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 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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Mexican Documentary, Café, Wins Grand Prize at 25th First Peoples Festival
The Mexican documentary, Café, by Hatuey Viveros Lavielle (pictured above), is the big winner of the 25th First Peoples Festival, winning both the Teueikan Grand Prize and the Best Sequences documentary Prize. In Café, a family struggles after the death of the father and primary provider. Tere, the mother must now sell crafts to earn money. Jorge, her son is nearly finished with law school and must now decide to continue with his plans of leaving and starting a professional career, or to stay home and help out with the family.When his 16-year-old sister reveals that she is pregnant, she too must face new challenges.
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LISTEN TO ME MARLON Wins Best Film at 2015 Traverse City Film Festival
The Traverse City Film Festival, founded, programmed, and run by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, just wrapped its 11th edition which ran July 29-August 2, 2015 in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan. The festival welcomed over 100,000 avid cinema lovers.
“This year’s festival brought some of the best films we’ve ever had, and we had more filmmakers here to share the stories of those film with audiences than ever before. Everyone I’ve spoken with has their own special moment from the festival – for me, celebrating the 100th birthday of the State Theatre with Geraldine Chaplin in attendance was a once in a lifetime experience,” said Moore.
The 2015 official program added new sections which sold out quickly, including #Tween (movies for the generation currently coming of age), and The Sidebar: Food on Film (the best in culinary cinema, followed by candid conversations between the stars of the Northern Michigan food scene and sample bites prepared by the chefs and inspired by the films), and LGBTQ (marking the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on gay marriage). Closing Night’s gala screening of “Grandma” began with Michael Moore legally marrying a gay couple, live on the stage of the State Theatre.
The Founders Grand Prize for Best Film, the festival’s top prize, went to “Listen to Me Marlon.” Best Documentary went to “The Wanted 18” and Best Comedy to “Finders Keepers.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cekn77FeK4A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCfIVdmIbgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etx0cHsVcqg
The festival’s Changemaker Award went to Iraq veteran Ross Caputi for his film “Fear Not the Path of Truth,” and its Discovery Award to Kauother Ben Hania for her satirical film “Challat of Tunis.”
Audience Award winning films included “A Brave Heart: The Story of Lizzie Velasquez” for Best Documentary and “Tangerines” for Best Foreign Film.
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS OF 2015 TRAVERSE CITY FILM FESTIVAL
Audience Award Winner for Best Kids Short: “The Present“
Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Short: “Birthday“
Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary Short: “Naneek“
Audience Award Winner for Best Kids Film: “Fiddlesticks“
Audience Award Runner Up for Best Foreign Film: “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared“
Audience Award Winner for Best Foreign Film: “Tangerines“
Audience Award Runner Up for Best American Film: “Learning to Drive“
Audience Award Winner for Best American Film: “Kill the Messenger“
Audience Award Runner Up for Best Documentary Film: “The Hunting Ground“
Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary Film: “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story“
SHORT FILM WINNERS
Founders Prize Special Mention Short Film: “Let Your Light Shine“
Founders Prize for Best Narrative Short: “Discipline“
Founders Prize for Best Documentary Short: “My Enemy, My Brother“
FOUNDERS AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award: Geraldine Chaplin
Visionary Award: Robert Altman
Michigan Filmmaker Award: Roger Corman
Discovery Award: Kaouther Ben Hania, “Challat of Tunis“
Changemaker Award: Ross Caputi, “Fear Not the Path of Truth“
Stuart J. Hollander Prize for Best Kids Film: “Fiddlesticks“
Buzz Wilson Prize for Best Avant-Garde Film: “Journey to the West“
Founders Prize Special Award: “7 Chinese Brothers“
Founders Prize Special Award: “The Trials of Spring“
Founders Prize Special Award: “The Wolfpack“
Founders Prize Special Award: “Roseanne for President!“
Founders Prize Special Award: “The Armor of Light“
Founders Prize Special Award: “Wild Tales“
Founders Prize Special Award: “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem“
Founders Prize Special Award: “The Last Five Years“
Roger Ebert Prize for Best Film by a First Time Filmmaker: “T-Rex“
Stanley Kubrick Award for Bold and Innovative Filmmaking: “Tangerine“
Founders Prize for Best Documentary: “The Wanted 18“
Founders Prize for Best Comedy: “Finders Keepers“
Founders Prize for Best Drama: “Two Days, One Night“
Founders Prize for Best Film: “Listen to Me Marlon“
TCFF DOWNTOWN WINDOW DECORATION CONTEST
First Place: Great Lakes Bath & Body and Paperworks Studio
Second Place: Toy Harbor
Third Place: Haystacks
FIM GROUP BUMPER CONTEST
First Place
Claire Holloway
DECISION TIME
$1,000
Second Place
Brian Steinberg
SHORT AND TALL
$300
Third Place
Mike DeRosa
THE KID AND HIS CITY
$200
The 12th annual Traverse City Film Festival will take place July 26 – 31, 2016.
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Film Society of Lincoln Center Unveils Official 53rd New York Film Festival Poster by Laurie Anderson
The Film Society of Lincoln Center unveiled the official 53rd New York Film Festival poster designed by artist Laurie Anderson. Laurie Anderson joins a stellar lineup of artists that have commissioned their work for the festival, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, and, last year’s artist, Laurie Simmons. Looked upon as a yearly artistic “signature” for the film festival, NYFF posters have taken on a celebrated pop culture significance through the years. Please find a complete list of artists below.
“We are thrilled to welcome Laurie Anderson to the NYFF family, and to have an artist of her caliber carry on this 53-year tradition,” said FSLC Board Chairman Ann Tenenbaum. “Her innovative and daring work is a perfect representation of what we strive to achieve annually at the festival, and throughout the year at the Film Society.”
Laurie Anderson (pictured above) added: “The NYFF is such an eclectic and ecstatically wild mix of films, and I wanted to try to capture some of the variety of subjects and styles. The original piece this is based on, Follow the Sound, is 18 feet long with lots of plots and characters and fragments. I made this painting two years ago when I was feeling especially inspired by the scale of projected film and the possibilities of abrupt jump cuts. I’m so happy it’s the poster for this year’s festival.”
Anderson is one of America’s most renowned—and daring—creative pioneers. She is best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology. As a writer, director, visual artist, and vocalist she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. Anderson’s latest film Heart of a Dogwill premiere this fall, and her upcoming installation Habeas Corpus will be at the Park Avenue Armory from October 2-4.
Her recording career, launched by “O Superman” in 1981, includes the soundtrack to her feature documentary Home of the Brave (1986) and the short Life on a String (2002). Anderson’s live shows range from simple spoken word to elaborate multimedia stage performances such as “Songs and Stories for Moby Dick” (1999). Anderson has published seven books and her visual work has been presented in major museums around the world.
In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first Artist in Residence of NASA, which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance “The End of the Moon.” Recent projects include a series of audio-visual installations and a high-definition film,Hidden Inside Mountains, created for World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. In 2007, she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. In 2008, she completed a two-year worldwide tour of her performance piece “Homeland,” which was released as an album on Nonesuch Records in June 2010. Anderson’s solo performance “Delusion” debuted at the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad in February 2010. In October 2010 a retrospective of her visual and installation work opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and later traveled to Rio de Janeiro. In 2011 her exhibition of new visual work titled “Forty-Nine Days in the Bardo” opened in Philadelphia, and “Boat,” her first exhibition of paintings, premiered at the Vito Schnabel Gallery in New York. She has recently completed a three-year fellowship at both EMPAC, the multimedia center at RPI in Troy, NY, and PAC at UCLA. Anderson lives in New York City.
The poster will be available for purchase during the New York Film Festival (September 25 – October 11).
The complete list of NYFF poster artists:
Larry Rivers, 1963
Saul Bass, 1964
Bruce Conner, 1965
Roy Lichtenstein, 1966
Andy Warhol, 1967
Henry Pearson, 1968
Marisol (Escobar), 1969
James Rosenquist, 1970
Frank Stella, 1971
Josef Albers, 1972
Niki de Saint Phalle, 1973
Jean Tinguely, 1974
Carol Summers, 1975
Allan D’Arcangelo, 1976
Jim Dine, 1977
Richard Avedon, 1978
Michelangelo Pistoletto, 1979
Les Levine, 1980
David Hockney, 1981
Robert Rauchenberg, 1982
Jack Youngerman, 1983
Robert Breer, 1984
Tom Wesselmann, 1985
Elinor Bunin, 1986
Sol Lewitt, 1987
Milton Glaser, 1988
Jennifer Bartlett, 1989
Eric Fischl, 1990
Philip Pearlstein, 1991
William Wegman, 1992
Sheila Metzner, 1993
William Copley, 1994
Diane Arbus, 1995
Juan Gatti, 1996
Larry Rivers, 1997
Martin Scorsese, 1998
Ivan Chermayeff, 1999
Tamar Hirschl, 2000
Manny Farber, 2001
Julian Schnabel, 2002
Junichi Taki, 2003
Jeff Bridges, 2004
Maurice Pialat, 2005
Mary Ellen Mark, 2006
agnès b., 2007
Robert Cottingham, 2008
Gregory Crewdson, 2009
John Baldessari, 2010
Lorna Simpson, 2011
Cindy Sherman, 2012
Tacita Dean, 2013
Laurie Simmons, 2014
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Sundance Fest Documentary FINDERS KEEPERS Directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel Sets September Release Date
The documentary FINDERS KEEPERS directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel, and an Official Selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival will open in select theaters on September 25th. The documentary film follows the story that took place in 2007, when a severed human foot was discovered in a grill bought at a North Carolina auction. It only gets stranger from there.
A few years back, tabloids across the world were thrilled to report how the mummified leg of amputee John Wood was found in a barbecue grill purchased at an auction by flea marketer Shannon Whisnant. Naturally they were ecstatic to then report how Shannon subsequently sued John in a bizarre custody battle over the leg.
But a few things never made the papers: like how John had been keeping the leg as a painful memorial to his late father — or how Shannon had simply viewed the now-famous leg as a way out of a life of hardship.
Nor did the news mention how the ever-intensifying media frenzy, and an inexplicable chain of events sparked by the leg’s discovery, pushed John past the brink of addiction and very nearly to the grave, before ultimately offering him a second chance at life… and it was never known how the story really ended.
Set in rural North Carolina, Finders Keepers is an oftentimes hilarious, at turns tragic narrative that delves into the very real lives that created – and were forever changed by – the fantastical headlines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexyqstg4-E
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11th HollyShorts Film Festival Star-Studded Opening Night Lineup to Feature Films Starring Rose McGowan, Jason Patric | TRAILERS
The 11th HollyShorts Film Festival (August 13-22) unveiled it’s star-studded opening night lineup today that features films starring Rose McGowan, Jason Patric, Sharon Lawrence, Rose McIver, Beth Grant, Robert Forster, Jennifer Morrison, Josh Lawson, Portia Doubleday, Carly Chaikin, and many more. The festival will also open with a new clip from 2009 HollyShorts Visionary Award recipient Eli Roth’s highly anticipated new feature film THE GREEN INFERNO from Blumhouse Productions, Universal and Focus Features. The film is being released in theaters on September 25.
Commented festival director Daniel Sol: “We are thrilled to open HollyShorts with such a star-studded and great lineup of short movies, it’s going to be quite a night and an epic week of incredible content! This year marks the biggest HollyShorts ever and we look forward to helping create opportunities for our filmmakers August 13-22 in Hollywood!”
The 11th HollyShorts Film Festival opening night takes place Thursday August 13, which is taking place at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and OHM nightclub at Hollywood & Highland.
HollyShorts opening night celebration will feature the following short films:
Weight of Blood and Bones (pictured above)
https://vimeo.com/129056788
Chris Ekstein’s western short Weight of Blood and Bones starring Jason Patric, Danny Trejo, Rose McGowan, Mark Boone Junior, Noah Hardin, Marissa Coughlan and Jeff Daniel Phillips. The Weight of Blood and Bones was inspired by characters from Zane Grey’s Novels and tells the story of how the past of a legendary bounty hunter catches up with him and haunts the memories of his young son. The film is Produced by Stacy Ekstein, p.g.a. and Kevin Ragsdale.
The Bridge Partner
https://vimeo.com/113459769
Gabriel Olson’s The Bridge Partner, written by acclaimed author Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) starring Beth Grant (Mindy Project), Emmy nominee Sharon Lawrence, Rebecca Brooks, Catherine Carlen and Robert Forster. The Bridge Partner tells the story of a timid housewife who is jolted into a fight for her survival when she thinks she hears her new parter at a weekly bridge game whisper a shocking threat.
Warning Labels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz2z_HQY0Gs
Warning Labels Directed by Jennifer Morrison (Once Upon A Time, Warrior, Star Trek), starring Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), Josh Lawson (House of Lies), and Rose McIver (iZombie). Warning Labels is centered on 2 workers for the Center For Disease Control who meet for drinks, only to discover that love is the most hazardous thing of all.
THE GREEN INFERNO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcpYPu9M3bw
Eli Roth’s THE GREEN INFERNO centers on a group of student activists traveling to the Amazon to save the rain forest. They soon discover they are not alone after crash-landing on a remote location, and are held hostage by a native tribe they set out to help save.
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Cheryl Boone Isaacs Re-elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Cheryl Boone Isaacs was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night (August 4) by the organization’s Board of Governors.
In addition, Jeffrey Kurland was elected first vice president; John Bailey, Kathleen Kennedy and Bill Kroyer were elected to vice president posts; Jim Gianopulos was elected treasurer; and Phil Robinson was elected secretary.
Boone Isaacs is beginning her third term as president and her 23rd year as a governor representing the Public Relations Branch. Kurland and Bailey were re-elected to their posts. Kennedy has served previous terms as vice president. Last year Kroyer served as secretary. This will be the first officer stint for Gianopulos. Robinson has served previous terms as vice president as well as secretary.
Boone Isaacs currently heads CBI Enterprises, Inc., where she consults on film marketing efforts. Starting this September, she will be an adjunct professor at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. She recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Over her career, Boone Isaacs has consulted on such films as “The Call,” “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Tupac: Resurrection.” Boone Isaacs previously served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where she oversaw numerous box office successes, including “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Rush Hour.” Prior to joining New Line in 1997, she was executive vice president of worldwide publicity for Paramount Pictures, where she orchestrated publicity campaigns for the Best Picture winners “Forrest Gump” and “Braveheart.”
Academy board members may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms, while officers serve one-year terms, with a maximum of four consecutive years in any one office.
A full listing of the Academy’s 2015–16 Board of Governors.
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40th Toronto International Film Festival Reveals Canadian Films on Lineup
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival taking place September 10 to 20, 2015, revealed a lineup of bold Canadian works by filmmakers including Patricia Rozema, André Turpin, Anne Émond, Kazik Radwanski and Guy Édoin, documentarians Mina Shum and Avi Lewis, trailblazers Bruce McDonald, Guy Maddin and Philippe Falardeau, promising new work from Andrew Cividino, Adam Garnet Jones and Stephen Dunn, and an impressive first feature by renowned visual contemporary artist Mark Lewis. From hardcore horror and political comedy to intense dramas and true tales of bravery, Canadians continue to carve their own place in filmmaking.
The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film will be given to one of many outstanding Canadian filmmakers, with the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film being presented to the Canadian filmmaker with the most impressive debut feature film at the Festival. This year’s Canadian awards jury is composed of filmmaker Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction), Jacqueline Lyanga (Director of AFI Fest), and Ilda Santiago (Programming and Executive Director of Rio de Janeiro International Film
Festival).
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Born to be Blue. Robert Budreau, Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere (pictured above)
Born to be Blue is a reimagining of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker’s life in the 1960s. When Chet is cast to star in a film about himself, a romance heats up with his female co-star, the enigmatic Jane. But his comeback bid is derailed when his past returns to haunt him and it appears he may never play music again. Starring Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo.
Into the Forest. Patricia Rozema, Canada World Premiere
In a not-too-distant future, sisters Nell and Eva find themselves shuttered in their home. Surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest, the sisters must fend for themselves using the supplies and food reserves they have before turning to the forest to discover what it will provide. They are faced with a world where rumour is the only guide, trust is a scarce commodity, gas is king and loneliness is excruciating. And yet somehow miraculously, love still grows. Starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood.
Ville-Marie. Guy Édoin, Canada World Premiere
An actress shooting a movie hopes to reconcile with her son. A paramedic haunted by his past tries to stay the course, while a caring nurse keeps an eye on him from afar as she tries, at the same time, to keep an emergency room running. It is at the Ville-Marie Hospital that these four lives will take an unexpected turn. Starring Monica Bellucci, Patrick Hivon, Pascale Bussières and 2015 TIFF Rising Star Aliocha Schneider.
TIFF DOCS
Al Purdy Was Here. Brian D. Johnson, Canada World Premiere
Al Purdy was Canada’s unofficial poet laureate, though he admits he didn’t write a good poem until he was 40. He found his voice in an A-Frame cabin he built in Ontario’s Prince Edward County. Canada’s leading musicians and artists from Bruce Cockburn and Sarah Harmer to Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje come together to tell his story and celebrate his poetry.
Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr. Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard, Canada World Premiere
Omar Khadr: child soldier or unrepentant terrorist? The 28-year-old Canadian has been a polarizing figure since he was 15. In 2002, Khadr was captured by American forces in Afghanistan and charged with war crimes, including murder. After spending half his life behind bars, including a decade at Guantanamo, Khadr is released. This is his story, in his own words.
Ninth Floor. Mina Shum, Canada World Premiere
It started quietly when six Caribbean students, strangers in a cold new land, began to suspect their professor of racism. It ended in the most explosive student uprising Canada had even known. Over four decades later, Ninth Floor reopens the file on the infamous Sir George Williams Riot: a watershed moment in Canadian race relations and one of the most contested episodes in the nation’s history. Director Mina Shum (Double Happiness) locates the protagonists in clandestine locations throughout Trinidad and Montreal — the wintry city where it all went down. In a cinematic gesture of reckoning and redemption, she listens as they set the record straight.
This Changes Everything. Avi Lewis, Canada/USA World Premiere
Seven powerful portraits of community resistance around the world lead to one big question: what if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world? Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international bestseller and directed by her partner Avi Lewis, This Changes Everything is an affecting and hopeful call to action
Welcome to F.L. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, Canada World Premiere
Welcome to F.L. portrays a community of teenagers navigating their environment, identity and other questions of youth within their high-school world in a small town in Quebec. Learning to define themselves inside and outside school boundaries as they transition into the challenges of adulthood, they expose refreshing points of view filled with humour, philosophy and courage.
DISCOVERY
Closet Monster. Stephen Dunn, Canada World Premiere
Oscar Madly hovers on the brink of adulthood — destabilized by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality, and haunted by horrific images of a tragic gay bashing he witnessed as a child. A talking hamster, imagination and the prospect of love help him confront his surreal demons and discover himself. Starring 2015 TIFF Rising Star Aliocha Schneider and 2014 Rising Star Connor Jessup.
Fire Song. Adam Garnet Jones, Canada World Premiere
When a teenage girl commits suicide in a remote Northern Ontario Aboriginal community, it’s up to her brother Shane to take care of their family. Shane was supposed to move to the city for university in the fall, and has been trying to convince his secret boyfriend to come with him, but now everything is uncertain. Torn between his responsibilities at home and the promise of freedom calling him to the city, circumstances take a turn for the worse and Shane has to choose between his family and his future.
The Rainbow Kid. Kire Paputts, Canada World Premiere
Part gritty coming-of-age story, part episodic road film filled with magic realism, The Rainbow Kid follows Eugene, a young man with Down syndrome as he embarks on a life-changing adventure to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
River. Jamie M. Dagg, Canada/Laos World Premiere
In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant’s body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control. Starring Rossif Sutherland.
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
How Heavy This Hammer. Kazik Radwanski, Canada World Premiere
Erwin, a 47-year-old father of two, spends his time idly procrastinating between work and family, and is seemingly more engaged by playing a crude Viking computer game. His listless energy is contrasted on weekends by throwing himself into ‘old boys’ rugby matches. As Erwin’s marriage with his wife becomes increasingly compromised, something stirs inside him… or maybe something has stopped stirring.
My Internship in Canada. Philippe Falardeau, Canada North American Premiere
Guibord is an independent Member of Parliament representing a vast county in Northern Quebec who unwillingly finds himself in the awkward position of determining whether Canada will go to war. Accompanied by his wife, daughter and Souverain (Sovereign) Pascal, an idealistic intern from Haiti, Guibord travels across his district in order to consult his constituents and face his own conscience. This film is a sharp political satire in which politicians, citizens and lobbyists go head-to-head tearing democracy to shreds.
Our Loved Ones (Les êtres chers). Anne Émond, Canada North American Premiere
The story begins in 1978 in a small town on the Lower St. Lawrence, where the Leblanc family is rocked by the tragic death of Guy, found dead in the basement of the family home. For many years, the real cause of his death is hidden from certain members of the family, his son David among them. David starts his own family with his wife Marie and lovingly raises his children, Laurence and Frédéric, but deep down he still carries with him a kind of unhappiness. Our Loved Ones is a film of filial love, family secrets,
redemption and inherited fate. Featuring 2015 TIFF Rising Star Karelle Tremblay.
The Waiting Room. Igor Drljaca, Canada North American Premiere
Jasmin, once a successful actor in former Yugoslavia, now lives in Toronto with his second wife and young son. While juggling a construction job and a busy audition schedule, he dreams of re-launching an old televised stage show that made him famous in his homeland. When he is cast in a role that triggers recollections of the civil war, he is forced to reconcile his current reality with memories of his past success. From the team behind Krivina and In Her Place.
VANGUARD
Endorphine. André Turpin, Canada World Premiere
Thirteen-year-old Simone is trying to feel emotion again as a trauma survivor. Twenty-five-year-old Simone is a solitary woman trying to control panic attacks. Sixty-year-old Simone is an accomplished physician who gives a conference on the nature of time. The new film from celebrated director and cinematographer André Turpin intertwines the lives of three women in an intoxicating cinematic puzzle.
Hellions. Bruce McDonald, Canada Canadian Premiere
Strange trick-or-treaters plague conflicted teenager Dora Vogel at her isolated home on Halloween. Under siege by forces she can’t understand, Dora must defend both body and soul from relentless hellions, dead set on possessing something Dora will not give them. Set in a visually haunting landscape, Hellions redefines the boundaries of horror with its potent brew of Halloween iconography, teenage angst and desperate survival. Starring Chloe Rose.
No Men Beyond This Point. Mark Sawers, Canada North American Premiere
Sixty years ago, women began reproducing asexually, and now are no longer able to give birth to male babies. This deadpan mockumentary follows 37-year -old Andrew Myers — the youngest man alive —who is at the centre of a battle to save men from extinction. No Men Beyond This Point asks what would happen if only women ran the world.
WAVELENGTHS
The following feature films will screen as part of the Wavelengths program:
88:88. Isiah Medina, Canada North American Premiere
A digital cinema incendiary, Isiah Medina’s anticipated feature debut explodes with ideas about time, love, knowledge, poverty, and poetry, all erupting within a densely layered montage that is formally rigorous and emotionally raw. 88:88 (or –:–) is what appears when bills are paid after the electricity has been abruptly cut off, demonstrating that people who live in poverty live in suspended time.
88:88 will be preceded by Denis Côté’s short film May We Sleep Soundly.
The Forbidden Room. Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin, Canada Canadian Premiere
Honouring classic cinema while electrocuting it with energy, Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s grand ode to lost cinema begins (after a prologue on how to take a bath) with the crew of a doomed submarine chewing flapjacks in a desperate attempt to breathe the oxygen within. Suddenly, a lost woodsman wanders into their company to tell his tale of escape from a fearsome clan of cave dwellers, and we are taken high into the air, around the world, and into dreamscapes, spinning tales of amnesia, captivity, deception and murder, skeleton women and vampire bananas. Like a glorious meeting between Italo Calvino, Sergei Eisenstein and a perverted six-year-old child, created with the help of master poet John Ashberry, Mathieu Amalric, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Geraldine Chaplin, Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Maria de Medeiros, Jacques Nolot, Adèle Haenel, Amira Casar and Elina Löwensohn make up a cavalcade of misfits, thieves and lovers.
Invention. Mark Lewis, United Kingdom/Canada World Premiere
Shot in Paris, São Paulo and Toronto, Mark Lewis’ anthology of films captures the ever-changing textures of these cities through moving images of glass, light, shadows and reflections, offering homage to the City Symphony films of the 1920s, while also juxtaposing modernist architecture with the compositional structures of old master paintings.
Minotaur. Nicolás Pereda, Mexico/Canada World Premiere
Acclaimed Mexican-Canadian auteur Nicolás Pereda (Greatest Hits) returns to the Festival with this lovely, wraithlike fantasy that observes three thirty-somethings as they sleep, dream, read and receive visitors in a Mexico City apartment.
Free and open to the public during the Festival, the following Wavelengths Installations will be showcased at various venues throughout downtown Toronto:
Bring Me The Head of Tim Horton. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson World Premiere
Guided by the spirit of Maddin’s “Cuadecec Manifesto” (which calls for makings-of en masse), Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton is a strange and stirring behind-the-scenes look at Paul Gross’s new feature, Hyena Road. Shot on location at CFB Shilo near Brandon, Manitoba and in Aqaba, Jordan, the film summons psychedelic energy from the main event. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.
The Forbidden Room – A Living Poster. Galen Johnson World Premiere
Initially designed to promote Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, A Living Poster employs the same digital techniques used to create the text-based intertitles and treat the footage within the film. A looping collection of living, moving, morphing posters, it blurs the boundaries between poster and trailer and suggests an anachronistic collision between digitally corrupted video files and a damaged film print from the silent era forming a beguiling hybrid aesthetic of digital data loss and decaying analogue emulsion. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.
La Giubba. Tony Romano and Corin Sworn, Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere
The first major collaboration between Canadian artist Tony Romano and English-born, Toronto-raised Corin Sworn, La Giubba follows the intersections of five drifters over the course of two summer days in southern Italy. This installation is presented in partnership with Clint Roenisch Gallery (190 St Helens Ave, Toronto).
Stories are Meaning-Making Machines. Annie MacDonnell and Maïder Fortuné, France/Canada International Premiere
A live in-cinema reading at TIFF Bell Lightbox performed by Canadian artist Annie MacDonnell and French artist Maïder Fortuné which explores a new form of cinematic memory. Originally commissioned by Le Centre Pompidou’s Hors Pistes Festival, Paris.
Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys, Jon Cassar’s Forsaken, Paul Gross’ Hyena Road (Hyena Road: Le Chemin du Combat), and Atom Egoyan’s Remember are Canadian features previously announced in the Galas Programme.
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2015 HollyShorts Film Festival Announces Official Film Lineup
The official film lineup of the 2015 HollyShorts Film Festival was announced today, and includes 400 of the top short movies from almost every major continent. The 11th annual HollyShorts Film Festival will take place at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres August 13-22, 2015. The HollyShorts Film Conference, which will feature heavy hitter panel discussions, will take place at IgnitedSpaces August 14-21.
This year’s festival feature shorts with talent including: Jerry Stiller stars in Steve Monarque’s Simpler Times, Caity Lotz who stars in Susana Hornil’s short Missed Call, Corbin Bernsen in his son Oliver Bernsen’s short Midland, Dominic Polcino’s animated award-winning short Lovesick Fool: Love in the Age of Like stars Janeane Garofalo and Lisa Kudrow. Joe Magee and Bill Bailey’s Love Song stars Emma Thompson, Brent Weinbach’s I Don’t Dance stars Natasha Leggero, John Henry Hinkel’s HOME stars Robert Forster. JT Mollner’s Flowers in December stars Dee Wallace, Emad Asfoury’s Duality stars Don Most, Sarah Lynn Dawson, Jon Foo and was voiced by Deepak Chopra. Aaron Webman’s After Lilly stars Jack Quaid, Raymond Cruz stars in Alexandra Debricon’s A Gringo Honeymoon. Michael Gross stars in Linda Palmer’s Our Father.
This year’s categories include: Live Action, Animation, Documentary, Web Series, Trailers, Commercial, Music Videos. Short genres range from Horror, Romance, Drama, Action, Comedy, Thrillers and much more.
Commented Theo Dumont, HollyShorts co-founder and co-director: “We are honored to showcase this selection of the world’s top short movies at HollyShorts. This festival has grown into the biggest and most prestigious annual celebration of short movies and prides itself on providing next level opportunities for our filmmakers. It’s going to be an epic 10 days with receptions every day for our guests.”
Added co-founder and co-director Daniel Sol: “We are flattered that other festivals in Los Angeles this year have aggressively contacted our filmmakers with numerous efforts to poach them, this shows the demand for their great works. What those festivals don’t understand is that this is THE filmmakers festival and they’ll do whatever they want here whenever they want, and we encourage that.”
The official selection of the 2015 HollyShorts Film Festival.
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Roland Emmerich’s STONEWALL to World Premiere at Toronto Fest and Sets Fall US Release Date
STONEWALL, a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall Riots, considered the birthplace of the LGBT rights movement, will World Premiere at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, followed by a release in the theaters in the US on September 25th.
The independent film is written by John Robin Baitz, directed by Roland Emmerich, and stars Jeremy Irvine (War Horse), Jonny Beauchamp (“Penny Dreadful”), Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class), Joey King (White House Down) up-and-comers Karl Glusman, Vlademir Alexis, and Alexandre Nachi as well as veteran actorMatt Craven, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Match Point, “The Tudors”) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy)..
Less than 50 years ago, in 1969, being gay was considered a mental illness. Gay people could not be employed by the government. It was illegal for gay people to congregate, and police brutality against gays went unchecked.
STONEWALL is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; 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, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.
Director Roland Emmerich, who also produced the film, says, “I was always interested and passionate about telling this important story, but I feel it has never been more timely than right now.” Less than 50 years ago, in 1969, being gay was considered a mental illness; gay people could not be employed by the government; it was illegal for gay people to congregate, and police brutality against gays went unchecked. Today, thanks to the events set in motion by the Stonewall riots, the gay rights movement continues to make incredible strides towards equality. In the past several weeks alone, the Boy Scouts of America has moved to lift its ban on gay leaders, the Pentagon will allow transgender people to serve openly in the military, and SCOTUS has declared that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide in all 50 states.
“It was the first time gay people said ‘Enough!'” explains Emmerich. “They didn’t do it with leaflets or meetings, they took beer bottles and threw them at cops. Many pivotal political moments have been born by violence. If you look at the civil rights movement, at Selma and other events of that kind, it’s always the same thing. Stonewall was the first time gay people stood up and they did it in their own way. Something that really affected me when I read about Stonewall was that when the riot police showed up in their long line, these kids formed their own long line and sang a raunchy song. That, for me, was a gay riot, a gay rebellion.”
“What struck me was that there was a story in there, which I felt had an important message – it’s the people who had the least to lose who did the fighting, not the politically active people. It was the kids that went to this club that consisted of hustlers and Scare Queens, and all kinds of people that you think would never resist the police, and they did it.” And the events they set in motion would have a profound impact on the future.
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SINNER VICTIM SAINT Wins 2015 PBS Online Film Festival “People’s Choice” Award | VIDEO
“Sinner Victim Saint,” (pictured above) a short narrative presented by CET/Think TV, centering on a newlywed husband who has recently lost his wife in a car accident and the dark turn of events that teaches him the power of sacrifice, won the“People’s Choice” top honor of the 2015 PBS Online Film Festival. The animated film “11 Paper Place,” presented by member station Vermont PBS, a love story about two sheets of paper who meet in a recycle bin, was the most-viewed of the 25 short films screened online.
“Sinner Victim Saint” follows Isaac, a newlywed husband who has recently lost his wife in a tragic car accident. After her funeral, a dark turn of events leads Isaac to a meeting with a sinister man who claims he can bring his wife back from the dead. There’s a catch, though; in order to bring her back, Isaac learns that he must sacrifice his life for hers. The film was directed and written by Moses Flores, who spent the first three years of his career writing and directing TV commercials and web videos for corporate clients. In 2012, after a long creative rut, he made the decision to jump head first into the world of independent filmmaking. “Sinner Victim Saint” debuted in 2014 at the Eichelberger Film Dayton Festival and won the Ohio Shorts Audience Choice Award.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4XDKb5KN8
“11 Paper Place” is an animated love story about two sheets of paper that magically transform into paper people as they are spit out of a malfunctioning printer into a recycling bin. Filmmaker Daniel Houghton is currently an animation teacher at Middlebury College, where he also manages a range of media projects.
https://vimeo.com/94786328
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Calling All Foodies. 17 Films to Screen in Culinary Zinema Section of 2015 San Sebastian Festival
The 2015 San Sebastian Festival announced the 17 films selected to screen in the program of the “Culinary Zinema” section. The five years of collaboration between the San Sebastian Festival, the Berlin Festival and the Basque Culinary Center have given rise to what the festival describes as one of the most highly appreciated sections by Festival spectators and to a must-attend rendezvous for local gastronomy lovers in an event that combines an internationally prestigious film festival with the culinary wealth of one of the regions with the highest concentration of Michelin stars in the world.
This fifth edition increases the selection of titles to 17, consisting of 4 short films and 13 feature films, including 9 in competition and 4 not in competition. The screening of seven of the films will be accompanied by themed dinners by chefs of international prestige.
The section opens with the documentary CAMPO A TRAVÉS. MUGARITZ, INTUYENDO UN CAMINO (OFF-ROAD. MUGARITZ, FEELING A WAY) directed by Pep Gatell and closes with COOKING UP A TRIBUTE directed by Luis Gonzalez.
FILMS IN COMPETITION
Opening Night Film
CAMPO A TRAVÉS. MUGARITZ, INTUYENDO UN CAMINO (OFF-ROAD. MUGARITZ, FEELING A WAY) (pictured above)
PEP GATELL (SPAIN)A philosophical and ethological documentary. La Fura dels Baus reveals the motors that drive Mugaritz, the ideas behind its dishes, what it means for the team to achieve excellence and success, the suffering and the enjoyment… at the end of the day, how Mugaritz constantly creates and destroys. It highlights the constant risk, hence its title, but also the knowhow drawn from the effort and work of the many people past, present and future at Mugaritz; a place where culinary purpose has been surpassed by the creative process and its potential variables. Closing Night Film COOKING UP A TRIBUTE LUIS GONZÁLEZ, ANDREA GÓMEZ (SPAIN)
The tale of an unprecedented voyage when one of the best restaurants in the world closes its doors for five weeks to set out and travel. Making its way through four American countries, the team from El Celler de Can Roca pays homage to the cuisines of Mexico, Peru and Colombia, personally reinterpreting their ingredients and traditions.ADN DU CEVICHEORLANDO ARRIAGADA (CANADA)
A gastronomic voyage revealing the cultural and historical wealth of Peru guided by one of its favourite dishes: ceviche!THE BIRTH OF SAKÉERIK SHIRAI (USA – JAPAN)
A beautiful and immersive portrait of life at the 144-year old Yoshida Brewery, a producer of world class sake. With changing times ahead and new regime led by the 6th generation heir, this is a rarified look at the personal and professional intensity needed to create a revered product and the artisans behind it.KAMPAI! FOR THE LOVE OF SAKEMIRAI KONISHI (JAPAN)In this fascinating look at the universe of sake, three outsiders; a British sake brewer with 25 years experience in Japan, an American journalist who has published multiple guidebooks on sake, and the young president of a centuries -old Japanese sake brewery who wants to make changes to his family legacy, join together to explore the mysterious world of sake illustrating how these unique individuals each have a role to play in the rich, complex, and spectacular world of sake.LITTLE FOREST – WINTER/SPRINGJUNICHI MORI (JAPAN)Ichiko lives in Komori, a tiny village in northeastern Japan. She moved out to the city once, but felt lost there and returned. With no supermarkets or convenience stores nearby, living in Komori is like living off the land. She grows her own rice, works the farm, and makes meals out of seasonal foods gathered from the neighboring mountains and fields…NOMA, MY PERFECT STORMPIERRE DESCHAMPS (UK – DENMARK)
How did Redzepi manage to revolutionize the entire world of gastronomy, inventing the alphabet and vocabulary that would infuse newfound pedigree to Nordic cuisine and establish a new edible world while radically changing the image of the modern chef? His story has the feel of a classic fairy tale: the ugly duckling transformed into a majestic swan, who now reigns over the realm of modern gourmet cuisine. But beneath the polished surface, cracks appear in the form of old wounds.SERGIO HERMAN – FUCKING PERFECTWILLEMIEK KLUIJFHOUT (NETHERLANDS)
At the height of his culinary career, Master chef Sergio Herman feels he needs to let go of his 3-star restaurant Oud Sluis in order to fulfill his dreams. A revealing documentary about perfection, ambition and sacrifice.WANTON MEEERIC KHOO (SINGAPORE)After finding out that his home is slated to be demolished, Koh Chun Feng, a middle-aged food critic whose career is starting to wear away at him decides to explore his life and the progress of Singapore through local food. NOT IN COMPETITIONCOCINANDO EN EL FIN DEL MUNDO (COOKING AT THE WORLD’S END)ALBERTO BAAMONDE BELLO (SPAIN)Galician nouvelle cuisine has the peculiar trait of a love for exploring the past, for recovering the flavours left behind by the modern world, for lending dignity to products considered inferior. The Nove Group is an association of chefs who reach beyond the clichés to promote this cuisine of the future. A realistic portrayal of Galicia taking gastronomy as its vehicle in the endeavour to unravel the delicate balance between tradition and modernity in a land of contrasts.CHEF’S TABLE “MASSIMO BOTTURA”DAVID GELB (USA)A documentary which features six of the world’s most renowned international chefs, and offers viewers the opportunity to go inside the lives and kitchens of these culinary talents. The chefs featured include Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy), Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns and in New York City, USA), Francis Mallmann (El Restaurante Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (N/Naka Restaurant in Los Angeles, CA, USA), Ben Shewry (Attica Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia) and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken in Järpen Sweden).SAGARDOA BIDEGILE (CIDER STORIES)BEGO ZUBIA GALLASTEGI (SPAIN)The Basques have been drinking cider for centuries, but in the Basque Country cider is more than just fermented apple juice. The documentary takes us on a journey, a cultural, gastronomic, scientific and historical adventure. It’s leading character: cider.SNACKS, BOCADOS DE UNA REVOLUCIÓNVERÓNICA ESCUER, CRISTINA JOLONCH (SPAIN)
A documentary portraying the origin, evolution, current status and future of Spanish gastronomy, conceived as a movement that established creative and conceptual freedom as the ground rule of the game all over the globe. Short filmsBRASA (HOT COAL)Short filmXABI GUTIÉRREZ MÁRQUEZ (SPAIN)Four artists from different disciplines: chef Xabier Gutiérrez, painter Juan Vich, musician Ander Fernández and producer Pello Gutiérrez. Each lends a new slant to a concept based on a single premise: charcoal embers. All four set about exposing their individual takes on the materials, colours, sound, sensations.COMER CONOCIMIENTO (KNOWLEDGE-EATING)Short filmLUIS GERMANÓ (SPAIN)Ferran Adrià dons his chef’s jacket once again, to take up a new challenge: cooking without cooking and reformulating the conference format, turning it into content to explain the creative process that led him to make his restaurant one of the great temples of 20th creativity, a feat that would forever change the history of gastronomy.THE PERFECT PROTEINShort filmCATERINA BARJAU DACHS, RAFAEL JORGE MARTÍNEZ PARDO (SPAIN)While the sea is being ransacked as never before, more than 90% of the fish captured is controlled by only 30 countries. The NGO Oceana and the globe’s top chefs suggest ways to curb overfishing that would provide food for much of the world.EL SUEÑO DE SONIA (SONIA’S DREAM)Short filmDIEGO SARMIENTO PAGÁN (PERU)
Sonia Mamani lives in Capachica, a peninsula of Lake Titicaca (Puno, Peru). She learned to cook at the age of fifteen and has been travelling ever since, teaching women not only how to prepare traditional dishes but also to appreciate their customs and identity.