.Film Festivals
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40th Toronto International Film Festival Reveals Canadian Films on Lineup
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival taking place September 10 to 20, 2015, revealed a lineup of bold Canadian works by filmmakers including Patricia Rozema, André Turpin, Anne Émond, Kazik Radwanski and Guy Édoin, documentarians Mina Shum and Avi Lewis, trailblazers Bruce McDonald, Guy Maddin and Philippe Falardeau, promising new work from Andrew Cividino, Adam Garnet Jones and Stephen Dunn, and an impressive first feature by renowned visual contemporary artist Mark Lewis. From hardcore horror and political comedy to intense dramas and true tales of bravery, Canadians continue to carve their own place in filmmaking.
The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film will be given to one of many outstanding Canadian filmmakers, with the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film being presented to the Canadian filmmaker with the most impressive debut feature film at the Festival. This year’s Canadian awards jury is composed of filmmaker Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction), Jacqueline Lyanga (Director of AFI Fest), and Ilda Santiago (Programming and Executive Director of Rio de Janeiro International Film
Festival).
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Born to be Blue. Robert Budreau, Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere (pictured above)
Born to be Blue is a reimagining of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker’s life in the 1960s. When Chet is cast to star in a film about himself, a romance heats up with his female co-star, the enigmatic Jane. But his comeback bid is derailed when his past returns to haunt him and it appears he may never play music again. Starring Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo.
Into the Forest. Patricia Rozema, Canada World Premiere
In a not-too-distant future, sisters Nell and Eva find themselves shuttered in their home. Surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest, the sisters must fend for themselves using the supplies and food reserves they have before turning to the forest to discover what it will provide. They are faced with a world where rumour is the only guide, trust is a scarce commodity, gas is king and loneliness is excruciating. And yet somehow miraculously, love still grows. Starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood.
Ville-Marie. Guy Édoin, Canada World Premiere
An actress shooting a movie hopes to reconcile with her son. A paramedic haunted by his past tries to stay the course, while a caring nurse keeps an eye on him from afar as she tries, at the same time, to keep an emergency room running. It is at the Ville-Marie Hospital that these four lives will take an unexpected turn. Starring Monica Bellucci, Patrick Hivon, Pascale Bussières and 2015 TIFF Rising Star Aliocha Schneider.
TIFF DOCS
Al Purdy Was Here. Brian D. Johnson, Canada World Premiere
Al Purdy was Canada’s unofficial poet laureate, though he admits he didn’t write a good poem until he was 40. He found his voice in an A-Frame cabin he built in Ontario’s Prince Edward County. Canada’s leading musicians and artists from Bruce Cockburn and Sarah Harmer to Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje come together to tell his story and celebrate his poetry.
Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr. Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard, Canada World Premiere
Omar Khadr: child soldier or unrepentant terrorist? The 28-year-old Canadian has been a polarizing figure since he was 15. In 2002, Khadr was captured by American forces in Afghanistan and charged with war crimes, including murder. After spending half his life behind bars, including a decade at Guantanamo, Khadr is released. This is his story, in his own words.
Ninth Floor. Mina Shum, Canada World Premiere
It started quietly when six Caribbean students, strangers in a cold new land, began to suspect their professor of racism. It ended in the most explosive student uprising Canada had even known. Over four decades later, Ninth Floor reopens the file on the infamous Sir George Williams Riot: a watershed moment in Canadian race relations and one of the most contested episodes in the nation’s history. Director Mina Shum (Double Happiness) locates the protagonists in clandestine locations throughout Trinidad and Montreal — the wintry city where it all went down. In a cinematic gesture of reckoning and redemption, she listens as they set the record straight.
This Changes Everything. Avi Lewis, Canada/USA World Premiere
Seven powerful portraits of community resistance around the world lead to one big question: what if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world? Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international bestseller and directed by her partner Avi Lewis, This Changes Everything is an affecting and hopeful call to action
Welcome to F.L. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, Canada World Premiere
Welcome to F.L. portrays a community of teenagers navigating their environment, identity and other questions of youth within their high-school world in a small town in Quebec. Learning to define themselves inside and outside school boundaries as they transition into the challenges of adulthood, they expose refreshing points of view filled with humour, philosophy and courage.
DISCOVERY
Closet Monster. Stephen Dunn, Canada World Premiere
Oscar Madly hovers on the brink of adulthood — destabilized by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality, and haunted by horrific images of a tragic gay bashing he witnessed as a child. A talking hamster, imagination and the prospect of love help him confront his surreal demons and discover himself. Starring 2015 TIFF Rising Star Aliocha Schneider and 2014 Rising Star Connor Jessup.
Fire Song. Adam Garnet Jones, Canada World Premiere
When a teenage girl commits suicide in a remote Northern Ontario Aboriginal community, it’s up to her brother Shane to take care of their family. Shane was supposed to move to the city for university in the fall, and has been trying to convince his secret boyfriend to come with him, but now everything is uncertain. Torn between his responsibilities at home and the promise of freedom calling him to the city, circumstances take a turn for the worse and Shane has to choose between his family and his future.
The Rainbow Kid. Kire Paputts, Canada World Premiere
Part gritty coming-of-age story, part episodic road film filled with magic realism, The Rainbow Kid follows Eugene, a young man with Down syndrome as he embarks on a life-changing adventure to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
River. Jamie M. Dagg, Canada/Laos World Premiere
In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant’s body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control. Starring Rossif Sutherland.
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
How Heavy This Hammer. Kazik Radwanski, Canada World Premiere
Erwin, a 47-year-old father of two, spends his time idly procrastinating between work and family, and is seemingly more engaged by playing a crude Viking computer game. His listless energy is contrasted on weekends by throwing himself into ‘old boys’ rugby matches. As Erwin’s marriage with his wife becomes increasingly compromised, something stirs inside him… or maybe something has stopped stirring.
My Internship in Canada. Philippe Falardeau, Canada North American Premiere
Guibord is an independent Member of Parliament representing a vast county in Northern Quebec who unwillingly finds himself in the awkward position of determining whether Canada will go to war. Accompanied by his wife, daughter and Souverain (Sovereign) Pascal, an idealistic intern from Haiti, Guibord travels across his district in order to consult his constituents and face his own conscience. This film is a sharp political satire in which politicians, citizens and lobbyists go head-to-head tearing democracy to shreds.
Our Loved Ones (Les êtres chers). Anne Émond, Canada North American Premiere
The story begins in 1978 in a small town on the Lower St. Lawrence, where the Leblanc family is rocked by the tragic death of Guy, found dead in the basement of the family home. For many years, the real cause of his death is hidden from certain members of the family, his son David among them. David starts his own family with his wife Marie and lovingly raises his children, Laurence and Frédéric, but deep down he still carries with him a kind of unhappiness. Our Loved Ones is a film of filial love, family secrets,
redemption and inherited fate. Featuring 2015 TIFF Rising Star Karelle Tremblay.
The Waiting Room. Igor Drljaca, Canada North American Premiere
Jasmin, once a successful actor in former Yugoslavia, now lives in Toronto with his second wife and young son. While juggling a construction job and a busy audition schedule, he dreams of re-launching an old televised stage show that made him famous in his homeland. When he is cast in a role that triggers recollections of the civil war, he is forced to reconcile his current reality with memories of his past success. From the team behind Krivina and In Her Place.
VANGUARD
Endorphine. André Turpin, Canada World Premiere
Thirteen-year-old Simone is trying to feel emotion again as a trauma survivor. Twenty-five-year-old Simone is a solitary woman trying to control panic attacks. Sixty-year-old Simone is an accomplished physician who gives a conference on the nature of time. The new film from celebrated director and cinematographer André Turpin intertwines the lives of three women in an intoxicating cinematic puzzle.
Hellions. Bruce McDonald, Canada Canadian Premiere
Strange trick-or-treaters plague conflicted teenager Dora Vogel at her isolated home on Halloween. Under siege by forces she can’t understand, Dora must defend both body and soul from relentless hellions, dead set on possessing something Dora will not give them. Set in a visually haunting landscape, Hellions redefines the boundaries of horror with its potent brew of Halloween iconography, teenage angst and desperate survival. Starring Chloe Rose.
No Men Beyond This Point. Mark Sawers, Canada North American Premiere
Sixty years ago, women began reproducing asexually, and now are no longer able to give birth to male babies. This deadpan mockumentary follows 37-year -old Andrew Myers — the youngest man alive —who is at the centre of a battle to save men from extinction. No Men Beyond This Point asks what would happen if only women ran the world.
WAVELENGTHS
The following feature films will screen as part of the Wavelengths program:
88:88. Isiah Medina, Canada North American Premiere
A digital cinema incendiary, Isiah Medina’s anticipated feature debut explodes with ideas about time, love, knowledge, poverty, and poetry, all erupting within a densely layered montage that is formally rigorous and emotionally raw. 88:88 (or –:–) is what appears when bills are paid after the electricity has been abruptly cut off, demonstrating that people who live in poverty live in suspended time.
88:88 will be preceded by Denis Côté’s short film May We Sleep Soundly.
The Forbidden Room. Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin, Canada Canadian Premiere
Honouring classic cinema while electrocuting it with energy, Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s grand ode to lost cinema begins (after a prologue on how to take a bath) with the crew of a doomed submarine chewing flapjacks in a desperate attempt to breathe the oxygen within. Suddenly, a lost woodsman wanders into their company to tell his tale of escape from a fearsome clan of cave dwellers, and we are taken high into the air, around the world, and into dreamscapes, spinning tales of amnesia, captivity, deception and murder, skeleton women and vampire bananas. Like a glorious meeting between Italo Calvino, Sergei Eisenstein and a perverted six-year-old child, created with the help of master poet John Ashberry, Mathieu Amalric, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Geraldine Chaplin, Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Maria de Medeiros, Jacques Nolot, Adèle Haenel, Amira Casar and Elina Löwensohn make up a cavalcade of misfits, thieves and lovers.
Invention. Mark Lewis, United Kingdom/Canada World Premiere
Shot in Paris, São Paulo and Toronto, Mark Lewis’ anthology of films captures the ever-changing textures of these cities through moving images of glass, light, shadows and reflections, offering homage to the City Symphony films of the 1920s, while also juxtaposing modernist architecture with the compositional structures of old master paintings.
Minotaur. Nicolás Pereda, Mexico/Canada World Premiere
Acclaimed Mexican-Canadian auteur Nicolás Pereda (Greatest Hits) returns to the Festival with this lovely, wraithlike fantasy that observes three thirty-somethings as they sleep, dream, read and receive visitors in a Mexico City apartment.
Free and open to the public during the Festival, the following Wavelengths Installations will be showcased at various venues throughout downtown Toronto:
Bring Me The Head of Tim Horton. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson World Premiere
Guided by the spirit of Maddin’s “Cuadecec Manifesto” (which calls for makings-of en masse), Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton is a strange and stirring behind-the-scenes look at Paul Gross’s new feature, Hyena Road. Shot on location at CFB Shilo near Brandon, Manitoba and in Aqaba, Jordan, the film summons psychedelic energy from the main event. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.
The Forbidden Room – A Living Poster. Galen Johnson World Premiere
Initially designed to promote Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, A Living Poster employs the same digital techniques used to create the text-based intertitles and treat the footage within the film. A looping collection of living, moving, morphing posters, it blurs the boundaries between poster and trailer and suggests an anachronistic collision between digitally corrupted video files and a damaged film print from the silent era forming a beguiling hybrid aesthetic of digital data loss and decaying analogue emulsion. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.
La Giubba. Tony Romano and Corin Sworn, Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere
The first major collaboration between Canadian artist Tony Romano and English-born, Toronto-raised Corin Sworn, La Giubba follows the intersections of five drifters over the course of two summer days in southern Italy. This installation is presented in partnership with Clint Roenisch Gallery (190 St Helens Ave, Toronto).
Stories are Meaning-Making Machines. Annie MacDonnell and Maïder Fortuné, France/Canada International Premiere
A live in-cinema reading at TIFF Bell Lightbox performed by Canadian artist Annie MacDonnell and French artist Maïder Fortuné which explores a new form of cinematic memory. Originally commissioned by Le Centre Pompidou’s Hors Pistes Festival, Paris.
Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys, Jon Cassar’s Forsaken, Paul Gross’ Hyena Road (Hyena Road: Le Chemin du Combat), and Atom Egoyan’s Remember are Canadian features previously announced in the Galas Programme.
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2015 HollyShorts Film Festival Announces Official Film Lineup
The official film lineup of the 2015 HollyShorts Film Festival was announced today, and includes 400 of the top short movies from almost every major continent. The 11th annual HollyShorts Film Festival will take place at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres August 13-22, 2015. The HollyShorts Film Conference, which will feature heavy hitter panel discussions, will take place at IgnitedSpaces August 14-21.
This year’s festival feature shorts with talent including: Jerry Stiller stars in Steve Monarque’s Simpler Times, Caity Lotz who stars in Susana Hornil’s short Missed Call, Corbin Bernsen in his son Oliver Bernsen’s short Midland, Dominic Polcino’s animated award-winning short Lovesick Fool: Love in the Age of Like stars Janeane Garofalo and Lisa Kudrow. Joe Magee and Bill Bailey’s Love Song stars Emma Thompson, Brent Weinbach’s I Don’t Dance stars Natasha Leggero, John Henry Hinkel’s HOME stars Robert Forster. JT Mollner’s Flowers in December stars Dee Wallace, Emad Asfoury’s Duality stars Don Most, Sarah Lynn Dawson, Jon Foo and was voiced by Deepak Chopra. Aaron Webman’s After Lilly stars Jack Quaid, Raymond Cruz stars in Alexandra Debricon’s A Gringo Honeymoon. Michael Gross stars in Linda Palmer’s Our Father.
This year’s categories include: Live Action, Animation, Documentary, Web Series, Trailers, Commercial, Music Videos. Short genres range from Horror, Romance, Drama, Action, Comedy, Thrillers and much more.
Commented Theo Dumont, HollyShorts co-founder and co-director: “We are honored to showcase this selection of the world’s top short movies at HollyShorts. This festival has grown into the biggest and most prestigious annual celebration of short movies and prides itself on providing next level opportunities for our filmmakers. It’s going to be an epic 10 days with receptions every day for our guests.”
Added co-founder and co-director Daniel Sol: “We are flattered that other festivals in Los Angeles this year have aggressively contacted our filmmakers with numerous efforts to poach them, this shows the demand for their great works. What those festivals don’t understand is that this is THE filmmakers festival and they’ll do whatever they want here whenever they want, and we encourage that.”
The official selection of the 2015 HollyShorts Film Festival.
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SINNER VICTIM SAINT Wins 2015 PBS Online Film Festival “People’s Choice” Award | VIDEO
“Sinner Victim Saint,” (pictured above) a short narrative presented by CET/Think TV, centering on a newlywed husband who has recently lost his wife in a car accident and the dark turn of events that teaches him the power of sacrifice, won the“People’s Choice” top honor of the 2015 PBS Online Film Festival. The animated film “11 Paper Place,” presented by member station Vermont PBS, a love story about two sheets of paper who meet in a recycle bin, was the most-viewed of the 25 short films screened online.
“Sinner Victim Saint” follows Isaac, a newlywed husband who has recently lost his wife in a tragic car accident. After her funeral, a dark turn of events leads Isaac to a meeting with a sinister man who claims he can bring his wife back from the dead. There’s a catch, though; in order to bring her back, Isaac learns that he must sacrifice his life for hers. The film was directed and written by Moses Flores, who spent the first three years of his career writing and directing TV commercials and web videos for corporate clients. In 2012, after a long creative rut, he made the decision to jump head first into the world of independent filmmaking. “Sinner Victim Saint” debuted in 2014 at the Eichelberger Film Dayton Festival and won the Ohio Shorts Audience Choice Award.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4XDKb5KN8
“11 Paper Place” is an animated love story about two sheets of paper that magically transform into paper people as they are spit out of a malfunctioning printer into a recycling bin. Filmmaker Daniel Houghton is currently an animation teacher at Middlebury College, where he also manages a range of media projects.
https://vimeo.com/94786328
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Calling All Foodies. 17 Films to Screen in Culinary Zinema Section of 2015 San Sebastian Festival
The 2015 San Sebastian Festival announced the 17 films selected to screen in the program of the “Culinary Zinema” section. The five years of collaboration between the San Sebastian Festival, the Berlin Festival and the Basque Culinary Center have given rise to what the festival describes as one of the most highly appreciated sections by Festival spectators and to a must-attend rendezvous for local gastronomy lovers in an event that combines an internationally prestigious film festival with the culinary wealth of one of the regions with the highest concentration of Michelin stars in the world.
This fifth edition increases the selection of titles to 17, consisting of 4 short films and 13 feature films, including 9 in competition and 4 not in competition. The screening of seven of the films will be accompanied by themed dinners by chefs of international prestige.
The section opens with the documentary CAMPO A TRAVÉS. MUGARITZ, INTUYENDO UN CAMINO (OFF-ROAD. MUGARITZ, FEELING A WAY) directed by Pep Gatell and closes with COOKING UP A TRIBUTE directed by Luis Gonzalez.
FILMS IN COMPETITION
Opening Night Film
CAMPO A TRAVÉS. MUGARITZ, INTUYENDO UN CAMINO (OFF-ROAD. MUGARITZ, FEELING A WAY) (pictured above)
PEP GATELL (SPAIN)A philosophical and ethological documentary. La Fura dels Baus reveals the motors that drive Mugaritz, the ideas behind its dishes, what it means for the team to achieve excellence and success, the suffering and the enjoyment… at the end of the day, how Mugaritz constantly creates and destroys. It highlights the constant risk, hence its title, but also the knowhow drawn from the effort and work of the many people past, present and future at Mugaritz; a place where culinary purpose has been surpassed by the creative process and its potential variables. Closing Night Film COOKING UP A TRIBUTE LUIS GONZÁLEZ, ANDREA GÓMEZ (SPAIN)
The tale of an unprecedented voyage when one of the best restaurants in the world closes its doors for five weeks to set out and travel. Making its way through four American countries, the team from El Celler de Can Roca pays homage to the cuisines of Mexico, Peru and Colombia, personally reinterpreting their ingredients and traditions.ADN DU CEVICHEORLANDO ARRIAGADA (CANADA)
A gastronomic voyage revealing the cultural and historical wealth of Peru guided by one of its favourite dishes: ceviche!THE BIRTH OF SAKÉERIK SHIRAI (USA – JAPAN)
A beautiful and immersive portrait of life at the 144-year old Yoshida Brewery, a producer of world class sake. With changing times ahead and new regime led by the 6th generation heir, this is a rarified look at the personal and professional intensity needed to create a revered product and the artisans behind it.KAMPAI! FOR THE LOVE OF SAKEMIRAI KONISHI (JAPAN)In this fascinating look at the universe of sake, three outsiders; a British sake brewer with 25 years experience in Japan, an American journalist who has published multiple guidebooks on sake, and the young president of a centuries -old Japanese sake brewery who wants to make changes to his family legacy, join together to explore the mysterious world of sake illustrating how these unique individuals each have a role to play in the rich, complex, and spectacular world of sake.LITTLE FOREST – WINTER/SPRINGJUNICHI MORI (JAPAN)Ichiko lives in Komori, a tiny village in northeastern Japan. She moved out to the city once, but felt lost there and returned. With no supermarkets or convenience stores nearby, living in Komori is like living off the land. She grows her own rice, works the farm, and makes meals out of seasonal foods gathered from the neighboring mountains and fields…NOMA, MY PERFECT STORMPIERRE DESCHAMPS (UK – DENMARK)
How did Redzepi manage to revolutionize the entire world of gastronomy, inventing the alphabet and vocabulary that would infuse newfound pedigree to Nordic cuisine and establish a new edible world while radically changing the image of the modern chef? His story has the feel of a classic fairy tale: the ugly duckling transformed into a majestic swan, who now reigns over the realm of modern gourmet cuisine. But beneath the polished surface, cracks appear in the form of old wounds.SERGIO HERMAN – FUCKING PERFECTWILLEMIEK KLUIJFHOUT (NETHERLANDS)
At the height of his culinary career, Master chef Sergio Herman feels he needs to let go of his 3-star restaurant Oud Sluis in order to fulfill his dreams. A revealing documentary about perfection, ambition and sacrifice.WANTON MEEERIC KHOO (SINGAPORE)After finding out that his home is slated to be demolished, Koh Chun Feng, a middle-aged food critic whose career is starting to wear away at him decides to explore his life and the progress of Singapore through local food. NOT IN COMPETITIONCOCINANDO EN EL FIN DEL MUNDO (COOKING AT THE WORLD’S END)ALBERTO BAAMONDE BELLO (SPAIN)Galician nouvelle cuisine has the peculiar trait of a love for exploring the past, for recovering the flavours left behind by the modern world, for lending dignity to products considered inferior. The Nove Group is an association of chefs who reach beyond the clichés to promote this cuisine of the future. A realistic portrayal of Galicia taking gastronomy as its vehicle in the endeavour to unravel the delicate balance between tradition and modernity in a land of contrasts.CHEF’S TABLE “MASSIMO BOTTURA”DAVID GELB (USA)A documentary which features six of the world’s most renowned international chefs, and offers viewers the opportunity to go inside the lives and kitchens of these culinary talents. The chefs featured include Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy), Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns and in New York City, USA), Francis Mallmann (El Restaurante Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (N/Naka Restaurant in Los Angeles, CA, USA), Ben Shewry (Attica Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia) and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken in Järpen Sweden).SAGARDOA BIDEGILE (CIDER STORIES)BEGO ZUBIA GALLASTEGI (SPAIN)The Basques have been drinking cider for centuries, but in the Basque Country cider is more than just fermented apple juice. The documentary takes us on a journey, a cultural, gastronomic, scientific and historical adventure. It’s leading character: cider.SNACKS, BOCADOS DE UNA REVOLUCIÓNVERÓNICA ESCUER, CRISTINA JOLONCH (SPAIN)
A documentary portraying the origin, evolution, current status and future of Spanish gastronomy, conceived as a movement that established creative and conceptual freedom as the ground rule of the game all over the globe. Short filmsBRASA (HOT COAL)Short filmXABI GUTIÉRREZ MÁRQUEZ (SPAIN)Four artists from different disciplines: chef Xabier Gutiérrez, painter Juan Vich, musician Ander Fernández and producer Pello Gutiérrez. Each lends a new slant to a concept based on a single premise: charcoal embers. All four set about exposing their individual takes on the materials, colours, sound, sensations.COMER CONOCIMIENTO (KNOWLEDGE-EATING)Short filmLUIS GERMANÓ (SPAIN)Ferran Adrià dons his chef’s jacket once again, to take up a new challenge: cooking without cooking and reformulating the conference format, turning it into content to explain the creative process that led him to make his restaurant one of the great temples of 20th creativity, a feat that would forever change the history of gastronomy.THE PERFECT PROTEINShort filmCATERINA BARJAU DACHS, RAFAEL JORGE MARTÍNEZ PARDO (SPAIN)While the sea is being ransacked as never before, more than 90% of the fish captured is controlled by only 30 countries. The NGO Oceana and the globe’s top chefs suggest ways to curb overfishing that would provide food for much of the world.EL SUEÑO DE SONIA (SONIA’S DREAM)Short filmDIEGO SARMIENTO PAGÁN (PERU)
Sonia Mamani lives in Capachica, a peninsula of Lake Titicaca (Puno, Peru). She learned to cook at the age of fifteen and has been travelling ever since, teaching women not only how to prepare traditional dishes but also to appreciate their customs and identity.
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11th Fantastic Fest Reveals First Wave of Programming; Closes with World Premiere of Kurt Russell’s BONE TOMAHAWK
The 11th Fantastic Fest, taking place September 24 – October 1 in Austin, TX at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, revealed the first wave of programming lineup, including the World premiere of BONE TOMAHAWK with Kurt Russell and Matthew Fox as closing night film. Other highlights include a retrospective of Turkish Genre Cinema, and a special Mondo Gallery event and programming series curated by filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn to celebrate the release of his new book Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing, which profiles Refn’s collection of vintage exploitation-era American movie posters.
“Bringing Kurt Russell back to the Alamo is something we’ve been trying to do for a long time” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League, “And to do it with BONE TOMAHAWK, a quintessential Fantastic Fest film, means we’re in for one hell of a closer. Huge thanks to Caliber Media for making it all happen.”
Turkish genre cinema is at the heart of this year’s Fantastic Fest, inspiring both feature programming and the festival theme. This relatively unknown school of ‘70s renegade filmmaking is explored in REMIX, REMAKE, RIP-OFF, which will be receiving its U.S. Premiere with director Cem Kaya in attendance.
As part of the Turkish celebration, Fantastic Fest will be screening three seminal films, DÜNYAYI KURTARAN ADAM (aka THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD, aka TURKISH STAR WARS) , YILMAYAN ŞEYTAN (aka THE DEATHLESS DEVIL) and TARKAN VİKİNG KANI (aka TARKAN VS THE VIKINGS).
In keeping with the Turkish spirit, this year’s poster is comprised exclusively of elements from classic Turkish movie art, of which there will be over 60 original movie posters on display at the festival.
Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn shares his unique collection of rare American exploitation movie posters in the lush new hardcover book Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing. Three of the films featured in the book – FAREWELL UNCLE TOM, THE X-RATED SUPERMARKET and MY BODY HUNGERS – were selected by Refn to screen during the opening weekend of Fantastic Fest, followed by a Q&A and book signing.
First wave film lineup below:
BONE TOMAHAWK
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 133 min
Director – S. Craig Zahler
Kurt Russell stars in this character driven and at times horrific Western about a group of men (including Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins) who set out to rescue a local woman and a young deputy who’ve been kidnapped by a tribe of cannibalistic troglodytes.
DARLING
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 78 min
Director – Mickey Keating
A young woman slowly goes crazy after taking a job as the caretaker for an ancient New York home in the new film from writer/director Mickey Keating.
THE DEATHLESS DEVIL
Turkey, 1972
Repertory Screening, 84 min
Director – Yilmaz Atadeniz
The mysterious Dr. Satan’s nefarious plans threaten the future of everyone on the planet, and the only men who can stop him are the brilliant Copperhead and his assistant Sherlock Holmes!
DER BUNKER
Germany, 2015
North American Premiere, 85 min
Director – Nikias Chryssos
A student rents a room from a family in their converted army bunker, and ends up the tutor to the child and a virtual slave to the parents.
FAREWELL UNCLE TOM
Italy, 1971
Repertory Screening, 123 min
Directors – Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosperi
The first movie based on historical facts about the rise and revolt of slavery in America is one of the most brilliant, misunderstood and reviled of all time.
GERMAN ANGST
Germany, 2015
US Premiere, 111 min
Directors – Jörg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski & Andreas Marschall
German directors Buttgereit, Kosakowski and Marschall unleash this brutal assault on the senses, a surreal three-part horror anthology touching on love and hate and everything in between.
IN SEARCH OF ULTRA SEX
France, 2015
North American Premiere, 60 min
Directors – Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine
A pandemic infects people everywhere with infinite lust, and the only ones who can save us are a group of astronauts in space, desperately looking for a solution.
THE INVITATION
United States, 2015
Special Screening, 97 min
Director – Karyn Kusama
A haunted man attends a dinner party at the house he once called home, and becomes gripped with paranoia that his ex-wife and her new husband are harboring an insidious agenda.
LIZA THE FOX FAIRY
Hungary, 2015
Regional Premiere, 98 min
Director – Károly Ujj-Mészáros
Somewhere in 1970s Budapest, nurse Liza dreams of romance. But as all her suitors die in violent and extreme ways, she begins to fear the worst: maybe she is really a fox fairy, doomed to remain alone forever!
LOVE AND PEACE
Japan, 2015
US Premiere, 117 min
Director – Sion Sono
Fantastic Fest staple Shion Sono returns once again with a deeply personal (and expectedly odd) film about a lonely businessman with dreams of punk rock stardom and his best friend, a turtle.
LOVEMILLA
Finland, 2015
North American Premiere, 97 min
Director – Teemu Nikk
LOVEMILLA is a delightful peek at life and love in Finland, filled with all the usual zombies, black holes, giant pandas and superheros you’d expect from the land that gave us Renny Harlin.
THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD
Turkey, 1982
Repertory Screening, 91 min
Director – Çetin İnanç
There has never been and will never be another film like THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD, and your only chance to discover why is at this special Fantastic Fest screening!
MY BODY HUNGERS
United States, 1967
Repertory Screening, 80 min
Director – Joseph W. Sarno
A roadhouse hostess goes undercover to investigate the murder of her sister in a little-seen sexploiter from grindhouse rebel and master of erotica Joe Sarno.
OFFICE
Korea, 2015
US Premiere, 111 min
Director – HONG Won-Chan
OFFICE is the story of Kim, the salaryman who one day brutally murders his entire family with a hammer, and Lee, the put-upon intern at his workplace. It’s dark-as-night corporate satire hiding behind a slasher veneer with scares so well timed, you’ll jump out of your seat non-stop.
REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF
Turkey/Germany, 2014
US Premiere, 96 min
Director – Cam Kaya
Welcome to Turkey. It’s home to Yesilcam, the Turkish Hollywood where, in the late ‘70s, dreams were built on nothing more than a dime. Both a loving tribute to the burgeoning cinema of this young country and a trip into history, REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF brings you the most outlandish story you’ve never heard, about filmmaking so dangerous that you need a safety harness just for watching.
RUINED HEART
Phillipines-Germany, 2015
Regional Premiere, 73 min
Director – Khavn de la Cruz
Filipino iconoclast Khavn De La Cruz teams with famed cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Japanese mega star Tadanobu Asano to create a self-described “punk noir opera.”
SENSORIA
Sweden, 2015
World Premiere, 82 min
Director – Christian Hallman
Caroline Menard is a woman in her thirties who has lost everything. As she moves into a new apartment searching for a new start, she’s unaware that something ancient is waiting for her.
THE SIMILARS
Mexico, 2015
World Premiere, 89 min
Director – Isaac Ezban
On a dark and stormy night, eight strangers are stuck in a small bus station waiting for a bus to Mexico City. When strange things start happening, they find themselves trapped in a struggle for sanity and survival.
SPEED
South Korea, 2015
North American Premiere, 104 min
Director – Lee Sang-woo
Four friends navigate sex, love and life in a heart-breaking new film from Korean director Lee Sang-woo.
STAND BY FOR TAPE BACK-UP
United Kingdom, 2015
US Premiere, 65 min
Director – Ross Sutherland
Hypnotically scanning the contents of a VHS tape, this experimental essay-film eulogizes the former custodian of the analog artifact, transforming its recordings of GHOSTBUSTERS and FRESH PRINCE (among others) through rap-infused anecdotal narration, and inscribing both profound and hilarious associations to the tracking-lined images. STAND BY FOR TAPE BACK-UP will be presented as both a traditional screening as well as a live performance by creator Ross Sutherland.
TARKAN VS THE VIKINGS
Turkey, 1971
Repertory Screening, 86 min
Director – Mehmet Aslan
Based on one of the most popular comic strips in Turkey. this rip-roaring adventure sees Tarkan and his trusty wolf companion Kurt take on the despicable Viking invaders after they leave him for dead!
VICTORIA
Germany, 2015
Regional Premiere, 138 min
Director – Sebastian Schipper
Sebastian Schipper’s fourth directorial work is a single-shot tour-de-force that follows a Spanish barista through a dance club, the streets of Berlin, a coffee shop, a bank robbery and her destiny.
THE X-RATED SUPERMARKET
United States, 1972
Repertory Screening, 62 min
Director – Paul Roberts
Want to save money on your weekly sex toy budget? Look no further than the supermarket shelves in some salacious tips and reactions from suburban horny housewives.
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2015 Woodstock Film Festival Unveils Official Poster by JOY + NOELLE
The 2015 Woodstock Film Festival has unveiled the official poster art by acclaimed animators Joy Buran and Noelle Melody. Joy Buran and Noelle Melody are not only responsible for animating memorable WFF posters (2010, 2012), but some of their signature work have been Official Woodstock Selections.
“Woodstock is one of our favorite festivals, so we were pretty excited to be invited to illustrate the 2015 poster,” said Noelle Melody. “When I visited the Film Center, we talked about palette and detail ideas, like scratched up stickers with the names of winning feature directors over the years. I invited Joy up for a little Drink and Draw session, meaning we drank a lot of coffee and sketched out the cake.”
“We had to constantly try to keep Noelle’s cat from playing with the film strips!” said Joy Buran. “We’ve been coming to the Woodstock Film Festival for almost 10 years, so it was a huge honor to be invited to design this poster. We both feel very lucky to be part of such a big year for this festival, like we’re in high school and just got invited to a super cool Sweet Sixteen party. We hope the poster illustrates the fierce independence of the filmmakers and the festival itself.”
“We are so excited to have Joy and Noelle as our official poster artists this year,” Executive Director and co-founder Meira Blaustein said. “Not only are they festival alumni, having their animation shown here before, but they perfectly encapsulate the Sweet 16 celebration aspect that is our theme this year. Incorporating past Maverick Award winners is a subtle nod to celebrating sixteen years of great independent filmmaking.”
The Woodstock Film Festival will celebrate its “Sweet 16” Anniversary Sept 30-Oct 4 in the Hudson Valley towns of Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Rosendale, Kingston, and Saugerties.
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BLACK MASS starring Johnny Depp to World Premiere at 72nd Venice International Film Festival | TRAILER
Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated drama Black Mass, directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) will world premiere in out-of-competition at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival. The film stars Johnny Depp as notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, along with an acclaimed ensemble cast including Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, and Kevin Bacon.
Black Mass will screen on Friday September 4th 2015 in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema atVenice Lido. The 72nd Venice International Film Festival will take place at the Lido from September 2-12, 2015; it is directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta.
In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster Jimmy Bulger (Depp) to collaborate with the FBI in order to eliminate their common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement while consolidating his power and becoming one of the most ruthless and dangerous gangsters in Boston history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_F-lVhSfx8
Black Mass is produced by John Lesher, Brian Oliver, Scott Cooper, Patrick McCormick, and Tyler Thompson, with Brett Ratner, James Packer, Peter Mallouk, Ray Mallouk, Christopher Woodrow, Brett Granstaff, Gary Granstaff, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross serving as executive producers.Warner Bros. Pictures presents Black Mass in association with Cross Creek Pictures & RatPac-Dune Entertainment; the screenplay is by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth (Get on Up, Edge of Tomorrow) based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute Black Mass worldwide beginning September 18th. Its Italian release is scheduled for October 1, 2015.
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72nd Venice Film Festival Unveils Official Film Lineup
The 72nd Venice International Film Festival, organized by la Biennale di Venezia, held on the Lido of Venice from September 2nd to September 12th, 2015, unveiled the official film lineup.
The Official Selection includes the sections Venezia 72, Out of Competition, Orizzonti, and Venice Classics, as well as the three feature films in the project, Biennale College – Cinema. The Independent and Parallel Sections include the SIC – International Critics’ Week, and the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days.
Venezia 72
EMIN ALPER – ABLUKA (FRENZY)
Turkey, France, Qatar, 114′
Mehmet Özgür, Berkay Ates
LAURIE ANDERSON – HEART OF A DOG
USA, 75′
Laurie Anderson
MARCO BELLOCCHIO – SANGUE DEL MIO SANGUE
Italy, France, Switzerland, 106′
Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Lydiya Liberman, Fausto Russo Alesi, Alba Rohrwacher, Federica Fracassi, Filippo Timi
SUE BROOKS – LOOKING FOR GRACE
Australia, 97′
Richard Roxburgh, Radha Mitchell, Odessa Young, Terry Norris, Harry Richardson
DRAKE DOREMUS – EQUALS
USA, 101′
Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver
ATOM EGOYAN – REMEMBER
Canada, Germany, 95′
Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Dean Norris, Bruno Ganz, Jürgen Prochnow, Heinz Lieven
CARY FUKUNAGA – BEASTS OF NO NATION
USA, 133′
Idris Elba
GIUSEPPE M. GAUDINO – PER AMOR VOSTRO
Italy, France, 110′
Valeria Golino, Massimiliano Gallo, Adriano Giannini
XAVIER GIANNOLI – MARGUERITE
France, Czech Republic, Belgium, 127′
Catherine Frot, André Marcon, Michel Fau, Christa Théret, Denis Mpunga, Sylvain Dieuaide
AMOS GITAI – RABIN, THE LAST DAY
Israel, France, 153′
Ischac Hiskiya, Pini Mitelman, Michael Warshaviak, Einat Weizman, Rotem Keinan, Yogev Yefet, Yael Abecassis
LUCA GUADAGNINO – A BIGGER SPLASH
Italy, France, 120′
Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, Dakota Johnson, Corrado Guzzanti
OLIVER HERMANUS – THE ENDLESS RIVER
South Africa, France, 108′
Nicolas Duvauchelle, Crystal-Donna Roberts, Clayton Evertson, Darren Kelfkens, Denise Newman
TOM HOOPER – THE DANISH GIRL
UK, USA, 120′
Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Sebastian Koch, Ben Whishaw, Matthias Schoenaerts
CHARLIE KAUFMAN, DUKE JOHNSON – ANOMALISA
USA, 90′
(Animation)
Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Thewlis, Tom Noonan
ZHAO LIANG – BEHEMOTH
China, France, 95′
(Documentary)
PIERO MESSINA – L’ATTESA
Italy, France, 100′
Juliette Binoche, Lou de Laâge, Giorgio Colangeli, Domenico Diele, Antonio Folletto, Giovanni Anzaldo
JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI – 11 MINUT (11 MINUTES)
Poland, Ireland, 81′
Richard Dormer, Paulina Chapko, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Dawid Ogrodnik, Andrzej Chyra
ALEKSANDR SOKUROV – FRANCOFONIA
France, Germany, Netherlands, 87′
Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath
PABLO TRAPERO – EL CLAN
Argentina, Spain, 108′
Guillermo Francella, Peter Lanzani
LORENZO VIGAS – DESDE ALLÁ
Venezuela, 93′
Alfredo Castro, Luis Silva
CHRISTIAN VINCENT – L’HERMINE
France, 98′
Fabrice Luchini, Sidse Babett Knudsen
Out of Competition
EVGENY AFINEEVSKY – WINTER ON FIRE
Ukraine, 85′
(documentary)
DANIEL ALFREDSON – GO WITH ME
USA, Canada, Sweden, 90′
Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles, Ray Liotta, Alexander Ludwig, Hal Holbrook, Steve Bacic, Lochlyn Munro
YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND – HUMAN
France, 188′
(documentary)
NOAH BAUMBACH, JAKE PALTROW – DE PALMA
USA, 109′
(documentary)
AMY BERG – JANIS
USA, 115′
(documentary)
CLAUDIO CALIGARI – NON ESSERE CATTIVO
Italy, 100′
Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Silvia D’Amico, Roberta Mattei
SCOTT COOPER – BLACK MASS
USA, 122′
Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Kevin Bacon
GUAN HU – LAO PAO ER (MR SIX)
China, 135′
Feng Xiaogang
BALTASAR KORMÁKUR – EVEREST [OPENING FILM]
United Kingdom, USA, 122′
Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, Jake Gyllenhaal
SERGEI LOZNITSA – SOBYTIE (THE EVENT)
Netherlands, Belgium, 74′
(documentary)
FRANCO MARESCO – GLI UOMINI DI QUESTA CITTÀ IO NON LI CONOSCO
Italy, 115′
(documentary)
THOMAS MCCARTHY – SPOTLIGHT
USA, 123′
Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James
TSAI MING-LIANG – NA RI XIAWU (AFTERNOON)
Chinese Taipei, 137′
Tsai Ming-liang, Lee Kang-sheng
GIANFRANCO PANNONE – L’ESERCITO PIÙ PICCOLO DEL MONDO
Vatican City, Italy, Switzerland, 80′
(documentary)
ARTURO RIPSTEIN – LA CALLE DE LA AMARGURA
Mexico, Spain, 99′
Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Nora Velázquez, Sylvia Pasquel, Arcelia Ramírez, Alejandro Suárez, Alberto Estrella
MARTIN SCORSESE – THE AUDITION
USA, 16′
Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Martin Scorsese
BERTRAND TAVERNIER – LA VIE ET RIEN D’AUTRE
France, 135′
Philippe Noiret, Sabine Azéma
FREDERICK WISEMAN – IN JACKSON HEIGHTS
USA, 190′
(documentary)
Check out the LINE-UP of the 72nd Venice Film Festival
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13 Films to Compete for 2015 Kutxabank-New Directors Award at San Sebastian Festival
The San Sebastian Festival revealed the titles of the thirteen films to compete for the 2015 Kutxabank-New Directors Award, decided by a specific international jury and carrying €50,000. Last year’s prize was won by Urok / The Lesson, directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. Following its world premiere at the Toronto Festival and its European premiere in the New Directors section, the film has been distributed all over the world, winning awards at numerous international festivals, such as Gothenburg, Thessaloniki, Tokyo, Warsaw, Varna, Vilnius, Sofia and Transylvania. Urok / The Lesson is also one of the three finalist films for the European Parliament Lux Prize.
AFTER EDEN
HANS CHRISTIAN BERGER (CANADA) (pictured above)
A tale of love and temptation in the age of Internet pornography. A reclusive university student tracks down his favourite porn star in the real world and becomes her anonymous follower – until he finds the courage to connect in person.
BARASH
MICHAL VINIK (ISRAEL)
17 year old Naama Barash enjoys alcohol, drugs and hanging out with like-minded friends. Her activities are an escape from a home where her parents always fight, and a rebellious, army-enrolled sister, who, one day, disappears. As a new girl shows up at school, Barash falls deep in love for the first time, and the intensity of the experience at once confuses her and gives her life new meaning.
EINER VON UNS / ONE OF US
STEPHAN RICHTER (AUSTRIA)
Julian, a 14-year old teenager, dies surrounded by the colorful products of a huge supermarket. The film is based on a true story and shows the rebellion of the local youth against the bleak life of suburbia.
GRANNY’S DANCING ON THE TABLE
HANNA SKÖLD (SWEDEN – DENMARK)
Eini grows up isolated from society with her father, a man afraid of the world. His biggest fear is to be left alone and to be left by Eini. He does everything he can to make her believe that the world outside and the people out there are evil, and that all that has to do with sexuality and adulthood is dangerous.
IONA
SCOTT GRAHAM (UK – GERMANY)
Three years after competing at the New Directors Section with Shell, Scottish director Scott Graham comes back to the San Sebastian Festival with this drama. Iona and her teenage son Bull seek refuge from a violent crime on the island where she was born. Iona’s return exposes Bull to a way of life she rejected as a teenager and sends a shock wave through the family she left behind.
JAJDA / THIRST
TSOTSORKOVA SVETLA (BULGARIA)
A couple and their teenage son eke out a living on a hilltop, doing the laundry for local hotels, despite the intermittent water supply. Their simple life is overturned by the arrival of a father-and-daughter team of diviner and well-digger.
LE NOUVEAU / THE NEW KID
RUDI ROSENBERG (FRANCE)
Benoit, 14 years old, leaves the country-side for Paris. His first day at school turns out to be more difficult than expected, and he quickly becomes isolated. Until one day a new girl arrives in class…
PARASOL
VALÉRY ROSIER (BELGIUM)
Holiday time, a Mediterranean island. Three wanderings at summer’s end. The determination, no matter the cost, to make things change. Nostalgia for a past that never existed.
PAULA
EUGENIO CANEVARI (ARGENTINA – SPAIN)
Young Paula lives and works at the pile of a middle-class family caring for their children. Her life takes an unexpected turn on discovering that she’s pregnant by a young man who refuses to accept his fatherhood. Directorial debut by Eugenio Canevari, who participated in the International Film Students Meeting at San Sebastian in 2013 with his short film, Gorila baila.
PIKADERO
BEN SHARROCK (SPAIN – UK)
A penniless, young couple have trouble consummating their fledgling relationship in their parents’ homes, forcing their relationship into question as they try to break free from the shackles of a crumbling economy. Barbara Goenaga and Joseba Usabiaga star in this romantic comedy.
RODINNY FILM / FAMILY FILM
OLMO OMERZU (CZECH REP. – GERMANY – SLOVENIA – FRANCE – SLOVAKIA)
Husband and wife set sail across the ocean, leaving their two children to explore the freedom of being home alone. The boat goes under, and so does the family. A dog, stuck on a desert island, is their only hope.
STAY WITH ME
JINWOO RHEE (SOUTH KOREA)
Scholar Leeseop is new in class, where troublemaker Hayun is in. The two become friends, influencing and changing each other’s lives little by little. A drama that thoughtfully explores teenage life.
VIDA SEXUAL DE LAS PLANTAS (SEX LIFE OF PLANTS)
SEBASTIÁN BRAHM (CHILE)
After an accident turns the love of Barbara’s life into a dimwit stranger, she gets involved with a man who can offer her stability, minus the passion. She tries to adapt to her new fate, but the memory of lost love continues to hound her. Until she realises that what really matters isn’t lost.
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2015 Toronto International Film Festival Reveals First Round of Films, Incl. World Premieres from Michael Moore, Deepa Mehta | TRAILERS
The Toronto International Film Festival, announced the first round of titles premiering in the Galas and Special Presentations programs of the 40th Toronto International Film Festival.
Of the 15 Galas and 34 Special Presentations announced, this initial lineup includes films from such acclaimed directors as Ridley Scott, Michael Moore, Deepa Mehta, Lenny Abrahamson, Brian Helgeland, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, Jason Bateman, Cary Fukunaga, Catherine Corsini, Stephen Frears, Tom Hooper, Hany Abu-Assad, Meghna Gulzar, Terence Davies, Jonás Cuarón, Julie Delpy, Rebecca Miller and Johnnie To. “We are celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2015 and this first round of films offers a taste of the incredible lineup at this year’s Festival,” said Handling. “Made by both established and emerging filmmakers from around the world, these films offer a global snapshot of our times.”
“This year we are thrilled to share a diverse array of filmmakers from Australia, India, France, China, the United Kingdom and the USA,” said Bailey. “We look forward to sharing these fantastic films with Toronto audiences — the most engaged and enthusiastic in the world.”
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 to 20, 2015.
Beeba Boys. Deepa Mehta, Canada World Premiere (pictured)
An adrenaline-charged violent Indo-Canadian gang war mixes guns, bhangra beats, bespoke suits, cocaine, and betrayal. Gang boss Jeet Johar and his loyal, young crew are audaciously taking over the Vancouver drug and arms scene from an old-style crime syndicate. Hearts are broken and family bonds shattered when the Beeba Boys (known as the “nice boys”) do anything “to be seen and to be feared” — in a white world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJxWig0hCk
Opening Night Film.
Demolition. Jean-Marc Vallée, USA World Premiere
In Demolition, a successful investment banker, Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal), struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father-in-law (Chris Cooper) to pull it together, Davis continues to unravel. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters revealing startling personal admissions. Davis’ letters catch the attention of customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts) and, amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two strangers form an unlikely connection. With the help of Karen and her son (Judah Lewis), Davis starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.
The Dressmaker. Jocelyn Moorhouse, Australia World Premiere
Based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet, comedy-drama set in early 1950s Australia. After many years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly Dunnage, a beautiful and talented misfit, returns home to the tiny middle-of-nowhere town of Dungatar to right the wrongs of the past. Not only does she reconcile with her ailing, eccentric mother Molly, and unexpectedly falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy, but armed with her sewing machine and incredible sense of style, Tilly sets out to right the wrongs of the past and transforms the women of the town but encounters unexpected romance along the way. Starring Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis and Hugo Weaving.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4zbV7BuksU
Eye in the Sky. Gavin Hood, United Kingdom World Premiere
London-based military intelligence officer Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is remotely commanding a top secret drone operation to capture a group of dangerous terrorists at their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya. The mission suddenly escalates from a capture to a kill operation, when Powell realizes that the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission. American drone pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is poised to destroy the safe-house when a nine-year-old-girl enters the kill zone just outside the walls of the house. With unforeseen collateral damage now entering the equation, the impossible decision of when to strike gets passed up the kill chain of politicians and lawyers as the seconds tick down. Also stars Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi and Iain Glen.
Forsaken. Jon Cassar, Canada World Premiere
Tormented by a dark secret, an aging gunfighter abandons a life of killing and returns home, only to discover his mother has died. He’s forced to confront his estranged father and the life he left behind. Starring Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland and Demi Moore.
Freeheld. Peter Sollett, USA World Premiere
Based on the Oscar-winning documentary and adapted by the writer of Philadelphia, Freeheld is the true love story of Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree and their fight for justice. A decorated New Jersey police detective, Laurel is diagnosed with cancer and wants to leave her hard-earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie. However the county officials — the Freeholders — conspire to prevent Laurel from doing so. Hard-nosed detective Dane Wells and activist Steven Goldstein come together in Laurel and Stacie’s defense, rallying police officers and ordinary citizens to support their struggle for equality. Starring Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon and Steve Carell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGE6BmRwaPI
Hyena Road (Hyena Road: Le Chemin du Combat). Paul Gross, Canada World Premiere
A sniper who has never allowed himself to think of his targets as humans becomes implicated in the life of one such target. An intelligence officer who has never contemplated killing becomes the engine of a plot to kill. And a legendary Mujahideen warrior who had put war behind him is now the centre of the battle zone. Three men, three worlds, three conflicts — all stand at the intersection of modern warfare, a murky world of fluid morality in which all is not as it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyipgVclKuE
LEGEND. Brian Helgeland, United Kingdom International Premiere
The true story of the rise and fall of London’s most notorious gangsters, brothers Reggie and Ron Kray, both portrayed by Tom Hardy in an amazing double performance. LEGEND is a classic crime thriller that takes audiences into the secret history of the 1960s and the extraordinary events that secured the infamy of the Kray twins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyHBK3YBG1Q
Lolo. Julie Delpy, France North American Premiere
While on holiday in the south of France, Parisian sophisticate Violette falls in love with carefree geek Jean-René. As their relationship blossoms, Jean-René heads to Paris to spend more time with Violette but finds himself up against her possessive teenage son Lolo who is determined to sabotage their relationship by any means necessary. A razor-sharp comedy from Julie Delpy.
The Man Who Knew Infinity. Matthew Brown, United Kingdom World Premiere
A true story of friendship that forever changed mathematics. In 1913, Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematics genius from India, travelled to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he forged a bond with his mentor, the eccentric professor GH Hardy, and fought to show the world the magic of his mind. Starring Dev Patel and Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons.
The Martian. Ridley Scott, USA World Premiere
During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by master director Ridley Scott, The Martian features a star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGfu4AuACEw
The Program. Stephen Frears, United Kingdom World Premiere
From Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) and producers Working Title (The Theory of Everything), comes the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most celebrated and controversial men in recent history, Lance Armstrong. Starring Ben Foster, Dustin Hoffman, Chris O’Dowd and Guillaume Canet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=10&v=4Z9zcMM2Ia8
Remember. Atom Egoyan, Canada North American Premiere
Remember is the contemporary story of Zev, who discovers that the Nazi guard who murdered his family some 70 years ago is living in America under an assumed identity. Despite the obvious challenges, Zev sets out on a mission to deliver long-delayed justice with his own trembling hand. What follows is a remarkable cross-continent road-trip with surprising consequences. Starring Academy Award winners Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np3Zf2hETe4
Septembers of Shiraz. Wayne Blair, USA World Premiere
A thriller based on the New York Times bestseller, this is the true story of a secular Jewish family caught in the 1979 Iranian revolution and their heroic journey to overcome and ultimately escape from the deadly tyranny that swept their country and threatened to extinguish their lives at every turn. Starring Salma Hayek and Adrien Brody.
Stonewall. Roland Emmerich, USA World Premiere
This fictional drama inspired by true events follows a young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) finds himself alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, until he befriends a group of street kids who introduce him to the local watering hole, The Stonewall In — however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens who populate Stonewall erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born. Starring Jeremy Irvine, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman and Joey King.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Anomalisa. Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, USA Canadian Premiere
A man struggles with his inability to connect with other people. Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis.
Beasts of No Nation. Cary Fukunaga, USA/Ghana Canadian Premiere
Based on the highly acclaimed novel, director Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation brings to life the gripping tale of Agu (newcomer Abraham Attah), a child soldier torn from his family to fight in the civil war of an African country. Idris Elba dominates the screen in the role of Commandant, a warlord who takes in Agu and instructs him in the ways of war.
Black Mass. Scott Cooper, USA Canadian Premiere
In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly persuades Irish-American gangster Jimmy Bulger to act as an informant for the FBI in order to eliminate their common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement while becoming one of the most ruthless and dangerous gangsters in Boston history. Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson, Julianne Nicholson, Corey Stoll and Peter Sarsgaard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjRS2lmKgLg
Brooklyn. John Crowley, United Kingdom/Ireland/Canada Canadian Premiere
Set on opposite sides of the Atlantic, this drama tells the profoundly moving story of Eilis Lacey, a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother’s home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating
charm of love. But soon, her new vivacity is disrupted by her past, and Eilis must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymceJJOy71o
The Club. Pablo Larraín, Chile North American Premiere
Four men live in a secluded house in a seaside town. Sent to purge sins of the past, they live under a strict regime and the watchful eye of a caretaker. Their fragile stability is disrupted by the arrival of a fifth man who brings with him their darkest secrets.
Colonia. Florian Gallenberger, Germany/Luxembourg/France World Premiere
Colonia tells the story of Lena and Daniel, a young couple who become entangled in the Chilean military coup of 1973. Daniel is abducted by Pinochet’s secret police and Lena tracks him to a sealed off area in the south of the country called Colonia Dignidad. The Colonia presents itself as a charitable mission run by lay preacher Paul Schäfer but, in fact, is a place nobody ever escapes from. Lena decides to join the cult in order to find Daniel. Starring Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl and Michael Nyqvist.
The Danish Girl. Tom Hooper, United Kingdom North American Premiere
The Danish Girl is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (portrayed by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables). Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer
The Daughter. Simon Stone, Australia North American Premiere
A man returns to his hometown and unearths a long-buried family secret. As he tries to right the wrongs of the past, his actions threaten to shatter the lives of those he left behind years before. Starring Geoffrey Rush, Paul Schneider, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill.
Desierto. Jonás Cuarón, Mexico World Premiere
Moises is traveling by foot with a group of undocumented workers across a desolate strip of the border between Mexico and the United States, seeking a new life in the north. They are discovered by a lone American vigilante, Sam, and a frantic chase begins. Set against the stunningly brutal landscape, Moises and Sam engage in a lethal match of wits, each desperate to survive and escape the desert that threatens to consume them. Starring Gael García Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
Dheepan. Jacques Audiard, France North American Premiere
To escape the civil war in Sri Lanka, a former Tamil Tiger soldier, a young woman and a little girl pose as a family. These strangers try to build a life together in a Parisian suburb.
Families (Belles Familles). Jean-Paul Rappeneau, France World Premiere
When Shanghai-based businessman Jérome Varenne learns that his childhood home in the village of Ambray is at the centre of a local conflict, he heads there to straighten things out and finds himself at the centre of familial and romantic complications. Starring Mathieu Amalric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsYSKZBNNDg
The Family Fang. Jason Bateman, USA World Premiere
Annie and Baxter Fang have spent most of their adult lives trying to distance themselves from their famous artist parents. But when both siblings find themselves stalled in life, they return home for the first time in a decade where they become entangled in a dark mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance. Jason Bateman directs and stars, along with co-stars Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken, in this film based on the New York Times bestseller.
Guilty (Talvar). Meghna Gulzar, India World Premiere
Based on true events that set off a media frenzy all over the world, Guilty follows the 2008 Noida Double Murder Case of an investigation into the deaths of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and 45-year-old Hemraj Banjade, a domestic employed by Aarushi’s family, in Noida, India. The controversial case lives on in the mind of the public, despite a guilty verdict that sentenced the parents of the murdered girl to life in prison. Starring Irrfan Khan.
I Smile Back. Adam Salky, USA Canadian Premiere
Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Amy Koppelman, I Smile Back explores the life of Laney (Sarah Silverman), a devoted wife and mother who seems to have it all — a perfect husband, pristine house and shiny SUV. However, beneath the façade lies depression and disillusionment that catapult her into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its effect on those she loves.
The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayer). Hany Abu-Assad, United Kingdom/Palestine/Qatar World Premiere
A young boy in Gaza, Mohammad Assaf, dreams of one day singing in the Cairo Opera House with his sister and best friend, Nour. One day, Nour collapses and is rushed to the hospital where it is discovered that she needs a kidney transplant. Nour leaves Mohammad with a dying wish that someday, he will become a famous singer in Cairo. Escaping from Gaza to Egypt against unbelievable odds, Mohammad makes the journey of a lifetime. From two-time Academy Award nominee Hany Abu-Assad comes this inspirational drama inspired by the incredibly true story of Mohammed Assaf, winner of Arab Idol 2013.
The Lady in the Van. Nicholas Hytner, USA/United Kingdom World Premiere
Based on the true story of Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who “temporarily” parked her van in writer Alan Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favour becomes a relationship that will change both their lives. Filmed on the street and in the house where Bennett and Miss Shepherd lived all those years, acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The History Boys) to bring this rare and touching portrait to the screen. Starring Maggie Smith, Dominic Cooper and James Corden.
Len and Company. Tim Godsall, USA North American Premiere
A successful music producer (Rhys Ifans) quits the industry and exiles himself in upstate New York, but the solitude he seeks is shattered when both his estranged son (Jack Kilmer) and the pop-star (Juno Temple) he’s created come looking for answers.
The Lobster. Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland/United Kingdom/Greece/France/Netherlands North American Premiere
In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods. Starring Colin Farrell, Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux and Ben Whishaw.
Louder than Bombs. Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Denmark North American Premiere
An upcoming exhibition celebrating photographer Isabelle Reed three years after her untimely death brings her eldest son Jonah back to the family house, forcing him to spend more time with his father Gene and withdrawn younger brother Conrad than he has in years. With the three men under the same roof, Gene tries desperately to connect with his two sons, but they struggle to reconcile their feelings about the woman they remember so differently. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Gabriel Byrne and Jesse Eisenberg.
Maggie’s Plan. Rebecca Miller, USA World Premiere
Maggie’s plan to have a baby on her own is derailed when she falls in love with John, a married man, destroying his volatile marriage to the brilliant Georgette. But one daughter and three years later, Maggie is out of love and in a quandary: what do you do when you suspect your man and his ex-wife are actually perfect for each other? Starring Julianne Moore, Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph.
Mountains May Depart (Shan He Gu Ren). Jia Zhang-ke, China/France/Japan North American Premiere
The new film from master filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke (A Touch of Sin) jumps from the recent past to the speculative near-future as it examines how China’s economic boom has affected the bonds of family, tradition, and love.
Office. Johnnie To, China/Hong Kong International Premiere
Billion-dollar company Jones & Sunn is going public. Chairman Ho Chung-ping has promised CEO Chang, who has been his mistress for more than 20 years, to become a major shareholder of the company. As the IPO team enters the company to audit its accounts, a series of inside stories start to be revealed. Starring Chow Yun Fat, Sylvia Chang, Tang Wei and Wang Ziyi.
Parched. Leena Yadav, India/USA World Premiere
Three ordinary women dare to break free from the century old patriarchal ways of their village in the desert heartland of rural India. Starring Tannishtha Chaterjee, Radhika Apte and Surveen Chawla, this unforgettable tale of friendship and triumph is called Parched.
Room. Lenny Abrahamson, Ireland/Canada Canadian Premiere
Told through the eyes of five-year-old-Jack, Room is a thrilling and emotional tale that celebrates the resilience and power of the human spirit. To Jack, the Room is the world… it’s where he was born, where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. But while it’s home to Jack, to Ma it’s a prison. Through her fierce love for her son, Ma has managed to create a childhood for him in their 10-by-10-foot space. But as Jack’s curiosity is building alongside Ma’s own desperation — she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely. Starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers and William H. Macy.
Sicario. Denis Villeneuve, USA North American Premiere
In the lawless border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, an idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is enlisted by an elite government task force official (Josh Brolin) to aid in the escalating war against drugs. Led by an enigmatic consultant with a questionable past (Benicio Del Toro), the team sets out on a clandestine journey that forces Kate to question everything that she believes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7090alGLQo
Son of Saul (Saul Fia). László Nemes, Hungary Canadian Premiere
October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the body of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child’s body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner’s Kaddish and offer the boy a proper
burial.
Spotlight. Tom McCarthy, USA International Premiere
Spotlight tells the true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, Brian d’Arcy James and Billy Crudup.
Summertime (La Belle Saison). Catherine Corsini, France North American Premiere
Delphine, the daughter of farmers, moves to Paris in 1971 to break free from the shackles of her family and to gain her financial independence. Carole is a Parisian, living with Manuel, actively involved in the stirrings of the feminist movement. The meeting of the two women changes their lives forever. Starring Cécile De France, Izia Higelin, Noémie Lvovsky and Kévin Azaïs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGdZUlNJU6Y
Sunset Song. Terence Davies, United Kingdom/Luxembourg World Premiere
Terence Davies’ epic of hope, tragedy and love at the dawning of the Great War follows a young woman’s tale of endurance against the hardships of rural Scottish life. Based on the novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon and told with gritty poetic realism by Britain’s greatest living auteur, Sunset Song stars Peter Mullan and Agyness Deyn.
Trumbo. Jay Roach, USA World Premiere
The successful career of 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) comes to a crushing end when he and other Hollywood figures are blacklisted for their political beliefs. Trumbo tells the story of his fight against the U.S. government and studio bosses in a war over words and freedom, which entangled everyone in Hollywood from Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) and John Wayne to Kirk
Douglas and Otto Preminger Un plus une. Claude Lelouch, France World Premiere
Charming, successful, Antoine (Jean Dujardin) could be the hero of one of those films he composes the music for. When he leaves for a job in India, he meets Anna (Elsa Zylberstein), a woman who isn’t like him at all, but who attracts him more than anything. Together, they are going to experience an incredible journey.
Victoria. Sebastian Schipper, Germany Canadian Premiere
On a night out in Berlin, Victoria meets four young local guys. After joining their group, she becomes their driver when they rob a bank. Finally, as dawn breaks, everyone meets their destiny.
Where to Invade Next. Michael Moore, USA World Premiere
Oscar-winning director Michael Moore returns with what may be his most provocative and hilarious movie yet. Moore tells the Pentagon to “stand down”— he will do the invading for America from now on. Discretely shot in several countries and under the radar of the global media, Moore has made a searing cinematic work that is both up-to-the-minute and timeless.
Youth. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France/United Kingdom/Switzerland North American Premiere
Youth explores the lifelong bond between two friends vacationing in a luxury Swiss Alps lodge as they ponder retirement. While Fred (Michael Caine) has no plans to resume his musical career despite the urging of his daughter Lena (Rachel Weisz), Mick (Harvey Keitel) is intent on finishing the screenplay for what may be his last film for his muse Brenda (Jane Fonda). And where will inspiration lead their younger friend Jimmy (Paul Dano), an actor grasping to make sense of his next performance? From Italy’s Oscar-winning foreign language film writer and director Paolo Sorrentino, Youth asks if our most important and life-changing experiences can come at any time — even late — in life.
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DEMOLITION Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts to Open 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition will open the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper and Judah Lewis, Demolition will have its world premiere on September 10 at Roy Thomson Hall.
“Over the years the Festival has been proud to present Jean-Marc Vallée’s feature films including Black List, C.R.A.Z.Y., Café de Flore, The Young Victoria, Dallas Buyers Club and Wild,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. “Vallée is a proud Canadian with a distinct and powerful filmmaking voice and we can’t wait to share his latest film with Festival audiences on Opening Night.”
“Vallée has a tradition of presenting strong characters who are on journeys to self-discovery and redemption, and is the only filmmaker in our history to present both an opening and a closing night film at the Festival,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival. “This film tells the story of a man who deals with loss in unexpected ways, and is brought to life on screen through sensitive and commanding performances by Gyllenhaal, Watts, Cooper and newcomer Lewis.”
“I can’t think of a better place to introduce Demolition to the world than at home. That’s how I feel about TIFF,” said Vallée. “You make me feel at home, and I am grateful and honoured to have my film as the opener for the Festival’s 40th anniversary.”
In Demolition, a successful investment banker, Davis (Gyllenhaal), struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father-in-law to pull it together, Davis continues to unravel. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters revealing startling personal admissions. Davis’ letters catch the attention of customer service rep
Karen (Watts) and, amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two strangers form an unlikely connection. With the help of Karen and her son, Davis starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.
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Winners of the 20th Stony Brook Film Festival, HENRI HENRI Wins Best Film | TRAILERS
The French Canadian film Henri Henri, written and directed by Martin Talbot, with Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon and Sophie Desmarais (Sarah Prefers to Run), won the 2015 Jury Award-Best Feature at the 20th Stony Brook Film Festival.
Raised in an orphanage, Henri has spent his life maintaining the lights of the convent he calls home. But now that the convent is closing, he is forced to learn how to survive in the real world. Armed with only innocence and sincerity, Henri sets out to bring light to all those he encounters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcv-gAINMjU
Secrets of War (Oorlogsgeheimen) from the Netherlands that tells the story of best friends in a Nazi-occupied Dutch village, won the 2015 Audience Choice-Best Feature. It was directed by Dennis Bots, and written by Karen van Holst Pellekaan, based on the novel by Jacques Vriens. With Maas Bronkhuyzen, Joes Brauers and Pippa Allen.
Tuur and Lambert are best friends in a Nazi-occupied Dutch village who pass their days playing soldiers and exploring caves. When Maartje joins their class, the boys welcome her into their world of adventure and secrets. But the realities of war cause them to realize there are even deeper secrets to discover, with dire consequences for those who keep them. Secrets Of War puts both the danger and the humanity of wartime friendships squarely on the shoulders of three children who must face extraordinary circumstances with a maturity far beyond their years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Oc187S7OU
Winners of the 20th Annual Stony Brook Film Festival presented by Island Federal Credit Union
Henri Henri
2015 Jury Award-Best Feature
Stony Brook Film Festival hosted the New York Premiere of the charming feature film Henri Henri from French Canada. Written and directed by Martin Talbot. With Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon and Sophie Desmarais (Sarah Prefers to Run). Produced by Caroline Héroux, Christian Larouche. From Seville International. Martin Talbot, Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon and Sophie Desmarais attended the premiere screening. Accepting the award was Martin Talbot, presnt at the Closing Night Awards reception.
Secrets of War
2015 Audience Choice-Best Feature
Secrets of War (Oorlogsgeheimen) from the Netherlands that tells the story of best friends in a Nazi-occupied Dutch village. It was directed by Dennis Bots, and written by Karen van Holst Pellekaan, based on the novel by Jacques Vriens. With Maas Bronkhuyzen, Joes Brauers and Pippa Allen. Produced by David-Jan Bijker, Reinier Selen, Harro van Staverden. A Rinkel Film Production. From Film Movement. Director Dennis Bots sent an acceptance speech, noting that his grandmother was active in the Dutch resistance and that her stories inspired the film.
Thicker than Paint
Maryam Sepehri
2015 Achievement in Filmmaking
The New York Premiere of the documentary, Thicker than Paint, immerses the viewer in the life of an artist in Iran. Habibeh Bedayat is a mother, a teacher, a wife and a self-taught artist. Maryam Sepehri created a moving and very personal documentary, a complex story of sacrifice, creativity and the perseverance of the human spirit. Produced by Anita Alkhas and Payman Fotovat. Writer/director Maryam Sepehri from Iran attended the premiere screening and attending Closing Night to accept the award.
This Isn’t Funny
Paul Ashton & Katie Page
2015 Spirit of Independent Filmmaking Award
Paul Ashton and Katie Page had their hand in every aspect of the touching comedy This Isn’t Funny. They were the main actors with Paul Ashton directing. Together they wrote the screenplay and were among the producers, including Paul Ashton, Maria Menounos, Katie Page, Lije Sarki and Keven Undergaro. Filmmakers Paul Ashton and Katie Page attended the East Coast Premiere screening. Executive producer Pierce Cravens attended Closing Night to accept the award and a video acceptance was received from Paul and Katie. . An Easy Open Production. Distributed by Candy Factory Films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhl7cG0hz58
Cops & Robbers
2015 Audience Award-Best Short
The amusing short film featured a Long Island native in the lead role. Eddie Alfano plays an actor who would like to be the ‘bad guy’ in a film instead of a cop. Directed by Marco Ragozzino. Written by and starring Deer Park, Long Island’s Eddie Alfano, who attended the screening and was on hand to accept the award on Closing Night.
Day One
2015 Jury Award-Best Short
A short film written and directed by Henry Hughes, produced by Michael Steiner. The riveting Day One, a U.S. and Afganistan film, shares a harrowing experience of a woman interpreter on the first day of her job in that country.
The beautiful Closing Night film from Quebec, Canada, The Passion of Augustine, directed by Léa Pool, received recognition, with actresses Céline Bonnier and Valérie Blais attending the awards ceremony.