TIFF
Possibly the most wonderful thing about TIFF is their dedication to providing access to films that aren’t widely available or, worse yet, may simply have been forgotten. Canadian Open Vault is a programme that is dedicated to doing just that. Its mandate is to “make our country’s rich cinematic heritage more accessible to our audiences.” Occurring once every season, Canadian Open Vault turns its eye this winter to the 1986 film Dancing in the Dark, an adaptation of the Joan Barfoot novel of the same name, about the collapse of a woman’s inner and outer world, as she attempts to...
Now this might get uncomfortable… Anyone who’s ever seen the films of Lars von Trier knows the feeling all too well. The film starts out normally enough… we’re introduced to a young hero, heroine, couple, whatever and their lives seem to be your normal workaday routine. Then something catastrophic happens and everyone ends up paying dearly for it in the end. It’s von Trier’s calling card. You may like the storytelling, you may love the artistry, but you’re probably not going to like what you see. Yet, von Trier has made a name for himself as one of the smartest,...
For those uninitiated in fine dining (ie. we eat it, we like it, we’ll probably eat it again), it may be difficult to understand why Paul Liebrandt is such a controversial chef. Liebrandt’s work has always raised eyebrows for its daring and unique mixture of flavours. Mix this with a difficult personality for a young chef The cooking world has not always embraced him, even though his work is considered by most to be quite good. His dishes sound more like jokes than menu items (beer and truffle soup, chocolate covered scallops, smoked bacon sorbet) and as a result he...
It seems these days that we don’t get enough culture. We spend too much time with our televisions or computers. Certainly we don’t get out to see our local art, artists and arts organizations nearly often enough. Even if we do we rarely appreciate everything those organizations do to contribute the overall cultural landscape of our cities, provinces and Canada as a whole. With a potential change in the province’s political landscape coming in October, it’s more important than ever to get out and show that arts are a vital part of our communities. Culture Days is just the fix...
“Although these two films seem largely connected through their breathtakingly bold homoeroticism, they also share a fascination with ancient times, and the absurdity of trying to bring that age to life on the big screen. Taking the barest of historical suggestions, they construct ravishing, complete worlds that also go to great lengths to undermine their own credibility. This self-destructive impulse somehow frees the filmmakers to create fantastical, poetic conceptualizations of life, love and sacrifice that have yet to be equaled.” – Noah Cowan...
There are days when I really love my job. Yesterday was one of them. I arrived at the hotel at around 9:30. I was far from the first there, but nowhere near the last. I checked in at the media desk, grabbed a plate of delicious fruit and pastry and hunkered down in the second row. There I sat, waiting patiently as the room filled up with people — and excitement. Shortly after 10:00 am, Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey made their way to the stage and it began: TIFF made their first announcement of the year....
Rainer Werner Fassbinder is generally considered to be one of the most important figures in the New German Cinema, a movement beginning in the 1960s and ending in the 80s — 1982 when Fassbinder died of a drug interaction to be exact. Despite his legendary infantile temperament, he produced 40 feature length films, 2 television film series’, and a number of short film and video projects, in addition to a very prolific playwriting career. His films have been celebrated the world over for their innovation and social politics — films that leave lasting impressions on their viewers and frequently inspiring...
In an art form like cinema, with characters like Kubrick, Fellini and Gilliam, it takes some doing to be referred to as enigmatic. Yet somehow, Terrence Malick has earned that title above almost any other filmmaker working in the mainstream. I suppose that’s just the natural by-product of taking one’s sweet time in making only the pictures that appeal to one’s personal sensibilities, but there’s more to Malick’s art than simply being choosy. Malick’s canon has slowly and methodically been cobbled together over nearly 40 years in a very intentional manner, with a lot of commonality between projects… even if...
