Traverse City Film Festival released the 2019 program marking the 15th Anniversary Year with a “Cinema Saves The World” theme, and featuring over 200 films and events. The Festival opens with BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON; AFTER THE WEDDING as Centerpiece; and closes with BLINDED BY THE LIGHT.
EIGHTH GRADE[/caption]
The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) today announced the winners of the 2018 Golden Space Needle Audience and Competition Awards. Eighth Grade received the Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Film and a Best Actress Award for Elise Fisher. Won’t You Be My Neighbor won Best Documentary and Grand Jury prizes went to The Reports on Sarah and Saleem, Dead Pigs, Rust, Inventing Tomorrow, and Thunder Road.
Artistic Director Beth Barrett said, “Executive Director Sarah Wilke and I were thrilled to present Ethan Hawke with the Festival’s Outstanding Achievement Award in Cinema before a screening of Blaze, his latest directing effort, as well as welcoming Melanie Lynskey back to the Festival for a special screening of Seattle based local film, Sadie. We also had an incredible lineup of local films, and our documentary film selection continues to be among the best in the country. Back for the second year was SIFF’s New Works-in-Progress Forum, where we screened two narrative and two documentary features in the midst of their creative process to the Seattle audience of industry and festival attendees, as well as continuing our exploration of the intersections between cinema and Virtual Reality at our first Pop-up event, SIFF VR Zone at Pacific Place.”
THE PARTING GLASS[/caption]
Artistic Director Mark Adams today unveiled details of the program for the upcoming Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), taking place next month between 20 June to 1 July. This year the Festival will screen around 121 new features, including 21 world premieres, from 48 countries across the globe.
Highlights include the long-anticipated Disney-Pixar animation INCREDIBLES 2, Q&A and IN PERSON events with guests including the award-winning English writer and director David Hare, the much-loved Welsh comedian Rob Brydon and star of the compelling Gothic drama THE SECRET OF MARROWBONE, actor George MacKay, as well as the Opening and Closing Gala premieres of the previously announced PUZZLE and SWIMMING WITH MEN. This year’s People’s Gala will be the World Premiere of Stephen Moyer’s directorial debut, THE PARTING GLASS, starring Melissa Leo, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O’Hare, Anna Paquin (who also produces), Rhys Ifans and Ed Asner.
Mark Adams, EIFF Artistic Director, said: “EIFF prides itself on offering films and events that entertain, challenge, provoke, illuminate and excite and 2018 is no exception! From the best of up-and-coming British filmmakers to striking new cinema from around the world, we offer something for everyone: from rare access to filmmakers, live events to experience and the opportunity to see films that may never appear in the country again. We remain one of the world’s most venerable and acclaimed film festivals and are delighted to be able to offer audiences the chance to see some of the most exciting and innovative new film talent, in a setting steeped in history.”
This year’s BEST OF BRITISH strand includes exclusive world premieres of Simon Fellows’ thriller STEEL COUNTRY, featuring a captivating performance from Andrew Scott as Donald, a truck driver turned detective; comedy classic OLD BOYS starring Alex Lawther; the debut feature of writer-director Tom Beard, TWO FOR JOY, a powerful coming-of-age drama starring Samantha Morton and Billie Piper; oddball comedy-drama EATEN BY LIONS; striking debut from writer and director Adam Morse, LUCID, starring Billy Zane and Sadie Frost; Jamie Adams’ British comedy SONGBIRD, featuring Cobie Smulders and Haifaa al-Mansour’s MARY SHELLEY, with Elle Fanning taking on the role of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Audiences can also look forward to a special screening of Mandie Fletcher’s delightfully fun rom-com PATRICK.
This year the AMERICAN DREAMS strand will offer audiences the chance to delve deep into some of the very best new films from American independent cinema including: UNICORN STORE, the directorial debut of Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson in which she stars alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Joan Cusack; the heart-warming HEARTS BEAT LOUD starring Nick Offerman; glossy noir thriller, TERMINAL, starring and produced by Margot Robbie; the engaging comedy HUMOR ME from Sam Hoffman, starring Jemaine Clement and Elliott Gould; IDEAL HOME in which Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan play a bickering gay couple who find themselves thrust into parenthood; 1980s set spy thriller starring Jon Hamm, THE NEGOTIATOR; and PAPILLON, starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek.
The EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES strand, supported by James and Morag Anderson, will feature a wonderful selection of new films that are powerfully visionary and passionate about storytelling. Notable features include touching drama NEVER LEAVE ME highlighting how young Syrian lives have been affected by war; freewheeling Euro romp TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR AND A BICYCLE; actor-turned-director Mélanie Laurent’s fourth feature DIVING, the thought-provoking WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY by writer-director Iram Haq; the wonderfully weird CHARLIE AND HANNAH’S GRAND NIGHT OUT; French ensemble comedy C’EST LA VIE! and the brooding and atmospheric drama THE SECRET OF MARROWBONE starring George MacKay, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Mia Goth and Matthew Stagg.
This year’s WORLD PERSPECTIVES strand offers audiences a fascinating snapshot of developing world-cinema themes and styles from talented filmmakers from around the world. Highlights include acclaimed epic Chinese drama AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL; award-winning South American drama THE HEIRESSES; powerful political drama NO. 1 CHUNG YING STREET; GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY, an unflinching but darkly funny tale of a Chinese mother and daughter and Brazilian comedy LOVELING. For lovers of the land down under there’s also raucous Aussie comedy FLAMMABLE CHILDREN (SWINGING SAFARI) starring native icons Kylie Minogue and Guy Pearce; THE BUTTERFLY TREE starring Melissa George and Ben Elton’s THREE SUMMERS starring Robert Sheehan and set at an Australian folk music festival.
This year’s EIFF program features a diverse selection of new DOCUMENTARIES which reflect the ability of documentary film to inspire and challenge audiences. There is a strong musical theme that runs through this year’s films from WHITNEY, the much-anticipated documentary about the life and times of superstar Whitney Houston; GEORGE MICHAEL: FREEDOM – THE DIRECTOR’S CUT narrated by George Michael himself and ALMOST FASHIONABLE: A FILM ABOUT TRAVIS directed by Scottish lead-singer Fran Healy. Audiences will be inspired by the creativity of Orson Welles in Mark Cousins’ THE EYES OF ORSON WELLES; HAL, a film portrait of the acclaimed 1970s director Hal Ashby; LIFE AFTER FLASH, a fascinating exploration into the life of actor Sam J. Jones the topical POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% will also screen followed by a Q&A with director David Wilkinson, who travelled the UK to meet people from all sides of the BREXIT debate.
As the sun sets, audiences will be able to journey into the dark and often downright strange side of cinema, with a selection of genre-busting edge-of-your-seat gems including: the gloriously grisly psychosexual romp PIERCING starring Mia Wasikowska; the world premieres of Matthew Holness’ POSSUM and SOLIS staring Steven Ogg as an astronaut who finds himself trapped in an escape pod heading toward the sun; dark and bloody period drama THE MOST ASSASSINATED WOMAN IN THE WORLD and the futuristic WHITE CHAMBER starring Shauna Macdonald.
The country focus for the Festival’s 72nd edition will be Canada and is supported by Telefilm Canada. FOCUS ON CANADA will allow audiences to take a cinematic tour of the country and its culture, offering insight as well as entertainment, from filmmakers new and already established. Selected by EIFF’s 2018 Young programrs are also a range of titles that explore the experiences of First Nations youth including INDIAN HORSE in which a young boy becomes a star ice-hockey player and KAYAK TO KLEMTU where a determined young girl, played by the charismatic Ta’kaiya Blaney, sets off to kayak the Inside Passage in British Colombia. The strand will also showcase a number of shorts in SPOTLIGHT ON CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN SHORT FILMS, a powerful combination of short fiction, documentary and animated films that focus on the central social, political and ethical issues prevalent within contemporary Canada.
Audiences are also invited to attend a number of talks in the Festival’s free lecture stand, Reel Talk, including: INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES: FEMALE DIRECTORS IN AMERICAN CINEMA that will shine a spotlight on the acclaimed and ground-breaking female directors who shaped American cinema; Frank Cogliano and David Silkenat of the University of Edinburgh will record a live episode of their show Whiskey Rebellion, offering context for the history of paranoia in American politics and film, before answering questions from the audience in PARANOIA AND POLITICS IN AMERICAN FILM and FROM ROMERO TO GET OUT, OR: HOW HORROR HELPED WAKE ME UP TO THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE which will explore the power and importance of the horror genre.
Audiences can look forward to four programs of short animation as part of the Festival’s dedicated ANIMATION strand, supported by Emperor and the Culture & Business Fund Scotland. The McLaren Award for Best New British Animation will return once again with two varied programs showcasing some of the most highly-anticipated new short animations from the UK and there will also be a special retrospective of unique talent Elizabeth Hobbs, the award-winning indie animator running as part of Anim18, a celebration of British animation taking place across the UK.
The world of experimental film is once again uncovered in the Festival’s ever-popular BLACK BOX strand. A selection of short and feature-length films that push the boundaries of visual communication will screen including the world premiere of PIG FILM, taking a look at the future of film, and a range of experimental short films from Canada that foreground the material properties of 16mm. Also, as part of this year’s FOCUS ON CANADA, the BLACK BOX strand will feature a special screening of short films by Joyce Wieland.
This year’s EIFF SHORTS will offer a thrilling showcase of the finest brand-new short films from across the globe including DREAM IMAGES; OPTICS; RESISTANT BODIES; SPECTRES; FIRECRACKER, celebrating the vibrant state of UK shorts; KALEIDOSCOPE drawn from the thriving Scottish short film scene and THE YOUNG & THE WILD, handpicked by the EIFF Young programrs. New in 2018 will be the inaugural NEW VISIONS program, introducing glowing new voices aged 14-25 from across Scotland to submit their newest works to EIFF’s newly developed short film competition for young people.
A number of special events will take place throughout the Festival including JAWS in Concert, a screening of Steven Spielberg’s seminal blockbuster with John Williams’ iconic score played live by the RSNO,a screening of the much-loved LOCAL HERO followed by a Q&A with writer director Bill Forsyth in conversation with Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh’s Artistic Director, David Greig as well as an early preview of the upcoming season of the popular BBC Alba series BANNAN. Prior to the Festival on 27 May audiences will also have the chance to experience the vampire underworld in EIFF PLAY: BLADE, an immersive cinema experience built around a screening of the trailblazing comic-book adaptation of BLADE, in partnership with Hidden Door andThe List, in collaboration with New Media Scotland, and supported by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown. Continuing RETROSPECTIVE LIVE! – MONTEREY POP, DA Pennebaker’s brilliant concert film, will be played as if it were a real live gig as part of Summerhall’s brand new 10-day series, Southern Exposure.
Specially selected to showcase the very best in world cinema for younger audiences and the young at heart, FILM FEST JUNIOR boasts two UK Premieres, VITELLO and ZOMBILLENIUM as well as an exclusive preview of PRINCESS EMMY. As previously announced, the Festival’s expanded youth strand, The Young & the Wild will offer a range of masterclasses offering careers advice for filmmakers aged 15-25 years old, along with events and screenings for schools, as part of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018 celebrations and supported by Baillie Gifford. The 2018 EIFF Young programrs, a group of 15-19 year olds who have curated their own shorts strand, The Young & the Wild, have also selected a number of films within this year’s program which are badged accordingly in the Festival brochure.
Barbara[/caption]
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, the celebrated annual series showcasing the variety and vitality of contemporary French filmmaking, returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for the 23rd edition, from March 8 to 18, 2018, with 24 diverse films on display.
The Opening Night selection is the U.S. premiere of Mathieu Amalric’s transfixing, meta-cinematic Barbara, starring Jeanne Balibar as the iconic French chanteuse. The film was nominated for nine César Awards, including Best Film, Actor, and Actress. Amalric, who also co-wrote and co-stars, will appear in person along with Balibar at the festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCGe9E0kv7U
Highlights from the lineup include Montparnasse Bienvenüe, Serraille’s complex portrait of a newly single woman rebuilding her life, which won the Camera d’Or (best first film) at Cannes; the North American premiere of Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s black-and-white ode to cinema and young adulthood, A Paris Education;Tomorrow and Thereafter, an enchanting mother-daughter tale from acclaimed actress-director Noémie Lvovsky; Xavier Legrand’s harrowing domestic drama Custody, winner of the Silver Lion at Venice; the U.S. premiere of The Guardians, an affecting World War I drama from Xavier Beauvois (Of Gods and Men); the North American premiere of Nobuhiro Suwa’s ghost story The Lion Sleeps Tonight, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud; a special Film Comment presentation of the North American premiere of Eugène Green’s uniquely 21st-century metaphysical odyssey Waiting for the Barbarians; and additional premieres from Rendez-Vous favorites including Bruno Dumont (Jeannette, The Childhood of Joan of Arc), Emmanuel Finkiel (A Memoir of War), and more.
Selections in the 2018 edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema garnered an impressive 49 combined nominations for this year’s César Awards. In addition to Barbara, Albert Dupontel’s See You Up There, a comic caper set in Jazz Age Paris, topped the nominations with 13 total, including Best Film; Hubert Charuel’s Petit Paysan, about a farmer’s desperate attempt to shield his cows from an epidemic, received eight nominations; and wedding comedy C’est la vie!, by the directors of Rendez-Vous 2012 opener The Intouchables, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, was nominated for 10 awards. The acting categories also included nominations for the brilliant Emmanuelle Devos as an ambitious businesswoman in feminist drama Number One, Marina Foïs as a Parisian novelist in Laurent Cantet’s The Workshop, and Laure Calamy as a single mother whose daughter is going blind in Léa Mysius’s breathtakingly bold Ava.
This year’s festival will also feature two special panels—one focusing on female empowerment and the place of women in the French film and corporate industries, and the other about first-time feature films—headlined by guests from the lineup. Filmmakers and talent who will be in attendance at this year’s festival include, in alphabetical order: Mathieu Amalric, Jeanne Balibar, Richard Bausch, Xavier Beauvois, Gilles Bourdos, Laurent Cantet, Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Raymond Depardon, Bruno Dumont, Emmanuel Finkiel, Marine Francen, Eugène Green, Rachid Hami, Xavier Legrand, Vincent Macaigne, Tonie Marshall, Claudine Nougaret, Julie Roué, and Léonor Serraille.
The 2018 festival will also place a spotlight on young people by hosting a “Salut les Jeunes” day on Monday, March 12, featuring four handpicked screenings of films from the lineup that focus on the experiences of young people today, with special perks for attendees under 30. In conjunction, the festival is holding a contest for people in this age group: interested writers can submit a review of a Rendez-Vous film of their choice, and the best critique will win a round-trip flight to Paris and a year’s subscription to TV5 Monde.
Co-presented with UniFrance, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema demonstrates annually that the landscape of French cinema is as fertile, inspiring, and distinct as ever. All films are screened digitally at the Walter Reade Theater.
Hostiles[/caption]
The 12th Rome Film Fest has unveiled its Official Selection Lineup, which includes some of the most buzzed about films. The festival will open with Hostiles directed by Scott Cooper and starring Christian Bale; and close with The Place directed by Paolo Genovese.
Set in 1892, Hostiles tells the story of a legendary army captain (Christian Bale) who reluctantly accepts escorting a Cheyenne warlord leader (Wes Studi) and his family to their lands. During the trip they will meet a young widow (Rosamund Pike) whose dear ones have been assassinated in those plains, and together they will have to survive that ruthless landscape and hostile Comanche tribes.
In The Place, a mysterious man always sits at the same table as a restaurant, ready to meet the greatest wishes of eight visitors in exchange for tasks to be performed. How will they be willing to push the protagonists to achieve their desires?
THE DISASTER ARTIST, JAMES FRANCO[/caption]
Films from some of the most important filmmakers will screen as Official Selections of the 2017 San Sebastian Festival, running from September 22 to 30. The Austrian filmmaker Barbara Albert, the Greek helmer Alexandros Avranas, the American James Franco and Matt Porterfield, the Argentine Diego Lerman, the Serbian Ivana Mladenovic, the French Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, and the Japanese Nobuhiro Suwa will compete alongside others for the Golden Shell.
Una especie de familia, the film starring Bárbara Lennie, is the fifth feature by Diego Lerman (Buenos Aires, 1976), whose debut movie, Tan de repente (Suddenly), received, among many other acknowledgments, the Silver Leopard for Best Film at the Locarno Festival. His films have been selected for Venice, the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and the Horizontes Latinos section at San Sebastian, where his two previous films were screened, La mirada invisible (The Invisible Eye, 2010) and Refugiado (2014).
The subject matter of Una especie de familia is similar to Love Me Not, the fourth film by Alexandros Avranas (Larissa, Greece, 1977) winner of the Best Director Silver Lion at Venice for Miss Violence (2013). After True Crimes (2016), starring Jim Carrey and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Avranas now presents Love Me Not, a Greek-French co-production about a couple who hire a surrogate mother.
James Franco (Palo Alto, California, USA, 1978) directs, produces and stars in the comedy The Disaster Artist, narrating the filming of what is considered to be the best worst movie ever made, The Room (Tommy Wiseau, 2003), which has now become a cult film. The Disaster Artist is based on the book of the same name written by the actor Greg Sestero, one of the leading actors in The Room. Franco (127 hours) plays Tommy Wiseau, director, screenwriter, actor and producer ofThe Room.
Olivier Nakache (Suresnes, France, 1973) and Éric Toledano (Paris, 1971) closed the Festival in 2011 with the world premiere of Intouchables (The Intouchables), winner of 35 awards in its subsequent international career and the biggest French box-office success worldwide; they also closed the 2014 Festival with Samba. With their new collaboration, Le sens de la fête / C’est la vie!, a comedy set at a frenzied wedding in an 18th century French castle, they now compete for the first time for the Golden Shell.
Soldaţii. Poveste din Ferentari / Soldiers. Story from Ferentari is the feature film debut by Ivana Mladenovic (Kladovo, Serbia, 1984). This Romanian, Serbian and Belgian co-production tells the tale of a young anthropologist who heads for Ferentari, the poorest district of Bucharest, to write a study on pop music among the Roma community.
The Austrian actress, screenwriter, producer and director Barbara Albert (Vienna, 1970) returns to the Official Selection with Licht / Mademoiselle Paradis. Albert, who competed in Locarno with Böse Zellen / Free Radicals (2003), in Venice with Fallen (2006) and in San Sebastian with Die Lebenden / The Dead and the Living (2012), takes a closer look at the dramatic dilemma faced by a young blind pianist.
Sollers Point is the latest film by Matt Porterfield (Baltimore, USA, 1977), author of Hamilton (2006), Putty Hill (2010) and I Used to Be Darker (2013), three films acclaimed by the critics and premiered respectively at the Wisconsin, Berlin and Sundance festivals. Starring McCaul Lombardi (American Honey), Sollers Point opens with the house arrest of a small-time drug dealer.
Nobuhiro Suwa (Hiroshima, Japan, 1960) won the Fipresci Prize at Cannes for his second film, M/Other (1999) and the Jury Special Prize at Locarno for Un couple parfait (A Perfect Couple, 2005). He also wrote and co-directed, with Hippolyte Girardot, Yuki & Nina (2009), premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and selected for Zabaltegi-Pearls. His impossible remake of Hiroshima mon amour, H Story, was part of the Festival retrospective New Japanese Independent Cinema 2000-2015. In Le lion est mort ce soir / The Lion Sleeps Tonight he brings long-standing actor (Jean-Pierre Léaud) together with a group of children, apprentice filmmakers, in an abandoned house.
These bring the number of confirmed titles for the Official Selection to fifteen. In addition to those mentioned in this press release are the opening film and those announced in the Spanish cinema press conference last week: Submergence (Wim Wenders), El autor (Manuel Martín-Cuenca), Handia (Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi) and Life and Nothing More (Antonio Méndez Esparza), all contenders for the Golden Shell; Marrowbone (Sergio G. Sánchez) and the TV series La peste (Alberto Rodríguez), which will participate out of competition; and the special screening of Morir (Fernando Franco).
The other films completing the Official Selection at the 65th edition will be announced in the coming weeks.
LE LION EST MORT CE SOIR / THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT
NOBUHIRO SUWA (FRANCE – JAPAN)
Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Pauline Etienne
South of France. Present day. Jean, an aging actor caught by the past, settles himself secretly in an abandoned house where Juliette, the great love of his life, once lived. A group of young friends discover the same house, the perfect set to shoot their next horror movie. Jean and the children will meet face to face eventually and share…
LE SENS DE LA FÊTE / C’EST LA VIE!
OLIVIER NAKACHE, ÉRIC TOLEDANO (FRANCE)
Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Gilles Lellouche, Suzanne Clément, Jean-Paul Rouve
For the happy couple this is the biggest night of their lives. But it’s just another of many for Max, from the catering company, Guy the photographer, James the singer, and everyone else working at the event. Pierre and Hélène have decided to celebrate their marriage in a beautiful 18th century castle on the outskirts of Paris. We follow the occasion from its preparation until the sun comes up, almost in real time, but only seen through the eyes of those working at the marriage. This will be a night full of surprises.
LICHT / MADEMOISELLE PARADIS
BARBARA ALBERT (AUSTRIA – GERMANY)
Cast: Maria Dragus, Devid Striesow, Katja Kolm, Lukas Miko, Maresi Riegner, Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Susanne Wuest, Stefanie Reinsperger, Christoph Luser
Vienna, 1777. The blind 18-year-old ‘Wunderkind’ pianist Maria Theresia Paradis lost her eyesight overnight when she was three years old. After countless failed medical experiments, her parents take her to the estate of controversial ‘miracle doctor’ Franz Anton Mesmer, where she joins a group of outlandish patients. She enjoys the liberal household in a Rococo world and tastes freedom for the first time, but begins to notice that as Mesmer’s treatment brings back her eyesight, she is losing her cherished musical virtuosity…
LOVE ME NOT
ALEXANDROS AVRANAS (GREECE – FRANCE)
Cast: Eleni Roussinou, Christos Loulis
A couple hires a young migrant to be their surrogate mother and moves her to their beautiful villa. While the man is away for work, the woman and the girl start to bond and enjoy the couple’s wealthy way of life. But behind her forced cheerfulness, the woman seems more and more depressed. After a few drinks with the girl, she goes for a drive. The next morning, her husband gets a call: his wife is dead, her burned body was found in her wrecked car.
SOLDAŢII. POVESTE DIN FERENTARI / SOLDIERS. STORY FROM FERENTARI
IVANA MLADENOVIC (ROMANIA – SERBIA – BELGIUM)
Cast: Adrian Schiop, Vasile Pavel-Digudai, Stefan Iancu, Nicolae Marin-Spaniolul, Kana Hashimoto, Dan Bursuc
Adi (40), a young anthropologist recently left by his girlfriend, moves to Ferentari (the poorest neighborhood in Bucharest) to write a study on manele music (the pop music of the Roma community). While researching his subject, he meets Alberto, a Roma ex-convict who promises to help him. Soon, the two begin a romance in which Adi feeds Alberto improbable plans to escape poverty while Alberto reciprocates with well-concocted phrases of love. When the money runs out, both find themselves trapped in an apartment where they love and use each other, in a game of need and power that has no winners.
SOLLERS POINT
MATT PORTERFIELD (USA – FRANCE)
Cast: McCaul Lombardi, Jim Belushi, Zazie Beetz
On probation and living in his father’s house after a year of incarceration, 24-year-old Keith navigates his deeply stratified Baltimore neighborhood in search of work and something to give his life new meaning. Though the outside world provides its own share of threats, Keith’s greatest enemies are the demons he harbors within.
THE DISASTER ARTIST
JAMES FRANCO (USA)
Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson, Jacki Weaver, Ari Graynor, Jason Mantzoukas
James Franco’s The Disaster Artist is the true story of the making of the film The Room, which has been called “the Citizen Kane of bad movies”. Tommy Wiseau’s cult classic has been screening to sold-out audiences nationwide for more than a decade. Franco directed The Disaster Artist from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, based on the book by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Franco leads the cast, along with Dave Franco and Seth Rogen. The ensemble also features Alison Brie, Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson, Jacki Weaver, Ari Graynor, and Jason Mantzoukas. The film was produced by Franco, Vince Jolivette, Seth Rogen, James Weaver, and Evan Goldberg. The Disaster Artist is a New Line Cinema presentation in association with Good Universe and RatPac-Dune, a Point Grey production in association with Ramona Films. Warner Bros. Pictures will oversee international distribution.
UNA ESPECIE DE FAMILIA (A SORT OF FAMILY)
DIEGO LERMAN (ARGENTINA – BRAZIL – POLAND – FRANCE)
Cast: Bárbara Lennie, Daniel Araoz, Claudio Tolcachir, Yanina Ávila
Malena is a middle-class doctor in Buenos Aires. One afternoon she receives a call from Dr Costas, telling her she must leave immediately for the north of the country: the baby she was expecting is about to be born. Suddenly and almost without a thought, Malena decides to set out on an uncertain voyage, packed with crossroads at which she has to deal with all sorts of legal and moral obstacles to the extent that she constantly asks herself to what limits she is prepared to go to get the thing she wants most.
The World Premiere of C’est la vie!, written and directed by award-winning filmmakers Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, will be the Closing Night Gala of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The film starring Gilles Lellouche, Suzanne Clément, Eye Haïdara, and Jean-Pierre Bacri will screen at Roy Thomson Hall on September 16.
“We are proud to announce C’est la vie! as this year’s Closing Night film,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. “The filmmakers have truly captured the love, laughter, and often chaos that goes into planning our most important milestones, giving audiences a unique point of view to what our lives could look like to people from the outside.”
“Nakache and Toledano make films that the whole world has embraced. We’re thrilled to welcome them back with their latest,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “This will be a terrific way for Toronto to close out the Festival.”
“We are excited to be back at TIFF to present C’est la vie! for the Closing Night film,” stated Nakache and Toledano. “We loved the experience we had at the Festival with Samba and are looking forward to meeting the audience again.”
C’est la vie! tells the story of Max, who has begun to grow tired after running his catering company for 30 years. While planning a large wedding for clients Pierre and Helena, a series of mishaps upends a very tight schedule, and every instant of happiness and emotion could veer into disaster and chaos. From the preparations to daybreak, we get a behind-the-scenes look at a wedding party through the eyes of the people working the event. They will all have to count on their one common quality: knowing how to throw a good party!
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
First They Killed My Father – Angelina Jolie[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival today unveiled the first round of titles premiering in the Gala and Special Presentations programs of the 42nd edition of the festival, taking place from September 7 to 17, 2017.
Of the 14 Galas and 33 Special Presentations, this first announcement includes 25 World Premieres, eight International Premieres, six North American Premieres and eight Canadian Premieres.
“Festival-goers from around the world can anticipate a remarkable lineup of extraordinary stories, voices and cinematic visions from emerging talent and some of our favorite masters,” said Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF. “Today’s announcement offers audiences a glimpse at this year’s rich and robust selection of films, including works from Canada, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, India, Chile, Egypt and Cambodia.”
“Every year we set the stage for film lovers of all ages and cultural backgrounds to come together and embrace the universal power of cinema,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “As the Festival enters its fifth decade, we’ve challenged ourselves to adapt and build on our strengths, and we look forward to championing a new selection of films that will captivate and inspire global film audiences.”