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SCREENINGS
» Page 24
PRESENTS AT TIFF
2015
TORONTO - MARKET
THE VIOLIN TEACHER
From the producers of “THE SECOND MOTHER” A Film by SÉRGIO MACHADO
Closing Film
2015 - Drama - Brazil - DCP - 2.35 - 100 min
SYNOPSIS
After failing to be admitted into the renowned São Paulo Symphonic Orchestra, Laerte, a talented violinist, is forced to give music clases to teenagers in a public school in Heliopolis, the biggest favela of Brazil. His path is full of difficulties but the transforming power of music and the friendship arising between the professor and his students open the doors into a new world. Based on a true story. SCREENINGS 12/09/2015 3pm LIGHTBOX CINEMA 6 Market/Industry 13/09 /2015 6pm CAMERA BAR Market/Industry
MARKET PREMIERE
TORONTO - OFFICIAL SELECTION
FRANCOFONIA
From the director of “FAUST” A Film by ALEXANDER SOKUROV 2015 - Fiction/Documentary - Germany/France/Netherlands - DCP - 1.66 - 87 min
SYNOPSIS
FRANCOFONIA is the story of two remarkable men, Louvre director Jacques Jaujard and Nazi Occupation officer Count Wolff-Metternich enemies then collaborators - whose alliance would be the driving force behind the preservation of museum treasures. FRANCOFONIA explores the relationship between art and power, the Louvre museum as a living example of civilization, and what art tells us about ourselves even in the midst of one of the bloodiest conflicts the world has ever seen. SCREENINGS 12/09/2015 10:00pm 13/09/2015 12:30pm 16/09/2015 10:15pm 17/09/2015 11:30am 19/09/2015 9:15pm
SCOTIABANK 9 P&I LIGHTBOX CINEMA 7 Market/Industry ISABEL BADER THEATRE Public SCOTIABANK 8 P&I SCOTIABANK 2 Public
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VILLE-MARIE
From the director of “WETLANDS” A Film by GUY EDOIN 2015 - Drama - Canada - DCP - 1.85 - 101min
SYNOPSIS
While shooting a film in Montréal, a French actress tries to mend relations with her son, who has been living there for several years. Having witnessed a disturbing event that reawakened in him the desire to discover who his father is, he is determined to confront his mother to learn the answer. Elsewhere in the city, an ambulance driver tries to keep a hold on his life while a kind-hearted nurse watches over him, in the chaos of the emergency room. The collision of these four leaves their lives changed forever. SCREENINGS 12/09/2015 14/09/2015 15/09/2015 19/09/2015
1:15pm 3:45pm 8:30am 9:45am
WORLD PREMIERE
WINTER GARDEN THEATRE Public SCOTIABANK 2 Public SCOTIABANK 10 P&I ISABEL BADER THEATRE Public
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PARISIENNE
From the director of “IN THE BATTLEFIELDS” A Film by DANIELLE ARBID 2015 - Drama - France - DCP - 1.85 - 119 min
SYNOPSIS
The 90’s. Lina, 18, arrives to Paris for her studies. She is looking for what she can’t find in her home country Lebanon: a taste of freedom. Lead by her natural instinct for self-preservation, she experiences different sides of the Parisian jungle and becomes conscious of her own place. Because when you are 18, your dream is to embrace the world - not just one boy... SCREENINGS 12/09/2015 7:30pm 14/09/2015 3:00pm 15/09/2015 2:00pm 19/09/2015 9:30pm
LIGHTBOX CINEMA 2 Public SCOTIABANK 13 Public SCOTIABANK 10 P&I ISABEL BADER THEATRE Public
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THE NEW CLASSMATE
BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL OFFICIAL SELECTION 2015
A Film by ASHWINY IYER TIWARI 2015 - Drama - India - DCP - 2.35 - 96 min
SYNOPSIS
Behind the magnificent Taj Mahal lies a cluster of dingy homes where Chanda (35), a domestic help, lives with her 14-year-old daughter Appu. Chanda aspires and dreams that her daughter will study and embrace a better fate. When Appu tells her she wants to quit school and become a maid like her, Chanda takes a strong decision: she will herself go back to school, and even join the class of her daughter. SCREENING 15/09/2015 9.00am LIGHTBOX CINEMA 6 Market/Industry
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EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT
TORONTO - OFFICIAL SELECTION
ONE FLOOR BELOW
A Film by CIRO GUERRA
A Film by RADU MUNTEAN
2015 - Adventure/Drama - Colombia - DCP - 2.35 - 122 min
2015 - Drama - Romania - DCP - 2.35 - 93 min
SCREENINGS 12/09/2015 4:00pm SCOTIABANK 3 Public 14/09/2015 3:45pm SCOTIABANK 3 Public 20/09/2015 9:00pm SCOTIABANK 11 Public
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TORONTO 2015
FILM IN SCOTLAND FOR THE PERFECT LOCATION For a fast, free, confidential location-finding service, award-winning production companies, experienced crew and great facilities, contact us today. Join us at this year’s Festival 10-15 September, UK Film Centre, Festival Room, 9th Floor, Hyatt Regency Hotel, 370 King Street West
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Kill Your Friends team, Blavatnik launch Unigram Christopher Simon
Miss You Already backer finds Simon New Sparta Films (NSF), which backed Miss You Already and Brimstone, has appointed former Embargo Films producer Christopher Simon to the newly created role of head of production. Simon will work alongside NSF founder and managing director Nicki Hattingh and look to boost the growing financier’s in-house production push. He was the main producer on Catherine Hardwicke’s comedy drama Miss You Already, which has its world premiere at TIFF today, and previously produced features including Still Life, The Sweeney and I, Anna. The London-based company recently appointed a head of development and will also bring in a business affairs executive. Currently on the development slate for New Sparta Films — a subsidiary of Jerome Booth’s investment firm New Sparta — are Julia Taylor-Stanley-produced drama Rough, First World War drama Soldier Dog, sweeping epic Burnt Shadows and Russia-set story The Kiss. Andreas Wiseman
BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
Kill Your Friends producer Gregor Cameron and musician Amanda Ghost are to launch a new production company with billionaire financier and Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik. London-based Unigram will focus on music-oriented film, television and multimedia projects, supported by Blavatnik’s Access Industries (AI), which will get a first look at new projects on the slate. These include a film about the growth of music app Shazam and a TV spin-off to Kill Your Friends, the Britpop-era drama starring Nicho-
US faith-based distributor Pure Flix, in Toronto with Woodlawn, has signed an output deal with Canadian arthouse specialist Mongrel Media. Titles will go through Mongrel’s faith-and-family label GoodFilm and the partnership kicks off with a trio of Pure Flix/Quality Flix features: Woodlawn, God’s Not Dead II — the sequel to the 2014 US smash
development TV series will be set in the present day. Ghost, a six-time Grammynominated songwriter whose songs have featured in films including Fifty Shades Of Grey, said: “Combining the artistic and commercial power of music and film is not a new concept, but in today’s multifaceted and everchanging music industry, the opportunity to join forces with other platforms within the media industry is an exciting prospect.” Businessman Blavatnik was named the UK’s richest man in 2015.
Hubert Boesl
Angry Indian Goddesses, page 18
NEWS Married to the Mob Indie Sales swoops on Stefano Sollima’s Suburra » Page 6
REVIEW Where To Invade Next A globetrotting Michael Moore blends japes with analysis » Page 8
INTERVIEW The female perspective Pan Nalin gives voice to his Angry Indian Goddesses » Page 18
SCREENINGS
» Page 24
TORONTO BRIEFS Ixcanul sold to N America Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Jayro Bustamante’s Ixcanul, Guatemala’s first Oscar submission, which screens here on Wednesday.
Cast join Kaiser’s Last Kiss Janet McTeer, Eddie Marsan and Ben Daniels have joined Film House Germany/Egoli Tossell Film’s war drama The Kaiser’s Last Kiss. Lotus Entertainment handles international sales.
The Music Of Strangers to play worldwide The Orchard and HBO will team for the worldwide release of Morgan Neville documentary The Music Of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble, which will world premiere here tomorrow.
Our Brand Is Crisis star Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, who produced the satire, walk the red carpet for the world premiere here last night. Director David Gordon Green was also in attendance.
Pure Flix has faith in Mongrel BY JEREMY KAY
las Hoult that receives its North American premiere here tonight. Cameron said: “Our Shazam project is the story of an incredible era when the music business and the rest of the world changed forever. It’s a great example of where we want to be, at the cross-section of music, film and new media.” Unigram is working with writer Tim Reid and Shazam co-founder Dhiraj Mukherjee on the feature. AI-backed Kill Your Friends (see review, page 14) — on which former Epic Records president Ghost was an executive producer — is set in the 1990s, although the in-
TODAY
that grossed $60m — and Faith Of Our Fathers. Pure Flix head of international Ron Gell is handling sales on Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin’s Woodlawn, which will open in North America in 1,500 theatres on October 16 in conjunction with Provident Films and screens in Toronto tomorrow and Tuesday. Gell brokered the output deal with Mongrel Media’s Andrew Frank.
Wide House dances Last Tango BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Paris-based Wide House has sealed new deals on German Kral’s Our Last Tango ahead of its world premiere here tonight. The feature documentary has sold to Australia and New Zealand (Sharmill Films), Italy (Feltrinelli) and Hungary (Vertigo Media). The film is set to hit screens in Germany (Alpenrepublik) and Japan (New Select Co) in early
2016. Other previously announced deals include Taiwan (Swallow Wings) and Greece (Rosebud). The film charts the tempestuous relationship between Argentinian tango stars Maria Nieves Rego and Juan Carlos Copes, through interviews and performances by a young dance troop. Executive producers are Wim Wenders, Rodrigo Furth and Jakob Abrahamsson.
Raven bites for Serpent Raven Banner Entertainment specialty label Northern Banner Releasing has acquired all Canadian rights to Ciro Guerra’s Cannes award-winning Amazon drama, Embrace Of The Serpent.
SPC takes The Bronze Sony Pictures Classics is to release Sundance title The Bronze in North America. Melissa Rauch stars as a former gymnast whose local celebrity status is threatened by a young athlete.
» Full stories on ScreenDaily.com
News
Touched With Fire
Myriad fires up Holmes sales By Jeremy Kay
Myriad Pictures is in Toronto handling international sales on SXSW selection Touched With Fire starring Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby. The drama centres on a pair of manic depressives in a psychiatric hospital who fall into an intense romance. Griffin Dunne, Christine Lahti and Bruce Altman also star. Roadside Attractions has set a February 2016 US theatrical release on the film by Moonstruck Productions and 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks. Paul Dalio wrote and directed while Jeremy Alter and Kristina Nikolova produced and Spike Lee served as executive producer. Myriad’s SVP of marketing and acquisitions Audrey Delaney negotiated with CAA on behalf of the film-makers after director of production and acquisitions Theresa Won brought the project to the company. Myriad is also handling international sales via its new Scoundrel label on Victor Salva’s Jeepers Creepers 3.
Odin’s Eye takes Throne By Michael Rosser
Odin’s Eye Entertainment (OEE) has secured international sales rights to animation Dragon Nest: Throne Of Elves from US-Chinese production company Mili Pictures. OEE will introduce the picture to buyers here in Toronto. The action adventure, based on the online game, follows Dragon Nest: Warriors’ Dawn. Directed by Song Yuefeng and Yi Ge, delivery is set for Q4 2016. Mili Pictures is also in production on family adventure Ping Pong Rabbit, co-directed by Oscar nominee Mike Johnson and Song Yuefeng, and has more than a dozen titles in development.
Indie Sales mobbed for Mafia thriller Suburra By Melanie Goodfellow
Paris-based Indie Sales has secured sales on Stefano Sollima’s Rome-set organised crime thriller Suburra. The film has sold to Benelux (Lumiere), Germany and Austria (Koch Films) and Switzerland (Praesens Films). Sollima directed most of the episodes of hit TV series Gomorrah, which sold to more than 100 territories including the US, where it was acquired by The Weinstein Company. Indie Sales, which will market
Suburra
premiere the thriller in a private screening today, is also reporting strong interest from Australia and the UK. The film is based on a novel by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo
Bonini, and explores how the nebulous web of corruption interlinks politicians, the Vatican and the Mafia in the Italian capital. It follows a gangster, known as the Samurai, who wants to turn the waterfront of a small town close to Rome into a new Atlantic City and receives protection from an unscrupulous politician and a powerful cardinal, against the backdrop of a gang war. The cast includes Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano, Claudio Amendola and Jean-Hugues Anglade.
Global Screen takes on 303 By Andreas Wiseman
Global Screen has picked up world sales rights to film-maker Hans Weingartner’s drama 303, currently shooting in France and Spain. Mala Emde and Anton Spieker star in the story of a pregnant woman who falls in love with another man during a heady road trip. Producers are Kahuuna Films and Neuesuper with support from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM and FFA. Delivery is planned for spring/summer 2016. Weingartner’s 2004 drama The Edukators, starring Daniel Brühl, played in Competition at Cannes. Julia Weber, head of theatrical sales at Global Screen, said: “We are thrilled to sell 303 internationally. This film-maker will again strike the nerve of the times, all over the world.”
Lianne Halfon
Demolition producer joins finance forum
TrustNordisk makes moves on Magnus TrustNordisk has acquired worldwide rights to a documentary about chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen. Magnus, compiled from more than 500 hours of footage shot over a decade, is a rags-to-riches story of
a 13-year-old boy who follows his dream to become the world chess champion. It is the feature debut of director Benjamin Ree and is produced by Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen of Moskus Film. Michael Rosser
UK export panel cites distribution challenges By Jeanie Tran
UK films hoping to succeed in the international market must overcome production and distribution roadblocks in an increasingly competitive industry. That was the message from the ‘Selling British Films Internationally’ panel, which discussed how British films are faring abroad, co-hosted by Screen International and the UK Trade &
6 Screen International at Toronto September 12, 2015
Investment agency (UKTI) and held at London House. “You can’t have a weak link in a package any more,” said Metro Films International CEO Will Machin, who is selling Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn in Toronto. Stephen Kelliher, director of Bankside Films, noted the bar is higher than ever, and stated: “The bullseye for what works theatrically, British or not, has gotten
smaller and smaller over recent years. You have to be in the top 5%-10% of movies to have any chance of truly working.” The panel, which was moderated by Screen contributing editor Wendy Mitchell, also included Dasha Sterlikova of Paradise Film, Gianluca Chakra of Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Gareth Ellis-Unwin, producer of The King’s Speech and Kilo Two Bravo.
By Michael Rosser
US producer Lianne Halfon is to share her experience on TIFF opener Demolition at the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s 10th International Financing Forum, which kicks off here tomorrow. Halfon will take part in an In Conversation session titled ‘Producing Now: Theory and Practice’ alongside Colin Brown, editorial director at Slated and managing partner at distribution company MAD Solutions. The discussion about the state of the production landscape will be moderated by Screen International editor Matt Mueller. The event is open only to IFF 2015 selected producers and press. The two-day event, held in association with TIFF, runs September 13-14.
www.screendaily.com
MEN & CHICKEN Black Comedy / 100 min. / Denmark / 2014
SCREENINGS (Vanguard) Press & Industry 1, Friday Sep. 11th, 4:14PM, Scotiabank 14 Public 1, Monday Sep. 14th, 9:00PM, Scotiabank 1 Public 2, Wednesday Sep. 16th, 10:00 PM, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema (649) Public 3, Sunday Sep. 20th, 3:30PM, Scotiabank 1
DOWNRIVER
SPEAR
Drama / 99 min. / Australia / 2015
Drama / 84 min. / Australia / 2015
SCREENINGS (Discovery)
SCREENINGS (Discovery)
Press & Industry 1, Sunday Sep. 13th, Scotiabank 6 (137) Public 1, Tuesday Sep. 15th, 7:15PM, Scotiabank 13 (314) Public 2, Thursday Sep. 17th, 9:45PM, Scotiabank 13 (314) Public 3, Sep. 20th, 9:15PM, Scotiabank 3 (387)
Press & Industry 1, Thursday Sep. 10th, 1:45PM, Scotiabank 6 (137) Press & Industry 2, Thursday Sep. 17th, 9:15PM, Scotiabank 6 (137 Public 1, Friday Sep. 11th, 6:00PM, Isabel Bader Theatre (452) Public 2, Saturday Sep. 12th, 9:00AM, Jackman Hall (200) Public 3, Friday Sep. 18th, 6:30PM, Jackman Hall (200)
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Reviews Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
» Where To Invade Next p8 » The Martian p10 » Remember p10
» Demolition p12 » Land Of Mine p12 » Bang Gang (A Modern
» Urban Hymn p13 » Kill Your Friends p14
Love Story) p13
Where To Invade Next Reviewed by Allan Hunter Cleverly timed for a US presidential race, Where To Invade Next marks the return of proud patriot and inveterate provocateur Michael Moore with a laughter-laced collage of uncomfortable truths and unvarnished insights into the lamentable state of the American nation. Seeking to save the US from itself by offering handy tips from the good he finds in other countries, the engaging Moore tours the globe like a latter-day Phileas Fogg. The result is a wide-ranging, slightly meandering documentary essay that blends crowd-pleasing japes with thought-provoking analysis. The six-year wait since Capitalism: A Love Story should have heightened the appetite for a new work from Moore, and fans will not be disappointed by a film that represents a sure thing in terms of commercially viable documentary film-making. Moore starts with a gimmicky premise. On the basis the US has not won a war since the Second World War, the writer-director suggests an awful lot of money, lives and heartache could be saved by appointing him as a one-man army able to invade countries on the US’s behalf. It is the start of a globe-trotting saga in which Moore assumes the comfortable role of an innocent abroad, struck dumb by some of the
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SPECIAL PRESEnTATIonS US. 2015. 110mins Director Michael Moore Production companies Dog Eat Dog Films, IMG Films International sales William Morris Endeavour, www.wmeentertainment. com Producers Michael Moore, Tia Lessin, Carl Deal Executive producers Mark Shapiro, Will Staeger, Rod Birleson Cinematography Richard Rowley, Jayme Roy Editors Pablo Proenza, Woody Richman, Tyler Walk Main cast Michael Moore
wild and wonderful ideas that he encounters along the way. He is stunned by the generous amount of paid holidays granted to happy Italians, envious of the gourmet menu dished up to the schoolchildren of France. He is equally impressed by the amazing education system in Finland, by a Germany that faces up to the dark deeds of its past and by the sane response to terrible tragedies in Norway. Everywhere he goes, he finds countries dedicated to building a sense of community based on mutual respect and compassion. Some of the people who actually live in these countries might find his views a little starry-eyed and unsophisticated. Every step of the way, Moore offers some striking comparisons with the way things are done in the US where money talks, individual ambitions trample over the greater good of the greatest number and the country is stained, he finds, by racism, greed and corruption. Once again, Moore makes humorous use of archive footage, takes potshots at presidents across the political spectrum and throws in some cracking one-liners. Invading France, he notes drily that “as usual” the country puts up little resistance. Moore is a born entertainer with the instincts of a stand-up comedian in the way he can work an audience but in Where To Invade Next there is the feeling the one-liners
and jokey footage are there to satisfy our expectations of what a Michael Moore film should contain. In reality, this is a serious, even fingerwagging film by a man who clearly sees all the dark corners of his country’s soul. Why can’t the US provide healthcare for its citizens, rights for its workers, respect and rehabilitation for its prisoners and so much more? It feels like a report on the decline and fall of an empire. The US may have become the most powerful country on the planet but along the way it lost its core values and human decency, Moore posits. There are some tough images and harsh words here but just when you think it has become a long lament, Moore manages to turn everything around to end on a note of hope. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the election of Nelson Mandela provide proof that anything is possible and Moore sees the greatest hope for change lies so often in the power of women to make a difference. It isn’t a direct endorsement of Hillary Clinton but it might not do her chances any harm. In the end, Where To Invade Next lectures the US on its failings and suggests a way forward. It is a more stimulating, thought-provoking and entertaining call to arms than anything we are likely to hear from an aspiring president over the next year.
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TODAY WORLD PREMIERE
PRESS & INDUSTRY SCREENINGS Sep. 16 - 9:15AM - Scotiabank 8
PUBLIC SCREENINGS TODAY, Sep. 12 - 4:30PM - Isabel Bader Theatre TOMORROW, Sep.13 - 8:45AM - Cinema 3 Sep. 19 - 6:00PM - Scotiabank 3
CONTACT FILMAX INTERNATIONAL Ivan Diaz +34 629340070 i.diaz@filmax.com Pag Screen SABADO.indd 1
04/09/15 14:49
REVIEWS
The Martian Reviewed by John Hazelton Visually spectacular and consistently entertaining, Ridley Scott’s space rescue procedural The Martian suffers only from a failure to hit its emotional beats with the amount of force and feeling usually required to make this kind of life-and-death adventure really take off. It’s a crowd-pleaser for sure; but maybe not quite enough of one — even with a perfectly cast Matt Damon as a plucky astronaut stranded on the Red Planet — to get viewers making repeat visits to the box office or to win over the hearts of awards-season voters. The source novel — which eventually became a bestseller but was originally self-published online by computer programmer-turnedauthor Andy Weir — is a science-heavy account, made up largely of written log entries, of how US astronaut Mark Watney survives after being left for dead during a near-future manned mission to Mars. The film kicks off with Watney (Damon, whose last sci-fi outing was Elysium) being injured — apparently fatally — while the crew is leaving Mars to escape a massive storm. When he recovers, Watney, the mission botanist and mechanical engineer, puts his ingenuity to use in an effort to stay alive until the planned arrival of the next mission several years hence. Eventually, Watney makes contact with mis-
GALA US. 2015. 130mins Director Ridley Scott Production companies Kinberg Genre, Scott Free Productions, 20th Century Fox, TSG Entertainment Worldwide distribution 20th Century Fox Producers Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, Michael Schaefer, Aditya Sood, Mark Huffam Executive producer Drew Goddard Screenplay Drew Goddard from the book The Martian by Andy Weir Cinematography Dariusz Wolski Music Harry GregsonWilliams Main cast Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Donald Glover
sion control, allowing the film to follow the desperate efforts of NASA and JPL scientists — played by Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sean Bean, among others — to mount a rescue mission; and the heroic actions of the mission commander (Jessica Chastain) and her crew aboard the mission’s mother ship. Getting most of the book’s plot on screen also makes the film feel rushed, stopping it from milking dramatic moments and allowing the audience to share in Watney’s highs and lows of
hope and despair. Three years after exploring the wonders of space in Prometheus, Scott, once again collaborating with cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and production designer Arthur Max, delivers another striking vision of a distant world, making use of awe-inspiring locations in Jordan’s Wadi Rum to stand in for the surface of Mars and employing 3D to immerse the audience in the desolate landscape that accentuates Watney’s isolation, 140 million miles from home.
take a secret mission, as agreed with fellow resident Max Zucker (Martin Landau). Zev only intermittently understands or remembers exactly what’s going on, but Max has planned everything, and sends Zev on the road with a stack of money and a set of instructions, including the purchase of a gun. Zev’s quest is to track down a fugitive German camp commandant who — as Max has learned in his work with Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal — is living in North America under the assumed name Rudy Kurlander. Zev duly visits a number
of Rudy Kurlanders, one of whom (Bruno Ganz) believes Hitler had the right idea but the wrong approach. Searching for another Rudy, Zev is welcomed by the man’s affable state trooper son (Dean Norris) — the name of whose dog, Eva, is a clue to his political leanings. Along the way, Zev’s determination is occasionally ruffled by such moments of truth, and by the painful realities of his decline, from memory loss to incontinence — but Plummer gives his beleaguered seeker dignity, charisma and vulnerability in astutely dosed measure.
Remember Reviewed by Jonathan Romney No-one is that likely to object these days to the Holocaust being used as a theme in a thriller — concentration camp imagery, after all, has been seen in recent years in Hollywood productions such as Shutter Island and X-Men. Combine the theme with another sensitive topic, Alzheimer’s disease, and you’re risking accusations of questionable taste, at the very least. Yet this is a problem that Atom Egoyan skirts adroitly in Remember, a stripped-down drama built around a powerful and sometimes troubling performance by Christopher Plummer. Atypically working from another writer’s script, Egoyan strips away the usual self-referential layers of his cinema — so visible in his last feature, baroque thriller The Captive — to offer a spare, to-the-point execution of what is essentially a one-hero drama. Working from a script by Benjamin August, the film follows Zev Guttman (Christopher Plummer), an elderly resident of a care home, who is having dementia issues following the death of his wife. Guttman and his family, notably adult son Charles (Henry Czerny) are completing the traditional Jewish mourning ceremonies, and it’s now time for Zev to under-
10 Screen International at Toronto September 12, 2015
GALA Can-Ger. 2015. 95mins Director Atom Egoyan Production companies Serendipity Point Films, Distant Horizon, Detalle International sales IM Global, info@ imglobalfilms.com Producers Robert Lantos, Ari Lantos Screenplay Benjamin August Cinematography Paul Sarossy Editor Christopher Donaldson Production design Matthew Davies Music Mychael Danna Main cast Christopher Plummer, Bruno Ganz, Jürgen Prochnow, Heinz Lieven, Henry Czerny, Dean Norris, Martin Landau
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REVIEWS
Land Of Mine Reviewed by David D’Arcy
Demolition Reviewed by tim Grierson A husband grieves for his dead wife in unconventional — and unconvincing — ways in Demolition, a self-consciously quirky comedy drama that badly overestimates how captivating are its damaged, searching characters. Jake Gyllenhaal creates some empathy as a man in spiritual freefall, but director Jean-Marc Vallée never grounds his protagonist’s peculiar mourning process in any sort of believable human behaviour. The TIFF opener is set for an April 2016 release in the US through Fox Searchlight, a date that would appear to skip a serious awards campaign. Gyllenhaal’s marquee value, in addition to that of co-stars Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper, will certainly help commercially, though. Gyllenhaal plays Davis, a high-powered New York investment banker who has just lost his wife to a car accident, one in which he was in the passenger seat but didn’t get a scratch. Oddly, though, he doesn’t feel that sad — if anything, he’s confused (and a little guilty) that he doesn’t feel much at all about her passing. Instead, he turns his attention to writing complaint letters to a vending machine company that cheated him out of candy in the hospital. Surprisingly, the buttoned-down Davis opens up in these letters, drawing the interest of Karen (Watts), the company’s customer service representative. Touched by his plight, she begins an intimate friendship with him, even though she has a boyfriend and a son (Judah Lewis). Working from a screenplay by Bryan Sipe, Vallée leaves character motivations vague so as to emphasise the strangeness of Davis’s actions and, later, Karen’s inexplicit fascination with him. Just as Demolition isn’t exactly a love story — the main characters never even kiss — the film eschews easy categorisation, content to follow Davis along as he sets aside his Wall Street lifestyle and instead becomes obsessed with taking apart things like grandfather clocks and bathroom stalls, working his way up to volunteering for house demolition crews. Gyllenhaal occasionally sells the mental collapse that’s going on inside Davis — the character is just outwardly normal enough that his quietly disturbing actions can sometimes shock — but because there’s never a reasonable explanation given for why Davis and Karen bond, Watts is left to flounder
12 Screen International at Toronto September 12, 2015
GAlA US. 2015. 101mins Director Jean-marc Vallée Production companies Black label media, SKE films, mr. mudd International sales Sierra/Affinity, info@ sierra-affinity.com US distributor fox Searchlight Pictures, www. foxsearchlight.com Producers lianne Halfon, Russ Smith, molly Smith, trent luckinbill, Sidney Kimmel, Jean-marc Vallée Screenplay Bryan Sipe Cinematography Yves Bélanger Editor Jay m Glen Production design John Paino Main cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah lewis
Denmark’s mistreatment of German prisoners after the Second World War, a little-known chapter of post-war history, is a powerful j’accuse in Land Of Mine, which may surprise all but specialised historians. The film revisits the Allies’ practice of using captured Germans to clear land mines on the Danish coast that would blow many of them to bits. There’s also humanity here in the bond that forms between a stern Danish sergeant (Roland Moller) and the adolescent POWs in his charge. At war’s end, some 1.5 million mines placed by the Nazis remained on Denmark’s west coast. Defusing them was of national urgency. Rather than use Danes who had sacrificed so much during the Nazi occupation, British liberators proposed the Danish government deploy thousands of Wehrmacht POWs on Danish territory for the job. At least half of them died at that task from May to October 1945. Land Of Mine is not the first account to suggest the Danes committed a war crime. Nor is it the first examination of brutality against defeated Germans in 1945. What’s new is that those charges of Danish misdeeds are being brought to a wide audience in the language of epic cinema. Zandvliet — whose credits include A Funny Man and Applause — picks up the story as a vengeful Danish officer assigns a stern sergeant (Moller) to manage a brigade of boy prisoners conscripted late in the war. Moller’s ox-like character makes that severity look a lot like sadism, until the cruelty of his UK and Danish superiors and the deadliness of the job draw out his protective instincts. The depictions of vindictive Danes sending boys to be blown apart clashes with the accepted noble portrait of a country whose king refused to deport Jews from Denmark and wore a yellow star in protest. German soldiers portrayed as innocents who are as harmless as a kindergarten class may be a jolt to audiences accustomed to seeing them as invading predators and killers. The sand dunes of Denmark’s Skallingen peninsula (finally declared mine-free in 2012) provide a huge canvas for cinematographer Camilla Hjelm Knudsen, who evokes a desert-like vastness reminiscent of a David Lean landscape for boys forced into a labour of futility.
PlAtfoRm Den-Ger. 2015. 100mins Director martin Zandvliet Production companies Nordisk film Production, Amusement Park films International sales K5 International, office@k5film.com Producers mikael Chr Rieks, malte Grunert Executive producers Henrik Zein, torben majgaard, lena Haugaard, oliver Simon, Daniel Baur, Stefan Kapelari, Silke Wilfinger Screenwriter martin Zandvliet Cinematographer Camilla Hjelm Knudsen Editors Per Sandholt, molly marlene Stensgaard Production designer Gitte malling Music Sune martin Main cast Roland moller, louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Emil Buschow, oskar Buschow, mikkel Boe folsgaard, Emil Belton, oskar Belton
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Urban Hymn
City to City
Reviewed by Allan Hunter
Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) Reviewed by Jonathan Romney When Larry Clark made Kids in 1995, critic Janet Maslin famously declared the film “a wake-up call to the modern world”. Twenty years later, the modern world may be less easily shockable when it comes to teenage sexuality and general misbehaviour, but the stakes have arguably gotten higher, given the advent of social media, sexting, revenge porn et al. The debut feature from French director Eva Husson, Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) initially comes across as a more glamorous, less grungy, altogether Gallic update of Kids — with the addition of a female-slanted narrative point-of-view. But in addition, Bang Gang is a stylish, well-acted and often very beautiful debut feature by a director who made her mark with various shorts (including the Death Valley-set Those For Whom It’s Always Complicated) and videos for music acts including M83 and Florence + The Machine. Astutely milking its erotic appeal — and treading a delicate fine line this side of exploitation — Bang Gang has a zeitgeisty punch that doesn’t always make for thematic depth, but that marks Husson as a confident stylist and director of young talent. Set in Biarritz over a lazy summer, Husson’s film chronicles the establishment of the Bang Gang — essentially a teenage orgy club. It begins by introducing a circle of high school youth, including spoilt alpha male Alex (Finnegan Oldfield), his hanger-on Nikita (Fred Hotier) and female friends Laetitia (Daisy Broom) and George — the film’s central figure, played by newcomer Marilyn Lima. The Bang Gang gets going accidentally at Alex’s house, his wealthy parents away for the holidays. He and Nikita test the girls’ interest with a dash of internet porn and things take off as the lads hoped. After a while, the clan decides to make their trysts an event, and uses social media to open up the get-togethers to all-comers. It’s at one of these parties that George rashly pushes out the boat with her own behaviour — not considering how social media can ruin young reputations. Cinematographer Mattias Troelstrup makes the summer light fairly pulsate, and White Sea’s electro score is energetic and moody. While some may find Bang Gang a calculatedly chic opening salvo for a feature career, it carries a genuine emotional charge.
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PLAtFoRM Fr. 2015. 98mins Director Eva Husson Production companies Full House, Maneki Films, Borsalino Productions International sales Films Distribution, info@ filmsdistribution.com Producers Didar Domehri, Laurent Baudens, Gaël Nouaille Screenplay Eva Husson Cinematography Mattias troelstrup Editor Emilie orsini Production design David Bersanetti Music White Sea Main cast Finnegan oldfield, Daisy Broom, Marilyn Lima, Fred Hotier, Lorenzo Lefebvre
Almost 10 years after the ill-fated Basic Instinct 2, director Michael Caton-Jones makes a welcome return to feature film-making with Urban Hymn. It has the feel of a backto-basics UK project after the poisoned chalice of that high-profile Sharon Stone venture. The result is a heartwarming tale tracing the bond that develops between a disadvantaged teenager (Letitia Wright) and a wellintentioned care worker (Shirley Henderson) after the London riots of 2011. Urban Hymn’s main selling point is a captivating central performance from Henderson that makes you fall in love with her talent all over again. Her character, Kate, has spent 15 years as a sociology lecturer and has now decided to move to the front line as a residential care worker. Her genteel, middle-class life in suburbia is a stark contrast to Alba House where she is punched, despised and told her good intentions are unlikely to make any impact on the teenage residents. Kate develops a sympathy for belligerent, ungovernable 17-year-old Jamie, who is nearing the end of her time in the care system. When we first see Jamie, she is with constant companion and bad influence Leanne (Isabella Laughland), looting shops and running amok on the streets of London during the 2011 riots. You feel you know where this might be heading with the anticipation that Kate will somehow overcome Jamie’s antagonistic nature and help her towards the straight and narrow. Writer Nick Moorcroft feels obliged to give both women tragic back-stories that make you even more worried the film is sleepwalking through familiar territory. But any time things feels a little too obvious and hearttugging, either something in the performances, the soundtrack or the direction convinces you to give it the benefit of the doubt. Caton-Jones does not shy away from the profanity and violence of the teenage girls. There are hints of Kathy Burke’s TV comedy character Perry in the broader moments of Laughland’s swaggering, overstated performance as the obnoxious Leanne. But violence and death in Urban Hymn rubs against the grain of any cosy predictability. The performance of Kate’s choir adds soulful notes to the story, and as well as being a charismatic presence, Wright also has a beautiful singing voice.
UK. 2015. 114mins Director Michael CatonJones Production companies Dashishah Global Film Production, Eclipse Films, Powderkeg Pictures International sales Metro international Entertainment, sales@ metro-films.com Producers Andrew Berg, John Sachs, Neil Chordia, Daniel toland Executive producers Meg Leonard, ibrahim Dashishah, Brian Berg, Nick Moorcroft, Anwar Kawadri, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross Screenplay Nick Moorcroft Cinematography Denis Crossan Editor istvan Kiraly Production design Laura Ellis Cricks Music tom Linden Main cast Shirley Henderson, Letitia Wright, isabella Laughland, ian Hart, Steven Mackintosh, Billy Bragg
September 12, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 13
REVIEWS
Kill Your Friends Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan All sense of the UK music industry being a giant yellow submarine full of playful moptop Beatles is well and truly laid to rest by Kill Your Friends, screenwriter John Niven’s adaptation of his own cult novel about the morally bankrupt biz — although ‘Help!’ is an appropriate response to an encounter with his relentlessly cynical and blackhearted protagonist, A&R man Steven Stelfox (Nicholas Hoult). At its best, Niven’s savvy tale of a business he clearly loathes aims for the inkybleak humour of Withnail & I overlaid with the insider-takedown tones of Robert Altman’s The Player, although he and first-time director Owen Harris struggle to turn this smattering of ingredients into a film that engages consistently. Scarface-levels of cocaine consumption date Kill Your Friends to the 1990s heyday of Britpop (as an A&R talent-spotter, Niven famously turned down the chance to sign Coldplay). Stylistically, its dark-edged patina — daylight full of glaring steel, a nighttime of clubs and drugs and strobes and violence — drenches the viewer with its American Psycho glassy nihilism. For a film about the music business, though, it’s interesting that Kill Your Friends sticks so faithfully
CITy TO CITy
UK. 2015. 102mins Director Owen Harris Production companies Unigram, Altitude Film Entertainment International sales Altitude Film Sales, info@altitudefilment.com Producers Len Blavatnik, Gregor Cameron, Will Clarke Screenplay John Niven, based on his own novel Cinematography Gustav Danielsson Editor Bill Smedley Music Junkie XL aka Tom Holkenborg Main cast Nicholas Hoult, Tom Riley, Georgia King, Craig Roberts, Joseph Mawle, James Corden, Ed Hogg, Ed Skrein, Osy Ikhile, Moritz Bleibtreu, Rosanna Arquette, Jim Piddock
to one note throughout; it’s as if Niven fears any glimpse of humanity might risk the project’s integrity, but the lack of human empathy ultimately becomes this project’s biggest handicap. Breaking the third wall throughout and speaking directly to camera, Hoult plays the ruthlessly ambitious Steven Selfox, an A&R — artists and repertoire — talent-spotter at Unigram records, where he works under division head ‘Roger Waters’, played entertainingly as a shambling, clueless coke fiend by James Corden. Not particularly talented himself but certainly ambitious, Steven’s loathing for Roger
knows no bounds. He’s a pure-blooded misanthrope, surrounded by men and women who have a similarly toxic cocktail of drugs and ambition running through their veins. With the coked-up artist Rage (Osy Ikhile) about to self-combust to the label’s cost, there’s a race on to sign the hottest new band, The Lazies. Selfox dispenses with Roger, only to find himself with a new, equally Machiavellian boss. “How far are you willing to go?” is the question, and Niven/Harris establish early on that Selfox is ready to go the distance, whether or not he brings the viewer along for all the ride.
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14 Screen International at Toronto September 12, 2015
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Spotlight online Revolution
TECH-TONIC SHIFTS In 2011, Screen profiled a new generation of websites that were seeking to capitalise on rapid technological changes in the film industry. Colin Brown reports on how far things have come
T
he extent to which tech culture has seeped into film-industry consciousness is becoming evident with films such as Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, which played last week at Telluride ahead of its early October release. Unlike so many rise-fall-and-rise-again Hollywood biopics, this is not your typical life-spanning chronicle designed to show greatness in the making. Instead, Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay examines Apple’s late leader through the backstage events leading up to three of his seminal presentations. Not only have tech titans become household names, but it seems that even their product launches are sexy enough for film-audience consumption. Tech is very much the mainstream now and Hollywood is happily riding in its global wake. Indeed, Boyle’s film arrives at something of a watershed moment for cinema’s relationship with those start-up entrepreneurs bent on creative destruction and business disruption. Four years ago — just weeks after Jobs succumbed to pancreatic cancer — Screen profiled more than a dozen businessto-business websites that had sprung up to address the industry’s pain-points. In contrast to their belligerent peers in Silicon Valley, these pioneers all started out cautiously; and they had good reason for tiptoeing around industry conventions and playing nice with the film hierarchy. To talk openly of predictive data analytics being applied to storytelling, for example, or of synthesising face-to-face sales meetings online, was to attack the romantic, humanistic core of cinema. But go to an industry reception today and you are as likely to be serenaded with the elevator pitch for the next Airbnb or Uber as you are for the next Imitation Game. Changing attitudes “Four years ago, if you told people you were building an online marketplace, you would get a response akin to, ‘Great idea, it will never work,’” says RightsTrade CEO Steven Polster. “Two years ago, when I started here, attitudes began to shift slightly; there was still healthy scepticism but maybe 10% were open to it. Today, the scepticism has nearly evaporated.” Based on interviews with the CEOs and founders of many of the same companies Screen profiled four years ago, it is clear that cloud-based tools and platforms are now woven firmly into the industry fabric. Professional livelihoods no longer feel as threat-
16 Screen International September 12, 2015
(Left) Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs. A sector that was once of niche interest is now legitimate material for Hollywood biopics
C4, “There are two barriers to overcome when introducing new tools and/or technology into any industry — generating an understanding of, and comfort level with, their use (as opposed to the familiar methods) and proving their effectiveness. The first barrier is an effect of time and repetition, but the second one is harder to overcome. We speak as if these tools have been perfected, but they haven’t. As an example, measurement of social media ‘buzz’ and the implications of it are wrong more often than they are correct.”
ened. “For the most part, the companies we work with, large and small, embrace new technology — so long as it solves their problems,” says Rob Delf, CEO of RightsLine Software, one of several companies acquired since being profiled here in 2011. That is not to say acceptance has been quick or easy. There remains a wellspring of residual fears, particularly among the incumbent players. “There’s a lot of mistrust from content owners that we have inherited from older industry practices where many people got burned with empty promises,” notes Klaus Badelt, the film composer who also cofounded the self-described ‘Super VoD aggregator’ Kinonation. “You need to make everyone comfortable on this ride, and resist the urge to pull the rug from under them, no matter how exciting the revolution is. So there’s a lot of education we’re doing, in addition to the actual product we have built.” Part of that education is also steering the audience away from video tools they may already be familiar with from home usage but that are ill-suited to the business rigours of cinema. “Despite their concerns with regard to piracy, some professionals turn to well-known consumer video solutions,” says Jérome Paillard, executive director at Marché du Film and its Cinando website. “They ignore how very easy it is to download files from these platforms.” According to Vincent Bruzzese, founder and CEO of the entertainment research firm
‘You need to make everyone comfortable on this ride, and not pull the rug from under them’ Klaus Badelt, Kinonation
Best of both worlds Film financing and introduction platform Slated uses algorithms to help score the strength of scripts and packages to make it easy for ‘syndicates’ of investors to align themselves behind the hottest projects on its site. While humans are employed to assess the scripts, statistical analysis is then applied to their insights in order to project probable market outcomes. “Being data-driven and creative are not mutually exclusive. In fact, it allows for more rapid detecting of quality, original material,” insists Slated CEO Stephan Paternot. “Since launching our project scoring system, we’ve seen countless firstand second-time film-makers surge up the rankings due to their great script scores.” Four years ago, the idea of using Moneyball-style computational horsepower to create some kind of objective currency for evaluating material would have been anathema. Most preferred ‘film comps’, pre-sales estimates and other subjective hunches. But if there are still cries of heresy today, they are being drowned out by the tech evangelists. “I used to have a huge moral dilemma when I thought what people like Orwell or Huxley would say about the standardisation of processes and the unification of information that Eventival provides. But not any more,” says Tomas Prasek, co-founding director of event management platform Eventival. “We’re like a Swiss Army knife or a map and, like every tool, it’s beyond good and evil. In some hands it will just be a toy — or s worse. In others, it will lead to progress.” n Twelve pioneering business websites, some of these new or under new management, will be profiled in full in October’s issue of Screen.
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MARKET SCREENING DCP/HD • 2015 • ITALY • 78MIN • DOCUMENTARY
« A free and civilized society should be judged by its willingness to accept porn. »
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A film by Carmine Amoroso 12/09 9PM Cinema 6, TIFF Bell Lightbox (Market Screening)
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WORLD PREMIERE DCP/HD • 2015 • GERMANY/ARGENTINA • 85MIN • DRAMA/DOCUMENTARY
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31/08/2015 15:34
PROFILES ALEXANDRA-THERESE KEINING & PAN NALIN
Crossing the gender divide Alexandra-Therese Keining’s Girls Lost, based on a daring Swedish YA novel about the gender transformation of three bullied schoolgirls, screens first today. Wendy Mitchell meets the director
W
ith gender identity making headlines around the globe, Alexandra-Therese Keining ’s Girls Lost (Pojkarna) couldn’t be more timely. Keining’s second feature (after 2011 festival hit Kiss Me) is based on Jessica Schiefauer’s prize-winning young-adult novel, which has been banned in several schools in Sweden. The story is about three 14-year-old girls being bullied at school. They discover the nectar of a magical plant that transforms them into boys by night. But this complicates their daytime relationships as identities and attractions are blurred. The Swedish-language film is part drama, part fantasy, part thriller and part coming-of-age story. “I read the novel and I was fascinated by it,” Keining says. “I’d never worked with special effects. I had a vision of how I wanted to do it.” It was more than the fantasy that
‘It’s an interesting time to talk about gender. Changing back and forth is a metaphor’ Girls Lost
drew her to the story. “It’s an interesting time to talk about gender. Changing back and forth is a metaphor, and they are also becoming grown-ups,” she says. “Gender becomes fluid, it’s something you can change and manipulate.” In the casting feat of the year, she found newcomers (three females and three males) who are compelling in each individual performance but also refer-
Alexandra-Therese Keining, director
ence their male or female counterpart in remarkable fashion. “We did a lot of scouting at schools; we had 500 or 600 auditions,” Keining says. “I wasn’t looking for twins, it was a voice or a mannerism that gave a hint this might be the same person. “Since the kids had never acted before, it was fascinating to see how fast they learned. They did some workshops
during pre-production. There were a lot of challenges for them, so it helped there was a great camaraderie.” Girls Lost plays in Contemporary World Cinema starting September 12. The Swedish Film Institute backs the film and The Yellow Affair handles sales. Helena Wirenhed, Olle Wirenhed and Christer Nilson produce for GötaFilm and Periferia. It will be released in Sweden in February 2016 by Folkets Bio in co-operation with SF. Even for films about teenagers, the writer/director does not want to pigeonhole the audience. “Young people today are pretty sophisticated. Even grownups will find a theme to relate to,” she says. Up next, Keining is sticking with 14-year-old protagonists. She wrote a novel last year entitled 14 that she will adapt for the screen and direct. “It’s kind of like Magnolia or Short Cuts. It’s five s kids’ lives interweaving.” ■
The female perspective This film will provoke people, director Pan Nalin tells Wendy Mitchell of Angry Indian Goddesses, a frank portrait of modern-day Indian women that plays at TIFF in Special Presentations
P
an Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses shows contemporary Indian women in a way that’s not been seen on screen before — a group of friends come together for a wedding and talk frankly about careers, friendship, relationships and sex. Nalin was determined to show a female point of view even though it made financing the project “nearly impossible”. One potential financier told him, “Who in India wants to watch stories of women? Let them do romance and dance — that’s enough!” “Our modern world today is in a mess, which has been generated mainly by the male humans,” says Nalin. “So, now, we need to give space and chance to women. For those reasons alone we need to tell stories of women, and more so in a country like India.” The film may prove controversial on home soil — not least because the fun bachelorette weekend is interrupted by
18 Screen International September 12, 2015
‘Our world today is in a mess, which has been generated mainly by the male humans’ Pan Nalin, director
an act of male violence. “India loves controversies, and Angry Indian Goddesses will undoubtedly provoke people; some will certainly be against it, but we hope others will stand by it,” Nalin adds. Another man believed in Nalin’s vision. “Gaurav Dhingra of Jungle Book Entertainment had guts and he made sure that AIG existed,” Nalin says. Sol Bondy and Jamila Wenske of Germany’s One Two Films (Youth, Whispers Behind
The Wall) also came on board as co-producers. The seven actresses — Amrit Maghera, Rajshri Deshpande, Pavleen Gujral, Anushka Manchanda, Sandhya Mridul, Sarah Jane Dias and Tannishtha Chatterjee, who Nalin affectionately dubs “the wild bunch” — helped to flesh out their characters and influence his script. “We did a workshop with them with the help of casting director Dilip Shankar where each one of them worked days and nights in building their persona and bringing their character to life,” Nalin explains. Toronto audiences will see a shorter international version of the film — the Indian version had to be long enough for an intermission. At TIFF, the film plays as part of Special
Presentations (its first P&I screening is tomorrow) and Mongrel Media handles sales. Nalin hopes the Toronto audience will be entertained and inspired. “In the end, the audience will realise how connected they are to Indian women — and women everywhere.” Nalin has a busy slate of projects. He is in post-production on Himalayas-set spiritual thriller Beyond The Known World and will direct 3D feature documentary Battle Of Brushes about Chinese calligraphy. He is also developing Satori, which he describes as “a high-voltage action trilogy set in India and s China”. ■ Angry Indian Goddesses
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Award Winning. Inspiring. Independent.
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Promotional Feature
High-Rise will have its world premiere here in Toronto
The rules of attraction On the back of London’s selection by TIFF as this year’s City To City Focus, Film London has lined up an exciting programme of events at London House to showcase the booming UK film industry
L
ondon and Toronto have come together for this year’s festival. Celebrating its 40th year, TIFF selected the UK capital for its City To City Focus. In return Film London and the British Film Commission have lined up an exciting series of panel discussions and Q&As celebrating the programme and key UK films screening at TIFF. Situated at Maison Mercer, 15 Mercer Street, London House opened its doors yesterday and will showcase the UK’s creativity, world-class talent and generous incentives through a series of events. The City To City Focus is made up of eight UK films directed by the likes of Rufus Norris, Elaine Constantine and Michael Caton-Jones (see sidebar, right). The London House panel programme, meanwhile, kicked off with a session in partnership with Screen International — ‘Selling British Films Internationally’ — and will also include sessions on ‘The UK’s Most Exciting Emerging Talent’ (September 12, 10:00-11:30am), ‘Filming In The UK’ (September 15, 2:00-3:30pm) and In Conversation sessions with Stephen Frears (September 13, 10:00-
11:00am) and producer Jeremy Thomas (September 15, 11:00am-12:15pm). It adds up to a perfect opportunity for promoting all the UK has to offer, at a time Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, describes as “unprecedented” in terms of the success of the UK creative industries. “We welcomed the announcement about the approval by the European Commission of the increase in film tax relief,” says Wootton. “It’s a very healthy situation, and we’ve got a compelling offer. The UK is one of the most attractive places to make film and television in the world.” Oscar-winning producer Thomas echoes Wootton’s sentiments. “I’ve worked around the magnificent studio facilities and post-production houses for decades,” says Thomas, whose latest project HighRise will have its world premiere here in Toronto. “There is the remarkable level of directors, writers, actors and technicians, and the good financial climate for rebate and film funds around the UK. The combination of the skills and atmosphere is conducive to good film-making.” The approval of enhanced tax relief by
22 Screen International at Toronto September 12, 2015
‘The combination of the skills and atmosphere is conducive to good film-making’ Jeremy Thomas
the EU means film tax relief (FTR) will increase to 25% regardless of budget. The initiative will be backdated to apply from April 2015. Tim Bevan, producer and co-chairman of Working Title, whose credits include Legend, The Danish Girl and The Program, all of which see either gala or special presentation screenings in Toronto, believes that having had a consistent tax relief for several years means international producers and studios can feel secure about bringing their projects to the UK, while allowing a depth of talent to build up across all departments. “For a young person going into the
craft side of the movie industry, they’re going to have permanent work if they wish to have it,” says Bevan. Roy Boulter, producer of Terence Davies’ Sunset Song, which has its world premiere here, also emphasises the rich potential for projects filming in the UK. “The breadth and quality of locations in Aberdeenshire [for Sunset Song] was impressive, not just the beauty of the landscapes but the diversity,” he says. Christopher Simon, producer of Miss You Already, Catherine Hardwicke’s comedy drama starring Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette, which is also premiering here, believes filming in the UK was key to securing the right creative talent for the project. “Shooting in the UK was one of the things that helped me lure Catherine Hardwicke to come on board. Catherine found such unique locations in London and Yorkshire. “London is such a glorious city to shoot in, no matter what the budget of the film,” Simon adds. “This, combined with the highest calibre of actors, crew and facilities and the most generous and efficient tax credit in the world — what’s not to love?”
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T
he UK’s VFX and post-production sector is firmly established as the leading global destination for feature films. The number of Bafta and Oscar winners in recent years are testament to the industry’s quality and endurance. Interstellar, Gravity and Life Of Pi all had major UK VFX involvement. Now, with enhanced tax relief seemingly guaranteeing the prosperity of the industry for the foreseeable future, and new players such as Industrial Light & Magic setting up shop in London, the UK’s major players look set to go from strength to strength. “The VFX industry is one of the jewels in our crown,” says Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission (BFC). Earlier this year, the BFC published its UK VFX & Post Directory 2015, showcasing the very best of the country’s post-production services. Wootton believes the enhanced tax relief mean those services are opening up to films shot all over the world, not just in the UK. “Dropping the minimum expenditure floor means we’re seeing more and more films that are shot in other parts of the world bringing their VFX packages to the UK, such as Ridley Scott’s The Martian,” he says. William Sargent, co-founder and CEO of Framestore, whose company was responsible for portraying the space environment in The Martian, agrees the UK is in a very healthy position. “We’re at the forefront of the industry,” he says. “There’s a natural inclination to do a significant portion of work in the UK these days.” On The Martian, Framestore was joined
The UK hosted VFX work on Ridley Scott’s The Martian
Cause and effects The UK continues to be a leader in visual effects, nurturing some of the world’s finest VFX talent by fellow industry-leading VFX studio MPC, which acted as the lead studio on the film. Multiple UK VFX companies working on the same film is standard practice, with rivalries put aside to focus on producing the highest quality work. “We’re very competitive to win the project,” says Sargent, “but once we’re on it we pull together to make sure it goes
seamlessly. The VFX companies in London work together very well. That’s one of the features of the London industry.” Christian Roberton, global MD of film at MPC, agrees the collaboration is an attractive proposition. “The ability to collaborate with other companies adds to the appeal of the UK market for film-makers. We recently worked with
Framestore on Guardians Of The Galaxy and with Double Negative on Terminator Genisys, as well as being lead studio on The Martian.” Companies such as Framestore and MPC now have offices all over the world, but Sargent believes London remains “the centre of excellence” for VFX production. For Sargent, the future promises sustained success, particularly after the announcement in August that the UK’s new higher rate of film tax relief has been given a green light by the EU. “The tax credit enhancements over the last year are very important to the long-term planning to the VFX community. We’re going to spend £6m [$9.2m] this year on equipment and software,” he says. “You can’t do that if you can’t look out over five years and feel there’s a solid base of business you can plan for. It’s the same with skills development.” And there is more to the UK’s VFX scene than the major houses, says Wootton. “We’ve got boutique houses that offer tailored solutions across the whole range of post-production and visual-effects services that all sizes of films and television programmes require.”
‘The VFX industry is one of the jewels in our crown’ adrian wootton, film london and Bfc
ShowcaSe city to city titleS and a new GeneRation of UK talent
E
ight titles have been selected by TIFF for this year’s City To City Focus. These are Couple In A Hole (dir. Tom Geens), The Hard Stop (dir. George Amponsah), Kill Your Friends (dir. Owen Harris), Kilo Two Bravo (dir. Paul Katis), London Road (dir. Rufus Norris), Northern Soul (dir. Elaine Constantine), The Ones Below (dir. David Farr) and Urban Hymn (dir. Michael Caton-Jones). As part of the London House programme, five UK directors, actors and producers — some connected to City To City, others, such as Michael Lennox, world-premiering their film here — will take part in a panel discussion today entitled ‘The UK’s Most Exciting Emerging Talent’ (10:00-11:30am). Film London’s Deborah Sathe, who will moderate, says: “The wealth of UK films and film-makers represented in this year’s programme, and the festival’s own London focus, is very much reflected in this panel.”
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Alecky Blythe Actress-screenwriter Blythe made her writing debut with BBC TV mini-series The Riots: In Their Own Words — The Rioters before penning A Man In A Box, which featured as part of Channel 4’s Coming Up series. London Road is her debut feature script.
Letitia Wright Wright, a former Screen Star of Tomorrow, has a featured role in Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn, having previously starred in Victim (2011) and My Brother The Devil (2012).
Paul Katis
Alecky Blythe
Letitia Wright in Urban Hymn
action short, Lennox directs his first feature A Patch Of Fog.
Michael Caton-Jones Caton-Jones returns with Urban Hymn, a drama about two friends set against the backdrop of the 2011 UK riots.
Michael Caton-Jones
After directing numerous shorts, Katis makes his feature debut with Baftanominated Afghanistan-set war drama Kilo Two Bravo.
Michael Lennox After his short film Boogaloo And Graham was Oscar-nominated for best live-
Michael Lennox
Paul Katis
September 12, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 23
ScreeningS
Further coverage, see screendaily.com
edited by Jamie mcLeish Screening times and venues are correct at time of press but are subject to alteration
Public
screenings 08:30 Dheepan
(France) 114mins. Wild Bunch, Celluloid Dreams (int’l). Dir: Jacques Audiard. Cast: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby. Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes, this powerful drama from Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust & Bone) follows a former Tamil Tiger soldier as he flees the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war to begin a new life in a Parisian suburb. Special presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
08:45
Public screening 11:00
The DaughTer
our BranD IS CrISIS
(Australia) 96mins. Cinetic Media (US). Mongrel International (int’l). Dir: Simon Stone. Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider. A young man returns to his dying hometown and discovers a dark family secret that could tear apart the lives of those he left behind, in this contemporary adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck.
(USA) 108mins. Warner Bros Pictures (US). Warner Bros Pictures (int’l). Dir: David Gordon Green. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie.
Special presentations Isabel Bader Theatre
09:00 Len anD Company
(USA) 97mins. United Talent Agency (US). Seville International (int’l). Dir: Tim Godsall. Cast: Rhys Ifans, Juno Temple, Jack Kilmer. A legendary, reclusive music producer (Rhys Ifans) has his shut-in routine disturbed by the unexpected arrival of his aspiring musician son (Jack Kilmer) and a troubled bubblegum-pop superstar (Juno Temple). Special presentations The Bloor hot Docs Cinema
Spear
(Australia) 84mins.
LevelK (int’l). Dir: Stephen Page. A young man reconciles ancient tradition with the modern, urban world in this debut feature from Stephen Page, artistic director of Australia’s Bangarra Dance Theatre. Discovery Jackman hall
The oTher SIDe
(France/Italy) 92mins. Doc & Film International (int’l). Dir: Roberto Minervini. Cast: Mark Kelley, Lisa Allen, James Lee Miller. By turns tender and disturbing, the new film from Italian film-maker Roberto Minervini is a powerful docu-fiction hybrid that profiles Louisiana drug addicts and private militia living on the fringes of society. Wavelengths TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
24 Screen International September 12, 2015
Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton star in this story inspired by true events, in which rival US political strategists work to fix a Bolivian presidential election. Special presentations ryerson Theatre
09:15 a FLICkerIng TruTh
(New Zealand/ Afghanistan) 91mins. The Film Sales Company (US). The Film Sales Company (int’l). Dir: Pietra Brettkelly. Cast: Ibrahim Arify, Isaaq Yousif, Mahmoud Ghafouri. Director Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star And The Sudanese Twins) follows a group of dedicated Afghan cinephiles who are literally excavating their country’s cinematic past, as they seek to retrieve more than 8,000 hours of film footage that they risked their lives to conceal during the Taliban era. TIFF Docs TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
The enDLeSS rIver
(South Africa/France)
110mins. UDI — Urban Distribution International (int’l). Dir: Oliver Hermanus. Cast: Nicolas Duvauchelle, CrystalDonna Roberts, Clayton Evertson. A young waitress in a small South African town forms an unlikely bond with a grieving widower whose family has been brutally murdered, in the new film from director Oliver Hermanus. Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — paul & Leah atkinson Family Cinema
10:00 FIreWorkS (arChIveS)
(Thailand/Mexico). Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The new installation from Palme d’Orwinning Thai film-maker and contemporary artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul fuses the artist’s exploration of memory, ephemeral elements such as light and phantoms, and the malleable nature of history and storytelling, all while exhuming Thailand’s political legacy through an ingenious use of pyrotechnics. Wavelengths Contemporary galleries
I SaW The LIghT
(USA) 123mins. Dir: Marc Abraham. Cast: Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen. Biopic of country-music legend Hank Williams. Special presentations Winter garden Theatre
The ForBIDDen room: a LIvIng poSTer
(Canada) 119mins. Mongrel International (int’l). Dir: Galen Johnson. Initially designed to promote Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin’s new film The Forbidden Room, Galen Johnson’s A Living Poster is a looping collection of moving, morphing posters that suggests an anachronistic collision between digitally corrupted video files and a damaged silent-era film print. Wavelengths TIFF Bell Lightbox
11:00
shadowy government operatives (Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro) in a high-risk cross-border sting against a Mexican cartel boss, in this gritty drug-war thriller from Quebec’s Denis Villeneuve. Special presentations visa Screening room (elgin)
11:15 eye In The Sky
(United Kingdom) 102mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). Entertainment One Features (int’l). Dir: Gavin Hood. Cast: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman. Academy Award winner Helen Mirren stars alongside Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman and Iain Glen in this timely thriller about a terrorist-targeting drone mission that becomes a flashpoint when a civilian girl enters the kill zone. gala presentations Isabel Bader Theatre
our BranD IS CrISIS See box, above
SICarIo
(USA) 121mins. Dir: Denis Villeneuve. Cast: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin. An idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) joins two
LanD oF mIne
(Denmark/Germany) 100mins. K5 International, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). K5 International (int’l). Dir: Martin Zandvliet. Cast: Roland Moller, Louis » www.screendaily.com
Meet moguls, masters and mavericks Scilla Andreen
Nicolas Chartier
Danny Gabai
Asif Kapadia
Avi Lewis
An Xiaofen
Carmen Cuba
Aaron L. Gilbert
Charles King
Laura Michalchyshyn
Felice Bee
Madeline DiNonno
Bianca Goodloe
Naomi Klein
Gigi Pritzker
Wendy Calhoun
John Fithian
Mike Goodridge
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Stephen Frears
Dan Janvey
Tim League
Yu Dong
TIFFIndustry
TIFF_Industry
tiff.net/industry
™ Toronto International Film Festival Inc.
This year’s TIFF Industry Conference is a who’s-who of global screen giants. Excuse us while we drop some names.
ScreeningS
Hofmann, Joel Basman. In this based-on-fact war drama, a group of German POWs are put to work by the Allies defusing their own landmines on the west coast of Denmark in the aftermath of the Second World War.
PhAnTom Boy
See box, right
(France/Belgium) 84mins. Doc & Film International, Lumiere Publishing (int’l). Dir: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli. Cast: Audrey Tautou, Édouard Baer, Jean-Pierre Marielle. An 11-year-old boy becomes an unlikely superhero when he discovers he has the ability to leave his body and fly through walls.
un PLuS une
TIFF kids TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
11:30 ReTuRn oF The ATom
(France) 115mins. Metropolitan Filmexport (US). Mister Smith Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Claude Lelouch. Cast: Jean Dujardin, Elsa Zylberstein, Christophe Lambert. A successful film composer falls in love when he travels to India to work on a Bollywood retelling of Romeo And Juliet. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
11:45
STARVe youR doG
Public screening 11:30 ReTuRn oF The ATom
(Finland/Germany) 110mins. Deckert Distribution (int’l). Dir: Mika Taanila, Jussi Eerola.
This incisive and often savagely funny documentary chronicles the black comedy of errors that transpired when a remote Finnish island was selected as
the site of the first new nuclear power plant in the West following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
collaboration between Canadian artist Tony Romano and Englandborn, Toronto-raised Corin Sworn, La Giubba follows the lives of five drifters over the course of two summer days in southern Italy.
disorder, her coroner father, and a physical therapist who believes she can communicate with the dead intersect in unexpected ways.
Wavelengths Clint Roenisch Gallery
The LAdy In The VAn
TIFF docs jackman hall
The latest nail-biting thriller from the director of cult hit Blue Ruin is preceded by Davy Force and Nick DenBoer’s clucky fast-food horror flick. midnight madness The Bloor hot docs Cinema
endoRPhIne
(Canada) 84mins. Séville International (int’l). Dir: André Turpin. Cast: Sophie Nélisse, Mylene Mackay, Lise Roy. An intoxicating cinematic puzzle that intertwines the lives of three seemingly unconnected characters. Vanguard The Bloor hot docs Cinema
noRTheRn SouL
(UK) 102mins. The Little Film Company (US) The Little Film Company (int’l). Cast: Elliot James Langridge, Joshua Whitehouse. A coming-of-age film about a working-class teen who finds liberation in Lancashire’s burgeoning soul-music scene in 1974. City to City TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
12:00 FALLen oBjeCTS
(USA/India) Dir: Shambhavi Kaul. This new installation comprises a large projected video loop and floorbound sculptures, which considers cinematic space outside the cinema and imagines humans inside it. Wavelengths Scrap metal Gallery
The mARTIAn
(USA) 130mins. Dir: Ridley Scott. Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig. Stranded on Mars, a NASA astronaut struggles to survive on the arid planet while his ground crew races to mount a rescue mission, in this interplanetary epic from director Ridley Scott. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson hall
12:15 TITICuT FoLLIeS
(USA) 84mins. Zipporah Films (US). Zipporah Films (int’l). Dir: Frederick Wiseman. Filmed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Frederick Wiseman’s searing 1967 documentary is one of the greatest directorial debuts in the history of cinema. TIFF Cinematheque TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
12:30 LA GIuBBA
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. The first major
26 Screen International September 12, 2015
Special Presentations Isabel Bader Theatre
(Canada) 101mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Guy Edoin. Cast: Monica Bellucci, Pascale Bussieres, Aliocha Schneider. Monica Bellucci stars in the second feature by Quebec director Guy Edoin, about four people whose very different lives intersect one fateful night in downtown Montreal.
(United Kingdom) 104mins. Dir: Nicholas Hytner. Cast: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Frances De La Tour. The legendary Maggie Smith stars in this adaptation of the basedon-fact play by acclaimed author Alan Bennett (The Madness Of King George), about a high-born homeless woman fallen on hard times who found temporary shelter living in her van in Bennett’s driveway — for 15 years.
Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
13:15 VILLe-mARIe
14:00 Body
(Poland) 90mins. Memento Films (int’l). Dir: Malgorzata Szumowska. Cast: Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala. The lives of a young woman with an eating
14:15 GReen Room (preceded by The ChICkenInG)
(USA) 95mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). WestEnd Films (int’l). Dir: Jeremy Saulnier. Cast: Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart, Anton Yelchin.
he nAmed me mALALA
(USA) 87mins. Dir: Davis Guggenheim. Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai. Davis Guggenheim profiles Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who survived a Taliban assassination attempt to become a globally recognised advocate for girls’ rights. TIFF docs Ryerson Theatre
The WhITe knIGhTS
(France/Belgium) 112mins. Indie Sales (int’l). Dir: Joachim Lafosse. Cast: Vincent Lindon, Valérie Donzelli, Reda Kateb. Vincent Lindon (Bastards) stars as the head of an NGO trying to rescue 300 children from the civil war in Chad, in the new drama from Belgian director Joachim Lafosse. Platform Visa Screening Room (elgin)
14:30 LA GIuBBA
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. Wavelengths Clint Roenisch Gallery
(Morocco) 94mins. Paul Thiltges Distribution (int’l). Dir: Hicham Lasri. Cast: Latefa Ahrrare, Jirari Ben Aissa, Fehd Benchemsi. A once-famous journalist — desperate to make a comeback — lands a major interview with the dreaded interior minister of the despotic former regime. But the anger and dissension among her camera crew makes it hard to predict whether they’ll actually be able to get this show in the can. Contemporary World Cinema jackman hall
14:45 RoCCo And hIS BRoTheRS
(Italy) 180mins. Intramovies (int’l). Dir: Luchino Visconti. Cast: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot. Luchino Visconti’s 1960 family saga — about an impoverished Sicilian clan who arrive in Milan in search of a better life — is regarded by many as the final masterpiece of classic Italian neorealism. TIFF Cinematheque TIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
15:30 ABouT RAy
(USA) 87mins. IM Global (int’l). Dir: Gaby Dellal. Cast: Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon. A funny and touching story about a New York City teenager struggling with gender identity. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
mISS you ALReAdy
(United Kingdom) www.screendaily.com
»
ScreeningS
112mins. The Salt Company Ltd. (int’l). Dir: Catherine Hardwicke. Cast: Toni Collette, Drew Barrymore, Dominic Cooper. Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore star in this touching comedy-drama about two childhood friends whose relationship is put to the test when one becomes pregnant while the other receives some tragic news. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
16:00 EmbRacE of THE SERPEnT
(Colombia/Venezuela/ Argentina) 122mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Ciro Guerra. Cast: Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolivar. Tracking two parallel odysseys through the Amazon three decades apart, this visionary
adventure epic from Colombian director Ciro Guerra offers a heartrending depiction of colonialism laying waste to indigenous culture. contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 3
16:15 my Skinny SiSTER
(Sweden/Germany) 95mins. Wide Management (int’l). Dir: Sanna Lenken. Cast: Rebecka Josephson, Amy Deasismont, Annika Hallin. The feature debut of writer-director Sanna Lenken takes a unique approach to the issue of eating disorders, observing the moral dilemma facing an awkward 12-year-old girl when she discovers her older sister, a beautiful figure skater, has been starving herself in her quest for excellence. Tiff kids Scotiabank 10
UKF_TIFF_Screenad_HP_218x150_Art_DAY3_2.indd 2
28 Screen International September 12, 2015
16:30 baba Joon
(Israel) 91mins. Eastgate Pictures (US). Dir: Yuval Delshad. Cast: Navid Negahban, Viss Elliot Safavi, Asher Avrahami. Chronicling the burgeoning conflict between father and son in a hard-working IranianIsraeli family, Yuval Delshad’s fiction-feature debut is both a fascinating glimpse into a distinctive immigrant experience and a universal story of intergenerational tension. contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 13
La Giubba
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. Wavelengths clint Roenisch Gallery
TRuman
(Spain/Argentina) 108mins. Filmax International (int’l). Dir:
Cesc Gay. Cast: Ricardo Darin, Javier Camara. This delicate, intricate film from director Cesc Gay, in which a Madrid man puts his affairs in order during his final days, offers a humorous and honest portrait of courage and acceptance in the face of death. contemporary World cinema isabel bader Theatre
16:45 ouR LiTTLE SiSTER
(Japan) 128mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda. Cast: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho. After their estranged father’s death, three twentysomething sisters discover they have a teenage step-sibling, in this gentle, deeply affecting family drama from Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda. masters Tiff bell Lightbox, cinema 1
THE LobSTER
(Ireland/United Kingdom/Greece/France/ Netherlands) 119mins. Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos. Cast: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C Reilly. About a curious hotel where the residents are charged with finding a new mate within 45 days — under penalty of being transformed into animals should they fail. Special Presentations The bloor Hot Docs cinema
17:00 invEnTion
(United Kingdom/ Canada) 87mins. National Film Board of Canada (US). National Film Board of Canada (int’l). Dir: Mark Lewis. Acclaimed Canadian contemporary artist Mark Lewis echoes the classic city symphony films of the silent era with this
breathtaking cinematic tour through Toronto, Sao Paolo, and Paris’s Musée du Louvre. Wavelengths Jackman Hall
THE fEaR
(France) 93mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Damien Odoul. Cast: Nino Rocher, Pierre Martial Gaillard, Theo Chazal. A young French infantry volunteer is plunged into the maelstrom of trench warfare on the Western Front, in this startlingly subjective vision of the First World War. contemporary World cinema Tiff bell Lightbox, cinema 2
TRaPPED
(Iceland) 51mins. Dynamic Television (int’l). Dir: Baltasar Kormakur. Cast: Olafur Darri Olafsson. A murder investigation and an impending »
08/09/2015 17:03
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11/09/15 11/09/15 08:29 08:29
ScreeningS
snowstorm places a smalltown Icelandic police chief in a dangerously unstable situation with international implications, in this noir-ish thriller from director Baltasar Kormakur. Primetime Scotiabank 14
TruTh
(USA) 121mins. Sony Pictures Classics (US). FilmNation Entertainment (int’l). Dir: James Vanderbilt. Cast: Cate Blanchett, Elisabeth Moss, Robert Redford. Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford star as 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes and anchor Dan Rather, in this gripping docudrama about the news magazine’s investigation into George W Bush’s alleged draft-dodging during Vietnam. Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
17:15 MounTain
(Israel/Denmark) 83mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Yaelle Kayam. Cast: Shani Klein, Avshalom Pollak, Haitham Ibrahem Omari. A young Orthodox Jewish woman becomes ensconced in a nocturnal community of prostitutes and drug dealers that congregates in the ancient cemetery atop Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. Discovery TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
17:45 YouTh
(Italy/France/United Kingdom/Switzerland) 123mins. Pathé International (int’l). Dir: Paolo Sorrentino. Cast: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz. Two old friends (Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel) reflect on their past, present and the beauty and absurdity of the world during a vacation in the Swiss Alps, in the lovely and heart-warming new film from Academy Award winner Paolo Sorrentino. Special Presentations Visa Screening room (Elgin)
18:00
19:45
GirLS LoST
onE FLoor BELoW
(Sweden) 106mins. The Yellow Affair (int’l). Dir: Alexandra-Therese Keining. Cast: Tuva Jagell, Emrik Ohlander, Wilma Holmen. Three outcast teenage girls get a new perspective on high-school life when they are mysteriously transformed into boys, in this skillfully crafted tale of sexual confusion with a supernatural twist.
(Romania/France/ Germany/Sweden) 93mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Radu Muntean. Cast: Teodor Corban, Iulian Postelnicu, Oxana Moravec. A family man who witnessed the prelude to a murder determines to keep his mouth shut and mind his own business — until the possible killer turns up at his door and begins to ingratiate himself into the lives of his wife and son.
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 4
18:15 ThE DaniSh GirL
(United Kingdom) 120mins. Universal Pictures International (int’l). Dir: Tom Hooper. Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw. Eddie Redmayne stars as Lili Elbe, the 1920s Danish artist who was one of the first recipients of sexual reassignment surgery. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
18:30 FEBruarY
(USA/Canada) 93mins. Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency (US). Highland Film Group (int’l). Dir: Osgood Perkins. Cast: Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton. Two young students at a prestigious prep school for girls are assailed by an evil, invisible power when they are stranded at the school over winter break. Vanguard Scotiabank 1
iVY
(Turkey) 104mins. Karacelik Film (int’l). Dir: Tolga Karacelik. Cast: Hakan Karsak, Nadir Saribacak, Ozgür Emre Yildirim. Trapped at anchor due to a legal dispute, the skeleton crew of a cargo ship come into potentially deadly conflict with one another, in this slowburning psychological thriller from Tolga Karacelik. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 11
30 Screen International September 12, 2015
Contemporary World Cinema TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
Public screening 19:15 ParChED
(India/USA) 118mins. Seville International, The Gersh Agency (US). Seville International (int’l). Dir: Leena Yadav. Cast: Tannishtha
rEMEMBEr
(Canada/Germany) 95mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). IM Global (int’l). Dir: Atom Egoyan. Cast: Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Dean Norris. A nursing-home resident (Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer) sets out to exact vengeance on the man who murdered his family seven decades earlier, in this compelling thriller from master director Atom Egoyan. Gala Presentations roy Thomson hall
18:45 araBian niGhTS: VoLuME 3, ThE EnChanTED onE
(Portugal/France/ Germany/Switzerland) 125mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Miguel Gomes. Cast: Crista Alfaiate, Americo Silva, Carloto Cotta. The third and concluding volume of Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes’s Scheherazadean triptych brings this epic to a close with the sound of birdsong and the promise of the ineffable. Wavelengths TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah atkinson Family Cinema
Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla. In a rural Indian village, four women throw off the traditions that hold them in servitude. Special Presentations isabel Bader Theatre
19:00 onE BrEaTh
(Germany) 110mins. ARRI Media World Sales (int’l). Dir: Christian Zübert. Cast: Jördis Triebel, Chara Mata Giannatou, Benjamin Sadler. A nightmarish crisis occurs after a pregnant young Greek immigrant takes a job as a nanny to a young couple. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 2
our LaST TanGo
(Germany/Argentina) 85mins. Wide House (int’l). Dir: German Kral. Cast: Maria Nieves Rego, Juan Carlos Copes, Pablo Veron. German Kral chronicles the seven-decade career of Argentinian tango legends Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves.
19:15 ThE rEFLEKTor TaPES ninTh FLoor
(Canada) 81mins. National Film Board of Canada (US). National Film Board of Canada (int’l). Dir: Mina Shum. Cast: Rodney John, Clarence Bayne, Senator Anne Cools. Mina Shum takes a penetrating look at the Sir George Williams University riot of February 1969, when a protest against institutional racism snowballed into a 14-day student occupation at the Montreal university.
WaVELEnGThS 2: YoLo
(Canada) 92mins. Dir: Kire Paputts. Cast: Dylan Harman, Krystal Nausbaum, Nicholas Campbell. A young man with Down’s Syndrome journeys through rural Ontario. Discovery Scotiabank 14
Wavelengths Jackman hall
ParChED See box, above
ThE rainBoW KiD
19:30 PariSiEnnE
Change is the only constant in this programme’s stories of changing circumstances, transformative realisations and many other moments that turn lives upside down. Short Cuts Scotiabank 10
Contemporary World Cinema TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
ShorT CuTS — ProGraMME 3
TiFF Docs TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
Subjective experience is channelled through artistic collaborations in this programme that offers YOLO-infused reflections on identity and contemporary dislocation. With films by Ben Rivers, Shai Heredia & Shumona Goel, Behrouz Rae, Beatrice Gibson, Ben Russell, Wojciech Bakowski, Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour and Ryan Ferko.
TiFF Docs Scotiabank 3
(France) 119mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Danielle Arbid. Cast: Manal Issa, Vincent Lacoste, Paul Hamy. Set in 1990s Paris, this is a coming-of-age story about a woman from Beirut whose relationships and encounters reveal different facets of her new country, and of herself.
TiFF Docs Scotiabank 13
(United Kingdom) 75mins. Arts Alliance Ltd (int’l). Dir: Kahlil Joseph. Cast: Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, Win Butler. Kahlil Joseph follows iconic Canadian band Arcade Fire as they complete their chart-topping 2013 album Reflektor and embark on the North American leg of their world tour.
WinTEr on FirE: uKrainE’S FiGhT For FrEEDoM
(Ukraine/USA/United Kingdom) 102mins. Dir: Evgeny Afineevsky. Evgeny Afineevsky offers a visceral, in-depth look at the bloody Ukrainian uprising in Kiev’s Maidan Square in the winter of 2013-14 that resulted in the removal of president Viktor Yanukovych. TiFF Docs The Bloor hot Docs Cinema
www.screendaily.com
20:30 Into the Forest
(Canada) 101mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). Celsius Entertainment Ltd. (int’l). Dir: Patricia Rozema. Cast: Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella. Two sisters struggle to survive in a remote country house after a continentwide power outage. special Presentations Winter Garden theatre
21:00 KIll Your FrIends
(United Kingdom) 103mins. United Talent Agency (US). Altitude Film Sales (int’l). Dir: Owen Harris. Cast: Nicholas Hoult, James Corden, Georgia King. In this comic romp set in 1990s London, a young record label A&R rep does anything and everything to get ahead in the shark tank of the Britpop-era music industry. City to City scotiabank 4
oFFICe
(China/Hong Kong) 117mins. Edko Films Ltd. (int’l). Dir: Johnnie To. Cast: Sylvia Chang, Chow Yun Fat, Eason Chan. Johnnie To directs Chow Yun-fat and Sylvia Chang in this spectacular movie musical about high-level corporate intrigue. special Presentations ryerson theatre
A pair of married whitecollar swindlers fall foul of their latest victims. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 1
21:30 leGend
(United Kingdom) 131mins. Studiocanal (int’l). Dir: Brian Helgeland. Cast: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis. Tom Hardy gives a bravura double performance as Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the twin brothers who became the rulers of the London underworld at the height of the swinging ’60s. Gala Presentations roy thomson hall
maGGIe’s Plan see box, below
sonG oF sonGs
(Ukraine) 76mins. Dir: Eva Neymann. Cast: Milena Tsibulskaya, Yevheniy Kogan, Arina Postolova-Tihipko. Rooted in the Yiddish folklore of Sholem Aleichem’s short stories, Eva Neymann’s third feature is a delicate coming-of-age story set in a Ukrainian shtetl at
the beginning of the 20th century. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 13
We monsters
(Germany) 95mins. Pluto Film Distribution Network (int’l). Dir: Sebastian Ko. Cast: Mehdi Nebbou, Ulrike C Tscharre, Janina Fautz. A husband and wife struggle with their consciences after they try to conceal a crime committed by their teenage daughter, in this riveting drama from Sebastian Ko. discovery scotiabank 11
21:45 3000 nIGhts
thru You PrInCess
eVa doesn’t sleeP
(Israel) 80mins. Submarine Entertainment (US). First Hand Films (int’l). Dir: Ido Haar. Cast: Princess Shaw, Kutiman. Documentarian Ido Haar traces the internetassisted, cross-continental collaboration between two very different musicians: Princess Shaw, a young black woman in the American South who posts performances of her own songs on the web, and Israeli viral-video artist Kutiman, whose YouTubesampling compositions have earned millions of online hits.
(France/Argentina/ Spain) 85mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Pablo Agüero. Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Denis Lavant, Daniel Fanego. The unbelievable true story of the transport of the embalmed body of Argentina’s beloved First Lady Eva Peron.
tIFF docs scotiabank 3
(Palestine/France/Jordan/ Lebanon/United Arab Emirates/Qatar) 103mins. Intramovies (int’l). Dir: Mai Masri. Cast: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadera Omran, Raida Adon. Railroaded into an Israeli prison on a terrorism charge, a Palestinian woman discovers she is pregnant just as her fellow inmates launch a revolt against the prison administration.
(Germany) 109mins. Picture Tree International (int’l). Dir: Thomas Stuber. Cast: Peter Kurth, Lina Wendel, Lena Lauzemis. A former East German boxing champion, reduced to working as a debt collector, reflects on his life when he is diagnosed with a fatal disease.
Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 10
Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 2
22:00 a heaVY heart
Public screening 21:30 maGGIe’s Plan
(USA) 92mins. Creative Artists Agency , Cinetic Media (US). Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: Rebecca Miller. Cast:
Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader. Greta Gerwig stars in the new film from gifted writer-director Rebecca Miller, about a woman whose determination to
have a child involves her in a love triangle with an unhappy academic and his eccentric criticaltheorist wife. special Presentations Princess of Wales
Wavelengths tIFF bell lightbox, cinema 1
mInotaur (followed by nIGht WIthout dIstanCe)
(Mexico/Canada) 53mins. INTERIOR XIII (int’l). Dir: Nicolas Pereda. Cast: Gabino Rodriguez, Luisa Pardo, Francisco Barreiro. Nicolas Pereda returns to TIFF with this wraithlike fantasy that observes three thirtysomethings as they sleep, dream, read and receive visitors in a Mexico City apartment. The film’s surreal aura seeps into Lois Patino’s Night Without Distance, a hallucinatory portrait of border smuggling in the Geres Mountains. Wavelengths Jackman hall
short Cuts — ProGramme 4
These otherworldly shorts take you to places you’ve never been as you descend to the watery Arctic depths, travel between dimensions, and go running with the dogs. short Cuts scotiabank 14
trumbo
the masK (eYes oF hell)
(USA) 124mins. Entertainment One Features (int’l). Dir: Jay Roach. Cast: Bryan Cranston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Louis CK. Bryan Cranston stars as the screenwriter and Hollywood blacklist victim Dalton Trumbo, in this biopic co-starring Helen Mirren, Diane Lane and John Goodman.
(Canada) 83mins. Dir: Julian Roffman. Cast: Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, Bill Walker. Newly restored by TIFF and The 3-D Film Archive, Julian Roffman’s creepy 1961 tale about a haunted tribal mask was the first feature-length horror movie and first featurelength 3D film produced in Canada.
special Presentations Visa screening room (elgin)
21:15 honor thY Father
(Philippines) 115mins. Dir: Erik Matti. Cast: John Lloyd Cruz, Meryll Soriano, Tirso Cruz III. www.screendaily.com
tIFF Cinematheque tIFF bell lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & leah atkinson Family Cinema
22:15 CheValIer
(Greece) 99mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Athina Rachel
Tsangari. Cast: Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis. Six men confined to a luxurious yacht compete in an absurdist game that lays bare the roots of male antagonism and competitiveness. Contemporary World Cinema Isabel bader theatre
honG KonG trIloGY: PresChooled PreoCCuPIed PrePosterous
(Hong Kong) 85mins. Dir: Christopher Doyle. Cast: Connie Ming Shan Yuen, Thierry Chow. Christopher Doyle celebrates Hong Kong and its people with this documentary-fiction hybrid that focuses on Hong Kong residents in their childhood, youth and old age. Contemporary World Cinema tIFF bell lightbox, cinema 3
22:30 CuCKold
(South Africa) 95mins. Siascope (int’l). Dir: Charlie Vundla. Cast: Charlie Vundla, Terry Pheto, Louis Roux. A once-promising academic finds himself entangled in a very odd ménage a trois. Contemporary World Cinema the bloor hot docs Cinema
les CoWboYs
(France/Belgium) 114mins. Pathé International (int’l). Dir: Thomas Bidegain. Cast: Francois Damiens, Finnegan Oldfield. An Old West enthusiast in modern-day France embarks on a 16-year odyssey to track down his daughter, who has run away and converted to Islam. discovery tIFF bell lightbox, cinema 2
23:59 hardCore
(Russia/USA) 90mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US and int’l). Dir: Ilya Naishuller. Cast: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky. A cybernetic super-soldier kicks, punches and parkours his way across Russia to save his wife. midnight madness ryerson theatre
September 12, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 31
»
ScreeningS
The iDOl
PreSS & induStry
(United Kingdom/ Palestine/Qatar/ Netherlands/United Arab Emirates) 100mins. Seville International (int’l). Dir: Hany Abu-Assad. Cast: Qais Atallah, Hiba Atallah, Ahmad Qassim. Acclaimed Palestinian film-maker Hany AbuAssad directs this biopic about Mohammad Assaf, the Gazan wedding singer who became a worldwide sensation after winning the live-singing competition Arab Idol.
08:30 Our BranD is Crisis
(USA) 108mins. Warner Bros Pictures (US). Warner Bros Pictures (int’l). Dir: David Gordon Green. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie. Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton star in this story inspired by true events, in which rival US political strategists work to fix a Bolivian presidential election. special Presentations scotiabank 4
08:45 11 MinuTes
(Poland/Ireland) 81mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski. Cast: Richard Dormer, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Andrzej Chyra. Polish master Jerzy Skolimowski shuttles between the stories of several characters over the course of 11 minutes on a single day in Warsaw. Masters scotiabank 10
09:00 shOrT CuTs — PrOGraMMe 2
The protagonists in these films long for connection, but their efforts to achieve it are complicated by mixed messages, communication breakdowns and clashing attitudes. short Cuts scotiabank 6
Thank YOu fOr BOMBinG
(Austria) 100mins. Dir: Barbara Eder. Cast: Manon Kahle, Raphael von Bargen, Erwin Steinhauer. Austrian film-maker Barbara Eder’s latest fiction feature looks at the behind-the-camera lives of three international war correspondents on assignment in Afghanistan. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 8
un Plus une
(France) 115mins. Metropolitan Filmexport
special Presentations scotiabank 10
11:15 WinTer On fire: ukraine’s fiGhT fOr freeDOM
Press & industry 09:30 The Danish Girl
(United Kingdom) 120mins. Universal Pictures International (int’l). Dir: Tom Hooper. Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw. (US). Mister Smith Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Claude Lelouch. Cast: Jean Dujardin, Elsa Zylberstein, Christophe Lambert. A film composer falls in love when he travels to India to work on a Bollywood retelling of Romeo And Juliet. special Presentations scotiabank 3
09:15 The WhisPerinG sTar
(Japan) 100mins. Nikkatsu Corporation (int’l). Dir: Sion Sono. Cast: Megumi Kagurazaka. A humanoid robot delivery woman muses on the mystery of human nature as she drops off parcels around the galaxy. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 14
09:30
Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything) stars as Lili Elbe, the 1920s Danish artist who was one of the first recipients of sexual reassignment surgery.
Felicioli. Cast: Audrey Tautou, Edouard Baer, Jean-Pierre Marielle. An 11-year-old boy becomes an unlikely superhero when he discovers he has the ability to leave his body and fly through walls.
special Presentations Princess of Wales
Tiff kids scotiabank 5
Collette, Drew Barrymore, Dominic Cooper. A touching comedy-drama about two childhood friends whose relationship is put to the test when one becomes pregnant while the other receives some tragic news. Gala Presentations scotiabank 1
MusTanG
(Turkey/France/ Germany/Qatar) 94mins. Kinology (int’l). Dir: Deniz Gamze Ergüven. Cast: Gunes Sensoy, Dogba Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu. Five young sisters living in a coastal Turkish village on the Black Sea are placed under the tyrannical regime of traditional morality by their guardians. special Presentations scotiabank 11
Miss YOu alreaDY
PhanTOM BOY
(United Kingdom) 112mins. The Salt Company Ltd. (int’l). Dir: Catherine Hardwicke. Cast: Toni
(France/Belgium) 84mins. Doc & Film International, Lumiere Publishing (int’l). Dir: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup
32 Screen International September 12, 2015
Salky. Cast: Moran Rosenblatt. Sarah Silverman gives an astonishing performance as a drug-addicted, selfdestructive New Jersey housewife whose life begins to come apart at the seams. special Presentations scotiabank 13
11:00
The Danish Girl
BeasTs Of nO naTiOn
see box, above
(USA) 133mins. Red Crown Productions (int’l). Dir: Cary Fukunaga. Cast: Idris Elba, Abraham Attah. After his parents are killed, a young African boy is forced to become a child soldier in a rebel army led by a brutal commandant, in this adaptation of the acclaimed book by Nigerian-American author Uzodinma Iweala.
WeDDinG DOll
(Israel) 82mins. Six Sales (int’l). Dir: Nitzan Gilady. Cast: Asi Levi, Moran Rosenblatt, Roy Assaf. Fixated on romantic fantasies, a kindly and strong-willed young woman with a mild learning disability embarks on a relationship — much to the concern of her protective mother. Discovery scotiabank 9
09:45
special Presentations scotiabank 12
(Ukraine/USA/United Kingdom) 102mins. Dir: Evgeny Afineevsky. Film-maker Evgeny Afineevsky offers a visceral, in-depth look at the bloody Ukrainian uprising in Kiev’s Maidan Square in the winter of 2013-14 that resulted in the removal of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych. Tiff Docs scotiabank 6
11:30 evOluTiOn
(France) 81mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Lucile Hadzihalilovic. Cast: Max Brebant, Roxane Duran, Julie-Marie Parmentier. A young boy living in a mysterious, isolated seaside clinic uncovers the sinister purposes of his keepers, in this mesmerising blend of body horror and surreal fantasy. vanguard scotiabank 3
hearT Of a DOG PaThs Of The sOul
i sMile BaCk
(USA) 75mins. Celluloid Dreams (US). Celluloid Dreams (int’l). Dir: Laurie Anderson. Renowned multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson returns with this lyrical and powerfully personal essay that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
(USA) 85mins. Visit Films (int’l). Dir: Adam
Tiff Docs scotiabank 4
(Iceland) 93mins. New Europe Film Sales (int’l).
CuCkOlD
(South Africa) 95mins. Siascope (int’l). Dir: Charlie Vundla. Cast: Charlie Vundla, Terry Pheto, Louis Roux. After being abandoned by his wife, a once-promising academic finds himself entangled in a very odd ménage a trois. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 7
(China) 115mins. Asian Shadows (int’l). Dir: Zhang Yang. Cast: Yang Pei, Nyima Zadui, Tsewang Dolkar. Zhang Yang blurs documentary and fiction in this account of pilgrims who make a 2,000km journey on foot to Lhasa, the holy capital of Tibet. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 5
raMs
www.screendaily.com
Dir: Grimur Hakonarson. Cast: Sigurour Sigurjonsson, Theodor Juliusson, Charlotte Boving. Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, Grimur Hakonarson’s drama focuses on two Icelandic sheep farmers whose decades-long feud comes to a head when disaster strikes their flocks. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 8
Summertime
(France) 105mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Catherine Corsini. Cast: Cécile De France, Izia Higelin, Noémie Lvovsky. In 1971 France, a young girl from a rural family moves to Paris and begins a life-changing affair with a feminist activist. Special Presentations Scotiabank 13
11:45 i SaW the Light
(USA) 123mins. Dir: Marc Abraham. Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen. Biopic of country-music legend Hank Williams. Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
SLeePing giant
(Canada) 90mins. Seville International (US). Seville International (int’l). Dir: Andrew Cividino. Cast: Jackson Martin, Nick Serino, Reece Moffett. The first feature from Canadian writer-director Andrew Cividino is set in an isolated Ontario cottage community during a bleak midsummer, where the volatile dynamics between three teenage friends-bychance are pushed towards a dangerous imbalance. Discovery Scotiabank 11
12:00 meghmaLLar
(Bangladesh) 92mins. Bengal Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Zahidur Rahim Anjan. Cast: Shahiduzzaman Selim, Aparna Jara, Joyonto Chattopaddhay. A case of mistaken identity throws an apolitical chemistry teacher into the maelstrom of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Discovery Scotiabank 7
the iron giant: Signature eDition
(USA) 88mins. Warner Bros Pictures (US and int’l). Dir: Brad Bird. Remastered and expanded with two new scenes, the modern animated classic about a boy befriending a gigantic space robot returns to enchant a new generation of audiences. tiFF Kids Scotiabank 9
12:15 LegenD
(United Kingdom) 131mins. Studiocanal (int’l). Dir: Brian Helgeland. Cast: Tom
Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis. Tom Hardy gives a bravura double performance as Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the twin brothers who became the rulers of the London underworld at the height of the swinging ’60s. gala Presentations Princess of Wales
Keith riCharDS: unDer the inFLuenCe
(USA) 82mins. Dir: Morgan Neville. Cast: Keith Richards. Academy Award– winning director Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet
Platform Scotiabank 4
13:30 mr. Six
titiCut FoLLieS
(USA) 84mins. Zipporah Films (US). Zipporah Films (int’l). Dir: Frederick Wiseman. Filmed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Frederick Wiseman’s searing 1967 documentary is one of the greatest directorial debuts in the history of cinema, and one of the most controversial. tiFF Cinematheque tiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah atkinson Family Cinema
(China) 134mins. IM Global (US). Huayi Brothers International, IM Global (int’l). Dir: Guan Hu. Cast: Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Hanyu, Li Yifeng. A former Beijing crime boss swings back into action when his son is kidnapped by thugs. Special Presentations Scotiabank 10
13:45 araBian nightS: VoLume 2, the DeSoLate one
From Stardom) follows Keith Richards on the road as the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist records his first solo record in more than two decades.
(Portugal/France/ Germany/Switzerland) 131mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Miguel Gomes. Cast: Crista Alfaiate, Adriano Luz, Americo Silva. Part two of Miguel Gomes’s modern-day folk tale relates how desolation has invaded humanity, through stories involving a distressed judge on a night of three moons, a runaway, a teleporting murderer, a wounded cow, a sad chain-smoking couple in a concrete apartment block, and a ghost dog named Dixie.
Primetime Scotiabank 11
Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
13:00 FrenCh BLooD
(France) 97mins. Indie Sales (int’l). Dir: Diasteme. Cast: Alban Lenoir, Paul Hamy, Samuel Jouy.
Press & industry 14:00
A racist thug in France’s Front National battles his way from the streets to the backrooms of political power, in this hard-hitting, decades-spanning drama about the rise of Europe’s far right.
my great night
(Spain) 100mins. Film Factory Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Alex De La Iglesia. Cast: Raphael, Mario Casas, Pepon Nieto. The backstage preparations for a New Year’s Eve TV spectacular become a flashpoint for comic mayhem, in the audaciously inventive ensemble comedy from Spain’s madcap maestro Alex de la Iglesia. Vanguard Scotiabank 3
P.S. JeruSaLem
(Canada/Israel) 87mins. Dir: Danae Elon. Cast: Luai Musa Hatib, Philip Touitou, Amos Touitou Elon. Returning to her hometown of Jerusalem with her young family after several years abroad, documentarian Danae Elon offers an intimate, ground’s-eye view of one of the most fiercely contested cities in the world. tiFF Docs Scotiabank 8
14:00 a FLiCKering truth
(New Zealand/ Afghanistan) 91mins. The Film Sales Company (US). The Film Sales Company (int’l). Dir: Pietra Brettkelly. Cast: Ibrahim Arify, Isaaq Yousif, Mahmoud Ghafouri. Pietra Brettkelly follows a group of dedicated Afghan cinephiles who are literally excavating their country’s cinematic past, as they seek to retrieve more
than 8,000 hours of film footage they risked their lives to conceal during the Taliban era. tiFF Docs Scotiabank 5
Keith riCharDS: unDer the inFLuenCe See box, below
the LoBSter
(Ireland/United Kingdom/Greece/France/ Netherlands) 119mins. Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos. Cast: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C Reilly. About a curious hotel where the residents are charged with finding a new mate within 45 days — under penalty of being transformed into animals should they fail. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
the PeoPLe VS. FritZ Bauer
(Germany) 105mins. Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Lars Kraume. Cast: Burghart Klaussner, Ronald Zehrfeld, Lilith Stangenberg. A riveting historical thriller that chronicles the Herculean efforts of German district attorney Fritz Bauer to bring Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann to justice. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 13
14:15 a month oF SunDayS
(Australia) 109mins. Visit Films (int’l). Dir: Matthew Saville. Cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Julia Blake, John Clarke. A wrong number leads to an unlikely friendship between a middle-aged Adelaide realtor and an elderly woman, in this quirky comedy drama. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 9
Veteran
(South Korea) 124mins. CJ Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Ryoo Seung-wan. Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Hae-jin. A tough cop targets the tyrannical heir to a megacorporation in this hardhitting thriller. Vanguard Scotiabank 14
www.screendaily.com
eye in the SKy
(United Kingdom) 102mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) (US). Entertainment One Features (int’l). Dir: Gavin Hood. Cast: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman. Academy Award winner » September 12, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 33
ScreeningS
Gala Presentations Scotiabank 1
Films (int’l). Dir: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah. Cast: Martha Canga Antonio, Aboubakr Bensaihi, Emmanuel Tahon. A 15-year-old girl in a black gang in Brussels must choose between loyalty and love when she falls for a Moroccan boy from a rival gang.
GirlS loSt
discovery Scotiabank 9
Helen Mirren stars alongside Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman and Iain Glen in this timely thriller about a terrorist-targeting drone mission that becomes a flashpoint when a civilian girl enters the kill zone.
(Sweden) 106mins. The Yellow Affair (int’l). Dir: Alexandra-Therese Keining. Cast: Tuva Jagell, Emrik Ohlander, Wilma Holmén. Three outcast teenage girls get a new perspective on high-school life when they are mysteriously transformed into boys, in this skillfully crafted tale of sexual confusion with a supernatural twist. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 7
inVention
Press & industry 16:45
the White KniGhtS
man doWn
(France/Belgium) 112mins. Indie Sales (int’l). Dir: Joachim Lafosse. Cast: Vincent Lindon, Valérie Donzelli , Reda Kateb. Vincent Lindon stars as the head of an NGO trying to rescue 300 children from the civil war in Chad.
(USA) 92mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) (US). Solution Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Dito Montiel. Cast:
Platform Visa Screening room (elgin)
14:30 len and ComPany
(USA) 97mins. United Talent Agency (UTA) (US). Seville International (int’l). Dir: Tim Godsall. Cast: Rhys Ifans, Juno Temple, Jack Kilmer. A legendary, reclusive music producer (Rhys Ifans) has his shut-in routine disturbed by the unexpected arrival of his aspiring musician son (Jack Kilmer) and a troubled bubblegum-pop superstar (Juno Temple). Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
14:45 CloSet monSter
(Canada) 90mins. Cinetic Media (US). Fortissimo Films (int’l). Dir: Stephen Dunn. Cast: Connor Jessup, Aaron Abrams, Joanne Kelly. An east coast teenager and
aspiring special-effects makeup artist (Connor Jessup) struggles with both his sexuality and the fear of his macho father, in this imaginative twist on the coming-of-age tale from first-timer Stephen Dunn. discovery Scotiabank 14
roCCo and hiS BrotherS
(Italy) 180mins. Intramovies (int’l). Dir: Luchino Visconti. Cast: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot. Luchino Visconti’s magisterial 1960 family saga — about an impoverished Sicilian clan who arrive in Milan in search of a better life — is regarded by many as the final masterpiece of classic Italian neorealism. tiFF Cinematheque tiFF Bell lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & leah atkinson Family Cinema
15:15 the CluB
(Chile) 98mins. Funny
34 Screen International September 12, 2015
Shia LaBeouf, Kate Mara, Gary Oldman. Shia LaBoeuf stars in this dystopian thriller about a former Marine desperately searching for his wife and son in a post-apocalyptic US. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 12
Balloons (int’l). Dir: Pablo Larrain. Cast: Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farias, Antonia Zegers. Shipped off to a seaside monastery for various venial transgressions, four Catholic priests have their cozy exile disturbed by charges of molestation, in this incendiary, blackly humorous drama from Chilean auteur Pablo Larrain. Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
16:00 CamPo Grande
(Brazil/France) 108mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Sandra Kogut. Cast: Carla Ribas, Ygor Manoel, Rayane do Amaral. A wealthy middle-aged woman unexpectedly finds herself caring for two impoverished young siblings, in this subtle, touching and sincere study of class disparity from Sandra Kogut. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 11
16:15 eVa noVa
(Slovakia) 106mins. Dir: Marko Skop. Cast: Emilia Vasaryova, Milan Ondrik, Aniko Vargova. A fallen movie star fights to stay sober and make amends with her estranged son, in this compassionate feature debut from Slovakia’s Marko Skop. discovery Scotiabank 5
Very BiG Shot
(Lebanon/Qatar) 107mins. Be for Films (int’l). Dir: Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya. Cast: Alain Saadeh, Fouad Yammine, Tarek Yaacoub. Looking to go straight, three coke-smuggling brothers are coerced by their crooked boss into a dangerous last score, in this boldly comic first feature from Lebanon’s Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya. discovery Scotiabank 8
16:45 BanG GanG (a modern loVe Story)
(France) 98mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Eva Husson. Cast: Finnegan Oldfield, Daisy Broom, Fred Hotier. The bold feature debut by French film-maker Eva Husson explores the sexual exploits and awakenings of a group of teenagers on
the beaches (and in the beds) of Biarritz. Platform Scotiabank 2
man doWn See box, left
the SKy tremBleS and the earth iS aFraid and the tWo eyeS are not BrotherS
(United Kingdom) 98mins. Dir: Ben Rivers. Cast: Oliver Laxe. Partially inspired by Paul Bowles’ story ‘A Distant Episode’, the latest feature by UK film-maker Ben Rivers charts a mysterious transformation from observational making-of to inventive adaptation shot against a staggering Moroccan landscape. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
17:00 BeinG aP
(United Kingdom/ Ireland) 98mins. Dir: Anthony Wonke. Cast: AP McCoy. An intimate documentary portrait of legendary horseracing jockey AP McCoy, who risks life and limb in his determination to place his winning record out of reach of future challengers before he retires. tiFF docs Scotiabank 7
BlaCK
(Belgium) 95mins. Be for
(United Kingdom/ Canada) 87mins. National Film Board of Canada (US). National Film Board of Canada (int’l). Dir: Mark Lewis. Acclaimed Canadian artist Mark Lewis echoes the classic city symphony films of the silent era with this breathtaking cinematic tour through Toronto, Sao Paolo and Paris’s Musée du Louvre. Wavelengths Jackman hall
18:45 araBian niGhtS: Volume 3, the enChanted one
(Portugal/France/ Germany/Switzerland) 125mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Miguel Gomes. Cast: Crista Alfaiate, Americo Silva, Carloto Cotta. The third and concluding volume of Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes’s Scheherazadean triptych brings this epic to a close with the sound of birdsong and the promise of the ineffable. Wavelengths tiFF Bell lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & leah atkinson Family Cinema
horizon
(Iceland/Denmark) 80mins. Icelandic Film Centre (int’l). Dir: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Bergur Bernburg. Cast: Gabriela Paterito, Cristina Calderon, Martin G Calderon. The great Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzman chronicles the history of the indigenous peoples of Chilean Patagonia, whose decimation by colonial conquest prefigured the brutality of Augusto Pinochet’s regime. tiFF docs Scotiabank 5
www.screendaily.com
The AposTATe
(Spain/France/Uruguay) 80mins. FiGa Films (US). FiGa Films (int’l). Dir: Federico Veiroj. Cast: Alvaro Ogalla, Marta Larralde, Barbara Lennie. A young man finds himself navigating the baffling, labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Catholic Church when he attempts to formally renounce his faith.
Screen office Meeting room 12, fifth floor, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3X5 Editorial Tel +1 416 599 8433 ext 2512 editor Matt Mueller, matt.mueller@screendaily.com, +44 7880 526 547
Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 8
us editor Jeremy Kay, jeremykay67@gmail.com, +1 310 922 5908
19:00
news editor Michael Rosser, michael.rosser@screendaily.com, +44 7843 078 926
The pArAdise suiTe
(Netherlands/Sweden/ Bulgaria) 118mins. Ida Martins (int’l). Dir: Joost van Ginkel. Cast: Anjela Nedyalkova, Boris Isakovic, Magnus Krepper. This dexterous tale of survival traces the intersecting stories of six immigrants from very different backgrounds in Amsterdam. discovery scotiabank 6
19:15 25 April
(New Zealand) 85mins. K5 International (US and int’l). Dir: Leanne Pooley. Cast: Fraser Brown, Andrew Grainger, Chelsie Preston-Crayford. Leanne Pooley (The Topp Twins) fuses documentary, fiction and digital animation in this astonishing recreation of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, one of the costliest blunders of the First World War. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 7
19:30 Je suis ChArlie
(France) 90mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Daniel Leconte, Emmanuel Leconte. Cast: Elisabeth Badinter, Gérard Biard, Charb, Cabu. This documentary by the father-and-son team of Daniel and Emmanuel Leconte pays tribute to the 11 journalists of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo who were killed in the January attack by radical Islamic extremists. TiFF docs scotiabank 9
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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
Press & industry 22:00 FrAnCoFoniA
(France/Germany/ Netherlands) 87mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Alexander Sokurov. Cast: LouisDo de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath, Vincent Nemeth.
19:45 WAvelengThs 2: Yolo
Subjective experience is channelled through artistic collaborations in this programme that offers YOLO-infused reflections on identity and contemporary dislocation. With films by Ben Rivers, Shai Heredia & Shumona Goel, Behrouz Rae, Beatrice Gibson, Ben Russell, Wojciech Bakowski, Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour and Ryan Ferko. Wavelengths Jackman hall
21:15 deMon
(Poland/Israel) 94mins. Dir: Marcin Wrona. Cast: Itay Tiran, Tomasz Schuchardt, Andrzej Grabowski. The groom is possessed by an unquiet spirit in the midst of his wedding. vanguard scotiabank 5
Alexander Sokurov transforms a portrait of the renowned Louvre museum in Paris into a magisterial, centuriesspanning reflection on the relation between art, culture and power. Masters scotiabank 9
Te proMeTo AnArquiA
(Mexico/Germany) 100mins. Latido Films (int’l). Dir: Julio Hernandez Cordon. Cast: Diego Calva, Eduardo Eliseo Martinez, Shvasti Calderon. The daring new feature from Mexico’s Julio Hernandez follows two teenage lovers in Mexico City who become embroiled in the city’s illegal narco-run blood trade. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 8
21:30 BAskin
(Turkey) 97mins. XYZ (US). The Salt Company Ltd. (int’l). Dir: Can Evrenol. Cast: Gorkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Mehmet Cerrahoglu. A squad of unsuspecting cops go through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building, in the tourde-force feature debut
from ferociously talented director Can Evrenol. Midnight Madness scotiabank 7
21:45 hellions
(Canada) 82mins. Jinga Films (int’l). Dir: Bruce McDonald. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland. Seven years after his much-loved zombie thriller Pontypool, Canadian maverick Bruce McDonald returns to the horror genre with this deliciously creepy tale about a pregnant teenager whose home is besieged by a ghastly crew of trick-or-treaters. vanguard scotiabank 6
22:00 evA doesn’T sleep
(France/Argentina/ Spain) 85mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Pablo Agüero. Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Denis Lavant, Daniel Fanego. Gael Garcia Bernal gives a supremely creepy performance in the new film from visionary Argentinian director Pablo Agüero, which tells the unbelievable true story of the transport of the embalmed body of Argentina’s beloved First Lady, Eva Peron. Wavelengths TiFF Bell lightbox, cinema 1
FrAnCoFoniA see box, left
MinoTAur (followed by nighT WiThouT disTAnCe)
(Mexico/Canada) 53mins. INTERIOR XIII (int’l). Dir: Nicolas Pereda. Cast: Gabino Rodriguez, Luisa Pardo, Francisco Barreiro. Nicolas Pereda returns to TIFF with this wraithlike fantasy that observes three thirtysomethings as they sleep, dream, read and receive visitors in a Mexico City apartment. The film’s surreal aura seeps into Lois Patino’s Night Without Distance, a hallucinatory portrait of smuggling in the Geres Mountains between Portugal and Galicia. Wavelengths Jackman hall
The MAsk (eYes oF hell)
(Canada) 83mins. Dir: Julian Roffman. Cast: Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, Bill Walker. Newly restored by TIFF and The 3-D Film Archive, director Julian Roffman’s creepy 1961 tale about a haunted tribal mask was the first feature-length horror movie and first feature-length 3D film produced in Canada.
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TiFF Cinematheque TiFF Bell lightbox, cinema 4 — paul & leah Atkinson Family Cinema
September 12, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 35