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Film4 plans Zadie Smith refugee drama Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Buyers invited to London Town BY JEREMY KAY
Cargo Entertainment/Radiant Films International are handling sales here via their new partnership on London Town, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Joe Strummer. Radiant president and CEO Mimi Steinbauer is showing first footage to buyers on the 1970s-set story of a teenager whose life is changed forever when he first hears The Clash. ICM Partners and CAA represent North American rights to the film, which is in post and also stars Daniel Huttlestone, Dougray Scott, Natascha McElhone and Tom Hughes. Kirsten Sheridan co-wrote the screenplay with Sonya Gildea and Matt Brown, whose The Man Who Knew Infinity premieres in Toronto. Derrick Borte directs London Town, while Sofia Sondervan of Dutch Tilt Film produces alongside Christine Vachon of Killer Films and Tom Butterfield of Culmination Productions in association with WeatherVane Productions. Steinbauer made the announcement on Sunday with Cargo CEO and managing partner Marina Grasic.
BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
Film4 has revealed plans for a refugee drama from acclaimed writer Zadie Smith to be made by Ex_ Machina producer DNA Films. Described as “half-adaptation, half original story”, the film has been written with Nick Laird and is inspired by Smith’s 2013 novella The Embassy Of Cambodia, charting a Gambian woman’s boat journey to the UK via Libya and Italy. The untitled project is one of a series of upcoming titles from Film4, the movie division of UK broadcaster Channel 4, which has six features here at TIFF including
tre who will make his feature debut on Country Music, about a working-class woman who dreams of becoming a singer. Film4 will reunite with Suffragette producer Faye Ward on the project. Also heading to production are Paddy Considine’s boxing drama Journeyman, Yorgos Lanthimos’s untitled period-drama from Element Pictures — a US financier and cast are understood to be close on the director’s biggest-budget film to date — and Bart Layton’s American Animals. Discussions are also under way with 45 Years director Andrew Haigh for his next film.
Hubert Boesl
The adaptation of Arezki Mellal’s novel revolves around a family that must defend itself amid the onslaught of violence between government forces and radical Islamists in 1990s Algeria. This week, MAD Solutions secured distribution for Palestinian film 3,000 Nights, also playing in Contemporary World Cinema. It is the fiction debut of doc director Mai Masri. Michael Rosser
Trumbo, page 6
NEWS To catch a thief Voltage CEO Nicolas Chartier launches attack on piracy » Page 4
REVIEW Trumbo Bryan Cranston gives a heartfelt performance as the blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo » Page 6
FEATURE Tuned in The latest crop of music documentaries has found its voice » Page 18
SCREENINGS
» Page 20
Persistence key for female film-makers BY TIFFANY PRITCHARD
Beasts Of No Nation director Cary Joji Fukunaga with young Venice award-winning star Abraham Attah and Idris Elba at the Canadian premiere here in Toronto last night
Costa-Gavras MAD about TIFF Arab distributor MAD Solutions has picked up its second Toronto title with a film produced by CostaGavras. MAD has acquired the Arab distribution rights to Let Them Come (Maintenant Ils Peuvent Venir), the debut fiction feature of Salem Brahimi, which plays here in Contemporary World Cinema. The France-Algeria co-production is produced by Michele Ray-Gavras and Costa-Gavras.
Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise. In an interview with Screen (see page 16), Film4 director David Kosse discussed the upcoming slate as well as the company’s direction. “We’re trying to take the £15m [$23m] we’ve been allocated and make that go as far as possible through backing new voices and material while also seeing a return on our investments,” said the former Universal executive, who was appointed last year in part to sharpen the outfit’s commercial instincts. One new voice backed by Film4 is Dominic Cooke, a former director of London’s Royal Court Thea-
TODAY
Breakout role for RZA BY JEREMY KAY
Amasia Entertainment principals Michael Helfant and Bradley Gallo have signed hip-hop star RZA to direct upcoming feature film Breakout. RZA stars in Amasia’s Mr Right, which will premiere here in Toronto as the closing night gala selection. Richard D’Ovidio penned the screenplay from a story he cowrote with Nicole D’Ovidio. Princi-
pal photography is set for early 2016. Breakout is the story of a young photographer falsely arrested in Bangladesh for drug trafficking whose prominent father enlists two old friends to extract his son from prison and uncover the truth. RZA recently wrapped directing and is in post on Lionsgate’s musical drama Coco, starring Azealia Banks as a rapper who dreams of pursuing a hip-hop career.
A Warner Bros executive has called for more scripts written by women writers to help correct the film industry’s gender imbalance. Speaking on a TIFF panel about financing female-led films, Niija Kuykendall, VP of production at Warner Bros, said: “I don’t get a lot of material come my way from women. There needs to be more agents and managers who are continuously putting scripts from female writers in front of me.” Pointing to positive change, Kuykendall highlighted a growing number of women running projects at Warner Bros, including Denise Di Novi’s directorial debut Unforgettable — directed, produced, co-written and starring women. Swedish Film Institute CEO Anna Serner referred to her experience changing Sweden’s distribution of funding to a 50/50 split between men and women. “Be persistent,” she said. “If you don’t meet your target, then ask yourself why. The quality is there. It’s just about finding a way to encourage women to step forward with their ideas.” The panel also included OddLot CEO Gigi Pritzker, Storefront Film Group president Susan Cartsonis, Producers Guild of America exec Lydia Dean Pilcher and was moderated by Screen International contributing editor Wendy Mitchell.
NEWS
LFF Connects with Maddin, Anderson, Milk BFI London Film Festival has added innovative film-makers Laurie Anderson, Guy Maddin and Chris Milk to its new industry strand, LFF Connects. Anderson, whose Heart Of A Dog plays in TIFF Docs, will talk about her approach to filmmaking and how it intersects with art, performance and music. Maddin, here with Wavelengths selection The Forbidden Room, will discuss how the project has inspired him to look differently at his work. Virtual reality maestro Chris Milk will talk about the creative and emotional possibilities of VR films. As previously announced, Interstellar director Christopher Nolan and artist Tacita Dean will be in conversation as part of the strand. Other industry highlights at this year’s LFF (October 7-18) include the Geena Davis Institute’s first Global Symposium outside the US, addressing gender equality in film, and the Film London Production Finance Market. Screen has also secured a partnership with LFF to celebrate the unveiling of the 2015 Stars of Tomorrow at the festival. Michael Rosser
Chartier: ‘Piracy will diminish our culture’ BY JEANIE TRAN
Nicolas Chartier, the Oscar-winning producer and CEO of Voltage Pictures, has made an impassioned attack on piracy here in Toronto. Speaking to Screen US editor Jeremy Kay during an industry Moguls session, Chartier argued that piracy debilitates film-makers’ capacity to work on worthwhile projects. “The more that movies are pirated, the fewer movies we’ll be making, and the more boring content you’re going to get, because we’re not going to take risks,” he said. “We’re going to go for the lowest common denominator and
Nicolas Chartier’s Moguls session
we’re going to make movies that for sure will sell. Your culture is going to diminish. You’re going to have fewer quality movies.” Chartier, here at TIFF with festival selection A Tale Of Love And Darkness and sales title The Head-
hunter’s Calling, is well documented for his disdain for IP theft. In 2010, Voltage filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against approximately 5,000 people who illegally downloaded The Hurt Locker, which Chartier produced. Voltage boasts an eclectic list of productions, with films ranging from Jean-Marc Vallée’s Oscarwinning Dallas Buyers Club to upcoming action feature Navy Seals Vs Zombies. “One pays for the other,” Chartier said. “When people say, ‘What do you want?’, I’m like, ‘I just want things that make sense, and [that] could work commercially, could work artistically, and from time to time it’s both.”
BY JEREMY KAY
A consortium of film-makers have struck a $125m equity financing deal with the government of Antigua for five initial features designed to boost the island’s production ambitions. New finance and production company Golden Island Filmworks will comprise producer Rudy Langlais (The Hur-
ricane), Caribbean social entrepren e u r Va l m i k i Ke m p a d o o , Toronto-based producer Don Allan and veteran executive Neil Sacker. The first five features under the new banner will range in budget from $20m-$85m and a portion of all the films will shoot in Antigua. The first two titles are Rebels, about the formative years of Bob
Marley’s life, and spy thriller Nick Carter: Killmaster. The agreement follows a lengthy courtship of Langlais by Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Gaston Browne and will use funds generated by the Antigua Citizenship Investment Program. Additional funds from investors will raise the initial war chest to $250m.
The Infiltrator
BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek are to star in comedy Drunk Parents, which Fortitude International has been touting to buyers here at TIFF. The producers have earmarked a first-quarter 2016 start on the story about an inebriated couple who drop off their child at college and tumble into kidnapping and a case of mistaken identity. Fortitude International and Bron Studios are jointly producing in association with CW Media Finance. Fortitude’s Robert Ogden Barnum and Bron head Aaron L Gilbert serve as producers.
BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
VoD service MUBI has secured a multi-year licensing deal with Paramount Pictures. It marks the platform’s second studio deal since July, when it signed an agreement with Sony Pictures Television. The Paramount deal includes library titles No Country For Old Men, Zoolander, Mission: Impossible, Chinatown, Roman Holiday and Revolutionary Road. The curated VoD service — available in more than 200 countries — has struck recent deals with eOne, Icon and StudioCanal and launched on EE TV. In July, the company signed its first theatrical deal to release Miguel Gomes’s Arabian Nights trilogy in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in partnership with New Wave Films, which also covers the home entertainment and VoD rights.
Producers sign $125m Antigua deal
Fortitude rolls Signature signs Radcliffe thriller out with its UK home entertainment distribuDrunk Parents tor Signature Entertainment has BY JEREMY KAY
MUBI seals Paramount pact
finalised deals for a quartet of features including Daniel Radcliffe thriller Imperium and football biopic Pele: Birth Of A Legend. In soon-to-shoot thriller Imperium, pre-bought from producer Jeff Elliott, Radcliffe plays an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates a white supremacist group conspiring to make a dirty bomb. Sports biopic Pele, produced by Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind) and bought from Bloom Media, charts the rags-to-riches journey that led Pele to help Brazil win the 1958 World Cup and become the world’s most famous footballer. Thriller Mojave, from Atlas Independent, stars Oscar Isaac,
4 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
Daniel Radcliffe
Mark Wahlberg and Garrett Hedlund in the story of two men who must face off deep in the Mojave desert. It is directed by William Monahan, writer of The Departed. In addition, Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody star in historical action-epic Dragon Blade — bought from Golden Network — about Roman soldiers who fight for survival and to protect China against their villainous leader.
Good deal for The Infiltrator Sierra/Affinity has picked up international sales to Good Films’ political thriller The Infiltrator. The companies have introduced buyers here to the film, which stars Bryan Cranston and Diane Kruger. The agreement heralds a new exclusive international sales agency deal between UK production company Good Films and Sierra/Affinity.
Pascal Borno
Buyers jump across Gap BY JEREMY KAY
Pascal Borno’s Conquistador Entertainment has reported a strong response from buyers here to Big Stone Gap starring Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Wilson. Adriana Trigiani makes her feature directorial debut based on her novel of the same name about a single woman in a small town whose quiet life is turned upsidedown when she discovers a family secret. Picturehouse will distribute in the US on October 9. Joseph Craig, Donna Gigliotti and James Spies produce and Los Angeles-based Altar Identity Studios is the financier. Lano Williams of KarolWilliams brokered the deal for Conquistador with WME Global and Sally James of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan for the producers.
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Reviews
» Trumbo p6 » Truth p6 » The Lady In The Van p8
Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
» About Ray p8 » The Idol p10 » Miss You Already p10
» Maggie’s Plan p12 » Into The Forest p12 » The Ones Below p13
Truth Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan
Trumbo Reviewed by allan Hunter The anti-Communist hysteria of the McCarthy era may be one of the darkest periods in Hollywood history but few have dared to revisit it. Trumbo views the era through the life of writer Dalton Trumbo, serving up a surprisingly jaunty slice of Hollywood history that cuts a little deeper when it tries to illuminate the politics and injustice of the period. The accomplished central performance from Bryan Cranston has an outside chance of some awards season consideration, helping to attract the audience that sought out Hitchcock (2012) or Hollywoodland (2008). Trumbo was the acclaimed screenwriter of a string of Oscar-winning hit movies from Kitty Foyle (1940) to Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). He had been a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America but when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he was cited for contempt and sent to jail. One of the so-called Hollywood Ten, he was subsequently blacklisted by the major studios and only able to continue his profession pseudonymously as the real writer behind the screenplays for Roman Holiday (1953) and The Brave One (1956). A principled stand for his belief in free speech cost him dearly and a good deal of the film depicts his frantic efforts to stay afloat financially and his long, patient struggle to end the blacklist. In an inspirational speech towards the end of the film, Trumbo claims we should not look for heroes or villains from the period but only victims. The film is a little more circumspect, depicting vicious gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) and uber patriot John Wayne (David James Elliott) as stalwarts in the anti-Communist movement and Kirk Douglas (Dean O’Gorman) as one of the true good guys. Screenwriter John McNamara does a good job of condensing a full life into a two-hour movie with enough substance to bring out all the issues of free speech and persecution to an audience who may be unaware of what happened more than 60 years ago. It may be a little glib at times but it does leave the audience with a sense of who Trumbo was, why he matters and the sacrifices made by a man once described as a “swimming pool socialist”.
6 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
Special pReSentationS US. 2015. 124mins Director Jay Roach Production companies ShivHans pictures, Groundswell productions International sales entertainment one Features, features@ entonegroup.com Producers Michael london, Janice Williams, Shivani Rawat, Monica levinson, nimitt Mankad, John Mcnamara, Kevin Kelly Brown Executive producer Kelly Mullen Screenplay John Mcnamara based on the biography by Bruce cook Cinematography Jim Denault Editor alan Baumgarten Production design Mark Ricker Music theodore Shapiro Main cast Bryan cranston, Diane lane, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, elle Fanning
Truth is based on the story behind a CBS 60 Minutes report into President George W Bush’s alleged draftdodging record that led to the end of Dan Rather’s career; he’s played here by Robert Redford, who starred in the grand-daddy of investigative journalism films, All The President’s Men, while Cate Blanchett is his passionate producer Mary Mapes, on whose memoirs Truth is based. Truth will face challenges in the marketplace — this chewy screenplay is clearly of far greater interest to US viewers than international audiences not quite so familiar with the story, the network, the programme or the people involved, although Rather has global name recognition. And you can’t help but feel Aaron Sorkin could have cut through the story in one episode of Newsroom, even as James Vanderbilt’s debut stretches out to just over two talky hours. But despite an awkward start with the cast being awarded slabs of exposition, the film’s two headlining stars get it right. Redford hits the perfect register for Rather, and Blanchett rises to the challenge of portraying his nervy producer and confidante Mapes; old-media stars who were devoured by a new-media storm. Truth is the directorial debut of writer Vanderbilt (who penned David Fincher’s Zodiac about the San Francisco Chronicle’s investigation into a serial killer), and he is clearly fascinated by the mechanics of news delivery. It sticks to Mapes and Rather’s version of the 2004 report that ultimately led to her dismissal from the network and Rather’s untimely exit after 24 years. Truth has a finicky story to relate, involving a legion of peripheral characters and he-said, she-said testimony over whether or not Bush may have shirked his duties. The central question is whether Maples and, by extension, Rather, were careless about authenticating a document concerning Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Once the story has been aired, though, the film starts to sing. The relationship between the producer and her anchor holds strong as the interplay between the investigators Mapes brings on for the task (played by Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace and Elizabeth Moss) becomes increasingly panicked.
Special pReSentationS US. 2015. 125mins Director/screenplay James Vanderbilt Production company Mythology entertainment production International sales Filmnation entertainment, www.filmnation.com Producers Bradley J Fischer, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, Brett Ratner, Doug Mankoff, andrew Spaulding Executive producers Mikkel Bondesen, James packer, neil tabatznik, Steven Silver, antonia Barnard Screenplay James Vanderbilt, based on Truth And Duty: The Press, The President, And The Privilege Of Power by Mary Mapes Cinematography Mandy Walker Editor Richard FrancisBruce Production design Fiona crombie Music Brian tyler Main cast cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, elisabeth Moss, Bruce Greenwood, Stacy Keach, John Benjamin Hickey, Dermot Mulroney
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REVIEWS
About Ray Reviewed by Tim Grierson
The Lady In The Van Reviewed by allan Hunter The unlikely, slowly deepening bond between playwright Alan Bennett and a cantankerous, malodorous homeless woman is recreated with warm affection in The Lady In The Van. The screen version of Bennett’s theatrical hit, featuring the original stage star Maggie Smith, is a guaranteed middlebrow crowd-pleaser offering a plaintive ode to friendship, community, British reserve and the kindness of strangers. The chance to savour two national treasures for the price of one will make this essential viewing for the older The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel demographic although the challenge will be to attract its core audience to the cinema when it has the look of something that will seem entirely at home on television. In the early 1970s, Bennett (Alex Jennings) moved into a house in Camden where he soon encountered Mary (Smith), a homeless woman who moves around the area like an unwanted parcel. She is unreasonable, unpalatable and delusional. She is barely tolerated by the local residents who give her clothes, food and Christmas gifts while secretly hoping she will move on. She takes a special shine to Bennett and eventually moves her van into his driveway at the beginning of a temporary residency that was to last 15 years. The Lady In The Van takes a playful approach to a story that is “mostly true”. Early on, Bennett declares that writing is like talking to yourself and to prove the point the film has two Bennetts, “one who does the writing and one who does the living”. Argumentative conversations between the two provide a commentary on the proceedings and on Bennett himself who discovers his life is a lot less interesting than the one Margaret claims to have had. As audiences have come to expect from Bennett, the film sparkles with gems of dialogue and astute observations about human nature and everyday frailties. An entertainingly imperious Maggie Smith delivers all one would expect of her in a display of wounded dignity and feisty resilience. Awards consideration for her is inevitable although a more realistic prospect might by Jennings, who captures to a tee the lugubrious wit and timid nature of Bennett.
8 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
Special pReSenTaTionS UK 2015. 104mins Director nicholas Hytner Production company BBc Films Contact Sony pictures classics Producers Kevin loader, nicholas Hytner, Damian Jones Screenplay alan Bennett, based on his stage play Cinematography andrew Dunn Editor Tariq anwar Production design John Beard Music George Fenton Main cast Maggie Smith, alex Jennings, Frances De la Tour, Roger allam, Jim Broadbent
On the one hand, it’s commendable that About Ray, a comedy drama chronicling a teenager who is preparing to undergo gender dysphoria treatment, avoids sanctimonious grandstanding to instead tell a touching story about a family. But on the other, it’s frustrating how uneven and cutesy the movie ends up being. Filled with feeling and led by heartfelt performances from Elle Fanning and Naomi Watts, the latest from director Gaby Dellal (Angels Crest) is a warm, rich film in many regards — and yet, there’s a nagging suspicion that, in the attempt to de-emphasise the hot-button topicality, About Ray isn’t ultimately about that much. Fanning plays Ray, a 16-year-old assigned female at birth who has known for about six years that he’s male. Ray lives with his single mother Maggie (Watts), lesbian grandmother Dolly (Susan Sarandon) and her longtime girlfriend Frances (Linda Emond), and as the film opens they’re speaking with a doctor about Ray’s desire to begin hormone replacement therapy. Maggie is supportive but also concerned about Ray, but what becomes especially hard for her is knowing that she must visit her estranged ex-boyfriend (Tate Donovan) so that he, too, can sign off on Ray’s therapy. In its early stretches, About Ray is quite funny, the prospect of three generations of women living under one roof in a beautiful East Village townhouse paying off with lots of clever quips. Fanning is excellent as Ray, portraying his decision to go through the procedure not as some heroic feat but, rather, a crushing necessity to feel whole. But after establishing its world, the film nosedives into sitcom-like adorableness, starting with its portrayal of Ray’s meddling grandmother. Sarandon plays Dolly like a pernickety old hen, but rather than being hilarious, the character becomes an irritating caricature (Emond isn’t much better as Dolly’s goofy girlfriend). Presumably, Dellal is trying to universalise her themes by adding a little farce and lightness — near the end, there are also some contrived, soap opera-like plot twists — but About Ray grows so aggressively cutesy that the genuine underlying emotions are lost in the process. Aspiring for a slice-of-life tone, the film comes off as needlessly glib.
Special pReSenTaTionS US. 2015. 87mins Director Gaby Dellal Production companies Big Beach, inFilm International sales iM Global, info@ imglobalfilm.com US distributor The Weinstein company, www.weinsteinco.com Producers Dorothy Berwin, Gaby Dellal, Marc Turtletaub, peter Saraf Screenplay nikole Beckwith, Gaby Dellal Cinematography David Johnson Editor Joe landauer Production design Stephanie carroll Music Michael Brook Main cast naomi Watts, elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon, linda emond
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REVIEWS
The Idol Reviewed by Tim Grierson Director Hany Abu-Assad has often focused on films that give voice to the experience of everyday Palestinians, so it’s no surprise he would gravitate to the story of Mohammad Assaf, a Gazan singer who went on to win Arab Idol in 2013, becoming an underdog hero for his country. In its broad strokes, The Idol may seem like a very familiar a-star-is-born tale, but at just about every turn Abu-Assad transcends that simplicity for a more moving, complex examination of what Assaf had to go through to even enter the competition. The Idol seems likely to travel far beyond festivals, the film’s accessible, real-life narrative an easy sell for arthouse audiences. Especially in countries such as the US, where American Idol has been a hit for a good long while, the film could do respectable business for a subtitled release, and Abu-Assad’s pedigree — his movies have twice been nominated for best foreignlanguage film Oscars — will only further sweeten The Idol’s theatrical prospects. The movie begins in Assaf ’s childhood, where he’s played by Qais Attallah with a winning openness. Flashing ahead to 2012 when he’s a young man, Assaf (now played by Tawfeek Barhom) drives a cab but has not yet abandoned his hopes of becoming a singer. He sees
SPECIAL PRESENTATIoNS UK-Pal-Qat-Neth-UAE. 2015. 99mins Director Hany Abu-Assad Production companies Mezza Terra Media, Majdal Films, KeyFilm, September Film, Doha Film Institute, Fortress Film Clinic, Rawabi, Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Cactus World Films, Full Moon Productions, Enjaaz International sales Séville International, anickp@filmsseville.com Producers Ali Jaafar, Amira Diab Screenplay Hany AbuAssad, Sameh Zoabi Cinematography Ehab Assal Music Habib Shehadeh Hanna Main cast Qais Atallah, Hiba Atallah, Ahmad Qassim, Abdelkarim Abu Baraka, Tawfeek Barhom, Saber Shreim
only one chance, which is to enter Arab Idol and take part in try-outs held in Egypt. But because Assaf doesn’t have a visa, auditioning will prove a formidable challenge. Abu-Assad’s previous films (such as Paradise Now and Omar) have often been despairing dramas that speak bluntly about the difficulties faced by Palestinians. By comparison, The Idol is deceptively heart-warming and sweet, the nostalgic look at Assaf ’s early days offset by the suffering he sees around him in Gaza. Throughout,
it’s remarkable how much emotion and commentary Abu-Assad brings to potentially clichéd material. In a sense, the film-maker is subverting the predictable feed-good conventions to show us true hardship, including fraught border crossings, as opposed to the artificial stakes presented in most Western reality-competition shows. Without being preachy, Abu-Assad uses the quiet determination on Barhom’s face to suggest a lifetime of anguish finally being expressed through melancholy, gorgeous songs.
support from Jess. Milly was the first to experience romance and sex, the first to conceive and marry, and the one who sadly experiences other firsts, with a series of increasingly bleak diagnoses for her breast cancer. The childhood years are despatched quickly, with the film’s main drama taking place over the months it takes Jess and oil-rig worker husband Jago (Paddy Considine) to pursue fertility treatment, conceive and give birth. Jess is seen suffering a fall on the Moors,
seemingly imperilling her unborn child — although since Miss You Already begins with her in hospital about to give birth, narrative tension arising from this particular instance of jeopardy is in limited supply. Still, this plotline gives the impression of making the story seem a tad more even-handed, which may have been helpful in persuading Barrymore to sign on for the role. Whether she supplies a sufficiently strong marketable element to make this film a winning package for audiences remains to be seen.
Miss You Already Reviewed by Charles Gant This tender, gently funny depiction of female friendship benefits from nicely committed work from lead actresses Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore plus distinctive locations in London and Yorkshire, but suffers from unconvincing moments and struggles to convert diverse story elements into an especially compelling whole. Juggling breast cancer, fertility treatment, marital discord and buried resentments, Miss You Already represents the most ambitious screenwriting effort yet from actress Morwenna Banks. As for director Catherine Hardwicke, struggling to find her groove ever since her early departure from the Twilight franchise in 2008, this comedy drama doesn’t point the way very promisingly to a new career direction. And although the story feels like it’s been adapted from a chicklit bestseller, no such source material exists, meaning distributors including eOne in the UK and Lionsgate in the US will have to pull out all the stops to find the audience. Milly (Colette) and Jess (Barrymore) are besties since girlhood, ever since the latter relocated to London from the US with her family. The pair’s sustained friendship has evidently rested on mutual acceptance of their roles: adventurous Milly led the way, with generous
10 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
GALA UK-US. 2015. 112mins Director Catherine Hardwicke Production company S Films International sales Salt, info@salt-co.com Producer Christopher Simon Screenplay Morwenna Banks Cinematography Elliot Davis Editor Phillip J Bartell Production design Amanda McArthur Music Harry GregsonWilliams Main cast Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette, Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine, Jacqueline Bisset, Tyson Ritter, Honor Kneafsey, Frances De La Tour
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REVIEWS
Maggie’s Plan Reviewed by tim Grierson Film-maker Rebecca Miller’s dramas are often populated by volatile individuals, but what if they snuck off into a witty, rambunctious farce instead? Maggie’s Plan is a conscious changeof-pace from the writer-director, and once the viewer is acclimatised to this offbeat romantic comedy’s rhythms, it becomes an engaging and predictably thought-provoking yarn from a storyteller who always sees her characters as complex and often deeply flawed. The Maggie of the title is played by Greta Gerwig, who has decided she wants to have a child, even though she’s had no luck in relationships. After finding a sperm donor, she meets John (Ethan Hawke), a professor and aspiring novelist. Although he’s married to the severe, intellectually intimidating Georgette (Julianne Moore), John is drawn to Maggie, and she to him — and they quickly declare their love. The story then flashes forward three years, revealing that Maggie and John have married and had a daughter. But as Maggie begins to worry that their relationship is floundering, she becomes friends with Georgette, which stirs a plan Maggie believes will make everyone happy.
SPECiAL PRESENtAtioN US. 2015. 97mins Director/screenplay Rebecca Miller Production companies Round Films, Rachael Horovitz Productions, Freedom Media, Locomotive, Hyperion Media, Franklin Street Capital International sales Protagonist Pictures, info@ protagonistpictures.com US sales Creative Artists Agency, llewis@caa.com; Cinetic Media, john@ slosslaw.com Producers Rachael Horovitz, Damon Cardasis, Rebecca Miller Screenplay Rebecca Miller, based on a story by Karen Rinaldi Main cast Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, travis Fimmel, Wallace Shawn, Julianne Moore
Based on an idea from an unpublished novel by Karen Rinaldi, Maggie’s Plan has the clever repartee, New York settings and modern-day malaise that are trademarks of a Woody Allen or Noah Baumbach comedy. At first Miller, a novelist as well as a film-maker, might seem to be merely copying these directors’ styles, but eventually the intricacy of her construction begins to assert itself, producing plentiful rewards. All three leads get stronger as the movie goes on, in part because Miller’s full intention isn’t clear until about halfway through. These
characters are foolish without being idiots, which produces a more sophisticated type of comedy. Still, Moore’s arch portrayal does take a little getting used to. Wielding what sounds like a mutant hybrid of a German, Austrian and Danish accent, she turns Georgette into the closest thing to a caricature in Maggie’s Plan. But the Oscar winner plays it with such confidence that Georgette becomes, if not quite a believable character, then a rollicking force of nature whose every pretentious utterance becomes a zingy delight.
comes apart. Eva is brutally raped by a visitor who appears on the property, yet they remain remarkably self-sufficient. It’s an inspiring story, acted with heart and grit by Page and Wood, and directed with adroitness by Rozema in a ruin of a set in the woods. Yet life off the grid over more than a year begs some questions.
As a parable of resilience, the film is only as persuasive as one’s willingness to believe it. The performances help. Rennie could be any earnest father as he tries to protect his daughters. Page, playing headstrong Nell, is a tough fighter. Wood, radiant as a dancer who rehearses to her metronome, survives the extreme conditions and her own obsessional fantasies.
Into The Forest Reviewed by David D’Arcy What do you do when the lights and the computer and the iPad go out? In Into The Forest, you might disappear into the wilderness. Patricia Rozema’s adaptation of Jean Hegland’s novel of the same name is the near-future story of two sisters in the Canadian Northwest who survive a blackout that leaves them without electricity for more than a year and piles hardship upon hardship. Into The Forest is a motivational tale, and an unusual one even by the standards of postapocalyptic sagas. In a marketplace saturated with disaster films, it stands out for its brazen novelty and for its implausibility. The presence of Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood in a story about two women overcoming adversity could muster an audience for a movie that doesn’t muster credibility. In Rozema’s script, Nell, a student (Page), and Eva, a dancer (Wood), are living in the woods of British Columbia with their genial father (Callum Keith Rennie) when the power fails, part of a breakdown that takes place over a vast area. Frustrated, they still improvise to cook and wash, and drive a vehicle 40km to a crippled town where store shelves are bare. When the father dies in a chainsaw accident, the two rely on each other, eating out of cans, foraging for food and quarrelling as their house
12 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
SPECiAL PRESENtAtioNS Can. 2015. 101mins Director Patricia Rozema Production companies Elevation Pictures, Bron Studios, Rhombus Media, CW Media Finance International sales Celsius Entertainment, info@celsius entertainment.com Producers Niv Fichman, Aaron L Gilbert, Ellen Page Executive producers Sriram Das, Haroon Saleem, Steve Shapiro, Jason Cloth, Allan Stitt, Kelly Morel, Kelly Bush Novak, Adrian Love Screenplay Patricia Rozema Cinematographer Daniel Grant Main cast Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie, Michael Eklund, Wendy Crewson
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The Ones Below Reviewed by Allan Hunter One couple’s tragedy becomes another couple’s nightmare in The Ones Below, an elegantly chilling psychological drama that confidently stakes a claim to classic Roman Polanski territory. Playwright and Royal Shakespeare Company associate director David Farr makes a very promising feature debut that rests comfortably on the shoulders of a strong ensemble cast and successfully misdirects audience suspicions about what exactly is going on. The lack of star draws in the cast and an uninspiring, generic title may hinder commercial prospects but The Ones Below is still a compelling, classy little tale that should benefit from word of mouth and critical support. In certain respects, this is a throwback to the nanny-from-hell/one-night-stand-fromhell style of thriller that flourished in the 1980s and ’90s (Fatal Attraction, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Single White Female etc). Farr favours restraint over melodrama, which makes it more appealing. Affluent London couple Kate (Clémence Poésy) and Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore) are anticipating the birth of their first child. Jon (David Morrissey) and Theresa (Laura Birn)
CITY TO CITY
UK. 2015. 87mins Director/screenplay David Farr Production companies Cuba Pictures, Tigerlily Films, BBC Films, BFI International sales Protagonist Pictures, info@ protagonistpictures.com Producer Nikki Parrott Executive producers Dixie Linder, Nick Marston, Ben Hall, Christine Langan, Joe Oppenheimer, Lizzie Francke, Nigel Williams Cinematography Ed Rutherford Editor Chris Wyatt Production design Francesca di Mottola Music Adem Ilhan Main cast Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore, Laura Birn
precisely calibrated screenplay is nicely filled with enough simmering conflicts, character flaws and guilty resentments to keep you intrigued by what lies beneath the surface of these comfortable, middle-class lives. Farr manages to shift the balance of sympathies as we are allowed glimpses of the different sides to each of their natures. The otherworldly score by Adem Ilhan heightens expectations of a film that will unsettle in the tradition of Rosemary’s Baby and mostly, modestly, The Ones Below does not disappoint.
Conception : Garrigues
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move into the ground floor flat below; with Theresa also expecting a baby, there is an instant rapport between the women. It is much harder to warm to wealthy businessman Jon, however, who seems gruff and intimidatingly aloof. A tragic accident sets the couples apart and lays the seeds that will encourage the viewer to question the sanity of one particular character. The Ones Below shuffles a familiar deck of plot options but the quality of Farr’s writing creates enough little subplots that boil away, adding texture and tension. The economical,
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September 14, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 13
TIFF IN PICTURES
Creative Scotland celebrating the world premiere of Sunset Song Where Brassaii restaurant and lounge, Toronto When
September 12, 2015
Who
Creative Scotland and Screen International, with the BFI and Fortissimo Films
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In association with
GUEST LIST 1
Lizzie Francke, BFI Film Fund, Piers Handling, TIFF, Mark Adams, Edinburgh International Film Festival
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Natalie Usher, Creative Scotland, Kevin McGurgan, British Consul General, Toronto
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Matt Mueller, Screen International
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Ben Roberts, BFI Film Fund, Terence Davies, filmmaker
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Nicole Mackey, Fortissimo Films, Wendy Mitchell, British Council
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Eva Riley, film-maker, Ken Petrie, producer, Katie Crook, Blue Iris Films
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Roy Boulter, Hurricane Films, Agyness Deyn, actor, Kevin Guthrie, actor
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Kevin Guthrie, Agyness Deyn, Terence Davies
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Allison Gardner, Glasgow Film Festival, Natalie Ulman, Highland Shakespeare Company, Holly Daniel, Edinburgh International Film Festival
10 John Tilley, Pinkplot Productions, Sydney Levine, SydneysBuzz 11 Jezz Vernon, Metrodome, Agyness Deyn 12 Kim Le, Magnolia Pictures, Amisha Patel, Magnolia Pictures
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September 14, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 15
FEATURE FILM4
wide internationalisation. That said, Film4 is now pushing the trend in a way that public broadcaster BBC Films would not likely get away with. The company is keen to forge new alliances in the US, for example. “We were very embedded with Focus Features and had a shorthand with them,” says BruceSmith. “That has evolved now with the changes that have taken place there and elsewhere. There are new kids on the block now that we need to be talking to.”
TIFF title Room
Film4’s global appeal Film4 director David Kosse and his team talk Andreas Wiseman through the company’s direction, its roster of up-and-coming directors and future projects
T
en months into the job and Film4 boss David Kosse has made his mark. “I’ve started putting my imprimatur on the organisation,” acknowledges the former Universal Pictures and Momentum Pictures executive. “I think we’re operating business as usual at the moment.” Business as usual at one of the smartest talent evaluators in the business means continuing to support prized talent early and often, from Steve McQueen to Jonathan Glazer, and Ben Wheatley to Andrew Haigh. Film4’s autumn line-up includes Suffragette, High-Rise and Kosse’s first greenlight, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room. Next year is shaping up to be equally impressive, with a healthy combination of former collaborators and new faces. In post-production are Steve McQueen’s Widows, Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Benedict Andrews’ Blackbird and Adam Smith’s Trespass Against Us. But behind the scenes, the Oregon-native and distribution veteran has shaken up the old order at the film arm of UK broadcaster Channel 4, which hired him last year in part to sharpen the outfit’s commercial instincts and grow international ties. “We are still as committed as ever to the excellence of creative talent but it’s
‘When we put money into a risky movie that does make a lot of money, we shouldn’t be on the sidelines’ David Kosse, Film4
how we build those projects where you’ll see the difference,” says head of commercial and brand strategy Sue Bruce-Smith. “We’re trying to take the £15m [$23m] we’ve been allocated and make that go as far as possible through backing new voices and material while also seeing a return on our investments,” explains Kosse. Ways to ensure that include earlier recoupment, holding back UK sales, bigger or smaller equity stakes — depending on a project’s commercial viability — and streamlined deal-making. “When we put money into a risky movie that does make a lot of money, we shouldn’t be on the sidelines,” says Kosse. “The more intermediaries and fees there are, the less that comes back to us.” Screen understands that features
16 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
including Bart Layton’s American Animals have been pinpointed as potential vehicles for multi-million pound backing in a bid to boost that $23m pool. Kosse’s commercial nous has also led to him playing a greater role in feature acquisitions for Channel 4 broadcast. Asif Kapadia’s Amy was a smart early call. Meanwhile, the executive’s experience in international marketing and distribution is moulding Film4’s new philosophy. “There’s definitely an ambition to be more present on the global and international stage,” says Bruce -Smith, who acknowledges that closer ties with distributors and faster awareness of festival “poppers” will help the drive. “We now have a different set of contacts through David and a different set of expertise in terms of his understanding of the international marketplace.” While some commentators noted the number of non-UK directors and partners on Film4backed projects in Cannes, those decisions were made pre-Kosse and reflect an industry-
New beginnings Yet while Film4 may have eyes on the international prize, its commitment to cutting-edge UK creatives remains steadfast. Among projects in the pipeline is an untitled drama from husband-andwife writer duo Nick Laird and Zadie Smith, set up with DNA Films. Film4 is also reteaming with Suffragette producer Faye Ward on Glasgowset story Country Music, about a young working-class woman who wants to become a country singer. Former Royal Court director Dominic Cooke is set to make his feature debut on the project. Mike Leigh’s large-canvas Peterloo Massacre drama is in development and the company is talking to 45 Years director Andrew Haigh about his next film. The projects are largely characterised by strong UK creatives or producers but also solid international hooks. The inevitable question is whether Film4 will still be as willing to invest in smaller, more experimental UK-oriented productions and the mid-range titles. “Shorts remain vitally important to us,” assures head of development Rose Garnett. “And those middle-ground films are hard but for us they are bridging films. By doing Frank, you get Room. By doing Shame, you get 12 Years A Slave. Those films can’t be squeezed.” “The conversation I had a lot when I got here was about the breadth of the material we’d consider,” summarises Kosse. “‘Don’t presume it’s not right for us,’ I said a lot at the beginning. Once that door opened, we’re seeing different projects to three or four years ago. That was the main thing to get out there.” The hope now is that the strategy can prove a virtuous circle. “There’s always a hope that if the returns get better, there’s more allocation,” Kosse cons cludes. ■ (Left) Suffragette
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FEATURE MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES
T
he late Amy Winehouse had a hit again this summer — Asif Kapadia’s acclaimed documentary Amy became the highestgrossing UK documentary at the local box office, taking more than $5m to date for Altitude Film Distribution (it’s also been a hit for A24 in the US, earning $8.1m to date). “In hindsight, a lot of people are saying it was always going to do well,” Altitude’s head of distribution Hamish Moseley says. “But there are plenty of brilliant films about famous subjects that don’t work.” Having a well-known artist isn’t enough. “Just because someone likes her music, that doesn’t mean you can get them into the cinema, buying a ticket for a documentary instead of Jurassic World,” he notes. More and more music documentaries are experimenting with an event-cinema model or multiplatform release with reduced theatrical window, or launching directly on Netflix as was the case with Liz Garbus’s What Happened, Miss Simone?. Yet Altitude’s plan was always “to do an old-fashioned release with a full window”, Moseley explains of the July 3 UK theatrical launch. “We treated it like a blockbuster,” he says. “The sell was, ‘You think you know her, but you don’t,’” he continues. “That appeals to fans and non-fans. We had a wide-ranging grassroots campaign to hit fans very early. We released a teaser trailer and teaser poster in March. [That timeline] is unheard of for docs.” A ‘golden age’ Music documentaries are booming not only at the box office but also in terms of critical reception for creative film-making approaches. Dana O’Keefe, partner at Cinetic Media, worked on Amy and Brett Morgen’s Cobain: Montage Of Heck. Speaking on a panel at August’s Way Out West festival and conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, O’Keefe said: “We’re fortunate to live in a time that many people consider to be a golden age of narrative documentary film-making. The landscape has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. The public now is much more interested in non-fiction storytelling than ever before and documentary
TUNED IN
Amy’s box-office success signals big business for a new crop of music docs. Wendy Mitchell looks at the high notes at Toronto and beyond
TIFF Docs title Miss Sharon Jones!; (inset) the UK release of Amy has taken more than $5m to date
film-making techniques have become more sophisticated, often enabling filmmakers to achieve a greater level of immediacy than with narrative features about comparable subjects. I would argue that the formal innovation is happening predominantly in the documentary space.” Such strong creative storytelling means festivals are increasingly taking notice of music documentaries, from Sundance and SXSW to Cannes (which selected Amy for a Midnight screening). Of course, music films play a big role in this year’s TIFF Docs line-up, with hot titles including Miss
Sharon Jones!; The Music Of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble; The Reflektor Tapes (about Arcade Fire) and Janis: Little Girl Blue, about Janis Joplin. Aretha Franklin concert doc Amazing Grace had also been scheduled but ongoing court wrangles saw the film pulled at the eleventh hour. Stephen Kijak, the Los Angeles-based film-maker who has made documentaries about musicians such as Scott Walker and The Rolling Stones, turned his attention this year to Backstreet Boys for band-sanctioned reunion documentary Backstreet Boys: Show ’Em What
‘We had a wideranging grassroots campaign for Amy to hit fans very early’ Hamish Moseley, Altitude
You’re Made Of. In his view, for a music documentary to work theatrically, it must go beyond straight biography. “The behind-the-music model has been around for ages, and those are good fun, but if you’re making a film, that’s the template you’re working against,” he says. “That’s the challenge when you’re working on an artist-commissioned film, but in the case of Backstreet Boys, they wanted to break that mould and gave us as film-makers a lot of freedom. That’s really the only way it works, when you’re given the freedom to find your own way into the story.” Josh Braun, founder of New Yorkbased sales company Submarine Entertainment, has worked on a slew of music docs in the past (including Oscar winner 20 Feet From Stardom) and will handle sales for Miss Sharon Jones! and The Music Of Strangers at TIFF. He notes that films about lesser-known artists without a built-in fanbase (such as Oscar winner Searching For Sugar Man) “have to work in terms of film-making, cinematic appeal and great storytelling”. With a glut of music documentaries in the market, he warns that it’s now “survival of the fittest — the stars have to line up and the films have to be great to work in the marketplace in a substantial way”. Some artists are also getting involved in more creative ways. Montreal band Arcade Fire were creative collaborators on Kahlil Joseph’s inventive The Reflektor Tapes. And Nick Cave was more than a typical subject for directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard on their creative documentary 20,000 Days On Earth. As Braun says, these “novel and exciting approaches can help a film stand out in a s crowded marketplace”. ■
SOUND AND VISION MUSIC DOCS AT TIFF 2015 ■ Janis: Little Girl Blue (US). Dir:
Amy Berg. North American premiere Contact Content harry.white@ contentmediacorp.com ■ Miss Sharon Jones! (US). Dir: Barbara
Kopple. World premiere Contact Submarine josh@submarine.com
■ The Music Of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble (UK). Dir: Morgan Neville. World premiere Contact Submarine josh@submarine.com
18 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
■ The Reflektor Tapes
(UK). Dir: Kahlil Joseph. World premiere. Contact Arts Alliance sales@artsalliance. com (Left) The Reflektor Tapes
The Music Of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble
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congratulates the filmmakers of these Rotterdam-supported Toronto selections: Alex van Warmerdam | SCHNEIDER VS. BAX CineMart 2013 Gabriel Mascaro | NEON BULL Hubert Bals Fund support & CineMart 2011 Naomi Kawase | AN CineMart 2014 Florin Serban | BOX CineMart 2012 Ciro Guerra | EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT Hubert Bals Fund support Mark Lewis | INVENTION CineMart 2014 Yorgos Lanthimos | THE LOBSTER CineMart 2013 Deniz Gamze Ergüven | MUSTANG CineMart 2014 Apichatpong Weerasethakul | CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR Hubert Bals Fund support Arab & Tarzan Abu Nasser | DÉGRADÉ Hubert Bals Fund support Jayro Bustamante | IXCANUL Hubert Bals Fund support Eva Husson | BANG GANG (A MODERN LOVE STORY) CineMart 2013 Joost van Ginkel | THE PARADISE SUITE CineMart 2012 Film Entry deadlines: Short films (< 60’) completed after 1 July 2015: 1 October 2015 Feature films (> 60’): 15 October 2015
45th International Film Festival Rotterdam 27 January - 7 February 2016 33rd CineMart 31 January - 3 February 2016 IFFR.COM IFFR16_ADV_SCREEN_335X245mm.indd 1
10-09-15 12:52
ScreeningS edited by Jamie McLeish Screening times and venues are correct at time of press but are subject to alteration
is forced to become a child soldier in a rebel army led by a brutal commandant.
Public
screenings
Special Presentations roy Thomson Hall
08:45
FALLen OBJeCTS
(USA/India) Dir: Shambhavi Kaul. A new installation from the Indian-American artist-filmmaker Shambhavi Kaul.
Ivy
(Turkey) 104mins. Karacelik Film (int’l). Dir: Tolga Karacelik. Cast: Hakan Karsak, Nadir Saribacak, Ozgür Emre Yildirim. Trapped at anchor due to a legal dispute, the crew of a cargo ship come into potentially deadly conflict with one another.
Wavelengths Scrap Metal gallery
FreeHeLD
Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
One FLOOr BeLOW
(Romania/France/ Germany/Sweden) 93mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Radu Muntean. Cast: Teodor Corban, Iulian Postelnicu, Oxana Moravec. A man who witnessed the prelude to a murder determines to keep his mouth shut — until the possible killer turns up one day and begins to ingratiate himself into the lives of his wife and son. Contemporary World Cinema Jackman Hall
09:00 BOrn TO Be BLue
(Canada/United Kingdom) 97mins. Creative Artists Agency, Cinetic Media (US). K5 International (int’l). Dir: Robert Budreau. Cast: Ethan Hawke. Jazz trumpeter Chet Baker’s struggle to overcome addiction and stage a comeback.
Public screening 11:45 THe reFLekTOr TAPeS
(United Kingdom) 75mins. Arts Alliance (int’l). Dir: Kahlil Joseph. Cast: Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, Win Butler. Kahlil Joseph follows the
09:15 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 rural Scotland. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3
09:30 reMeMBer
(Italy/France) 106mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Nanni Moretti. Cast: Nanni Moretti, Margherita Buy, John Turturro. A harassed filmmaker tries to juggle the production of her film with visits to see her dying mother.
(Canada/Germany) 95mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). IM Global (int’l). Dir: Atom Egoyan. Cast: Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Dean Norris. A nursing-home resident sets out to exact vengeance on the man who murdered his family decades earlier, in this compelling thriller.
Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 2
gala Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1
Special Presentations The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
My MOTHer
20 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
Canadian band Arcade Fire as they complete their chart-topping 2013 album Reflektor and embark on the North American leg of their new world tour. TIFF Docs The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
10:00 BrIng Me THe HeAD OF TIM HOrTOn
(Canada) 30mins. Dir: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson. An anarchic behind-thescenes look at Paul Gross’s new feature, Hyena Road. Wavelengths TIFF Bell Lightbox
FIreWOrkS (ArCHIveS)
(Thailand/Mexico) Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul. A new installation from the Palme d’Or-winning Thai filmmaker. Wavelengths Contemporary galleries
THe FOrBIDDen rOOM: A LIvIng POSTer
(Canada) 119mins. Mongrel International (int’l). Dir: Galen Johnson. A looping collection of moving, morphing posters that suggests an anachronistic collision between digitally corrupted
video files and a damaged silent-era film print.
following the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende.
Wavelengths TIFF Bell Lightbox
Special Presentations visa Screening room (elgin)
11:00 BrOOkLyn
(United Kingdom/ Ireland/Canada) 105mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: John Crowley. Cast: Saoirse Ronan. An Irish woman crosses the Atlantic to begin a new life in America. Special Presentations Winter garden Theatre
11:15 HOng kOng TrILOgy: PreSCHOOLeD PreOCCuPIeD PrePOSTerOuS
THe WHITe knIgHTS
(France/Belgium) 112mins. Indie Sales (int’l). Dir: Joachim Lafosse. Cast: Vincent Lindon, Valérie Donzelli. The head of an NGO tries to rescue 300 children during the Chad civil war.
Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
11:45
Contemporary World Cinema Jackman Hall
TIFF Docs TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 2
(Germany/Luxembourg/ France) 110mins. United Talent Agency (US). Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Florian Gallenberger. Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist. Two lovers find themselves trapped in the crackdown
12:15
(Morocco) 94mins. Paul Thiltges Distribution (int’l). Dir: Hicham Lasri. Cast: Latefa Ahrrare, Jirari Ben Aissa, Fehd Benchemsi. A once-famous journalist desperate to make a comeback lands an interview with the dreaded interior minister of the despotic former regime.
(USA) 75mins. Celluloid Dreams (US). Celluloid Dreams (int’l). Dir: Laurie Anderson. Laurie Anderson reflects on death and spirituality.
COLOnIA
gala Presentations ryerson Theatre
STArve yOur DOg
(Hong Kong) 85mins. Dir: Christopher Doyle. Cast: Connie Ming Shan Yuen, Thierry Chow, Ching Man Lip. A docu-fiction hybrid celebrating Hong Kong and its people.
11:30
(USA) 103mins. Bankside Films (int’l). Dir: Peter Sollett. Cast: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon. A true story about a police officer’s legal battle to pass on her pension benefits to her domestic partner.
HeArT OF A DOg
THe reFLekTOr TAPeS See box, above
12:00 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
Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1
12:30 LA gIuBBA
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. The lives of five drifters over the course of two summer days in Italy. Wavelengths Clint roenisch gallery
OFFICe
(China/Hong Kong) 117mins. Edko Films. (int’l). Dir: Johnnie To. Cast: Sylvia Chang, Chow Yun Fat, Eason Chan. A spectacular movie musical about high-level corporate intrigue. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3
13:45 THe FeAr
(France) 93mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Damien Odoul. Cast: Nino Rocher, Pierre Martial Gaillard, Theo Chazal. www.screendaily.com
Further coverage, see screendaily.com
Charlie Vundla, Terry Pheto, Louis Roux. A once-promising academic finds himself entangled in a very odd ménage a trois.
An infantry volunteer is plunged into the maelstrom of trench warfare during the First World War. Contemporary World Cinema Jackman Hall
Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 8
14:00 Desierto
eVA DoesN’t sleeP
see box, right
(France/Argentina/ Spain) 85mins. Pyramide International (int’l). Dir: Pablo Aguero. Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Denis Lavant, Daniel Fanego. The true story of the transport of the body of Argentina’s beloved First Lady Eva Peron.
NiNtH Floor
(Canada) 81mins. National Film Board of Canada (US). National Film Board of Canada (int’l). Dir: Mina Shum. Cast: Rodney John, Clarence Bayne, Senator Anne Cools. A look at the Sir George Williams University riot of February 1969. tiFF Docs tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 4 — Paul & leah Atkinson Family Cinema
Wavelengths scotiabank 4
14:00 Desierto
tHru You PriNCess
(Israel) 80mins. Submarine Entertainment (US). First Hand Films (int’l). Dir: Ido Haar. Cast: Princess Shaw, Kutiman. Ido Haar traces the collaboration between two very different musicians: Princess Shaw, a young black woman in the US South, and Israeli viralvideo artist Kutiman. tiFF Docs the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
14:15 iNto tHe Forest
(Canada) 101mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). Celsius Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Patricia Rozema. Cast: Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood. Two sisters struggle to survive after a countrywide power outage. special Presentations tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 2
14:30
(Mexico/France) 94mins. United Talent Agency (US). IM Global (int’l). Dir: Jonas Cuaron. Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gael Garcia Bernal.
A group of would-be immigrants find their dream of entering the United States becomes a nightmare when a deranged vigilante begins to stalk them. special Presentations Winter Garden theatre
Picture Tree International (int’l). Dir: Thomas Stuber. Cast: Peter Kurth, Lina Wendel, Lena Lauzemis. A bouncer is forced to reflect on his life when he is diagnosed with a fatal disease. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 10
Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Ciro Guerra. Cast: Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolivar. A heart-rending depiction of colonialism laying waste to indigenous culture. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 3
Ville-MArie
turf war for control of the Vancouver drugs trade.
different facets of her new country, and of herself.
Gala Presentations scotiabank 1
Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 13
lA GiuBBA
tHe MeDDler
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano.
(USA) 100mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). Dir: Lorene Scafaria. Cast: Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne, JK Simmons. Comedy drama about a doting mother who, after her husband passes away, follows her daughter to LA.
Wavelengths Clint roenisch Gallery
15:00 HiGH-rise
(UK) 112mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Ben Wheatley. Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller. A London apartment block becomes a battlefield in a literal class war. Platform ryerson theatre
BeeBA BoYs
PArisieNNe
(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
(France) 119mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Danielle Arbid. Cast: Manal Issa, Vincent Lacoste, Paul Hamy. A coming-of-age story about a woman from Beirut whose relationships and encounters reveal
www.screendaily.com
HArDCore
Public screening
special Presentations Princess of Wales
15:15 tHe ProMiseD lAND
(China) 102mins. Dir: He Ping. Cast: Wang Jiajia, Zhang Yi, Wang Zhiwen. Internal migration has seen millions of young people leave their villages to find a new life in China’s cities. Platform Visa screening room (elgin)
15:30 A HeAVY HeArt
(Germany) 109mins.
equAls
(USA) 101mins. United Talent Agency (US). Mister Smith Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Drake Doremus. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce. A tale set in a society where crime and violence have been eradicated through the elimination of human emotion. special Presentations tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 1
oNe BreAtH
(Germany) 110mins. ARRI Media World Sales (int’l). Dir: Christian Zübert. Cast: Jördis Triebel, Chara Mata Giannatou, Benjamin Sadler. A crisis occurs after a pregnant Greek immigrant takes a job as a nanny to a young professional couple. Contemporary World Cinema tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 3
15:45 eMBrACe oF tHe serPeNt
(Colombia/Venezuela/ Argentina) 122mins.
(Canada) 101mins. Films Boutique (int’l). Dir: Guy Edoin. Cast: Monica Bellucci, Pascale Bussieres, Aliocha Schneider. The very different lives of four people intersect one fateful night in downtown Montreal. special Presentations scotiabank 2
16:00 CHeVAlier
(Greece) 99mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Athina Rachel Tsangari. Cast: Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis. Six men confined to a luxurious yacht compete in an absurdist game that lays bare the roots of male antagonism. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 9
16:15 CuCKolD
(South Africa) 95mins. Siascope (int’l). Dir: Charlie Vundla. Cast:
(Russia/USA) 90mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (US). William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Ilya Naishuller. Cast: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennet. A super-soldier travels across Russia to save his wife from a psychotic paramilitary psychic. Midnight Madness scotiabank 14
HoNor tHY FAtHer
(Philippines) 115mins. Dir: Erik Matti. Cast: John Lloyd Cruz, Meryll Soriano, Tirso Cruz III. A pair of married whitecollar swindlers fall foul of their latest victims. Contemporary World Cinema the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
iNCiDeNt liGHt
(Argentina/France/ Uruguay) 95mins. UDI — Urban Distribution International (int’l). Dir: Ariel Rotter. Cast: Erica Rivas, Marcelo Subiotto, Susana Pampin. A woman struggling to raise her twin daughters accepts the courtship of a mysterious older suitor. Contemporary World Cinema Jackman Hall
16:30 lA GiuBBA
90mins. Dir: Corin Sworn, Tony Romano. Wavelengths Clint roenisch Gallery
September 14, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 21
»
ScreeningS
and begins to revolutionise the local women’s couture. gala Presentations roy thomson hall
the here after
(Poland/Sweden/France) 102mins. TrustNordisk (int’l). Dir: Magnus von Horn. Cast: Ulrik Munther, Loa Ek, Mats Blomgren. A teenager faces fear, hostility and danger when he returns to his rural community after serving time for a tragic crime. Discovery scotiabank 13
Public screening 19:15 gIrLs Lost
(Sweden) 106mins. The Yellow Affair (int’l). Dir: Alexandra-Therese Keining. Cast: Tuva Jagell, Emrik Ohlander, Wilma Holmén.
MurMur of the hearts
(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. A magical story of estranged siblings whose shared memories of their mother’s fairy tales begin to draw their lives together once again. Contemporary World Cinema tIff Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4 — Paul & Leah atkinson family Cinema
16:45 an
(Japan/France/Germany) 113mins. MK2 (int’l). Dir: Naomi Kawase. Cast: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida. A lonely baker’s life is reinvigorated when he hires a woman with an uncanny culinary skill. Contemporary World Cinema Isabel Bader theatre
urBan hyMn
(United Kingdom) 114mins. Metro International Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Michael Caton-Jones. Cast: Letitia Wright, Isabella Laughland,
the returneD
Three outcast teenage girls get a new perspective on highschool life when they are mysteriously transformed into boys. Contemporary World Cinema the Bloor hot Docs Cinema
Shirley Henderson. A gritty portrait of a pair of disenfranchised teenage girls struggling to survive in London. City to City scotiabank 11
17:00 the faMILy fang
(USA) 105mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). QED International (int’l). Dir: Jason Bateman. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Jason Bateman, Christopher Walken. After an accident, a pair of grown siblings are forced to move back in with their eccentric parents. special Presentations Winter garden theatre
the PrograM
(United Kingdom) 103mins. Studiocanal (int’l). Dir: Stephen Frears. Thriller about cycling champion Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal and downfall. gala Presentations scotiabank 12
17:15 25 aPrIL
(New Zealand) 85mins. K5 International (US). K5 International (int’l). Dir: Leanne Pooley. Cast: Fraser Brown,
22 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
Andrew Grainger, Chelsie Preston-Crayford. A fusion of documentary, fiction and state-of-the-art digital animation in this astonishing recreation of the costly 1915 Gallipoli campaign. Contemporary World Cinema tIff Bell Lightbox, Cinema 2
18:00 CoLLeCtIve InventIon
(South Korea) 92mins. CJ Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Kwon Oh-kwang. Cast: Kwang-soo Lee, Chun-hee Lee. A hapless mutant fishman becomes a celebrity, in this funny satire. vanguard scotiabank 1
Profile of the fall from grace of Canadian national hero Steve Fonyo, who raised millions of dollars for cancer research with his 1984-85 coast-tocoast run. Platform visa screening room (elgin)
18:30 IMBIsIBoL
(Philippines/Japan) 132mins. Dir: Lawrence Fajardo. Cast: Allen Dizon, Ces Quesada, Bernardo Bernardo. Undocumented Filipino workers try to support their families back home by taking under-thecounter work in Japan. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 10
sPotLIght
(USA) 128mins. Entertainment One (int’l). Dir: Tom McCarthy. Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams. A true story about a team of reporters who uncovered a child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. special Presentations Princess of Wales
18:15 guILty
(India) 133mins. Dir: Meghna Gulzar. Cast: Somen Mishra, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sensharma. A dramatisation of the notorious ‘Noida Double’ murder case in India. special Presentations ryerson theatre
hurt
(Canada) 84mins. Dir: Alan Zweig.
Les CoWBoys
(France/Belgium) 114mins. Pathé International (int’l). Dir: Thomas Bidegain. Cast: Francois Damiens, Finnegan Oldfield, Agathe Dronne. A man in modern-day France embarks on a 16-year odyssey to track down his daughter, who has run away and converted to Islam. Discovery scotiabank 2
the DressMaker
(Australia) 118mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). Embankment Films (int’l). Dir: Jocelyn Moorhouse. Cast: Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis. A dressmaker returns to her tiny Australian hometown from the chic fashion houses of Paris —
(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. Primetime tIff Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1
18:45 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 are assailed by an evil, invisible power when they are stranded at their school during the winter break. vanguard scotiabank 9
short Cuts — PrograMMe 7
The protagonists in this programme are forced to contend with transitions large and small. short Cuts tIff Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3
19:00 BoLshoI BaByLon
(United Kingdom) 87mins. Altitude Film Sales (int’l). Dir: Nick Read. Cast: Maria Alexandrova, Maria Allash, Anastasia Meskova. Documentary about the Bolshoi Ballet as it weathers the fallout from the 2013 acid attack on its director Sergei Filin. tIff Docs scotiabank 14
the harD stoP
(United Kingdom) 85mins. British Film Institute (int’l). Dir: George Amponsah. Cast: Kurtis Henville, Marcus Knox-Hooke. Documentary exploring the life and death of Mark Duggan, whose killing by police sparked the London riots of 2011. City to City scotiabank 3
19:15 gIrLs Lost see box, left
song of songs
(Ukraine) 76mins. Dir: Eva Neymann. Cast: Milena Tsibulskaya, Yevheniy Kogan, Arina Postolova-Tihipko. An affecting coming-of-age story set in a Ukrainian shtetl at the beginning of the 20th century. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 8
WaveLengths 4: PsyChIC DrIvIng
A programme of political statements and personal inquiries that breathes new life into the politics of the image. Wavelengths Jackman hall
19:45
the arDennes
11 MInutes
(Belgium) 90mins. Attraction Distribution (US). Savage Film, Attraction Distribution (int’l). Dir: Robin Pront. Cast: Jeroen Perceval, Veerle Baetens, Kevin Janssens. Two bandit brothers form a potentially explosive love triangle with a woman.
(Poland/Ireland) 81mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski. Cast: Richard Dormer, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Andrzej Chyra. A film that shuttles between the stories of several characters over the course of 11 minutes on a single day in Warsaw.
Discovery scotiabank 4
Masters tIff Bell Lightbox, Cinema 2
www.screendaily.com
DégraDé
men & ChiCKen
(Palestine/France/Qatar) 84mins. Elle Driver (US). Elle Driver (int’l). Dir: Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser. Cast: Hiam Abbass, Victoria Balitska, Manal Awad,. Thirteen women find themselves trapped in a Gaza hair salon during a stand-off between police and a local gangster.
(Denmark) 104mins. LevelK (int’l). Dir: Anders Thomas Jensen. Cast: Mads Mikkelsen. Two sadsack brothers visit a remote island to meet their biological father — and their three seriously eccentric siblings.
Discovery Scotiabank 11
guantanamo’S ChilD: omar KhaDr
(Canada) 80mins. Films Transit International (int’l). Dir: Patrick Reed, Michelle Shephard. Omar Khadr, who spent a decade imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, tells his story in his own words. tiFF Docs isabel Bader theatre
20:00 Being Charlie
(USA) 97mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). Dir: Rob Reiner. Cast: Nick Robinson, Morgan Saylor, Devon Bostick. A reckless teenager finds love and danger with a fellow resident in rehab. Special Presentations Winter garden theatre
Vanguard Scotiabank 1
21:15 BeaSt
(Australia/Philippines) 94mins. Arclight Films (int’l). Dir: Tom McKeith, Sam McKeith. Cast: Garret Dillahunt, Chad McKinney, Angeli Bayani. A young FilipinoAmerican boxer is forced to go on the run through the streets of Manila. Discovery tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 3
Being aP
(United Kingdom/ Ireland) 98mins. Dir: Anthony Wonke. Cast: Anthony McCoy. An intimate documentary portrait of legendary British horse-racing jockey AP McCoy. tiFF Docs Scotiabank 4
21:30 DeSDe alla
the laDy in the Van
(United Kingdom) 104mins. Dir: Nicholas Hytner. Cast: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Frances De La Tour. Adaptation of the basedon-fact play by Alan Bennett about a high-born homeless woman who found shelter living in her van in Bennett’s driveway — for 15 years. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
21:00
(Venezuela/Mexico) 90mins. Celluloid Dreams (int’l). Dir: Lorenzo Vigas. Cast: Alfredo Castro, Luis Silva. The story of a wealthy man who pays young men to endure a kind of contact-free abuse, only to find intimacy with one of his companions. Discovery Scotiabank 13
eVolution See box, right
BlaCK maSS
hyena roaD
(USA) 122mins. Warner Bros Pictures (US). Warner Bros Pictures (int’l). Dir: Scott Cooper. Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch. Johnny Depp stars as gangster Whitey Bulger, who spent 30 years as an FBI informant while rising to the top of the Boston underworld.
(Canada) 120mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). WTFilms (int’l). Dir: Paul Gross. Cast: Rossif Sutherland, Paul Gross, Christine Horne. A taut war drama about Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Special Presentations Visa Screening room (elgin)
(United Kingdom) 108mins. Metro
www.screendaily.com
gala Presentations roy thomson hall
Kilo tWo BraVo
International Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Paul Katis. Cast: David Elliot, Mark Stanley, Scott Kyle. A patrol of British troops in Afghanistan find themselves caught in the middle of a deathtrap.
Ozgür, Berkay Ates, Tülin Ozen. An ex-con is recruited as a police informant as political violence grips Istanbul.
City to City tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 1
our laSt tango
mountainS may DePart
(China/France/Japan) 125mins. MK2 (int’l). Dir: Jia Zhang-ke. Cast: Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Liang Jin Dong. An examination of how China’s economic boom has affected the bonds of family, tradition and love. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 3
(Germany/Argentina) 85mins. Wide House (int’l). Dir: German Kral. Cast: Maria Nieves Rego, Juan Carlos Copes, Pablo Veron. Documentarian German Kral chronicles the sevendecade career of Argentine tango legends Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves. tiFF Docs Scotiabank 9
arresting shorts face many challenges — some easier than others. Short Cuts Jackman hall
22:00 BoDy
(Poland) 90mins. Memento Films (int’l). Dir: Malgorzata Szumowska. Cast: Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala. The lives of a young woman with an eating disorder, her coroner father, and a physical therapist who believes she can communicate with the dead intersect in unexpected ways Special Presentations the Bloor hot Docs Cinema
P.S. JeruSalem SChneiDer VS. Bax
(Netherlands/Belgium) 96mins. Fortissimo Films (int’l). Dir: Alex van Warmerdam. Cast: Alex van Warmerdam, Tom Dewispelaere, Maria Kraakman. A black comedy about two contract killers who are pitted against each other. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 2
the rainBoW KiD
(Canada) 92mins. Dir: Kire Paputts. Cast: Dylan Harman, Krystal Nausbaum, Nicholas Campbell. A young man with Down’s Syndrome journeys through rural Ontario. Discovery Scotiabank 8
21:45 3000 nightS
(Palestine/France/ Jordan/Lebanon/United Arab Emirates/Qatar) 103mins. Intramovies (int’l). Dir: Mai Masri. Cast: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadera Omran, Raida Adon. A young Palestinian woman discovers she is pregnant just as a group of her fellow inmates launch a revolt against the prison administration.
(Canada/Israel) 87mins. Dir: Danae Elon. Cast: Luai Musa Hatib, Philip Touitou, Amos Touitou Elon. An intimate view of one of the most fiercely contested cities in the world. tiFF Docs Scotiabank 14
riVer oF graSS
(USA) 81mins. Oscilloscope Laboratories (int’l). Dir: Kelly Reichardt. Cast: Lisa Bowman, Larry Fessenden, Dick Russell. A new digital restoration of the rarely seen debut feature by Kelly Reichardt. tiFF Cinematheque tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 4 — Paul & leah atkinson Family Cinema
Short CutS — Programme 8
The characters in these
leS êtreS CherS
(Canada) 102mins. Wide Management (int’l). Dir: Anne Emond. Cast: Maxim Gaudette, Karelle Tremblay, Valérie Cadieux. A decades-spanning family epic that chronicles the fortunes of a Québécois clan after the suicide of its patriarch. Contemporary World Cinema tiFF Bell lightbox, Cinema 2
the WhiSPering Star
(Japan) 100mins.
Nikkatsu Corporation (int’l). Dir: Sion Sono. Cast: Megumi Kagurazaka. A humanoid robot deliverywoman muses on the mysteries of human nature as she drops off parcels around the galaxy. Contemporary World Cinema isabel Bader theatre
22:15 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 11
23:59 the girl in the PhotograPhS
(USA) 95mins. Creative Artists Agency (US). Dir: Nick Simon. Cast: Kal Penn, Claudia Lee, Kenny Wormald, Toby Hemingway. A celebrity photographer and his entourage descend upon a sleepy community to investigate the bloody doings of a serial killer. midnight madness ryerson theatre
Public screening 21:30 eVolution
(France) 81mins. Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Lucile Hadzihalilovic. Cast: Max Brebant, Roxane Duran, JulieMarie Parmentier. A young boy living in
a mysterious, isolated seaside clinic uncovers the sinister purposes of his keepers, in this mesmerising blend of body horror and surreal fantasy. Vanguard ryerson theatre
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 10
Frenzy
(Turkey/France/Qatar) 117mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Emin Alper. Cast: Mehmet
»
September 14, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 23
ScreeningS
PreSS & induStry 08:30 As i Open My eyes
(Tunisia/France/ Belgium/United Arab Emirates) 102mins. Doc & Film International (int’l). Dir: Leyla Bouzid. Cast: Baya Medhaffer, Ghalia Benali, Montassar Ayari. Leyla Bouzid tells the tale of an up-and-coming underground band. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 10
FiVe nighTs in MAine
(USA) 82mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US). Dir: Maris Curran. Cast: David Oyelowo, Dianne Wiest, Rosie Perez. An intimate drama about a grieving widower who sets out to fulfil his wife’s last wish that he finally meet her irascible mother.
Press & industry 09:15
Dir: AD Calvo. Cast: Robert Longstreet, Alexia Rasmussen, Eric Ladin. A disillusioned comicbook store owner revisits
an adolescent trauma when his beautiful young employee goes missing.
Noble Nomad (int’l). Dir: Deepa Mehta. Cast: Randeep Hooda, Ali Momen, Sarah Allen. A Sikh mobster leads his soldiers into a turf war.
Garret Dillahunt, Chad McKinney, Angeli Bayani. A young FilipinoAmerican boxer is forced to go on the run through the streets of Manila.
their own landmines in the aftermath of the Second World War.
gala presentations scotiabank 4
Discovery scotiabank 11
shOrT CuTs — prOgrAMMe 5
guilTy
COlOniA
(India) 133mins. IM Global (int’l) Dir: Meghna Gulzar. Cast: Somen Mishra, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sensharma. A dramatisation of the notorious ‘Noida Double’ murder case in India.
(Germany/Luxembourg/ France) 110mins. United Talent Agency — UTA (US). Beta Cinema (int’l). Dir: Florian Gallenberger. Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist. Two lovers find themselves trapped in the crackdown following the 1973 coup against Chilean president Salvador Allende.
The Missing girl
(USA) 89mins. APA (US). Instrum International (int’l).
Vanguard scotiabank 8
Discovery scotiabank 13
lOlO
(France) 99mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US). Wild Bunch (int’l). Dir: Julie Delpy. Cast: Julie Delpy, Dany Boon, Vincent Lacoste. A fortysomething workaholic finds romance while on a spa vacation — but her new beau has doubts when he discovers her unusual relationship with her 20-year-old son. gala presentations scotiabank 3
The prOgrAM
(United Kingdom) 103mins. Studiocanal (int’l). Dir: Stephen Frears. Cast: Burghart Klaussner, Ronald Zehrfeld, Lilith Stangenberg. Chronicles the Herculean efforts of district attorney Fritz Bauer to bring Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann to justice. gala presentations scotiabank 2
08:45 BeeBA BOys
(Canada) 103mins. Cinetic Media (US). Mongrel International,
special presentations scotiabank 7
WOMen he’s unDresseD
(Australia) 100mins. Hollywood Classics (int’l). Dir: Gillian Armstrong. A documentary tribute to Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly. TiFF Docs scotiabank 9
09:00 BeAsT
(Australia/Philippines) 94mins. Arclight Films (int’l). Dir: Tom McKeith, Sam McKeith. Cast:
24 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
special presentations scotiabank 1
lAnD OF Mine
(Denmark/Germany) 100mins. K5 International, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) (US). K5 International (int’l). Dir: Martin Zandvliet. Cast: Roland Moller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman. A group of German POWs are put to work defusing
platform scotiabank 14
Magaly Solier, Federico Luppi. The former aide to a military officer during the years of the Shining Path insurgency re-encounters an indigenous woman who was victimised by his superior. Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 6
The Missing girl see box, above
While some of the outsiders in this programme crave acceptance, others find the courage to defy society’s strictures. short Cuts scotiabank 5
spOTlighT
(USA) 128mins. Entertainment One (int’l). Dir: Tom McCarthy. Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams. True story about a team of reporters who uncovered a massive child-abuse scandal within the local Catholic Church. special presentations princess of Wales
09:15 MAgAllAnes
(Peru/Argentina/ Colombia/Spain) 109mins. Meikincine Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Salvador del Solar. Cast: Damian Alcazar,
10:30
The DeVil’s CAnDy
(USA) 90mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US). HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Sean Byrne. Cast: Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Pruitt Taylor. A painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas. Midnight Madness scotiabank 10
11:00
BOrn TO Be Blue
FreehelD
(Canada/United Kingdom) 97mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Cinetic Media (US). K5 International (int’l). Dir: Robert Budreau. Cast: Ethan Hawke. A reimagining of legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker’s struggle to overcome his addiction.
(USA) 103mins. Bankside Films (int’l). Dir: Peter Sollett. Cast: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon. A true story about a police officer whose legal battle to pass on her pension benefits to her domestic partner became a flashpoint for LGBT activism.
special presentations scotiabank 13
gala presentations scotiabank 2
10:45
11:15
FAMilies
lAsT CAB TO DArWin
(France) 113mins. Cinetic Media (US). TF1 International (int’l). Dir: Jean-Paul Rappeneau. Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Marine Vacth, Gilles Lellouche. A rollicking, romantic country-house farce from director Jean-Paul Rappeneau.
(Australia) 123mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Jeremy Sims. Cast: Jacki Weaver, Michael Caton, Ningali LawfordWolf. A 70-year-old taxi driver diagnosed with terminal cancer undertakes a 3,000-mile journey to visit a pioneering physician.
special presentations scotiabank 3
Contemporary World Cinema scotiabank 11
www.screendaily.com
(Ethiopia) 99mins. Dir: Hermon Hailay. Cast: Eskindir Tameru, Fereweni Gebregergs. A cab driver and a beautiful young prostitute fall in love on the mean streets of Addis Ababa.
Dir: Elisabeth Scharang. Cast: Johannes Krisch, Corinna Harfouch, Birgit Minichmayr. A biopic of a notorious Austrian convict who became a literary star while serving a 15-year sentence for murder.
contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 5
contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 7
Price of Love
Summertime
northern SouL
(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.
(United Kingdom) 102mins. The Little Film Company (US). The Little Film Company (int’l). Dir: Elaine Constantine. Cast: Elliot James Langridge, Joshua Whitehouse, Antonia Thomas. A coming-of-age film about a British teenager in Lancashire in 1974 who finds liberation in the area’s burgeoning soulmusic scene.
Special Presentations Scotiabank 14
the muSic of StrangerS: Yo-Yo ma and the SiLk road enSembLe
(USA) 96mins. Submarine Entertainment (US). Dir: Morgan Neville. A profile of cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, which brings together master musicians to teach, collaborate and perform. tiff docs Scotiabank 9
the Wave
(Norway) 105mins. TrustNordisk (int’l). Dir: Roar Uthaug. Cast: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Jonas Oftebro. A geologist tries to prevent a cataclysm when a mountain begins to collapse into the ocean. Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
11:30 high-riSe
(United Kingdom) 112mins. HanWay Films (int’l). Dir: Ben Wheatley. Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller. An adaptation of the JG Ballard novel about a London apartment block that becomes a battlefield in a literal class war. Platform Scotiabank 1
city to city Scotiabank 8
12:00 88:88 (preceded by maY We SLeeP SoundLY)
(Canada) 65mins. Dir: Isiah Medina. Cast: Anne Valencia, Myles Taylor, Erik Berg, Eliza Bronte. The first feature by Isiah Medina is an explosive
digital diary dealing with time, love, philosophy, poverty and poetry. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
deSierto
(Mexico/France) 94mins. United Talent Agency — UTA (US). IM Global (int’l). Dir: Jonas Cuaron. Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gael Garcia Bernal. A group of immigrants find their dream of entering the US becomes a nightmare when a deranged vigilante begins stalking them. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
room
(Ireland/Canada) 118mins. United Talent Agency (UTA) (US). FilmNation Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Lenny Abrahamson. Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen. Escaping from captivity after half a decade, a young woman and her five-year-old son struggle to adjust to the world outside their prison. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
12:45 a taLe of three citieS See box, below
bang gang (a modern Love StorY)
(France) 98mins. Films Distribution (int’l). Dir: Eva Husson. Cast: Finnegan Oldfield, Daisy Broom, Fred Hotier. The sexual exploits of a group of teenagers in Biarritz. Platform Scotiabank 13
13:15 the man Who kneW infinitY
(United Kingdom) 114mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US). Mister Smith Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Matthew Brown. Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Devika Bhise. Biopic about an early20th century Indian mathematician whose groundbreaking theories revolutionised the field. gala Presentations Scotiabank 2
the Wait
(Italy) 100mins. Pathé International (int’l). Dir:
Press & industry 12:45 a taLe of three citieS
(China) 130mins. IM Global (US). Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, IM Global (int’l). Dir: Mabel
Cheung. Cast: Sean Lau, Tang Wei. Based on the incredible true story of Jackie Chan’s parents, this decades-spanning epic follows the romance of a
former spy and a drugsmuggling young widow as they struggle to survive in a country devastated by war and famine. Special Presentations Scotiabank 10
Piero Messina. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Lou De Laage, Giorgio Colangeli. A dazzling, Sicilian-set meditation on grief and perseverance. discovery Scotiabank 3
13:45
Cast: Phurba Tashi Sherpa, Russell Brice, Ed Douglas. A documentary following Phurba Tashi Sherpa as he undertakes his worldrecord-setting 22nd ascent of Mount Everest. tiff docs Scotiabank 7
bLeak Street
(Mexico/Spain) 99mins. Latido Films (int’l). Dir: Arturo Ripstein. Cast: Patricia Reyes Spindola, Nora Velazquez, Sylvia Pasquel. A true-crime story about the bizarre 2009 murders of dwarf wrestling brothers Alberto and Alejandro Jimenez. masters Scotiabank 9
equaLS
(USA) 101mins. United Talent Agency (UTA) (US). Mister Smith Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Drake Doremus. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce. A tale set in a 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 Scotiabank 4
SherPa
(Australia/United Kingdom) 96mins. Dir: Jennifer Peedom.
Short cutS — Programme 6
These startling and daring short films demonstrate the value of thinking way, way outside the box. Short cuts Scotiabank 5
14:00 angrY indian goddeSSeS
(India) 109mins. Mongrel International (int’l). Dir: Pan Nalin. Cast: Amrit Maghera, Rajshri Deshpande, Pavleen Gujral. A group of women discuss everything from their careers, sex lives and secrets to nosy neighbours and street harassment, in this refreshingly frank depiction of contemporary Indian society. Special Presentations Scotiabank 11
endorPhine
(Canada) 84mins. Séville International (int’l). Dir: André Turpin. Cast: Sophie Nélisse, Mylene Mackay, Lise Roy. An intoxicating cinematic puzzle that intertwines the lives of three seemingly unconnected characters. vanguard Scotiabank 14
14:15 koza
(Slovakia/Czech Republic) 75mins. Pluto Film Distribution Network (int’l). Dir: Ivan Ostrochovsky. Cast: Peter Balaz, Zvonko Lakcevic, Jan Franek. This subtle fusion of documentary and fiction follows a Roma boxer as he embarks on a return to the ring in order to pay for his girlfriend’s abortion. contemporary World cinema Scotiabank 8
the other Side Jack
(Austria) 97mins. Picture Tree International (int’l). www.screendaily.com
(France/Italy) 92mins. Doc & Film International (int’l). Dir: Roberto » September 14, 2015 Screen International at Toronto 25
ScrEEningS
Minervini. Cast: Mark Kelley, Lisa Allen, James Lee Miller. A powerful docu-fiction hybrid that profiles Louisiana drug addicts and private militia living on the fringes of society.
Screen office Meeting room 12, fifth floor, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3X5
Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
Editorial Tel +1 416 599 8433 ext 2512 Editor Matt Mueller, matt.mueller@screendaily.com, +44 7880 526 547
14:30 ForSAkEN
(Canada) 90mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US). Minds Eye Entertainment (int’l). Dir: Jon Cassar. Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Demi Moore. Kiefer and Donald Sutherland joing forces for this brooding western about a gunslinger who attempts to make amends with his estranged father when their community is besieged by land-grabbers. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 12
15:15 ThE ProMISEd LANd See box, right
16:00 ThE MEMory oF JUSTICE
(United Kingdom/USA/ Germany) 278mins. The Film Foundation (US). The Film Foundation (int’l). Dir: Marcel Ophüls. This epic documentary meditates on Western society’s concepts of justice through comparisons of war crimes in Vietnam, Algeria and Nazi Germany. TIFF Cinematheque Scotiabank 7
16:30 No hoME MoVIE
(Belgium) 115mins. Doc & Film International (int’l). Dir: Chantal Akerman. A moving portrait of Chantal Akerman’s relationship with her mother, an Auschwitz survivor whose harrowing past and chronic anxiety has greatly shaped her daughter’s art. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
16:45 No MEN BEyoNd ThIS PoINT
(Canada) 80mins. APA
US editor Jeremy Kay, jeremykay67@gmail.com, +1 310 922 5908 News editor Michael Rosser, michael.rosser@screendaily.com, +44 7843 078 926 Chief critic & reviews editor Finn Halligan, finn.halligan@ screendaily.com, +44 7798 571 270 Group head of production & art Mark Mowbray, mark.mowbray@screendaily.com, +44 7710 124 065
Press & industry 15:15 ThE ProMISEd LANd
(China) 102mins. Turbo Films (int’l) Dir: He Ping. Cast: Wang Jiajia, Zhang Yi, Wang Zhiwen. Veteran director He Ping’s first film to be set in the present day (US). Dir: Mark Sawers. Cast: Kristine Cofsky, Patrick Gilmore, Rekha Sharma. This wry mockumentary from Vancouver director Mark Sawers envisions a world where women have become asexual and are no longer giving birth to males, and where the dwindling population of men are desperate to reclaim their place in the sun. Vanguard Scotiabank 5
18:15 hUrT
(Canada) 84mins. Dir: Alan Zweig. Alan Zweig profiles onetime Canadian national hero Steve Fonyo, who raised millions of dollars for cancer research with his 1984-85 coast-to-coast run and was subsequently disgraced by his troubles with the law. Platform Visa Screening room (Elgin)
26 Screen International at Toronto September 14, 2015
spotlights the massive internal migration that has seen millions of young people leaving their rural towns and villages to try and find a new life in China’s biggest cities.
Crista Alfaiate, Americo Silva, Carloto Cotta. The third volume of Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes’ Scheherazadean triptych brings the epic to a close with the sound of birdsong and the promise of the ineffable.
Amy Berg delves into the life of late rock legend Janis Joplin, who tragically died at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose.
Platform Visa Screening room (Elgin)
Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
(USA) 81mins. Oscilloscope Laboratories (int’l). Dir: Kelly Reichardt. Cast: Lisa Bowman, Larry Fessenden, Dick Russell. A new digital restoration of the rarely seen debut feature by American indie auteur Kelly Reichardt, about a pair of outlaw lovers who go on a tragicomic would-be crime spree.
19:00 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 man who is forced to choose between staying in his community or exploring the possibilities of the world outside. discovery Scotiabank 5
19:15
WAVELENGThS 4: PSyChIC drIVING
Is now a time for outrage? This programme of political statements and personal inquiries breathes new life into the politics of the image. Wavelengths Jackman hall
21:15 IT ALL STArTEd AT ThE ENd
(Colombia) 208mins. Dir: Luis Ospina. Cast: Amazigh Kateb, Rachida Brakni. A family must defend itself amid the onslaught of violence between government forces and radical Islamists in 1980s Algeria. TIFF docs Scotiabank 5
21:45
ArABIAN NIGhTS: VoLUME 3, ThE ENChANTEd oNE
JANIS: LITTLE GIrL BLUE
(Portugal/France/ Germany/Switzerland) 125mins. The Match Factory (int’l). Dir: Miguel Gomes. Cast:
(USA) 106mins. Content Media Corporation (US). Content Media Corporation (int’l). Dir: Amy Berg.
TIFF docs Scotiabank 7
rIVEr oF GrASS
TIFF Cinematheque TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
22:00 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 young couple in a London suburb become involved in a psychological battle of wills with the tenants in the apartment downstairs.
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City to City Scotiabank 6
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Creative Scotland is proud to support the World Premiere of
Sunset Song at Toronto International Film Festival
Screenings 9.15am, 14 September Public screening Cinema 3 (221) 10.45am, 15 September Press and Industry screening Scotiabank 4 (386) 12.15pm, 20 September Public screening Isabel Bader Theatre (452)
Join us at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 Agyness Deyn in Sunset Song Photo: Dean MacKenzie