Princesita[/caption]
Princesita directed by Marialy Rivas is the biggest winner of this year’s 26th Raindance Film Festival, winning four awards including Film of the Festival, Best International Feature, Best Performance for Sara Caballero and Best Cinematography for Sergio Armstrong. Created by the Larrain brothers, the film tells the story of twelve-year-old Tamara, who has been raised in a cult. This tense and sinister tale was written by Rivas in part to show the extremes to which men still believe they have ownership over women’s bodies. As a result of winning Film of the Festival and as per Raindance tradition, Marialy will be asked to direct next year’s Official Festival Trailer.
Best Director was awarded to Rene Eller for WE, adapted from a controversial novel by Elvis Peeters, WE is a story about abuses of power and privilege. Unconcerned with the consequences of their actions, the members of a privileged teen group of friends spur each other on to ever more sociopathic behavior. Lauren Mackenzie’s We The Kings a portrait of two tortured souls, played by Elliot James Langridge and Timothy West with electrifying intensity was awarded Best UK Feature and the Best Documentary went to Tre Maison Dasan, an incredibly intimate documentary giving the opportunity to those affected by the justice system, young and old alike, to share their stories. Piotr Domalewski’s Silent Night received the Discovery Award for Best Debut Feature with his insightful and tender film displaying powerful performances about the realities of a family reunited.
Richard Raymond (Souls of Totality), Aaron Dunleavy (Landsharks) and Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee (Earthrise) were the big winners in the Shorts Program with Souls of Totality receiving the award for Best Short of the Festival, Landsharks receiving Best UK Short and Earthrise winning Best Documentary Short.
Award winning short Souls of Totality centers in on a looming moment that can change everything and stars Emmy Award winning actress Tatiana Maslany and actor Tom Cullen and Landsharks follows the vicious cycle of misguided youths on a troubled estate, forced to carry out the dirty work of exploitative adults. Earthrise tells us the story of the first image ever captured of the Earth from space in 1968.
Told solely by the Apollo 8 astronauts, the film recounts their experiences and memories and explores the beauty, awe, and grandeur of the Earth against the blackness of space. Best Animated Short was awarded to Blind Mice directed by Nicholas D’Agostino about An ex-con gets wrapped up in a con within a con. Last but not least Best Music Video Award went to Solicitous a romantic, fairytale-like story about the relationship between two sensitive giants living in the mountains directed by Zuzanna Plisz.
The Award for Best Festival Campaign goes to Mike Rogers producer of the documentary Matsuchiyo – Life of a Geisha.
Princesita
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PRINCESITA Crowned Biggest Winner of 2018 Raindance Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_32053" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Princesita[/caption]
Princesita directed by Marialy Rivas is the biggest winner of this year’s 26th Raindance Film Festival, winning four awards including Film of the Festival, Best International Feature, Best Performance for Sara Caballero and Best Cinematography for Sergio Armstrong. Created by the Larrain brothers, the film tells the story of twelve-year-old Tamara, who has been raised in a cult. This tense and sinister tale was written by Rivas in part to show the extremes to which men still believe they have ownership over women’s bodies. As a result of winning Film of the Festival and as per Raindance tradition, Marialy will be asked to direct next year’s Official Festival Trailer.
Best Director was awarded to Rene Eller for WE, adapted from a controversial novel by Elvis Peeters, WE is a story about abuses of power and privilege. Unconcerned with the consequences of their actions, the members of a privileged teen group of friends spur each other on to ever more sociopathic behavior. Lauren Mackenzie’s We The Kings a portrait of two tortured souls, played by Elliot James Langridge and Timothy West with electrifying intensity was awarded Best UK Feature and the Best Documentary went to Tre Maison Dasan, an incredibly intimate documentary giving the opportunity to those affected by the justice system, young and old alike, to share their stories. Piotr Domalewski’s Silent Night received the Discovery Award for Best Debut Feature with his insightful and tender film displaying powerful performances about the realities of a family reunited.
Richard Raymond (Souls of Totality), Aaron Dunleavy (Landsharks) and Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee (Earthrise) were the big winners in the Shorts Program with Souls of Totality receiving the award for Best Short of the Festival, Landsharks receiving Best UK Short and Earthrise winning Best Documentary Short.
Award winning short Souls of Totality centers in on a looming moment that can change everything and stars Emmy Award winning actress Tatiana Maslany and actor Tom Cullen and Landsharks follows the vicious cycle of misguided youths on a troubled estate, forced to carry out the dirty work of exploitative adults. Earthrise tells us the story of the first image ever captured of the Earth from space in 1968.
Told solely by the Apollo 8 astronauts, the film recounts their experiences and memories and explores the beauty, awe, and grandeur of the Earth against the blackness of space. Best Animated Short was awarded to Blind Mice directed by Nicholas D’Agostino about An ex-con gets wrapped up in a con within a con. Last but not least Best Music Video Award went to Solicitous a romantic, fairytale-like story about the relationship between two sensitive giants living in the mountains directed by Zuzanna Plisz.
The Award for Best Festival Campaign goes to Mike Rogers producer of the documentary Matsuchiyo – Life of a Geisha.
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45 Films from Fresh Filmmakers on Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Discovery Program
[caption id="attachment_24001" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
A Fish Out Of Water (上岸的魚) Lai Kuo-An[/caption]
The Toronto International Film Festival debuted the 2017 Discovery program lineup with 45 first and second feature films by up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. Good news for the future of global cinema: this is the biggest Discovery program to date, with 25% more titles than the 2016 roster and two-thirds of the selection World Premiering at TIFF.
“Uncovering new talent is one of the key roles of the Festival,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. “The Discovery programme allows us to carve out a space for emerging filmmakers to be seen by the international film industry and has helped launch the careers of award-winning filmmakers like Maren Ade, Barry Jenkins, Steve McQueen, Christopher Nolan, and Dee Rees.”
The films, produced or co-produced in 35 different countries, include fresh, experimental and compelling voices. Life in small, rural communities is portrayed in Miracle, Ravens and The Swan, while families dealing with crises and conflict are addressed in Apostasy, Shuttle Life and Suleiman Mountain. LGBTQ+ themes run through several of the Discovery titles, including Montana, Soldiers. Story from Ferentari and The Poet and the Boy, while teen sexuality is explored in Disappearance, Kissing Candice and Princesita.
“If you don’t support the future of filmmaking, you fall behind. So we’re always looking for new talent,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “The fact that the Discovery programme continues to grow is deeply encouraging, and speaks to the fact that there are a lot of people that want to make films when it is often increasingly more difficult to do so.”
The Toronto International Film Festival also announced an additional title to the Docs program: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, a documentary about Lorraine Hansberry, a black writer, communist, feminist, lesbian and outspoken trailblazer at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7 to 17, 2017.
Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Discovery program
1% Stephen McCallum, Australia World Premiere ¾ (Three Quarters) Ilian Metev, Germany/Bulgaria North American Premiere A Fish Out Of Water (上岸的魚) Lai Kuo-An, Taiwan World Premiere A Worthy Companion Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez, Canada World Premiere All You Can Eat Buddha Ian Lagarde, Canada World Premiere Apostasy Daniel Kokotajlo, United Kingdom World Premiere AVA Sadaf Foroughi, Iran/Canada/Qatar World Premiere Black Cop Cory Bowles, Canada World Premiere The Butterfly Tree Priscilla Cameron, Australia International Premiere Cardinals Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley, Canada World Premiere Disappearance (Napadid Shodan) Ali Asgari, Iran/Qatar North American Premiere Five Fingers For Marseilles (Menoana e Mehlano ea Marseilles) Michael Matthews, South Africa World Premiere The Future Ahead (El futuro que viene) Constanza Novick, Argentina World Premiere The Garden (Sommerhäuser) Sonja Maria Kröner, Germany International Premiere The Great Buddha+ (大佛普拉斯) Huang Hsin-Yao, Taiwan International Premiere The Lady From Holland Marleen Jonkman, Netherlands/Germany World Premiere Gutland Govinda Van Maele, Luxembourg/Germany/Belgium World Premiere High Fantasy Jenna Bass, South Africa World Premiere Human Traces Nic Gorman, New Zealand North American Premiere Discovery Closing Film. I am not a Witch Rungano Nyoni, United Kingdom/France North American Premiere I Kill Giants Anders Walter, United Kingdom World Premiere Indian Horse Stephen Campanelli, Canada World Premiere Killing Jesus (Matar a Jesús) Laura Mora, Colombia/Argentina World Premiere Kissing Candice Aoife McArdle, Ireland World Premiere Luk’Luk’I Wayne Wapeemukwa, Canada World Premiere Mary Goes Round Molly McGlynn, Canada World Premiere Miracle (Stebuklas) Egle Vertelyte, Lithuania/Bulgaria/Poland World Premiere Montana Limor Shmila, Israel World Premiere Never Steady, Never Still Kathleen Hepburn, Canada World Premiere Oblivion Verses (Los Versos del Olvido) Alireza Khatami, France/Germany/Netherlands/Chile North American Premiere Oh Lucy! Atsuko Hirayanagi, USA/Japan North American Premiere The Poet and the Boy (Si-e-nui Sa-rang) Kim Yang-hee, South Korea International Premiere Princesita Marialy Rivas, Chile/Argentina/Spain World Premiere Ravens Jens Assur, Sweden World Premiere Scaffolding (Pigumim) Matan Yair, Israel/Poland North American Premiere Shuttle Life (分貝人生) Tan Seng Kiat, Malaysia North American Premiere Simulation Abed Abest, Iran North American Premiere Soldiers. Story from Ferentari (Soldaţii. Poveste din Ferentari) Ivana Mladenovic, Romania/Serbia/Belgium World Premiere Suleiman Mountain Elizaveta Stishova, Kyrgyzstan/Russia World Premiere The Swan (Svanurinn) Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir, Iceland World Premiere Discovery Opening Film. Tigre Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra Guardiola, Argentina World Premiere Valley of Shadows (Skyggenes Dal) Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen, Norway World Premiere Village Rockstars Rima Das, India World Premiere Waru Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, Paula Jones, New Zealand International Premiere Winter Brothers (Vinterbrødre) Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark/Iceland North American PremiereTIFF DOCS
Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart Tracy Heather Strain, USA World Premiere