Festivals
Deepa Mehta’s much anticipated adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children will screen at TIFF 2012 as part of the Gala Presentations programme. This allegorical fantasy about children born with magical abilities on the cusp of India’s independence from Colonial Britain is not to be missed. Synopsis Midnight’s Children follows the destinies of a pair of children born at the very moment that India claimed its independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947. ”” a coinci-dence of profound consequence for both. Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha), the son of a poor single mother, and Shiva (Siddharth), child of a wealthy family...
I know that TIFF is about to descend upon us, but let’s take a moment to find out what else in cinema is going on in the city. One of my favourites, the annual horror, cult, action and sci-fi festival, Toronto After Dark, has just announced the first ten films in its 2012 line up – and that calls for plenty of celebration, as far as I’m concerned. The line up (so far) includes the Canadian premiere of Spanish zombie film REC 3: Genesis; the Sundance hit, Excision; the Irish film, Grabbers, which has taken its lead from the most...
Picture Day is the first feature for director Kate Melville, and premieres in TIFF’s Discovery programme. Synopsis Rebellious Claire (Tatiana Maslany) is forced to repeat her final year of high school. Caught between adolescence and adulthood, she must juggle her own troubles and the attentions of two very different male admirers. Why should you see it? The TIFF programme book note calls it “one of the most charming and vibrant debut features in recent memory”. If that’s not reason enough, then let the awesome trailer below speak for itself. Screening times Picture Day screens on Friday September 7, 2012 at...
Revolution screens as part of the TIFF Documentary programme. It is the second feature-length documentary from award-winning Toronto native Rob Stewart. His first, Sharkwater made huge waves in 2006. Synopsis In his follow-up documentary, Revolution, Rob Stewart dives back under water and widens his lens to examine the factors endangering marine life on the planet. This documentary takes on politics, from governments to environmental groups and expresses the frustrations and inadequacies therein. With his excellent cinematography, audiences also capture the love Rob Stewart has for marine life, and the hope and wonder that comes through is breathtaking. Why should you...
The documentary programming at the Toronto International Film Festival is thick this year, and included is a sure-to-be divisive biographical doc about Canadian entertainment/cinema mogul Garth Drabinsky. A divisive biographical documentary can only mean one thing: an even more divisive subject. Synopsis You can basically thank Drabinsky for what we know as the modern multiplex in cinematic spectatorship. Founder of Cineplex (along with Nat Taylor), Drabinsky wanted to bring the most spectacular (and, according to some, the most depraved) aspects of the film industry from Hollywood to Canada: the sparkle and pizzazz of big money, big names, and big productions....
Stories We Tell, the new film from Canadian director, writer and actress Sarah Polley will screen at TIFF 2012, as part of their Special Presentations programme. Synopsis Stories We Tell is a documentary about (seemingly) the most simple of subjects: family memories. How much does each of us really remember? How does the telling and re-telling of those memories alter them over time? Does the “story” take over the actual memory? Do we remember the event, or simply the narrative of it? Polley tries to untangle it all using interviews, archival footage and photographs to show the multiple (and varying)...
Lunarcy!, the debut documentary feature by filmmaker Simon Ennis, screens as part of the TIFF Docs programme. Synopsis A zany group of characters who are obsessed with the moon are profiled in this sharp-witted doc. The dream of lunar exploration and colonization is alive and well among this motley crew, anchored by the eccentric Christopher Carson, who is determined to be the first person to live on the moon. Why should you see it? Simon Ennis made his feature film debut in 2009 with the comedy You Might As Well Live. His documentary debut promises to be just as hilarious....
Liverpool screens at TIFF 2012 as part of its Special Presentations program. Taking its name from the nightclub employing the heroine of the tale, the third film from award winning Quebecois director Manon Briand blends comedy, romance, and thrills with an air of nonchalance to its genre bending style. Synopsis Liverpool follows Émilie (Stéphanie Lapointe), a sweet-hearted nightclub staffer who amazingly finds herself in the middle of Montreal’s criminal underbelly in between working the club’s coat check and pining for the insouciant and stylish Thomas (Charles-Alexandre Dubé). When a young patron overdoses, Émilie takes it upon herself to return the...
The Secret Disco Revolution is playing at TIFF this year as part of their documentary programming. Synopsis It doesn’t matter how young or old you are – it’s highly unlikely that you haven’t heard of disco. Though relatively short-lived, it was a huge musical and style phenomenon of the 1970s that continues to have influence and cultural currency today. In director Jamie Kastner’s hands, disco – the music, the dance floors, the fashions – is the subject of a thorough investigation, revealing that the genre had core of social protest, a liberation movement for women, African-Americans and gay men. Kastner...
Rebelle looks to be one of the most daring stories of TIFF 2012, coming from one of our own directors, Montreal’s Kim Nguyen. Synopsis Rebelle takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the film’s protagonist is abducted into a rebel army after the invasion of her small village. Komona (Rachel Mwanza) is then forced to kill her parents before being inducted into the brutal life of a child soldier. During her vicious training she is visited by an apparition of her parents, who warn her of the coming danger. Komona finds herself as the only survivor of a...
Camion is the third feature by Raphaël Ouellet, and screens in the festival’s Contemporary World Cinema programme. Ouellet is a sometime collaborator of Denis Côté, whose Bestiaire is also screening at TIFF this year. Synopsis Sixty-year-old widower Germain (Julien Poulin) has always been a truck driver, but when he’s involved in a head-on collision that leaves a woman dead, his remorse leaves him unable to get behind the wheel again. Though he was not at fault, his life may be irrevocably altered. Why should you see it? Ouellet is a master of emotional, intimate drama, and Camion recently won the...
Synopsis Playing at TIFF this year, it’s My Awkward Sexual Adventure, a fun Canadian comedy about a straitlaced Winnipeg accountant named Jordan (played by Jonas Chernick) whose girlfriend dumps him due to her lack of bedroom satisfaction. He heads to Toronto to hang out with his friend (Vik Sahay), who I’m certain is going to be full of hilarious and ridiculous advice. Jordan wanders into a strip club, drinks too much, and winds up with a stripper named Julia (Emily Hampshire). Somehow, they strike a deal – Jordan will help her organize her financial life, and she’ll teach him how...
