Adventures in Public School[/caption]
TIFF is toasting the end of Canada’s sesquicentennial with its list of 2017’s best Canadian films for the 17th Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival. The stellar lineup champions emerging directors, including Sadaf Foroughi for her award-winning, Tehran-set drama Ava; Wayne Wapeemukwa’s City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at TIFF, Luk’Luk’I; Kathleen Hepburn’s heartbreaking Never Steady, Never Still; Simon Lavoie’s striking The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond Of Matches; Kyle Rideout’s charming comedy Adventures in Public School; and, in another example Canada’s genre chops, Les Affamés, Robin Aubert’s unique take on the zombie allegory, which won the Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF. Social issues are also dealt with directly in Charles Officer’s lyrical documentary Unarmed Verses, winner of Hot Docs’ Best Canadian Feature Documentary prize, and Catherine Bainbridge’s electrifying crowd-pleaser RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World.
The festival’s popular In Conversation With… series will feature intimate onstage discussions with remarkable talent, including master filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, who is also part of this year’s lineup with her latest feature, Our People Will Be Healed, a luminous, hopeful ode to the power of action-driven decolonization. The revered filmmaker, musician, and revolutionary artist has been a tireless advocate for Indigenous resistance and she continues to reinvigorate Canada’s Indigenous identities while advocating for truth and reconciliation in her latest feature. In Conversation With… Alanis Obomsawin is co-presented by The Directors Guild of Canada.
In addition, award-winning actor Evan Rachel Wood will discuss her career and role in the psychological thriller Allure, the highly anticipated feature debut from Montreal-based photographers Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Wood began her career as a child in the 1990s and went on to give acclaimed performances in Thirteen (2003) and The Wrestler (2008), before reaching new heights with HBO’s hit series Westworld (2016– ). She is a leading voice in the drive to create lasting change in the film industry, and her brilliant work in such Canadian independent features as Patricia Rozema’s Into the Forest (Canada’s Top Ten 2015) and this year’s Canada’s Top Ten selection Allure has cemented her status as one of the most versatile and adventurous actors working today.
The festival also offers audiences two special screenings: Phillip Borsos’ 1990 political saga Bethune: The Making of a Hero — starring Donald Sutherland as beloved Canadian hero Dr. Norman Bethune — as well as a Canadian Open Vault free screening of Daniel Cockburn’s TFCA Jay Scott Prize winner You Are Here (2010).
Filmgoers in Toronto will once again vote to crown the People’s Choice Award winner.
The Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival is complemented by the 2018 TIFF Industry Forum, a full day of programming on Friday, January 12 tailored exclusively for film professionals. The Forum opens with a special edition of Breakfast at TIFF that explores
programming ethics. In light of recent harassment allegations against prominent industry creatives, panellists will debate whether the art can ever truly be separated from the artist. Another session will celebrate the outstanding work of break-out feature directors and examine how the industry can best support them as they develop their second and third features. The Forum closes with a live onstage recording of the award-winning podcast TIFF Long Take, featuring Canadian film and television director Jeremy Podeswa. He is best known for directing the films The Five Senses (1999) and Fugitive Pieces (2007), and for his Emmy-nominated work on the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Established in 2001, the festival is one of the largest and longest-running showcases of Canadian film. From January 12 to 21, 2018 at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, the 10-day event boasts a rich offering of public screenings, Q&A sessions and a special Industry Forum, followed by a nationwide tour stopping in Vancouver, Montreal, Regina, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Saskatoon.
The festival will tour select films to major cities across the country including stops at Vancouver’s The Cinematheque (January 12 to 21), Montreal’s PHI Centre (January 12 to 21), Winnipeg Film Group’s Cinematheque (January 12 to February 24), Edmonton’s Metro Cinema (January 26 to February 4), Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada (March 15 to 17), Regina’s RPL Film Theatre (April 12 to 15) and Saskatoon’s PAVED Arts in collaboration with the Roxy Theatre (dates TBC).
Our People Will Be Healed
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TIFF Unveils Top Ten Canadian Films of 2017 + Top Ten Film Festival Lineup
[caption id="attachment_25450" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Adventures in Public School[/caption]
TIFF is toasting the end of Canada’s sesquicentennial with its list of 2017’s best Canadian films for the 17th Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival. The stellar lineup champions emerging directors, including Sadaf Foroughi for her award-winning, Tehran-set drama Ava; Wayne Wapeemukwa’s City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at TIFF, Luk’Luk’I; Kathleen Hepburn’s heartbreaking Never Steady, Never Still; Simon Lavoie’s striking The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond Of Matches; Kyle Rideout’s charming comedy Adventures in Public School; and, in another example Canada’s genre chops, Les Affamés, Robin Aubert’s unique take on the zombie allegory, which won the Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF. Social issues are also dealt with directly in Charles Officer’s lyrical documentary Unarmed Verses, winner of Hot Docs’ Best Canadian Feature Documentary prize, and Catherine Bainbridge’s electrifying crowd-pleaser RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World.
The festival’s popular In Conversation With… series will feature intimate onstage discussions with remarkable talent, including master filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, who is also part of this year’s lineup with her latest feature, Our People Will Be Healed, a luminous, hopeful ode to the power of action-driven decolonization. The revered filmmaker, musician, and revolutionary artist has been a tireless advocate for Indigenous resistance and she continues to reinvigorate Canada’s Indigenous identities while advocating for truth and reconciliation in her latest feature. In Conversation With… Alanis Obomsawin is co-presented by The Directors Guild of Canada.
In addition, award-winning actor Evan Rachel Wood will discuss her career and role in the psychological thriller Allure, the highly anticipated feature debut from Montreal-based photographers Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Wood began her career as a child in the 1990s and went on to give acclaimed performances in Thirteen (2003) and The Wrestler (2008), before reaching new heights with HBO’s hit series Westworld (2016– ). She is a leading voice in the drive to create lasting change in the film industry, and her brilliant work in such Canadian independent features as Patricia Rozema’s Into the Forest (Canada’s Top Ten 2015) and this year’s Canada’s Top Ten selection Allure has cemented her status as one of the most versatile and adventurous actors working today.
The festival also offers audiences two special screenings: Phillip Borsos’ 1990 political saga Bethune: The Making of a Hero — starring Donald Sutherland as beloved Canadian hero Dr. Norman Bethune — as well as a Canadian Open Vault free screening of Daniel Cockburn’s TFCA Jay Scott Prize winner You Are Here (2010).
Filmgoers in Toronto will once again vote to crown the People’s Choice Award winner.
The Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival is complemented by the 2018 TIFF Industry Forum, a full day of programming on Friday, January 12 tailored exclusively for film professionals. The Forum opens with a special edition of Breakfast at TIFF that explores
programming ethics. In light of recent harassment allegations against prominent industry creatives, panellists will debate whether the art can ever truly be separated from the artist. Another session will celebrate the outstanding work of break-out feature directors and examine how the industry can best support them as they develop their second and third features. The Forum closes with a live onstage recording of the award-winning podcast TIFF Long Take, featuring Canadian film and television director Jeremy Podeswa. He is best known for directing the films The Five Senses (1999) and Fugitive Pieces (2007), and for his Emmy-nominated work on the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Established in 2001, the festival is one of the largest and longest-running showcases of Canadian film. From January 12 to 21, 2018 at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, the 10-day event boasts a rich offering of public screenings, Q&A sessions and a special Industry Forum, followed by a nationwide tour stopping in Vancouver, Montreal, Regina, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Saskatoon.
The festival will tour select films to major cities across the country including stops at Vancouver’s The Cinematheque (January 12 to 21), Montreal’s PHI Centre (January 12 to 21), Winnipeg Film Group’s Cinematheque (January 12 to February 24), Edmonton’s Metro Cinema (January 26 to February 4), Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada (March 15 to 17), Regina’s RPL Film Theatre (April 12 to 15) and Saskatoon’s PAVED Arts in collaboration with the Roxy Theatre (dates TBC).
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2017 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival Announces Film + Video Line-Up of 115 Features + Shorts by Indigenous Artists
[caption id="attachment_24175" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Out of State (d. Ciara Lacy)[/caption]
The 2017 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will present over 100 feature films, documentaries, shorts, and music videos created by Indigenous filmmakers with almost three quarters of the films (72%) made by Indigenous female directors.
The festival will include Our People Will Be Healed, the 50th documentary in 50 years from revered filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin, keeping on the subject of her last four films: children’s rights. Our People Will Be Healed focuses on the Cree community of Norway House, Manitoba, and their innovative approach to educating First Nations students.
Documentary features receiving their world premieres at imagineNATIVE include Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier (d. Shane Belcourt, Lisa Jackson) that peels back the layers of the truecrime story revolving around a captivating reclusive woman from a small northern Manitoba reserve whose catfishing of an NBA superstar made international headlines; and Glwa: Resurgence of the Ocean-Going Canoe (d. Hillary Beattie, Vina Brown) that tells the story of Tribal Canoe Journeys – a decades old gathering on the Northwest Pacific coast.
imagineNATIVE will present additional feature length documentaries including the Canadian premiere of Out of State (d. Ciara Lacy) following two Indigenous Hawaiian inmates incarcerated in Arizona; the North American premiere of Rio Verde. El Tiempo de los Yakurunas (d. Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento) which explores the perception of time in three small villages intertwined by the Amazon river; the international premiere of MANKILLER (d. Valerie Red-Horse Mohl) examining the legacy of the formidable Wilma Mankiller, who overcame rampant sexism to emerge as the Cherokee Nation’s first female Principal Chief; and Birth of a Family (d. Tasha Hubbard) about three sisters and a brother separated at birth reconnecting for the first time.
imagineNATIVE will also present the world premieres of two dramatic features including Juliana & the Medicine Fish (d. Jeremy Torrie) which follows the story of 12-year old Juliana as she’s forced to repair an awkward relationship with her father (Adam Beach) following her mother’s death; and Kayaking for Beginners (d. Zoe Hopkins) where 14-year old Ella is determined to travel the length of the Inside Passage to testify against a proposed pipeline that would see oil tanker traffic through her beloved homeland waters. imagineNATIVE will also present Sweet Country, from director Warwick Thornton and starring Hamilton Morris and Sam Neill in a period western set on the Northern Territory frontier where justice itself is put on trial.
imagineNATIVE will also screen a number of short film programmes with ten varied themes including the anticipated return of The Witching Hour, the annual midnight horror/comedy series; Receptors, a series of experimental, dramatic, and documentary shorts; Ambient Light, shedding a light on the polar region with five shorts from Sweden, Greenland and North America; and Channel 51 Igloolik, celebrating 30 years of Inuit video art with a world premiere screening of Bowhead Whale Hunt by Carol Kunnuk and Zacharias Kunuk – the first episode from the seven-part television series, Hunting with my Ancestors.
The 18th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will take place October 18 to 22, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.
imagineNATIVE 2017 Programmed Film + Video
- ᎤᎧᏖᎾ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏴᏓᏆᎶᏍᎩ (Uktena and Thunder), d. Joseph Erb
- 2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com, d. Thirza Cuthand
- A Prayer for the Lost, d. Natasha Francis
- Amásání (The Grandma), d. Stacy Howard
- Anna Marina, d. Trevor Mack
- Aqtuqsi (My Nightmare), d. Mary Kunuk
- Atte munnje sáni saji (Just Give Me the Word), d. Sara Margrethe Oskal
- Bayline, d. JJ Neepin
- Believer, d. Migizi Pensoneau
- Birth of a Family, d. Tasha Hubbard
- Blight, d. Perun Bonser
- “Bowhead Whale Hunt” Hunting with My Ancestors, d. Carol Kunnuk, Zacharias Kunuk
- Braids, d. Cole Stevens-Goulais
- Brown Lips, d. Nakkiah Lui
- Bzindan (Harmony), d. Nadia McLaren
- CALVING (CAPS), d. Nathan Adler
- Captivity Narrative, d. Jason Asenap
- CARRY THE FLAG, d. Danielle MacLean
- Creatura Dada, d. Caroline Monnet
- Cry Wolf, d. Dianne Ouellette
- Dear Hatetts, d. Kerry Barber
- Demons, d. Morningstar Derosier
- Dislocation Blues, d. Sky Hopinka
- Empire State, d. Govind Deecee, Terry Jones
- Experiments in Light, d. Jaene Castrillon
- Flat Rocks, d. Courtney Montour
- Fox in the Box, d. Travis Shilling
- From Up North, d. Trudy Stewart
- Glwa: Resurgence of the Ocean-Going Canoe, d. Hillary Beattie, Vina Brown
- Gos leat don? (Where Are You?), d. Egil Pedersen
- Guolli (Fish), d. Jouni West
- Holy Angels, d. Jay Cardinal Villeneuve
- I Will Always Love You Kingen, d. Amanda Kernell
- In Moment, d. Samay Arcentales Cajas
- Indictment: The Crimes of Shelly Chartier, d. Shane Belcourt, Lisa Jackson
- Inuk Hunter, d. George Annanack
- Issaituq (Waterproof), d. Bruce Haulli
- J’aime les filles (I Like Girls), d. Diane Obomsawin
- Juliana & The Medicine Fish, d. Jeremy Torrie
- Just One Word, d. Jani Lauzon
- Juuret On (Under Two Skies), d. Anssi Kömi, Suvi West
- Ka Puta Ko Au, d. Amie Batalibasi, Renae Maihi, Kelton Stepanowich
- Kat Waj, d. Teresa Jiménez
- Kayaking For Beginners, d. Zoe Hopkins
- Kchi-Nendizan (Big Pride), d. Lena Recollet, Miles Turner
- Keepers for the Old People, d. Michael Keshane
- Keeping the Legends at Heart, d.
- KEEWAYDAH (Let’s Go Home), d. Terril Calder
- Kéwku, d. Sean Stiller
- Kia Tau (Be at Rest), d. Michelle Latimer, Chris Malloy, Yamin Tun
- Last Drinks at Frida’s, d. Bjorn Stewart
- Laundry, d. Becs Arahanga
- Lelum’ (Home), d. Asia Youngman
- MANKILLER, d. Valerie Red-Horse Mohl
- MARIA, d. Jeremiah Tauamiti
- Meke, d. Tim Worrall
- Metal Road, d. Sarah Del Seronde
- Mikinakay: Trail of the Turtle, d. Erica Daniels
- Morit Elena Morit, d. Inga-Wiktoria Påve
- My Father’s Tools, d. Heather Condo
- MY SOUL REMAINER, d. Nanobah Becker
- NATALIE, d. Qianna Titore
- NDNs on the Airwaves, d. Jackson 2Bears
- Nieiddaš ja guollečikŋa (Girl with a Fish Necklace), d. Egil Pedersen
- No Reservations, d. Trevor Carroll
- North of South, d. Francisco Huichaquo, Casey Koyczan, Alejandro Valbuena
- Nutag-Homeland, d. Alisi Telengut
- Nuuca (Take), d. Michelle Latimer
- Occupation Of Memory, d. Jade Baxter
- Ôtênaw, d. Conor McNally
- Our People will be Healed, d. Alanis Obomsawin
- Our Protection For Our Future Generations, d. Bella Brown, Trinity Hunt, Nathanial Mason-Brown
- Out of State, d. Ciara Lacy
- PaPa, d. Ryan Alexander Lloyd
- People of the Pines, d. Shane Ghostkeeper, Joshua Whitford
- Possum, d. Dave Whitehead
- Qulliq (Oil Lamp), d. Susan Avingaq, Marie-Helene Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
- Rae, d. Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
- Raven, d. Razelle Benally
- Ravggon – Goaikkanasat, d. Henry Kestilä
- Red Card World: The Tree, d. Cara Mumford
- Riiji Carver, d. Kimberley West
- Rio Verde. El tiempo de los Yakurunas (Green River. The Time of the Yakurunas), d. Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento
- ROTO (The Lake Within), d. Louise Potiki Bryant
- Shaman, d. Echo Henoche
- Slincraze – Stállu, d. Egil Pedersen
- Snaglines, d. Howard Adler, Charlotte Hoelke
- Snow, d. Nivi Pederse
- STACK, d. Dana Claxton
- Sunday Fun Day, d. Dianna Fuemana
- Sweet Country, d. Warwick Thornton
- The End of the World, d. Clayton Windatt
- The Fire, d. Liselotte Wajstedt
- The Importance of Dreaming, d. Tara Audibert
- The Last Walk, d. Anna Hoover, Pipaluk K. Jørgensen, Mikisoq H. Lynge, Jerri Thrasher
- The Mountain of SGaana, d. Christopher Auchter
- Thirza Cuthand Is an Indian Within the Meaning of the Indian Act, d. Thirza Cuthand
- This Wild Season, d. Jonathan Elliott
- Three Thousand, d. Asinnajaq
- Thunderbird Strike, d. Elizabeth LaPensee
- TRENCH, d. Trevor Solway
- Tsanizid (Wake Up), d. Beric Manywounds
- Twilight Dancers, d. Paola Marino, Theola Ross
- Under Your Always Light, d. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
- Unikausiq (Stories), d. Mary Kunuk
- Unintentional Mother, d. Mary Galloway
- [untitled & unlabeled], d. Terry Jones
- Versaearcolonion, d. Chandra Melting Tallow, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
- Vulkan (Volcano), d. Ann Holmgren
- Walk In Dreams, d. Jonathan Thunder
- Water, d. John Harvey
- Zaasaakwe (Shout with Joy), d. Madison Thomas
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RAINBOW – A PRIVATE AFFAIR plus 10 More Films Among 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Masters Program
[caption id="attachment_23755" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Rainbow – A Private Affair[/caption]
The lineup for the Masters program of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival will feature a slate of 11 films, including an outstanding list of prolific filmmakers known for taking stylistic and thematic risks with their work, including Alanis Obomsawin, the first and only First Nations female filmmaker to be featured in the Masters program.
“These are some of the greatest and most respected filmmakers working today, and we are excited to bring their latest films to TIFF audiences,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “This year’s Masters programme is a master class in creating bold, groundbreaking films that leave a mark on our cultural landscape.”
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani bring the World Premiere of Rainbow – A Private Affair to TIFF. This classical piece of filmmaking tells the story of a young love triangle in Italy during the Second World War. Now in their 80s, the Taviani brothers have written or directed more than 20 films together and have won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Lucrecia Martel, one of the most important filmmakers from Latin America and a reference point for international cinema, is also featured in the lineup. Her latest offering, Zama, is a cinematic masterpiece with a unique language and a particular point of view that reinforce her status as a master of the craft.
Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki’s latest film, The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen), is a timely and touching film that follows a young Syrian seeking refuge in Finland as he searches for his sister. The film earned Kaurismäki the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival.
Veterans of the industry, these filmmakers bring decades of experience as screenwriters, directors, producers, film critics and actors. Collectively, they have produced feature films, documentaries, short films, television series, theatre productions and art installations. Many have received or been nominated for jury prizes at international film festivals, while others have served as members of juries. Known to challenge audiences, these filmmakers are true masters of the craft and are sure to excite and inspire audiences with their latest entries in the 2017 TIFF Masters programme.
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
2017 Toronto International Film Festival Masters Program
The Day After (Geu-hu) Hong Sangsoo, South Korea North American Premiere Faces Places (Visages Villages) Agnès Varda, JR, France Canadian Premiere First Reformed Paul Schrader, USA Canadian Premiere Happy End Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany North American Premiere The House by the Sea (La Villa) Robert Guédiguian, France North American Premiere Loveless (Nelyubov) Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia/France/Belgium/Germany Canadian Premiere The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen) Aki Kaurismäki, Finland/Germany Canadian Premiere Our People Will Be Healed Alanis Obomsawin, Canada World Premiere *Previously announced with the Canadian feature lineup Rainbow – A Private Affair (Una questione privata) Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Italy/France World Premiere The Third Murder (Sandome no Satsujin) Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan North American Premiere Zama Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Brazil/Spain/France/Netherlands/Mexico/Portugal/USA North American Premiere
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Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Canadian Feature Slate of 26 Films
[caption id="attachment_23575" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Don’t Talk to Irene[/caption]
The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival unveiled today the 26 titles that make up the Festival’s Canadian feature slate. Featuring a crop of provocative first features, this year’s diverse and varied Canadian lineup boasts one of the highest numbers of feature directorial debuts ever, as well as one of the highest numbers of films from Western Canada in recent years. Over 30% of the titles have a first-time feature director, while seven out of nine are TIFF alumni.
This year’s Canadian slate is bolstered by a number of titles from Canadian Festival veterans. Among these titles are: Alanis Obomsawin’s Our People Will Be Healed; Alan Zweig’s There is a House Here; Simon Lavoie’s The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes); Mina Shum’s Meditation Park; Robin Aubert’s vérité zombie flick Les Affamés; Ingrid Veninger’s Porcupine Lake; Pat Mills’ high school misfit comedy Don’t Talk to Irene; Oscar nominee Kim Nguyen’s Eye on Juliet; Adam MacDonald’s Pyewacket; celebrated director Denis Côté’s Ta peau si lisse (A Skin So Soft); and Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier’s previously announced Long Time Running.
Among the Canadian first features at the 2017 Festival are: Sadaf Foroughi’s AVA, a superbly crafted drama about an Iranian teenager at a pivotal crossroad; Ian Lagarde’s All You Can Eat Buddha, which follows a man’s surreal impact on vacationers at a Cuban resort; Carlos and Jason Sanchez’s A Worthy Companion, a psychological thriller about obsession and trauma; Trailer Park Boys star Cory Bowles’ Black Cop, an arresting satirical exploration of police-community relations; Kathleen Hepburn’s powerful family drama Never Steady, Never Still; Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley’s Cardinals, a disturbing look at the impact of a convicted murderer’s return to her community; Wayne Wapeemukwa’s Luk’Luk’I, a look at the denizens of an impoverished Vancouver neighbouhood; and Molly McGlynn’s Mary Goes Round, about an addiction counsellor struggling with her own issues.
Two exciting titles making their World Premieres at the Festival are Mary Harron’s Alias Grace, based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood, written by Sarah Polley and starring Sarah Gadon, Anna Paquin and Paul Gross; and Sean Menard’s The Carter Effect, on how NBA All-Star Vince Carter made an impact on Toronto.
Rounding out the program are Kyle Rideout’s winning comedy about eccentricity and high school Public Schooled; Tarique Qayumi’s powerful Afghanistan-set drama BLACK KITE; and Matt Embry’s shocking and poignant MS doc Living Proof.
The slate also features performances by multiple Canadian and international stars, including Sandra Oh; Sheila McCarthy; Don McKellar; Russell Peters; Evan Rachel Wood; Geena Davis; Sarah Gadon; Sarah Julia Stone; Scott Thompson; Judy Greer; Afghanistan’s most prominent rising star Haji Gul; and beloved Chinese actress Cheng Pei-Pei.
“It is exciting to see a new wave of Canadian first-time feature directors play with genres and take risks,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, TIFF. “This year’s lineup has a truly international feel to it, too, with a number of features shot all over the globe — something that also speaks to the boldness of many of the filmmakers included in the slate.”
“We are thrilled to have a lineup with such a rich diversity of voices and perspectives,” said Magali Simard, Programmer and Theatrical Senior Manager, TIFF. “Not only are different regions of the country represented, but so are multiple age groups, backgrounds, languages and filmmaking styles. This lineup showcases the incredible wealth of talent currently at work in Canada.”
All 25 Canadian feature films at the Festival are eligible for the Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film. All nine Canadian feature directorial debuts are eligible for the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. This year’s Canadian awards jury is composed of Mark Adams, Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival; Canadian documentarian and Hillman Prize winner Min Sook Lee (Migrant Dreams); and artist and filmmaker Ella Cooper, who is also the founder of Black Women Film! Canada.
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Eye on Juliet Kim Nguyen, Canada North American PremiereMASTERS
Our People Will Be Healed Alanis Obomsawin, Canada World PremiereTIFF DOCS
The Carter Effect Sean Menard, Canada/USA World Premiere Living Proof Matt Embry, Canada World Premiere There is a House Here Alan Zweig, Canada World PremiereDISCOVERY
A Worthy Companion Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez, Canada World Premiere All You Can Eat Buddha Ian Lagarde, Canada World Premiere AVA Sadaf Foroughi, Iran/Canada/Qatar World Premiere Black Cop Cory Bowles, Canada World Premiere Cardinals Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley, Canada World Premiere Luk’Luk’I Wayne Wapeemukwa, Canada World Premiere Mary Goes Round Molly McGlynn, Canada World Premiere Never Steady, Never Still Kathleen Hepburn, Canada World PremiereCONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
BLACK KITE Tarique Qayumi, Canada/Afghanistan World Premiere Don’t Talk to Irene Pat Mills, Canada World Premiere Les Affamés Robin Aubert, France/Canada World Premiere Meditation Park Mina Shum, Canada World Premiere Porcupine Lake Ingrid Veninger, Canada World Premiere Public Schooled Kyle Rideout, Canada World Premiere Pyewacket Adam MacDonald, Canada World Premiere The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes) Simon Lavoie, Canada World PremierePRIMETIME
Alias Grace Mary Harron, Canada/USA World Premiere PROTOTYPE Blake Williams, Canada North American Premiere A Skin so Soft (Ta peau si lisse) Denis Côté, Canada/Switzerland North American Premiere Previously announced Canadian features at the Festival include Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier’s Long Time Running (Gala) and Seth A. Smith’s The Crescent (Midnight Madness).