The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a slate of 44 short films packed with strong emerging voices and uniquely Canadian perspectives. This year’s roster is highlighted by a record number of Canadian works in the Wavelengths program – from smart satire to savvy social commentary, twists on genre to gut-punching powerful dramas, quirky documentaries to delightfully deranged animation and daring, formal experiments, these works showcase fascinating, provocative stories in short form.
Films in the Short Cuts program are eligible for the Award for Best Canadian Short Film. This year’s jury includes the head of the shorts program and creations unit at Canal+ France, Pascale Faure, film writer John Anderson (The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times), and actor Rizwan Manji (Outsourced, The Wolf of Wall Street).
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 to 20, 2015
SHORT CUTS
4 Quarters.
Ashley McKenzie, Canada Toronto Premiere
Willy and Jane just want to feel happy in one another’s company. He’s a sleep-deprived student living close to the bone. She’s a troubled drug addict in constant need of $20. Nursing their fledgling friendship on the margins of society proves to be a wicked problem.
A New Year (Nouvel an).
Marie-Ève Juste, Canada World Premiere
Florence is having a New Year’s Eve party, but at 37 weeks pregnant she feels somewhat ambivalent about the festivities and frolics of her friends.
Bacon & God’s Wrath.
Sol Friedman, Canada World Premiere
In this short documentary, a 90-year-old Jewish woman reflects on her life’s experiences as she prepares to try bacon for the first time.
The Ballad of Immortal.
Joe Hector Herrera, Canada World Premiere
Written with a nod to traditional cowboy songs and to the northern ballads of Robert W. Service, this film puts a supernatural twist on a tragically romantic Western. Voiced by Canadian actor Kenneth Welsh (Twin Peaks, The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow) and scored by Toronto greats The Sadies, this is the third chapter in the silly rhyme collection Beastly Bards.
BAM.
Howie Shia, Canada World Premiere
In a dense inner city haunted by primordial gods, a young boxer struggles to understand the disturbing consequences of his explosive rage — both inside and outside the ring. Presenting the young boxer’s battles in terms both heroic and tortured, BAM combines a biting urban soundtrack with a hand-drawn, comic-book style, mashing up cacophonous drums and grinding electronics with soft brushwork and swift action.
Benjamin.
Sherren Lee, Canada World Premiere
When a dually-pregnant lesbian couple loses one of the babies in utero, the grieving mothers break their surrogacy arrangement with their closest friends in order to keep the remaining baby.
Beyond The Horizon.
Ryan J. Noth, Canada World Premiere
In 1845 Sir John Franklin led 128 men on the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror on a search for the Northwest Passage. The fate of the crew and ships has been slowly uncovered since September 2014, when Parks Canada archaeologists discovered the resting place of the HMS Erebus in the remote Arctic Ocean. Reflecting on the ship and story from the perspective of the sailors and the archaeologists, the film paints a crushing visual portrait of a place where time can lose all meaning.
Boxing.
Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley, Canada World Premiere
Sheila returns to her weekly boxing class after a traumatic event, and tensions mount when one of the other women refuses to stop showering her with sympathy.
Boy.
Connor Jessup, Canada World Premiere
After a fatal bicycle accident, 12-year-old Jacob moves through the world as a ghost. Unseen and unheard, he trails his classmate home from school. As the ghost boy watches, an image of a grief-stricken family slowly begins to take shape.
Casualties of Modernity.
Kent Monkman, Canada World Premiere
Celebrity artist and humanitarian Miss Chief Eagle Testickle tours a hospital specializing in the treatment of conditions afflicting modern and contemporary art. Led by the doctor of fine arts and closely supervised by the no-nonsense head nurse, Miss Chief encounters romance, tragedy and triumph.
Clouds of Autumn.
Trevor Mack and Matthew Taylor Blais, Canada North American Premiere
Set on the Tsilhqot’in plateau in the 1970s, this film focuses on two siblings, and explores the impact that Canadian residential schools had on the relationships of First Nations children with each other, their heritage, and nature itself.
Dogs Don’t Breed Cats (Les chiens ne font pas des chats).
Cristina Martins, Canada Canadian Premiere
Pregnant and homeless, Joëlle shows up at the home of her father Jeff. Even though this solitary non-conformist and former punk rocker is reluctant to the idea, she decides to stay and Jeff is overwhelmed by his new interactions with the daughter he barely knows.
Dredger.
Phillip Barker, Canada World Premiere
The crew of a salvage ship is tossed into turmoil when the young captain’s wife becomes infatuated with an older shipmate. She casts herself ashore but can’t break free from the seabed of secrets the old man brought to the surface.
The Guy From Work (Les gars d’la shop).
Jean-François Leblanc, Canada World Premiere
Raynald is a family man who has been working in the same tire plant for over 30 years. This week, there is nothing unusual in his daily life: work, hockey games with the guys, and family night. However, Raynald will make the biggest move of his life.
It’s Not You.
Don McKellar, Canada World Premiere
It’s not you…or is it? Whether dumper or dump-ee, being in that situation brings out feelings you didn’t know you had. Under thedirection of the talented Don McKellar, the graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada takes audiences through the perpetuity of break ups.
KOKOM.
Kevin Papatie, Canada Toronto Premiere
Kevin Papatie, participant of the Wapikoni Mobile for 10 years, presents a beautiful experimental film that pays tribute to his grandmother — his kokom — and to the Anishnabe people who have survived the trials of history and remained strong.
The Magnificent Life Underwater (La vie magnifique sous l’eau).
Joël Vaudreuil, Canada World Premiere
In this absurd animated parody of a classic undersea adventure show, an authoritative narrator reveals the wonders and mysteries of the sea — although the banal habits of these homely aquatic creatures have an odd familiarity.
The Man Who Shot Hollywood.
Barry Avrich, Canada World Premiere
In a town lit up by a thousand stars, Jack Pashkovsky practiced his art anonymously. By the time he was finished, he had brilliantly photographed hundreds of the biggest Hollywood icons from Garbo to Swanson. His collection of photographs have never been seen. Until now.
Mia’.
Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett, Canada World Premiere
A young Indigenous female street artist walks through the city streets painting scenes rooted in the supernatural history of her people. As the alleyways become her sanctuary and secret gallery, her art comes to life, pulling Mia’ into her own transformation via the vessel of a salmon. This hybrid documentary uses animation and sound as a vehicle to tell the story of transformation and reconnection.
Mobilize.
Caroline Monnet, Canada World Premiere
Guided expertly by those who live on the land and driven by the pulse of the natural world, this film takes audiences on an exhilarating journey from the far north to the urban south. The fearless polar punk rhythms of Tanya Tagaq’s “Uja” underscore the perpetual negotiation between the modern and traditional by a people always moving forward. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) invited four talented and renowned Aboriginal artists to create a program of works addressing Aboriginal identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB’s archives.
Never Happened.
Mark Slutsky, Canada World Premiere
When colleagues Grady and Laura have an affair on a business trip, they decide it might be easier if it just never happened.
Never Steady, Never Still.
Kathleen Hepburn, Canada World Premiere
Distressed and overwhelmed by the mistakes of his past, a young lease-hand returns from Alberta’s oil fields to his childhood home on Lillooet Lake, where he finds solace in the strength of his recently widowed mother.
NINA. Halima Elkhatabi, Canada World Premiere
At 16 years old, Nina is helpless to her 4-month-old baby’s incessant crying. Without any escape from the cries and from this new presence in her life, she ventures out from her tiny apartment into a working-class neighborhood of Montréal for a brief escapade.
o negative.
Steven McCarthy, Canada World Premiere
A young woman and the man who takes care of her find shelter in a roadside motel and take the necessary steps to feed her addiction.
Our Remaining Lives (Les vies qui nous restent).
Luiza Cocora, Canada World Premiere
Having recently moved to Quebec, Sofia, a 10-year-old Romanian girl, lives with her mother in a small flat in Montreal. In a world where technology imposes human isolation, Sofia is trying to understand her new life.
Overpass (Viaduc).
Patrice Laliberté, Canada World Premiere
A 17-year-old named Mathieu goes out one night to write graffiti on an overpass. But whereas his actions require a swift escape from the scene of the crime, their true meaning is far more unexpected.
Portal to Hell!!!
Vivieno Caldinelli, Canada World Premiere
The late and great “Rowdy” Roddy Piper plays a crusty superintendent who is thrust into the ultimate fight against evil when a pair of cultists opens a multidimensional portal in his basement.
Quiet Zone (Ondes et silence).
David Bryant and Karl Lemieux, Canada Canadian Premiere
This film takes audiences deep into the world of those who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Combining elements of documentary, film essay and experimental film, David Bryant and Karl Lemieux — known for their work in the musical group Godspeed You! Black Emperor — weave together an unusual story in which sound and image distort reality to convey the suffering of these “wave refugees.”
Rock the Box.
Katherine Monk, Canada World Premiere
Electronic dance music (EDM) is now the most lucrative sector of the music industry but it’s dominated by men. To break that glass ceiling, a Vancouver-raised deejay named Rhiannon Rozier did something she never thought she’d do: pose for Playboy. Thanks to its impressionistic images, exhilarating montage and Rozier’s remarkable candour, this film tells the story of one woman who rocked conventions by owning her own image, her own voice, and her own box.
She Stoops To Conquer.
Zachary Russell, Canada World Premiere
An aspiring performer struggles to breathe life into a new character she’s created. Suddenly, she sees him: the real-life version of the man she’s been playing. Where’s the line between inspiration and theft? A gender-bending romantic comedy about a man and her double.
The Sleepwalker (Sonámbulo) (pictured above)
Theodore Ushev, Canada North American Premiere
A surrealist journey through colours and shapes inspired by the poem Romance Sonámbulo by Federico García Lorca. It’s visual poetry in the rhythm of fantastic dreams and passionate nights.
The Swimming Lesson (Le cours de natation)
Olivia Boudreau, Canada North American Premiere
Brought by her mother to her first swimming lesson, a 7-year-old girl must find, on her own, her place in the unfamiliar world of the pool.
Wolkaan
Bahar Noorizadeh, Canada/Iran/USA World Premiere
Insightful and enigmatic, this multi-layered mediation on the experience of exile begins with the streets of Tehran gradually filling with enigmatic streams of lava. In Michigan, a boy and his father’s fateful journey ends up amid dinosaurs and a plastic volcano.
World Famous Gopher Hole Museum
Chelsea McMullan and Douglas Nayler, Canada World Premiere
A portrait of Torrington, a fading Albertan farm town with a secret wish to be frozen in time like the taxidermied gophers that populate its world-famous tourist attraction.
MIDNIGHT MADNESS
The Chickening
Nick DenBoer and Davy Force, Canada World Premiere
How can a boy not get excited when his dad gets a new job as senior chief night manager at Charbay’s Chicken World and Restaurant Resort, the world’s largest fast food entertainment complex in North America? However, in this short film things quickly get very, very clucked.
The Chickening will screen preceding the Opening Night Film in the Midnight Madness programme.
WAVELENGTHS
Bunte Kuh
Ryan Ferko, Parastoo Anoushahpour and Faraz Anoushahpour, Canada/Germany Toronto Premiere
Through a flood of images, a narrator attempts to recall a family holiday. Bunte Kuh combines a found postcard, family photo album, and original footage to weave together the temporal realities of two separate vacations.
Engram of Returning
Daïchi Saïto, Canada World Premiere
The figure of the jig-saw / that is of picture, / the representation of a world as ours / in a complex patterning of color in light and shadows, / masses with hints of densities and distances, / cut across by a second, discrete pattern / in which we perceive on qualities of fitting and not fitting / and suggestions of rhyme / in ways of fitting and not fitting – / this jig-saw conformation of patterns / of different orders, / of a pattern of apparent reality / in which the picture we are working to bring out appears / and of a pattern of loss and of finding / that so compels us that we are entirely engrossed in working it out, / this picture that must be put together / takes over mere seeing. — Robert Duncan, poet
Fugue
Kerstin Schrödinger, Canada/Germany North American Premiere
Fugue is a formal and physical experiment in order to understand the relationship between image, sound and movement. Movements are also printed on the part of the film strip that is read as optical sound by the light sensitive sensor of the projector. What you hear is what you see.
May We Sleep Soundly
Denis Côté, Canada World Premiere
Winter persists. Something happened. At the heart of the woods, on the slopes of mountains, in the streets and even inside homes, a strange silence took up residence. Will there remain a soul to witness the recent event?
May We Sleep Soundly will screen preceding the feature 88.88.
Office Space Modulation
Terrarea (Janis Demkiw, Emily Hogg and Olia Mishchenko), Canada World Premiere
The Office Space Modulator is an improvised animation device employing an outsized Lazy Susan as the central mechanism to produce looped analogue projections of light and shadow. The resulting single-take field recordings document a subtle gymnastic interplay of scale, transparency, reflection, rotation, puppetry, and general field-ground tomfoolery.
Palms
Mary-Helena Clark Canada/USA World Premiere
Musical and mysterious, this is a sphinx-like, modular film in four parts, with two hands animating stillness, the repeated approach of headlights, a < — > tennis match, and thoughts that emerge like objects.
Something Horizontal
Blake Williams, Canada/USA World Premiere
Three-dimensional flashes of Victorian domestic surfaces and geometric shadows transform the physical world into a somber, impressionistic abstraction, while elsewhere a spectre emerging from the depths of German Expressionism reminds us that what goes up always comes down.
Théodolitique
David K. Ross, Canada World Premiere
Théodolitique merges the geodetic and the filmic, linking the very long history of land surveying with the comparatively new technologies of filmmaking. Connecting these two methods of visual observation and recording, the film documents student surveyors from the École des Métiers du Sud-Ouest-de-Montréal as they take an outdoor exam over the course of a single day.
UNcirCling
John Creson and Adam Rosen, Canada World Premiere
Elegant and enigmatic, UNcirCling is a visual music miniature composed of a bokeh of lights and digital chirping.Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
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Toronto International Film Festival Reveals Short Films Lineup
The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a slate of 44 short films packed with strong emerging voices and uniquely Canadian perspectives. This year’s roster is highlighted by a record number of Canadian works in the Wavelengths program – from smart satire to savvy social commentary, twists on genre to gut-punching powerful dramas, quirky documentaries to delightfully deranged animation and daring, formal experiments, these works showcase fascinating, provocative stories in short form.
Films in the Short Cuts program are eligible for the Award for Best Canadian Short Film. This year’s jury includes the head of the shorts program and creations unit at Canal+ France, Pascale Faure, film writer John Anderson (The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times), and actor Rizwan Manji (Outsourced, The Wolf of Wall Street).
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 to 20, 2015
SHORT CUTS
4 Quarters.
Ashley McKenzie, Canada Toronto Premiere
Willy and Jane just want to feel happy in one another’s company. He’s a sleep-deprived student living close to the bone. She’s a troubled drug addict in constant need of $20. Nursing their fledgling friendship on the margins of society proves to be a wicked problem.
A New Year (Nouvel an).
Marie-Ève Juste, Canada World Premiere
Florence is having a New Year’s Eve party, but at 37 weeks pregnant she feels somewhat ambivalent about the festivities and frolics of her friends.
Bacon & God’s Wrath.
Sol Friedman, Canada World Premiere
In this short documentary, a 90-year-old Jewish woman reflects on her life’s experiences as she prepares to try bacon for the first time.
The Ballad of Immortal.
Joe Hector Herrera, Canada World Premiere
Written with a nod to traditional cowboy songs and to the northern ballads of Robert W. Service, this film puts a supernatural twist on a tragically romantic Western. Voiced by Canadian actor Kenneth Welsh (Twin Peaks, The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow) and scored by Toronto greats The Sadies, this is the third chapter in the silly rhyme collection Beastly Bards.
BAM.
Howie Shia, Canada World Premiere
In a dense inner city haunted by primordial gods, a young boxer struggles to understand the disturbing consequences of his explosive rage — both inside and outside the ring. Presenting the young boxer’s battles in terms both heroic and tortured, BAM combines a biting urban soundtrack with a hand-drawn, comic-book style, mashing up cacophonous drums and grinding electronics with soft brushwork and swift action.
Benjamin.
Sherren Lee, Canada World Premiere
When a dually-pregnant lesbian couple loses one of the babies in utero, the grieving mothers break their surrogacy arrangement with their closest friends in order to keep the remaining baby.
Beyond The Horizon.
Ryan J. Noth, Canada World Premiere
In 1845 Sir John Franklin led 128 men on the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror on a search for the Northwest Passage. The fate of the crew and ships has been slowly uncovered since September 2014, when Parks Canada archaeologists discovered the resting place of the HMS Erebus in the remote Arctic Ocean. Reflecting on the ship and story from the perspective of the sailors and the archaeologists, the film paints a crushing visual portrait of a place where time can lose all meaning.
Boxing.
Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley, Canada World Premiere
Sheila returns to her weekly boxing class after a traumatic event, and tensions mount when one of the other women refuses to stop showering her with sympathy.
Boy.
Connor Jessup, Canada World Premiere
After a fatal bicycle accident, 12-year-old Jacob moves through the world as a ghost. Unseen and unheard, he trails his classmate home from school. As the ghost boy watches, an image of a grief-stricken family slowly begins to take shape.
Casualties of Modernity.
Kent Monkman, Canada World Premiere
Celebrity artist and humanitarian Miss Chief Eagle Testickle tours a hospital specializing in the treatment of conditions afflicting modern and contemporary art. Led by the doctor of fine arts and closely supervised by the no-nonsense head nurse, Miss Chief encounters romance, tragedy and triumph.
Clouds of Autumn.
Trevor Mack and Matthew Taylor Blais, Canada North American Premiere
Set on the Tsilhqot’in plateau in the 1970s, this film focuses on two siblings, and explores the impact that Canadian residential schools had on the relationships of First Nations children with each other, their heritage, and nature itself.
Dogs Don’t Breed Cats (Les chiens ne font pas des chats).
Cristina Martins, Canada Canadian Premiere
Pregnant and homeless, Joëlle shows up at the home of her father Jeff. Even though this solitary non-conformist and former punk rocker is reluctant to the idea, she decides to stay and Jeff is overwhelmed by his new interactions with the daughter he barely knows.
Dredger.
Phillip Barker, Canada World Premiere
The crew of a salvage ship is tossed into turmoil when the young captain’s wife becomes infatuated with an older shipmate. She casts herself ashore but can’t break free from the seabed of secrets the old man brought to the surface.
The Guy From Work (Les gars d’la shop).
Jean-François Leblanc, Canada World Premiere
Raynald is a family man who has been working in the same tire plant for over 30 years. This week, there is nothing unusual in his daily life: work, hockey games with the guys, and family night. However, Raynald will make the biggest move of his life.
It’s Not You.
Don McKellar, Canada World Premiere
It’s not you…or is it? Whether dumper or dump-ee, being in that situation brings out feelings you didn’t know you had. Under thedirection of the talented Don McKellar, the graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada takes audiences through the perpetuity of break ups.
KOKOM.
Kevin Papatie, Canada Toronto Premiere
Kevin Papatie, participant of the Wapikoni Mobile for 10 years, presents a beautiful experimental film that pays tribute to his grandmother — his kokom — and to the Anishnabe people who have survived the trials of history and remained strong.
The Magnificent Life Underwater (La vie magnifique sous l’eau).
Joël Vaudreuil, Canada World Premiere
In this absurd animated parody of a classic undersea adventure show, an authoritative narrator reveals the wonders and mysteries of the sea — although the banal habits of these homely aquatic creatures have an odd familiarity.
The Man Who Shot Hollywood.
Barry Avrich, Canada World Premiere
In a town lit up by a thousand stars, Jack Pashkovsky practiced his art anonymously. By the time he was finished, he had brilliantly photographed hundreds of the biggest Hollywood icons from Garbo to Swanson. His collection of photographs have never been seen. Until now.
Mia’.
Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett, Canada World Premiere
A young Indigenous female street artist walks through the city streets painting scenes rooted in the supernatural history of her people. As the alleyways become her sanctuary and secret gallery, her art comes to life, pulling Mia’ into her own transformation via the vessel of a salmon. This hybrid documentary uses animation and sound as a vehicle to tell the story of transformation and reconnection.
Mobilize.
Caroline Monnet, Canada World Premiere
Guided expertly by those who live on the land and driven by the pulse of the natural world, this film takes audiences on an exhilarating journey from the far north to the urban south. The fearless polar punk rhythms of Tanya Tagaq’s “Uja” underscore the perpetual negotiation between the modern and traditional by a people always moving forward. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) invited four talented and renowned Aboriginal artists to create a program of works addressing Aboriginal identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB’s archives.
Never Happened.
Mark Slutsky, Canada World Premiere
When colleagues Grady and Laura have an affair on a business trip, they decide it might be easier if it just never happened.
Never Steady, Never Still.
Kathleen Hepburn, Canada World Premiere
Distressed and overwhelmed by the mistakes of his past, a young lease-hand returns from Alberta’s oil fields to his childhood home on Lillooet Lake, where he finds solace in the strength of his recently widowed mother.
NINA. Halima Elkhatabi, Canada World Premiere
At 16 years old, Nina is helpless to her 4-month-old baby’s incessant crying. Without any escape from the cries and from this new presence in her life, she ventures out from her tiny apartment into a working-class neighborhood of Montréal for a brief escapade.
o negative.
Steven McCarthy, Canada World Premiere
A young woman and the man who takes care of her find shelter in a roadside motel and take the necessary steps to feed her addiction.
Our Remaining Lives (Les vies qui nous restent).
Luiza Cocora, Canada World Premiere
Having recently moved to Quebec, Sofia, a 10-year-old Romanian girl, lives with her mother in a small flat in Montreal. In a world where technology imposes human isolation, Sofia is trying to understand her new life.
Overpass (Viaduc).
Patrice Laliberté, Canada World Premiere
A 17-year-old named Mathieu goes out one night to write graffiti on an overpass. But whereas his actions require a swift escape from the scene of the crime, their true meaning is far more unexpected.
Portal to Hell!!!
Vivieno Caldinelli, Canada World Premiere
The late and great “Rowdy” Roddy Piper plays a crusty superintendent who is thrust into the ultimate fight against evil when a pair of cultists opens a multidimensional portal in his basement.
Quiet Zone (Ondes et silence).
David Bryant and Karl Lemieux, Canada Canadian Premiere
This film takes audiences deep into the world of those who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Combining elements of documentary, film essay and experimental film, David Bryant and Karl Lemieux — known for their work in the musical group Godspeed You! Black Emperor — weave together an unusual story in which sound and image distort reality to convey the suffering of these “wave refugees.”
Rock the Box.
Katherine Monk, Canada World Premiere
Electronic dance music (EDM) is now the most lucrative sector of the music industry but it’s dominated by men. To break that glass ceiling, a Vancouver-raised deejay named Rhiannon Rozier did something she never thought she’d do: pose for Playboy. Thanks to its impressionistic images, exhilarating montage and Rozier’s remarkable candour, this film tells the story of one woman who rocked conventions by owning her own image, her own voice, and her own box.
She Stoops To Conquer.
Zachary Russell, Canada World Premiere
An aspiring performer struggles to breathe life into a new character she’s created. Suddenly, she sees him: the real-life version of the man she’s been playing. Where’s the line between inspiration and theft? A gender-bending romantic comedy about a man and her double.
The Sleepwalker (Sonámbulo) (pictured above)
Theodore Ushev, Canada North American Premiere
A surrealist journey through colours and shapes inspired by the poem Romance Sonámbulo by Federico García Lorca. It’s visual poetry in the rhythm of fantastic dreams and passionate nights.
The Swimming Lesson (Le cours de natation)
Olivia Boudreau, Canada North American Premiere
Brought by her mother to her first swimming lesson, a 7-year-old girl must find, on her own, her place in the unfamiliar world of the pool.
Wolkaan
Bahar Noorizadeh, Canada/Iran/USA World Premiere
Insightful and enigmatic, this multi-layered mediation on the experience of exile begins with the streets of Tehran gradually filling with enigmatic streams of lava. In Michigan, a boy and his father’s fateful journey ends up amid dinosaurs and a plastic volcano.
World Famous Gopher Hole Museum
Chelsea McMullan and Douglas Nayler, Canada World Premiere
A portrait of Torrington, a fading Albertan farm town with a secret wish to be frozen in time like the taxidermied gophers that populate its world-famous tourist attraction.
MIDNIGHT MADNESS
The Chickening
Nick DenBoer and Davy Force, Canada World Premiere
How can a boy not get excited when his dad gets a new job as senior chief night manager at Charbay’s Chicken World and Restaurant Resort, the world’s largest fast food entertainment complex in North America? However, in this short film things quickly get very, very clucked.
The Chickening will screen preceding the Opening Night Film in the Midnight Madness programme.
WAVELENGTHS
Bunte Kuh
Ryan Ferko, Parastoo Anoushahpour and Faraz Anoushahpour, Canada/Germany Toronto Premiere
Through a flood of images, a narrator attempts to recall a family holiday. Bunte Kuh combines a found postcard, family photo album, and original footage to weave together the temporal realities of two separate vacations.
Engram of Returning
Daïchi Saïto, Canada World Premiere
The figure of the jig-saw / that is of picture, / the representation of a world as ours / in a complex patterning of color in light and shadows, / masses with hints of densities and distances, / cut across by a second, discrete pattern / in which we perceive on qualities of fitting and not fitting / and suggestions of rhyme / in ways of fitting and not fitting – / this jig-saw conformation of patterns / of different orders, / of a pattern of apparent reality / in which the picture we are working to bring out appears / and of a pattern of loss and of finding / that so compels us that we are entirely engrossed in working it out, / this picture that must be put together / takes over mere seeing. — Robert Duncan, poet
Fugue
Kerstin Schrödinger, Canada/Germany North American Premiere
Fugue is a formal and physical experiment in order to understand the relationship between image, sound and movement. Movements are also printed on the part of the film strip that is read as optical sound by the light sensitive sensor of the projector. What you hear is what you see.
May We Sleep Soundly
Denis Côté, Canada World Premiere
Winter persists. Something happened. At the heart of the woods, on the slopes of mountains, in the streets and even inside homes, a strange silence took up residence. Will there remain a soul to witness the recent event?
May We Sleep Soundly will screen preceding the feature 88.88.
Office Space Modulation
Terrarea (Janis Demkiw, Emily Hogg and Olia Mishchenko), Canada World Premiere
The Office Space Modulator is an improvised animation device employing an outsized Lazy Susan as the central mechanism to produce looped analogue projections of light and shadow. The resulting single-take field recordings document a subtle gymnastic interplay of scale, transparency, reflection, rotation, puppetry, and general field-ground tomfoolery.
Palms
Mary-Helena Clark Canada/USA World Premiere
Musical and mysterious, this is a sphinx-like, modular film in four parts, with two hands animating stillness, the repeated approach of headlights, a < — > tennis match, and thoughts that emerge like objects.
Something Horizontal
Blake Williams, Canada/USA World Premiere
Three-dimensional flashes of Victorian domestic surfaces and geometric shadows transform the physical world into a somber, impressionistic abstraction, while elsewhere a spectre emerging from the depths of German Expressionism reminds us that what goes up always comes down.
Théodolitique
David K. Ross, Canada World Premiere
Théodolitique merges the geodetic and the filmic, linking the very long history of land surveying with the comparatively new technologies of filmmaking. Connecting these two methods of visual observation and recording, the film documents student surveyors from the École des Métiers du Sud-Ouest-de-Montréal as they take an outdoor exam over the course of a single day.
UNcirCling
John Creson and Adam Rosen, Canada World Premiere
Elegant and enigmatic, UNcirCling is a visual music miniature composed of a bokeh of lights and digital chirping.
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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 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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ONCE IN A LIFETIME (LES HÉRITIERS) Wins Audience Award at 2015 Wave Film Festival | TRAILER
ONCE IN A LIFETIME (LES HÉRITIERS), Marie-Castille Mention Schaar’s emotional drama about an inner city high school teacher who enrolls her students in a competition around what it meant to be a teen in a Nazi concentration camp, took home the audience award in the third annual “Wave Film Festival”. The 2015 Wave Film Festival, presented by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), took place recently on July 15th through July 19th.
Written by Mention-Schaar and Ahmed Dramé, ONCE IN A LIFETIME (LES HÉRITIERS) features a French cast including: Ariane Ascaride, Geneviève Mnich, Ahmed Dramé and Stéphane Bak.
“The actors in this film give such a honest, emotional portrayal that it is hard to not be moved by this film” said Mickey Duzdevich, the director of Wave Film Festival. “Besides being beautifully crafted, this film touches upon a powerful subject matter in such an unique and special way. We could not be more happy to have this incredible film a part of our film festival.”
Additional films screened at the festival include: Yann Gozlan’s A PERFECT MAN (UN HOMME IDEAL), Emmanuel Mouret’s CAPRICE, Thomas Lilti’s HIPPOCRATES: DIARY OF A FRENCH DOCTOR, Matthieu Delaporte’s NOBODY FROM NOWHERE (UN ILLUSTRE INCONNU), Jeanne Herry’s NUMBER ONE FAN (ELLE L’ADORE), Olivier Panchot’s MARSEILLE (DE GUERRE LASSE), Anne Le Ny’s THE CHEF’S WIFE, Élodie Namer’s THE TOURNAMENT (LE TOURNOI), Stéphane Demoustier’s 40-LOVE (TERRE BATTUE), Serge Frydman’s NOW OR NEVER (MAINTENANT OU JAMAIS).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvhyY1_rxw
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Sarah Polley’s STORIES WE TELL Among 4th All-Time Top Ten List of Canadian Films
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) today announced the results of its fourth Canada’s All-Time Top Ten List, an international poll of industry and academics on the most memorable Canadian films. This is the fourth edition of TIFF’s All-Time Top Ten List; previous lists were released in 1984, 1993 and 2004.
“In our 40th year we are celebrating our national cinema by revisiting the list of top Canadian films, with help from our esteemed colleagues in the industry and academia,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO, TIFF. “It is encouraging to see new filmmakers and films establishing themselves on the list alongside the classics.”
“With more than a decade since our last survey, much has changed in Canadian cinema, and in the results of the survey,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, TIFF. “Atanarjuat has dethroned the long-standing No. 1 film, Mon once Antoine, and we welcome filmmakers including Guy Maddin, Jean-Claude Lauzon, Sarah Polley and Jean-Marc Vallée to the list for the first time. It’s an exciting group of films indicative of our rich cinematic tradition.”
Canada’s All-Time Top Ten List of Canadian films:
1. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, Zacharias Kunuk (2001)
2. Mon oncle Antoine, Claude Jutra (1971)
3. The Sweet Hereafter, Atom Egoyan (1997)
4. Jésus de Montréal, Denys Arcand (1989)
5. Léolo, Jean-Claude Lauzon (1992)
6. Goin’ Down the Road, Don Shebib (1970)
7. Dead Ringers, David Cronenberg (1988)
8. C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée (2005)
9. My Winnipeg, Guy Maddin (2007)
10. Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley (2012) (pictured above)/Les Ordres, Michel Brault (1974)
“The Directors Guild of Canada takes pride in shining the spotlight on our national cinema at every opportunity,” said Tim Southam, National President, DGC. “The filmmakers featured here have contributed much to our country’s cultural voice and history. It is inspiring to be able to experience them again with a new generation of viewers.”
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THE GRAND SEDUCTION and THE LUNCHBOX Win Toronto Intl FIlm Fest’s Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards
Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction and Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox are winners of the 11th annual Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards. The Grand Seduction (pictured above) was named Best Canadian Film and The Lunchbox was selected as the Best International Film.
Now in its 11th year, the annual Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards are decided by audiences across the country who vote for their favorite film shown at a Film Circuit screening. Film Circuit is Toronto International Film Festival’s national film outreach program.
In 2014, guests travelled to communities across Canada to introduce their films and participate in 95 Q&A sessions. Guests included Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club), Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction), Sturla Gunnarsson (Monsoon), Jody Shapiro (Burt’s Buzz), Elizabeth Klinck (Arctic Defenders), Richie Mehta (Siddharth), Maxime Giroux (Felix and Meira), Katie Boland (Gerontophilia), Daniel Perlmutter (Big News From Grand Rock), and Peter Keleghan and Leah Pinsent (Big News From Grand Rock).
The Grand Seduction follows the residents of a small Newfoundland fishing village who, in order to secure a vital factory contract, conspire to charm a big-city doctor into becoming the town’s full-time physician. This sparkling comedy from director Don McKellar (Last Night) and screenwriter Michael Dowse (Goon, The F Word) has screened in 63 Film Circuit communities and was seen by over 10,700 people.
In The Lunchbox, a misdelivered lunchbox brings together two very different people — a neglected housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and a grumpy, solitary widower on the verge of retirement (Bollywood star Irrfan Khan) — in this funny and touching comedy-drama from first-time writer-director Ritesh Batra. The Lunchbox has screened in 80 Film Circuit communities and was seen by over 14,300 people.
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Toronto International Film Festival Announced 2014 Winners, “The Imitation Game” “Beats of the Antonov” Win People’s Choice Awards
The Imitation GameThe Toronto International Film Festival announced award winners from the 39th Festival which wrapped on Sunday evening. This year marked the 37th year that Toronto audiences were able to cast a ballot for their favorite Festival film, with the Grolsch People’s Choice Award. This year’s award went to Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal. The award offers a $15,000 cash prize and custom award, sponsored by Grolsch. The first runner up is Isabel Coixet’s Learning to Drive. The second runner up is Theodore Melfi’s St. Vincent.
Beats of the AntonovThe Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award went to Hajooj Kuka for Beats of the Antonov. Beats of the Antonov follows refugees from the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan as they survive displacement and the trauma of civil war. Music, a cornerstone of their traditions and identity, becomes itself a vehicle for survival. First runner up is David Thorpe’s Do I Sound Gay?and the second runner up is Ethan Hawke’s Seymour: An Introduction.
What We Do in the ShadowsThe Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement for What We Do in the Shadows. The film follows three flatmates who are just trying to get by and overcome life’s obstacles — like being immortal vampires who must feast on human blood. First runner up is Kevin Smith for Tusk and the second runner up is Jalmari Helander for Big Game.
The winner of the Vimeo Award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Randall Okita for The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer. The jury remarked, “For its bold blend of live action and digital animation to produce a striking meditation on the nature of memory and its legacy, the jury awards the Vimeo Award for Best Canadian Short Film to Randall Okita’s The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer.”The award offers a $10,000 cash prize.
The jury gave an honorable mention, “For its entirely unexpected development of a science fiction high concept into something alternately heartbreaking and humorous, the jury gives an honorable mention to Rob Grant’s What Doesn’t Kill You.”
The winner of the Vimeo Award for Best International Short Film goes to Sotiris Dounoukos’s A Single Body (Un seul corps). The jury remarked, “For its extraordinary exploration of the value of friendship, hope, and aspiration in an unusually brutal and austere environment… and world — made especially heartbreaking by striking performances by Doudou Masta and Mexianu Medenou — the jury awards the Vimeo Award for Best International Short Film to Sotiris Dounoukos for A Single Body.” The award offers a $10,000 cash prize.
The jury gave an honorable mention, “For its charming absurdist comedy about loneliness, identity, and the art of finding yourself, the jury gives an honourable mention to Atsuko Hirayanagi for Oh Lucy!.”
Felix and Meira (Félix et Meira)The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film goes to Maxime Giroux’s Felix and Meira (Félix et Meira). The jury remarked, “For its immense sophistication and craftsmanship in telling a brave story bridging two disparate worlds, its generosity of spirit, masterful use of music, and exquisite performances that fuel the film’s power as both an intimate love story and a profound statement on the value of passion, family and community, the Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film goes to Maxime Giroux’s Felix and Meira.” This award is made possible thanks to Canada Goose and comes with a cash prize of $30,000.
Bang Bang BabyThe City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film goes to Jeffrey St. Jules for Bang Bang Baby. The jury remarked,“For its ingenious mixing of genres, sophisticated blend of tones and ability to create its own strange, tragicomic and original world without sacrificing any richness in regards to story, character and emotion, the jury recognizes as Best Canadian First Feature Film Bang Bang Baby by Jeffrey St. Jules.” The award carries a cash prize of $15,000.
Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations is awarded to Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind. The jury remarked, “For Oren Moverman’s sensitive and human depiction of homelessness, and Richard Gere’s remarkable performance, the FIPRESCI jury is pleased to grant the Special Presentations prize to Time Out of Mind.”
Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI) for the Discovery programme is awarded to Abd Al Malik for May Allah Bless France!(Qu’Allah bénisse la France!) The jury remarked, “The FIPRESCI jury is pleased to grant the Discovery prize for a story of a youth displaced in their own country, struggling to find the balance between chaos and serenity, on the strength of art, music and human spirit. While the startling cinematography is purely black and white,
As selected by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, the NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere goes to Shonali Bose for Margarita, with a Straw. Jury members include Lekha Shankar (India), Hannah Fisher (China) and Anderson Le (Hawaii). The jury remarked, “Margarita, with a Straw is both universal and groundbreaking. Director Shonali Bose and actress Kalki Koechlin have jointly created a character and a world that embody a love letter to life, with all its highs and lows, in spite of overwhelming physical limitations.”
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New International Shorts Programme to Launch at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival, announced that Short Cuts International, a program of international short films will premiere at the 2014 Festival. “With new technologies and a constant influx of new talent, short filmmaking is flourishing,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “As TIFF expands its global reach, we want to bring some of the world’s finest short films to the audience, industry and media that gather in Toronto every year.”
Selected international shorts will screen in five curated programmes this September. The Festival’s Short Cuts International screenings will kick off a new monthly shorts programme that will run year-round at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Shane Smith, TIFF’s Director of Special Projects, will oversee Short Cuts International. Programmers will be announced in the coming months.
The Festival will begin accepting film submissions for all film programmes on Wednesday, February 12, with an early-bird deadline of May 2 and a late deadline of May 30. Canadian short films will continue to be programmed in the Short Cuts Canada program.
The 39th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 4 to 14, 2014.
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TIFF Reveals Canada’s Top Ten Films of 2013
ASPHALT WATCHES, Shayne Ehman and Seth ScriverToronto International Film Festival announced Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival feature film selections for 2013, and Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival short film selections for 2013 that will screen in the 13th annual Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival. The 10-day festival runs January 3 to 12, 2014 at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
On January 5, the Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival welcomes Academy Award-nominees Denis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal to TIFF Bell Lightbox to discuss their recent collaborations. The festival will conclude on January 12 with an onstage conversation between Canadian filmmaker John Greyson and Toronto International Film Festival Artistic Director Cameron Bailey.
Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival Feature Films
Asphalt Watches Shayne Ehman and Seth Scriver
A feature-length animation based on a real-life hitchhiking trip taken by the two filmmakers, Asphalt Watches details the hilarious and harrowing journey of Bucktooth Cloud and Skeleton Hat as they travel eastward across Canada in 2000. Winner of the Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.Enemy Denis Villeneuve
Adapted from the novel The Double by Nobel Laureate José Saramago, Enemy stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Adam, a man consumed by an overwhelming desire to confront his doppelgänger. The film is a provocative psychosexual thriller about duality and identity where, in the end, only one man can survive. From the Academy Award-nominated director of Incendies, the film also stars Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon and Isabella Rossellini.The F Word Michael Dowse
When Wallace meets Chantry, it could be love at first sight… except she lives with her long-term boyfriend. And so Wallace, acting with best intentions — and maybe a little denial — discovers the dirtiest word in romance: friends. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver and TIFF Rising Star Megan Park. Written by Elan Mastai, one of Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2013.Gabrielle Louise Archambault
Gabrielle is a young woman with Williams syndrome who has a contagious joie de vivre and an exceptional musical gift. Since she met her boyfriend Martin they have been inseparable. However, because they are “different,” their loved ones are fearful of their relationship. Gabrielle does everything she can to gain her independence. As determined as she is, Gabrielle must still confront other people’s prejudices as well as her own limitations in the hope of experiencing a love far from the ordinary.Rhymes for Young Ghouls Jeff Barnaby
Kids on the Red Crow reservation are doomed. If you can’t pay your “truancy tax”, that’s you up at the residential school, beat up and abused. At 15, Aila is the weed princess of Red Crow. After being robbed and thrown into the school’s dungeon, she decides to fight back.Sarah préfère la course (Sarah Prefers to Run) Chloé Robichaud
Sarah is a gifted runner. Her life changes when she’s offered admission into the best university athletics program in the province. Sarah doesn’t have her mother’s financial support for the move to Montreal, but she leaves anyway with her friend Antoine. Though barely out of their teens, they get married because they want the best scholarships and loans. Sarah doesn’t want to hurt anyone with the choices she makes — it’s just that she loves running more than anything else.Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm) Xavier Dolan
Tom, a young advertising copywriter, travels to the country for a funeral. There, he’s shocked to find out no one knows who he is, or his relationship to the deceased, whose brother soon sets the rules of a twisted game. In order to protect the family’s name and grieving mother, Tom now has to play the peacekeeper in a household whose obscure past bodes even greater darkness for his trip to the farm.Vic et Flo ont vu un ours (Vic + Flo Saw a Bear) Denis Côté
Victoria, an ex-convict in her 60s, wants to start a new life in a remote sugar shack. Under the supervision of Guillaume, a young, sympathetic parole officer (Marc-André Grondin), she tries to get her life back on track along with Florence, her former cellmate with whom she shared years of intimacy in prison. Stalked by ghosts of the past, their new life together is unexpectedly jeopardized.Winner of the Alfred Bauer Silver Bear award at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.Watermark Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky
From the filmmaking team behind Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark is a feature documentary film that brings together diverse stories from around the globe about our relationship with water: how we are drawn to it, what we learn from it, how we use it, and the consequences of that use. Watermark is shot in stunning 5K ultra high-definition video and full of soaring aerial perspectives.When Jews Were Funny Alan Zweig
Insightful and often hilarious, the latest from documentary filmmaker Alan Zweig offers up a history of Jewish comedy, from the early days of Borsht belt to the present, ultimately exploring not just ethnicity in the entertainment industry, but also the entire unruly question of what it means to be Jewish. Winner of the City of Toronto + Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival Short Films
A Grand Canal Johnny Ma
A Greek tragedy told in a Chinese pop song. Tragic events of a boat captain trying to collect a debt to save his fleet of boats, as remembered by his 10-year-old son.An Extraordinary Person Monia Chokri
A 30-year-old scholar, intelligent and beautiful yet socially crippled, is forced to attend a bachelorette party where her quest for authenticity leads to an unavoidable confrontation with old acquaintances.The Chaperone 3D Fraser Munden and Neil Rathbone
The Chaperone 3D tells the true story of a lone teacher who fought off an entire motorcycle gang while chaperoning a middle school dance in 1970s Montreal. This film recreates the scene using hand-drawn animation, miniature sets, puppets, live-action kung fu and explosions all done in stereoscopic 3D.The End of Pinky Claire Blanchet
The End of Pinky revolves around three fallen angels seeking companionship and humanity in the shadows of the red-light district, in a mythic, magically realized Montreal. The film’s hand-drawn pencil and pastel animation, rendered in stereoscopic 3D, conjures a seedy world whose sepia-toned palette evokes cheap whiskey and nicotine stains.In guns we trust Nicolas Lévesque
In Kennesaw, a small American town in the state of Georgia, a good citizen is an armed citizen. By law, since 1982, each head of household must own at least one working firearm with ammunition.Noah Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg
In a story that plays out entirely on a teenager’s computer screen, Noah follows its eponymous protagonist as his relationship takes a rapid turn for the worse. Winner of the YouTube Award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.Nous avions Stéphane Moukarzel
Montreal, 1999. Every Sunday, a modest Pakistani immigrant family picnics in a dead end next to the airport, and watches the planes land. On this special day when the Legendary Concord is expected, 17-year-old Akram, the eldest of three kids, creates a family commotion when he decides to take off to live his own life.Paradise Falls Fantavious Fritz
Deep in the heart of suburban hell, two adventurous youths explore a haunted mansion and fall in love with its ghost.Subconscious Password Chris Landreth
Subconscious Password uses a common social gaffe — forgetting somebody’s name — as the starting point for a mind-bending romp through the unconscious. Inspired by the classic American TV game show Password, the film features a wealth of animated celebrity guests who try to prompt Charles to remember the name.Yellowhead Kevan Funk
A middle-aged worksite safety inspector defiantly maintains a tireless occupational routine, traversing across Canada’s lonely northern landscape from one expansive industrial operation to the next. As the cracks in his crumbling personal life become more and more apparent, he slips deeper into willful ignorance and denial, providing a striking parallel to the altered physical landscape and exploitative industry that surrounds him.
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38th Toronto International Film Festival Announces Winners; Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE Wins People Choice Award
Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVEThe 38th Toronto International Film Festival today announced its award recipients at a reception at the Intercontinental Hotel in Toronto. Among the top prizes, Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE won the BlackBerry People’s Choice Award. The film tells the incredible true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841 and finally freed in 1853. The story is a triumphant tale of one man’s courage and perseverance to reunite with his family that serves as an important historical and cultural marker in American history. The BlackBerry People’s Choice Documentary Award went to Jehane Noujaim for THE SQUARE.
YOUTUBE AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM
Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg for NOAH.
Honorable mentions to Kevan Funke’s YELLOWHEAD, and Fraser Munden and Neil Rathbone’s THE CHAPERONE 3D.CITY OF TORONTO + CANADA GOOSE AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM
Alan Zweig for WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY.
“For three generations of extraordinary, honest and courageous performances in Peter Stebbing’s EMPIRE OF DIRT, the jury presents a special citation to Jennifer Podemski, Cara Gee and Shay Eyre.”AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM
Shayne Ehman and Seth Scriver for ASPHALT WATCHES.
“For its technical mastery, polish, sense of fun and ability to scare the pants off us, the jury gives an honorable mention to AFFLICTED.”THE PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZES)
Pawel Pawlikowski for IDA .Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI) for the Discovery program awarded to Claudia Sainte-Luce for THE AMAZING CATFISH.
BLACKBERRY® PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS
This year’s award goes to Steve McQueen for 12 YEARS A SLAVE.
The second runner up is Denis Villeneuve’s PRISONERS.The BlackBerry People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award goes to Sion Sono’s WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL?(Jigoku de Naze Warui). The film follows two men, Muto and Ikegami, who hate each other. Muto desperately wants to help his daughter Mitsuko star in a movie. Meanwhile, Ikegami falls in love with Mitsuko, knowing that she’s the daughter of his foe. Hirata, a filmmaker, and Koji, a young movie-lover, get dragged into this complicated situation that heads into an unexpected direction.
First runner up is Mike Flanagan for OCULUS and the second runner up is Álex de la Iglesia for WITCHING & BITCHING.The BlackBerry People’s Choice Documentary Award goes to Jehane Noujaim for THE SQUARE. The story of revolution – behind the headlines. From the 2011 overthrow of a 30-year dictator, through military rule, and culminating with the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood president in the summer of 2013.
First runner up is Alanis Obomsawin’s HI-HO MISTAHEY! and the second runner up is Leanne Pooley’s BEYOND THE EDGE.NETPAC AWARD
The NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere went to Anup Singh’s QISSA.
GROLSCH FILM WORKS DISCOVERY AWARD
The award went to Gia Milani for ALL THE WRONG REASONS.RBC EMERGING FILMMAKERS COMPETITION
Christoph Rainer for REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT.
Honorable mentions went to Dan Popa for TALES OF SANTA FE and Kevan Funk for DESTROYER.
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Christoph Rainer’s REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT Wins 2013 RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition at TIFF | WATCH FILM
Christoph RainerRBC and the Toronto International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2013 RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition. Christoph Rainer, Vienna, Austria is the national winner and received $20,000 prize. In Christoph Rainer’s film REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT, Rob, a worn out robot with a corrupt memory, drowns his sorrows of his ‘screwed’ existence in alcohol and asks himself the essential question: what did he do wrong?
NATIONAL WINNER: $20,000
Christoph Rainer, Vienna, Austria
REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT, Christophe RainerREQUIEM FOR A ROBOT – Tortured by a recurring nightmare, an alcoholic robot has nothing left but a corrupt memory. In order to find out what has happened, he returns to his creator.
http://youtu.be/uZEzO_3HK68
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: $5,000 each
Dan Popa, Montreal, Canada
TALES OF SANTA FE – A traveler shares his impressions of a city through a photographic journey into his fragmented past.Kevan Funk, Vancouver, Canada
DESTROYER – A young athlete struggles with the weight of witnessing his fellow teammates commit an act of violence.Each year, participants are provided a theme to guide their creative process and the theme for 2013 was Memory. The national winner and honourable mentions were selected from 16 submissions and then narrowed to five finalists by the jury panel. The other finalists were Rafael Balulu (Israel) and Mako Kamitsuna (U.S.).
“These winning films demonstrate the work of unique, emerging voices in filmmaking,” said Piers Handling, director and CEO, TIFF. “The Emerging Filmmakers Competition is a platform to share these voices and we are thrilled to partner with RBC once again on this initiative.”
“We look forward to seeing how up-and-coming filmmakers interpret, define and express the theme each year,” said Jennifer Tory, RBC’s regional president for Greater Toronto. “The winning films chosen this year represent the talent and creativity that make us proud to support TIFF and the RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition.”
The RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition is part of Talent Lab, a four-day intensive program at the Toronto International Film Festival that offers artistic development opportunities to a select group of emerging Canadian and international filmmakers.
Each filmmaker is provided with $500 cash to develop a one-to-five minute short film for the competition.