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SCREENINGS
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les films de pierre presents
MARIA
DRAGUS
DEVID
STRIESOW
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL SELECTION COMPETITION 2017
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Cinema do Brasil proudly announces the Brazilian presence at TIFF 2017!
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
A Sort of Family
Uma Espécie de Família by Diego Lerman Produced by Campo Cine Coproduced by Bossa Nova Films, Staron Films, Bellota Films Distributed by UIP Argentina Sales Films Factory Vicente Canales v.canales@filmfactory.es Sep 8 Sep 9 Sep 10 Sep 14 Sep 14
9pm 9:15am 11:30am 4pm 7pm
Scotiabank 3 Intl. Première Scotiabank 11 press & industry TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 3 Scotiabank 4 Scotiabank 8 press & industry
MASTERS
Zama
by Lucrecia Martel Produced by Bananeira Filmes and Rei Cine Coproduced by El Deseo, Patagonik, MPM Film, Canana, Lemming Film, KNM, O Som e a Fúria, Louverture Films, Schortcut Films, Telecine, Bertha Foundation, Perdomo Productions, Picnic Producciones, Punta Colorada de Cinema Distributed by Vitrine Filmes Brazil Sales The Match Factory info@matchfactory.de Sep 8 Sep 11 Sep 12 Sep 13 Sep 15
11:30am 6:15pm 4:15pm 11:45am 8:45pm
Scotiabank 11 press & industry TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 2 Scotiabank 10 press & industry Jackman Hall TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema
Damiana
by Andrés Ramírez Pulido Produced by Valiente Gracia and Tokyo Filmes 3:45pm 9am 3pm
PRIMETIME
Namoro à Distância by Carolina Markowicz Produced by Yourmama
Sob Pressão by Andrucha Waddington Produced by Globo and Conspiração Filmes Sales Paula Venturim paula.venturim@tvglobo.com.br Associado Brazilian Content
Long Distance Relationship
SHORTCUTS
Sep 10 Sep 11 Sep 16
SHORTCUTS
Scotiabank 14 Scotiabank 5 press & ind. Scotiabank 10
Sep 9 Sep 10 Sep 15
9:45pm Scotiabank 14 12:15pm Scotiabank 6 press & industry 9:30pm Scotiabank 10
Under Pressure
Sep 8 Sep 10
9:45pm 12pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 3 Scotiabank 5 press & industry
Meet our team at the Hyatt Regency Hotel #9 - Industry Centre Mezzanine Level
More information at www.cinemadobrasil.org.br | info@cinemadobrasil.org.br
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Uncork’d pops for Euthanizer BY TOM GRATER
Finnish dark comedy Euthanizer, which world premiered in Toronto in the Contemporary World Cinema strand, has been picked up for North America. Uncork’d Entertainment has added the film to its slate after striking an agreement with Wide Management. Wide’s head of international sales Diane Ferrandez and Uncork’d head Keith Leopard struck the deal after the film’s P&I screening on Thursday. Directed by Teemu Nikki, the Finnish feature stars Matti Onnismaa as a black-market pet euthanizer whose life starts to fall apart. Jani Pösö produced alongside Nikki. “We are very excited to bring to the market this singular Scandinavian dark comedy,” said Ferrandez.
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Del Toro’s Venice victor shapes awards chatter BY JEREMY KAY
Last night’s Venice Golden Lion triumph for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape Of Water has brought this year’s awards race into sharper focus given the Italian festival’s recent habit of grooming Oscar winners. Fox Searchlight is understood to be mounting a broad campaign for the Cold War-era fairytale that includes best picture, director for del Toro and actress for Sally Hawkins. The film has its TIFF premiere tomorrow. The Venice triumph pushes The Shape Of Water into strong contention alongside Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk in the best picture and directing stakes as Warner Bros
mounts an all-categories push for the Second World War drama. Paramount also has high hopes for Alexander Payne’s Downsizing, Netflix is getting behind Dee Rees’s Mudbound and Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) will make some noise with Call Me By Your Name. Hawkins takes her place among a high-pedigree crop of lead actresses that could include Margot Robbie should a US buyer snap up Toronto premiere I, Tonya, which at time of writing had Netflix and several others in pursuit. Autumn festival darlings include Jessica Chastain (STX’s Molly’s Game), Emma Stone (Fox Searchlight’s Battle Of The Sexes), Frances
McDormand (Searchlight’s Three Billboards In Ebbing, Missouri), Jennifer Lawrence (Paramount’s mother!) and Saoirse Ronan (A24’s Lady Bird). SPC has Annette Bening (Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool) and will push Daniela Vega to become t h e f i r s t O s ca r-n o m i n a te d transgender actress for Berlinale selection A Fantastic Woman. Names to watch in the lead male actor race include Jake Gyllenhaal (Roadside and Lionsgate’s Stronger) and Ben Stiller (Amazon Studios’ Brad’s Status), while Christian Bale could make a splash with Telluride hit Hostiles, which remains available and screens here tomorrow.
TODAY
Angelina Jolie, page 12
NEWS The Long game Film Constellation CEO talks Netflix deal for Been So Long » Page 4
REVIEW Lady Bird Director Greta Gerwig brings out the best in her cool cast » Page 8
C’est La Vie! Magical ensemble comedy from the makers of Intouchables » Page 10
FEATURE Homage to Cambodia Angelina Jolie on her genocide drama First They Killed My Father » Page 12
Only You can attract Costa, O’Connor BY TOM GRATER
ToD audiences walk with Cumberbatch
Hubert Boesl
BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
Benedict Cumberbatch-narrated mindfulness documentary Walk With Me is proving a hit with theatre on demand (ToD) audiences in the US. According to distributor Gathr, the film has banked more than $250,000 in theatrical-ondemand presales ahead of its expansion release on September 12. The film has 194 confirmed theatre-on-demand screenings with another 250 pending screenings still working to meet the minimum reserves threshold. “We are tracking to be in the top 20 documentaries released in the US this year,” said Gathr president Jake Craven. “It puts the film in line to be one of the top 10 all-time crowdsourced theatrical releases.” Shot over three years, Walk With Me goes deep inside a Zen Buddhist community that practises the art of mindfulness with their teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. WestEnd Films sold the project, which was picked up jointly by Kino Lorber and ToD service Gathr for the US.
George Clooney joins fans at the North American premiere of Suburbicon here last night. Read tomorrow’s Screen for an exclusive interview with Clooney, in which he talks about making a pact with the devil for fame, and why he won’t be running for political office any time soon.
Farming takes Logical route for Akinnuoye-Agbaje French film production and financing company Logical Pictures has boarded Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje drama Farming, starring Kate Beckinsale, Damson Idris and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The debut feature of
Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Farming draws on the Nigerian-British actorfilmmaker’s experiences growing up with white working-class foster parents in the UK. Logical Pictures has joined as an equity partner
alongside actor-filmmaker Andrew Levitas, who is on board under his Rogue Black banner. “We’ve put up roughly a third of the budget,” said Logical co-founder Fréderic Fiore. Melanie Goodfellow
Laia Costa, who starred in Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria, and Josh O’Connor, the UK breakout star of God’s Own Country, will lead the cast of Harry Wootliff ’s debut feature Only You. Wootliff ’s credits include shorts Nits, which played in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2004, and Trip, which debuted at Berlin in 2008. London and Paris-based The Bureau is producing the project and is launching international sales via The Bureau Sales in Toronto. Curzon Artificial Eye has pre-bought UK rights. The story follows a madly-in-love couple whose relationship begins to falter when they struggle to conceive a child. Filming begins this month in Glasgow. It is produced by Matthieu de Braconier and Tristan Goligher for The Bureau, Rachel Dargavel for Crybaby and Claire Mundell for Synchronicity Films. Sean Wheelan from Filmgate Films is a co-producer. Creative Scotland is the majority financier with further investment coming from Curzon Artificial Eye, Constellation Creatives, Film i Vast and The Bureau. Only You joins a growing sales slate for The Bureau, alongside Venice title Lean On Pete, and San Sebastian picks So Help Me God and Sollers Point.
NEWS
Elwes: pulling Mudbound from mire BY JORDAN ADLER
At his on-stage conversation as part of TIFF’s industry conference, independent film titan Cassian Elwes revealed the instrumental part that Adam Sandler played in the record $12.5m sale of Mudbound to Netflix in January. Although it played to strong reviews at Sundance, a bidding war was not forthcoming for the period drama, directed by Dee
Rees and starring Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke and Mary J Blige. So when Mudbound producer Charles King sent an email to Ted Sarandos, asking Netflix’s chief content officer if he had seen the film, it turned out Sarandos was returning to Park City to go skiing with Sandler. “He watched the movie with Adam Sandler that night,” Elwes told an industry crowd on Friday afternoon. “They thought it was brilliant.”
“[Sarandos] called us and said, ‘How much do you want for the movie? What was the biggest deal that was made this week at Sundance?’” Elwes continued. As Amazon Studios had purchased The Big Sick for $12m, Sarandos wanted to beat it. “Thank you, Adam Sandler,” the producer said. Elwes expressed some optimism about the role of online disruptors in the marketplace, admitting he prays Google will
become a distributor because it could play a powerful role in the fight against piracy (he noted “we had 11 million illegal downloads of Dallas Buyers Club”). As for Netflix’s involvement with Mudbound, he called it a stroke of luck. “I said to Dee, ‘You know, millions of people are going to see [Mudbound], so many more than if it were released in a traditional way. The impact of this film is going to be so great.’”
Hayek wings it to Hummingbird BY JEREMY KAY
Philadelphia-based distributor Breaking Glass Pictures has scored its first deal in Toronto this year, picking up North American rights to Marcelo Caetano’s Brazilian gay drama Body Electric. The deal was done with sales agent M-Appeal.
Salma Hayek has joined the cast of Kim Nguyen’s high-octane drama The Hummingbird Project. HanWay Films represents international sales and CAA handles the US, while Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada. Production is set to commence in October in Montreal. Hayek will play the ruthless former boss of two ambitious high-frequency traders played by previously announced
Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard. Nguyen directs The Hummingbird Project from his screenplay and reunites with producer Pierre Even of Item 7 in Montreal. Belgium’s Belga Films is on board as co-producer, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger of Automatik serve as executive producers with Heidi Levitt. Nguyen’s Eye On Juliet screens at TIFF on Tuesday.
Devilworks dreams of Red Christmas Genre sales specialist Devilworks has inked a series of deals on its TIFF titles. Craig Anderson’s horror Red Christmas has sold to UK and Ireland (101 Films), Canada (Raven Banner), Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Schröder Media), Australia and New Zealand (Umbrella Entertainment), South Korea (Cinema Republic) and Latin America (DMD). Netflix has picked up streaming rights and the title will be on the platform in December. Artsploitation had already taken the US. Deals were also made on zombie horror Peelers. Following its North American release from Uncork’d, rights have gone for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Schröder Media), China (Virtual Cinema), Japan (TransWorld), Poland (Kino Swiat), South Korea (Korea Screen), Taiwan (Movie Cloud) and Scandinavia and Benelux (Take One). Tom Grater
EXECUTIVE FOCUS FABIEN WESTERHOFF, CEO, FILM CONSTELLATION Film Constellation is a hot hand among emerging global sellers, having recently inked a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix for BFI/Film4-backed musical Been So Long, featuring Michaela Coel (Chewing Gum). Launched last year, the London-based outfit is run by former HanWay Films executive Fabien Westerhoff with backing from European indie sales group Films Distribution (now Playtime). The English-language projectoriented company is picking up speed with current titles also including Toronto duo Life And Nothing More (Contemporary World Cinema) and Kissing Candice (Discovery).
Other than the handsome price, why was Netflix the best fit for Been So Long? There was strong US interest on this project from the get-go. Michaela’s character became the main talking point; she is hilarious and touching and has an incredible voice. After seeing the promo, Netflix moved quickly to a level no one else could compete with. We knew there were cultural barriers for the project in some markets so the idea of potentially having it in every living room was a great one.
‘The reality is there are very few names now who can guarantee audiences’ Fabien Westerhoff, Film Constellation
What trends are you noticing in the sales business?
Fabien Westerhoff
Netflix picked up the film in Cannes. How has it been working with them? Like working with any of our buyers, it’s about building a level of trust. I’ve been selling to them for a number of years but they’re obviously acquiring in different ways now. They’ve been very collaborative. The director [Tinge Krishnan] has final cut on the movie but they have made some very accurate and sensible notes on the cuts we’ve shown them.
4 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
What is the biggest challenge that faces Film Constellation in today’s market? The biggest challenge is matching the right level of cast with production finance, which is often time conditioned. That is something most independently financed companies face. It’s about building and maintaining momentum until finance is closed and keeping that good talent on board.
You need a recognisable star if you want to make films in the $5m-$15m range. For pre-sales in the $2m-$6m range, you need a layer of talent who can deliver strong performances even if they aren’t box-office guarantees. The secret on lower-budget movies is to find new talent and emerging filmmakers who are authentic and true to the project as well as being capable of delivering the right level of performance. The reality is there are very few names now who can guarantee audiences. It takes time for financing partners to realise that.
What’s next? To continue to manoeuvre across the spectrum working with established and new talent. There may be staff additions in London, and some moves into production.
www.screendaily.com
ARDALAN ESMAILI
SOHO REZANEJAD
A FIL M BY MIL AD AL AMI
starring ARDALAN ESMAILI, SOHO REZANEJAD, SUSAN TASLIMI, LARS BRYGMANN JACOB SVENSSON casting by GRO THERP costume and make-up CAMILLA NORDBJERG composer MARTIN DIRKOV supervising sound editor BO ASDAL ANDERSEN production designer SABINE HVIID editor OLIVIA NEERGAARD-HOLM dop SOPHIA OLSSON FSF executive producers OLIVIER MULLER, GARY FARKAS, CLÉMENT LAPOUTRE & ANNI FERNANDEZ, OLE SØNDBERG, VIBEKE WINDELØV co - producers MIMMI SPÅNG, REBECKA LAFRENZ, TOMAS ESKILSSON producer STINNA LASSEN written by INGEBORG TOPSØE & MILAD ALAMI directed by MILAD ALAMI © GOOD COMPANY FILMS, 2017 production manager
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REVIEWS
» Molly’s Game p6 » Journey’s End p6 » Lady Bird p8
» Stronger p8 » C’est La Vie! p10 » The Children Act p10
» Custody p11 » Thelma p11
Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
Journey’s End Reviewed by Allan Hunter
Molly’s Game Reviewed by Wendy Ide Aaron Sorkin makes his directorial debut with a film that is pretty much a distillation of the key themes of his writing. Ferociously eloquent, densely packed with ideas and immensely entertaining, Molly’s Game fetishes power and success, while also serving as a cautionary tale. It is an unapologetically showy piece of work but, as a directorial calling card, it will take some beating. A slightly overlong running time could limit the film’s success, but the rattling pace of the edit means it never feels baggy or loses momentum. It seems certain to be a significant awards-season player, for Jessica Chastain in particular. The role is familiar territory for her, like the ruthless lobbyist in Miss Sloane, Molly Bloom is a woman used to running intellectual rings around the smartest guys in the room. Her addiction, according to her analyst father (Kevin Costner), is having power over powerful men. Adapted from the tell (almost) all autobiography by Bloom, the film explores an all-American tale of greed and hubris that has a stylistic and thematic kinship with Adam McKay’s The Big Short. Both are brash, factual assaults, using graphics and voiceover to elucidate the impenetrable inner workings of a complicated business — in this case the high-stakes unlicensed poker games Molly runs, first in Los Angeles and later in New York. Her rise and fall is told in a series of flashbacks drenched in a saturated cocktail-bar colour scheme. She is recounting the story to her lawyer, Charles Jaffey (a barnstorming performance from Idris Elba), who defends her as the FBI eyes her computer hard-drives. There is a crackling, almost screwball quality to their rapid-fire banter, and you wish they had more screen time together. Perhaps not surprisingly, this is a film that feels in service to its script. An understated score comes a distant second to the words the characters wield; the editing demonstrates the same finely honed instinct for timing that is evident in the best of Sorkin’s writing. It doesn’t all work — there are some laboured lines (“I felt like I was in a hole so deep I could go fracking”) and a few segues into obscure sports history, which are surplus to requirements. But for the most part, Sorkin has a winning hand.
6 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
SPECIAL PRESENTATION US. 2017. 140mins Director Aaron Sorkin Production company Mark Gordon Company International sales Sierra/Affinity Producers Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, Matt Jackson Executive producers Leopoldo Gout, Stuart Besser Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen Editors Alan Baumgarten, Elliot Graham, Josh Schaeffer Production design David Wasco Music Daniel Pemberton Main cast Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Michael Cera, Kevin Costner
Set in the First World War trenches, RC Sherriff ’s landmark Journey’s End was first staged in 1928 and filmed in 1930. It has been revived, revisited and remade by successive generations, which rather begs the question of whether the world needs yet another version of this old warhorse. Saul Dibb provides an emphatic answer, with a robust, sinewy production that honours the film’s enduring themes. Continuing centenary commemorations of key events in the First World War should provide an ideal backdrop for a theatrical release, but it is the quality of the film itself that should strike audiences seeking thoughtful, emotionally charged great British drama. Dibb’s smartest moves are to trust the material and strive to render it in as cinematic a way as possible. Journey’s End was never a sweeping anti-war statement but more of an intimate portrait of men at war; the tender bonds formed between brothers in arms and the unbearable burdens of command. Raleigh (Asa Butterfield) arrives at the front in March 1918. A state of stalemate has existed for months, but a fresh German offensive is expected. Battle-hardened veterans like Osborne (Paul Bettany) and Trotter (Stephen Graham) indulge Raleigh’s puppy-dog enthusiasm. His presence is only resented by former schoolmate and commanding officer Stanhope (Sam Claflin), a man marinated in whisky and barely keeping things together. The camera’s close scrutiny seems to magnify Raleigh’s callow features and wide-eyed wonder at the world he enters. The sound design provides a vivid imprint of squelching mud, the fireworks whizz of gunfire and the elevated breathing of those about to die. Laurie Rose’s bobbing camerawork draws us into the reality of the moment and makes us feel the claustrophobic confines of trenches, a makeshift kitchen or a tiny shelter. Reade’s screenplay is filled with telling human touches — the way food becomes a focal point of existence, the gallows humour, the small acts of kindness. And there isn’t a weak link in a pitch-perfect ensemble cast. All underplay beautifully, conveying the quiet reality of a desperate situation. It is this governing sense of restraint that lends the film such an emotional kick.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION UK. 2017. 107mins Director Saul Dibb Production companies Fluidity Films International sales Metro International Entertainment US sales Creative Artists Agency Producers Guy De Beaujeu, Simon Reade Screenplay Simon Reade based on the play by RC Sherriff Cinematography Laurie Rose Editor Tania Reddin Production design Kristian Milsted Music Natalie Holt Main cast Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Asa Butterfield, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, Tom Sturridge
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REVIEWS
Stronger Reviewed by Tim Grierson
Lady Bird Reviewed by Allan Hunter Exuding sunny optimism, sassy wit and sheer joie de vivre, Lady Bird could be the perfect antidote to these angst-ridden times. A rollicking, surefooted, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age charmer, Greta Gerwig’s solo directing debut has all the potential to become an indie crowdpleaser. It could also attract awards-season attention across the board, from Gerwig’s smart, fizzy screenplay to the captivating central performance from Saoirse Ronan. Ronan’s 17-year-old Christine McPherson is the embodiment of every trapped adolescent who yearns for a life less ordinary. Even the name she chooses for herself — Lady Bird — speaks of flight, class and a woman of distinction. Stuck in suburban Sacramento, circa 2002, and constantly at war with her eternally critical mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf ), Lady Bird is hungry for new experiences, exciting adventures and the chance to stand out from the crowd. Over the course of a period in which she schemes to fulfil a dream of gaining entrance to an east-coast college, Lady Bird rushes full-steam into life. Weeks pass in a giddy rush as she falls in and out of love, loses her virginity, adopts and discards friendships and constantly tussles with a mother she both adores and detests. The snappy editing and breakneck pace of Lady Bird capture all the jagged intensity of a moment in life when there is no time to spare, and every little hurt and disappointment feels like the end of the world until the second that it doesn’t. Lady Bird is often screamingly funny but it also has a generous spirit, embracing characters with all their flaws and foibles, virtues and defects. That even applies to Metcalf ’s demanding mother, who can appear harsh and daunting but also leaves us in no doubt she loves her daughter more than she might ever say. Gerwig brings out the best in her very cool cast, with Manchester By The Sea’s Lucas Hedges displaying all the charm of a young James Stewart as Lady Bird’s fellow amateur drama-club performer and potential new boyfriend Danny. There is a feeling every role has been carefully cast and every performer given a moment to shine. There is an energy and sparkle to every aspect of Lady Bird, which is also an affectionate valentine to a Sacramento captured in sun-dappled images and magic-hour moments.
8 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
SPECIAL PRESENTATION/ NEXT WAVE US. 2017. 94mins Director/screenplay Greta Gerwig Production company Mission Films International sales A24 Producers Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill Executive producer Lila Yacoub Cinematography Sam Levy Editor Nick Houy Production design Chris Jones Music Jon Brion Main cast Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein
Jake Gyllenhaal’s appealing sincerity cannot cure what ails Stronger, an inspirational true-life drama that is perhaps too adoring of its subject. Playing Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Gyllenhaal gives us a credible depiction of a regular guy thrust into the public sphere, uncomfortably serving as a hero to those shocked by the tragedy. But although director David Gordon Green commendably opts for a realistic, unfussy depiction of Bauman and his on-off girlfriend (played with welcome grit by Tatiana Maslany), Stronger feels more perfunctory than lived-in. Opening September 22 in the US, Stronger will benefit from the familiarity of local audiences with the bombing that occurred only four years ago. Gyllenhaal’s commercial track record should help, too, although the disappointing grosses for last year’s action thriller Patriots Day may suggest viewers have a limit for how much they want to see of this terrorist attack on screen. As the film begins, Jeff (Gyllenhaal) is a goofy, immature Costco employee still hung up on his ex Erin (Maslany). Going to cheer her on during the marathon, Jeff is right in the middle of one of the two terrorist explosions and loses both legs above the knee. Stunned but determined to walk again, he begins to win back Erin, who feels guilty he was at the race because of her. At its best, Stronger tries to sidestep the histrionics that such emotionally volatile material might inspire in a more manipulative director. Green not only grounds the proceedings in a melancholy minor key, but he and screenwriter John Pollono (working from Bauman’s co-authored memoir) also mildly critique the cynical ways the city of Boston carted out Jeff as a symbol to inspire others. The movie is clear-eyed about the disconnect Jeff feels between the resilient hero that average citizens view him as and the troubled, wounded victim he sees in himself. Gyllenhaal captures all of Jeff ’s anger, confusion and sadness, making this young man seem both brave and pathetic on his emotional rollercoaster. Stronger is by no means a wholly glowing account of the man’s life after the bombing, but Green strains to ensure a happy ending at the expense of the character complexity and dramatic nuance that would have made this experience so much more satisfying.
GALA PRESENTATION US. 2017. 119mins Director David Gordon Green Production companies Lionsgate, Bold Films, Mandeville Films, Nine Stories International sales Lionsgate Producers Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michel Litvak, Scott Silver Executive producers Gary Michael Walters, Riva Marker, Anthony Mattero, Peter McGuigan, Nicolas Stern, Jeffrey Stott, Alexander Young, Qiuyun Long Screenplay John Pollono, based on the book by Jeff Bauman and Bret Witter Cinematography Sean Bobbitt Production design Stephen Carter Editor Dylan Tichenor Music Michael Brook Main cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown
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Toronto B O R G / M C E N R O E BY JAN U S M ET Z, ©S F ST U D I OS
Gala Presentations Borg/McEnroe
Discovery Ravens
Platform Euphoria
Short Cuts The Burden
by Janus Metz
by Lisa Langseth
Special Presentations The Square by Ruben Östlund
by Jens Assur
by Niki Lindroth von Bahr
Push It
by Julia Thelin
SWEDISH CO-PRODUCTIONS
Gala Presentations Chappaquiddick by John Curran [U S /S E ] The Wife by Björn Runge [U K /S E ] Platform/Next Wave What Will People Say by Iram Haq [N O / D E /S E ] Special Presentations Thelma by Joachim Trier [N O /S E / F R / D K ] You Disappear by Peter Schønau Fog [D K /S E ] Contemporary World Cinema A Ciambra by Jonas Carpignano [I T/ F R / U S / D E /S E ]
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REVIEWS
The Children Act Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan
C’est La Vie! Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan Co-directors and screenwriters Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (Intouchables) pull off another magical turn with a ruthlessly plotted breeze of ensemble good humour, C’est La Vie! (Le Sens De La Fete). Disregarding a hopelessly anodyne international title, this story of a day in the life of a Paris-based wedding caterer at the end of his Basil Fawlty-like tether is a broad delight, destined for wide international play after it closes TIFF and competes in San Sebastian (its French opening is set for October 4). Leading the Comedie Francaise troupe of performers is a wonderful, rich Jean-Pierre Bacri as the ageing Max Angeli, who runs a catering company that specialises in weddings. Early indications would suggest Max does not quite have the advanced soothing skills this job requires but, in the hands of the veteran Bacri, the character glides through a large wedding in a 17th-century chateau with bad electrics, a temperamental singer and a bout of food poisoning without ever once tipping into caricature. Once again Toledano and Nakache demonstrate their seemingly effortless ability to give old-fashioned yet sophisticated comedy a wide multi-generational appeal. Watching C’est La Vie! is akin to being part of their own joyous celebration as multiple characters waft in and out, from groomzilla Pierre (Benjamin Lavernhe), to creaky luddite photographer Guy (Jean-Paul Rouve), feisty manager Adele (Eye Haïdara) and lovelorn former teacher and language pedant Julien (Vincent Macaigne). Watching how Toledano and Nakache fulfil their side of the bargain with viewers is a lesson for anyone with a mind to broad comedy; a genre that looks like the easiest to pull off, but is by far and away the hardest. The directors give the piece a rushing sense of movement that increases as the clock moves forward: static shots are replaced by over-the-shoulder handheld tracking of Max as he, literally, puts out fires and deals with egos. Some of the more piquant exchanges take place between the service staff, all off-the-books at ¤100 cashin-hand for the night, and an extra ¤47 if they wear the wig that goes with their period frogged costumes. Like Intouchables, C’est La Vie! rattles out a singalong score, capped by ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’. A young, multi-ethnic cast gives a fresh spin on what is, ultimately, classically constructed ensemble comedy that follows proudly in the footsteps of the greats.
10 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
GALA PRESENTATION Fr. 2017. 117mins Directors/screenplay Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache Production companies Quad, Ten & Ten Films International sales Gaumont Producers Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky Production design Nicolas de Boiscuille Music Avishai Cohen Main cast Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Macaigne, Eye Haïdara, Suzanne Clément, Benjamin Lavernhe
Emma Thompson loses herself in The Children Act, subsuming all her natural lightness to embody one of novelist Ian McEwan’s more interesting central characters, a High Court judge charged with implementing the titular Children Act in family court. When the remote, humane but unheedingly autocratic Justice Fiona Maye slips and allows herself to connect on a human level with one of her cases, tiny cracks form at the edge of her carefully controlled existence, threatening to shatter it. Director Richard Eyre has guided Thompson to an exceptional performance in McEwan’s elegant adaptation of his own book (his second to bow at Toronto 2017, after On Chesil Beach), and she will undoubtedly be recognised for her most engrossing work since The Remains Of The Day. Her young co-star Fionn Whitehead’s recent exposure in Dunkirk will also help draw attention. Eyre takes his cues from the formal, almost anachronistic environment in which Justice Maye works at the Royal Courts of Justice, presenting a restrained, tasteful piece which, while it may be too classical for wide consumption, will draw many admirers. While the 1989 Children Act holds the welfare of the child to be paramount in all cases, the unthinkable decisions Justice Maye has to make on a day-to-day basis are taking a psychological toll. The biggest casualty is her, ironically childless, marriage to Jack (Stanley Tucci). When Jack announces he is about to embark on an affair, and the controlling Fiona tells him to leave their home, the emotional turmoil opens her up to making a rare misstep in court and she arbitrarily decides to visit a young patient in hospital. Adam (Whitehead), just shy of 18 years old, has leukaemia and has decided, as a Jehovah’s Witness, not to receive a life-saving blood transfusion. His devout parents support his actions, and the hospital has come to court looking for a decision. The innately talented Whitehead conveys the febrile anxiety of a bright boy who is aflame with noble desires. Justice Maye’s visit changes his life and re-directs his zeal, but it also alters hers, jolting her back into an unwelcome human connection that cannot be easily managed. Thompson subsumes herself in the role. There is the sense she is relishing this rare opportunity to present the audience with a complex, intelligent and commanding woman of a certain age, and never lets her character down.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION UK. 2017. 105mins Director Richard Eyre Production company Toledo Productions International sales FilmNation Entertainment, CAA Producer Duncan Kenworthy Executive producers Glen Basner, Ben Browning, Joe Oppenheimer, Beth Pattinson, Charles Moore Screenplay Ian McEwan, from his novel Cinematography Andrew Dunn Production design Peter Francis Editor Dan Farrell Music Stephen Warbeck Main cast Emma Thompson, Fionn Whitehead, Stanley Tucci, Ben Chaplin, Anthony Calf, Jason Watkins
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Thelma
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Reviewed by Tim Grierson
Custody Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan An almost unbearably tense, no-holds-barred drive through the nightmare of domestic terrorism, Custody is a can’t-look-away hybrid of gruelling reality and heightened cinematic technique. The mix is jarring, as intended, and this wrenching film illustrates domestic violence and obsession in a way that makes the fear real. It is a dynamic feature debut from France’s Xavier Legrand, which plays in Toronto after closing Venice Film Festival. Denis Ménochet’s bullying, paranoid Antoine is the hulking heart of Custody but, as his young son Julien, newcomer Thomas Gioria holds his own. The film starts slowly as downbeat vérité but soon finds a rhythm: one that should pound its way into festival screenings and arthouse distribution, where it could remain a byword for domestic violence. Custody opens in a magistrate’s court, where Antoine and his wife Miriam (Léa Drucker) are engaged in a bitter custody battle. The couple’s older daughter Josephine (Mathilde Auneveux) is of an age where she can make her own decisions — and she chooses not to have anything to do with Antoine — but the fate of Julien is at stake. Statements are made and the situation seems opaque: manipulation is afoot and somebody is lying to the judge, who makes an abrupt decision with far-reaching consequences. As Antoine starts to exercise his parental rights over the boy, Gioria’s distress is almost too raw and real for a film. Ménochet’s Antoine reveals himself, and it is a familiar portrait to anyone who has ever encountered obsession and domestic violence. Soon, Custody is barely watchable, as Legrand begins to apply home-invasion aspects to his drama and everyone becomes short of breath — viewer included. Ménochet, Drucker and Gioria give their all to this chamber-like piece, which is a thematic progression of the director’s short Just Before Losing Everything. It is a claustrophobic film; whether that be in court, inside Antoine’s vehicle or the apartment to which Miriam has fled. Nathalie Durand’s camera feels suitably oppressed in these close confines, while editor Yorgis Lamprinos has a deft command of pace as the thriller elements ratchet up. While the word ‘exciting’ does not feel right for such a tough drama, it is perfect as a description of Legrand’s feature debut as a feature-length director and original screenplay author.
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PLATFORM Fr. 2017. 90mins Director/screenplay Xavier Legrand Production company KG Productions International sales Celluloid Dreams Producer Alexandre Gavras Cinematography Nathalie Durand Production design Jérémie Sfez Editor Yorgos Lamprinos Main cast Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker, Thomas Gioria, Mathilde Auneveux
A sheltered, sexually repressed young woman discovers she has startling telekinetic powers in Joachim Trier’s Thelma. It knowingly echoes fright-night classic Carrie, settling into its own odd rhythms while never quite escaping its predecessor’s mighty influence. Partly intriguing because it represents a conscious change of pace for the director of Reprise and Oslo, August 31st, this chilly existential horror movie judiciously spaces out its elegant shocks. Thelma will be distributed in the US through The Orchard, which released Trier’s 2015 English-language debut Louder Than Bombs, and has sold widely through Memento on the strength of the director’s name. Eili Harboe plays Thelma, who moves from the country to Oslo for university, only to find herself intimidated by the big city and her more outgoing peers. Befriending the beautiful Anja (Kaya Wilkins), Thelma realises her classmate has romantic feelings for her — a revelation that upsets this devout Christian. But a series of epileptic seizures soon take hold of Thelma, which seem inexplicably connected to a newfound ability to control nearby events with her mind. Thelma boasts an almost clinical tone, which gives the occasional fantastical moment a queasy strangeness. Trier and regular cinematographer Jakob Ihre present a realistic world, emphasising the frigid landscape around the young woman’s rustic home and the sleek interiors of her school and the hospital where she is examined. Meanwhile, the director’s long-time composer Ola Flottum provides an ominous score that hints at terrors happening beneath the surface of the smooth images. Because the screenplay so blatantly cribs from Carrie, Trier seems to be toying with his audience, practically daring us to see the comparisons and then letting us wonder where he will deviate from the Brian De Palma film. There is, however, a ceiling on how engaging these gambits can be. Harboe capably portrays a woman whose repression is at war with deep stirrings that threaten to tear her apart. But the fragile performance often seems in service to Trier’s meticulous approach, which intentionally leaves character motivations hazy. As Thelma’s parents, Henrik Rafaelsen and Ellen Dorrit Petersen are effective, and we assume they have stifled their child’s development for selfish, misguided reasons. Only as Thelma moves forward do we realise our mistake.
Nor-Swe-Fr-Den. 2017. 116mins Director Joachim Trier Production companies Motlys, Film i Väst, Le Pacte, Filmpool Nord, Snowglobe, B-Reel Films, Don’t Look Now International sales Memento Films International Producer Thomas Robsahm Executive producers Sigve Endresen, Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier Screenplay Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier Cinematography Jakob Ihre Production design Roger Rosenberg Editor Olivier Bugge Coutté Music Ola Flottum Main cast Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen
September 10, 2017 Screen International at Toronto 11
SPOTLIGHT ANGELINA JOLIE
Homage to Cambodia Angelina Jolie, actress, filmmaker and human-rights activist, makes her most personal work yet with a 1970s-set drama about the Cambodian genocide. She talks to Jeremy Kay about First They Killed My Father, which has its international premiere as a Special Presentation tomorrow
A
ngelina Jolie chanced upon Loung Ung’s bestselling memoir First They Killed My Father in a Cambodian market some 17 years ago while shooting Tomb Raider — “a two-dollar paperback you find when travelling” that was as far removed as one can get from Lara Croft leaping across temples in the steaming jungle. For Jolie, the book and the stirring but unsentimental film adaptation it would inspire seemed to crystallise so much of the dignity and despair she had witnessed in the stricken Southeast Asian country she would return to again and again as a humanitarian activist and, later, a citizen and resident. Ung and Jolie met through their activism work when Jolie went back shortly after Tomb Raider. One night they found themselves swaying in hammocks in the middle of a monsoon, talking through the night. “We bonded and she’s been in my life ever since,” Jolie says. Ung was five when the Khmer Rouge emerged from the jungle in 1975 to overthrow Lon Nol’s military rule and turn a once-prosperous former French colonial outpost into an isolated death chamber. She and her middle-class family were marched out of the capital Phnom Penh and into the fields, like millions of citydwellers across the country. When invading Vietnamese troops overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, the young girl had lost both parents and two of her six siblings. Around two million people — nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population — had been wiped out. Panh boards The two women adapted the screenplay years ago. After several more drafts, Netflix agreed in 2015 to fully finance and produce the project. In June of that year, Jolie enlisted the support of Rithy Panh, the Cambodian director of Khmer Rouge documentary The Missing Picture. Panh became a producer on the Khmerlanguage project and took the lead in months of meetings with the authorities and NGOs to establish permission to shoot the film on Cambodian soil (see interview, page 14). The filmmakers had to tread carefully. This was not Thailand, Jolie reminded
Angelina Jolie on the set of First They Killed My Father
herself, where The Killing Fields had shot many years before. “You are bringing a film to a country and asking the people who lived through it to recreate a history with you. I really didn’t know if [the authorities] were going to say yes.” Jolie was prepared to scale back the production and work within whatever framework the authorities would provide. However, she got what she wanted and the 50-day shoot in Siem Reap and Battambang finally got underway in November 2015. “Then, of course, you get to the set and you’re standing there with your friend and you have to recreate scenes of her father being taken and killed, and you have to try to walk through the steps of somebody’s life.” Jolie pauses and her voice fades a little. “You bring back. You bring back the people who passed. You bring back her sisters. And, of course, it
12 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
was always the happy scenes that seemed to make her the most upset.” Jolie and her international heads of department and crew trained local counterparts, corralled large numbers of extras, braved tarantulas and snakes in the jungle, and avoided landmines and other unexploded ordnance. “Luckily, we were able to complete the film without a single incident on set,” she says. Navigating through complicated emotional terrain was harder. The local crew helped to communicate with the largely inexperienced cast, which included Sareum Srey Moch, the nine-year-old newcomer who played Ung without acting classes and impressed her director. Moch took part in a casting process that came under scrutiny in a recent cover story in Vanity Fair, which suggested that the filmmakers had used emotional manipulation during child
‘You’re on the set with your friend and you have to recreate scenes of her father being taken and killed’ Angelina Jolie, director
auditions, triggering angry comments online about Jolie. The UN goodwill ambassador and mother of six issued a firm rebuttal with Panh. When the subject is mentioned, Jolie says she regards the matter as closed, but stresses that guardians and parents were present at all times during child auditions, and all parties knew the process involved make-believe. Throughout filming, her goal was to foster a cathartic environment for her »
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GUTLAND
Discovery
directed by
Govinda Van Maele produced by
Les Films Fauves
SEP 8 SEP 10
4:00PM 6:45PM
SEP 12
9:00AM
SEP 13 12:00PM SEP 16 6:00PM
Scotiabank 8 (P&I) Scotiabank 13 (Public) TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 3 (Public) Scotiabank 9 (P&I) Scotiabank 9 (Public)
THE BREADWINNER
Films made in Luxembourg at #TIFF2017 Contact @ TIFF:
Film Fund Luxembourg @ European Film Promotion Booth 25
Special Presentation TIFF Kids
directed by
Nora Twomey co-produced by
Melusine Productions
SEP 8 SEP 8 SEP 10
2:30PM 4:45PM 3:00PM
SEP 16
1:00PM
Scotiabank 12 (P&I) Scotiabank 10 (P&I) Winter Garden Theatre (Public) TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 2 (Public)
MARY SHELLEY
directed by
Gala Presentation
Haifaa Al-Mansour
SEP 9 SEP 10 SEP 10 SEP 12
co-produced by
Bac Cinema
6:30PM 8:30AM 1:30PM 1:15PM
Roy Thompson Hall Scotiabank 2 (P&I) Scotiabank 2 (Public) Scotiabank 2 (P&I) P : Press I : Industry
SPOTLIGHT ANGELINA JOLIE
Enabling Angelina Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh describes his key role as producer on First They Killed My Father ithy Panh, the acclaimed Cambodian documentarian whose 2013 Oscar-nominated film The Missing Picture used clay models to recreate Khmer Rouge atrocities, produced First They Killed My Father with Jolie. As a Cambodian native who has been closely involved for many years in building the country’s film infrastructure, Panh played an integral role in navigating the governmental apparatus to ensure the shoot went ahead without incident.
R
(From left) Angelina Jolie, with Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Loung Ung
cast, employing NGO staff, educators, de-miners and a therapist. “The country really doesn’t talk about this time and everybody in their mid-40s remembers,” Jolie says. “So when you have a scene where suddenly everyone comes dressed in Khmer Rouge outfits with guns, people were having experiences, they were remembering. Some people were talking for the first time.” First They Killed My Father has enabled Jolie to feel even closer to a country she has lived and worked in for 14 years. “When you direct a film it is very different from when you act in a film, when you try to give your all and it’s a few months of your life and you have your part to play,” she states. “When you direct a film, it’s years of your life and it has to really matter to you because it’s all-consuming. “All the more so with this film because although Maddox [Jolie’s adopted eldest son, a native Cambodian] goes back often with me and we have a foundation there, this was the first time he was able to spend months there and study the history of his country, really understanding, going deep into what his birth parents most likely went through, and coming to terms with that and knowing who he is.” Giving back Sixteen-year-old Maddox served as an executive producer on the film and was there from the start, working long hours on drafts and physical production, and acting as a sounding board. “I wanted him to work hard and give back himself to his country,” says Jolie, who is in no doubt about who she made the film for. “I made it for Cambodia. I made it as a kind of thank you, a love let-
‘There hadn’t been a story on this scale that would reach the Cambodian people in their language, with them being the hero’ Angelina Jolie, director
ter. There hadn’t been a story on this scale that would reach people in their language, with them being the hero.” The drama received its world premiere in February, outdoors at the Angkor Wat complex. Jolie and Ung could not sleep the night before, but they need not have worried — the screening and those that followed across Cambodia in the following weeks “sparked a bigger discussion in the country among families who have not discussed [the genocide]”. Netflix will launch First They Killed My Father worldwide on September 15, following a brief theatrical run in Cambodia. Jolie likes the idea it will be on a streaming platform, there for viewers to watch when they feel ready. “On my first film [as director on 2011’s In The Land Of Blood And Honey], a lot of people who were Bosnian said they needed to stop, take a break and come back, so I was very aware of that.” She is not sure what’s next. Family, probably acting. She signed on to Disney’s Maleficent sequel, and laughs when Bill Condon’s Bride Of Frankenstein reboot is mentioned. “There has been a discussion, but we’re not quite there. How many monsters can one play, s really?” ■
(Right) Sareum Srey Moch
14 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
How did you become producer on First They Killed My Father? Angelina came to Phnom Penh and asked me to participate. She already had a specific vision — artistic and aesthetic. Part of my role was to give her advice about how to represent life under the Khmer Rouge. Even though the film is fiction, she wanted it to be historically accurate — from the clothes we wore to the food we ate, and the lyrics of Khmer Rouge propaganda songs. What was it like for you, someone who experienced Khmer Rouge brutality, to watch the filming of distressing scenes? I’ve been making films about this subject for three decades, but the violence of the Khmer Rouge was so vast, so extensive, that it still needs to be explored and shown. Some scenes are distressing but they reflect reality. Representing brutality is also necessary to show how people displayed compassion, solidarity and resilience — dignity, in other words — in the face of a dehumanising regime. What is the film industry infrastructure like in Cambodia? The Khmer Rouge years nearly wiped out the industry — many actors and directors and artists died then. But the industry has built itself back up, little by little. Although Cambodia has no film studio, the country itself is like a huge studio, with remarkable historical temples and great landscapes. Were you worried about unexploded landmines? No, I wasn’t worried about mines — but sometimes I was worried about snakes. Cambodia has made great progress when it comes to mines. We also made sure to shoot in secure zones, and a team from the de-mining organisation CMAC assisted us throughout the shooting of the film. You have made several powerful films about the Khmer Rouge. Do you plan to make any more? Yes. This topic, this moment in history, is a part of my life, and I still have fundamental questions about it. But I’m not a filmmaker obsessed with genocide, or trapped in that subject. I’m an artist, and that’s precisely my way of demonstrating that the Khmer Rouge’s totalitarianism could not destroy me.
Rithy Panh
First They Killed My Father : public screenings from Sept 11; press & industry from Sept 12
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SPOTLIGHT CLIO BARNARD
Secrets and lies
The director of The Selfish Giant brings to TIFF her new film Dark River, about a young woman haunted by past traumas when she returns to the family farm. Charles Gant talks to Clio Barnard
Ruth Wilson and Clio Barnard on the set of Dark River
B
ack in 2011, Clio Barnard was an acclaimed video artist and research academic who had made the jump to feature films with her innovative documentary-drama The Arbor (2010), exploring the life of short-lived British playwright Andrea Dunbar. Yet to make a narrative feature, she was surprised to be sent Rose Tremain’s novel Trespass by producer Suzanne Mackie at the UK’s Left Bank Pictures. “Nobody had ever sent me a book before, asking me to adapt it,” she says. “I was a strange hybrid documentary filmmaker at that point.” The journey from Trespass the novel (set in rural France) to Dark River the resulting film (set on a Yorkshire farm, and named after a poem by Yorkshire-born Ted Hughes) would prove to be transformative — which, when you consider the distance between her narrative feature debut The Selfish Giant (2013) and its Oscar Wilde source material, is perhaps no great surprise. What remained intact were Trespass’s themes
of past incestuous sexual abuse bubbling to the surface years later through the conflict over land between a sister and brother. Barnard had not even started with the adaptation when The Selfish Giant was greenlit and she had to set it aside. She then received a boost when, in November 2013, Barnard was awarded the inaugural Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship in partnership with the BFI and Film4. In addition to the $39,000 (£30,000) prize, she was given access to the Wellcome Trust’s archives, and introductions to scientists. The trust’s film and drama development manager, Meroë Candy, suggested experts for her to meet — notably Jackie Craissati, a clinical and forensic psychologist who treats perpetrators of sexual abuse. “It was funny,” recalls Barnard about Craissati’s response to an early draft of the script. “She
18 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
(Left) Mark Stanley as Joe Bell
‘Nobody had ever asked me to adapt a book before. I was a strange hybrid documentary filmmaker’ Clio Barnard, director
would use the term ‘stereotypical’. She’d go, ‘Yes, that’s very stereotypical,’ and I’d be thinking, ‘Oh, shit, does that mean [unoriginal]?’ What she actually meant was credible. It made me laugh.” As Barnard deviated from the narrative contours of Tremain’s book — excising major characters to focus on the conflicted siblings, reducing the ages of the central duo, relocating to Yorkshire, and making them tenant farmers rather than landowners — she was supported by her development partners at Left Bank, Film4 and the BFI. “I began the journey, starting with a broadly faithful adaptation of the novel,” says Barnard. “The initial feedback from Film4 was to ‘make it yours’. It was an opportunity, and also a challenge.”
While Left Bank’s Mackie, Lila Rawlings and Andy Harries stayed the course as executive producers — alongside Lizzie Francke for BFI, Rose Garnett and Polly Stokes for Film 4, Candy for Wellcome Trust and Hugo Heppell for Screen Yorkshire — Barnard’s regular producer partner Tracy O’Riordan at Moonspun Films boarded to steer the ship. Role call In the lead role of Alice, the itinerant sheep shearer for hire who returns to her family’s farm after 15 years following the death of her father, Barnard cast Ruth Wilson, whom she had met for a different, as-yet-unmade project. Finding Alice’s brother Joe was “the more complicated, longer bit”, with casting director Amy Hubbard and Barnard eventually zeroing in on Mark Stanley (Kajaki, aka Kilo Two Bravo). Sean Bean was cast in the pivotal role of the deceased father Richard, who is seen in flashbacks. His scenes, with the teen versions of the siblings (Esme Creed-Miles, Aiden McCullough), were significantly reduced in the edit. “Once you start shooting, often things that you had on the page, you don’t need on the screen,” says Barnard. Complicating the process was the fact the clock was ticking on the services of Barnard’s regular editor Nick Fenton, who was booked to segue into Dominic Cooke’s On Chesil Beach, also screening at TIFF. “Working with the flashbacks was really hard, and the edit took longer than we thought, based on our previous experiences,” acknowledges Barnard. “The subject matter in Dark River is delicate, so little changes made a massive difference.” Luke Dunkley, known to O’Riordan for his work on Gillian Wearing’s Self Made, stepped in. “In some ways it was really useful. He came in with a very objective outsider’s eye.” Dark River — which premieres here in the competitive Platform strand, and is being sold by Protagonist Pictures — arrives at a time when rural stories are coming to the fore in UK filmmaking, following God’s Own Country, The Levelling and Lady Macbeth. Barnard agrees: “I am aware of it. There have been a lot of stories about urban life, and not that many stories about rural life. Maybe there’s some balance being redressed. “I also think it’s to do with the way we’re mistreating the land, or have lost sight of a connection to it. We are reaching some kind of critical point and we s need to think about it.” ■ Dark River : public screenings from Sept 10; press & industry from Sept 11
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SCREENINGS Edited by Jamie McLeish » Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration
Molly Wright, Robert Emms, Sacha Parkinson, Siobhan Finneran. Family and faith come into conflict for two Jehovah’s Witness sisters in Manchester, when one is condemned for fornication and the other pressured to shun her sibling.
PUBLIC SCREENINGS
08:45 THE CHILDREN ACT
(UK) 105mins. FilmNation Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency (US). FilmNation Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Richard Eyre. Cast: Emma Thompson, Fionn Whitehead, Stanley Tucci. Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci star in this adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan, about a high-court judge (Thompson) who finds personal and professional crises colliding when she is asked to rule in the case of a brilliant 18-year-old boy who is refusing the blood transfusion that would save his life. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
09:00 AVA
(Iran/Canada/Qatar) 103mins. Mongrel International (US & int’l). Dir: Sadaf Foroughi. Cast: Bahar Nouhian, Houman Hoursan, Leili Rashidi, Mahour Jabbari, Sarah Alimoradi, Shayesteh Sajadi, Vahid Aghapour. A 16-year-old girl’s relationship with her family is challenged after her mother takes her to a gynaecologist in order to ensure she is still a virgin. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
BOOM FOR REAL: THE LATE TEENAGE YEARS OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
(US) 78mins. ICM Partners (US & int’l). Dir: Sara Driver. Cast: Alexis Adler, Carlo McCormick, Coleen Fitzgibbon, Felice Rosser, Fred Brathwaite aka Fab 5 Freddy, Glenn O’Brien, James Nares, Jennifer Jazz, Jim Jarmusch, Lee Quiñones, Luc Sante, Mary-Ann Monforton,
Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
BRAD’S STATUS See box, left
12:00 JANE
PUBLIC SCREENING
Michael Holman, Patricia Field, Sur Rodney (Sur). Sara Driver explores the pre-fame years of the celebrated US artist JeanMichel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people and the tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and ’80s shaped his vision. TIFF Docs Jackman Hall
Kuosmanen, Sherwan Haji, Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon. A failing restaurant owner hires a young Syrian refugee he finds sleeping in the yard of the restaurant, in this Silver Bear-winning dramedy from Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki. Masters TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
THE CURRENT WAR
(Austria/Germany) 94mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Barbara Albert. Cast: Devid Striesow, Katja Kolm, Lukas Miko, Maresi Riegner, Maria Dragus. The true story of the relationship between a blind 18th-century Viennese pianist and the controversial physician who worked to restore her sight, Dr Franz Mesmer.
(US) 107mins. The Weinstein Company (int’l). Dir: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Katherine Waterston, Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Tuppence Middleton. Biopic chronicling the race for marketable electricity in the US between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
09:30 THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE
(Finland/Germany) 101mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Aki Kaurismaki. Cast: Ilkka Koivula, Janne Hyytiainen, Kaija Pakarinen, Niroz Haji, Nuppu Koivu, Sakari
20 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
(US) 101mins. Sierra/ Affinity (int’l). Dir: Mike White. Cast: Austin Abrams, Ben Stiller, Jenna Fischer, Jermaine Clement, Luke Wilson, Michael Sheen. While touring colleges with his teenage son, an
introspective, middleaged family man (Ben Stiller) can’t help but compare himself to his more successful cohort of old friends, in acclaimed writer Mike White’s second directorial feature. Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
11:00
MADEMOISELLE PARADIS
Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
11:45 BRAD’S STATUS
Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
11:15 THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER
(Ireland/UK) 120mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos. Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone, Barry
Keoghan, Bill Camp, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic. The strange relationship between a cardiac surgeon and a 16-year-old boy portends a terrifying sacrifice, in this eagerly awaited supernatural thriller from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster). Special Presentations Princess of Wales
VALLEY OF SHADOWS
(Norway) 91mins. Celluloid Dreams (US & int’l). Dir: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen. Cast: Adam Ekeli, John Olav Nilsen, Katherine Fagerland. A young boy ventures into the forest in search of mysterious creatures that eat sheep, in this delightfully creepy Scandinavian gothic fable. Discovery Jackman Hall
11:30 A SORT OF FAMILY
(Argentina/Brazil/ France/Poland) 95mins. Film Factory Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Diego Lerman. Cast: Barbara Lennie, Claudio Tolcachir, Daniel Araoz. Director Diego Lerman’s latest feature follows a determined woman as she navigates the legally complex and morally dubious labyrinth of child adoption in the disadvantaged rural communities of Argentina’s north. Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
11:45 APOSTASY
(UK) 95mins. Cornerstone Films Limited (int’l). Dir: Daniel Kokotajlo. Cast:
(US) 90mins. Cinetic Media (US & int’l). Dir: Brett Morgen. Academy Awardnominated director Brett Morgen (On the Ropes) reconstitutes 50-year-old National Geographic footage into a poetic look at primatologist Jane Goodall, set to a score by Philip Glass. TIFF Docs Winter Garden Theatre
SUBURBICON
(US) 105mins. Bloom (int’l). Dir: George Clooney. Cast: Julianne Moore, Matt Damon, Noah Jupe, Oscar Isaac. Director George Clooney teams with co-writers Joel and Ethan Coen and an all-star ensemble for this complex tale of very flawed people making very bad choices in a seemingly idyllic 1950s community. Special Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
12:15 NUMBER ONE
(France) 110mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Tonie Marshall. Cast: Benjamin Biolay, Emmanuelle Devos, Richard Berry, Suzanne Clément. In this whip-smart drama about corporate sexism, Emmanuelle Devos plays a high-ranking female executive who is forced to consider her options when she realises the glass ceiling is fast approaching. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
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JURY GRID, PAGE 30
12:30 TULIPANI, LOVE, HONOUR AND A BICYCLE
(Netherlands/Italy/ Canada) 90mins. Atlas International Film (int’l). Dir: Mike van Diem. Cast: Anneke Sluiters, Donatella Finocchiaro, Georgio Pasotti, Giancarlo Giannini, Gijs Naber, Ksenia Solo, Lidia Vitale, Michele Venitucci, Toto Onnis. In this wonderfully woolly tale about rediscovering one’s roots, a young Montrealer arrives in a small Italian village to scatter her mother’s ashes, and finds herself embroiled in a bizarre series of family histories and feuds. Contemporary World Cinema Ryerson Theatre
12:45 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ
(US) 94mins. Submarine (US & int’l). Dir: Kate Novack. Cast: André Leon Talley, Anna Wintour, Bethann Hardison, Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik, Marc Jacobs, Tamron Hall, Tom Ford, Whoopi Goldberg. From the segregated American South to the fashion capitals of the
world, operatic fashion editor André Leon Talley’s life and career are on full display, in a poignant portrait that includes appearances by Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Bethann Hardison, Valentino and Manolo Blahnik. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 14
13:00 DUNKIRK
(UK) 106mins. Warner Bros. Pictures (US). Dir: Christopher Nolan. Cast: Aneurin Barnard, Barry Keoghan, Cillian Murphy, Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Jack Lowden, James D’Arcy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Tom Glynn-Carney, Tom Hardy. Christopher Nolan joins us for an exclusive screening of his harrowing war epic, presented in Imax at Ontario Place’s historic Cinesphere. Special Event Ontario Place Cinesphere
13:30 MARY SHELLEY
(Ireland/UK/ Luxembourg/US) 120mins. United Talent Agency (US). HanWay Films (int’l). Dir:
Haifaa Al Mansour. Cast: Bel Powley, Ben Hardy, Douglas Booth, Elle Fanning, Joanne Froggatt, Maisie Williams, Stephen Dillane, Tom Sturridge. Elle Fanning stars in this scintillating biopic of the Frankenstein author, chronicling her tempestuous marriage to dissolute poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and the fateful night at a Swiss chateau that inspired her most famous creation. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 2
13:45 THE RITUAL
(UK) 95mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). Sierra/Affinity (int’l). Dir: David Bruckner. Cast: Arsher Ali, Rafe Spall, Robert James-
Collier, Sam Troughton. Venturing into the wilderness of the Swedish highlands to perform a remembrance for a dearly departed friend, four men are subjected to a night of terror when they unwisely take refuge in a derelict house. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 13
THE SWAN
(Iceland) 91mins. m-appeal (int’l). Dir: Asa Helga Hjörleifsdottir. Cast: Blær Johannsdottir, Grima Valsdottir, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Katla Porgeirsdottir, Thor Kristjansson. When young Sol is sent to live with her distant countryside relatives for a summer, she becomes entangled in a dramatic rite of passage with a mysterious farmhand, Jon,
PUBLIC SCREENING 14:30 THE DEUCE
(US) 145mins. Dir: Ernest Dickerson, Michelle MacLaren. Cast: Chris Bauer, Chris Coy, Dominique Fishback, Emily Meade, Gary Carr, Gbenga Akinnagbe, James Franco, Lawrence
Gilliard Jr, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Margarita Levieva. From the creative minds behind The Wire and Treme comes this gritty snapshot into the birth of the porn industry in 1970s New York. Primetime TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
and the farmer’s daughter, Asta. Discovery Jackman Hall
14:00 THE CARTER EFFECT
(Canada/US) 60mins. Dir: Sean Menard. Cast: David Stern, Drake, Michelle Carter-Scott, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter. In his latest documentary, Sean Menard gives viewers an unprecedented look at Vince Carter: the sixfoot-six, eight-time NBA All-Star from Daytona Beach who made waves in the Canadian basketball scene when he joined the Raptors in 1998. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 3
14:15 BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE)
(France) 143mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Robin Campillo. Cast: Adele Haenel, Aloïse Sauvage, Antoine Reinartz, Ariel Borenstein, Arnaud Valois, Catherine Vinatier, Coralie Russier, Félix Maritaud, JeanFrancois Auguste, Médhi Touré, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Saadia Bentaieb, Simon Bourgade, Simon Guélat, Théophile Ray. Writer-director Robin Campillo (Les Revenants, Eastern Boys) offers a harrowing yet inspiring look back at the activism of French ACT UP protestors during the height of the Aids crisis in the early 1990s. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
14:30 BEYOND THE ONE (preceded by STRANGELY ORDINARY THIS DEVOTION)
(France/Italy/Germany, US) 80mins. Dir: Anna Marziano, Dani Restack, Sheilah Restack. By turns affecting and unsettling, Dani Restack and Sheilah Restack’s Strangely Ordinary This Devotion connects associative threads
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(including rocks, blood, motherhood and queer representation) into a dazzling, web-like whole: a defacto treatise on radical intimacy. Set to a breath-like rhythm, Anna Marziano’s Beyond The One is an essayistic exploration of love’s various guises, considering different attempts at courtship, living together and sustaining connections with people once they have died. Wavelengths TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
THE DEUCE See box, left
THE SQUARE
(Sweden) 145mins. Coproduction Office (int’l). Dir: Ruben Ostlund. Cast: Christopher Laesso, Claes Bang, Dominic West, Elisabeth Moss, Terry Notary. Swedish provocateur Ruben Ostlund (Force Majeure) took home the Palme d’Or at Cannes for this no-holds-barred satire of the postmodern art world, about a selfimportant curator whose attempts to mount an ambitious exhibition go hilariously awry. Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
VICTORIA & ABDUL
(UK) 111mins. Universal Pictures International (int’l). Dir: Stephen Frears. Cast: Adeel Akhtar, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Fenella Woolgar, Judi Dench, Olivia Williams, Tim PiggotSmith. Acclaimed UK filmmaker Stephen Frears reunites with his Philomena star, Academy Award winner Judi Dench, in this charming dramedy chronicling the friendship between Queen Victoria and a decades-younger Indian clerk named Abdul Karim. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
September 10, 2017 Screen International at Toronto 21
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SCREENINGS
Michel, Liza Scholtz, Loren Loubser, Nala Khumalo, Qondiswa James. Four friends on a camping trip at an isolated farm wake up to discover they have all swapped bodies, in the second feature from South African director Jenna Bass.
15:00 CHAPPAQUIDDICK
(US) 107mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). Sierra/Affinity (int’l). Dir: John Curran. Cast: Bruce Dern, Clancy Brown, Ed Helms, Jason Clarke, Jim Gaffigan, Kate Mara, Olivia Thirlby, Taylor Nichols. This suspenseful historical drama examines the infamous 1969 incident when Senator Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) accidentally drove off a bridge, resulting in the death of campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara). Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
17:45 HAPPY END
PUBLIC SCREENING 15:00
THE BREADWINNER
THE FLORIDA PROJECT
(Canada/Ireland/ Luxembourg) 93mins. WestEnd Films (int’l). Dir: Nora Twomey. Cast: Ali Badshah, Kawa Ada, Laara Sadiq, Noorin Gulamgaus, Saara Chaudry, Shaista Latif, Soma Chhaya. Based on Deborah Ellis’s award-winning novel, director Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner tells the extraordinary story of an 11-year-old Afghan girl who finds strength in the love of her family and the power of storytelling.
(US) 115mins. Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: Sean Baker. Cast: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Valeria Cotto, Willem Dafoe.
Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
THE FLORIDA PROJECT See box, above
15:30
Tuckfield, Cinetic Media (US). Dir: Morgan Spurlock. Cast: Jonathan Buttram, Morgan Spurlock. Muckraking filmmaker Morgan Spurlock reignites his battle with the food industry — this time from behind the register — as he opens his own fast-food restaurant. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 3
16:15
BLACK KITE
COCAINE PRISON
(Canada/Afghanistan) 82mins. Dir: Tarique Qayumi. Cast: Hadi Delsoz, Haji Gul, Hamid Noorzay, Kaka Nabi, Leena Alam, Masoud Fanayee, Sameer Nasim, Sin Mim Alavi, Zahra Nasim. Against oppression, change and seismic political shifts, a father and his daughter find solace in the seemingly clandestine act of kite flying.
(Australia/Bolivia/ France/US) 78mins. Life Media Projects (US). Dir: Violeta Ayala. Cast: Deisy Torrez, Hernan Torrez, Mario Bernal. Filmed in Bolivia — including inside the notorious San Sebastian prison — over five years, Violeta Ayala’s latest film provides a ground-level view of the international drug trade through the eyes of its foot soldiers: a drug mule, his sister and a cocaine worker.
Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
16:00
TIFF Docs Scotiabank 11
SUPER SIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN!
COCOTE
(US) 93mins. Tristen
(Dominican Republic/
22 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
The latest from Sean Baker (Tangerine) juxtaposes the carefree summer of a spirited kid with the harsh realities dogging the grown-ups in her orbit. Special Presentations Ryerson Theatre
Argentina/Germany/ Qatar) 106mins. Luxbox (int’l). Dir: Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias. Cast: Isabel Spencer, Judith Rodriguez, Pedro Sierra, Vicente Santos, Yuberbi de la Rosa. Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias explores the lurking violence, corruption and class conflicts in his homeland through the tale of a gardener whose tense return to his country home is compounded by the fact he is expected to avenge his father’s murder. Wavelengths Jackman Hall
MONTANA
(Israel) 74mins. Dir: Limor Shmila. Cast: Avi Malka, Netta Shpigelman, Noa Biron. When a woman returns to her hometown in Israel following the death of her grandfather, she falls in love with a married teacher despite her fractured past looming large, in the feature debut by Limor Schmilla. Discovery Scotiabank 13
SOLDIERS. STORY FROM FERENTARI
(Romania/Serbia/ Belgium) 119mins. Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Ivana Mladenovic. Cast: Adrian Schiop, Vasile PavelDigudai. Set in Bucharest’s impoverished ghetto Ferentari, Ivana Mladenovic’s intimate narrative debut navigates the unexpected relationship that blossoms between a young anthropologist named Adi and Roma guide Alberto. Discovery Scotiabank 10
16:30 BREATH
(Australia) 115mins. Creative Artists Agency, Untitled Entertainment (US). Embankment Films (int’l). Dir: Simon Baker. Cast: Ben Spence, Elizabeth Debicki, Samson Coulter, Simon Baker. A 13-year-old thrillseeker in a coastal Australian town finds both exhilaration and danger when he is taken under the wing of a pro surfer, in the feature directorial debut of actor Simon Baker (The Mentalist). Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 2
WARU
(New Zealand) 86mins. Dir: Ainsley Gardiner, Awanui Simich-Pene, Briar Grace-Smith, Casey Kaa, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe,
Paula Jones, Renae Maihi. Cast: Acacia Hapi, Amber Curreen, AwhinaRose Ashby, Kararaina Rangihau, Maria Walker, Mary-Anne Mere Waaka, Miriama McDowell, Ngapaki Moetara, Roimata Fox, Tanea Heke. Comprising eight vignettes that document the funeral of a young Maori boy, Waru is a formally complex reflection on tragedy, responsibility and the intimate grain of a community united in the face of grief. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
16:45 WHO WE ARE NOW
(US) 99mins. United Talent Agency (US). Dir: Matthew Newton. Cast: Emma Roberts, Jason Biggs, Jess Weixler, Jimmy Smits, Julianne Nicholson, Lea Thompson, Zachary Quinto. An ex-con (Julianne Nicholson) forms an unlikely alliance with an idealistic lawyer (Emma Roberts) to regain custody of her young son, in this affecting drama from writer-director Matthew Newton (From Nowhere). Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
17:00 HIGH FANTASY
(South Africa) 71mins. Bridge Independent (US). Dir: Jenna Bass. Cast: Francesca Varrie
(France/Austria/ Germany) 107mins. Les Films du Losange (int’l). Dir: Michael Haneke. Cast: Fantine Harduin, Franz Rogowski, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Laura Verlinden, Mathieu Kassovitz, Toby Jones. Isabelle Huppert and JeanLouis Trintignant star in Michael Haneke’s semisequel to 2012’s Amour, about the dysfunctional lives of a bourgeois European family. Masters Winter Garden Theatre
NOVITIATE
(US) 118mins. Dir: Maggie Betts. Cast: Chelsea Lopez, Chris Zylka, Denis O’Hare, Dianna Agron, Eline Powell, Julianne Nicholson, Liana Liberato, Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Morgan Saylor, Rebecca Dayan. Melissa Leo (The Fighter) oversees a bevy of up-andcoming female actors in this drama about aspiring nuns at an isolated Catholic school in 1964, who are forced to re-examine their faith and their calling in light of the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
18:00 BATTLE OF THE SEXES
(US) 121mins. Dir: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris. Cast: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Alan Cumming, Andrea Riseborough, Austin Stowell, Bill Pullman, Elisabeth Shue, Natalie Morales, Sarah Silverman. Emma Stone and Steve
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Carell star in this recreation of the legendary 1973 tennis match that pitted Billie Jean King against Bobby Riggs. Special Presentations Ryerson Theatre
DISOBEDIENCE
(UK) 114mins. FilmNation Entertainment, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). FilmNation Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Sebastian Lelio. Cast: Alessandro Nivola, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz. Sebastian Lelio directs Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams in this adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel about a woman who returns home to her orthodox Jewish community in London and rekindles a romance with her cousin’s wife. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
18:15 ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS
(UK) 135mins. Altitude Film Sales (int’l). Dir: Lili Fini Zanuck. An intimate, revealing musical odyssey on the life and career of guitar virtuoso Eric Clapton, told by those who have known him best, including BB King, Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison. TIFF Docs TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
SUBMERGENCE
(France/Germany/ Spain) 112mins. United Talent Agency (US). Embankment Films (int’l). Dir: Wim Wenders. Cast: Alicia Vikander, Celyn Jones, James McAvoy. The new film from director Wim Wenders is a globe-trotting romance about a water engineer (James McAvoy) and
2017_UKF_TIFF_Screenad_HP_218x150_Art_SUNDAY.indd 2
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a deep-sea researcher (Alicia Vikander) striving to reconnect although separated by oceans, continents and civil war. Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
18:30 NINA
(Slovakia/Czech Republic) 82mins. Alpha Violet (int’l). Dir: Juraj Lehotsky. Cast: Bibiana Novakova, Petra Fornayova, Robert Roth. A 12-year-old swimming star becomes the emotional casualty of her parents’ acrimonious separation, in this powerful comingof-age story about youth rebelliously standing up to the cruelties and immaturities of adulthood.
Beau Bridges, Dermot Mulroney, Idris Elba, Kate Winslet. A surgeon and a journalist must rely on each other for survival when the small plane they share crashes in the wilderness. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
18:45 ANGELS WEAR WHITE
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US
(China/France) 107mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Vivian Qu. Cast: Geng Le, Li Mengnan, Liu Weiwei, Peng Jing, Shi Ke, Wang Yuexin, Wen Qi, Zhou Meijun. Chinese writer-director Vivian Qu creates a moody modern-day noir with this thriller set in a sleepy seaside village, where a teenage motel receptionist and the young victim of a brutal assault are caught in an ever-tightening net of danger and violence.
(US) 104mins. Dir: Hany Abu-Assad. Cast:
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 3
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 11
GUTLAND
(Luxembourg/Germany/ Belgium) 107mins. Stray Dogs (int’l). Dir: Govinda Van Maele. Cast: Frederick Lau, Marco Lorenzini, Vicky Krieps. A surrealist rural noir about a German thief who flees to a small Luxembourg village only to discover the locals have secrets of their own. Discovery Scotiabank 13
MIRACLE
(Lithuania/Bulgaria/ Poland) 92mins. Wide (int’l). Dir: Egle Vertelyte. Cast: Andrius Bialobzeskis, Daniel Olbrychski, Egle Mikulionyte, Vyto Ruginis. In Lithuanian director Egle Vertelyte’s feature debut, the owner of a struggling post-Soviet pig farm finds a surprising benefactor in a visiting US investor, whose ‘good’
intentions upend the gentle rhythms of smalltown life. Discovery Scotiabank 8
19:00 ALANIS
(Argentina) 82mins. Fandango (int’l). Dir: Anahi Berneri. Cast: Dante Della Paolera, Sofia Gala Castaglione. A young Buenos Aires mother and sex worker suffers the hypocrisy of the laws that are supposed to protect her, in this compelling, profoundly political drama about the dismal choices foisted on vulnerable women. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 14
HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS
(Canada) 100mins. Seville International (int’l). Dir: Francois Girard. Cast: Emmanuel Schwartz, Gilles Renaud, »
04/09/2017 17:52
September 10, 2017 Screen International at Toronto 23
SCREENINGS
Linus Roache, Naïade Aoun, Raoul Trujillo, Samian, Sébastien Ricard, Sian Phillips, Tanaya Beatty, Tony Nardi, Vincent Perez, Wahiakeron Gilbert. Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny engages in a search for his ancestors following a tragic terrain slump in the Percival Molson Stadium, in Francois Girard’s multifaceted portrait of Montreal’s rich history.
anthropologist duo Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (Leviathan) return with this deeply disturbing interview-portrait of Issei Sagawa, the notorious Japanese cannibal now living a reclusive life and seeking atonement for his gruesome crimes. Wavelengths Jackman Hall
HUMAN TRACES
Gala Presentations Scotiabank 9
TIGRE
(Argentina) 91mins. Dir: Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra Guardiola. Cast: Agustin Rittano, Lorena Vega, Magali Fernandez, Maria Ucedo, Marilu Marini, Melina Toscano. A woman visits her home on an island in the Tigre Delta in an attempt to reconnect with her son, but finds that returning and reconciliation are never easy, in this atmospheric family drama.
PUBLIC SCREENING 19:30 A WORTHY COMPANION
(Canada) 105mins. Seville International (int’l). Dir: Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez. Cast: Denis O’Hare, Evan Rachel Wood, Julia Sarah Stone,
Maxim Roy. A 30-year-old woman embarks on an intimate yet ultimately manipulative relationship with a 16-year-old runaway.
Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey. Rachel McAdams made an indelible impact as Regina George, everyone’s favourite mean girl.
a high-flying Los Angeles attorney (Colin Farrell).
Festival Street Slaight Music Stage
Discovery Scotiabank 2
MESSI AND MAUD
(Norway/Sweden/ France/Denmark) 116mins. Memento Films International (US & int’l). Dir: Joachim Trier. Cast: Eili Harboe, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Kaya Wilkins. Recently moved to Oslo to attend school, a young woman falls in love and discovers she possesses terrifying powers, in this supernatural thriller.
Discovery Jackman Hall
19:15 LOTS OF KIDS, A MONKEY AND A CASTLE
(Spain) 88mins. Dogwoof (US & int’l). Dir: Gustavo Salmeron. Cast: Antonio Garcia Cabanes, David Garcia Salmeron, Gustavo Salmeron, Julia Salmeron, Julita Salmeron, Mariam Garcés Correa, Nacho Salmeron, Paloma Garcia-Cabanes Salmeron, Ramon Garcia Salmeron. Spanish actor Gustavo Salmeron steps behind the camera to capture the winsome eccentricities of his mother Julita, who had three dreams: having lots of kids, owning a monkey and living in a castle.
Falls, she learns her estranged father is dying of cancer and wants her to form a bond with a teenage half-sister she has never met. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
19:30 A WORTHY COMPANION See box, above
PORCUPINE LAKE
TIFF Docs Scotiabank 10
(Canada) 85mins. Outplay Films (int’l). Dir: Ingrid Veninger. Cast: Charlotte Salisbury, Christopher Bolton, Delphine Roussel, Hallie Switzer, Harrison Tanner, Lucinda Armstrong Hall. Two girls on the brink of adulthood enjoy a summertime of fleeting childhood adventures.
MARY GOES ROUND
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 4
(Canada) 84mins. Dir: Molly McGlynn. Cast: Aya Cash, John Ralston, Melanie Nicholls-King, Sara Waisglass. When a substance abuse counsellor gets arrested for a DUI and returns to her hometown of Niagara
20:45 THE CURED
(Ireland/UK/France) 95mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency (US). Bac Films (int’l). Dir: David Freyne.
24 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
Cast: Ellen Page, Sam Keeley, Tom VaughanLawlor. Ellen Page stars in this gloriously terrifying yet thought-provoking horror thriller about the fraught process of reintegrating formerly infected flesheaters into society in the aftermath of a zombie plague. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
21:00 DARK RIVER
(UK) 89mins. Protagonist Pictures (US & int’l). Dir: Clio Barnard. Cast: Mark Stanley, Ruth Wilson, Sean Bean. An atmospheric drama about the old wounds and bitter new grievances that come to light when a woman returns home to settle the tenancy of her family’s farm. Platform Winter Garden Theatre
MEAN GIRLS (preceded by short film BEGONE DULL CARE)
(US) 105mins. Dir: Mark Waters. Cast: Lindsay
(Netherlands/Germany) 92mins. Visit Films (int’l). Dir: Marleen Jonkman. Cast: Cristobal Farias, Guido Pollemans, Rifka Lodeizen. While on holiday in Chile, Maud (Rifka Lodeizen) and her husband descend into a huge fight about their inability to conceive. Discovery Scotiabank 11
Special presentations Ryerson Theatre
THELMA
Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
21:15
ONE OF US
MOTHER!
(US) 95mins. Dir: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady. Oscar-nominated documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) penetrate the insular world of New York’s Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation. TIFF Docs TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
(US) 115mins. Paramount Pictures. Dir: Darren Aronofsky. Cast: Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Ed Harris, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Wiig, Michelle Pfeiffer. Darren Aronofsky’s highly anticipated psychological thriller about a couple threatened by the arrival of uninvited guests to their tranquil home.
ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ.
Special Presentations Princess of Wales
(US) 129mins. Dir: Dan Gilroy. Cast: Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo. An idealistic lawyer (Denzel Washington) slowly begins to lose touch with his moral beliefs when he goes to work for
21:30 CANIBA
(France) 95mins. Elle Driver (int’l). Dir: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel. Cast: Issei Sagawa. Filmmaking-
(New Zealand) 86mins. Film Mode Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Nic Gorman. Cast: Mark Mitchinson, Sophie Henderson, Vinnie Bennett. A husband-and-wife research team stationed on a remote island find the delicate ecosystem of their relationship challenged by the arrival of a mysterious young man, in this densely atmospheric feature debut by Nic Gorman. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
KILLING JESUS
(Colombia/Argentina) 100mins. Latido Films (int’l). Dir: Laura Mora. Cast: Camilo Escobar, Carmenza Cossio, Giovanny Rodriguez, José David Medina, Juan Camilo Cardenas, Juan Pablo Trujillo, Natasha Jaramillo. A few months after witnessing the murder of her father, a woman crosses paths with a young man she believes to be his killer, in Laura Mora’s feature debut based on true events. Discovery Scotiabank 8
OH LUCY!
(US/Japan) 95mins. United Talent Agency (US). Elle Driver (int’l). Dir: Atsuko Hirayanagi. Cast: Josh Hartnett, Kaho Minami, Koji Yakusho, Shinobu Terajima, Shioli Kutsuna. An ageing Japanese office worker embraces her American alter ego and embarks on a comedic odyssey of desire, passion and betrayal through Southern California, in the feature debut from Atsuko Hirayanagi. Discovery Scotiabank 14
www.screendaily.com
SERGIO & SERGEI
(Spain/Cuba) 93mins. WestEnd Films (US & int’l). Dir: Ernesto Daranas Serrano. Cast: Hector Noas, Ron Perlman, Tomas Cao. As the Soviet Union crumbles in 1991, an amateur radio operator in Cuba makes unexpected contact with stranded cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev as he observes the dissolution of his nation from orbit, in Cuban director Ernesto Daranas Serrano’s comic yet poignant reflection on how big events can impact ordinary lives. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 3
THE BRAWLER
(India) 159mins. Stray Dogs (int’l). Dir: Anurag Kashyap. Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Ravi Kissan, Sadhana Singh, Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain.
www.screendaily.com
A lower-caste boxer struggles to make his mark on the boxing world, in the highly anticipated film from Anurag Kashyap. Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
WOMAN WALKS AHEAD
(US) 101mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). IM Global (int’l). Dir: Susanna White. Cast: Ciaran Hinds, Jessica Chastain, Michael Greyeyes, Sam Rockwell. Jessica Chastain stars in the true story of Catherine Weldon, a 19th-century Brooklyn artist who travelled to the Dakota Territory and became the confidante of legendary Sioux chief Sitting Bull. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
21:45 1%
(Australia) 92mins. United Talent Agency (US). Celluloid Dreams
(int’l). Dir: Stephen McCallum. Cast: Aaron Pedersen, Abbey Lee, Josh McConville, Matt Nable, Ryan Corr, Simone Kessell. Two men square off over control of a motorcycle gang in this violent drama about fraternity, loyalty and betrayal from firsttime director Stephen McCallum. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
CATCH THE WIND
(France) 103mins. Doc & Film International (int’l). Dir: Gaël Morel. Cast: Ilian Bergala, Kamal El Amri, Lubna Azabal, Mouna Fettou, Sandrine Bonnaire. A middle-aged factory worker’s life is upended when she follows her job to Morocco, where her employer has relocated. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
KISSING CANDICE
(Ireland) 102mins. Film Constellation (int’l). Dir: Aoife McArdle. Cast: Ann Skelly, Caitriona Ennis, Conall Keating, John Lynch, Ryan Lincoln, Ryan McParland. Candice longs to escape the boredom of her seaside town, but when a boy she dreams about turns up in real life, she becomes involved with a dangerous local gang, in Irish music video director Aoife McArdle’s feature debut. Discovery Scotiabank 4
VERONICA
(Spain) 105mins. Film Factory Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Paco Plaza. Cast: Ana Torrent, Bruna Gonzalez, Claudia Placer, Consuelo Trujillo, Ivan Chavero, Sandra Escacena. Inspired by real events that took place in Madrid in 1991, the nerve-
rattling new feature from Spanish director Paco Plaza chronicles a teenage girl’s descent into terror following her naive attempt to communicate with her dead father. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 10
VILLAGE ROCKSTARS
(India) 87mins. Dir: Rima Das. Cast: Basanti Das, Bhanita Das. A 10-year-old girl living in a remote village in northeast India fights against stereotypes and poverty to pursue her dream of owning a guitar and forming a rock band. Discovery Scotiabank 9
22:15 MOM AND DAD (preceded by short film GREAT CHOICE)
(US) 90mins. XYZ Films, Creative Artists Agency (US). XYZ Films (int’l). Dir: Brian Taylor. Cast:
Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Carrie Coon, Jordan Gelber, Lance Henriksen, Morgan Spector. Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair star in this pitchblack horror-comedy about a worldwide mass hysteria where, for 24 brutal hours, parents turn violently against their own children. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 2
23:59 REVENGE
(France) 108mins. Charades (US & int’l). Dir: Coralie Fargeat. Cast: Kevin Janssens, Matilda Lutz. Never take your mistress on an annual guys’ getaway, especially one devoted to hunting — a violent lesson for three wealthy married men, in writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s feature debut. Midnight Madness Ryerson Theatre
September 10, 2017 Screen International at Toronto 25
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SCREENINGS
Blair star in this pitchblack horror-comedy about a worldwide mass hysteria where, for 24 brutal hours, parents turn violently against their own children.
Ryerson Theatre
PRESS & INDUSTRY
08:30
Midnight Madness Scotiabank 7
MARY SHELLEY
(Ireland/UK/ Luxembourg/US) 120mins. United Talent Agency (US). HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Haifaa Al Mansour. Cast: Bel Powley, Ben Hardy, Douglas Booth, Elle Fanning, Joanne Froggatt, Maisie Williams, Stephen Dillane, Tom Sturridge. Elle Fanning stars in this scintillating biopic of the Frankenstein author, chronicling her tempestuous marriage to dissolute poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and the fateful night at a Swiss chateau that inspired her most famous creation. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 2
08:45 LOVE MEANS ZERO
(US) 89mins. Dir: Jason Kohn. Infamous and influential tennis coach Nick Bollettieri has trained generations of champions, but that greatness comes at a personal price, in the second film from provocative director Jason Kohn (Manda Bala — Send a Bullet). TIFF Docs Scotiabank 14
09:00 A WORTHY COMPANION
(Canada) 105mins. Seville International (int’l). Dir: Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez. Cast: Denis O’Hare, Evan Rachel Wood, Julia Sarah Stone, Maxim Roy. A 30-year-old woman (Evan Rachel Wood) embarks on an intimate yet ultimately manipulative relationship with a 16-year-old runaway (former TIFF rising star Julia Sarah Stone) in the highly anticipated feature debut from Montreal-based photographers Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Discovery Scotiabank 7
SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD
(US) 98mins. Submarine (US & int’l). Dir: Matt Tyrnauer. Cast: Scotty Bowers. A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 13
11:45 PUBLIC SCHOOLED
PRESS & INDUSTRY MOTHER!
(US) 115mins. Paramount Pictures. Dir: Darren Aronofsky. Cast: Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Ed Harris, Kristen Wiig, Michelle Pfeiffer. Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller about a couple threatened by the arrival of uninvited guests to their tranquil home. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1 and 3
THE LEGEND OF THE UGLY KING
(Germany/Austria) 122mins. Dir: Hüseyin Tabak. Cast: Costa Gavras, Donat Keusch, Elif Güney Pütün, Fatos Güney, Gilles Jacob, Güllü Pütün, Halil Ergün, Hüseyin Tabak, Jack Lang, Leyla Demirezen, Michael Haneke, Nebahat Cehre, Tarik Akan, Tuncel Kurtiz, Yilmaz Güney. Director Hüseyin Tabak explores the legacy of Yilmaz Güney — political dissident, convicted murderer and visionary Kurdish filmmaker — who directed the 1982 Palme d’Or–winning Yol from inside prison and died in exile just two years later. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 8
09:15 BRAD’S STATUS
(US) 101mins. Sierra/
26 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
Affinity (int’l). Dir: Mike White. Cast: Austin Abrams, Ben Stiller, Jenna Fischer, Jermaine Clement, Luke Wilson, Michael Sheen. While touring colleges with his teenage son, an introspective, middleaged family man (Ben Stiller) cannot help but compare himself to his more successful cohort of old friends (Luke Wilson, Jemaine Clement and Michael Sheen), in writer Mike White’s second directorial feature. Platform Scotiabank 4
THE GARDEN
(Germany) 97mins. Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Sonja Maria Kröner. Cast: Christine Schorn, Emilia Pieske, Grischa Huber, Günther Maria Halmer, Inge Maux, Johannes Silberschneider, Laura Tonke, Mavie Hörbiger, Thomas Loibl, Ursula Werner. The death of overbearing matriarch Sophie reveals cracks in a family’s relationships and subtly changes their dynamics, in Sonja Maria Kröner’s feature debut. Discovery Scotiabank 9
09:30 WHO WE ARE NOW
(US) 99mins. United Talent Agency (US).
11:00 THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
(US) 115mins. Dir: Martin McDonagh. Cast: Abbie Cornish, Caleb Landry Jones, Clarke Peters, Frances McDormand, John Hawkes, Lucas Hedges, Peter Dinklage, Sam Rockwell, Samara Weaving, Woody Harrelson. Dir: Matthew Newton. Cast: Emma Roberts, Jason Biggs, Jess Weixler, Jimmy Smits, Julianne Nicholson, Lea Thompson, Zachary Quinto. An ex-con (Julianne Nicholson) forms an unlikely alliance with an idealistic lawyer (Emma Roberts) to regain custody of her young son, in this drama from writerdirector Matthew Newton (From Nowhere). Special Presentations Scotiabank 13
10:45 HANNAH
(Italy/Belgium/France) 95mins. TF1 Studio (int’l). Dir: Andrea Pallaoro. Cast: André Wilms, Charlotte Rampling. Charlotte Rampling stars in this intimate portrait of
A frustrated and grieving mother (Frances McDormand) antagonises her local police force (including Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell) to call attention to the lack of progress in the search for her daughter’s killer, in the latest from darkhumour master Martin McDonagh. Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
a woman drifting between reality and denial when she is left alone to grapple with the consequences of her husband’s imprisonment. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 14
11:00 THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI See box, above
11:30 MOM AND DAD (preceded by short film GREAT CHOICE)
(US) 90mins. XYZ Films, Creative Artists Agency (US). XYZ Films (int’l). Dir: Brian Taylor. Cast: Cast: Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Carrie Coon, Jordan Gelber, Lance Henriksen, Morgan Spector. Nicolas Cage and Selma
(Canada) 86mins. Kaleidoscope Film Distribution, XYZ Films (US). Kaleidoscope Film Distribution (int’l). Dir: Kyle Rideout. Cast: Alex Barima, Andrea Bang, Andrew Herr, Andrew McNee, Daniel Doheny, Eva Day, Grace Park, Josh Epstein, Judy Greer, Maxine Miller, Russell Peters, Siobhan Williams. After being homeschooled his whole life, wannabe physicist Liam (Daniel Doheny) enrolls in public school to chase the girl of his dreams, in this comedy from Kyle Rideout (Eadweard). Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 8
THE CURED
(Ireland/UK/France) 95mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency (US). Bac Films (int’l). Dir: David Freyne. Cast: Ellen Page, Sam Keeley, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. Ellen Page stars in this gloriously terrifying yet thought-provoking horror thriller about the fraught process of reintegrating formerly infected flesheaters into society in the aftermath of a zombie plague. Special Presentations Scotiabank 3
THE CURRENT WAR
(US) 107mins. The Weinstein Company
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(int’l). Dir: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Katherine Waterston, Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Tuppence Middleton. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) directs Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland and Katherine Waterston in this biopic chronicling the race for marketable electricity in the US between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
12:00 BEAST
(UK) 107mins. Protagonist Pictures (US & int’l). Dir: Michael Pearce. Cast: Charley Palmer Rothwell, Geraldine James, Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Trystan Gravelle. A troubled woman living in an isolated community finds herself pulled between the control of her oppressive family and the allure of a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders, in writer-director Michael Pearce’s feature debut. Platform Scotiabank 10
MIAMI
(Finland) 120mins. LevelK (int’l). Dir: Zaida Bergroth. Cast: Krista Kosonen, Sonja Kuittinen. A sheltered young woman is unexpectedly reunited with her estranged exotic-dancer sister, in Finnish director Zaida Bergroth’s affecting story of a dysfunctional family struggling to reforge their old bonds. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 9
SAMMY DAVIS, JR: I’VE GOTTA BE ME
(US) 100mins. Submarine (US & int’l). Dir: Sam Pollard. A star-studded roster of interviewees (Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented
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song-and-dance man, in this exhilarating addition to the American Masters series. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 11
UNDER PRESSURE
(Brazil) 95mins. Estudios Globo (int’l). Dir: Andrucha Waddington, Mini Kerti. Cast: Bruno Garcia, Julio Andrade, Marjorie Estiano, Ora Figueiredo, Pablo Sanabio, Stepan Nercessian. Adapted by Jorge Furtado and Andrucha Waddington from the latter’s 2016 film, Under Pressure is a characterdriven medical drama set in an underfunded public hospital in a povertystricken Rio de Janeiro favela. Primetime Scotiabank 5
13:00 LEAN ON PETE
(US/UK) 119mins. The
Bureau Sales, Celluloid Dreams (int’l). Dir: Andrew Haigh. Cast: Charlie Plummer, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Travis Fimmel. Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years) directs Steve Buscemi and Chloë Sevigny in this modernday western, about a 15-year-old lost soul (Charlie Plummer) who hooks up with a pair of itinerant horse trainers and develops a powerful bond with a race horse. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
13:30 OF SHEEP AND MEN
(Switzerland/France/ Qatar) 78mins. Dir: Karim Sayad. Sixteen-year-old Habib dreams of training his prized sheep to become a fighting champion and middle-aged Samir just wants to sell enough sheep before Eid to make ends meet, in this emotive
PRESS & INDUSTRY 14:15 SNEAK PEEK LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT
(Japan-China) 86mins. Moonstone Entertainment. Dir: Chen Kaige. Cast: Sometani Shota, Huang Xuan, Keiko Matsuzaka. An exclusive first look at footage from Chen
Kaige’s (The Emperor And The Assassin) highly anticipated Tang Dynasty epic, a largescale spectacular shot over three seasons on a city-sized set. Followed by a Q&A with the director. Special event TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
profile of two men in an impoverished Algerian community. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 7
14:00 04-MAR
(Germany/Bulgaria) 82mins. Memento Films International (US & int’l). Dir: Ilian Metev. Cast: Mila Mihova, Nikolay Mashalov, Simona Genkova, Todor Veltchev. Two talented siblings struggle with the idea of being separated while their astrophysicist father seems incapable of dealing with his children’s anxieties, in Ilian Metev’s touching portrait of a family during their last summer together. Discovery Scotiabank 8
14:15 IF YOU SAW HIS HEART
(France) 86mins. MK2 (int’l). Dir: Joan Chemla. Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Karim Leklou, Marine Vacth, Nahuel Perez Biscayart. Cast out of his insular community, a damaged and down-on-his-luck man teeters between a life of crime and the path to redemption. Platform Scotiabank 11
SNEAK PEEK LEGEND OF THE DEMON CAT See box, left
OUTSIDE IN
(US) 109mins. ICM Partners (US & int’l). Dir: Lynn Shelton. Cast: Ben Schwartz, Edie Falco, Jay Duplass, Kaitlyn Dever. In this new drama from Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister), an ex-con (Jay Duplass) struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high-school teacher (Edie Falco). Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
WAJIB
(Palestine/France/ Germany/Colombia/ Norway/Qatar/United Arab Emirates) 96mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Annemarie Jacir. Cast: Maria Zreik, Mohammad Bakri, Rana Alamuddin, Saleh Bakri. A father and his estranged son must come together to hand-deliver his daughter’s wedding invitations to each guest as per local Palestinian custom, in this family drama from Annemarie Jacir (When I Saw You). Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 10
14:30 DISAPPEARANCE
(Iran/Qatar) 88mins. New Europe Film Sales (US & int’l). Dir: Ali Asgari. Cast: Elsie de Brauw, Jakob Oftebro,
Marcus Hanssen, Rifka Lodeizen. On a cold night in Tehran, two young lovers go from hospital to hospital in search of help as they face the tragic consequences of their youthful naivety, in the latest from Iranian writer-director Ali Asgari. Discovery Scotiabank 9
OCCIDENTAL
(France) 73mins. MPM Film (int’l). Dir: Neïl Beloufa. Cast: Anna Ivacheff, Brahim Tekfa, Hamza Meziani, Idir Chender, Louise OrryDiquéro, Paul Hamy. The arrival of a gay couple at a retro-1970s Parisian hotel sparks a series of absurd anecdotal actions involving homophobia, racism, misogyny, terrorist threats and political manipulations, in artist-filmmaker Neïl Beloufa’s clever, hyperstylised critique of today’s xenophobic ideologies. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
14:45 THE BUTTERFLY TREE
(Australia) 97mins. LevelK (US & int’l). Dir: Priscilla Cameron. Cast: Ed Oxenbould, Ewen Leslie, Melissa George, Sophie Lowe. Priscilla Cameron’s feature debut follows a father and son, who find their joie de vivre rekindled for the first time since the death of their matriarch by the arrival of a mysterious yet enchanting florist named Evelyn. Discovery Scotiabank 5
15:30 DARKEST HOUR
(UK) 125mins. Universal Pictures International (int’l). Dir: Joe Wright. Cast: Ben Mendelsohn, Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane. Gary Oldman steps into the imposing persona of Winston Churchill in this period drama from director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement), set in the early years of the Second World War. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 12
September 10, 2017 Screen International at Toronto 27
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SCREENINGS
UNDER THE TREE
(Iceland/Denmark/ Poland/Germany) 89mins. New Europe Film Sales (US & int’l). Dir: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. Cast: Dora Johannsdottir, Edda Björgvinsdottir, Lara Johanna Jonsdottir, Selma Björnsdottir, Sigridur Sigurpalsdottir Scheving, Sigurdur Sigurjonsson, Steinpor Hroar Steinporsson, Porsteinn Bachmann. The shade from a front-yard tree brings the already simmering tensions between two families in an Icelandic suburb to boiling point, in this hilariously absurd and psychologically astute comedy from director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 7
16:30 DIRECTIONS
(Bulgaria/Germany/ Macedonia) 103mins. ARRI Worldsales (int’l). Dir: Stephan Komandarev. Cast: Assen Blatechki, Dimitar Banenkin, Dobrin Dosev, Guerassim ‘Gero’ Guerguiev, Irini Zhambonas, Ivan Barnev, Stephan Denolyubov, Troyan Gogov, Vasil Banov, Vasil VasilevZueka. Set during one night in the life of several taxi drivers and their fares, Stephan Komandarev’s Directions offers a poignant autopsy of contemporary Bulgarian society’s joy, pain and woes. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 6
SILAS
(Canada/South Africa/ Kenya) 80mins. Cinephil (int’l). Dir: Anjali Nayar, Hawa Essuman. Cast: Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor. Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman profile the life of Liberian activist Silas Siakor, a tireless crusader against illegal logging and a symbol of resistance for a new generation. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 8
PRESS & INDUSTRY 18:30 DOWNRANGE
(US) 90mins. Eleven Arts (US). Genco (int’l). Dir: Ryuhei Kitamura. Cast: Alexa Yeames, Anthony Kirlew, Jason Tobias, Kelly Connaire, Rod Hernandez-Farella, Stephanie Pearson.
Stranded at the side of the road after a tyre blowout, a group of friends become targets for an enigmatic sniper, in this wickedly entertaining bloodbath from Midnight Madness regular Ryuhei Kitamura. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 12
Jonathan Whitesell, Lorne Cardinal, Mary Galloway, Nicholas Campbell, Shirley Henderson. Shirley Henderson stars in the latest by Kathleen Hepburn, about a woman who, in the wake of her husband’s death, fights to remain independent despite the advance of Parkinson’s disease. Discovery Scotiabank 6
16:45 WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY
(Norway/Germany/ Sweden) 106mins. Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Iram Haq. Cast: Adil Hussain, Ali Arfan, Lalit Parimoo, Maria Mozhdah, Rohit Saraf, Sheeba Chaddha. Nisha’s double life — obedient to her traditional Pakistani upbringing at home, typical Norwegian teenager to her friends — comes crashing down when her concerned parents kidnap her and send her to Pakistan, in Iram Haq’s empathetic story of family, community and culture. Platform Scotiabank 9
17:00
of five Vancouverites living on the fringes of society during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Discovery Scotiabank 5
18:30 DARK IS THE NIGHT
THE POET AND THE BOY
(South Korea) 110mins. Finecut (int’l). Dir: Kim Yang-hee. Cast: Jung Ga-ram, Jeon Hye-jin, Yang Ik-june. A married poet meets a
Discovery Scotiabank 5
21:00 LONGING
(Israel) 104mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Savi Gabizon. Cast: Asi Levi, Neta Riskin, Shai Avivi, Shimon Mimran, Yoram Tolledano. A middle-aged Israeli bachelor is forced to evaluate his life choices when he discovers an ex-girlfriend had given birth to his son 20 years before, in this affecting
drama from writerdirector Savi Gabizon. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 7
21:30 I KILL GIANTS
(UK) 104mins. XYZ Films (US & int’l). Dir: Anders Walter. Cast: Imogen Poots, Madison Wolfe, Zoe Saldana. I Kill Giants tells the story of a teenager who struggles through school and family life by escaping into a fantasy world of magic and monsters. Discovery Scotiabank 5
THE JUDGE See box, below
(Philippines) 106mins. Swift Productions (int’l). Dir: Adolfo Alix Jr. Cast: Bembol Roco, Felix Roco, Gina Alajar, Phillip Salvador. Filipino director Adolfo Alix Jr returns to TIFF with this timely story of a couple caught up in Rodrigo Duterte’s violent war on drugs when their son goes missing. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 7
LUK’LUK’I
DOWNRANGE
(Canada) 90mins. Dir: Wayne Wapeemukwa. Cast: Angel Gates, Angela ‘Rollergirl’ Dawson, Eric Buurman, Joe Dion Buffalo, Ken Harrower. Wayne Wapeemukwa directs a complex portrait
See box, above
28 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
19:15
teenage boy working at a doughnut shop and helplessly develops feelings for him, in the latest from Kim Yang-hee.
19:00 NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL
(Canada) 110mins. Dir: Kathleen Hepburn. Cast: Jared Abrahamson,
PRESS & INDUSTRY 21:30 THE JUDGE
(Palestine/US) 76mins. Ro*co films (US & int’l). Dir: Erika Cohn. Cast:
Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih. Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih is the first woman appointed to a Shari’a court in the Middle East.
Her career provides rare insights into both Islamic law and gendered justice. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 6
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Norwegian Films
LOOK TO NORWAY We support and promote films, series and games
25%
CASH REBATE Norwegian production incentive
Norwegian Films in Toronto Minority productions DISAPPEARANCE DIRECTOR Boudewijn Koole
SAMUI SONG DIRECTOR Pen-ek Ratanaruang
WAJIB DIRECTOR Annemarie Jacir
www.nfi.no
SWEET COUNTRY (Australia) Warwick Thornton
★ ★★
★ ★★
MADEMOISELLE PARADIS (Austria-Ger) Barbara Albert
★ ★★
★★
THE DEATH OF STALIN (Fr-UK-Bel) Armando Iannucci
★★
★★ ★★
CUSTODY (Fr) Xavier Legrand
★ ★★
WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY (Nor-Ger-Swe) Iram Haq
BEAST (UK) Michael Pearce
★ ★★
BRAD’S STATUS (US) Mike White
★ ★★
★★ ★★
★★
★ ★★
★ ★★
★★
★★ ★★
★ ★★
★★ ★★
★★ ★★
★★★
Good
AVERAGE
Excellent
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
The Globe And Mail, Canada
KATE TAYLOR
IndieWire, US
ERIC KOHN
AV Club, US
AA DOWD
Toronto Star, Canada
★★★★
PETER HOWELL
Los Angeles Times, US
THE SCREEN JURY — PLATFORM
JUSTIN CHANG
JURY GRID
3.5
★ ★★
★ ★★
2.5
★★ ★★
★ ★★
3.3
★★
★★ ★★
3
★★ ★★
★★
★★ ★★
★ ★★
3.3
★ ★★
★★
★★
★ ★★
2.6
★★
★ ★★
★★
★ ★★
2.5
RAZZIA (Fr-Mor-Bel) Nabil Ayouch
Morocco’s Nabil Ayouch (Whatever Lola Wants) tackles the theme of social injustice in Razzia, which weaves ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ together five narrative threads, all connected to one tumultuous event on the streets of Casablanca. The film stars ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ Maryam Touzani, Belgium’s Ariel Worthalter, Abdelilah Rachid, Dounia Binebine and Amine Ennaji.
IF YOU SAW HIS HEART (Fr) Joan Chemla
A young man (Gael Garcia Bernal), expelled from his gypsy community after the death of his best friend, ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ is tempted by a life of crime before falling for a mysterious stranger (Marine Vacth). This adaptation of the ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ Guillermo Rosales novel The Halfway House marks French filmmaker Joan Chemla’s feature directorial debut.
DARK RIVER (UK) Clio Barnard
The UK’s Clio Barnard makes her Toronto debut with a drama about a woman (Ruth Wilson) returning to her ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ hometown for the first time in 15 years following the death of her farmer father. There, she is confronted by her ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ brother (Mark Stanley) who contests her claim to the tenancy of the family farm.
THE SEEN AND UNSEEN (Indo-Neth-Australia-Qat) Kamila Andini
Indonesian director Kamila Andini’s second feature follows a 10-year-old girl’s dream-like journey to come to ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ terms with the imminent death of her twin brother. After leaving her bedside vigil, the girl begins to re-engage with ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ her twin in her mind. Andini gives expression to these visions, articulated through dance and costume.
EUPHORIA (Swe-UK-Ger) Lisa Langseth
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Sweden’s Lisa Langseth reteams with her frequent collaborator Alicia Vikander for the filmmaker’s English★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ language debut. Vikander stars with Eva Green as estranged sisters who meet after many years apart and embark ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ on a journey together. The cast also includes Charlotte Rampling, Charles Dance and Adrian Lester.
30 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2017
★★ Average ★ Poor
✖ Bad
Screen office Meeting room 4, fourth floor, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3X5 Editorial Tel +1 416 599 843 ext 2440 Editor Matt Mueller, matt.mueller@screendaily.com, +44 7880 526 547 Americas editor Jeremy Kay, jeremykay67@gmail.com, +1 310 922 5908 Chief critic & reviews editor Finn Halligan, finn.halligan@screendaily.com, +44 7798 571 270 Group head of production & art Mark Mowbray, mark.mowbray@screendaily.com, +44 7710 124 065 Reporter Tom Grater, tom.grater@screendaily.com, +44 7436 096 420 Features editor Charles Gant, charles.gant@screendaily.com Sid Adilman mentorship programme Jordan Adler, jzadler91@gmail.com Advertising and publishing Commercial director Scott Benfold, scott.benfold@ screendaily.com, +44 7765 257 260 International account managers Ingrid Hammond +39 05 7829 8768, ingridhammond@mac.com Pierre-Louis Manes, pierre-louis.manes@screendaily.com, +44 7768 237 487 Gunter Zerbich, gunter.zerbich@ screendaily.com, +44 7768 237 487 VP business development, North America Nigel Daly, nigeldalymail@gmail.com, +1 213 447 5120 US sales and business development executive Nikki Tilmouth, nikki.screeninternational@gmail.com +1 323 868 7633 Production manager Neil Sinclair, neil.sinclair@mb-insight. com, +44 7834 902 528 Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam Printer Big Bark Graphics, 68 Healey Road, units 1-3, Bolton, ON, L7E 5A4 Screen International, London MBI, Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ, United Kingdom Subscription enquiries help@subscribe.screendaily.com +44 330 333 9414
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