PROTOTYPE

  • American Black Film Festival Announces 2018 Official Selections

    [caption id="attachment_29489" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Jinn - Nijla Mu'min Jinn – Nijla Mu’min[/caption] The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) continues its 22-year legacy of providing a platform for diverse storytelling and emerging filmmakers, by announcing the 2018 official selections in all screening categories. The festival returns to Miami Beach, FL from June 13-17. From nearly 700 submissions, more than 40 films were selected for the 2018 ABFF lineup, representing a varied group of filmmakers who explore thought-provoking topics affecting people from around the world. The list also includes five alumni filmmakers and four world premieres. “ABFF attendees will experience groundbreaking works from a global selection of independent filmmakers. We are excited to showcase the films from our finalists this June in Miami Beach, Florida,” says Lamonia Deanne Brown, Director of Programming at ABFF Ventures. In 2017,the festival drew more than 8,500 attendees, generating millions of dollars in economic activity in Miami Beach and supported numerous local businesses along Lincoln Road. The 2018 American Black Film Festival Line Up (all categories):

    NARRATIVE FEATURES (In Competition)

    ANIMATOR / U.S.A. Director:Logan Hall and Julian Jones Cast: Levenix Riddle, McKenzie Chinn, Phillip Edward Van Lear, Anita Chandwaney and Geno Walker An artist gains the power to draw the future. When his girlfriend commits suicide, he learns he can erase the past, with chilling consequences. World Premiere BEFORE THE VOWS / Ghana Director:Nicole Amarteifio Cast:John Dumelo, Maame Adjei and Nathaniel Kweku Nii and Afua, a happy couple based in Ghana, devise an unconventional plan to ensure a long and happy marriage. CANAL STREET / U.S.A. Director:Rhyan LaMarr Cast:Bryshere Y. Gray, Mykelti Williamson, Mekhi Phifer, Woody McClain and Jamie Hector After a young mans is accused of murdering his classmates, his father, who is an attorney, defends him in court and struggles to hold onto his faith. World Premiere JINN / U.S.A. Director: Nijla Mu’min Cast:Zoe Renne, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette, Ashlei Foushee, Damien Smith and Maya Morales A shape-shifting, pepperoni-loving black teenage Instagram celebrity, exploresher identity and sexuality in the midst of her mother’s conversion to Islam. SPRINTER / Jamaica, U.S.A. Director: Storm Saulter Cast:Dale Elliott, Kadeem Wilson, Shantol Jackson and Bryshere Y. Gray A Jamaican teen hopes a meteoric RISE in TRACK AND FIELD can reunite him with his mother who has lived illegally in the U.S. for over a decade. World Premiere

    NARRATIVE SHOWCASE (Non-Competitive)

    A BOY. A GIRL. A DREAM. / U.S.A. Director: Qasim Basir Cast:Omari Hardwick, Meagan Good, Jay Ellis and Dijon Talton On the night of the 2016 presidential election, Cass, an L.A. club promoter, takes a thrilling and emotional journey with Frida, a Midwestern visitor. CHILDREN OF MUD / Nigeria Director: Imoh Umoren Cast:Liz Benson, Matilda Obaseki and Bassey Ekpenyong Children of Mudis a Nollywood story about love, hope and overcoming obstacles. THE FLEA / U.S.A. Director:Nicanson Guerrier Cast: Isaac Beverly, Sh’Kia Dennis and Kendall Mason Set in the Miami landmark, Flea Market USA, we follow assistant manager Quentin Parker on what is supposed to be his last day at the flea market. World Premiere

    HBO SHORTS

    EMERGENCY / U.S.A. Director: Carey Williams Cast:Darrell Lake, Jason Woods, Peter Pasco, Michael Segovia and Shaw Jones A group of young Black and Latino boys come home to their worst nightmare: An unconscious White girl on the floor of their apartment. Faced with this emergency, they weigh the pros and cons of calling the police. HAIR WOLF / U.S.A. Director: Mariama Diallo Cast:Kara Young, Taliah Webster, Madeline Weinstein, Trae Harris and Jermaine Crawford Set in a black hair salon in rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn, New York, the local residents fend off a strange new monster: white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture. MOTHS & BUTTERFLIES / U.S.A. Director: Alfonso Johnson Cast: Amari Cheatom and Gillian Glasco “Moths” follows Lenny, a socially awkward, schizoaffective man & Cherisse, a high-energy BOUNDLESS soul, as they try to accept themselves in this New York tale about mental illness, love, and the longing to be understood. DAYS AFTER YOUR DEPARTURE / Haiti, U.S.A. Director: Sam Sneed Cast: Joekenneth Museau After losing his mother to a years long battle with cancer, Joekenneth Museau is left to question the meaning of his own existence. SUITABLE / U.S.A. Director:Thembi L. Banks Cast: Kelli Jordan, Tiffany Tenille and Derick Anthony Brandy, a high school tom boy, comes to terms with her sexuality when she decides what she’ll wear to the prom. At its core, this film tackles issues of sexuality, gender and the realities young, black women face as they come-of-age in modern society.

    WEB SERIES

    AVANT GUARDIANS / U.S.A. Director: Clarence Williams, IV Cast:Alesia Etinoff and Zainab Johnson A woke dramedy that covers a range of social justice topics such as mass incarceration, trans/homophobia, and bullying. The Guardian Angel to the 12 year-old future 3rdBlack President, Razz, is mandated to go to therapy with an ArchAngel, Dr. Hanniel. THE YARD / U.S.A. Director:John “Dr. Teeth” Tucker Cast:Fonzworth Bentley, Montrel Miller, Shaina Farrow, DJ Baby Yu and Korey Bryant Set on the campus of Booker A&T, a fictional historically black university, The Yard, is an animated sitcom that follows the comical adventures of five freshmen. Together these flawed students are about to get their first taste of the real world and experience numerous missteps as they navigate college and life. KELOID / U.S.A. Director:Huriyyah Muhammad Cast:Reynaldo Piniella and Kenna Jackson The story revolves around know-it all teenager Keloid, who is born with super abilities he neither wants nor is able to control and his strong-willed, overprotective mother, Marielle. Together they must find a way to survive Keloid’s adolescence, while maintaining SECRETS that keep them safe, and hiding from mistakes in their past that haunt them. BROOKLYNIFICATION / U.S.A. Director: Keith Miller Cast: Karl Williams, Felecia Harrelson, Lamar Cheston and Tallie Medel Brooklynificationis an uncomfortable comedy series about gentrification in New York’s most storied borough. This diverse cast of characters takes on the good, the bad, and the awkward as transforming neighborhoods face the unexpected encounters of Brooklyn’s rapidly changing streets. I AM NOT CHARLOTTE / U.S.A. Director:Jean Pierre Chapoteau Cast: Yani Simone and Darriel Violenes Charlotte, a college student, discovers she is in love with Jake and is convinced that inviting him to dinner will seal the deal. Charlotte takes advice from a few people that she knows all too well to help her win over her crush.

    DOCUMENTARIES

    FANTASTIC: THE LEGACY OF SLUM VILLAGE / U.S.A. Directors: Moe Lynch Cast: T3, Baatin, J Dilla, Q-tip, Common, Sway and Elzhi Fantastic tells the story of how three young men from the east side of Detroit formed one of the most underrated groups in hip hop history. From hustle to success through tragedy and breakups, the legacy of Slum Village lives on. World Premiere NOT IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD / South Africa, Brazil, U.S.A. Director:Kurt Orderson Cast:Real life citizens Not in my Neigbourhoodgives the account of citizens on the FRONTLINE of the struggle against the intersectional nature of Gentrification from three seemingly World Class Cities: Cape Town, S?o Paulo, and New York. It follows their daily struggles, trials and triumphant moments, as they try to shape the cities they live in, from the bottom up. MAYNARD / U.S.A. Director: Sam Pollard Cast:President Bill Clinton, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rev. Al Sharpton, Mayor Kasim Reed, Mayor Shirley Franklin, Mayor Bill Campbell, Mayor Sam Massel, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Joseph Lowery He was Obama before Obama, Maynard Holbrook Jackson became first black Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in 1973 and this film is an exploration into a man who had dreams and ambitions to be a public servant for his people seeing that it was the next logical step in THE JOURNEY that had been started by Dr. King and so many others who had blazed the trail during the years of horrific segregation.

    EMERGING DIRECTORS – Section #1

    UP NORTH / U.S.A. Directors:Emil Pinnock, Damaine Radcliff Cast:Eugene Clark, Ian Duff, Gabriel Ellis, Kris Lofton, Emil Pinnock, Damaine Radcliff When it comes to the prison system, it’s just as hard getting out as going in. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, predators and prey FIGHT TO SURVIVE on the streets of Harlem and in the prisons of New York. Up North, an Independent Original Series for TV, explores systems of incarceration, and systems of marginalization in modern day America. SEARCHING FOR ISABELLE / U.S.A. Director: Stephanie Jeter Cast: Charlee Marie Cotton, Stephanie Stockstill, Aida Delaz, Gage Wallace, Joshua J. Volkers While being held captive, Isabelle discovers a mysterious ability to project herself to the outside world. When she appears to her friends in a desperate appeal for help, they work together to try and find her – but time is running out. LALO’S HOUSE / Haiti, U.S.A. Director: Kelley Kali Cast:Garcelle Beauvais, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Jasmin Jean-Louis, Kyra Rose Inspired by true events, two young sisters must escape a child sex trafficking ring disguised as a Catholic orphanage after being taken from their home in Haiti. MOTHERS / U.S.A. Director:Aurora Ferlin Cast:Mickaëlle X. Bizet, Marta Cross, Mark Anthony Williams, Victor Rodriguez, Keena Ferguson When the teenage son of Denise Matthews is murdered, she struggles not to surrender to her grief. Despite her husbands’ concerns, Denise is determined to confront the accused killer in court. The morning of the arraignment she finds support in a chance encounter with an unlikely stranger. World Premiere

    EMERGING DIRECTORS – Section #2

    PAS HONTEUX / U.S.A. Director:John D. Tucker Cast:Travis LaBranch, Leon Lamar, Javicia Leslie, LaToya Edwards The story of a young African American slacker that wakes up one day speaking French. The film brings to light the fact that we not only judge people by their looks but also by the way they speak. So, what if a young urban African American suddenly speaks French? World Premiere FRENCH FRIES / U.S.A. Director:Janine Sherman Barrois Cast: Rebecca Naomi Jones, Carl McDowellMAYNARD A young, hip African-American foodie couple fights to resolvecommunication problems in a modern marriage of six years, four months and three and a half days. Sydney comes home to find that her husband, Jason, having an impromptuguys’ night. She winds up escaping to a hotel to work in silence, though that is not how the night unfolds. World Premiere TRAPEZE /U.S.A. Director:Mark Anthony Green Cast:Rance Nix, Otmara Marrero, Kitty Cash, Sinead Bovell, David Deblinger Oren got the email of his dreams-an invitation to a meeting his company’s CEO. That is if he can actually make it to the meeting. As he navigates through New York City’s decrepit public transportation, women who are out of his league, and a right-winged pedi-cab driver, he’s faced with an even bigger obstacle: political correctness. World Premiere JITTERS / U.S.A. Director: Otoja Abit Cast: Otoja Abit, Jason Patric, Walker Hare Minutes before nuptials, a neurotic young man locks himself away in the back room of a church with the best man he knows.

    EMERGING DIRECTORS – Section #3

    A CRAFTSMAN / U.S.A. Director:Sanford Jenkins Jr. Cast: Marvin Gay, Shirley Jordan, Leonard R. Garner Jr. Overcome with grief, as his late wife’s presence permeates the space they once share, a rural woodworker builds a coffin to be his final resting place. Until a neighbor visits. A FATHER’S LOVE / U.S.A. Director:RonReaco Lee Cast:Terayle Hill, Adriyan Rae, Tichina Arnold, E Roger Mitchell On the toughest day of his life, HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL stand-out Andrew is dealing with what teenagers go through and he has a difficult choice to make in regard to his girlfriend and her being pregnant. World Premiere BODEGA! / U.S.A. Directors: Donna Augustin-Quinn & Talibah L. Newman Cast:Aleksandr Krasnopolskiy, Anna Orlova, Eric Jennings, Hadiyah Robinson, Asha Winter, Eden Marryshow, Layla Silvestre, Sawandi Wilson, William Perry In a community facing rapid gentrification, Bodega takes an intimate, yet comedic and dramatic, look at what can happen when people are made to feel like strangers in a city they helped build. When a middle class family moves into Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, an elder in THE FAMILY says something inappropriate, causing the local African American community to take extreme measures in order to receive an apology. FEVAH / U.S.A. Director:Randall Dottin Cast:Russell Hornsby, LaRoyce Hawkins, and Melissa Jackson Indira holds onto her heartbreak like a lost treasure. It’s hers and no one is going to tell her what to do with it. Her one-and-only love disappeared 18 months ago leaving her alone to take care of their son. Finally back on her feet with a new place and a new man, she’s ready for the next chapter when her child’s father shows up-making her question the very nature of the treasure she’s been holding onto for so long. PROTOTYPE / U.S.A. Director:Christopher Ortega Cast:Adrian Snow, Milena Phillips, Preston Butler, III, Kali Raquel An Afrofuturist, sci-fi film about a mother and daughter living in isolation on a remote Science compound who work to quickly patent the most human-like artificial intelligence on Earth. As prototype after prototype fail, Sol, who conducts empathy tests on her mother’s android creations, is pressured by her mom, Annette, to deliver a passing test or continue to be confined to the limits of the property. World Premiere WHERE THE WATER RUNS / U.S.A. Director: DuBois Ashong Cast: Darryl Dunning II, Bria Wade, Kyra Locke, Joseph Callari Set during the worst drought in LA history a water transporter uncovers a plot to privatize South Central’s dwindling water supply.

    Read more

  • NashFilm Announces 2018 Feature Films Lineup for Narrative, Documentary, New Directors & Graveyard Shift Competitions

    [caption id="attachment_25450" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Adventures in Public School Public Schooled Adventures in Public School[/caption] The Nashville Film Festival continues its lineup for the ten-day festival, running May 10 to 19, 2018, with the announcement of 48 additional feature films in Narrative, Documentary, New Directors and Graveyard Shift competitions. Capturing the essence of today’s most relevant social issues, historical stories and more, these 48 films hail from China, South Africa, Netherlands, Denmark, India, France and more, as well as 31 from the U.S. A jury of industry professionals will select the winning films that will take home up to $20,000 in cash and prizes. “We received over 6,100 film submissions and the process of determining the 48 participants was incredibly challenging as the caliber of submissions continues to astonish us each year,” said Artistic Director, Brian Owens. “We strive to always include a diverse roster of feature films that inspire, move and create meaningful conversations.” Below are the 2018 selections in the categories:

    Narrative Competition

    1985 (Southeast US Premiere) – A closeted young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family. Cast: Jamie Chung, Virginia Masden, Michael Chiklis, Director: Yen Tan, Producers: Hutch, Ash Christian (USA) Across the Waters (Southeast US Premiere) – ACROSS THE WATERS is the gripping tale of the Danish Jews’ escape to Sweden in October 1943. Cast: David Dencik, Danica Curcic, Director: Nicolo Donato, Producer: Peter Bech (Denmark) An Act of Defiance (Tennessee Premiere) – A South African lawyer risks his life and career to defend Nelson Mandela and his inner circle. Cast: Peter Paul Muller, Antoinette Louw, Sello Motloung, Sean Venter, Director: Jean van de Velde, Producers: Michael Auret, Richard Claus, Hugh Rogers (South Africa, Netherlands) Adventures In Public School (Southeast US Premiere) – A socially awkward home-schooled kid forces his way into public-school against his suffocating but loving mother’s wishes. Cast: Judy Greer, Daniel Doheny, Russell Peters, Grace Park, Siobhan Williams, Director: Kyle Rideout, Producer: Josh Epstein (Canada) Angels Wear White (Tennessee Premiere) – ANGELS WEAR WHITE is a powerful film noir that exposes the social injustices and difficult issues women face in contemporary China. Cast: Wen Qi, Zhou Meijun, Shi Ke, Geng Le, Liu Weiwei, Peng Jing, Director: Vivian Qu, Producer: Sean Chen (China) Bikini Moon (Tennessee Premiere) – A charismatic homeless woman captures the attention of a documentary film crew who are ready to exploit her story for their own shot at independent movie fame in this very modern, urban fairy tale set amidst a fractured ideal of family. Cast: Condola Rashad, Sarah Goldberg, Will Janowitz, Sathya Sridharan, Director: Milcho Manchevski, Producers: Anja Wedell, Munire Armstrong (USA) Craving (US Premiere) – Coco has no idea what to do with her life until she discovers her mother is terminally ill. Cast: Simone Kleinsma, Elise van ‘t Laar, Director: Saskia Diesing. Producers: Hans de Wolf, Hanneke Niens (Netherlands) Dating My Mother (Southeast US Premiere) – A single mother and her gay son navigate the world of online dating in search of their versions of Mr. Right. Cast: Kathryn Erbe, Patrick Reily, Kathy Najimy, James Le Gros, Paul Iacono, Director: Mike Roma, Producer: Ashley Hills (USA) DriverX (Tennessee Premiere) – Skidding into middle age, a “50-something” stay-at-home dad who recently lost his record store must start driving for a rideshare company to help support his working wife and two young daughters. Cast: Patrick Fabian, Tanya Clarke, Desmin Borges, Travis Schuldt, Melissa Fumero, Oscar Nunez, Director: Henry Barrial, Producers: Mark Stolaroff, Alex Cutler (USA) Fifty Springtimes (Southeast US Premiere) – A woman in her 50s loses her job, finds out she is about to become a grandmother and is given an opportunity to start life over again. Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Director: Blandine Lenoir, Producers: Fabrice Goldstein, Antoine Rein (France) Goliath (Southeast US Premiere) – When a young soon-to-be father is unable to defend in his girldfriend in an attack, he takes steps that may threaten everything he loves. Cast: Sven Schelker, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Director: Dominik Locher. Producers: Rajko Jazbec, Dario Schoch (Switzerland) Prison Logic (Tennessee Premiere) – PRISON LOGIC is an original comedy that tracks the life of Tijuana Jackson, an ex-convict fresh out of prison, set on becoming a world renowned motivational speaker. Cast: Romany Malco Jr., Regina Hall, Tami Roman, Alkoya Brunson, Director: Romany Malco Jr., Producers: Romany Malco Jr., Josh Etting, Brian Etting (USA) Salvation (Southeast US Premiere) – Cris, a thirteen year old girl, is admitted to a hospital to undergo open heart surgery. There she meets Víctor, a boy her same age who says he’s a vampire and who proposes a different kind of salvation for her heart: immortality. Cast: Marina Botí, Laura Yuste, Alzira Gómez, Carmen Flores, Director: Denise Castro, Producer: Denise Castro (Spain) Shelter (Tennessee Premiere) – A subtle thriller set in Germany involving Mona, a Lebanese woman, and Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent, sent to protect their informant who is recovering from plastic surgery to conceal her identity. Together for two weeks in a quiet apartment in Hamburg, the two women take us into a complex, multi-dimensional labyrinth of trust and mistrust, of honesty and deception, of loyalty and betrayal. Cast: Neta Riskin, Golshifteh Farahani, Haluk Bilginer, Director: Eran Riklis, Producers: Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Michael Eckelt, Eran Riklis (USA) When She Runs (Tennessee Premiere) – A young mother of limited means puts everything on the line to pursue her dream of becoming a competitive runner. Cast: Kirstin Anderson, Ivan Gehring, Jonah Graham. Directors: Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, Producer: Laura Heberton (USA)

    Documentary Competition

    Chef Flynn (Tennessee Premiere) – With access to a trove of personal archival footage and including new, intimate vérité footage, director Cameron Yates creates a collage of Flynn’s singular focus and distinctive path through childhood. CHEF FLYNN shares a rare view of a young man’s successful rise from the inside. Director: Cameron Yates, Producers: Laura Coxson, Cameron Yates, Philipp Engelhorn (USA) Circles (US Premiere) – A Hurricane Katrina survivor who works to keep Black teenagers in school in Oakland, California finds his personal and professional lives colliding when his 15-year-old-son goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Cast: Eric Butler, Tre Thomas, Betsye Steele, Mercedes Morgan, Ted Quant, Director: Cassidy Friedman, Producer: Cassidy Friedman (USA) Crime + Punishment (Tennessee Premiere) – Meet the NYPD12: a group of minority whistleblower officers who risk everything to expose racially discriminatory policing practices and smash the blue wall of silence. Director: Stephen Maing. Producer: Stephen Maing, Ross Tuttle, Eric Daniel Metzgar (USA) Crossroads (Tennesee Premiere) – This documentary follows a team of at-risk African-American teenagers and their lacrosse coach on a most improbable and inspiring journey. Director: Ron Yassen, Producers: Lauren Griswold, John Hirsch (USA) Dark Money (Tennessee Premiere) – Kimberly Reed returns to her native state of Montana to expose the insidious reach of corporate interests into politics and to chronicle its grassroots opposition. Director: Kimberly Reed, Producers: Kimberly Reed, Katy Chevigny (USA) Every Act of Life (Southeast Premiere) – The life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally: 60 years of groundbreaking plays and musicals, the struggle for LGBT rights, addiction and recovery, finding true love, and the relentless pursuit of inspiration. Cast: Rita Moreno, Meryl Streep, Bryan Cranston, Christine Baranski, Director: Jeff Kaufman, Producers: Jeff Kaufman, Marcia Ross (USA) hillbilly (World Premiere) hillbilly is a documentary film that examines the iconic hillbilly stereotype in film and television. The film explores more than a hundred years of media representation of mountain and rural people, reveals how the hillbilly icon reflects America’s aspirational self-image over the decades, and offers an urgent exploration of how we see and think about poor, white, rural America. Cast: Billy Redden, Ronny Cox, bell hooks, Michael Apted, Silas House, Crystal Good, Frank X Walker. Directors: Sally Rubin, Ashley York. Producers: Sally Rubin, Ashley York. (USA). Minding the Gap (Tennessee Premiere) – Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust-Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship. Cast: Zack Mulligan, Keire Johnson, Bing Liu, Nina Bowgren, Director: Bing Liu, Producers: Bing Liu, Diane Quon (USA) A Murder in Mansfield (Tennessee Premiere) – In 1990, the testimony of a 12-year-old boy sealed his father’s fate. A jury convicted prominent Ohio doctor John Boyle of murdering Collier’s mother. 26 years later, the son returns determined to get an admission of guilt from his imprisoned father. Cast: Collier Landry, Director: Barbara Kopple, Producers: Barbara Kopple, David Cassidy, Ray Nowosielski (USA) On Her Shoulders (Tennessee Premiere) – Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people. Away from the podium, she must navigate bureaucracy, fame and people’s good intentions. Cast: Nadia Murad, Directors: Alexandria Bombach, Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams (USA) Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland (Southeast US Premiere) – In 2015, Sandra Bland, a young black woman, was found hanging in a small-town Texas jail cell days after a traffic violation. Ruled a suicide, her death fueled worldwide allegations of a racially motivated police murder. The filmmakers embedded with Sandra’s family during their two-year battle to uncover the truth. Cast: Sandra Bland, Directors: Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, Producers: Nancy Knox Talcott, David Heilbroner (USA) The World Before Your Feet (Tennessee Premiere) – For over six years, and for reasons he can’t explain, Matt Green has been walking every block of every street in New York City – a journey of more than 8,000 miles. Cast: Matt Green, Director: Jeremy Workman, Producers: Jeremy Workman, Jesse Eisenberg (USA) Zero Weeks (Southeast US Premiere) – Weaving powerful stories together with insightful interviews from leading policy makers, economists, researchers and activists, ZERO WEEKS lays out a compelling argument for guaranteed paid leave for every American worker. Director: Ky Dickens, Producers: Ky Dickens, Alexis Jaworski (USA) Weed the People (Southeast US Premiere) – Cannabis has been off-limits to doctors and researchers in the US for the past 80 years, but recently scientists have discovered its anti-cancer properties. Armed with only these laboratory studies, desperate parents obtain cannabis oil from underground sources to save their children from childhood cancers. Director: Abby Epstein, Producers: Giancarlo Canavesio, Sol Tryon (USA)

    New Directors Competition

    3/4 (Southeast US Premiere) – Mila is a gifted pianist with a bright future, yet her father pays more attention to the rings of Saturn than to her goals, and her brother tries to distract her with his unwanted talent for the absurd. A portrait of a family, struggling to find meaning during their last summer together. Cast: Mila Mihova, Nikolay Mashalo. Director: Ilian Metev, Producers: Ilian Metev, Ingmar Trost (Bulgaria) After Louie (Tennessee Premiere) – AFTER LOUIE explores the contradictions of modern gay life and history through Sam, a man desperate to understand how he and his community got to where they are today. Cast: Alan Cumming, Zachary Booth, Sarita Choudhury. Director: Vincent Gagliostro. Producers: Lauren Belfer, Alan Cumming, Bryce Renninger (USA) Best of All Worlds (Tennessee Premiere) – The true story of a child and his life in the unusual world of his heroin addict mother and their love for one another. Cast: Verena Altenberger, Jeremy Miliker, Lukas Miko, Michael Pink, Reinhold G. Moritz, Philipp Stix. Director: Adrian Goiginger, Producers: Wolfgang Ritzberger, Nils Dünker (Austria) The Marriage (Southeast US Premiere) – Bekim and Anita are getting married, but she is unaware that he is still in love with his best friend Nol. Cast: Alban Ukah, Adriana Matoshi, Genc Salihu. Director: Blerta Zeqiri, Producer: Kreshnik Keka Berisha (Kosovo) Mountain Rest (World Premiere) – After sequestering herself to a small mountain town, an aging actress calls her estranged daughter and granddaughter home for reconciliation and one final celebration. Cast: Natalia Dyer, Frances Conroy, Kate Lynn Sheil, Shawn Hatosy, Joshua Brady, Karson Kern, Director: Alex O Eaton, Producers: Fernando Loureiro, Roberto Vasconcellos, Renata Nascimento (USA) Never Steady, Never Still (Tennessee Premiere) – A mother struggles to take control of her life in the face of advanced Parkinson’s disease, while her son battles his sexual and emotional identity amongst the violence of Alberta’s oil field work camps. Cast: Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Mary Galloway, Nicholas Campbell, Jared Abrahamson, Hugo Ateo, Lorne Cardinal, Director: Kathleen Hepburn. Producers: James Brown, Tyler Hagan (Canada) Noblemen (Tennessee Premiere) – A 15-year-old boy, struggling with his adolescent years, is terrorized by a gang of bullies in a posh boarding school. This sets forth a chain of events that leads to a loss of life and innocence. Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Ali Haji, Director: Vandana Kataria, Producers: Siddharth Anand Kumar, Vikram Mehra (India) Still (Tennessee Premiere) – When Lily loses her way on a hike through the Appalachian wilderness, she finds rescue in the form of a peculiar married couple who have completely isolated themselves from the outside world. Cast: Lydia Wilson, Madeline Brewer, Nick Blood, Mark Ashworth, Kevin Wayne, Diesel Madkins, Director: Takashi Doscher, Producers: Alex P. Creasia, Takashi Doscher, Craig Miller, Gabrielle Pickle (USA) The Swan (Southeast US Premiere) – A wayward nine-year-old girl is sent to the countryside to work and mature, but finds herself instead deeply entangled in a drama she can hardly grasp. Cast: Thor Kristjansson, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Þuríður Blær Jóhannsdóttir, Gríma Valsdóttir, Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir, Director: Ása Helga Hjörleifsdótirr, Producers: Birgitta Bjornsdottir, Hlín Jóhannesdóttir (Iceland)

    Graveyard Shift Competition

    Door In the Woods (Tennessee Premiere) – A struggling family installs a vintage door only to find it’s a portal to supernatural danger, leading to a heart wrenching choice. Cast: Jennifer Pierce Mathus, David Snell, C.J. Jones, John-Michael Fisher, Director: Billy Chase Gofort, Producers: Kerri Elder, Blake Elder, Billy Chace Goforth (USA) Found Footage 3D (Tennessee Premiere) – A group of filmmakers set out to make the first 3D found footage horror movie, but find themselves in a found footage horror movie when the evil entity from their film escapes into their behind-the-scenes footage. Cast: Carter Roy, Alena von Stroheim, Chris O’Brien, Director: Steven DeGennaro, Producers: Steven DeGennaro, Kim Henkel, Charles Mulford (USA) Get My Gun (Tennessee Premiere) – After an innocent prank leaves Amanda pregnant and out of a job, she finds herself on the verge of motherhood and the target of a psychotic stalker who will stop at nothing to get her hands on her unborn child. Cast: Kate Hoffman, Christy Casey, Rosanne Rubino, William Jousset, Director: Brian Darwas, Producer: Jennifer Carchietta (USA) Katrina’s Dream (US Premiere) – Katrina wishes to have children but her boyfriend Louis doesn’t. She falls in love with his best friend Ron, who becomes the man of her life. When the two men are involved in a car accident in which Ron loses his head and Louis his body, a drastic surgery helps them survive, but merged into one person. Cast: Dagna Vinet Litzenberger, Manfred Liechti, Adrian Furrer, Simon Esteban, Directors: Mirko Bischofberger, Dario Bischofberger. Producers: Mirko Bischofberger, Dario Bischofberger (Switzerland) The Laplace’s Demon (Nashville Premiere) – Eight people are imprisoned in a secluded mansion on an uninhabited island. After waiting in vain for the host, they find a model with eight self-propelled pawns that reproduces the movements of each group member in real time. Cast: Alessandro Zonfrilli, Carlotta Mazzoncini, Silvano Bertolin, Duccio Giulivi, Walter Smorti, Director: Giordano Giulivi, Producers: Silvano Bertolin, Ferdinando D’Urbano, Duccio Giulivi, Giordano Giulivi (Italy) Mickey Reece’s Alien (Southeast US Premiere) – Elvis Presley struggles with an existential meltdown before his TV comeback special. Spirituality, space, and divine art clash in his marriage to Priscilla and his obligations to those surrounding The King. Cast: Jacob Snovel, Cate Jones, Director: Mickey Reece, Producers: Jacob Snovel, Cate Jones, Mickey Reece. (USA) The Odds (Southeast US Premiere) – A young woman enlists in an underground game of pain endurance in the hope of winning the million dollar prize. She soon learns the real opponent is the man who’s running the game, as he employs horrific methods to manipulate and defeat her. Cast: Abbi Butler, James Fuertes, Sean Ramey, Les Parker, Katie Gunn, Director: Bob Giordano, Producers: Tom Steinmann, Kelly Frey, Alan McKenna (USA) PROTOTYPE (Southeast US Premiere) – As the deadliest natural disaster in US history strikes Galveston, Texas, taking an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 lives, a mysterious televisual device projects images of unknown origin. Director: Blake Williams, Producer: Marco Gualtieri (Canada) Zerzura (Southeast US Premiere) – ZERZURA is a feature-length ethnofiction shot in the Sahara desert. Mixing folktales and documentary, the film follows a young man from Niger who leaves home in search of an enchanted oasis. Cast: Ibrahim Affi, Zara Alhassane, Ahmoudou Madassane, Director: Christopher Kirkley, Producer: Christopher Kirkley, Rhissa Koutata, Ahmoudou Madassane, Guichene Mohamed (Niger|USA)

    Read more

  • Mina Shum’s MEDITATION PARK Starring Sandra Oh to Open Vancouver International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_23847" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Meditation Park Meditation Park[/caption] Mina Shum’s Meditation Park will be showcased as the Opening Night Gala Film of the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival. On the heels of her critically acclaimed 2015 documentary, Ninth Floor, Shum makes a triumphant return to narrative filmmaking with this bittersweet comedy about a devoted Chinese-Canadian wife and mother (Cheng Pei Pei) who is shaken out of her isolation and stupor by suspicions that her husband (Tzi Ma) has been untrue. Shum makes fantastic use of East Vancouver and Chinatown locations and draws fantastic performances from an all-star cast that also includes Sandra Oh and Don McKellar. VIFF will present Movie Nights Across Canada as part of its opening night festivities on September 28, 2017. The festival also revealed 18 additional Canadian feature films in the True North stream and Future//Present film series, which celebrate the extraordinary creativity and craft being demonstrated by Canadian storytellers from coast to coast. Opening Gala Meditation Park DIR. MINA SHUM Maria (Cheng Pei Pei) has spent decades of devoted marriage dutifully excusing the prejudices and vices of her husband (Tzi Ma). But when she discovers another woman’s thong in his pocket, she embarks on some unintentionally comic sleuthing which soon introduces her to new East Vancouver communities and ultimately sets her on the course to self-discovery. Mina Shum makes an inspired return to narrative feature filmmaking with this richly detailed, emotionally rewarding and unmistakably Vancouver story.

    True North Stream

    Indian Horse DIR. STEPHEN CAMPANELLI In this moving adaptation of Richard Wagamese’s novel, Stephen Campanelli condemns Canada’s most deplorable transgression while celebrating our national game’s transcendent power. Languishing in a residential school, Saul Indian Horse finds salvation on a sheet of ice. But while a preternatural hockey sense lets him slip bodychecks with a dancer’s grace, he can’t evade the ramifications of past abuses. Saul’s strength in this struggle is a testament to the Indigenous peoples’ indomitable spirit. Infiltration DIR. ROBERT MORIN This dark thriller brings us into the carefully constructed world of narcissistic plastic surgeon Dr. Louis Richard (Christian Bégin) as it comes crashing down around him. Director Robert Morin delivers a voyeuristic and claustrophobic experience. His camera parallels the control-freak doctor’s state of mind as his sense of authority over his wife, his son and his career slips away. A beautifully shot and lit travelogue of a journey into isolation and madness. Like a Pebble in the Boot DIR. HÉLÈNE CHOQUETTE Against the picturesque backdrop of Brunelleschi’s Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Senegalese migrants peddle Chinese trinkets and selfie sticks to tourists – but only if they’re lucky. People are often racist, street vending is illegal and many of the vendors are undocumented. It’s frustrating, and they’re barely scraping by, but their families in Africa depend on them. Filmmaker Hélène Choquette turns her empathetic eye on these harassed peddlers, resilient victims of global inequality. Rebels on Pointe DIR. BOBBI JO HART For over 40 years, the all-male drag troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has been delighting audiences around the world. In size 11 toe shoes, the Trocs send up the high art and formality of classical ballet. Director Bobbi Jo Hart shares the rich archival history of this New York collective, born in the wake of the Stonewall Riots, and their progress from preposterous to phenomenal. Best of all, we get to know the international ballerinos while enjoying their satiric wit and outré virtuosity. A Skin So Soft DIR. DENIS CÔTÉ Iconoclastic director Denis Côté is at his playful best with this equally awe-inspiring and amusing profile of bronzed, inked and bulging-at-the-sinews bodybuilders. While there’s abundant absurd comedy courtesy of the surreal sight of these man-mountains negotiating suburban homes or labouring to meet their caloric needs, Côté’s inquisitive camera reverentially appraises the astonishing frames that their devotion has wrought, while also revealing glimpses of vulnerability lurking in these Goliaths’ eyes. Suck It Up DIR. JORDAN CANNING Determining that Ronnie (Grace Glowicki), her hot mess of a besty, is in desperate need of a change of scenery, obsessive-compulsive Faye (Erin Carter) whisks her away to placid Invermere. However, the best laid recovery program derails into debauchery as the two fall prey to ill-advised hookups and bowling under the influence. And that’s before the MDMA kicks in. Jordan Canning’s wickedly funny, BC-set buddy comedy shirks sentimentality in favour of a barbed sincerity that leaves a lasting mark. Tattoos DIR. PASCAL PLANTE Crossing post-gig paths with Mag (Rose-Marie Perreault), Théo (Anthony Therrien) is all scowling swagger until she calls him on the fake tattoo he’s brandishing. As he sheepishly drops his defences, Pascal Plante’s “punk rock romance” likewise abandons brashness in favour of character-centric drama reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy. Demonstrating a remarkable gift for eliciting naturalistic performances, Plante traces the formative experiences that will shape Mag and Théo’s adult lives. Unarmed Verses DIR. CHARLES OFFICER At the cusp of adolescence and facing forced relocation, Francine has a lot on her mind. And while this Toronto ‘tween possesses a way with written words, she has yet to develop the necessary confidence to express herself in full voice. Charles Officer’s luminous, poignant documentary charts this marginalized yet magnetic young woman’s determination to make herself and her community heard. “Like [Jim Jarmusch’s] Paterson, Unarmed Verses is both about poetry and a work of poetry in itself.” – RogerEbert.com Worst Case, We Get Married DIR. LÉA POOL Léa Pool’s 13th film is not for the faint of heart. Working from a novel by Sophie Bienvenu, Pool tells the disturbing, poignant story of 14-year-old Aïcha (a luminous Sophie Nélisse), who spends most of the time roaming around her Montréal neighbourhood. She lives with her distracted mother Isabelle (Karine Vanasse) and the memory of her turfed stepfather. When she encounters Baz (Jean-Simon Leduc), a sympathetic twenty-something musician, she falls hard for him, and teenage fantasy rules. You’re Soaking in It DIR. SCOTT HARPER Advertising is no longer the arcane territory of a few well-lubricated characters. The creative leaps of Mad Men have been replaced by precise, targeted surveillance rooted in complicated computer modelling. The data collected is often very personal information, and it is used to design advertising that influences you at the precise moment you are most ready to spend. Scott Harper documents this chilling shift and introduces us to corporate execs who proudly let us know how much they know about us.

    Future//Present Series

    Black Cop DIR. CORY BOWLES With tension growing and Black Lives Matter putting the heat on law enforcement, a black police officer is torn between his affinity for the badge and the colour of his skin. He decides to take matters into his own hands and changes the priority of his targets from black to white, embarking on a spree of vengeance. With its provocative use of dash-cam and chest-cam footage, Cory Bowles’ film is as stylistically bold as it is politically charged, standing pointedly between the satirical and the dead serious. Fail to Appear DIR. ANTOINE BOURGES Isolde is a caseworker adjusting to the challenges of her new job when she is assigned to a man charged with theft and facing an upcoming court hearing. She does her best to help, but when the two meet she struggles to connect. Antoine Bourges’ film is many things at once: a portrait of those who fall through the cracks and the few who try to help them, a studious analysis of the systems in place and how they operate, and a poignant reflection on the difficulty of human connection across social strata. Forest Movie DIR. MATTHEW TAYLOR BLAIS A young woman dreams of the forest. Upon waking she texts a friend, cancelling their plans. She packs up, compelled to head into the woods. The deeper she moves into the forest, the more it begins to take on a life of its own. What waits for her there? Hypnotic, deceptively simple, and graced with strikingly sensual cinematography, Matthew Taylor Blais’ Forest Movie is a liberating experience that plays like a call to embrace nature, slow down, pay attention and get in touch with your thoughts. In the Waves DIR. JACQUELYN MILLS In Jacquelyn Mills’ impressionistic documentary, her grandmother Joan Alma Mills is struggling to come to terms with the death of her younger sister and searching for answers in the natural beauty that surrounds her coastal village home. With a delicate attention to detail, spoken musings on mortality and meaning are intricately interwoven with elegiac imagery. This is a soulful rumination on the passage of time–its ebbs, flows and eternal mysteries. Maison du bonheur DIR. SOFIA BOHDANOWICZ 2016’s Emerging Canadian Director award-winner Sofia Bohdanowicz (Never Eat Alone) returns with the colourful documentary Maison du bonheur. When asked to make a film about her friend’s mother, a widowed Parisian astrologer named Juliane, the director sets off for Montmartre and produces a lovingly made portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the lovely pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years. Shooting gorgeously on 16mm, Bohdanowicz again transforms quotidian details into beauty. Mass for Shut-Ins DIR. WINSTON DEGIOBBI Amidst poverty in New Waterford, Cape Breton, 25-year old Kay Jay is sleeping on his grandfather’s couch. Without much of anything, the two sit around eating 5-cent candies, drinking pop and watching movies. This film looks squarely at a type of comatose living in which the aging residents are dwindling away and the futures of the young are dim at best. Director Winston DeGiobbi bends the mundane slightly towards the surreal, distilling the directionless daily existence of his characters into poetry. PROTOTYPE DIR. BLAKE WILLIAMS From experimental filmmaker Blake Williams comes this ambitious 3D sci-fi film, which reimagines the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and its aftermath with the presence of a mysterious, futuristic televisual device. Then the cultural centre of Texas, Galveston was devastated by the storm. PROTOTYPE moves from stereoscopic pictures of the city to an awesome visceral conjuring of the storm and then into further sense-engaging abstraction, interrogating notions of origin and historical memory. Still Night, Still Light DIR. SOPHIE GOYETTE An existential meditation on longing, loss and memory, Sophie Goyette’s lyrical drama seamlessly moves between three characters and three distinct locations. Haunted by the death of her parents, Eliane leaves her Montreal home to teach piano in Mexico City. Her student’s father Romes is coping with midlife disappointment. Lastly, Pablo’s father harbours memories of a lost love. Each character is processing their past and unsure about how to move into the future.

    Read more

  • 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Wavelengths Program of 40 Avant-Garde Films

    [caption id="attachment_23758" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Mrs. Fang Mrs. Fang[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival’s 17th edition of Wavelengths — its uncompromising, carefully curated, avant-garde showcase — will feature 40 films, which unite internationally celebrated and emerging artists with some of today’s most important, influential and risk-taking filmmakers. Wavelengths is comprised of four programs of experimental short films and videos, three resonant pairings, and nine stand-alone features — each displaying its own radical approach to the art of cinema. Some of the highlights include Véréna Paravel and Lucien CastaingTaylor’s gripping and unsettling work of sensory ethnography, Caniba, about the notorious Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa and his remarkable relationship with his brother; Narimane Mari’s category-defying follow-up to her debut feature, Bloody Beans, Le Fort des fous, a scathing, subversive and shape-shifting indictment of European colonialism, past and present; Ben Russell’s exquisite, intercontinental mining documentary Good Luck, shot in Super 16mm in Serbia and Suriname; and Pedro Pinho’s FIPRESCI winning, left-leaning The Nothing Factory, which premiered at this year’s Quinzaine des réalisateurs. Wavelengths will also present the innovative 3D feature PROTOTYPE by Toronto-based Wavelengths alumnus Blake Williams; Occidental, the neo(n)-noir second feature by acclaimed contemporary artist-filmmaker Neïl Beloufa; and Dragonfly Eyes (蜻蜓之眼), the CCTV-sourced feature debut by leading Chinese artist Xu Bing. Other highlights include the World Premiere of Anna Marziano’s deeply moving and mysterious essay-film Beyond the One (Al di là dell’uno), as well as new films by master filmmakers Bruno Dumont and Denis Côté. The programme also features Wang Bing’s powerful, sobering and intimate Mrs. Fang, about a woman with Alzheimer’s dying days in a southern village in China, and Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias’ astonishing Cocote, which follows an evangelical gardener’s eye-opening homecoming as he attends his father’s funeral and grapples with religious belief and ritual. Both were recent winners at the 70th Locarno International Film Festival, where they received the Golden Leopard for Best Film and the Signs of Life Award, respectively. Short-film highlights include terrific new films and videos by Michael Robinson, Rosa Barba, Fern Silva, Wojciech Bąkowski, Jodie Mack, Laura Huertas Millán, Baloise Art Prize–winner Sara Cwynar, local performance artist Francesco Gagliardi, Dan Browne, Yoni Brook and Pacho Velez, Luis López Carrasco, Helga Fanderl, Friedl vom Gröller, Dane Komljen, André Lehmann, Kazik Radwanski and more. As always, Wavelengths will include historical work; this year’s archival selections are Florence (1970), by the late Finnish computer-art maverick and electronic musician Erkki Kurenniemi, and disarming diarist Anne Charlotte Robertson’s Pixillation (1976), which was recently restored by the Harvard Film Archive. A number of filmmakers included in this year’s Whitney Biennial will also present films at Wavelengths, including Dani Leventhal and Sheilah Wilson, Kevin Jerome Everson and Sky Hopinka.

    SHORT FILM PROGRAMS

    Wavelengths 1: Appetite for Destruction

    As pessimistic prognoses flood in during our age of decline, dictatorships and devastation, this sweeping appetite for destruction also fuels rebellious — even mischievous — forms of resistance and necessary counter-investigation. Onward Lossless Follows  Michael Robinson, USA some cities Francesco Gagliardi, Canada The Watchmen Fern Silva, USA Wasteland No.1 – Ardent, Verdant Jodie Mack, USA Phantasiesätze (Fantasy Sentences) Dane Komljen, Germany/Denmark Dislocation Blues Sky Hopinka, Ho-Chunk Nation/USA

    Wavelengths 2: Fluid Frontiers

    A newly restored and astonishing short by film diarist Anne Charlotte Robertson launches this programme of portraits and homages, with links to notions of home and heritage. Pixillation Anne Charlotte Robertson, USA (Restoration courtesy of Harvard Film Archive) Ticino Friedl vom Gröller, Austria/Italy Brown And Clear Kevin Jerome Everson, USA Turtles Are Always Home (Sokun Al Sulhufat) Rawane Nassif, Canada/Lebanon/Qatar Configuration in Black and White Helga Fanderl, Germany Fire Lucy Parker, United Kingdom From Source to Poem Rosa Barba, Germany Fluid Frontiers Ephraim Asili, USA/Canada

    Wavelengths 3: Figures in the Landscape

    There is much to manoeuvre in the world. When quotidian objects seemingly conspire against and constrict our movement, inevitably slowing us down in an over-accelerated world, attendant shifts in meaning and interventions can propose unforeseen detours. Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt Pacho Velez, Yoni Brook, USA Yeti Wojciech Bąkowski, Poland (100ft) Minjung Kim, South Korea/USA Heart of a Mountain Parastoo Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko, Faraz Anoushahpour, Taiwan/Canada Rose Gold Sara Cwynar, USA Division Movement to Vungtau Benjamin Crotty, Bertrand Dezoteux, France Flores Jorge Jácome, Portugal

    Wavelengths 4: As Above, So Below

    Four exceedingly different films, each with its own documentary impulse, suggest rich interplay between metaphoric and physical horizon lines and amid shifting scales: of thread, of light and shadow, of environmental elements, of existential contemplation and of memory. La Libertad Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia/France/USA Palmerston Blvd. Dan Browne, Canada below-above André Lehmann, Switzerland Aliens Luis López Carrasco, Spain

    PAIRINGS

    Beyond the One (Al di là dell’uno) Anna Marziano, France/Italy/Germany World Premiere Preceded by Strangely Ordinary this Devotion Dani Leventhal, Sheilah Wilson, USA International Premiere PROTOTYPE Blake Williams, Canada North American Premiere Preceded by Florence (Firenze) Erkki Kurenniemi, Finland North American Premiere Ta peau si lisse (A Skin so Soft) Denis Côté, Canada/Switzerland North American Premiere Preceded by Scaffold Kazik Radwanski, Canada North American Premiere

    FEATURES

    Caniba Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, France North American Premiere Cocote Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic North American Premiere Dragonfly Eyes (蜻蜓之眼) Xu Bing, China/USA North American Premiere Good Luck Ben Russell, France/Germany North American Premiere Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc Bruno Dumont, France North American Premiere Le fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Switzerland/Germany/Greece/Qatar North American Premiere Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany North American Premiere Occidental Neïl Beloufa, France North American Premiere The Nothing Factory (A Fábrica De Nada) Pedro Pinho, Portugal North American Premiere Previously announced Wavelengths titles at the Festival include Blake Williams’s PROTOTYPE and Denis Côté’s Ta peau si lisse (A Skin so Soft).

    Read more

  • Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Canadian Feature Slate of 26 Films

    [caption id="attachment_23575" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Don’t Talk to Irene 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 Premiere

    MASTERS

    Our People Will Be Healed Alanis Obomsawin, Canada World Premiere

    TIFF 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 Premiere

    DISCOVERY

    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 Premiere

    CONTEMPORARY 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 Premiere

    PRIMETIME

    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).

    Read more