Mouthpiece is a powerful, funny and highly original look into the conflicted psyche of Cassandra Haywood – a fiercely independent millennial woman. The film stars Amy Nostbakken, Norah Sadava and Maev Beaty. Directed by Patricia Rozema, Mouthpiece will open on May 31st at the Village East, NY and June 7th at the Monica Film Center, LA.
The 34th Edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival taking place from January 30 to February 9, 2019, will feature 63 world premieres and 59 U.S. premieres from 48 countries, along with tributes with the year’s top talent, panel discussions, and free community education and outreach programs. The 34th Festival Poster was unveiled, again created by Barbara Boros who has designed the SBIFF poster each year for 16 years, this year highlighting Butterfly Beach.
The 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will open with All is True directed by Kenneth Branagh on Friday, January 4, and close with Ladies in Black, directed by Bruce Beresford on Sunday, January 13. The Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, with a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, FLOS: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!La, Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals and more.
In All is True, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen star in Branagh’s intimate, revelatory portrait of William Shakespeare in the last act of his life. His career over, he returns to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to encounter old ghosts, old loves, and his resentful family. Branagh is expected to attend.
Ladies in Black, set in Sydney in 1959, Oscar®-nominated writer/director Bruce Beresford takes us back to the heyday of glamorous upscale department stores, when a concierge met you at the door and clerks wore gloves. The film from Lumila Films stars Julia Ormond, Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Ryan Corr, Shane Jacobson and Alison McGirr. Beresford, Ormond, Taylor and McGirr are expected to attend.
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The Toronto International Film Festival added another 19 Canadian titles to the Festival’s 2018 lineup. The selection includes nine films directed by women and six exciting debut features. From personal dramas exploring identity to documentaries that spotlight a world at risk and democracy in jeopardy, this year’s lineup is rich in stories that tap into contemporary Canadian and International anxieties.
“We’re especially proud to present such a diverse group of films,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, TIFF. “Ranging from science fiction to fantasy, myth to documentary, and romance to a dystopic vision of our neighbours to the south, this year’s Canadian films come from every region in the country, stretching from east to west and north to south.”
TIFF presents the World Premieres of three films that showcase Indigenous talent: Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s Edge of the Knife, the first feature-length film made in Haida, which is classified by UNESCO as an endangered language; Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her, a moving portrait of healing and resilience, starring renowned Métis actor Tantoo Cardinal; and Miranda de Pencier’s feature directorial debut The Grizzlies, a creative collaboration between De Pencier and Inuit producers Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Stacey Aglok MacDonald that tells an inspiring, true story and that was shot on location in MacDonald’s home community in Nunavut.
“We’re thrilled with this year’s lineup of compelling and distinctive films,” said Danis Goulet, TIFF Canadian Features Programmer. “The films feature characters who push hard against prescribed boundaries, asking vital questions about the state of the world and the status quo. We are especially excited to have a strong slate of bold and dynamic women-centric stories. Forty percent of the Canadian film slate this year is directed by women.”
This year’s lineup also includes works by legendary Canadian documentary filmmakers that look at contemporary culture through a critical lens, such as Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky’s highly anticipated documentary Anthropocene, Ron Mann’s Carmine Street Guitars and Thom Fitzgerald’s Splinters; Festival alumnus Igor Drljača is making his feature-documentary debut at the Festival with The Stone Speakers, and veteran Barry Avrich returns with Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz, a portrait of the United States’ chief prosecutor during the Nuremberg trials.
A highlight of the festival will be a Special Event World Premiere and tribute showcasing the illuminating documentary Sharkwater Extinction, the final work by the late filmmaker and conservationist Rob Stewart. Other works by TIFF alumni premiering at the Festival include Canadian master Denys Arcand’s The Fall of the American Empire; Bruce Sweeney’s Kingsway; Sébastien Pilote’s The Fireflies Are Gone; Maxime Giroux’s The Great Darkened Days; and Astra Taylor’s What is Democracy? Renée Beaulieu is at TIFF for the first time with Les Salopes or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin, a study of a professor’s hidden desires.
The Canadian feature debuts at this year’s Festival are: Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s Haida epic Edge of the Knife; Akash Sherman’s sci-fi fantasy drama Clara ; Jasmin Mozaffari’s Firecrackers; Andrea Bussmann’s first solo project, Fausto; Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Freaks and Miranda De Pencier’s Grizzlies.
This year’s slate also features performances by multiple Canadian and international stars, such as Amanda Crew, Graham Greene, Brigitte Poupart, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, and Kyle MacLachlan. Other talent includes TIFF 2018 Rising Star Michaela Kurimsky ( Firecrackers) and former TIFF Rising Stars Sarah Gadon ( The Great Darkened Days) and Karelle Tremblay ( The Fireflies Are Gone).
All 23 Canadian feature films at the Festival are eligible for the Canada Goose ® Award for Best Canadian Feature Film. All five Canadian feature directorial debuts are eligible for the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. This year’s Canadian feature-film jury is composed of award-winning Montreal filmmaker Mathieu Denis ( Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves), renowned Toronto journalist and documentarian Michelle Shephard ( Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr), and legendary Turkish director Ali Özgentürk, who wrote the screenplay for The Girl with the Red Scarf .
The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.
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The Toronto International Film Festival today unveiled the first round of films premiering in the Gala and Special Presentation programs of the upcoming 43rd edition. Of the 17 Galas and 30 Special Presentations, today’s announcement includes 13 features directed by women.
“We have an exceptional selection of films this year that will excite Festival audiences from all walks of life,” said Handling. “Today’s lineup showcases beloved auteurs alongside fresh voices in filmmaking, including numerous female powerhouses. The sweeping range in cinematic storytelling from around the world is a testament to the uniqueness of the films that are being made.”
“Every September we invite the whole film world to Toronto, one of the most diverse, movie-mad cities in the world. I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to put together a lineup of Galas and Special Presentations that reflects Toronto’s spirit of inclusive, passionate engagement with film. We can’t wait to unveil these films for our audience.”
The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.
The World Premiere of Mouthpiece will be the opening film of the Special Presentations program of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Patricia Rozema and written by Rozema, Amy Nostbakken, and Norah Sadava, the film stars Nostbakken, Sadava, and Maev Beaty.
Mouthpiece is a powerful and amusing look into the female psyche that harnesses the essence of Nostbakken and Sadava’s award-winning play, from which it was loosely adapted. Cassandra Haywood (played by both Nostbakken and Sadava) is a strong, single woman, a writer who lives by her own rules. She is also a bit of a disaster. Following the sudden death of her mother, Elaine (Beaty), Cassandra begins to recognize the resemblances between her more traditional mother and herself, and the frightening similarities between the struggles of past generations of women and the realities of today.
“We are thrilled to be opening the Special Presentations programme with Patricia Rozema, an iconic Canadian filmmaker,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “Based on the play of the same name, Mouthpiece is one of Rozema’s most vibrant films, an honest and heart-wrenching portrayal of a young woman finding her voice after the passing of her mother.
“I can’t thank the TIFF programmers enough for the special spotlight on Mouthpiece,” said Rozema. “I’m thrilled to introduce Amy Nostbakken, Norah Sadava, and Maev Beaty to cinema audiences. That this movie was written, directed, shot, designed, edited, produced, and costume designed by women shouldn’t feel special, but it is — and makes it all the more sweet.”
The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.