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SCREENINGS
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䌀䔀䰀䔀䈀刀䄀吀䔀匀 䤀吀匀 䘀䤀䰀䴀匀 匀䔀䰀䔀䌀吀䔀䐀 䘀伀刀 吀䠀䔀 㐀 琀栀 吀伀刀伀一吀伀 䤀一吀䔀刀一䄀吀䤀伀一䄀䰀 䘀䤀䰀䴀 䘀䔀匀吀䤀嘀䄀䰀 ᰠ 匀吀䄀䜀䜀䔀刀䤀一䜀䰀夀 䄀䴀䈀䤀吀䤀伀唀匀⸀⸀⸀ 匀䌀䄀䰀䔀匀 一䔀圀 䠀䔀䤀䜀䠀吀匀⸀ᴠ ሢ 吀䠀䔀 䜀唀䄀刀䐀䤀䄀一 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㐀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㤀㨀㌀ 瀀洀Ⰰ 倀爀椀渀挀攀猀猀 漀昀 圀愀氀攀猀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㔀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㨀㐀㔀愀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀
嘀伀䰀 Ⰰ 吀䠀䔀 刀䔀匀吀䰀䔀匀匀 伀一䔀 • 嘀伀䰀 ㈀Ⰰ 吀䠀䔀 䐀䔀匀伀䰀䄀吀䔀 伀一䔀 嘀伀䰀 ㌀Ⰰ 吀䠀䔀 䔀一䌀䠀䄀一吀䔀䐀 伀一䔀 伀䘀䘀䤀䌀䤀䄀䰀 䄀䌀䄀䐀䔀䴀夀 䄀圀䄀刀䐀匀글 䔀一吀刀夀 ⴀ 倀伀刀吀唀䜀䄀䰀
嘀伀䰀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㤀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㨀㐀㔀愀洀Ⰰ 䨀愀挀欀洀愀渀 ⠀䄀䜀伀⤀ 嘀伀䰀 ㈀ 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㤀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ ㌀瀀洀Ⰰ 䨀愀挀欀洀愀渀 ⠀䄀䜀伀⤀ 嘀伀䰀 ㌀ 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㐀Ⰰ 倀☀䤀Ⰰ 㜀㨀㔀瀀洀Ⰰ 匀挀漀琀椀愀戀愀渀欀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㤀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㘀㨀㔀瀀洀Ⰰ 䨀愀挀欀洀愀渀 ⠀䄀䜀伀⤀ 䌀伀䴀倀䰀䔀吀䔀 吀刀䤀䰀伀䜀夀 ⠀㌀㠀 䴀椀渀⸀⤀ 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㜀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 瀀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀
ᰠ 䴀䔀匀䴀䔀刀䤀娀䤀一䜀⸀ᴠ
ሢ 吀䠀䔀 倀䰀䄀夀䰀䤀匀吀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ ㌀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㨀㌀ 愀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㠀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ ㌀瀀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀
ᰠ 䄀 唀一䤀儀唀䔀 䌀䤀一䔀䴀䄀吀䤀䌀 䔀堀倀䔀刀䤀䔀一䌀䔀⸀ᴠ ሢ 䤀一䐀䤀䔀圀䤀刀䔀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㜀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㔀瀀洀Ⰰ 圀椀渀琀攀爀 䜀愀爀搀攀渀 吀栀攀愀琀爀攀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㤀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ ㌀㨀㌀ 瀀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀
䤀 堀䌀䄀一唀䰀 䄀 䘀䤀䰀䴀 䈀夀 䨀䄀夀刀伀 䈀唀匀吀䄀䴀䄀一吀䔀 伀䘀䘀䤀䌀䤀䄀䰀 䄀䌀䄀䐀䔀䴀夀 䄀圀䄀刀䐀匀글 䔀一吀刀夀 ⴀ 䜀唀䄀吀䔀䴀䄀䰀䄀
ᰠ 吀刀䄀一匀倀伀刀吀䤀一䜀Ⰰ 䠀夀倀一伀吀䤀䌀䄀䰀䰀夀 䈀䔀䄀唀吀䤀䘀唀䰀⸀ᴠ ሢ 嘀䄀刀䤀䔀吀夀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㘀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㘀㨀㌀ 瀀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㠀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㤀㨀㌀ 愀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ ㈀ Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㤀㨀㌀ 瀀洀Ⰰ 匀挀漀琀椀愀戀愀渀欀
ᰠ 䄀 圀䤀䰀䐀Ⰰ 䐀䔀䴀䔀一吀䔀䐀 䌀䤀一䔀倀䠀䤀䰀䤀䄀䌀 䘀䔀䄀匀吀⸀ᴠ
ሢ 吀䠀䔀 䠀伀䰀䰀夀圀伀伀䐀 刀䔀倀伀刀吀䔀刀 䐀䤀刀䔀䌀吀䔀䐀 䈀夀
䜀唀夀 䴀䄀䐀䐀䤀一 愀渀搀 䔀嘀䄀一 䨀伀䠀一匀伀一
匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㘀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ 㤀㨀㔀瀀洀Ⰰ 吀䤀䘀䘀 䈀攀氀氀 䰀椀最栀琀戀漀砀 匀攀瀀琀⸀ 㠀Ⰰ 倀甀戀氀椀挀Ⰰ ㌀㨀㔀瀀洀Ⰰ 䨀愀挀欀洀愀渀 䠀愀氀氀 ⠀䄀䜀伀⤀
倀 爀 攀 猀 猀 挀 漀 渀 琀 愀 挀 琀 猀 愀 琀 吀 䤀 䘀 䘀 㨀 刀 漀 搀 爀 椀 最 漀 䈀 爀 愀 渀 搀 漀 爀 漀 搀 爀 椀 最 漀 䀀 欀 椀 渀 漀 氀 漀 爀 戀 攀 爀⸀ 挀 漀 洀 匀 礀 氀 瘀 椀 愀 匀 愀 瘀 愀 搀 樀 椀 愀 渀 猀 礀 氀 瘀 椀 愀 䀀 欀 椀 渀 漀 氀 漀 爀 戀 攀 爀⸀ 挀 漀 洀 吀 栀 攀 愀 琀 爀 椀 挀 愀 氀 戀 漀 漀 欀 椀 渀 最 挀 漀 渀 琀 愀 挀 琀 猀 㨀 䜀 愀 爀 礀 倀 愀 氀 洀 甀 挀 挀 椀 最 瀀 愀 氀 洀 甀 挀 挀 椀 䀀 欀 椀 渀 漀 氀 漀 爀 戀 攀 爀⸀ 挀 漀 洀 䨀 漀 渀 愀 琀 栀 愀 渀 䠀 攀 爀 琀 稀 戀 攀 爀 最 樀 栀 攀 爀 琀 稀 戀 攀 爀 最 䀀 欀 椀 渀 漀 氀 漀 爀 戀 攀 爀
DOWNRIVER Drama / 99min. / Australia / 2015
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)
SPEAR
MEN & CHICKEN
SCREENINGS (Discovery)
SCREENINGS (Vanguard)
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)
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
Drama / 84 min. / Australia / 2015
copenhagen
Black Comedy / 100 min. / Denmark / 2014
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LevelK in Toronto: The Scandinavian Stand, Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1st floor Tine +45 20108580 / Natja +1 704 97 55755 / Derek +852 6055 7575
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TIFF talents lay down marker in awards race Lorenzo Vigas with his Golden Lion
From Afar wins top Venice prize BY MICHAEL ROSSER
From Afar (Desde Alla), the first Venezuelan production to appear in Competition at Venice Film Festival, has won the Golden Lion for best film. Lorenzo Vigas’s directorial debut centres on a man who pays young boys to spend time with him, and whose life changes when he befriends a teen delinquent. The Silver Lion for best director went to Argentinian film-maker Pablo Trapero for kidnap drama The Clan (El Clan) while the Grand Jury Prize was awarded to US film Anomalisa, the first animated feature from Charlie Kaufman, who co-directed with Duke Johnson. Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Beasts Of No Nation, which screens here tonight in Special Presentations, saw young star Abraham Attah win the best young actor prize for his portrayal of an African child soldier. Best debut film went to Brady Corbet’s fascist fable The Childhood Of A Leader, starring Robert Pattinson. Corbet also picked up best director in the Horizons (Orizzonti) strand of the festival.
BY JEREMY KAY
Awards season is in its infancy but that has not stopped early buzz coalescing around a cluster of early acting contenders. Brie Larson looks likely to become a strong presence in the actress race after Room got tongues wagging at Telluride while Oscar winner Cate Blanchett is in contention for her widely admired turn in Carol and may earn additional plaudits for Truth, which premiered here last night. Alicia Vikander impressed critics in The Danish Girl, as did Carey Mulligan and Saoirse Ronan for
heavyweight Michael Fassbender has earned champions since Steve Jobs premiered at Telluride. Harvey Weinstein is known to be high on Jake Gyllenhaal in Southpaw and his way has been cleared somewhat now that Fox Searchlight will launch Toronto opener Demolition in April 2016. The best picture race has yet to come into clear focus, however Hany Abu-Assad’s The Idol must be a foreign-language frontrunner, while Venice prize-winner Anomalisa will doubtless be rubbing shoulders with Pixar’s Inside Out in the animation category.
Hubert Boesl
I Saw The Light, page 8
NEWS Past times Avi Nesher reveals plans for trilogy » Page 4
REVIEW I Saw The Light Tom Hiddleston impresses as C&W star Hank Williams » Page 8
INTERVIEW Higher power Ben Wheatley on directing JG Ballard’s High-Rise » Page 22
SCREENINGS
» Page 24
TORONTO BRIEFS Arclight sells Less Men Arclight has pre-sold comedy sequel A Few Less Men to Australia and New Zealand (StudioCanal), Italy (Lucky Red), Middle East (Italia Films), eastern Europe (Modus Vivendi), Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia (Eastwood Holdings) and Vietnam (Galaxy).
Headhunter’s calls cast Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina have joined The Headhunter’s Calling, produced by Gerard Butler and being sold here by Voltage Pictures.
DDI takes Metanoia Double Dutch International (DDI) has acquired worldwide sales to biopic Metanoia and attached Michael Gambon to join David Tennant on the cast.
Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne at the North American premiere of The Danish Girl here last night
Mister Smith scores Un Plus Une UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has inked a string of deals on Oscar-winning director Claude Lelouch’s romance Un Plus Une following the film’s world premiere here on Friday. Deals have closed in Israel (United King), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Baltics (Acme), Turkey (Aqua Group), Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia (Blitz), Greece (Odeon) and the Middle East (Jaguar).
Suffragette and Brooklyn, respectively. Warner Bros and Sandra Bullock pulled off an Oscar win for The Blind Side in 2010 and could be a potent force again with Our Brand Is Crisis. Another Academy Award winner, Julianne Moore, stars opposite Ellen Page in Freeheld that premiered here last night. Male contenders could see Michael Keaton back in the mix for Spotlight after his nod earlier this year for Birdman but he faces stiff competition from Johnny Depp in what some have called a career-best performance in Venice premiere Black Mass. Meanwhile, regular
TODAY
Jean Dujardin stars alongside Elsa Zylberstein in the story of a composer who falls in love with a woman he meets while in India, despite both already having partners (see review, page 12). Cast and Metropolitan Films’ producers Samuel and Victor Hadida were in Toronto for the film’s debut screening. It will be released in France on December 9. Andreas Wiseman
Rabbit pings around world BY JEREMY KAY
Cinema Management Group (CMG) has secured key sales on Mili Pictures’ animation Ping Pong Rabbit. Deals have closed in South Korea (First Run), Poland (Kino Swiat), Turkey (Associated Euromedia), Israel (FilmHouse), Hungary (Bohemia Motion Pictures), Bulgaria (Tandem Film), former Yugoslavia (2i Film) and Central America (Produciones Latinamericanas). CMG, in Toronto showing new
footage from the ongoing production, licensed rights in the Middle East to Front Row Entertainment in Cannes. Mike Johnson and Song Yuefeng co-direct the animation about a rabbit who aspires to win the fabled Jade Table prize awarded to the finest table-tennis player in the land, but must overcome the dastardly monkey champion. Mili Pictures US executive Bill Borden produces Ping Pong Rabbit with Jack Zhang.
.film domain launches Motion Picture Domain Registry has launched the .film domain dedicated exclusively to film content and marketed as an antipiracy move. Nu Image/Millennium Films, which were victims of piracy when The Expendables 3 was leaked online, have registered with the domain.
Deauville win for Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes, which played at last year’s TIFF, won the Grand Prize at Deauville American Film Festival yesterday.
» Full stories on ScreenDaily.com
News
Toronto deals finally warm up
Nesher foresees the Past
By JereMy Kay
Israeli film-maker Avi Nesher will begin shooting a trilogy devoted to the theme of ‘the past’ this autumn. “They’re all based on really strange true stories,” Nesher told Screen. “In Past Life, the past is a villain, in Past Tense it is a mystery and in the final film it will be a lover. Nesher is a regular at Toronto. His last three films — The Wonders, The Matchmaker and The Secrets — all screened here. Past Life will shoot from mid-
Paramount’s US buy on Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins surprised acquisitions executives but it injected much-needed life into a sluggish market for US buyers. Also making waves was a private screening of the Aretha Franklin doc Amazing Grace, which buyers will regard as a hotticket item worth netting once legal issues surrounding the film’s release are resolved. Toronto brass pulled the film on the eve of the festival after a US court ruling forced it out of Telluride. With many prestige Toronto premieres already accounted for, buyers continue to scour the ground for gems and at time of writing several were understood to be circling drone thriller Eye In The Sky. WME Global represents US rights, and also handles Mike Flanagan’s horror Hush, which went down well at a private screening.
By MelaNie Goodfellow
October in Jerusalem, before moving to Germany and Poland. It is inspired by the experiences of two sisters, composer Ella Milch-Sheriff and the late theatre critic Shosh Milch-Avigal, who were confronted with a terrible secret from their Holocaust survivor father’s past. Zero Motivation co-star Nelly Tagar has signed to play Shosh while Joy Rieger will play Ella. David Silber at Tel Aviv-based Metro Communications, whose recent credits include TIFF Contemporary World Cinema title
filmSharks sells darin thriller By JereMy Kay
Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks has closed key deals on thriller Koblic starring Ricardo Darin from Goya-winning director Sebastian Borensztein. Guido Rud and his team have
licensed rights in Brazil (Paris Filmes) and Central America (Palmera International). The film is in production and Disney will distribute in Latin America while Seven Films will handle Greece. In addition, Pope Francis
Planeta Inform plays Mafia
Baba Joon, is producing. Nesher aims to shoot the second film, Past Tense, in 2016. The English-language feature revolves around a US psychology professor who becomes embroiled in a child custody battle while on a trip to Israel. Ruth Wilson, who won a Golden Globe for her performance in The Affair, is in negotiations to play the lead role. New York producer Anthony Bregman is also attached, alongside Silber. The third film will follow an art historian coming to terms with a lost love.
Russian promotional group Planeta Inform Film Distribution is handling international sales in Toronto on Sarik Andreasyan’s sci-fi survival thriller Mafia. The film is based on a Russian party game and takes place in a future where contestants must fight for their lives in an elimination contest. Gevond Andresyan, Sarik Andresyan and Vladimir Polyakov are producing; Lenny Levi and Daniel Shapovalov serve as exec producers. Jeremy Kay
biopic Francisco, starring Dario Grandinetti, has sold to the Philippines (Pioneer Films), Colombia (Procinal) and Chile and Peru (Andes Films). Disney will distribute in South America while Must See Movie Releasing holds South Korean rights and Warsaw Movie will release in Poland.
Animated feature El Americano 3D, with the voice talents of Lisa Kudrow and Edward James Olmos, has gone to the Middle East and Turkey (Tanweer), Peru (Star Film) and Central America (Palmera International). Top Film previously acquired for CIS and eastern Europe.
Our office @ TIFF: German Films Booth – Hyatt Regency (Sales Office). King Ballroom (Mezzanine Level), 370 King St. West
SCREENINGS
“AN ACCOMPLISHED, QUIETLY COMPELLING PORTRAIT OF A CONVICTED KILLER”
PRESS & INDUSTRY SCREENING: TOMORROW / Sep 14th / 11.30 a.m. Scotiabank 7
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE: Tuesday / Sep 15th / 7.00 p.m. Scotiabank 10 PUBLIC SCREENINGS: Thursday / Sep 17th / 9.15 p.m. Scotiabank 10 Sunday / Sep 20th / 9.00 a.m. Scotiabank 14
JACK A FILM BY ELISABETH SCHARANG
World Sales
Picture Tree International GmbH Zur Börse 12 / 10247 Berlin / Germany E-Mail: yuan@picturetree-international.com Phone: +49 30 420 82 48 0 www.picturetree-international.com
4 Screen International at Toronto September 13, 2015
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WORLD PREMIERE
NEWS
FILMS FROM ISRAEL AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2015
THE KIND WORDS Director: Shemi Zarhin World Sales: Beta Cinema E-mail: beta@betacinema.com Web: www.betacinema.com/en THU SEP 10 19:00 SCOTIABANK 4 FRI SEP 11 12:30 CINEMA 3 THU SEP 17 21:15 CINEMA 1
PRESS & INDUSTRY: THU SEP 10 13:45 WED SEP 16 11:15
SCOTIABANK 8 SCOTIABANK 10
BY MICHAEL ROSSER
BABA JOON Director: Yuval Delshad Sales Contact: David Silber, Metro Communications LTD. E-mail: metro@metrocom.co.il FRI SEP 11 15:30 THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA SAT SEP 12 16:30 SCOTIABANK 13 THU SEP 17 21:15 SCOTIABANK 2
PRESS & INDUSTRY: FRI SEP 11 11:00 THU SEP 17 09:15
SCOTIABANK 6 SCOTIABANK 7
MOUNTAIN Director: Yaelle Kayam World Sales: Films Distribution E-mail: info@filmsdistribution.com Web: www.filmsdistribution.com SAT SEP 12 WED SEP 16 SUN SEP 20
17:15 CINEMA 3 21:00 SCOTIABANK 2 21:30 CINEMA 3
PRESS & INDUSTRY: THU SEP 10 17:00 SCOTIABANK 8 TUE SEP 15 21:30 SCOTIABANK 6
WEDDING DOLL Director: Nitzan Gilady E-mail: marina@6sales.es Website: www.6sales.es WED SEP 16 19:15 SCOTIABANK 3 FRI SEP 18 14:30 SCOTIABANK 3 SUN SEP 20 10:00 SCOTIABANK 9
PRESS & INDUSTRY: SAT SEP 12 09:30
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RABIN, THE LAST DAY Director: Amos Gitai World Sales: Indie Sales E-mail: ccavalier@indiesales.eu Web: www.indiesales.eu WED SEP 16 FRI
SEP 18
SUN SEP 20
20:45 WINTER GARDEN THEATRES 12:30 WINTER GARDEN THEATRES 17:45 CINEMA 3
PRESS & INDUSTRY: FRI SEP 11 10:45 TUE SEP 15 10:45
SCOTIABANK 10 SCOTIABANK 10
DEMON Director: Marcin Wrona Sales Contact: Malgorzata Jnczak E-mail: malgo@magnetmanfilm.com FRI
SEP 11
SUN SEP 13 SAT SEP 19
18:15 THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA 16:15 SCOTIABANK 10 21:15 SCOTIABANK 13
PRESS & INDUSTRY: SAT SEP 12 21:15 SCOTIABANK 5 TUE SEP 15 18:45 SCOTIABANK 7
SPECIAL PRESENTATION A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS Director: Natalie Portman World Sales: Voltage Pictures E-mail: Allison@voltagepictures.com Web: www.voltagepictures.com THU SEP 10 19:00 WINTER GARDEN PRESS & INDUSTRY: THEATRES THU SEP 10 10:00 FRI SEP 11 09:45 THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA SUN SEP 20 09:30 ISABEL BADER THEATRE
European Film Bonds tops $1bn Completion guarantor European Film Bonds (EFB), which has six films here in Toronto, has revealed it has now bonded more than $1.2bn (¤1.1bn) of production finance. The firm, headquartered in Denmark, has TIFF premieres including Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise, Matt Brown’s The Man Who Knew Infinity, Alexandra-
Therese Keining’s Girls Lost, Anders Thomas Jensen’s Men & Chicken and Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already. Other recent titles include Joachim Trier’s Cannes Competition entry, Louder Than Bombs, and Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette, which received its world premiere at Telluride and is set for US release on October 23 through Focus Features.
Front Cover opens up to North America BY MICHAEL ROSSER
Fortissimo Films has secured a North American deal for Ray Yeung’s gay comedy- drama, Front Cover. Strand Releasing has picked up the distribution rights to the film, which Fortissimo is selling here at TIFF. Strand is planning a North American festival
run and a theatrical release starting in New York from spring 2016. The deal was negotiated by Fortissimo Films’ chairman Michael J Werner and Strand Releasing’s co-president, Marcus Hu. Front Cover, which received its world premiere in Competition at the recent Seattle International Film
TIFF BRIEFS Myriad Pictures has The Last Word
THRU YOU PRINCESS Director: Ido Haar World Sales: First Hand Films E-mail: esther.van.messel@firsthandfilms.com Web: www.firsthandfilms.com PRESS & INDUSTRY: SUN SEP 13 09:00
Myriad Pictures is financing and has launched sales on Mark Pellington’s comedy drama The Last Word, to star Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried.
SCOTIABANK 8
P.S. JERUSALEM Director: Danae Elon Sales Contact: Entre Deux Mondes E-mail: Danaeelon@gmail.com Web: www.psjerusalem.com MON SEP 14 21:45 SCOTIABANK 14 WED SEP 16 16:00 SCOTIABANK 14 SAT SEP 19 12:30 SCOTIABANK 4
PRESS & INDUSTRY: SAT SEP 12 13:45 THU SEP 17 13:45
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SHORT CUTS LATCHKEY KIDS Director: Elad Goldman Sales Contact: Elad Goldman E-mail: goldmanel@gmail.com TUE
SEP 15 22:00 CINEMA 4 – PAUL & LEAH ATKINSON FAMILY CINEMA SUN SEP 20 12:15 SCOTIABANK 11
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Ministry of Culture and Sport
6 Screen International at Toronto September 13, 2015
McLaren motor racing team founder Bruce McLaren
McLaren races off starting grid BY JEREMY KAY
ONE LAST NIGHT Director: Kerem Blumberg Sales Contact: Kerem Blumberg E-mail: keremblu@gmail.com SUN SEP 13 21:45 SCOTIABANK 14 SAT SEP 19 21:45 SCOTIABANK 11
Festival, centres on a gay fashion stylist in New York who detests his Asian upbringing. When he is given an assignment to style a foreign actor for an important photo shoot, an unlikely friendship develops. The film will open the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival next week.
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EFB recently expanded its operations working in Australia and China as well as securing a long-standing relationship with South African executive Paul Raleigh. Last year, the firm hired ex-Universal production executive Peter La Terriere to set up a new UK office and spearhead the company’s English-language production business.
Production has commenced on Roger Donaldson’s documentary McLaren, the second film in the official venture between XYZ-GFC backed by the New Zealand Film Commission. Matthew Metcalfe and Fraser Brown produce the film about the life and career of New Zealand racing car
designer and McLaren motor racing team founder Bruce McLaren. The subject died in 1970, four years before his Formula 1 team won its first drivers’ and constructors’ championship. Transmission Films will distribute in Australia and New Zealand while XYZ Films represents US rights.
US crowns Princess Breaking Glass Pictures and Reel Red Films have picked up Israeli Sundance hit Princess for US distribution from The Yellow Affair.
Mongrel in Fits Mongrel International has acquired the worldwide sales rights to Anna Rose Holmer’s coming-of-age drama The Fits, which premiered at Venice.
» Full stories on ScreenDaily.com
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at toronto international film festival 2015
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Lucía Puenzo, Nicolás Puenzo, Pablo Fendrik
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Reviews
» I Saw The Light p8 » Office p10
» Our Brand Is Crisis p10 » Ville-Marie p12
Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
» Un Plus Une p12 » The White Knights p14 » Eva Doesn’t Sleep p14
I Saw The Light Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan Casting UK actor Tom Hiddleston as the late1940s/early-’50s Alabama-born country music star Hank Williams was an interesting choice for I Saw The Light director Marc Abraham, and the decision proves to be justified. Hiddleston’s intense performance lends a little frisson to an otherwise familiar, if gorgeously mounted tale about a troubled musical genius who is inevitably, gruellingly, felled by his demons. Hiddleston sings the Williams catalogue with aplomb; as an actor, he’s certainly got the ambition to deliver this bravura turn, although Abraham pays a little too much visual emphasis to the suit and hat, leaving the actor to work hard to imply what’s beneath. But as Hank’s tricksy, hard-edged wife, Elizabeth Olsen is the film’s find — she proves she’s got the depth and range for more complex performances. Narratively, however, this prestige biopic feels like a routine cycle through an already over-populated genre. Set to go out through Sony Pictures Classics in the US on November 27, awards pushes for Hiddleston and Olsen may draw some interest, but reviews stand to be luke-warm and there’s a sluggishness here that could see the film struggle to engage wider audiences. The electric real-life dramas of dead, addict musicians in this year’s three ringing documentaries Amy, Cobain: Montage Of Heck and Janis: Little Girl Blue seem to cast a faded
8 Screen International at Toronto September 13, 2015
SPECiAL PRESEnTATiOnS US. 2015. 123mins Director/screenplay Marc Abraham Production companies Ratpack Entertainment, Bron Studios International sales Sony Pictures Classics Producers Brett Ratner, Aaron L Gilbert, Marc Abraham, G Marq Roswell Executive producers Parry Long, Jason Cloth, John Raymonds, James Packer Screenplay Marc Abraham, based on Hank Williams: The Biography, by Colin Escott with George Merritt and William MacEwen Cinematography Dante Spinotti Music Aaron Zigman Main cast Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, Cherry Jones, Maddie Hasson, Wrenn Schmidt
pallor over Williams’ 1950s back catalogue, or perhaps truth is often stronger than a dramatised version of it. Hank Williams died at the age of 29; I Saw The Light takes up his story six years before and decorates it in perfect period settings that go a long way towards nourishing the viewer through 123 minutes of booze-filled unhappiness. (Painkillers also played a role in his downfall, and Williams suffered from spina bifida). The rich visual trappings from production designer Merideth Boswell don’t drown out the story, either. I Saw The Light’s focus is on the heyday of the Grand Ole Opry, a pre-Johnny Cash-era Southern music scene. And like 2005’s Walk The Line, it spends time on the central relationship between Hiddleston’s Williams and Olsen’s Audrey, an ambitious and occasionally loving spouse who insisted on being included on his material despite her scanty vocal talent. Deep Southern accents can sound indistinct here to the untrained ear, and I Saw The Light will need to work to gain traction in international territories where the name of Hank Williams is far from a draw (Hiddleston’s turn will attract attention in the UK, while C&W audiences worldwide should be delighted by this ode to their history). During the couple’s frequent arguments over Williams’ womanising and drinking, the dialogue isn’t entirely audible, although the sentiment is clear. What’s less obvious is which story beats Abraham is trying
to emphasise across the singer-songwriter’s crowded, drama-filled, all-too-brief life. Odd black-and-white faux interviews with his publisher Fred Rose (Bradley Whitford) add little, if anything, and I Saw The Light has a tendency to whip through Williams’ musical achievements in favour of domestic scenarios such as the rivalry between his mother and wife and the couple’s break ups and reconciliations. Before he succumbed to his addictions, Alabama-born Williams enjoyed 33 hit singles and eight number-ones, with three more chart-toppers coming after his death on New Year’s Day 1953. Some are gloriously performed here by Hiddleston, from the a cappella opening-credit rendering of ‘Cold, Cold Heart’ to ‘Lovesick Blues’ up to ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’; while the actor doesn’t sound entirely like Williams, that somehow enriches the feeling of the piece. Somewhere in I Saw The Light is a story about a precociously talented boy, surrounded by women, who struggles to achieve the meteoric success that made him one of the first inductees in the Country Hall of Fame and one of Bob Dylan’s enduring influences, but Abraham has a tendency to lose focus to the domestic drama. This can lead to the sense that Hiddleston is delivering an impressive performance of a character that isn’t written very deeply. Olsen, meanwhile, is effortless; her young face speaks of her character’s life and inner struggle. This is an actress to watch.
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REVIEWS
Our Brand Is Crisis Reviewed by Tim Grierson
Office Reviewed by Dan Fainaru Far removed from Johnnie To’s tradition of tough action movies (The Mission, Election), this spectacular musical extravaganza breaks entirely new ground for him. In a way, it must also be a dream come true, for To has always indulged in at least one piece of cinematic bravura in every picture he has made, sometimes more. Here he springs into virtuoso mode from the start and doesn’t stop until almost two hours later. Already released in China prior to an international premiere in Toronto (to be followed by commercial releases in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore), Office demonstrates a sharp turn by To in an unexpected direction. The script is based on a successful 2008 stage play by Taiwanese actress-director Sylvia Chang (Murmur Of The Hearts) entitled Design For Living. Adapted for the screen by Chang herself, with a pumping, energetic, colourful score by Chinese pop master Lo Dayu, it was shot on a gigantic sound stage designed especially for this purpose by Wong Kar Wai’s long-time collaborator William Chang Suk-ping and rumoured to have cost some $6m. The result is a marvel spread over several levels. Almost all action takes place in the office of a highpowered financial company, Jones and Sunn, circa 2008. Chang plays Winnie Chang, the powerful CEO who is preparing to list her billion-dollar company on the stock exchange, under the guidance of her lover and mentor Chairman Ho (Chow Yun-fat). Smaller parts in Office are no less significant, though, whether they be singer-actor Eason Chan as Chang’s deputy who has mismanaged the company’s funds, Tang Wei as a devoted workaholic accountant or Wang Ziyi as a bright upstart. Plot aside, To is mostly concerned with exploring Chang’s stunning set with dazzling tracking shots courtesy of his regular cinematographer Cheng Siu-Keung. Seamlessly incorporating Lo’s score and Lui FungShan’s imaginative costumes and moving to the rhythm of Lo’s score, every single move of the cast is choreographed to make it look as if they never stop dancing even when sitting at their computers. Breaking from dialogue into singing seems practically natural here, with To showing a distinct preference for ensemble numbers. Office is first and foremost about enjoying cinema’s capacity to entertain and have fun.
10 Screen International at Toronto September 13, 2015
Special pReSenTaTionS China-HK, 2015. 117mins Director Johnnie To Production companies Beijing Hairun pictures, edko Films Producers Johnny To, Sylvia chang International sales edko Films, chiujulian@ edkofilms.com.hk Screenplay Sylvia chang based on her stage play Design For Living Cinematography cheng Siu-Keung Editing David Richardson Production design William chang, Yau Wai Ming Music lo Dayu, chan Fai Young Main cast Sylvia chang, chow Yun-fat, eason chan, Tang Wei, lang Yueting, Wang Ziyi
Politics is a dirty business, but Our Brand Is Crisis doesn’t stick its hands into the muck sufficiently to be as entertaining or stinging as it could be. Inspired by the 2005 documentary of the same name, which chronicled the too-good-to-be-true story of US political operatives assisting the campaigns in Bolivia’s 2002 presidential election, this movie has slickness, an engaging milieu and an ornery turn from Sandra Bullock. But director David Gordon Green (Manglehorn) overdoes the film’s fashionable cynicism early on and then switches gears abruptly in a final stretch that comes across as false. If awards buzz and good word-of-mouth accrue, Our Brand Is Crisis could be a hit with adults, but the film (despite its inherently juicy political intrigue) may only bring modest grosses. Turning material covered in Rachel Boynton’s documentary into fiction, Our Brand Is Crisis finds retired US political strategist Jane Bodine (Bullock) being coaxed into signing up for one more election — this time in Bolivia, where former president Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) is a dark-horse candidate to retake his old job. Because Castillo’s opponent, the popular favourite, is being coached by Jane’s old nemesis Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), she’ll stop at nothing to win the election for Castillo, even though she has a recent history of breakdowns, depression and electoral failure. Bullock tries to bring some taking-care-of-business ferocity to the role, occasionally revealing the hang-ups and self-doubt that eat away at Jane beneath her pitbull exterior. She and Thornton have a sexy rapport as bitter rivals, but ultimately the character isn’t unscrupulous enough to be a compelling anti-hero or cautionary tale. The film doesn’t seem to have much of a take on Jane’s questionable methods, which involve cynically changing the narrative around the election in order to scare voters into choosing Castillo. As a result, when the result of her campaigning creates consequences she hadn’t anticipated, her response seems unearned and a bit mystifying: how is the outcome that shocking to a professional strategist who’s supposedly seen it all? For a movie about a presidential election, Our Brand Is Crisis feels oddly insignificant, the film failing to live up to its promise — much like the fate of many elected officials.
Special pReSenTaTionS US. 2015. 107mins Director David Gordon Green Production companies participant Media, RatpacDune entertainment, Smokehouse pictures Contact Warner Bros pictures Producers Grant Heslov, George clooney Screenplay peter Straughan Cinematography Tim orr Editor colin patton Production design Richard a Wright Music David Wingo Main cast Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, anthony Mackie, Joaquim de almeida, ann Dowd, Scoot Mcnairy, Zoe Kazan
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OFFICIAL SELECTION - CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
wide
DCP/HD • 2015 • CANADA • 102MIN • DRAMA
OUR LOVED ONES A film by Anne Émond
Guy is found dead in the basement of the family home. Years later, David, his son, now loving father of two children, secretly still carries the weight of this enigmatic tragedy. 13/09 12PM Scotiabank 10 (Press & Industry)
14/09 10PM TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 2 (Public)
16/09 4.15PM Scotiabank 13 (Public)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - TIFF KIDS DCP/HD • 2015 • SWEDEN/GERMANY • 95MIN • DRAMA
MY SKINNY SISTER A film by Sanna Lenken
Just as Stella enters the exciting world of adolescence she discovers that her big sister and role model Katja is hiding an eating disorder. The disease slowly tears the family apart. A story about jealousy, love and betrayal told with warmth, depth and laughter. 19/09 12.30PM Cinema 4 - P. & L. Atkinson Family Cinema (Public)
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04/09/2015 16:02
REVIEWS
Ville-Marie Reviewed by Allan Hunter The latest feature from writer/director Guy Edoin (Marecages, Corno) is an ambitious attempt at a Crash-style ensemble, tracing the interconnecting lives of a group of damaged souls in downtown Montreal, exploring fraught relationships between mothers and sons, fractured families, guilty secrets and the blurred line between fact and fiction. It is intermittently engaging and occasionally clunky as it follows the emotional fallout from a number of traumatic accidents and inevitably suffers from the curse of the ensemble drama in that some characters are much more interesting than others. The most marketable element is the regal star presence and strong performance of Monica Bellucci in one of her most demanding recent roles and that could be enough to spark theatrical sales in markets with an eye on her post-Spectre box-office glow. Bellucci wafts through the film like a haunting perfume as movie star diva Sophie Bernard. Her arrival in Montreal prompts a long tracking shot as she walks through a largely deserted airport. She is in town to make a lavish movie that echoes events from her own life but also to build bridges with her gay son Thomas (Aliocha Schneider) who is increasingly insistent that she reveals the name of his father. When we first see Thomas, he is standing at a bus stop
SPECiAL PRESEnTATiOnS Can. 2015. 101mins Director Guy Edoin Production company Max Films Media inc International sales Films Boutique, info@ filmsboutique.com Producer Félize Frappier Executive producer Roger Frappier Screenplay Guy Edoin, Jean-Simon DesRochers Cinematography Serge Desrosiers Editor Yvann Thibaudeau Production design David Pelletier Music Olivier Alary, Johannes Malfatti Main cast Monica Bellucci, Pascale Bussieres, Aliocha Schneider, Patrick Hivon
when a young woman asks for his assistance. She hands him her baby and then walks into the middle of the traffic. The paramedic who attends the tragedy is shellshocked army veteran Pierre (Patrick Hivon). The emergency nurse at Ville-Marie hospital who worries about him and frets over being an absent parent to her son is Marie (Pascale Bussieres). All of the characters are at the mercy of past tragedies, numbed by their pain and seeking some form of escape in work, sex or
make believe. The trouble is that some of their dilemmas veer towards the banal and the dialogue does not always cut as deep as one might have hoped. Ville-Marie is solid enough in places but lacks the flavour or punch of unexpected elements that would allow it to feel more distinctive. But it is a great showcase for Bellucci and even if everything else pales by comparison there is enough here to suggest Edoin is still a director worth watching.
Un Plus Une Reviewed by Tim Grierson An elegant, melancholy love story, Un Plus Une takes a very ordinary premise — two people who are already romantically attached to others quickly form a close emotional bond — and produces a delicate drama that’s often ineffably lovely. Director and co-writer Claude Lelouch aims for something wise and wistful in this tale of a carefree composer (Jean Dujardin) and an ambassador’s wife (Elsa Zylberstein) trying to make sense of the growing attraction between them, and although the film has clear problems, Un Plus Une’s modest, considerable strengths are such that the smitten may choose to overlook the flaws. As the story begins, Antoine Abeilard (Dujardin), a famed French film composer, is in the midst of a happy relationship with the younger Alice (Alice Pol). Travelling to India to score a film, Antoine meets Anna (Zylberstein), the vivacious wife of the French ambassador (Christophe Lambert). Sensing an instant connection, Antoine and Anna conspire to find more and more opportunities to hang out. And although their relationship remains platonic, the depth of their conversations and the potent flirtation between them makes it obvious that something
12 Screen International at Toronto September 13, 2015
SPECiAL PRESEnTATiOnS Fr. 2015. 113mins Director Claude Lelouch Production companies Les Films 13, Davis Films, JD PROD, France 2 Cinéma, Canal Plus, Ciné Plus, France Télévisions International sales Mister Smith Entertainment, info@ mistersmithent.com US sales Metropolitan Filmexport, info@ metrofilms.com Producers Samuel Hadida, Victor Hadida, Marc Dujardin, Claude Lelouch Screenplay Claude Lelouch, Valérie Perrin Cinematography Robert Alazraki Main cast Jean Dujardin, Elsa Zylberstein, Alice Pol, Christophe Lambert
could soon happen — especially after they venture on an impromptu odyssey across India. In its opening stretches, Un Plus Une is remarkably warm, funny and romantic as the interactions between Antoine and Anna sparkle. Lelouch’s film is, for most of its running time, a rumination on the fickleness of love — how luck, circumstance and even temperament can affect attraction. Unfortunately, Un Plus Une does stumble. Although Lelouch conveys a respectful affection for India’s seemingly transformative qualities, the movie can be awfully patronising in its depiction of the country and its people as an almost mythical cure-all for Western ills. And while Zylberstein is heart-breaking as Anna, a woman who loves her husband but cannot deny the kinship she feels toward Antoine, Dujardin can slide into cutesy adorableness. These deficiencies are obvious and inarguable, but Lelouch mostly overcomes them by focusing so intently on the ways that love transforms people — as well as transforms those unwittingly affected by their lover’s sudden infatuation with a new partner. Weaving fantasy sequences and flashbacks into the narrative, the veteran film-maker examines how we tell and retell our own love stories, and whether any of them can last.
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SCREENING TODAY
PRIVATE SCREENING 9:30am Bell Lightbox Cinema 7
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE 7:30pm The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
CONTENT at TIFF: Hyatt Hotel, Suite #1705
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13th September - ContentFilm Full Page Screen Final with bleed.indd 1
04/09/2015 11:41
REVIEWS
Eva Doesn’t Sleep Reviewed by Tim Grierson
The White Knights Reviewed by lisa nesselson A group of French do-gooders turns out to be arguably not-so-good-doers in The White Knights (Les Chevaliers Blancs), directed by Joachim Lafosse (Our Children), a fact-inspired take on the machinations of an NGO that represented its mission one way while sneaky intentions pointed another way entirely. A compelling cast of characters whose convictions are put to the test in the inconvenient crucible of war-torn sub-Saharan Africa make this film as watchable as it is disturbing. With desperate migrants perishing or washing ashore in unprecedented numbers in Europe, this timely film asks what might constitute a better life for non-Westerners and who gets to decide. A group of white French-speakers arrive in Africa (the real-life episode took place in Chad) and proceed in an armed convoy to the compound that local fixer and pilot Xavier (Reda Kateb) has arranged for humanitarian organiser Jacques Arnault (Vincent Lindon) and his staff of allegedly selfless volunteers. Their stated purpose is to take in war orphans no older than the age of five in order to feed, educate and nurture them until they turn 18. Jacques assures local residents and the people living in more remote tribal outposts that his organisation is there for the long haul. But what viewers gradually understand is that ‘Move for Kids’ is the cover story for an outfit with a strict 30-day window to collect 300 children under the age of five and spirit them back to France where foster families are waiting to adopt them. Convinced they “have no choice” but to carry on their unethical charade in order to arrive at a greater good, the visitors’ behaviour ranges from tangentially admirable to thoughtless to dangerous to just plain stupid. Although there are serious disagreements, any number of plans fall through and the terrain is perilous, the proceedings unspool in a comparatively low-key matterof-fact fashion. The secret clock is ticking and yet there is no artificial drama — just a series of misguided miniadventures and setbacks that raise thorny questions about what form foreign aid should take so as to not do more harm than good.
14 Screen International at Toronto September 13, 2015
PlaTFoRM Fr-Bel. 2015. 112mins Director Joachim lafosse Production companies les Films Du Worso, versus Production International sales Indie sales, neschbach@ indiesales.eu Producers Jacques-henri Bronckart, olivier Bronckart, sylvie Pialat, Gwennaelle libert Screenplay Joachim lafosse, Bulle Decarpentries, Thomas van Zuylen Cinematography Jean-Francois hensgens Editors sophie vercruysse, Yann Dedet Production design olivier Radot Main cast vincent lindon, louise Bourgoin, valérie Donzelli, Reda Kateb, Rougalta Bintou saleh
“It isn’t a corpse. It’s her,” an Argentinian soldier declares about halfway through Eva Doesn’t Sleep (Eva No Duerme) with regards to the dead body of Eva Peron, and it’s a key line in this meditative, sometimes poetic drama about the magnetic power of leaders, even after their death. Spanning more than 20 years, director Pablo Aguero’s film looks at the strange history of Peron’s body after she died in 1952, and what’s uncovered is a nation haunted by her legacy and her message. Eva Doesn’t Sleep features Gael Garcia Bernal and Denis Lavant, but because of the triptych structure of the film, those actors are only small pieces in the overall narrative. Consequently, this drama may be a tough sell commercially, more likely a staple of the festival world. Connected by narration from an Argentinian commander (Bernal) who despised Peron, the film kicks off with the First Lady’s passing and is roughly divided into three chapters. In the first, an embalmer (Imanol Arias) prepares her body. The second follows a colonel (Lavant) and a younger soldier (Nicolas Goldschmidt) as they prepare to transport the body by truck in secret. And the final segment concerns a general (Daniel Fanego) arrested by revolutionaries, who plan to assassinate him for crimes against the Argentinian people. Aguero (77 Doronship) does a deft job creating realistic, deceptively mundane scenes that have a flash of surrealism or a dreamlike quality. Though based on actual events — Peron’s body went missing for a time after her death, and the government wanted to dispose of it in the hope it would crush her political movement — Eva Doesn’t Sleep feels like an existential ghost story. While the three segments don’t necessarily connect together, Aguero (who also wrote the screenplay) uses each chapter to explore different aspects of her legacy. Running at 85 minutes, the film is practically a collection of short stories charting Argentina in the aftermath of Peron’s death. No one cast member stands out, but that’s by design. Uniformly strong but muted, the actors are all under the spell of Aguero’s beautiful but unfussy compositions, just as the characters seem to be sleepwalking through a strange landscape of their own making.
WavelenGThs Fr-Arg-Sp. 2015. 85mins Director/screenplay Pablo aguero Production companies JBa Production, haddock Films, Pyramide, InCaa, aide aux Cinémas du Monde, CnC Ministere des affaires etrangeres et du Développement International, Institut Francais, Tornasol, Tita B Productions, Breizh Film Fund, aleph Ciné International sales Pyramide International, sales@pyramidefilms.com Producers Jacques Bidou, Marianne Dumoulin, vanessa Ragone Cinematography Ivan Gierasinchuk Editor stéphane elmadjian Production design Mariela Ripodas Music valentin Portron Main cast Gael Garcia Bernal, Denis lavant, Daniel Fanego, Imanol arias, sofia Brito, nicolas Goldschmidt
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Meet the Leaders in Film, Television and Entertainment September 26 - 27, 2015
e g d e l Know r tunity o p p O de o is c h wit r e t s e at v a Regi s nd a N E om c . t i SCRE m
Keynote Conversations with:
m u s h zuric
Thomas Ebeling CEO, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Christoph Waltz Two-time Academy Award® Winner
Marc Forster Director of “World War Z“, “Quantum of Solace“, “Finding Neverland“
Steve Golin Producer of “True Detective“, Founder of Anonymous Content
John Lesher Principal of Le Grisbi Productions and Oscar-winning producer of “Birdman“, “Black Mass“
Venue: The Dolder Grand | Zurich, Switzerland Panel Conversations with: Roeg Sutherland, CAA Elke Walthelm, Sky Deutschland Sam Toles, Vimeo Marc Butan, MadRiver Pictures William Feng, Motion Picture Association Alexis Garcia, WME Laura Lewis, CAA
Tao Liu, Huayi Brothers Dan Maag, Pantaleon Entertainment AG Brian Oliver, Cross Creek Pictures Antony Root, HBO Europe Marc Rosen, “SENSE8“ Thorsten Schumacher, HanWay Films John Sloss, Cinetic Media Daniel Steinman, Black Bear Pictures
Hendrik Lesser, Remote Control Productions Christos Michaels, Lee & Thompson LLP Phil Hunt, Bankside Films Jack Gao, Wanda Media Culture Group Dario Suter, DCM Damir Bandalo, Superpopcorn Conrad Fritsch,Tape.tv Lenard Krawinkel, Zoobe
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TerriTory focus n Overview n New film-makiNg taleNt
The Way He Looks
The changing colours of Brazil Fuelled by generous incentives, Brazilian cinema is healthy and robust, and local film-makers are reflecting their country’s improved circumstances, drifting away from the focus on poverty, violence and social issues that have become familiar to international audiences. Elaine Guerini reports
B
razilian film-makers and producers are addicted to government funding. It’s no wonder, considering the incentive policy the government adopted to support national cinema in the 1990s is one of the best in the world. Apart from tax breaks for investors, there are several other direct mechanisms, such as the Audiovisual Sector Fund allowing producers to maximise all the financial sources available, reaching as high as $1.8m per project. As a result, Brazil’s feature output has risen steadily in the past 15 years and now numbers 150 films per year. The tax incentive mechanisms and funding sources have a public-relations benefit for the government, showing the world that Brazil has a national cinema;
the films are an expression of national identity. But making films is one thing; getting them seen is another and many Brazilian films struggle to get distribution, especially at home. In the Brazilian market, distributors don’t absorb the surplus, in part due to the soft performance of most local films at the box office. Presently, around a third of Brazilian narrative film releases achieve more than 100,000 admissions; and last year, only six films surpassed the 1 million milestone. With 103 titles released, domestic films were seen by 19.4 million people, accounting for a market share of 12.4% — a fall from 18.6% in 2013. On the plus side, the total box office in 2014 grossed $550m and 157.2 million
16 Screen international in toronto September 13, 2015
admissions, representing growth of 11.5% in revenue and 4% in admissions — the ninth and sixth consecutive years, respectively, to have seen a rise. Local taste “We still need to grow our exhibition sector, which we have been doing in recent years,’’ says Manoel Rangel, directorpresident of the Brazilian National Cinema Agency (Ancine). Brazil will reach 3,000 screens this year, but that number is still modest for a country of 200 million inhabitants. “We also need to strengthen the independent Brazilian distributors,” Rangel continues. “They are responsible for the distribution not only of almost all Brazilian films, but also for around 80% of foreign films.”
The films that surpassed the magic 1 million admissions mark are typically comedies and rom-coms cast with stars of shows from the country’s dominant broadcaster, TV Globo. One example is Roberto Santucci’s Till Luck Do Us Part 2, which was the biggest local hit of 2014, selling 3.2 million tickets, and which featured sitcom star Leandro Hassum. “But we do not know how long this genre will continue to work in Brazil. Our most commercial cinema has become a one-note samba, which will eventually saturate the public,’’ says Paulo Almeida, president of the local industry trade publication Filme B. Although they raise the profile of Brazilian cinema at home and are immensely profitable, these comedies don’t travel
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THE FAMOUS FIVE, PAGE 18
‘I realised how little the international public knows about the privileged classes of Brazil’ Anna Muylaert, writer-director
Neighboring Sounds
well, often because they are extensions of their stars’ TV shows. “There is a big concern for the quality of movies, for the production process and for the business itself. That requires investment in order to develop the projects and also training of qualified professionals,” says Rangel. He believes there has been an evolution in the industry with the implementation of Law 12,485, which stipulates, among other things, minimum quotas for Brazilian and independent programming on cable TV in prime time. “Thanks to our intervention we’re creating a dynamic business environment where industry barriers have been overcome,” he says. Looking abroad Among other enterprises to encourage local production are the multiple co-production agreements established with Argentina, Italy, Uruguay, Germany, Canada, Chile, Spain, France, Italy, India, Portugal and Venezuela, among others. “We are in negotiations with South Africa and the agreement with the UK is about to start officially,” says Rangel, adding that a deal was made with the whole of Latin America earlier this year. The films that represent Brazil abroad, primarily on the festival circuit, tend to be lower-budget and don’t follow the model of casting local TV stars. These titles struggle to find local distribution and, if they do arrive in theatres, their stays are often short; competition for screens on the Brazilian arthouse circuit is fierce, with local titles competing against the best of international cinema. Because few films are able to recoup their money from the local market, they depend on international revenues. With that in mind, Cinema do Brasil created the Distribution Support Award to help the release of Brazilian films overseas. An international distributor can receive up to $15,000 for expenses related to the promotion of Brazilian films in its territory. The initiative has awarded $1.3m since its 2009 launch.
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Till Luck Do Us Part 2
‘We need to strengthen the independent Brazilian distributors’ Manoel Rangel, Ancine
Daniel Ribeiro’s The Way He Looks received backing for international distribution and has so far sold to seven countries. Despite being Brazil’s entry for the most recent foreign-language Oscar race, the gay coming-of-age story has attracted only 200,000 admissions at home. “With the support for distribution of films in the international market, Cinema do Brasil’s idea is to show the diversity of the current production of our cinema,’’ says Andre Sturm, the body’s general director. “Although there is no real movement, something that would justify the label of New Brazilian Cinema — all the transformations the country has been going through are reflected in our films.” While the concept of a New Brazilian Cinema might be wishful thinking, what isn’t in doubt is the fact a new generation of filmmakers are tackling Brazilian reality with freshness and verve, regardless of what the international market has come to expect of the country’s indigenous production. While the image of Brazilian cinema for decades has been of one focused on poverty and violence, film-makers are increasingly making films about middle-class issues, reflecting Brazil’s social changes. The Second Mother
While currently mired in an economic and political crisis, with many calling for the resignation of president Dilma Rousseff after a series of corruption scandals involving government officials, the purchasing power of Brazil’s lower classes has grown tremendously over the past decade. Films such as Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Neighboring Sounds (2012) and Anna Muylaert’s The Second Mother (2015) are presenting a new socio-economic portrait of Brazil. Winner of the Grand Prix at CPH PIX in Copenhagen and Fipresci prizes in Rotterdam and Wroclaw, Neighboring Sounds presents a portrait of Recife (and consequently of Brazil) in the post-economic boom, pointing to the contradictions of the emerging middleclass. The Second Mother, the recipient of the Panorama Audience Award in Berlin and the Special Jury Prize for Acting (Regina Casé and Camila Mardila) at Sundance, follows a rich family’s hard-working housekeeper in modern-day Sao Paulo. As often happens, she is treated like a second-class citizen, although she is regarded as ‘family’. “Travelling the world with the film, I realised how little the international public knows about the privileged classes of Brazil. They are surprised with this aspect of our society,” says Muylaert, adding that her film has been sold to more than 25 countries. Such titles show how Brazil is beginning to impose a new image on the international market. Last year, Carlos Diegues, one of the key figures of the Brazil Cinema Novo movement in the early 1960s, claimed that for a long time the world only wanted a certain type of Brazilian cinema: one that highlighted its position as a third-world nation. “If world cinema were a meal,” he told Screen, “American films would always be the main course, European cinema would be dessert and the exotic continents, such as Asia, would be the appetiser. If Brazil wanted to attend the banquet, it would have to be the s bitter coffee at the end.” ■ »
September 13, 2015 Screen International in Toronto 17
TERRITORY FOCUS BRAZIL
The
FAMOUS FIVE
With Brazilian film-makers on the rise, Elaine Guerini rounds up a quintet of the country’s most exciting talent
FELLIPE BARBOSA
‘We must move forward and show all the colours of Brazil’ Fellipe Barbosa never understood why there has been a taboo in Brazilian cinema about addressing the lives of the country’s rich, as if it were wrong or superficial. Tackling this prejudice head on, he depicted the fall of a family from Rio de Janeiro’s elite in his 2014 feature debut Casa Grande. “I always thought it was a shame not to explore the desires and frustrations of the Brazilian bourgeoisie,’’ says the 34-year-old film-maker. In Barbosa’s coming-of-age tale, a teenage boy is forced to adapt to reduced circumstances when his family faces bankruptcy. While it is a compassionate look at the country’s privileged class, it also reveals some of their reactionary ideas and deep contempt for the poor, disguised as benevolence. “It is a very personal film, given the fact my parents lost a lot of money when I was studying in the US,” admits Barbosa, who attended Columbia University’s film programme. Among the director’s upcoming projects is a drama about an aristocratic family up in arms about the inauguration of president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2003. “I understand that during the ’90s, when Brazil used to make only a few films per year, there was an ethical responsibility to show the poverty and the violence the country was facing,” says Barbosa. “But this historic moment has passed. We must move forward and show all the colours of Brazil.’’
18 Screen International September 13, 2015
Casa Grande
FERNANDO COIMBRA
‘It took Brazil a long time to turn to genre films’ Brazil doesn’t have a strong tradition in horror films, despite the works of Jose Mojica Marins, a cult figure for genre fans the world over. But that didn’t discourage Fernando Coimbra from making his feature debut in 2013 with the horror fable A Wolf At The Door. His tale of a child abduction told from three different perspectives — each of the girl’s parents and the father’s mistress — kept audiences riveted. “It took Brazil a long time to turn to genre film. The public enjoys them very much. The problem is that local distributors often don’t know how to sell them,’’ says the 39-year-old film-
maker, winner of a Horizons award in San Sebastian and best film and best director prizes in Miami. Coimbra’s film sold across the majority of Latin America, along with Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Korea, the US and Canada (A Wolf At The Door had its world premiere at TIFF). Coimbra is a graduate of the cinema programme at the University of Sao Paulo — one of Brazil’s most prestigious educational institutions — and is currently writing his second feature. Selected for the Sundance Institute’s 2015 Screenwriters Lab, The Hanged trains a lens on the tensions between the rich and the nouveau riche in a wealthy neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. “It’s an ironic thriller that shows the conflicts between two privileged classes,” says Coimbra. “International audiences are used to seeing the fight between Brazil’s upper and lower classes, but I think it’s important to reveal what’s going on now.” A Wolf At The Door
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Cinema do Brazil PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THE BRAZILIAN FILMS SELECTED FOR THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2015
Public Screening Sept 17 6:00pm | Visa Screening Room (Elgin) Sept 18 2:15pm | Cinema 1 Sept 20 10:00pm | Cinema 1
PLATFORM
NEON BULL Boi Neon
Gabriel Mascaro PRODUCED BY Desvia Produções SALES Memento Films International sata@memento-films.com BY
Press & Industry Screening Sept 18 10:00am | Scotiabank 10
Public Screening Sept 15 10:15pm | Scotiabank 12 Sept 16 9:45pm | Scotiabank 12
VANGUARD
ZOOM
Press & Industry Screening Sept 11 7:45pm | Scotiabank 12 Sept 17 9:00am | Scotiabank 10
Zoom
by Pedro Morelli coproduced by O2 Filmes sales WTFilms • greg@wtfilms.fr • dimitri@wtfilms.fr
Public Screening Sept 13 7:15pm | Scotiabank 2 Sept 15 2:00pm | Cinema 4 Sept 18 9:00am | Cinema 1
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
CAMPO GRANDE Campo Grande
Press & Industry Screening Sept 12 4:00pm | Scotiabank 11 Sept 16 2:15pm | Scotiabank 7
by Sandra Kogut coproduced by Tambellini Filmes sales Films Distribution • alexis@filmsdistribution.com Imovision • jeanthomas@imovision.com.br Meet our team at #8 – Industry Centre·Mezzanine Level · Hyatt Regency Hotel For more information www.cinemadobrasil.org.br · info@cinemadobrasil.org.br An initiative by
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Supporting Partners
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04/09/2015 16:50:28
TerriTory focus Brazil
Anita Rocha da Silveira’s teen horror title Kill Me Please
dAniel RibeiRo
‘Gay Brazilians are not used to seeing themselves on screen’
AnitA RochA dA SilveiRA
‘I have an obsession with death and violence’ Anita Rocha da Silveira turned to a world she knew well for her feature debut Kill Me Please, which was selected for the Horizons section at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The film is a teen horror set in a school in an up-and-coming neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. “I have a certain obsession with death and violence in the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood. Certain rituals that I present in the film are things I experienced in this phase of life,” says the 30-year-old film-maker, who had
GAbRiel MAScARo
‘I am happy to see the projection of diversity’ In the opinion of some, Gabriel Mascaro appears to be more interested in provoking strong reactions than telling good stories. So it seemed with August Wings, which was given a Special Mention at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival, and now with Neon Bull, selected for both Venice and Toronto this year. What isn’t in question is Mascaro’s position as an exciting new talent. “Even if I have no generational fetish, I am happy to see the new Brazilian film-makers projecting diversity,’’ says Mascaro.
20 Screen International September 13, 2015
already explored the theme in her shorts The Noon Vampire (2008), Handball (2010) and The Living Dead (2012). The latter played in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. Set against the backdrop of a serial killer who is murdering and dismembering young women, Kill Me Please follows two teenage brothers: Bia, who finds love on encountering a corpse; and Joao, obsessed with the fate of a girl who disappeared. “I am interested in what happens to the human psyche when women are in constant danger,’’ says Da Silveira, who studied cinema at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Currently writing her second feature, Da Silveira will again present strong female characters in a plot punctuated by sordid humour. “But this time I’ll raise the age of the protagonists,” she says. “I’ve stayed too long in adolescence.”
Described by the 31-year-old director as “a study of the body, light and the transformation of the human landscape after rapid economic growth”, Neon Bull follows a group of vaqueiros (cowboys), using the Vaquejada rodeo — one of the largest agro-business events in Brazil — as an allegory for recent transformations in the country. “It’s my attempt to renovate the political and symbolic understanding of contemporary human relations in the north-east of Brazil, where I have always lived,’’ explains the filmmaker, who graduated from the University of Pernambuco in Recife with a degree in social communication. Neon Bull is a companion piece to August Winds, his essay about life and death in which the winds and nature guide the characters along their own paths. Selling to Spain, Argentina, Portugal and France, August Wings was Mascaro’s first foray into fiction, following several awardwinning documentaries including High-Rise s (2009) and Housemaids (2012). n
Daniel Ribeiro has always believed Brazilian cinema needs to reflect the continental dimensions of his country, exploring a variety of themes, aesthetics, languages and accents. Perhaps this attitude explains the enthusiastic reception for his debut feature, The Way He Looks, which was Brazil’s submission for best foreign-language film at the 2015 Oscars. “Although everyone grows up today with gay references in mind, I think Brazil lacked a film that spoke with delicacy and sensitivity about the internal conflicts of being gay in adolescence, which is common subject matter in American and European films,’’ says Ribeiro, who like Fernando Coimbra is a University of Sao Paulo cinema graduate. Ribeiro’s film followed a blind teenager from a middle-class Sao Paulo family striving for independence from his overprotective parents while discovering his sexuality. “Gay Brazilians are always eager for content but are not used to seeing themselves portrayed on screen,’’ says Ribeiro, whose film took the Teddy Award at the 2014 Berlinale, as well as several further festival prizes as it screened at San Sebastian, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Guadalajara, London and Athens, among others. Ribeiro’s debut was released theatrically in the US, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The 32-year-old director is hard at work on new projects, writing two scripts concurrently. One will return to the LGBT world, focusing on the friendship between two transgender people, while the other explores a Brazilian family living in Portugal who return home because of the economic crisis in Europe. “My idea is to shuffle the heads of the international audience who may have their preconceived ideas of Brazil,’’ he says.
Neon Bull
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Toronto_2015.indd 2
10/09/15 10.39
INTERVIEW BEN WHEATLEY
Ben Wheatley (centre) and producer Jeremy Thomas (seated) on the set of High-Rise; (inset) Elisabeth Moss and Tom Hiddleston
The higher power Ben Wheatley had his biggest budget to date to create the dystopian world portrayed in JG Ballard’s novel High-Rise. Michael Rosser speaks to the UK film-maker about his vision for the film’s funky world
I
t has taken nearly four decades for the dystopian satire of JG Ballard’s High-Rise to make it to the big screen. The 1975 novel, about life in a modern tower block spiralling out of control, was first developed by producer Jeremy Thomas in the late 1970s with Nicolas Roeg set to direct. But despite never realising that vision, the project remained close to Thomas’s heart and has now been channelled through the dark prism of Ben Wheatley, the director behind twisted cult favourites Kill List, Sightseers and A Field In England. The film, which receives its world premiere in TIFF’s Platform strand tonight, stars Tom Hiddleston as young doctor Robert Laing alongside Luke Evans, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller and Elisabeth Moss. Produced by Thomas’s Recorded Picture Company, backing comes from the BFI and Film4, with HanWay Films handling sales. How did you come to High-Rise? I saw it on my bookshelf and wondered why it hadn’t been made into a film. A bit of exploring led me to Jeremy Thomas’s door and the stars aligned. That week he’d seen Sightseers so a day or two’s dif-
ference and it could have been a different story altogether. How was the script developed? There had been scripts written and developed but we didn’t look at any of those. Myself and Amy [Jump, Wheatley’s writing partner and wife] told Jeremy we wanted to set it in the ’70s and make it a period piece. Everyone else had tried to make it futuristic. We wanted to start with a clean sheet so we went back to the book. Mainly it was about compression, because there are so many characters and scope and we had a modest budget. How did Tom Hiddleston get involved? Amy and I had a list of people we wanted and Hiddleston was at the top. It sounds like ‘making of ’ puffery but it’s true. We loved him in Joanna Hogg’s films and the Marvel films so it was a no-brainer. Tom’s a super-smart guy and had read tons of Ballard and interviews with him so he understood it inside and out. He’s also a guy in the classic mould of a British film star — reserved, good-looking and intelligent. There’s a lot of emotion going on but it’s all held back. He’s emotionally smart and intellectually smart.
22 Screen International in Toronto September 13, 2015
That, for us, was the most exciting thing about him. The thing that was different with this film was that a lot of the actors knew the work I’d done so the appetite was there. And the things Tom, Luke Evans, Sienna Miller and Elisabeth Moss do in the film are extraordinary. Movie charisma is a thing to behold when you see it in the rushes. What did you expect to be the biggest challenges going into High-Rise? Dealing with that many characters and that much art design and sets. We had £6m [$9.4m], the biggest budget I’ve been in charge of but still a tiny budget in the world of film-making. We laughed that we’d finally graduated to low-budget film-making. But we had a brilliant art department under Mark Tildesley and the design was cleverly done to maximise that cash. How did you approach the set-building? You try to make an environment where you’re shooting on location in the past. It’s just easier that way. When I work with Laurie Rose, the director of photography, you’re trying to light in the round. I want that flexibility and it’s to guard
against it looking like a set. The apartments in High-Rise look like real places. There’s a lot of original design within the film, including every item in the tower block’s supermarket. We wanted to make a period piece but not a greatest hits of the ’70s. It’s an alternative reality. It was a real treat to have control of a whole world. I was involved in the designing of the book covers of the books in people’s houses. We didn’t want to get into that world of nostalgic packaging because, first of all, it’s a fucking nightmare to clear that stuff and secondly it’s distracting. Depending how old you are, you’re off on some nostalgia trip. We also wanted to have complete control of the colours. Are you nervous about the world premiere? Yeah, but not especially. You never really know which way it will go or take things for granted. That’s when it bites you on the ass. But I always look forward to showing the film to lots of people at once and this has it all. It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions [laughs]. Drama, laughter, s dancing, everything. ■
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Untitled-1 2
07/09/15 12:39
ScreeningS edited by Jamie Mcleish Screening times and venues are correct at time of press but are subject to alteration
11:30
Public
he nAMed Me MAlAlA
screenings
(USA) 87mins. Dir: Davis Guggenheim. Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai. A profile of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who survived a Taliban assassination attempt to become an outspoken, globally recognised advocate for girls’ rights.
08:30 French Blood
(France) 97mins. Indie Sales (int’l). Dir: Diasteme. Cast: Alban Lenoir, Paul Hamy, Samuel Jouy. 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.
TIFF docs The Bloor hot docs cinema
The PeArl BuTTon
Platform TIFF Bell lightbox, cinema 1
08:45 MIss You AlreAdY see box, right
TruMAn
(Spain/Argentina) 108mins. Filmax International (int’l). Dir: Cesc Gay. Cast: Ricardo Darin, Javier Camara. This delicate film from 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 TIFF Bell lightbox, cinema 3
09:00 TruMBo
(USA) 124mins. Entertainment One Features (int’l). Dir: Jay Roach. Cast: Bryan Cranston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Louis CK. Bryan Cranston stars as screenwriter and Hollywood blacklist victim Dalton Trumbo, in this engrossing biopic co-starring Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, Diane Lane and John Goodman. special Presentations Isabel Bader Theatre
09:15 sPArroWs
(Iceland/Denmark/ Croatia) 99mins. Versatile (int’l). Dir: Runar Runarsson. Cast:
Public screening 08:45 MIss You AlreAdY
(United Kingdom) 112mins. The Salt Company Ltd. (int’l). Dir: Catherine Hardwicke. Cast: Toni Collette, Drew Barrymore, Dominic Cooper. Atli Oskar Fjalarsson, Ingvar E Sigurdsson, Kristbjörg Kjeld. A teenage boy is forced to leave his happy life in Reykjavik and move back in with his dissolute father in a sparsely populated rural town — where a shocking event forces him to choose between telling the truth and protecting those he loves. contemporary World cinema TIFF Bell lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & leah Atkinson Family cinema
09:30 MInoTAur (followed by nIghT WIThouT dIsTAnce)
53mins. INTERIOR XIII (int’l). Dir: Nicolas Pereda. Cast: Gabino Rodriguez, Luisa Pardo, Francisco Barreiro. A wraithlike fantasy that observes three thirtysomethings as they sleep, dream, read
24 Screen International in Toronto September 13, 2015
A touching comedydrama about two childhood friends whose relationship is put to the test when one becomes pregnant while the other receives some tragic news. gala Presentations The Bloor hot docs cinema
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 smugglers. Wavelengths Jackman hall
09:45 everY ThIng WIll Be FIne
(Germany/Canada/ France/Sweden/Norway) 119mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Wim Wenders. Cast: James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams. A tragic car accident links the lives of a struggling writer, his long-suffering girlfriend, a grieving mother and a publisher’s assistant, in this intricate and beautifully shot 3D drama from master director Wim Wenders. Masters TIFF Bell lightbox, cinema 2
10:00 FIreWorks (ArchIves)
(Thailand/Mexico). Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The new installation from Apichatpong Weerasethakul fuses the artist’s exploration of memory, ephemeral elements like light and phantoms, and the malleable nature of history and storytelling. Wavelengths contemporary galleries
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 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.
123mins. Pathé International (int’l). Dir: Paolo Sorrentino. Cast: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz. Two old friends reflect on their past, present, and the beauty and absurdity of the world during a vacation in the Swiss Alps. special Presentations Winter garden Theatre
11:00 legend
(United Kingdom) 131mins. Studiocanal (int’l). Dir: Brian Helgeland. Cast: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning. 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 visa screening room (elgin)
11:15 ABouT rAY
YouTh
(USA) 87mins. IM Global (int’l). Dir: Gaby Dellal. Cast: Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon. A funny and touching story about a teenager struggling with gender identity.
(Italy/France/United Kingdom/Switzerland)
special Presentations TIFF Bell lightbox, cinema 1
Wavelengths TIFF Bell lightbox
10:30
(Chile/France/Spain) 82mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Patricio Guzman. Cast: Gabriela Paterito, Cristina Calderon, Martin G Calderon. Chronicle of the history of the indigenous peoples of Chilean Patagonia, whose decimation by colonial conquest prefigured the brutality of the Pinochet regime. Masters TIFF Bell lightbox, cinema 3
12:00 FAllen oBJecTs
(USA/India) Dir: Shambhavi Kaul. Presented in partnership with Scrap Metal Gallery, this new installation by Indian-American artistfilm-maker Shambhavi Kaul comprises a large projected video loop and floorbound sculptures. Wavelengths scrap Metal gallery
IT All sTArTed AT The end
(Colombia) 208mins. Dir: Luis Ospina. Cast: Luis Ospina, Andrés Caicedo, Carlos Mayolo. The history of ‘El Grupo Cali’, the prolific bohemian artistic collective that revolutionised Colombian film and literature in the 1970s and ’80s. TIFF docs Jackman hall
MAggIe’s PlAn
(USA) 92mins. Creative Artists Agency , Cinetic Media (US). Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: www.screendaily.com
Further coverage, see screendaily.com
Rebecca Miller. Cast: Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader. The story of a woman whose determination to have a child involves her in a love triangle with an unhappy academic and his eccentric wife. Special Presentations Ryerson Theatre
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. Masters isabel Bader Theatre
The DaniSh GiRL
(United Kingdom) 120mins. Universal Pictures International (int’l). Dir: Tom Hooper. Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander. Lili Elbe, the 1920s Danish artist, was one of the first recipients of sexual reassignment surgery. Special Presentations Roy Thomson hall
12:30 haRLan COunTy uSa
(USA) 103mins. Cabin Creek Films (US). Cabin Creek Films (int’l). Dir: Barbara Kopple. Barbara Kopple’s 1976 chronicle of a fierce standoff between striking workers and company thugs in Kentucky coalmining country.
12:45 The iROn GianT: SiGnaTuRe eDiTiOn
(USA) 88mins. Warner Bros Pictures (US). Warner Bros Pictures (int’l). Dir: Brad Bird. Remastered and expanded with two new scenes, the modern animated classic about a young boy befriending a gigantic space robot returns to enchant a new generation of audiences. TiFF Kids TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
13:45 BanG GanG (a MODeRn LOve STORy)
(France) 98mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Eva Husson. Cast: Finnegan Oldfield, Daisy Broom, Fred Hotier. Explores the sexual exploits of teenagers in Biarritz. Platform TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
14:00
(Canada/United Kingdom) 97mins. Creative Artists Agency, Cinetic Media (US). K5 International (int’l). Dir: Robert Budreau. Cast: Ethan Hawke. A creative reimagining of the jazz trumpeter’s struggle to overcome his drug addiction and stage a comeback.
(United Kingdom/ Palestine/Qatar/ Netherlands/United Arab Emirates) 100mins. Seville International (int’l). Dir: Hany Abu-Assad. Cast: Qais Atallah, Hiba Atallah, Ahmad Qassim. Biopic of Mohammad Assaf, the Gazan wedding singer who became a worldwide sensation after winning the live-singing competition Arab Idol.
Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
Special Presentations The Bloor hot Docs Cinema
BORn TO Be BLue
PaThS OF The SOuL
(China) 115mins. Asian Shadows (int’l). Dir: Zhang Yang. Cast: Yang Pei, Nyima Zadui, Tsewang Dolkar. A band of pilgrims make a 2,000-kilometre journey on foot to Lhasa, the holy capital of Tibet. Contemporary World Cinema TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
The BOy anD The BeaST
(Japan) 119mins. Gaumont (int’l). Dir: Mamoru Hosoda. Cast: Koji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Shota Sometani. A boy in modern-day
14:30
ThiS ChanGeS eveRyThinG
(Canada/USA) 89mins. FilmBuff (int’l). Dir: Avi Lewis. Cast: Naomi Klein, Crystal Lameman, Alexis Bonogofsky. This urgent dispatch on climate change contends the greatest crisis we have ever faced also offers us the opportunity to address and correct the inhumane systems that created it. TiFF Docs Ryerson Theatre
15:15 The BOy anD The BeaST
La GiuBBa
See box, below
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano.
The WaiT
Wavelengths Clint Roenisch Gallery
14:45 The MuSiC OF STRanGeRS: yO-yO Ma anD The SiLK ROaD enSeMBLe
Tokyo stumbles into an alternative dimension and becomes the apprentice to a bearlike warrior, in this stunning animated fantasy from Mamoru Hosoda.
(USA) 96mins. Submarine Entertainment (US). Dir: Morgan Neville. Academy Award-winning documentary film-maker Morgan Neville profiles celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, which brings together master musicians from around the world to teach, collaborate and perform.
TiFF Kids TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
TiFF Docs visa Screening Room (elgin)
Public screening 15:15
The iDOL
(Italy) 100mins. Pathé International (int’l). Dir: Piero Messina. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Lou De Laage, Giorgio Colangeli. A dazzling, Sicilian-set meditation on grief and perseverance from director Piero Messina. Discovery isabel Bader Theatre
15:30 The PROGRaM
(United Kingdom) 103mins. Studiocanal (int’l). Dir: Stephen Frears. Thriller about disgraced cycling champion Lance Armstrong’s doping
scandal and downfall. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson hall
15:45 aDieu PhiLiPPine
(France/Italy) 103mins. Dir: Jacques Rozier. Cast: Jean-Claude Aimini, Yveline Céry, Stéfania Sabatini. One of the greatest debuts in cinema history, the effervescent first feature by French New Wave master Jacques Rozier returns in a sparkling new 35mm print created especially for TIFF Cinematheque. TiFF Cinematheque TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah atkinson Family Cinema
equaLS
(USA) 101mins. United Talent Agency (US). Mister Smith Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Drake Doremus. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce. A utopian future society where crime and violence have been eradicated through the genetic elimination of human emotion, and where those afflicted with the emotional ‘disease’ are forced to go on the run. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
16:00 BaSKin
TiFF Cinematheque TiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah atkinson Family Cinema
(Turkey) 97mins. XYZ (US). The Salt Company (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 on a Black Mass.
La GiuBBa
Midnight Madness Scotiabank 13
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. The first major collaboration between Canadian artist Tony Romano and Englandborn, Toronto-raised Corin Sworn, La Giubba follows the lives of five drifters over two summer days in southern Italy.
(Poland/Israel) 94mins. Dir: Marcin Wrona. Cast: Itay Tiran, Tomasz Schuchardt, Andrzej Grabowski. A groom is possessed by a spirit in the midst of his own wedding celebration.
Wavelengths Clint Roenisch Gallery
vanguard Scotiabank 10
www.screendaily.com
16:15 DeMOn
September 13, 2015 Screen International in Toronto 25
»
ScreeningS
turf war for control of the Vancouver drugs- and arms-trafficking rackets.
16:30 Fire Song
(Canada) 85mins. Marina Cordoni Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Adam Garnet Jones. Cast: Jennifer Podemski, Andrew Martin, Harley LegardeBeacham. One of the first films by a First Nations director to deal with two-spirited people, the thoughtful and moving debut feature by Adam Garnet Jones focuses on a young Anishinaabe man who is forced to choose between staying in his community or exploring the expanded possibilities of the world outside. Discovery Scotiabank 14
Five nightS in Maine See box, right
granny’S Dancing on the table
(Sweden) 85mins. Dir: Hanna Sköld. Cast: Blanca Engström, Lennart Jähkel. A girl living under the heel of her religious zealot father in the depths of the Swedish forests finds strength in the memory of her rebellious grandmother. contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 9
la giubba
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. Wavelengths clint roenisch gallery
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. vanguard Scotiabank 2
16:45 horizon
(Iceland/Denmark) 80mins. Icelandic Film Centre (int’l). Dir: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Bergur Bernburg. A portrait of influential Icelandic landscape painter Georg Gudni. tiFF Docs Jackman hall
gala Presentations roy thomson hall
DeSierto
(Mexico/France) 94mins. United Talent Agency (US). IM Global (int’l). Dir: Jonas Cuaron. Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gael Garcia Bernal. About a group of would-be immigrants whose dream of entering the US becomes a nightmare when a deranged vigilante begins stalking them through the Sonoran Desert. Special Presentations visa Screening room (elgin)
Public screening 16:30 Five nightS in Maine
(USA) 82mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). Dir: Maris Curran. Cast: David Oyelowo, Dianne Wiest, Rosie Perez.
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 the bloor hot Docs cinema
17:00 born to Dance
(New Zealand) 96mins. Cinema Management Group (US). Cinema Management Group (int’l). Dir: Tammy Davis. Cast: Tia-Taharoa Maipi, Stan Walker, Kherington Payne. A Maori teen faces parental and social pressure while leading his competitive hip-hop dance crew toward the regional championships. Discovery Scotiabank 12
MiSS Sharon JoneS!
(USA) 93mins. Submarine
26 Screen International in Toronto September 13, 2015
te ProMeto anarquia
An intimate drama about a grieving widower who sets out to fulfil his wife’s last wish that he finally meet her irascible mother. Discovery tiFF bell lightbox, cinema 1
Entertainment (US). Submarine Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Barbara Kopple. Cast: Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings. Barbara Kopple follows R&B queen Sharon Jones over the course of an eventful year, as she battles a cancer diagnosis and struggles to hold together her band, the Dap-Kings. tiFF Docs tiFF bell lightbox, cinema 3
17:15 croMo
(Argentina) 120mins. Dir: Lucia Puenzo, Nicolas Puenzo. Cast: German Palacios, Guillermo Pfening, Emilia Attias. A team of scientists sets out to expose environmental crimes in the dangerous wetlands of northern Argentina. Primetime Scotiabank 4
17:30 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 struggles with his sexuality and his fear of his macho father.
who served with the UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.
Discovery ryerson theatre
tiFF Docs Scotiabank 8
18:00
a Month oF SunDayS
(United Kingdom/ Ireland/Canada) 105mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: John Crowley. Cast: Saoirse Ronan. In the early 1950s, a young Irish woman crosses the Atlantic to begin a new life in America.
(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.
Special Presentations Winter garden theatre
contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 3
the PeoPle vS. Fritz bauer
MurMur oF the heartS
brooKlyn
(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 1
18:15
(Taiwan/Hong Kong) 119mins. Central Motion Pictures Corporation (US). Central Motion Pictures Corporation (int’l). Dir: Sylvia Chang. Cast: Isabella Leong, Chang Hsiao Chuan, Lawrence Ko. Sylvia Chang directs this magical story of estranged siblings whose shared memories of their mother’s fairy tales draw their lives together once again. contemporary World cinema isabel bader theatre
18:30
a Journey oF a thouSanD MileS: PeaceKeePerS
beeba boyS
(USA/Pakistan) 95mins. Submarine Entertainment (US). Submarine Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Geeta Gandbhir, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The stories of three Bangladeshi policewomen
(Canada) 103mins. Cinetic Media (US). Mongrel International, Noble Nomad (int’l). Dir: Deepa Mehta. Cast: Randeep Hooda, Ali Momen, Sarah Allen. A ruthless Sikh mobster leads his soldiers into a
(Mexico/Germany) 100mins. Latido Films (int’l). Dir: Julio Hernandez Cordon. Cast: Diego Calva, Eduardo Eliseo Martinez, Shvasti Calderon. Two teenage lovers in Mexico City become embroiled in the illegal, narco-run blood trade. contemporary World cinema tiFF bell lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & leah atkinson Family cinema
18:45 FaMilieS
(France) 113mins. Cinetic Media (US). TF1 International (int’l). Dir: Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Marine Vacth, Gilles Lellouche. A rollicking and romantic country-house farce from Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
19:00 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. Discovery Scotiabank 9
Price oF love
(Ethiopia) 99mins. Dir: Hermon Hailay. Cast: Eskindir Tameru, Fereweni Gebregergs. A cab driver and a beautiful young prostitute www.screendaily.com
fall in love while struggling to survive on the mean streets of Addis Ababa. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 14
Short CutS — Programme 5
While some of the unforgettable outsiders in this programme of seven riveting shorts crave acceptance, others find the courage to defy society’s strictures. Short Cuts Scotiabank 10
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 tiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
19:15 CamPo grande
(Brazil/France) 108mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Sandra Kogut. Cast: Carla Ribas, Ygor Manoel, Rayane do Amaral. A wealthy woman finds herself caring for two impoverished siblings. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 2
19:30 a PatCh oF Fog
(United Kingdom) 90mins. The Fyzz Facility (US). 13 Films (int’l). Dir: Michael Lennox. Cast: Stephen Graham, Conleth Hill, Lara Pulver. An upstanding professor is blackmailed into a one-sided friendship after a lonely security guard catches him shoplifting. discovery Scotiabank 11
JaniS: LittLe girL BLue
(USA) 106mins. Content
UKF_TIFF_Screenad_HP_218x150_Art_DAY4_2.indd 2
www.screendaily.com
Media Corporation (US). Content Media Corporation (int’l). Dir: Amy Berg. The life of late rock legend Janis Joplin. tiFF docs the Bloor hot docs Cinema
mekko
(USA) 84mins. Dir: Sterlin Harjo. Cast: Rod Rondeaux, Zahn McClarnon, Wotko Long. A Muscogee ex-con living on the streets of Tulsa becomes embroiled in a fateful conflict with a thug. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 13
the oneS BeLoW
(United Kingdom) 87mins. Protagonist Pictures (US). Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: David Farr. Cast: Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore. Eagerly awaiting their first child, a couple in a
London suburb become involved in a psychological battle with the tenants downstairs. City to City tiFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
WaveLengthS 3: Light SPaCe moduLator
This programme explores ways of recording and refracting space with light, of measuring and mapping our bodily presence and impact visa-vis regional and global cartographies. With films by Björn Kämmerer, David K Ross, Terrarea, Mary Helena Clark, Ana Vaz, Calum Walter and Cynthia Madansky. Wavelengths Jackman hall
19:45 truth
(USA) 121mins. Sony Pictures Classics (US). FilmNation Entertainment (int’l). Dir: James Vanderbilt.
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Elisabeth Moss, Robert Redford. A gripping docudrama about 60 Minutes’ investigation into George W Bush’s alleged draftdodging during Vietnam.
Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan, Kevin Guthrie. A farming family struggles to eke out a living in northeast Scotland.
Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
the aSSaSSin
20:30 BeaStS oF no nation
(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. Special Presentations ryerson theatre
21:00 SunSet Song
(United Kingdom/ Luxembourg) 135mins. Fortissimo Films (int’l). Dir: Terence Davies. Cast:
Special Presentations Winter garden theatre
(Taiwan) 104mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Cast: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun. A beautiful assassin is sent to kill the powerful lord who was once her betrothed. masters Scotiabank 1
veteran
(South Korea) 124mins. CJ Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Seung-wan Ryoo. Cast: Jung-min Hwang, Ah-in Yoo, Hae-jin Yoo. A tough cop targets the tyrannical heir to a megacorporation. vanguard Scotiabank 4
»
08/09/2015 17:03
September 13, 2015 Screen International in Toronto 27
ScreeningS
the mISSIng gIrL
21:15
(USA) 89mins. Dir: AD Calvo. Cast: Robert Longstreet, Alexia Rasmussen, Eric Ladin. A schlubby, disillusioned comic-book store owner revisits an adolescent trauma when his beautiful young employee suddenly goes missing, in this combination of quirky comedy and bittersweet, late-in-life coming-of-age story from writer-director AD Calvo.
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.
vanguard Scotiabank 13
Wavelengths tIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
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
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 from director Joost van Ginkel traces the intersecting stories of six immigrants from very different backgrounds in Amsterdam. discovery Scotiabank 3
21:30 CemeterY oF SPLendour
(Thailand/United Kingdom/France/ Germany/Malaysia) 122mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Cast: Jenjira Pongpas Widner, Banlop Lomnoi, Jarinpattra Rueangram. A young medium and a middle-aged hospital volunteer investigate a case of mass sleeping sickness that may have
22:15 the APoStAte
Public screening 21:30 FreeheLd
(USA) 103mins. Bankside Films (int’l). Dir: Peter Sollett. Cast: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon. A true story about a supernatural roots, in the gorgeous, mysterious, and gently humorous film from Apichatpong Weerasethakul. masters tIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 2
terminally ill US police officer whose legal battle to pass on her pension benefits to her partner became a flashpoint for LGBT activism. gala Presentations roy thomson hall
apartment tower that becomes a battlefield in a literal class war. Platform visa Screening room (elgin)
21:45 Box
FreeheLd See box, above
heArt oF A dog
(USA) 75mins. Celluloid Dreams (US and 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. tIFF docs Isabel Bader theatre
hIgh-rISe
(United Kingdom) 112mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Ben Wheatley. Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller. An ambitious adaptation of the JG Ballard novel about a London
28 Screen International in Toronto September 13, 2015
(Romania/Germany/ France) 94mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Florin Serban. Cast: Rafael Florea, Sorin Leoveanu, Nicolae Motrogan. A promising teenage boxer and a struggling thirtysomething actress become entangled in a daily ritual that walks the line between flirtation and stalking, in the provocative new feature from awardwinning Romanian director Florin Serban. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 10
mY mother
(Italy/France) 106mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Nanni Moretti. Cast: Nanni Moretti, Margherita Buy, John Turturro. In the touching new film from Italian master Nanni Moretti, a harried filmmaker tries to juggle the production of her new film
with visits to the bedside of her dying mother. Special Presentations tIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 1
SeCtor Ix B (preceded by FAux dePArt)
42mins. Dir: Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc. Cast: Betty Tchomanga, Rachel Kahn, Eriq Ebouaney. Inspired by the 1930s Dakar-Djibouti mission — the ambitious French ethnographic expedition — the first narrative feature by French artist and filmmaker Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc is preceded by French-Moroccan artist Yto Barrada’s portrait of the elaborate fossil industry in Morocco. Wavelengths Jackman hall
Short CutS — ProgrAmme 6
These startling and daring short films demonstrate the value of thinking way, way outside the box. Short Cuts Scotiabank 14
CoLonIA
(Germany/Luxembourg/ France) 110mins. United Talent Agency (US). Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Florian Gallenberger. Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist. Two young lovers find themselves trapped in the murderous crackdown following the 1973 coup against Chilean president Salvador Allende. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
hoW heAvY thIS hAmmer
(Canada) 75mins. Dir: Kazik Radwanski. Cast: Erwin Van Cotthem, Kate Ashley, Seth Kirsh. Kazik Radwanski follows his award-winning debut Tower with this empathetic yet clear-eyed character study about a middle-aged married man who finds his only outlet in online gaming. Contemporary World Cinema tIFF Bell Lightbox, cinema 3
(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, in this gently absurdist comedy from Uruguay’s Federico Veiroj. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 11
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 very dangerous last score, in this boldly comic first feature from Lebanon’s Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya. discovery the Bloor hot docs Cinema
23:59
SemAnA SAntA
the devIL’S CAndY
(Belgium) 95mins. Be for 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.
(Mexico) 85mins. Mundial (int’l). Dir: Alejandra Marquez Abella. Cast: Anajosé Aldrete, Tenoch Huerta, Esteban Avila. In this poignant debut, a young widow’s attempt to bond with both her eight-year-old son and her new boyfriend on a beach vacation becomes a strained exercise in isolation and longing.
(USA) 90mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Sean Byrne. Cast: Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Pruitt Taylor. A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale from Australia’s Sean Byrne.
discovery Scotiabank 2
discovery Scotiabank 9
midnight madness ryerson theatre
22:00 BLACk
www.screendaily.com
PRESS & INDUSTRY 08:30 INTO THE FOREST
(Canada) 101mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). Celsius Entertainment (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 Scotiabank 3
09:00 THRU YOU PRINCESS
(Israel) 80mins. Submarine Entertainment (US). First Hand Films (int’l). Dir: Ido Haar. Cast: Princess Shaw, Kutiman. Documentarian Ido
www.screendaily.com
Haar traces the internetassisted, cross-continental collaboration between two very different musicians: Princess Shaw, a young black woman in the American South who posts her performances of her own songs on the web; and Israeli viral-video artist Kutiman. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 8
09:15 MINOTAUR (followed by NIGHT WITHOUT DISTANCE)
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 smugglers. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
a couple in a London suburb become involved in a battle of wills with the tenants downstairs.
PARCHED
City to City Scotiabank 9
(India/USA) 118mins. Seville International, The Gersh Agency (US). Seville International (int’l). Dir: Leena Yadav. Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla. In a rural Indian village, four ordinary women begin to throw off the traditions that hold them in servitude. Special Presentations Scotiabank 14
THE ONES BELOW
(United Kingdom) 87mins. Protagonist Pictures (US). Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: David Farr. Cast: Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore. Awaiting their first child,
09:30 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 NYC teenager struggling with gender identity. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
KEEPER
(Belgium/Switzerland/ France) 95mins. Be for Films (int’l). Dir: Guillaume Senez. Cast: Kacey Mottet Klein, Galatea Bellugi. Two love-struck teens grow up fast in the wake of an unexpected pregnancy. Discovery Scotiabank 7
09:45 JAMES WHITE
(USA) 85mins. United Talent Agency (UTA) (US). Memento Films (int’l). Dir: Josh Mond. Cast: Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott ‘Kid Cudi’ Mescudi. An excess-prone twentysomething deadbeat must get his act together for his ailing mother — so he does that to excess too. Discovery Scotiabank 13
THE LADY IN THE VAN
(United Kingdom) 104mins. Dir: Nicholas Hytner. Cast: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Frances De La Tour. Maggie Smith stars in this adaptation of the basedon-fact play by author Alan Bennett, about a high-born homeless woman who found temporary shelter parking her van in Bennett’s
driveway — for 15 years. Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
10:00 ANOMALISA
(USA) 90mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) (US). HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson. Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan, David Thewlis. Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson venture into the world of stop-motion animation with this fable about a motivational speaker seeking to transcend his monotonous existence. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
10:45 TRUMBO
(USA) 124mins. Entertainment One Features (int’l). Dir: Jay Roach. Cast: Bryan »
September 13, 2015 Screen International in Toronto 29
ScreeningS
Cranston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Louis C.K. Bryan Cranston stars as the famous screenwriter and Hollywood blacklist victim Dalton Trumbo, in this engrossing biopic. Special Presentations Scotiabank 3
11:00 Blood of My Blood See box, right
11:15 SPl 2 — A TiMe for ConSequenCeS
louder THAn BoMBS
(Norway/France/ Denmark) 109mins. Memento Films (int’l). Dir: Joachim Trier. Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Gabriel Byrne, Jesse Eisenberg. An ageing schoolteacher grappling with the death of his photojournalist wife attempts to reconcile with his two very different sons. Special Presentations Scotiabank 14
12:00 diSorder
(Hong Kong) 120mins. Bravos Pictures Limited (int’l). Dir: Soi Cheang. Cast: Wu Jing, Simon Yam, Zhang Jin. Martial-arts greats Tony Jaa (Ong-bak) and Wu Jing team up in this bonecrunching action epic.
(France/Belgium) 100mins. Indie Sales (int’l). Dir: Alice Winocour. Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Diane Kruger. An ex-soldier suffering from PTSD protects a woman and her child from a brutal home invasion.
Midnight Madness Scotiabank 9
Gala Presentations Scotiabank 13
11:30 invenTion
(United Kingdom/ Canada) 87mins. National Film Board of Canada (US). National Film Board of Canada (int’l). Dir: Mark Lewis. Mark Lewis echoes the classic city symphony films of the silent era with this cinematic tour through Toronto, Sao Paolo and Paris’s Musée du Louvre. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
MA MA
(Spain/France) 111mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US). Seville International (int’l). Dir: Julio Medem. Cast: Penélope Cruz, Luis Tosar, Asier Etxeandia. A woman diagnosed with cancer who forms an unexpected bond with a soccer scout whose wife has been gravely injured in a car accident. Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
11:45 Al Purdy WAS Here
(Canada) 92mins. Dir: Brian D. Johnson. Cast: Margaret Atwood, Joseph Boyden, Leonard Cohen. A documentary tribute to the late, great Canadian poet Al Purdy. Tiff docs Scotiabank 7
leS eTreS CHerS
(Canada) 102mins. Wide Management (int’l). Dir: Anne Emond. Cast: Maxim Gaudette, Karelle Tremblay, Valérie Cadieux. A decades-spanning epic that chronicles the fortunes of a Québécois family. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 10
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 Greek immigrant takes a job as a nanny to a young professional couple. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 11
SunSeT SonG
(United Kingdom/ Luxembourg) 135mins. Fortissimo Films (int’l). Dir: Terence Davies. Cast: Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan, Kevin Guthrie. A farming family struggles to eke out a living in northeast Scotland. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
12:15 BlACk MASS
(USA) 122mins. Warner Bros Pictures (US). Warner Bros Pictures
30 Screen International in Toronto September 13, 2015
Press & industry 11:00 Blood of My Blood
(Italy/France/ Switzerland) 106mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Marco Bellocchio. Cast: Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Lidiya Liberman.
Italian master Marco Bellocchio returns with this haunting, enigmatic tale that takes us from the 17th century to the present day as it traces the dark history of a cursed monastery.
Veerle Baetens, Kevin Janssens. Two brothers, one fresh from prison, the other eager to escape their criminal past, form an explosive love triangle with the ex-con’s former girlfriend.
Masters Scotiabank 8
discovery Scotiabank 8
13:45
(int’l). Dir: Scott Cooper. Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch. Biopic of gangster Whitey Bulger, who spent 30 years as an FBI informant while rising to the top of the Boston underworld. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
12:30 HArlAn CounTy uSA
(USA) 103mins. Cabin Creek Films (US). Cabin Creek Films (int’l). Dir: Barbara Kopple. Landmark 1976 doc chronicling a fierce standoff between striking workers and company thugs in Kentucky coalmining country. Tiff Cinematheque Tiff Bell lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & leah Atkinson family Cinema
SHorT CuTS — ProGrAMMe 3 Short Cuts Scotiabank 5
THe dAuGHTer
(Australia) 96mins.
Cinetic Media (US). Mongrel International (int’l). Dir: Simon Stone. Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie. A man returns to his dying hometown and discovers a dark family secret. Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
13:30 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 students at a school for girls are assailed by an evil, invisible power when they are stranded there over winter break. vanguard Scotiabank 3
Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
14:15 He nAMed Me MAlAlA
(Philippines/Japan) 132mins. Dir: Lawrence Fajardo. Cast: Allen Dizon, Ces Quesada, Bernardo Bernardo. Undocumented Filipino workers try to support themselves and their families back home by taking under-the-counter work in Japan.
(USA) 87mins. Dir: Davis Guggenheim. Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai. Profile of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who survived a Taliban assassination attempt to become a globally recognised advocate for girls’ rights.
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 9
Tiff docs Scotiabank 14
iMBiSiBol
14:00 THe HArd SToP
(United Kingdom) 85mins. BFI (int’l). Dir: George Amponsah. Cast: Kurtis Henville, Marcus Knox-Hooke. Documentary exploring the life and death of Mark Duggan, whose killing at the hands of London police sparked riots in 2011. City to City Scotiabank 7
THe ArdenneS
(Belgium) 90mins. Attraction Distribution (US). Savage Film, Attraction Distribution (int’l). Dir: Robin Pront. Cast: Jeroen Perceval,
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Elisabeth Moss, Robert Redford. A gripping docudrama about the 60 Minutes investigation into George W Bush’s alleged draftdodging during Vietnam.
TruTH
(USA) 121mins. Sony Pictures Classics (US). FilmNation Entertainment (int’l). Dir: James Vanderbilt.
HoW HeAvy THiS HAMMer
(Canada) 75mins. Dir: Kazik Radwanski. Cast: Erwin Van Cotthem, Kate Ashley, Seth Kirsh. A middle-aged married man finds an outlet in online gaming. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 6
in THe rooM
(Hong Kong/Singapore) 90mins. Distribution Workshop (HK) Limited (int’l). Dir: Eric Khoo. Cast: Choi Woo Shik, Kim Kkobbi, Koh Boon Pi. Several narratives, spanning decades, all transpire in the same room www.screendaily.com
of a Singaporean hotel — and all involve sex. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 10
14:30 CASUAL
(USA) 44mins. Lionsgate Entertainment (US). Lionsgate Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Zander Lehmann, Jason Reitman. Cast: Tommy Dewey, Michaela Watkins, Tara Lynn Barr. Shifting to the episodic format after his acclaimed feature-film work, Jason Reitman directs this insightful comedy about love and sex. Primetime Scotiabank 13
HArdCorE
(Russia/USA) 90mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US and int’l). Dir: Ilya Naishuller. Cast: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennet. A cybernetic supersoldier kicks, punches and parkours his way across Russia to save his wife from a psychotic paramilitary psychic. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 11
14:45 SHort CUtS — ProGrAMME 4 Short Cuts Scotiabank 5
15:00 MAGGIE’S PLAN
(USA) 92mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Cinetic Media (US). Protagonist Pictures (int’l). Dir: Rebecca Miller. Cast: Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader. A young woman whose determination to have a child involves her in a love triangle with an unhappy academic and his eccentric critical-theorist wife. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1 and 4
tHE rEfLEktor tAPES
(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 www.screendaily.com
Arcade Fire on the North American leg of their world tour. tIff docs Scotiabank 12
15:45 AdIEU PHILIPPINE
(France/Italy) 103mins. Dir: Jacques Rozier. Cast: Jean-Claude Aimini, Yveline Céry, Stéfania Sabatini. One of the greatest debuts in cinema history, the effervescent first feature by French New Wave master Jacques Rozier returns in a sparkling new 35mm print created especially for TIFF Cinematheque. tIff Cinematheque tIff Bell Lightbox, cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson family Cinema
tHE WHItE kNIGHtS
(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 civil war in Chad. Platform Scotiabank 3
Dir: Kire Paputts. Cast: Dylan Harman, Krystal Nausbaum, Nicholas Campbell. The touching debut feature by Kire Paputts adopts the form of a classic picaresque as it follows a young man with Down’s Syndrome as he journeys through rural Ontario. discovery Scotiabank 6
16:45 ANGry INdIAN GoddESSES
(India) 109mins. Mongrel International (int’l). Dir: Pan Nalin. Cast: Amrit Maghera, Rajshri Deshpande, Pavleen Gujral. On the eve of their friend’s wedding in Goa, a group of women discuss everything under the sun — from their careers, sex lives and secrets to nosy neighbours and street harassment — in this largely improvised and refreshingly frank depiction of contemporary Indian society. Special Presentations Scotiabank 11
17:00 dESdE ALLA
(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 terrible crime committed by their teenage daughter.
(Venezuela/Mexico) 90mins. Celluloid Dreams (int’l). Dir: Lorenzo Vigas. Cast: Alfredo Castro, Luis Silva. Lorenzo Vigas’s first feature explores issues of social stratification through the story of a wealthy man who pays young men to endure a kind of contactfree abuse, only to find unexpected intimacy with one of his companions.
discovery Scotiabank 8
discovery Scotiabank 5
WE MoNStErS
16:00
18:45
tHE rEtUrNEd
LACE CrAtEr
(France) 104mins. Zodiak Rights (US). Zodiak Rights (int’l). Dir: Fabrice Gobert. Cast: Anne Consigny, Clotilde Hesme, Céline Sallette. The recently deceased return to (some kind of) life in a small mountain village, in this acclaimed, Emmy-winning thriller.
(USA) 83mins. Forager Film Company (US). Visit Films (int’l). Dir: Harrison Atkins. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Peter Vack, Jen Kim, Andrew Ryder. An awkward twentysomething begins to undergo some strange physical changes after a weekend tryst — with a ghost — in this charmingly lo-fi, supernaturally tinged comedy drama.
Primetime Scotiabank 7
16:30 tHE rAINBoW kId
(Canada) 92mins.
Vanguard Scotiabank 7
19:00 doWNrIVEr
(Australia) 99mins. LevelK (int’l). Dir: Grant Scicluna. Cast: Kerry Fox, Robert Taylor, Reef Ireland. A young ex-con encounters secrets from the past and danger in the present when he returns to his rural Australian community to discover the truth behind a crime he supposedly committed when he was a child. discovery Scotiabank 6
19:15 BoLSHoI BAByLoN
(United Kingdom) 87mins. Altitude Film Sales (int’l). Dir: Nick Read. Cast: Maria Alexandrova, Maria Allash, Anastasia Meskova. Director Nick Read and producer/co-director Mark Franchetti gain remarkable access to the inner workings of Russia’s world-famous Bolshoi Ballet as the company weathers the fallout from the notorious 2013 acid attack on company director Sergei Filin. tIff docs Scotiabank 5
19:30 WAVELENGtHS 3: LIGHt SPACE ModULAtor
This programme explores ways of recording and refracting space with light, of measuring and mapping our bodily presence and impact visa-vis regional and global cartographies. With films by Björn Kämmerer, David K Ross, Terrarea, Mary Helena Clark, Ana Vaz, Calum Walter and Cynthia Madansky. Wavelengths Jackman Hall
20:45 A CoPy of My MINd
(Indonesia/South Korea) 116mins. CJ Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Joko Anwar. Cast: Tara Basro, Chicco Jerikho. A beauty-salon worker and pirate-DVD enthusiast accidentally comes into possession of incriminating evidence of high-level political corruption, in this
romantic drama by Joko Anwar. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 7
21:15 tHE StEPS
(Canada) 98mins. Seville International (int’l). Dir: Andrew Currie. Cast: Jason Ritter, Emmanuelle Chriqui, James Brolin. A dysfunctional family’s reunion at a lake house in Northern Ontario descends into chaos. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 5
21:30 HIGH-rISE
(United Kingdom) 112mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Ben Wheatley. Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller. Ambitious adaptation of the JG Ballard novel about a London apartment tower that becomes a battlefield in a literal class war. Platform Visa Screening room (Elgin)
21:45 NASSEr
(France/South Africa) 97mins. Dir: Jihan El-Tahri. Jihan El-Tahri explores the history of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the revolutionary army officer whose decadelong reign as president of Egypt saw him defy the West during the 1956 Suez Crisis, co-found the international Non-Aligned Movement, and suffer a dramatic defeat to Israel in the Six-Day War. tIff docs Scotiabank 6
SECtor IX B (preceded by fAUX dEPArt)
42mins. Dir: Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc. Cast: Betty Tchomanga, Rachel Kahn, Eriq Ebouaney. Inspired by the 1930s Dakar-Djibouti mission — the ambitious French ethnographic expedition — the first narrative feature by French artist and filmmaker Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc is preceded by French-Moroccan artist Yto Barrada’s portrait of the elaborate fossil industry in Morocco.
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Wavelengths Jackman Hall
September 13, 2015 Screen International in Toronto 31
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 www.creativescotlandlocations.com E locations@creativescotland.com T +44 (0) 141 302 1723/35 Oldshoremore near Kinlochbervie, Sutherland. Photo: Bill McKenzie/Scottish Viewpoint