Festivals
A while ago we told you about the Monsters and Martians Science Fiction Film Festival, Toronto’s first festival dedicated to science fiction and features new Canadian works that doesn’t require more zombies. Projection Booth East will run the festival through December 6 to 9, 2012. Opening the floodgates will be the Toronto premiere of Martin Villeneuve’s Mars et Avril, which features Jacques Languirand as an aging musician who plays instruments inspired by women’s bodies and falls in love with the muse of his latest instrument all set during the first manned expedition to Mars, ’cause it’s also the year 3000...
This weekend Projection Booth East is all tied up in sexy-sex-sex with Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival. Starting on Friday November 16, 2012, curator Darryl Gold will screen entries from its 69 Hour Challenge – in which participants were given 69 hours to make a short comedic piece about politics, and by politics I mean SEX. Despite the festival name, no there will not be hardcore pornography at the Projection Booth this weekend, these pieces are meant to mock and celebrate the things that turn us on. The very next day will see the Main Event Screening at...
The 8th annual European Union Film Festival returns to Toronto on November 14, 2012 and runs until November 27, 2012. All films will screen at The Royal and admission is free to each film, with tickets distributed on a first-come-first-served basis starting one hour prior to screening time. The European Union Film Festival (EUFF) is organized by all of the European Union consulates and cultural institutes in Toronto to highlight the innovation, diversity, and excellence in European film-making. The festival includes Canadian premieres of European films as well as favorite, classic award winners from European cinema. The EU represented countries...
Workman Arts is a quarter century old this year and it’s partnering with TIFF Bell Lightbox to bring you the Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival. For the past twenty years RWNFF has sought to both celebrate the accurate portrayal of mental illness in film as well as to point out the problems caused when societal understanding of mental illness is learned through film primarily. Featuring panel discussions by filmmakers, performers, and those who face the mental barriers displayed on screen, this year provides a great chance for enlightenment. This year’s programme includes the Toronto premiere of Paule Baillargeon’s In Pieces...
The 10th annual Regent Park Film Festival launches today, Wednesday November 7, 2012. Films will be screened at Daniel’s Spectrum in Regent Park and, best of all, all screenings and event are completely free. The Regent Park Film Festival has become a vital part of the Regent Park Community in the past ten years, and this year’s festival celebrates that fact with an extravaganza of programming. Not only will the festival feature over 50 films from both established and up-and-coming directors, but will also screen 5 feature films made by Regent Park filmmakers or are about the Regent Park...
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Breast Fest, a Rethink Breast Cancer event of film and arts to promote breast cancer awareness. In addition to screenings of documentaries and dramas that spark discussion about breast cancer, 2012′s festival – entitled “50 Shades of Pink” – will also include a comedy night and comprehensive speaker series. The fifth anniversary also brings some big names to Breast Fest: Scott Thompson, Elvira Kurt, Bruce Lourie and Sandra Shamas. Tackling the “difficult and emotional issues around breast cancer,” films on offer this year, from Canada, the US and around the world, include Pink...
I have a festival for all of you politically minded and socially conscious people out there. If you’re always the one sticking up for the little guy, you may want to head to the suburbs to the Rebels With a Cause film festival at the York University campus. The festival will be held from Monday, October 22 to Thursday, October 25, 2012. There are seven films being featured over the four days of the festival. Films deal with subject matter like the environment, gender issues, imprisonment, queer identity, and Israel. With a focus on community building, this festival is less...
The best new works of Polish filmmakers will be showcased at the Ekran Polish Film Festival from Thursday October 25 till Sunday October 28, 2012. One of this year’s entries comes from Toronto’s own Tom Sokalski, whose debut film Tourist will be screened at the Revue Cinema on Sunday October 28, 2012 at 12:00pm. Friday, October 27 will feature a 7:00 pm screening of Jan Komasa’s visually eclectic The Suicide Room, which features a mix of live action and video game-inspired animation and has won critical acclaim overseas at the 36th Gdynia Film Festival (taking home two “Silver Lion” awards.)...
This Saturday, October 13 at noon, as part of the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, there will be a free NFB animation workshop for kids. Children aged 5 to 12 will be able to create their own claymation movie, learning all about animation techniques and the environment at the same time. Space is limited, so make sure you pre-register – email info@planetinfocus.org or call 416-531-1769. And you and the kids can make a whole day of it if you drop by ahead of the workshop; there’s a special free animated film programme at 10:00 am. It includes animated shorts...
This Thursday, October 11, 2012, the Regent Park Film Festival announces it’s 2012 Festival Lineup. With films not only from Regent Park but around the world, the launch also boasts interviews with filmmakers in the 2012 festival. This year being the 10th anniversary, festival programmers are boasting one of the most diverse lineups in the festival’s history. In addition to the line-up announcement, the evening draws to a close with a fundraiser screening of documentary We Are Wisonsin! from director Amie Williams, who will be in attendance. The Regent Park Film Festival is the only free community film festival in...
The Reel Asian International Film Festival returns to Toronto for it’s 16th year on November 6, 2012. Reel Asian is Canada’s largest festival devoted to East and Southeast Asian film and video. This year the festival is adding multiple venues, media art installations, expanded youth programmes, and additional South Asian programming. Screenings will be held in Toronto from November 6 through November 11, 2012, and relocate to Richmond Hill from November 16 through November 17, 2012. Here’s a sneak peek at Reel Asian feature lineup for 2012. Valley of Saints Directed by Musa Syeed, this Sundace winner will get it’s...
The Estonian Documentary Film Festival, also known as EstDocs, returns to Toronto for the eighth consecutive from October 11 to October 16, 2012. This year the festival celebrates not only it’s eighth year, but the centennial anniversary of the Estonian cinema. The Toronto festival follows up a spring time celebration in Europe, and EstDocs invites all Toronto film fans to celebrate Estonian cinema at this year’s festival. “The films chosen for EstDocs are sure to provide you with a window into the heart and soul of our small country. Without the might of larger nations, Estonian self-reliance, tenacity and...
