Oscar
I finished Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief with about 20 minutes to spare before its film adaptation, aptly titled Adaptation, screened at TIFF Bell Lightbox this week. Spike Jonze’s 2003 collaboration with screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, was shown as the inaugural offering in a new series from TIFF and Random House Publishing Canada, called Books on Film Club. Series host, Eleanor Wachtel, of CBC’s Writers and Company, was on hand to discuss the two starkly different works, along with the author of Theories of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon, and a packed theatre full of both book and film enthusiasts alike....
Toronto film fans have a rare treat in store for them – Captain Abu Raed, Jordan’s entry in the 2009 Academy Awards Foreign Language Film category, opens in the city on April 9. (Check listings for screening details.) The winner of 27 international awards, including a 2008 World Cinema Audience Award from the Sundance Film Festival, Captain Abu Raed is the first Jordanian feature film to be exported for release in international cinemas. The 100-minute-long film, directed, written and produced by Amin Matalqa, is a tale of friendship, inspiration and heroism....
