TOfilmfest.ca/rss

"11 FLOWERS" (2011 feature film directed by Xiaoshuai Wang)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:45:40 -0400

Wang Han, 11 year old boy in the province of Ghizhou is confronted with a runaway murderer. Hiding in the woods, the wounded man takes Wang Han drying shirt and persuades him to help him out. Frightened and fascinated at once, Wang Han and his friends accept to keep it secret from the police. Strange things are happening at school and the police is everywhere. Wang Han, an 11-year-old boy in the province of Ghizhou, is confronted by a runaway murderer hiding in the woods. The wounded man persuades Wang Han to help him out. Both frightened and fascinated, Wang Han and his friends promise to keep the man's whereabouts secret from the police even when strange things begin happening at school.

"360" (2011 feature film directed by Fernando Meirelles)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:27:15 -0400

A look at what happens when partners from different social backgrounds engage in in physical relationships. Inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's classic La Ronde, screenwriter Peter Morgan and director Fernando Meirelles' 360 combines a modern and dynamic roundelay of stories into one, linking characters from different cities and countries in a vivid, suspenseful and deeply moving tale of love in the 21st century. Starting in Vienna, the film beautifully weaves through Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio, Denver and Phoenix into a single, mesmerizing narrative.

"388 ARLETTA AVENUE" (2011 feature film directed by Randall Cole)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:46:26 -0400

Seen entirely from the point of view of hand-held and surveillance cameras, 388 Arletta Avenue tells the story of a couple, Nick Stahl and Mia Kirshner, who do not realize they are being watched. The watching becomes a subtle manipulation which ultimately escalates into a deadly cat-and-mouse game.

"50/50" (2011 feature film directed by Jonathan Levine)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:46:36 -0400

Inspired by personal experiences, 50/50 is a funny, touching and original story of friendship, love, and survival. Adam is a 27 year old writer of radio programs and is diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer. With the help of his best friend, his mother, and a young therapist at the cancer center, Adam learns what and who the most important things in his life are.

"LAS ACACIAS" (2011 feature film directed by Pablo Giorgelli)

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:40:53 -0400

Ruben is a lonely truck driver who has been covering for years the motorway from Asuncion del Paraguay to Buenos Aires, carrying wood. However, today's journey will be different. This morning, in a motorway stop near Asuncion, Jacinta shows up an hour later to begin a journey by truck which is going to take her to Buenos Aires. What's more, Ruben finds out at that very moment that little Anahi, who's 8 months old, will travel with them- It is not the best beginning. As kilometres go by, the relationship between Ruben and Jacinta will grow. They will slowly meet and sip into each other's soul. None of them talks much about their lives. None asks much either. It's a few word journey but it is not a silent one. Subtle and poignant, Giorgelli's 2011 Camera D'Or winner is a movingly beautiful road movie highlighted by stunning performances.

"AFGHAN LUKE" (2011 feature film directed by Mike Clattenburg)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:47:02 -0400

Disheartened when his story about Canadian snipers possibly mutilating corpses in Afghanistan is buried, Luke (Nick Stahl) quits his job but is even more determined to return to Afghanistan to get the real story.

"ALBERT NOBBS" (2011 feature film directed by Rodrigo Garcia)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:47:09 -0400

A witty Irish-set period drama about the lives of staff at Dublin's most luxurious hotel: the illegitimate child of a maid, a beautiful couple's impossible love, and Albert...a woman who pretends to be a man to survive. Nineteenth century Ireland: for a woman to be independent and single, she must deceive everyone - by pretending to be a man. Albert, a shy butler who keeps to himself, has been hiding a deep secret for years - 'he' is a woman who has had to behave as a man all her life in order to escape a life of poverty and loneliness. When a handsome painter Hubert Page arrives at the hotel, Albert is inspired to try and escape the false life she has created for herself. She gathers her nerve to court beautiful, saucy young maid Helen in whom she thinks she's found a companion - but Helen's eye is on a new arrival: handsome, bad-boy Joe, the new handy-man. As Albert dares to hope that she might one day live a normal life, we catch a glimpse of a free-spirited woman who is caught in the wrong time...

"ALMAYER'S FOLLY" (2011 feature film directed by Chantal Akerman)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:47:18 -0400

Somewhere in South-East Asia, in a little lost village on a wide and turbulent river, a European man clings to his pipe dreams out of love for his daughter. Working freely from Joseph Conrad's debut novel, Akerman tells the story of a trader in 1950s Malaysia whose dreams of a Western life for his Malay daughter slowly lead to destruction. A quest for the absolute, a story of passion and madness.

"ALOIS NEBEL" (2010 feature film directed by Tomas Lunak)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:47:24 -0400

Stories from the past and present converge at a small railway in Billy Potok, a tiny village on the Czech-Polish border. The local dispatcher, Alois Nebel, is a loner who prefers old timetables to people and has hallucinations of trains passing through the station from the last 100 years. Ghosts and visions from the dark past of Central Europe - Nazi occupation, transportation of Jews, communists' revenge on the Germans - ultimately send him on a tumultuous and ominous journey.

"ALPS" (2011 feature film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:47:33 -0400

A mysterious underground outfit, going by the name of ALPS, offers bereaved individuals a very unusual service: they stand in for their dearly departed. A nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast, and her coach have formed a secret, illegal company. The service they provide is to act as stand-ins for the recently deceased, for the benefit of grieving relatives and friends. The company is called "ALPS" and the ALPS members, taking inspiration from the life of the deceased, adopt their behaviours and habits, memorizing favourite songs, actors, foods, familiar expressions. Although the members of ALPS operate under a disciplined regime demanded by the paramedic, their leader, the nurse doesn't.

"ALWAYS BRANDO" (2011 feature film directed by Ridha Behi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:47:44 -0400

The contentment of community turns upside down as an American film crew invades its serenity. Seduction, greed, and betrayal devastates them all. After meeting Anis Raache, a young Tunisian actor who bears a stunning resemblance to young Marlon Brando, Tunisian master Ridha Behi decided to write a film casting the two. Marlon Brando was interested, the two met and reworked the script. Brando died before shooting started. Always Brando chronicles Behi's saga with Marlon Brando and meditates on the lure and cruelty of the art, system and its industry.

"AMERICANO" (2011 feature film directed by Mathieu Demy)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:30:39 -0400

The death of his mother draws a young Frenchman back to his childhood in Los Angeles as he prepares to wrap up her estate. However, things become complicated when he discovers that his mother was very fond of a woman to whom she seems to have wanted to inherit her place. He sets out to find her, a trip that takes him into the fleshpots of Tijuana. Demy plays a man who travels to Los Angeles, where he grew up, to settle his inheritance. His mother's apartment reawakens childhood images and, troubled, he takes off to Tijuana to meet a childhood friend -- played by Hayek -- who remained very close to his mother and dances at the Americano. When Mathieu was little, his name was Martin and he lived in Los Angeles. Martin grew up and lives in Paris. When he loses his mother back in California, Martin must return to the city of his childhood to deal with the formalities surrounding his inheritance. Unable to face up to his mom's death, Martin takes off to Tijuana on the trail of Lola, a Mexican woman he used to know, and who held a special place in his mother's life. To make his own peace, Martin must delve into his past.

"AMONG US" (2011 feature film directed by Marco van Geffen)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:45:44 -0400

Split into three segments, each told from a different perspective, this smart thriller focuses on the lives of immigrant workers in Europe. Ewa, a vulnerable and shy girl from Poland, journeys to the Netherlands to work as an au pair. From the onset, the relationship with the young couple she works for is strained as she finds it difficult to live up to their cliched expectations. When a rape takes place in town, Ewa believes she knows the sexual predator. Having nobody to share this knowledge with further alienates her from the people who surround her.

"AMY GEORGE" (2011 feature film directed by Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:10 -0400

Thirteen-year-old Jesse wants to be an artist, but believes that his mundane middle class Toronto life has left him unprepared. After reading a book on what it takes to be a "true artist," he sets out looking for risk, ecstasy, wildness and women. Using the few resources they had, Calvin Thomas, 23 and Yonah Lewis, 24 began writing their screenplay. Their vision became more and more understated until they wrote a narrative that was feasible with a $10,000 budget -- it was "Amy George".

"ANONYMOUS" (2011 feature film directed by Roland Emmerich)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:16 -0400

Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? In this vivid drama from Roland Emmerich, mystery swirls around the authorship of classic plays, as the back-stabbing theatre world intersects with political intrigue at the court of Elizabeth I. A political thriller advancing the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays; set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her. Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage. The first major full-length motion picture to be shot with the Arri ALEXA high-definition digital-video camera.

"ARIRANG" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Ki-duk Kim)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:21 -0400

Documentary on director Kim Ki-Duk looking back at his film career. While shooting a suicide scene for his last film, Dream, in 2008, filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk's lead actress nearly perished and the incidenttriggered an emotional and creative breakdown for Kim. As an act of self-administered therapy, Arirang takes playful liberties with the documentary form as Kim traces his experiences and mindset during this period of crisis.

"THE ARTIST" (2011 feature film directed by Michel Hazanavicius)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:29 -0400

Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break. French director Michel Hazanavicius' black-and-white silent film follows George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent-era film star struggling to make it in the talkies. This witty and visually enthralling homage to early cinema features supporting performances by Malcolm MacDowell, John Goodman and James Cromwell.

"AVALON" (2011 feature film directed by Axel Petersen)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:40 -0400

After serving time with an ankle bracelet, Janne, a former party organizer, travels to Bastad to open an exclusive nightclub and get his life back on track. A few days before the club's launch, Janne causes a catastrophic accident, and his increasingly desperate attempts to deal with the situation drag him into a dark downward spiral.

"THE AWAKENING" (2011 feature film directed by Nick Murphy)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:49 -0400

Haunted by the death of her fiance, Florence Cathcart is on a mission to expose all seances as exploitative shams. However, when she is called to a boys' boarding school to investigate a case of the uncanny, she is gradually forced to confront her skepticism in the most terrifying way, shaking her scientific convictions and her sense of self to the very core. Haunting and moving in equal measure, The Awakening is a sophisticated psychological/supernatural thriller in the tradition of The Others and The Orphanage, but with its own unique and thrilling twist.

"AZHAGARSAMY'S HORSE" (2011 feature film directed by Susindran)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:48:54 -0400

In a small Tamil village, a ceremonial wooden-horse statue goes missing. With a crucial holy symbol suddenly gone, the village falls into recriminations and comic chaos. At the same time, Azhagarsamy, a young man who earns his livelihood by ferrying loads on his horse, puts his marriage on hold when his horse also disappears. The villagers believe the Rain Gods will favor them after the annual Thiruvizha, during which the deity is taken around the village on a wooden horse. They are in for a rude shock when the horse goes missing. At the same time, Azhagarsami, a youngster who earns his livelihood by ferrying loads on his horse, gets ready for his marriage. His horse also goes missing, and his marriage is put on hold. Do the villagers and Azhagarsami find their respective horses?

"BACK TO STAY" (2011 feature film directed by Milagros Mumenthaler)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:49:03 -0400

Buenos Aires at the end of summer. Marina, Sofia and Violeta are alone in the family home after their grandmother, who had brought them up, has died. They have to come to terms with her death, each in her own way. Marina concentrates on her studies while looking after the household, whereas Sofia becomes obsessed by her appearance and goes out with friends. As for Violeta, she wanders around between bedroom and sitting room where, from time to time, she receives an older man. Discord, laughter, meanness, gestures of affection determine the rhythm of this period of uncertainty, until one day in autumn Violeta disappears without warning.

"BARRYMORE" (2011 feature film directed by Erik Canuel)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:50:50 -0400

Barrymore brings Christopher Plummer's Tony Award-winning tour-de-force stage performance to the screen in this film version of the Broadway hit adapted and directed by Erik Canuel. Acknowledged as one of the greatest actors in the world, Plummer took on the mammoth task of portraying legendary actor John Barrymore as he struggles with inner demons and the result is a breathtaking performance. Playwright William Luce's Barrymore opened at the Stratford Festival in 1996 before moving to Broadway, where Plummer won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor. In an on-stage conversation following the film, Plummer will address the full span of his remarkable career.

"BEAUTY" (2011 feature film directed by Oliver Hermanus)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:51:10 -0400

Tells the story of Francois van Heerden, a mid-40s, white, Afrikaans-speaking family man living in Bloemfontein, who has become devoid of any care or concern for his own measure of happiness, and so convinced of his ill-fated existence, that he is wholly unprepared when a chance encounter unravels his clean, controlled life.

"BEHOLD THE LAMB" (2011 feature film directed by John McIlduff)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:51:15 -0400

Eddie, a depressed accountant, accompanies his junkie son's girlfriend Liz on a mysterious pick up to help save his neck. Between moments of unexpected heroism and sporadic bird watching, Eddie's dysfunctional humanity connects with Liz's tortured past and a kind of healing begins.

"BELOVED" (2011 feature film directed by Christophe Honore)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:51:25 -0400

From Paris in the 1960s to London's modern days, Madeleine and her daughter Vera waltz in and out of the lives of the men they love. But love can be light and painful, cheerful and bitter. An elegy to femininity and passion with musical outbursts. (Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni are real-life mother and daughter.)

"A BETTER LIFE" (2011 feature film directed by Cedric Kahn)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:51:33 -0400

Yann (Guillaume Canet) trained as a chef and walks with a chef's swagger. It's as easy for him to boast about his future plans as it is to pick up a woman in a bar, in this case the beautiful Nadia (Leila Bekhti). What he can't seem to do is find the right job in Paris's cutthroat restaurant world. Yann, a cook, and Nadia, a waitress and mother of nine-year-old child, decide to risk everything on the purchase of a restaurant. With plenty of talent, energy, love and dreams, but no finances of their own, they find themselves forced into a jungle of financing and bank loans that quickly overwhelms them. To bail them out, Nadia has to take a job in Canada, while Yann is forced to stay behind to save the restaurant. Together, he and the child confront a relentless avalanche of creditors, an uncaring system and the daily grind from which there is no respite. Yann finally understands that his only chance of salvation lies in joining his lover - as well as reuniting mother and child - by following Nadia to Canada and a better life.

"BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR" (2010 feature film directed by Barbara Willis-Sweete)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:51:38 -0400

In Billy Bishop Goes to War acting legend Eric Peterson and award-winning writer/composer John Gray reprise their iconic two-man play that has captivated audiences for three decades. Through raucous stories, haunting memories, and vibrant song, an aged Bishop (Peterson) recounts the triumphs and horrors of 'the war to end all wars.'

"BLOOD OF MY BLOOD" (2011 feature film directed by Joao Canijo)

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:18:21 -0400

A regular family living in the outskirts of Lisbon sees the serenity of their lives shaken beyond any remedy within a week. Set in inner city Lisbon, this family saga about unconditional love - a mother's love for her daughter and an aunt's love for her nephew - chronicles the sacrifices these two women are willing to make to save their family.

"BONSAI" (2011 feature film directed by Cristian Jimenez)

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:26:52 -0400

A young writer recounts an earlier romance in hopes of attracting his new love interest. Jimenez' debut celebrates love, literature and botany in this portrayal of a struggling writer, Julio, who finds himself writing a book about his very first experience with love in order to keep up a lie that he has told his current lover. In need of a plot, Julio turns to the romance he had eight years earlier with Emilia when both were studying literature in Valdivia.

"THE BOY WHO WAS KING" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Andrey Paounov)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:52:08 -0400

irector Andrey Paounov (The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories) explores the strange history of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who became Bulgaria's tsar at age 6, then was exiled during years of communism and returned to be elected Prime Minister.

"BREAKAWAY" (2011 feature film directed by Robert Lieberman)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:29:04 -0400

Breakaway is a cross-cultural hockey drama set in the Indo-Canadian community in suburban Toronto, Canada. It's also a keenly observed cross-cultural drama with a hero caught between a family's traditional expectations and a dream to make it big in the national sport of an adopted country. Breakaway is a fun, action-filled sports comedy bringing a dash of Bollywood entertainment to Canada's favourite sport. Raised as a traditional Sikh, Rajveer was forbidden as a boy to cut his hair... and had to wear a turban, this stopped him from playing hockey, the game he loved. In his early teens, forsaking his family's religious traditions and beliefs, he removed his turban and cut his hair so he'd be more accepted within his country. His goal was to succeed in a traditional white man's sport, but this conflicted with his father's wish that he'd devote his life to his religion and the family business. Unable to find a foothold in the game, Rajveer takes matters into his own hands by creating an all Indian hockey team (The Speedy Singhs), finding a coach and then bringing on his Uncle Sammy's trucking company as the team sponsor, doing all this behind his father's back. Along the way to the championship game, he is faced with the questions he had not wanted to address: family, friendship, loyalty and identity. And until he can answer these questions, the podium will always be out to his reach.

"BREATHING" (2011 feature film directed by Karl Markovics)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:52:30 -0400

Without a family and seemingly incapable of coping with society, an18-year-old incarcerated boy faces a slim chance of probation. After many failed attempts, he finds a job through the day-release program at the municipal morgue in Vienna. Encountering a dead woman who bears his family name sends him on a quest to find his mother.

"THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS BEAT THE BEST" (2011 feature film directed by Ryan O'Nan)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:52:48 -0400

A singer-songwriter has a bizarre run-in with a self-appointed music revolutionary and forms a two-man band that sets across the country. Two musicians, on the verge of abandoning their "childish" dreams, attempt one last ditch effort at achieving the impossible. They set off across the country armed with only an acoustic guitar, a broken heart, and a whole arsenal of children's instruments.

"BUFFALO DAYS" (2011 presentation)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:52:16 -0400

One of Canada's most celebrated filmmakers, Peter Lynch has also had a long history with video art and installation work dating back to when he organized Video Culture International in the 1980s. Buffalo Days examines the devastating impact of Europeans on native cultures. In place of an inherently organic system, Europeans substituted one of complete control, driving out or eliminating wildlife - especially buffalo - and people unable to conform. The projections perform different functions: one reflects the actual physical environment; another, remnants and ghosts of the Blackfoot people's way of life. The haunting quality of the imagery is buttressed by a soundscape comprised of natural sounds and traditional Blackfoot drumming. The piece is a compelling rumination on several of Lynch's favourite themes, among them how we interact or fail to interact with our environment. Presented in collaboration with the Royal Ontario Museum's Institute for Contemporary Culture. Produced with the support of the National Parks Project. Thorsell Spirit House, 100 Queen's Park. September 8 to 18.

"BUNOHAN" (2011 feature film directed by Dain Said)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:52:58 -0400

Three estranged brothers return home, each with their own path and their own fate. Adil, a kickboxer, is on the run from an illegal fight while Ilham, an assassin, hunts for his next prey. But it's their opportunist brother Bakar who propels them all onto a collision course of deceit, regret and murder.

"BURNING MAN" (2011 feature film directed by Jonathan Teplitzky)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:53:05 -0400

Why is Tom behaving so badly? Six women and an eight-year-old boy are fighting, in very different ways, to help. But for Tom, it seems, there are no rules. Burning Man is the reckless, provocative and moving story of a father and son's journey back to happiness. An English chef with a chic restaurant on Bondi Beach trying to put his life and his relationship with his son back on track while surrounded by women.

"BUTTER" (2011 feature film directed by Jim Field Smith)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:53:10 -0400

A comedy set in the Midwest U.S., where an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town's annual contest. Set in the highly competitive world of championship butter carving, Butter blends social commentary, outrageous comedy and heartfelt drama in telling the story of the ambitious Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner), the self-anointed First Lady of Butter Carving. Refusing to accept that her husband (Ty Burrell) wants to step down after his 15-year run as the "Iowa State Butter Carving Champion," and therefore end the Pickler family's reign in the spotlight, Laura takes a stab at the title herself. But her bid for glory is complicated when two unlikely contestants enter the race - one, her husband's hard-living mistress (Olivia Wilde), and the other a 10-year-old foster child named Destiny (Yara Shahidi). Enlisting the help of her high school sweetheart, Boyd (Hugh Jackman), Laura will stop at nothing to be crowned champion, even if it means resorting to sabotage. Part political satire, part Capra-esque comedy, Butter is a story about what it means to win at all costs and against all odds.

"CAFE DE FLORE" (2011 feature film directed by Jean-Marc Vallee)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:53:17 -0400

Cafe de Flore is first and foremost an epic love story between a man and woman. And between a mother and her son. Two people from two different eras who live two extraordinary moments of passion that shake their lives. A mystical and supernatural odyssey on love.

"CAPRICHOSOS DE SAN TELMO" (2011 feature film directed by Alison Murray)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:53:26 -0400

A portrait of the working-class musicians and dancers of Buenos Aires's San Telmo neighbourhood, who have channelled the city's many cultural influences into the street performance called Murga. Caprichosos de San Telmo follows a murga group of the same name as they rehearse and perform in the streets of Buenos Aires. Murga is a dance form that dates back to the era of slavery in the city, when the San Telmo quarter was populated by Africans. Unlike its cultural cousin the tango, murga is not taught in any institution; it's a tradition of social protest and commentary that has remained hidden in the arrabals, the slums of Buenos Aires. With this film we are infiltrating the world of the murgeros, and meet some of the characters that make this dance of empowerment a community-building, life-saving socio-political activity.

"THE CARDBOARD VILLAGE" (2011 feature film directed by Ermanno Olmi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:53:37 -0400

An old priest and his church are about to be demolished. A group of clandestine immigrants seeking protection find refuge in that church. In a circumstance of crisis and discouragement, together these people will be able to find the real meaning of the word "solidarity" and realize that the church is much more than a place for liturgical ceremonies and golden altars.

"CARRE BLANC" (2010 feature film directed by Jean-Baptiste Leonetti)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:12:44 -0400

Philip and Mary, two teenagers whose parents were crushed by the system, are placed in an orphanage with frightening education methods. Twenty years later, they became husband and wife and have all the appearances of a wealthy couple. However, while Philip is a cog in the system, Mary goes into a depression that seems irreversible. Unable to have kids, they are on the verge of breaking. But Mary will do anything to show Philip that together they can love and survive in a frozen desert where men have become monsters. Carre Blanc is a near future arthouse science fiction picture that fuses the dark absurdism of Franz Kafka with the icily precise visuals of a Tarkovsky, the picture is a slyly hilarious commentary on capitalism gone badly wrong. It's a grim commentary, to be sure, but one that laughs as it twists the knife. A bleak society where those who are weak or fail to adapt are turned into industrial food in total indifference.

"CAT VANISHES" (2011 feature film directed by Carlos Sorin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:53:55 -0400

Lius Luque plays a Professor who has been recently released from a mental institution after a violent outbreak. Beatriz Spelzini plays his wife, who is apprehensive of her husband's apparent full recovery. When Beatriz picks up her husband Luis from the sanatorium, she is not quite sure if she should believe his psychiatrist's pronouncement that he is fully cured. Her usually churlish, academic husband is suddenly friendly and cooperative, even willing to take a trip to Brazil's beaches. When their cat Donatello disappears, Beatriz' suspicions lead her to question her own sanity.

"CENTURY OF BIRTHING" (2011 feature film directed by Lav Diaz)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:54:01 -0400

A grand meditation on the roles of the artist, Filipino director Lav Diaz's Century of Birthing tells two seemingly unrelated tales: one focusing on a filmmaker who has spent years working on his latest opus; the other about a Christian cult leader in a rural region.

"CHICKEN WITH PLUMS" (2011 feature film directed by Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:54:06 -0400

Nasser-Ali, a talented musician, meets his beloved, Irane, in the streets. But she doesn't recognize him. Following this encounter we find that after an argument with his wife, Nasser-Ali's beloved tar (an Iranian instrument) was broken. He searches for a replacement, and, finding none, he vows to die. Eight days later, he does. This is the story of his last week of life, where we see flashbacks and flash forwards of his previous life and his children's futures. We also see appearances of a nude Sophia Loren as well as the angel of death, Azarel. As we see his life, we realize exactly why he chose to end his life, and the profundity of this choice. Tehran, 1958: Nasser Ali Khan, the most celebrated violin player, has his beloved instrument broken. Unable to find another to replace it, life without music seems intolerable. He stays in bed and slips further and further into his reveries from his youth to his own children's futures. Over the course of the week that follows, and as the pieces of this captivating story fall into place, we understand his poignant secret and the profundity of his decision to give up life for music and love.

"CITY TO CITY PANEL: BUENOS AIRES" (2011 feature film)

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:57:55 -0400

Filmmakers whose works are featured in the Festival's City to City spotlight on Buenos Aires, Festival programmers and industry professionals join together for a lively and interactive discussion of the emerging film scene in Buenos Aires. Please join us for "Buenos Aires - A Conversation," to hear the visiting filmmakers explore how their city's urban culture and cinematic legacy inform and challenge them in their art. This panel is free and open to the public, and will take place: Tuesday September 13, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3, 6:30pm Tickets for City to City panel will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from the relevant venue box office two hours prior to start of the screening.

"COLOUR OF THE OCEAN" (2011 feature film directed by Maggie Peren)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:54:50 -0400

A Spanish border patrolman of Grand Canary Island, Jose, decides the fate of hundreds of African boat people. When Nathalie, a German tourist, gets involved, the refugee crisis threatens to spin out of control. It's up to Jose to decide what to do, but he must learn to free himself first before he can help free others.

"COMIC-CON: EPISODE IV - A FAN'S HOPE" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Morgan Spurlock)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:54:57 -0400

Have you ever imagined a place where Vulcans and vampires get along? Where wizards and wookies can be themselves? Welcome to Comic-Con San Diego. What started as a fringe comic book convention for 500 fans has grown into the pop culture event of the year that influences every form of entertainment, now attended by over 140,000. Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan's Hope explores this cultural phenomenon by following the lives of seven attendees as they descend upon the ultimate geek mecca.

"CORIOLANUS" (2010 feature film directed by Ralph Fiennes)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:07 -0400

The citizens of Rome are hungry. Coriolanus, the hero of Rome, a great soldier and a man of inflexible self-belief despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot. Rome is bloody. Manipulated and out-maneuvered by politicians and even his own mother Volumnia, Coriolanus is banished from Rome. He offers his life or his services to his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius. Coriolanus and Aufidius march on Rome intending to destroy the city. Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes), a hero of Rome, is a great soldier but despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot and he is banished from Rome. Coriolanus allies with a sworn enemy (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city.

"COUNTDOWN" (2011 feature film directed by Huh Jong-ho)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:15 -0400

Jeon Do-youn plays a beautiful ex-con who, after being released from prison, tries to make some quick cash by manipulating a heartless debt collector. Jeon Do-yeon (The Housemaid) is playing a con-artist, opposite Jung Jae-young who plays a heartless debt collector with a 100% success rate in getting his mark to pay up. He puts his life on the line as he chases her down, but meets his match in Jeon Do-yeon's character. She can't pass up one last score, and cons him even as he hunts her relentlessly. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse game where the better con wins.

"CRANE WORLD" (1999 feature film directed by Pablo Trapero)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:23 -0400

The portrait of a man and his attempts to make things up with life after losing his job. Pablo Trapero's reputation-making feature debut was a seminal work in the Argentine New Wave of the 2000s. An unadorned look at the life of a man trying to make a living as a crane operator in Buenos Aires, Crane World introduced a new talent and a new realist aesthetic to the city's cinema.

"CRAZY HORSE" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:31 -0400

Uncovering the sexiest cabaret in the world, this film follows the reopening of Paris' infamous remodelled Crazy Horse. The film follows the rehearsals, backstage preparations and performances for a new show, Desirs. Can Leslie, the youngest recruit, handle the stress of being on stage for the first time? Will Daniela, a chaste classical dancer, cope with nudity? As captain of the show, will Zula be able to step up? Crazy Horse: The Revival slowly strips of its secrets this Parisian temple of nudity. Recently, an entirely remodeled Crazy Horse - the sexiest cabaret in the world - reopened its doors. Through the experience of a few performers, this film revives all the challenges involved in the creation of its new revue.

"CUCHERA" (2011 feature film directed by Joseph Israel Laban)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:41 -0400

Based on a true story, Cuchera examines the grim fate of Filipino drug mules, drug couriers and their recruiters. It follows Isabel, a veteran drug mule, in her first attempt at running her own drug shipment operation between Manila and China.

"CUT" (2011 feature film directed by Amir Naderi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:48 -0400

An obsessive young filmmaker becomes a human punching bag to pay off the yakuza loans that financed his films. A love poem to cinema classics from the acclaimed director of The Runner, Vegas: Based on a True Story, and A,B,C...Manhattan.

"DAMSELS IN DISTRESS" (2011 feature film directed by Whit Stillman)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:54:41 -0400

Damsels in Distress is a comedy about a trio of beautiful girls as they set out to revolutionize life at a grungy American university - the dynamic leader Violet Wister (Greta Gerwig), principled Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and sexy Heather (Carrie MacLemore). They welcome transfer student Lily (Analeigh Tipton) into their group, which seeks to help severely depressed students with a program of good hygiene and musical dance numbers. The girls become romantically entangled with a series of men - including smooth Charlie (Adam Brody), dreamboat Xavier (Hugo Becker), the mad frat-pack of Frank (Ryan Metcalf) and Thor (Billy Magnussen) - who threaten the girls' friendship and sanity.

"A DANGEROUS METHOD" (2011 feature film directed by David Cronenberg)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:56:13 -0400

A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis. On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

"DARK GIRLS" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Bill Duke, D. Channsin Berry)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:09:12 -0400

Documentary exploring the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color---particularly dark skinned women, outside of and within the Black American culture. It seems beyond comprehension that a child would ask her mother to put bleach in the bathwater to lighten her skin. Yet this is a reality for many members of the African diaspora. For many black women - who, like all women, are often judged by their physical appearance - being dark-skinned becomes their defining characteristic. Actor/director Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry set out to examine why skin colour bias persists and how it affects the lives of women on the receiving end of it.

"DARK HORSE" (2011 feature film directed by Todd Solondz)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:56:27 -0400

Romance blooms between two thirty-somethings in arrested development: an avid toy collector and a woman who is the dark horse of her family. A thirtysomething guy with arrested development (Justin Bartha) falls for a thirtysomething girl with arrested development (Selma Blair), but moving out of his junior high school bedroom proves too much and tragedy ensues.

"THE DAY" (2011 feature film directed by Douglas Aarniokoski)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:56:33 -0400

An apocalyptic siege warfare film spanning 24 hrs during which a small group of survivors are pit against insurmountable odds. In a post-apocalyptic future, an open war against humanity rages. Five survivors wander along rural back-roads, lost, starving and on the run. With dwindling food stocks and ammunition, an attempt at seeking shelter turns into a battleground where they must fight or die.

"DEATH FOR SALE" (2011 feature film directed by Faouzi Bensaidi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:56:41 -0400

Malik, Allal and Soufiane are three friends who live off pickpocketting in a town stuck between a hill and a large mountain, Tetouan. One day, they decide to change their destiny and rob the town's largest jewellery store. But the reasons for the heist soon come to divide and pit them against each other. Malik, 26, unemployed, is madly in love with Dounia, a prostitute at "La Passarella" nightclub. He takes part in the heist so that he can get her out of there. Allal, 30, is a big and strong tough guy. He doesn't understand why Malik is in love with Dounia. He takes part in the heist so that he can fry bigger fish in the drugs trade. Soufiane, 18, is avoiding going to school except for sports. He is agile and quick with an easy laugh, dependable and easy-going but, one day, his world is turned upside down. He takes part in the heist so that he can kill the Christian owner of the boutique. A town that is under a permanently low, heavy sky, three losers, a dream of grandeur, a jewellery store, and a woman who arrives in town. After "www. What a wonderful world", a "playful" genre film, "Death for Sale" will continue exploring the same genre, moving towards the linearity of pure storytelling, seemingly head-on.But will the genre and its codes remain impervious to profound reality, to a changing world? Won't the mere fact of strutting an intrigue, and characters, in streets that exude social tension and threatening extremists mean that, almost without wanting them to, the codes will be altered and the genre end up "contaminated"? Let's hope so. Tetouan is where this story takes place. It's a prideful, abandoned, wounded northern town in which violence and trafficking are present alongside an ever-increasing fanaticism. It's the ideal location for a dark, violent film with a thread of warped humour.

"DEATH OF A SUPERHERO" (2011 feature film directed by Ian FitzGibbon)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:56:51 -0400

Donald is 15 and dreams of girls, sex and crazy adventures. In his fantasy world, he creates an immortal superhero who fights against all evil. And in reality? Donald is falling in love with the school rebel while fighting against a terminal illness. Director Ian Fitzgibbon mixes animation with live action in this tale that stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster as a teen with leukemia who prefers to escape into his own comic book fantasies than face his battles in the real world. Based on the novel 'Death of a Superhero' by internationally acclaimed author Anthony McCarten, who also wrote the screenplay.

"THE DEEP BLUE SEA" (2011 feature film directed by Terence Davies)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:57:00 -0400

The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot. Hester Collyer (Academy Award-winner Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale). To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot, Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston), with whom she has fallen passionately in love.

"DEEPA MEHTA AND SALMAN RUSHDIE" (2011 feature film directed by Deepa Mehta)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:57:06 -0400

Published in 1981, Salman Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children, which chronicles India's transition from British colonialism to independence, won him the Booker Prize. The book then went on to become a perennial bestseller and the core of countless university courses on postcolonial literature. For the past several years, Rushdie has been working with acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta on a film adaptation of Midnight's Children. It is a challenging task, but Mehta has already proven herself fearless in bringing to the screen films such as Fire, Earth, Water and Heaven on Earth. In this Mavericks conversation, Mehta and Rushdie will discuss bringing the story from page to screen. Having just finished shooting Midnight's Children this summer in Sri Lanka, Mehta will also offer a sneak peek at scenes from the film.

"THE DESCENDANTS" (2011 feature film directed by Alexander Payne)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:29:25 -0400

With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron Matt King (Clooney), takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker (Lillard) who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune. From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, set in Hawaii, The Descendantsis a sometimes humourous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.

"DOPPELGANGER PAUL" (2011 feature film directed by Dylan Akio Smith, Kris Elgstrand)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:57:20 -0400

Following a near-death experience, Karl comes to believe that Paul is his doppelganger. When Karl finally reveals himself to Paul, a unique and troubled relationship begins to form, a relationship that is severely tested when Karl grants Paul the privilege of reading his 20,000 page manuscript, A Book About How Much I Hate Myself. When Karl's book is published 17 months later in a vastly edited version credited to two other authors/doppelgangers, Karl and Paul hit the road to confront the plagiarists but end up confronting themselves instead.

"DREILEBEN - THREE LIVES" (2011 feature film directed by Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf and Christoph Hochhausler)

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:12:56 -0400

A thrilling trio of interlocking films, Dreileben explores the story of an escaped murderer from three different angles, in three different styles, by three of Germany's leading filmmakers.

"DREILEBEN - BEATS BEING DEAD" (2011 feature film directed by Christian Petzold)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:24:22 -0400

A thrilling trio of interlocking films, Dreileben explores the story of an escaped murderer from three different angles, in three different styles, by three of Germany's leading filmmakers.

"DREILEBEN - DON'T FOLLOW ME AROUND" (2011 feature film directed by Dominik Graf)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:15:09 -0400

A thrilling trio of interlocking films, Dreileben explores the story of an escaped murderer from three different angles, in three different styles, by three of Germany's leading filmmakers.

"DREILEBEN - ONE MINUTE OF DARKNESS" (2011 feature film directed by Christoph Hochhausler)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:14:39 -0400

A thrilling trio of interlocking films, Dreileben explores the story of an escaped murderer from three different angles, in three different styles, by three of Germany's leading filmmakers.

"DRIVE" (2011 feature film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:30:26 -0400

A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can't help falling in love with his beautiful neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac). After a heist intended to pay off Standard's protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defence for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman).

"DUCH, MASTER OF THE FORGES OF HELL" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Rithy Panh)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:57:52 -0400

Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime caused the death of some 1.8 million people, representing one-quarter of the population of Cambodia. Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was in charge at M13, a Khmer Rouge-controlled prison, for four years before being appointed by the Angkar ("the Organisation", a faceless and omnipresent entity which reigned unopposed over the destiny of an entire people) to the S21 centre in Phnom Penh. As party secretary, he commanded from 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge killing machine in which at least 12,280 people perished, according to the remaining archives. But how many others disappeared, "crushed and reduced to dust", with no trace of them ever being found? In 2009, Duch became the first leader of the Khmer Rouge organisation to be brought before an international criminal justice court. Rithy Panh records his unadorned words, without any trimmings.

"THE EDUCATION OF AUMA OBAMA" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Branwen Okpako)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:57:59 -0400

Audiences spend the week leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential elections with Auma Obama at the Obama homestead in Kogelo, Kenya. During this historical moment of transition, Auma shares the powerful and moving story of her family and herself. It is an education.

"EDWIN BOYD" (2011 feature film directed by Nathan Morlando)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:58:04 -0400

Based on a true story, WWII vet and family-man-turned-bank-robber Eddie Boyd is torn between the need to provide for his family and an unfulfilled Hollywood dream. He starts robbing banks to satisfy both, but Eddie's dream for stardom leads him down a path of danger and tragedy.

"ELENA" (2011 feature film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:58:15 -0400

Vladmir, an affluent man, drives his second wife Elena to desperation after he patches things up with his estranged daughter and decides to leave her all his money in the event of his death. Elena's son is unemployed, unable to support his own family and is constantly asking Elena for money. Elena's hope to financially rescue her son suddenly vanishes. The shy and submissive housewife then comes up with a plan to give her son and grandchildren a real chance in life.

"ELLES" (2011 feature film directed by Malgorzata Szumowska)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:58:38 -0400

Anne (Juliette Binoche), a well-off, Paris-based mother of two and investigative journalist for ELLE, is writing an article about student prostitution. Her meetings with two fiercely independent young women, Alicja (Joanna Kulig) and Charlotte (Anais Demoustier), are profound and unsettling, moving her to question her most intimate convictions about money, family and sex.

"EXTRATERRESTRIAL" (2011 feature film directed by Nacho Vigalondo)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:58:46 -0400

Julio and Julia don't know each other, but they wake up in the same bed horribly hungover and with no memory of the night before. He falls in love with her almost immediately - she does not. The last thing they expect to discover is that an alien invasion has taken place. Vigalondo melds science fiction, romance and black comedy in his latest feature about the darkly fascinating aspects of the human psyche.

"THE EYE OF THE STORM" (2011 feature film directed by Fred Schepisi)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:21:58 -0400

Elizabeth Hunter controls all in her life - society, her staff, her children; but the once great beauty will now determine her most defiant act as she chooses her time to die. In the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park, two nurses, a housekeeper and a solicitor attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son and daughter convene at her deathbed. But in dying, as in living, Mrs. Hunter remains a powerful force on those who surround her. Based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winner Patrick White, The Eye of the Storm is a savage exploration of family relationships - and the sharp undercurrents of love and hate, comedy and tragedy, which define them. There's haunting jazz-based music by Paul Grabowsky featuring major contributions from US saxophonist Branford Masalas.

"FABLE OF THE FISH" (2011 feature film directed by Adolfo Alix Jr.)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:59:05 -0400

A couple, Lina and Miguel, move into a dumpsite in Catmon, Malabon. As they adjust to their new abode and surroundings, Lina's longing to have a child intensifies. One day, Lina learns that she is pregnant. She gives birth in the middle of a storm, and those who witness the birth are shocked - her son is a fish. While Miguel cannot accept it, Lina embraces what has happened and treats the fish as her son. What unfolds is a fable that questions the needs and compromises of a real family.

"FATHERLAND" (2011 feature film directed by Nicolas Prividera)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:59:10 -0400

This rigorously structured and visually engrossing essay film explores Argentina's fractious modern history through the words of writers - both founding fathers and oppositional voices - who lay buried in Buenos Aires's famed Recoleta Cemetery.

"FAUST" (2010 feature film directed by Alexander Sokurov)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:59:17 -0400

Freely inspired by Goethe's story, Alexander Sokurov radically reinterprets the myth. Faust is a thinker, a rebel and a pioneer, but also an anonymous human made of flesh and blood driven by inner impulses, greed and lust. Faust is the last part of Sokurov's tetralogy (four works); follows Molokh (1999), Telets (2001), The Sun (2005).

"THE FIRST MAN" (2011 feature film directed by Gianni Amelio)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:12:54 -0400

An adaptation of Albert Camus' autobiographical last novel. Part childhood memoir, part epic narrative of Camus' beloved Algeria and its struggle for independence from France, The First Man was left unfinished by the Nobel Prize-winner who died at age 46.

"FIRST POSITION" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Bess Kargman)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:10:57 -0400

Ballet is not for sissies. It is fiercely competitive, physically demanding, and must be mastered early. First Position follows six aspiring dancers (ages 9-19) as they prepare for the ballet world's toughest youth competition. With exclusive access, First Position offers an inside look at the extraordinary world of ballet and the determined young dancers who try to capture a dream only a few will achieve.

"THE FLYING MACHINE" (2011 animated feature film directed by Martin Clapp, Geoff Lindsey, Marek Skrobecki)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:13:04 -0400

The Flying Machine is a live action/animation family film about a stressed-out businesswoman, Georgie, who takes her two children to see the animated Magic Piano, which is being performed live by world-famous pianist Lang Lang. A magical event occurs and Georgie's kids get transported inside the animation world.

"FOOTNOTE" (2011 feature film directed by Joseph Cedar)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:13:09 -0400

This story chronicles the outcome of a great rivalry between a father and son, both professors in the Talmud department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

"THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD" (2011 feature film directed by Joshua Marston)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:13:13 -0400

The lives of a teenage boy and his younger sister are thrown into turmoil when a fatal dispute over land pulls their northern-Albanian family into a bloody feud. This film's center is a family in Albania. The main characters are Rudina, the oldest daughter, and Nik, the oldest son. Both have a pretty normal life. Rudina is an A-student in high-school and Nik very popular. He just fell in love with one of his fellow students. Their father earns the families income with a little bread delivery service. For that he uses a short cut through the neighbours ground, but the neighbour doesn't necessarily like that. But the ground had actually belonged to Rudina's and Nik's family once. One day the conflict escalates and the neighbour gets killed by Rudina's and Nik's father and their uncle. Because only their uncle gets caught by the police and their father is able to hide, the old law of blood feud is against the family. They cannot leave their house. Only the women of the family are allowed to leave the house. So Rudina has to quit school and continue the bread delivery service of the father.

"FREE MEN" (2011 feature film directed by Ismael Ferroukhi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:13:44 -0400

Set in German-occupied Paris in 1942, Younes, an Algerian black marketer, is arrested by the police and agrees to spy on a Parisian mosque suspected of helping resistance fighters and Jews. Witnessing the horrors of the Nazi regime, Younes stops collaborating to become a freedom fighter.

"FRIENDS WITH KIDS" (2011 feature film directed by Jennifer Westfeldt)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:28:06 -0400

"Friends With Kids," written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt ("Kissing Jessica Stein," "Ira & Abby"), is a daring and poignant ensemble comedy about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two singles in the group - Westfeldt and Adam Scott ("Parks and Recreation," "Step Brothers"), observe the effect that kids have had on their friends' relationships and wonder if there's a better way. They decide to have a kid together - and date other people. "Friends With Kids," written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt ("Kissing Jessica Stein," "Ira & Abby"), is a daring and poignant ensemble comedy about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two singles in the group - Westfeldt and Adam Scott ("Parks and Recreation," "Step Brothers"), observe the effect that kids have had on their friends' relationships and wonder if there's a better way. They decide to have a kid together - and date other people. There are big laughs and unexpected emotional truths as this unconventional 'experiment' leads everyone in the group to question the nature of friendship, family and, finally, true love.

"FROM THE SKY DOWN" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:12:16 -0400

Twenty years after the release of 'Achtung Baby', director Davis Guggenheim's documentary 'From The Sky Down' will open the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman, An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) charts this groundbreaking album with new interviews, stories and unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin. Now a key chapter in their career, Achtung Baby was, in Bono's words, 'the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree'. 'In the terrain of rock bands, implosion or explosion is seemingly inevitable, ' explains Guggenheim. 'U2 has defied the gravitational pull towards destruction, this band has endured and thrived. The movie From The Sky Down asks the question why.' The Toronto International Film Festival(R) opens September 8 with the world premiere Gala Presentation of From the Sky Down, the first time in 36 years that the Festival has opened with a documentary.

"FROM UP ON POPPY HILL" (2011 animated feature film directed by Goro Miyazaki)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:10 -0400

Anime director Goro Miyazaki follows a group of Yokohama teens in their quest against a wrecking ball that threatens to destroy their school's clubhouse in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

"A FUNNY MAN" (2011 feature film directed by Martin Zandvliet)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:19 -0400

A biography of the Danish actor and comedian, Dirch Passer. Opening in the seductive style of the 1960s, A Funny Man uncovers the perennial loneliness that comedian Dirch Passer (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has found himself in after a fast-track rise to fame, despite being surrounded by a melange of wealth, women, alcohol and infamy.

"FUTURE LASTS FOREVER" (2011 feature film directed by Ozcan Alper)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:24 -0400

A young ethnomusicologist leaves Istanbul and heads to the southeast of Turkey to work on her masters thesis, gathering a collection of Anatolian elegies and stories. During her stay in Diyarbakir, she finds herself having to confront an agony from her own past in the middle of the ongoing 'unnamed war.'

"GENERATION P" (2011 feature film directed by Victor Ginzburg)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:29 -0400

A chronicle of the rise of the advertising industry in Post-Soviet Russia. Set in 1990s Moscow, Generation P details the parallel rise of poet-turned-copywriter Babylen Tatarsky through both a new advertising business and the shadowy Cult of Ishtar, whose acolytes control the media.

"GERHARD RICHTER - PAINTING" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Corinna Belz)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:33 -0400

Gerhard Richter, one of the internationally most significant contemporary artists of our times, granted filmmaker Corinna Belz access to his studio in the spring and summer of 2009 where he was working on a series of large abstract paintings. In quiet, highly concentrated images, the film gives us a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a very personal, tension-filled process of artistic creation. In her intelligent and perceptive film, Corinna Belz brings us closer to the complex processes of artistic creation. Gerhard Richter Painting is the penetrating portrait of an artist at work - and a fascinating film about the art of seeing.

"GIRL MODEL" (2011 feature documentary film directed by David Redmon, Ashley Sabin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:38 -0400

Follows a complex supply chain between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S. within the modeling industry. The story is told through the eyes of the scouts, agencies and a 13 year-old model.

"GOD BLESS AMERICA" (2011 feature film directed by Bobcat Goldthwait)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:42 -0400

Loveless, jobless and possibly terminally ill, Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of America. With nothing left to lose, Frank takes his gun and decides to off the stupidest, cruellest and most repellent members of society with an unusual accomplice: 16-year-old Roxy, who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement. From stand-up comedian and director Bobcat Goldthwait comes a scathing and hilarious attack on all that is sacred in the United States of America.

"GOOD BYE" (2011 feature film directed by Mohammad Rasoulof)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:48 -0400

This is a story of a young lawyer in Tehran and her pursuit of a visa to leave the country.

"THE GOOD SON" (2011 feature film directed by Zaida Bergroth)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:14:54 -0400

The Good Son is an unsettling, modern-domestic tragedy about the small gap between childhood and adulthood. After a scandalous premiere, an actress, Leila, escapes to the old family summer house with her two sons. Ilmari, her explosive oldest son, has spent much of his life looking after his mercurial mother who has been constant tabloid fodder. The peaceful vacation is disrupted when Leila invites her artist friends over for a rowdy weekend.

"GOODBYE FIRST LOVE" (2011 feature film directed by Mia Hansen-Love)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:15:10 -0400

It's Spring 1999 and Camille, 15, and Sullivan, 19, love each other passionately. Following the progression of this young, first love, the affair evolves from initial rapture to heartbreak as Sullivan decides he wants to travel the world before settling down. Driven to despair, Camille suffers deep emotional turmoil and must learn to deal with his absence.

"GOON" (2011 feature film directed by Michael Dowse)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:15:14 -0400

Goon is the story of Doug Glatt, a down-on-his-luck bouncer, who's been touched by the fist of God. Upon discovering both his right hook and skates, he joins a hockey team destined for the cellar and inspires them into the playoffs.

"GUILTY" (2011 feature film directed by Vincent Garenq)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:15:19 -0400

This true story documents the Outreau case. In 2011, Alain Marecaux and his wife were arrested, along with twelve other people, for horrible acts of paedophilia they never committed.

"GYPSY" (2011 feature film directed by Martin Sulik)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:15:24 -0400

Adam, a 14-year-old Romani boy from the settlements, learns his father has been killed. No one knows what happened. There is no evidence and no witnesses. After the funeral, his mother does not mourn long. She wants to guarantee her children's security, so she marries her brother-in-law, the loan shark and thief, Ziga. Adam's life changes from one day to the next. He has suddenly grown up. He helps his mother, takes care of his siblings, and does his best to protect them from Ziga's influence. He has only two joys in life - his training as a boxer and his black-eyed girlfriend Julka. When his mother is taken to the maternity ward, his stepfather draws Adam and his brothers into his dubious business. Police arrest the boys in the act of stealing and only the fact that they are minors spares them from prison. Adam gradually loses everything that gave him security: They throw him out of the boxing club and Julka's parents send her to the Czech Republic. The boy finds himself more and more in conflict with the laws of his own community. While arguing with the cynical Ziga, he realizes who is behind his father's death. He tries to escape this hopeless situation, but his efforts end tragically.

"HABEMUS PAPAM" (2011 feature film directed by Nanni Moretti)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:15:44 -0400

The great Italian comic filmmaker, Nanni Moretti turns his satirical eye on the nomination of a new Pope. When the man is chosen he freezes at the immense responsibilities throwing the Vatican, and all Catholics into a major crisis. A psychiatrist is called in to help the elected Pope overcome his nerves, but the anointed man has other ideas. The newly elected Pope suffers a panic attack just as he is due to appear on St Peter's balcony to greet the faithful, who have been patiently awaiting the conclave's decision. His advisors, unable to convince him he is the right man for the job, seek help from a renowned psychoanalyst (and atheist). But his fear of the responsibility suddenly thrust upon him is one that he must face on his own.

"HABIBI" (2011 feature film directed by Susan Youssef)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:15:52 -0400

Re-telling Majnun Layla, an epic poem on a forbidden love marks the first fiction feature set in Gaza. Two Gazan students in the West Bank are forced to return home, where their love defies tradition. To woo his lover, Qays scribbles verse across walls all over the refugee camp where they live.

"HANAAN" (2011 feature film directed by Ruslan Pak)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:16:00 -0400

Stas is third generation Korean-Uzbek, a people who were deported from the Far East of the Soviet Union under Stalin. He and his three friends try heroin together, sending them into a downward spiral marked by tragedy. Facing corruption, Stas leaves his job as a police detective and heads to South Korea, where a bright future is guaranteed. Will this be hanaan for him -- a land of promise?

"A HAPPY EVENT" (2011 feature film directed by Remi Bezancon)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:16:06 -0400

Celebrated French director Remi Bezancon's incisive, yet tender and humorous, third feature follows a young couple whose carefree lifestyle is interrupted by the birth of their first child, a happy event that also turns their world completely upside-down. She turned my life upside-down, drove me into a corner, pushed me beyond my limits. She taught me about self-renouncement, tenderness and sacrifice in their most extreme forms." "Why didn't my mother ever tell me? Why doesn't anyone ever mention this?" A Happy Event breaks the taboo of pregnancy through the tragicomic diary of a young woman who becomes a mother.

"HARD CORE LOGO" (1996 feature film directed by Bruce McDonald)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:16:12 -0400

Bruce McDonald's classic film is being re-struck in conjunction with the monograph on the film, co-published by the University of Toronto Press and TIFF.

"HARD CORE LOGO II" (2011 feature film directed by Bruce McDonald)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:16:27 -0400

Fifteen years have passed since Bruce McDonald completed his infamous documentary that chronicled the demise of the punk rock outfit Hard Core Logo and captured lead singer Joe Dick's on-camera suicide. Reluctantly, Bruce finds himself following the band Die Mannequin to a recording studio in a remote town after hearing that band leader Care Failure has claimed to be channelling the spirit of Joe Dick. As increasingly bizarre events unfold, Bruce tries desperately to connect with Care in the hopes of saving the young rock star from the same tragic fate as Joe.

"LE HAVRE" (2011 feature film directed by Aki Kaurismaki)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:16:32 -0400

Marcel Marx, a former author and a well-known Bohemian, has retreated into a voluntary exile in the port city of Le Havre, where he feels he has reached a closer rapport with his people, serving them in the honourable, but not too profitable, occupation of a shoe-shiner. He has buried his dreams of a literary breakthrough and lives happily within the triangle of his favourite bar, his work, and his wife Arletty. When fate suddenly throws in his path an underage immigrant refugee from the darkest Africa and at the same time his wife becomes seriously ill and is bedridden, Marcel once more has to rise against the cold wall of human indifference with his innate optimism and the unwavering solidarity of the people of his quarter as his only weapons.

"HEADHUNTERS" (2011 feature film directed by Morten Tyldum)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:15:10 -0400

An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary. Roger (Aksel Hennie) is a successful Headhunter. But he lives above his means and steals art on the side. When introduced to Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Roger starts planning his biggest theft ever. But Roger runs into trouble and it's not financial problems that are threatening to knock him over this time...

"HEADSHOT" (2011 feature film directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:16:44 -0400

A crime-drama centered on a hit-man. Adapted from the novel Fon Tok Kuen Fa (Rain Falling Up The Sky) by award-winning writer Win Leowarin. Tul, a straight-laced cop, is blackmailed by a powerful politician and framed for a crime he did not commit. Disillusioned and vengeful, he is soon recruited to become a hitman for a shadowy group aimed at eliminating those who are above the law. But one day, Tul is shot in the head during an assignment. He wakes up after a three-month coma to find that he sees everything upside down, literally. Tul begins to have second thoughts about his profession. But when he tries to quit, roles are reversed and the hunter becomes the hunted. Can Tul find redemption from the violence that continues to haunt him?

"HELENO" (2011 feature film directed by Jose Henrique Fonseca)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:06 -0400

A biography of the tragic life of one of Brazil's greatest soccer players, Heleno de Freitas. This film is a non-chronological and in-depth account of the life of Heleno de Freitas (1920 to 1959), a controversial and mythological Brazilian football player. Also known as 'Gilda' due to his wild temper with teammates and referees, Heleno was the prince of the 1940s golden age in Rio de Janeiro when the city was a dream setting, steeped in glamour and promise. Handsome and charming, Heleno had no doubt he was going to be the biggest Brazilian footballer of all time, but the war, syphilis and a turbulent life would steer him from that destiny, down a road of glory and tragedy.

"HICK" (2011 feature film directed by Derick Martini)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:15 -0400

A Nebraska teen gets more than she bargained for when she sets out for the bright lights of Las Vegas. Tired of fending for herself and her mother's penchant for hard-drinking men and barroom drama, 13-year-old Luli hits the road on her own, heading west to realize her dream of becoming a superstar. Among her travels she meets Eddie, a drifter with a chip on his shoulder, and Glenda, a troubled but spirited woman who takes Luli under her wing. Luli's quick wit, some help from Glenda, the mercurial Eddie, and her colourful daydreams help protect her from the incredibly unpredictable band of characters she encounters on her journey. Hick is a road picture about a young girl who comes face-to-face with the realities of just how complicated adulthood can be.

"HIDDEN DRIVEWAY" (2011 short film directed by Sarah Goodman)

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:42:22 -0400

Alex, 11 and Chaz, 14, frankly speculate on the reason their mother just called them for a family meeting. Two brothers sitting on a park bench in mid-winter receive a call from their mom, who unexpectedly announces a family meeting. As the boys walk towards home, they argue about what could possibly be wrong with their parents, each trying to hide their increasing anxiety from the other. From the director, Sarah Goodman: "In HIDDEN DRIVEWAY two brothers argue about the possible reason for an impending family meeting. This film is part of my continued exploration into the culture of young people, in this case brothers, where parents exist in a kind of 'Charlie Brown' separate universe. As in my private school doc WHEN WE WERE BOYS these brothers also create a code with which to understand the world by. Incidentally, my young star Jacob Switzer, is actually Ingrid Veninger's son, and he acts in her film too. So there is a parallel child/parent story in real life to be told. Her film as well echoes the theme of the divide between parents and children." NOTE: Screens with "i am a good person / i am a bad person" by Ingrid Veninger.

"HIMIZU" (2011 feature film directed by Sion Sono)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:21 -0400

The story is about a teenager who aspires to be 'ordinary' within a world of chaos. Following an incident that can never be erased from his life, his wish becomes something impossible to achieve, turning him into a person obsessed to sanction evil people in society. Manga adaptation.

"HISTORIAS QUE SO EXISTEM QUANDO LEMBRADAS" (2011 feature film directed by Julia Murat)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:38 -0400

In Brazil's Paraiba Valley, dotted with abandoned estates, ghost towns and vestiges of a short-lived coffee boom, lies the fictitious village of Jotuomba. Here, in a town that has been forgotten by the rest of the world, life rolls on at a languid pace for its elderly inhabitants. When young photographer Rita finds the town by following the unused railroad tracks, her presence, and her questioning of the locked cemetery gates, reveals the secret to Jotuomba's mystery.

"HITRECORD" (2011 feature film directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt)

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:50:53 -0400

Founded and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, hitRECord is an open collaborative production company where members can contribute their work in various forms including music, videos, text and drawings. Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("RegularJOE") hosts an interactive evening of original short films, live performance and collaborative RECording. After sell-out performances in London, Los Angeles and New York City, hitRECord comes to TIFF for an evening of movie watching and movie making. Founded and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (known for his starring roles in films such as 500 Days of Summer, Inception and the upcoming 50/50, which will premiere at this year's TIFF), hitRECord.org is an open collaborative production company where a global online community of over 50,000 artists (and growing) upload their work in various media: audio, video, images and text. Joe then directs 'RECorders' to refine, revise and remix each other's contributions and collaborate. At hitRECord live-events, Gordon-Levitt presents these collaborative works, while simultaneously using the live setting to interact, collaborate and create new works with the audience. Monday September 12, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2, 11:00pm

"HOTEL SWOONI" (2011 feature film directed by Kaat Beels)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:48 -0400

Six lives, 24 hours, and a hotel in the middle of a heat wave. Anna and Hendrik have it all: a great son, a good job, a lovely house... But the wedding they attend in the hotel forces them to reflect on the choices they have made. Hendrik is happy. Anna is not. 'Is that all there is?' she wonders. Especially when her lover shows up, asking her to run off with him to greener pastures... Violette wants to reconcile with her daughter Vicky before she dies. But Vicky, a chambermaid in the hotel, finds it hard to forget old hurts. She takes care of Joyeux, a young African refugee hiding in the hotel from the police. She lets her mother believe the boy is her own son. After all, with her he'll have a much better life... But then Amadou, Joyeux' father, arrives at the hotel looking for his son. And the lives of all these people will be irrevocably intertwined.

"HOUSE OF TOLERANCE" (2011 feature film directed by Bertrand Bonello)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:54 -0400

The dawn of the XXth century: A brothel in Paris is living its last days. The women live in a state of collective intimacy and fear, baited and beloved by the nightly visits of intimate strangers, and bathed in the light of French Romantic and Impressionist painting.

"THE HUNTER" (2011 feature film directed by Daniel Nettheim)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:17:59 -0400

Martin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by an anonymous biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger. Based on the acclaimed novel by Julia Leigh, The Hunter is a powerful psychological drama that tells the story of Martin (Willem Dafoe), a mercenary sent from Europe by an anonymous biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a dramatic hunt for the last Tasmanian Tiger. Against his wishes, Martin's only option is to stay at a base camp house with the despondent wife and spirited children of a missing zoologist. Drawn deeper into the wild landscape in his search for the mysterious Tiger, Martin's unexpected connection to the family and the majestic wilderness around him, forces him to confront the reality of his work and personal morality, with dramatic consequences.

"HYSTERIA" (2011 feature film directed by Tanya Wexler)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:18:05 -0400

A romantic comedy based on the surprising truth of how Mortimer Granville came up with the world's first electro-mechanical vibrator in the name of medical science. Academy Award(R)-nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy headline in this untold tale of a young Victorian doctor's quest to figure out the key to women's happiness.

"I AM A GOOD PERSON / I AM A BAD PERSON" (2011 feature film directed by Ingrid Veninger)

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:29:17 -0400

A mother and daughter duo, suddenly without each other as guides for their good or bad decisions, must confront their life changes alone, before returning home. NOTE: Screens with "Hidden Driveway", a 5 minute short-film by Sarah Goodman: Alex, 11 and Chaz, 14, frankly speculate on the reason their mother just called them for a family meeting.

"I WISH" (2011 feature film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:18:18 -0400

Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in Kagoshima, the southern part of Kyushu region. Separated by their parents' divorce, his brother Ryunosuke lives with their father in Hakata in northern Kyushu. A new bullet train line in the region will be inaugurated soon, and Koichi starts to believe a "miracle" will happen the first moment these new bullet trains intersect each other from opposite directions with their highest speed; his only wish is for his family to live together once again. With some help from grown-ups around him, Koichi sets out on a journey with a group of friends, each hoping to witness a miracle.

"I'M CAROLYN PARKER: THE GOOD, THE MAD, AND THE BEAUTIFUL" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Jonathan Demme)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:18:26 -0400

Carolyn Parker was the last to leave her neighbourhood when a mandatory evacuation order was decreed as Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans in the summer of 2005, and was the first resident to return to her now flood-devastated community. Mrs. Parker takes us deep inside her personal biography as a child born in the 1940s, raised in segregated New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, who became a teenager joining the front lines in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and later became one of the most outspoken voices in the fight for every New Orleanian's right to return home after the devastation of the floods that followed Katrina.

"I'M YOURS" (2011 feature film directed by Leonard Farlinger)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:18:44 -0400

I'm Yours, a sexy and irreverent two-hander, sees disillusioned Wall Street broker, Robert, kidnapped and blackmailed into taking a road trip with hot and free-spirited Daphne. A thought-provoking romantic comedy about two lost souls who learn what love ultimately means as the world around them comes undone.

"THE IDES OF MARCH" (2011 feature film directed by George Clooney)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:18:59 -0400

An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. Based on the play by Beau Willimon. The Ides of March takes place during the frantic last days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, when an up-and-coming campaign press secretary (Ryan Gosling) finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate's shot at the presidency.

"IN CONVERSATION WITH... FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA" (2011 presentation hosted by Cameron Bailey)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:19:07 -0400

As much as any living filmmaker, Francis Ford Coppola, a prolific writer, director, producer and innovator, has seen it all. He began his film career working under the auspices of legendary producer Roger Corman, gaining respect as a hard-working screenwriter and eventually as a director. He was already well versed in the art and craft, and the business of movies by the time of his ascent to auteur-stardom with a string of canonic masterpieces: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now. Later in his career came his S.E. Hinton adaptations The Outsiders and Rumble Fish; his spectacular reclaiming of Bram Stoker in Dracula; and his recent reinvention as a maker of modestly budgeted yet utterly visionary artisanal works like Youth Without Youth, Tetro and, screening at this year's Festival, Twixt. Coppola's dogged endurance and restless inventiveness make him an inspiration as we look ahead to cinema's future.

"IN DARKNESS" (2011 feature film directed by Agnieszka Holland)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:19:27 -0400

In Darkness tells the true story of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Nazi-occupied Lvov, Poland. Stumbling upon a group of Jews in the sewers, he agrees to hide them for a price. What starts out as a straightforward business arrangement becomes something unexpected, as they all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of intense danger.

"IN MY MOTHER'S ARMS" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Atea Al Daradji, Mohamed Al Daradji)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:19:34 -0400

Husham works tirelessly to build the hopes, dreams and prospects of the 32 damaged children of war under his care at a small orphanage in Baghdad's most dangerous district. When the landlord gives Husham and the boys just two weeks to vacate the premises, a desperate search for lodging ensues. In My Mother's Arms follows several children who live and study in the same room of a small rented house. These are forgotten children whose parents have been killed or kidnapped. They have no one to support them but Husham, a student who works tirelessly to protect them from the dangers of the streets of Baghdad. The landlord demands they vacate his house and now the only sanctuary these children have ever known is about to be lost.

"THE INCIDENT" (2011 feature film directed by Alexandre Courtes)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:19:46 -0400

The story tells of some aspiring musicians who are working as cooks at the insane asylum and become trapped there when a major thunderstorm hits. Apparently that's the same time the inmates find their way out. THE INCIDENT turns on three rock band members who work in a high-security asylum -- until a freak storm blows the asylum's security system, unleashing its criminal patients and trapping the rockers. The thriller is the feature film debut of French music video director Alexandre Courtes (U2, Jane's Addiction, The White Stripes). First timer S. Craig Zahler wrote the script.

"INTO THE ABYSS" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Werner Herzog)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:19:52 -0400

We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes.

"INTRUDERS" (2011 feature film directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:19:58 -0400

Juan and Mia, two children who live in different countries, are visited every night by a faceless intruder - a terrifying being that wants to get hold of them. These presences become more powerful and start ruling their lives as well as their families'. Anxiety and tension increase when their parents also witness these apparitions.

"THE INVADER" (2011 feature film directed by Nicolas Provost)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:20:07 -0400

Amadou, a strong and charismatic African man, is washed up on a beach in southern Europe. Fate leads him to Brussels where he tries to make a better life for himself. Exploited by traffickers, his daily life is slowly drained of hope, until he meets Agnes, a beautiful and brilliant businesswoman. She is seduced by his charm and force of character, while he projects all his hope and dreams onto her. The illusion quickly shatters, and Agnes breaks all contact with Amadou, who little by little sinks into destructive violence, struggling with his inner demons.

"INVASION" (1969 feature film directed by Hugo Santiago)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:20:17 -0400

Invasion is the legend of a city, imaginary or real, besieged by powerful enemies and defended by a handful of men who may not be heroes. In this rare inclusion of a retrospective title, Santiago's protagonists will fight to the end without suspecting that their battle is endless.

"THE ISLAND PRESIDENT" (2011 feature film directed by Jon Shenk)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:20:53 -0400

In this whirlwind political documentary, Mohamed Nasheed wins the presidency after a 20-year battle for democracy in the Maldives, only to face an unfathomable challenge: to save his island nation from rising seas. The Island President follows Nasheed as he takes the climate fight to backroom chambers of power in New York, London, Delhi, and finally into the fierce realpolitik of the Copenhagen Climate Conference. The film gains remarkable access to Nasheed's first year in office as he sets out to influence the world's superpowers. In this Mavericks session, TIFF presents the world premiere of The Island President, followed by a live conversation with President Nasheed and director Jon Shenk.

"ISLANDS" (2011 feature film directed by Stefano Chiantini)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:20:58 -0400

This story takes shape under the roof of a parsonage on the Tremiti islands. An eastern European bricklayer looking for work is befriended by a young woman who has retreated into silence and lives with a middle-aged priest. The priest is at war with his sister, the young woman is running from her past and the bricklayer is simply trying to survive. As their lives intermingle, emotions bubble to the surface.

"J'AIME REGARDER LES FILLES" (2011 feature film directed by Frederic Louf)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:20:37 -0400

Set against the backdrop of the 1981 presidential elections, Primo, a middle-class youngster, falls in love with Gabrielle, a Parisian upper class rich girl. They soon learn they have to deal with her condescending friends who look down upon this upstart.

"JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME" (2010 feature film directed by Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:21:14 -0400

When he leaves his house on a seemingly banal errand for his disgruntled mother, Jeff discovers that the universe might be sending him signals about the nature of his destiny. Jeff, Who Lives at Home stars Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon. Penned by the writer/director team of brothers Jay and Mark Duplass (Cyrus), this is the story of one man searching for the meaning of life while running to the store to buy wood glue. Using the universe as his guide, Jeff looks for signs to help determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life... and if he's lucky, pick up the wood glue as well.

"JUAN OF THE DEAD" (2011 feature film directed by Alejandro Brugues)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:21:29 -0400

The zombie world has yet to witness one last stand - Cuba. An outbreak hits the island on the anniversary of the revolution, so Juan and his friends set out to conquer the undead who, according to government reports, are unruly Americans continuing their quest of undermining the regime.

"KEYHOLE" (2011 feature film directed by Guy Maddin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:21:36 -0400

Keyhole is a rousing gangsters-meet-ghosts sonata in which dream and waking life are deliriously blended to arouse the eerie lusts and sadness that can slumber in an old home - in every home.

"THE KID WITH A BIKE" (2011 feature film directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:14:42 -0400

Cyril, almost 12, has only one plan: to find the father who temporarily left him in a children's home. By chance, he meets Samantha who runs a hairdressing salon and agrees to let him stay with her on weekends. Cyril doesn't recognize the love Samantha feels for him, a love he desperately needs to calm his rage.

"KILL LIST" (2011 feature film directed by Ben Wheatley)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:21:53 -0400

Eight months after a disastrous job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred, ex-soldier turned contract killer Jay (Maskell), is pressured by his partner Gal (Smiley), into taking a new assignment. The film follows as they descend into the dark, disturbing world of the contract, Jay begins to unravel once again -- his fear and paranoia sending him deep into the heart of darkness.

"KILLER ELITE" (2011 feature film directed by Gary McKendry)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:00 -0400

Based on a true story, Killer Elite races across the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East in the action-packed account of an ex-special ops agent (Jason Statham) who is lured out of retirement to rescue his mentor (Robert De Niro). To make the rescue, he must complete a near-impossible mission of killing three tough-as-nails assassins with a cunning leader (Clive Owen).

"KILLER JOE" (2011 feature film directed by William Friedkin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:05 -0400

When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance. When 22-year-old drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash stolen by his mother, he has to come up with six thousand dollars quick or he's dead. Desperate, he turns to "Killer Joe" (Matthew McConaughey) when he finds out that his mother's life insurance policy is worth $50,000. Although Joe usually demands cash up front, he finds himself willing to bend the rules in exchange for Chris' attractive younger sister, Dottie, who will serve as sexual collateral until the money comes in... if it ever does.

"KOTOKO" (2011 feature film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:12 -0400

The story of a single mother who suffers from double vision; caring for her baby is a nerve-wrecking task that eventually leads her to a nervous breakdown. She is suspected of being a child abuser when things get out of control and her baby is taken away.

"THE LADY" (2010 feature film directed by Luc Besson)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:34 -0400

The story of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the academic and writer Michael Aris; a true story of love set against political turmoil. THE LADY is an epic love story about how an extraordinary couple and family sacrifice their happiness at great human cost for a higher cause. This is the story of Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband, Michael Aris. Despite distance, long separations, and a dangerously hostile regime, their love endures until the very end. A story of devotion and human understanding set against a background of political turmoil which continues today. THE LADY also is the story of the peaceful quest of the woman who is at the core of Burma's democracy movement. The Lady is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband, Michael Aris. It is also the story of the peaceful quest of the woman who is at the core of Burma's democracy movement. Despite distance, long separations, and a dangerously hostile regime, their love endures until the very end. It's a story of devotion and human understanding set against a backdrop of political turmoil that continues today. The Lady was written over a period of three years by Rebecca Frayn. Interviews with key figures in Aung San Suu Kyi's entourage enabled her to reconstruct for the first time the true story of Burma's national heroine.

"LAND OF OBLIVION" (2011 feature film directed by Michale Boganim)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:42 -0400

April 26, 1986: Anya and Piotr are celebrating their marriage when an accident occurs at the Chernobyl power station. As a fireman, Piotr leaves to extinguish the flames - but he never returns. Ten years later, after Chernobyl has become a no man's land and a tourist attraction, Anya is still there, working as a guide. Split between two lovers, she tries to accept the hope of a new life.

"LAST CALL AT THE OASIS" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Jessica Yu)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:51 -0400

Think water is an infinite resource? Think again. Although it covers 70 percent of the earth's surface, there is a very real possibility that in the near future, there won't be enough water to sustain life on the planet. This documentary illuminates the vital role water plays in our lives, exposes the defects in the current system and shows communities already struggling with its ill-effects and individuals championing revolutionary solutions. Firmly establishing the urgency of the global water crisis as the central issue facing our world this century, the film posits that we can manage this problem if we are willing to act now. Inspired by the book The Ripple Effect by Alex Prud'homme

"THE LAST CHRISTEROS" (2011 feature film directed by Matias Meyer)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:22:59 -0400

At the end of the 1930s, in the arid mountains of Mexico, a Christero colonel and his last men resist surrender. The men are peasants, poor but proud people. They require their government's support and need ammunition in order to fight. The support does not arrive and life in the sierra turns more difficult every day; the war is almost over. The men, in their suffering, illness and solitude, begin to feel abandoned. They are almost the last ones.

"LAST DAYS IN JERUSALEM" (2011 feature film directed by Tawfik Abu Wael)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:23:42 -0400

A lens into the emotional upheaval of a Palestinian couple's last moments before leaving their native city, Jerusalem, to forge a brighter future in Paris. Iyad is a surgeon at the top of his game; Nour is a young actress with an intellectual bourgeois background -attractive, independent and whimsical. On the way to the airport, a news report of a terrible accident means Iyad must return to work, delaying their departure. Abandoned by her husband once again, Nour starts to question the move and their marriage.

"THE LAST DOGS OF WINTER" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Costa Botes)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:23:50 -0400

Canadian Eskimo Dogs or Quimmiq were once indispensible to human life in the arctic. Today, the breed faces extinction. Since 1976, Brian Ladoon has stuck to a promise to maintain a viable breeding colony of the animals, battling chronic underfunding, wandering polar bears, officialdom and shocking weather to keep his word.

"THE LAST GLADIATORS" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Alex Gibney)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:23:54 -0400

Academy Award winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) explores the rough and tumble world of hockey. Chris "Knuckles" Nilan can chart his hockey career by his scars. He earned those stripes as one the NHL's fiercest enforcers, throwing punches to defend his teammates. While playing for the Montreal Canadiens in the mid-1980s, his fights racked up penalty minutes, but received roaring approval from fans and helped win the Stanley Cup. When injuries forced Knuckles to retire in 1992, he faced a new battle: how do you stop being a gladiator and re-enter normal society?

"LAST WINTER" (2011 feature film directed by John Shank)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:24:00 -0400

Somewhere on an isolated mountainous plain, Johann has taken over his father's farm, devoting all his time and energy to his work. Surrounded by a struggling community and a natural landscape that has taught him all he knows, his heritage is his entire life. As autumn goes and winter comes, a barn burns to the ground and jeopardizes the fragile balance of the farm's survival. This is a story of a man trying to love the world he belongs to one last time, as hard as he can, before it sinks into darkness.

"LEAVE IT ON THE FLOOR" (2011 feature film directed by Sheldon Larry)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:24:06 -0400

This indie-narrative musical is set in the drag-ball community memorialized in the documentary Paris Is Burning. With 11 original songs by Beyonce's musical director Kim Burse and choreography by Beyonce choreographer and 'Mr. Single Ladies' Frank Gatson Jr., the film tells the story of a young African American thrown out by his narcissistic mother for being gay. He stumbles upon a competitive drag ball organized by runaways and throwaways where he ultimately finds a new home and family.

"LENA" (2011 feature film directed by Christophe Van Rompaey)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:24:13 -0400

Seventeen-year-old Lena is overweight, shy and allows others to take advantage of her. She puts up with an overbearing mother, an egotistical best friend and belittling mates. When she meets Daan, a charming, good-looking young lad, it could either be too good to be true or the well-deserved beginning of a happier life. To find out, she must find the inner strength and beauty she didn't know she had.

"A LETTER TO MOMO" (2011 animated feature film directed by Hiroyuki Okiura)

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:22:42 -0400

After the loss of her father, young Momo moves to the old family house on a remote island: wooden buildings, terraced fields... and no shopping mall. Not too fond of the new environment, Momo is also feeling uneasy about an unfinished letter her father left behind with only two words: "Dear Momo." Then, exploring the attic of her new house, she finds an antique book-- and from that moment, strange happenings occur all around her.

"LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE" (2011 feature film directed by Johnnie To)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:24:26 -0400

What do a bank teller, a small-time thug and a police inspector have in common? Nothing. Not until a bag of stolen money worth $10 million crosses their paths and forces them to make soul-searching decisions about right and wrong and everything in between on the morality scale.

"LIGHT AS A FEATHER, STIFF AS A BOARD" (2011 presentation)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:53:15 -0400

Collaborative Canadian artists Nicholas and Sheila Pye's latest exhibition refers to the levitation game children often play at slumber parties. In this beautiful series of projections, the Pyes combine their film and photography work to create four tableaux that explore the link between magic and cinema. Each exquisite portrait, with its delicate yet startling movement, draws on old-world special effects to convey a mysterious story. The Pyes' work has traditionally focused on the destructive aspects of relationships, but this series sees them plunging into trickery, in which the supernatural's machinations are decidedly and eerily hidden. Presented in collaboration with Birch Libralato, 129 Tecumseth Street, September 8 to October 15.

"LIKE CRAZY" (2010 feature film directed by Drake Doremus)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:24:37 -0400

A British college student falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she's banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa. Like Crazy is a film from and about the heart. Jacob, an American, and Anna, who is British, meet at college in Los Angeles and fall madly in love. It's the purest kind of romance - they're each other's first significant attachment. When Anna returns to London, the couple is forced into a long-distance relationship. Their perfect love is tested, and youth, trust, and geography become their biggest enemies. Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones star as the young couple. An original, contemplative look at first love, Like Crazy strikes a universal chord as it explores the bittersweet beauty and impermanence of relationships.

"LIPSTIKKA" (2011 feature film directed by Jonathan Sagall)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:26:59 -0400

Two women reunite in London, where they go over the details of a life-changing event which occurred when they were teenagers in Jerusalem. Lara is a Palestinian woman who came to London to begin a new life. She got married and now lives a comfortable, but somewhat loveless, life with her husband and 7-year-old son James. One morning, Inam, her childhood friend from Ramallah, shows up on her doorstep. Triggered by her sudden appearance, Lara's orderly life begins to crack.

"LIVID" (2011 feature film directed by Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:27:04 -0400

The directors of 2007's Midnight Madness hit A L'Interieur (Inside) return with a twisted gothic nightmare. A young woman and her friends break into a decrepit mansion looking for treasure, only to unlock a dark secret of unspeakable horror ready to dish out bloody punishment for their greed.

"THE LONELIEST PLANET" (2011 feature film directed by Julia Loktev)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:27:09 -0400

Alex and Nica are a young couple backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. They hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek, and the three set off into a stunning wilderness. Walking for hours, they trade anecdotes and play games to pass the time. And then, a momentary misstep threatens to undo everything the couple believed about each other and about themselves. The film is a tale about betrayal, both accidental and deliberate, about love, commitment and the ambiguities of forgiveness. Based on Tom Bissell's short story "Expensive Trips Nowhere".

"LOST IN PARADISE" (2011 feature film directed by Ngoc Dang Vu)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:03:54 -0400

Khoa, an innocent man who leaves his poor village for Sai Gon, falls in love with Lam, a male prostitute. Misunderstanding, jealousy and tragedy unfold when Lam's ex-boyfriend shows up, and Khoa discovers the truth about his career choice.

"LOVE AND BRUISES" (2011 feature film directed by Ye Lou)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:27:20 -0400

Hua, a young teacher from Beijing, is a recent arrival in Paris. Exiled in an unknown city, she wanders between her tiny apartment and the university, drifting between former lovers and recent French acquaintances. She meets Matthieu, a young worker who falls madly in love with her. Possessed by an insatiable desire for her body, he treats Hua like a dog. An intense affair begins, marked by Matthieu's passionate embraces and harsh verbal abuse. When Hua determines to leave her lover, she discovers the strength of her addiction, and the vital role he has come to play in her life as a woman. Formerly titled Bitch, this is an adaptation from Jie Liu-Falin's autobiographical novel.

"THE LOVE WE MAKE" (2011 feature film directed by Albert Maysles, Bradley Kaplan)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:20:18 -0400

Over several weeks in October 2001, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles followed Paul McCartney as he prepared for The Concert for New York City, a 9/11 memorial concert he helped organize to uplift New York during a period of distinct uncertainty and vulnerability. For years the footage went unseen, requiring the passage of time to put it in perspective. Now ten years later, Maysles, along with director partner Bradley Kaplan and editor Ian Markiewicz, have emerged with a deeply intimate film that uniquely explores the roles of art and artists in time of crisis. This Mavericks event presents the world premiere of The Love We Make, followed by a live discussion with Maysles, Kaplan and members of their production team. Paul McCartney has pre-recorded an exclusive introduction to the film.

"LOVELY MOLLY" (2011 feature film directed by Eduardo Sanchez)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:27:33 -0400

When newlywed Molly Reynolds returns to her long-abandoned family home, frightful reminders of a nightmarish childhood begin seeping into her new life. She soon begins an inexorable descent into evil that blurs the lines between psychosis and possession. From the director of The Blair Witch Project.

"LOW LIFE" (2011 feature film directed by Nicolas Klotz, Elisabeth Perceval)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:27:46 -0400

After making love, the youngsters slipped happily into dreamland... but when they opened their eyes the world appeared joyless, and stomach-wrenchingly old. And so they quickly sank back into their happy world, where all sleepers are equal. This is the place they called Low Life.

"LUCKY" (2011 feature film directed by Avie Luthra)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:39:38 -0400

Lucky, an AIDS orphan, is forced to leave his native village to live with his uncle in Durban. He learns about life the hard way, but forges an unlikely bond with an elderly Indian neighbour in spite of racial prejudice and language barriers. Together they go on a journey to find him a new life and family. Avie Luthra made a 20 minute short on the story in 2005. He is also a practicing psychiatrist.

"MACHINE GUN PREACHER" (2011 feature film directed by Marc Forster)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:39:42 -0400

The story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been forced to become soldiers. This inspirational true story, Machine Gun Preacher is about Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Gerard Butler (300) delivers a searing performance as Childers in Golden Globe(R)-nominated director Marc Forster's (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) moving story of violence and redemption.

"MAN ON GROUND" (2011 feature film directed by Akin Omotoso)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:39:46 -0400

This portrayal of rising xenophobia in South Africa tells the story of a young Nigerian man living in the African refugee tenements of Johannesburg, who disappears against the background of animosity against immigrants flaring into violent rioting. In the span of a single night, his brother, on a short visit from London, tries to uncover the mystery.

"MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE" (2011 feature film directed by Sean Durkin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:39:56 -0400

Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult. Martha Marcy May Marlene is a powerful psychological thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, a young woman rapidly unravelling amidst her attempt to reclaim a normal life after fleeing from a cult and its charismatic leader (John Hawkes). Seeking help from her estranged older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and brother-in-law (Hugh Dancy), Martha is unable and unwilling to reveal the truth about her disappearance. When her memories trigger a chilling paranoia that her former cult could still be pursuing her, the line between Martha's reality and delusion begins to blur.

"MAUSAM" (2011 feature film directed by Pankaj Kapur)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:40:01 -0400

Mausam is a story of timeless love in the face of political hostilities and religious conflict, between a proud Punjabi air force officer and an innocent Kashmiri refugee. Set against a landscape that transcends decades and spans continents, Mausam is a classic journey that transports one into a world of indestructible bonds of love enveloped by the roulette of destiny.

"MELANCHOLIA" (2011 feature film directed by Lars von Trier)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:40:06 -0400

Two sisters find their relationship challenged as a nearby planet threatens to collide into the Earth. In this beautiful movie about the end of the world, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite Claire's best efforts the wedding is a fiasco, with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth... Melancholia is a psychological disaster film from director Lars von Trier.

"MEMORIES OF IDAHO" (2011 short films directed by James Franco, Gus Van Sant)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:19:30 -0400

In 1991, Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho and its central performance by River Phoenix had an enormous cultural impact, not least on a budding young actor named James Franco (127 Hours, James Dean). Now Franco has collaborated with Van Sant to create Memories of Idaho, a meditation on the seminal film in multiple parts. At the work's core are two new films, projected sequentially. The first film, My Own Private River, is a feature-length chronological reassemblage of excised scenes and alternate takes from the original shoot, radically foregrounding Phoenix. The second film, Memories of Idaho, comes from one of three scripts Van Sant used to create the original film, its Super-8 texture meant to be a "ghost" of his original conception. Van Sant contributes ghosts of his own, large-format photographs of actual Portland street hustlers who appeared in, and provided inspiration and source material for, the film. Presented at TIFF Bell Lightbox Atrium, 350 King Street West. September 8 to 18. A special discussion to accompany Memories of Idaho: Saturday, September 10, 5-6pm, in the BlackBerry lounge, at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Admittance to the Memories of Idaho discussion will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is limited.

"MICHAEL" (2011 feature film directed by Ribhu Dasgupta)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:40:57 -0400

Michael, an ex-cop, lives with his 11-year-old son and works in a theatre as a projectionist pirating DVDs for a living. When he starts receiving death threats for his son from someone in his past, he gets caught up in a complex web of his own impending blindness comprised of his insecurities. First-time director Ribhu Dasgupta teams up with India's guru of independent cinema, producer Anurag Kashyap, and veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah for this character-driven, psychological drama. The film is entirely shot in Kolkata.

"MICHAEL" (2011 feature film directed by Markus Schleinzer)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:41:21 -0400

A mousy insurance salesman keeps an under-aged boy locked in his basement, while doing his best to appear ordinary to the outside world. A drama focused on five months in the life of pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. First-time director Markus Schleinzer worked as a casting director from 1994 to 2010, most notably for fellow countryman Michael Haneke.

"MISS BALA" (2011 feature film directed by Gerardo Naranjo)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:41:31 -0400

Laura, a young aspiring beauty queen, finds her dream turned against her when she unwillingly gets involved with a criminal group at war. This film explores the many extremes of modern Mexican society when the world of beauty pageants and current drug war collide.

"MONEYBALL" (2011 feature film directed by Bennett Miller)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:41:37 -0400

The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players. Based on the book "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis. Based on a true story, Moneyball stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland As and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball's conventional wisdom is wrong. Forced to reinvent his team on a tight budget, Beane will have to outsmart the richer clubs. The onetime jock teams with Ivy League grad Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) in an unlikely partnership, recruiting bargain players that the scouts call flawed, but all of whom have an ability to get on base, score runs, and win games. It's more than baseball, it's a revolution - one that challenges old school traditions and puts Beane in the crosshairs of those who say he's tearing out the heart and soul of the game.

"MONSIEUR LAZHAR" (2011 feature film directed by Philippe Falardeau)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:41:43 -0400

Bachir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant, is hired to replace an elementary school teacher who died tragically. While the class goes through a long healing process, nobody in the school is aware of Bachir's painful former life.

"A MONSTER IN PARIS" (2011 3-D animated feature film directed by Bibo Bergeron)

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:22:37 -0400

A 3D-animated movie set in Paris in the year 1910 and centered on a monster who lives in a garden and his love for a beautiful, young singer. Paris. A Monster in Paris invites audiences to an enthralling world of adventure and fantasy. Paris, 1910. Emile, a shy movie projectionist, and Raoul, a colourful inventor, find themselves embarked on the hunt for a monster terrorizing citizens. They join forces with the big-hearted star of the Bird of Paradise cabaret, an eccentric scientist and his irascible monkey to save the monster, who turns out to be an outsized but harmless flea, from the city's ruthlessly-ambitious police chief. One of Dreamworks Animation's finest directors, Bibo Bergeron (Shark Tale, The Road to Eldorado) returns to his homeland with a supra-inventive project.

"MONSTERS CLUB" (2011 feature film directed by Toshiaki Toyoda)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:42:01 -0400

Having abandoned modern civilization, Ryoichi lives an isolated, self-sufficient life on a snow-covered mountain and passes the time by sending mail bombs to corporate CEOs. But one day, a mysterious creature appears before him.

"THE MOTH DIARIES" (2010 feature film directed by Mary Harron)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:42:09 -0400

Rebecca, haunted by her father's suicide, begins her junior year at an elite all-girls' boarding school, hoping for a fresh start. Her friendship with sunny Lucy is shattered by the arrival of Ernessa, a mysterious girl. As Ernessa consumes more of Lucy's attention, the latter's body grows pale, thin and weak.

"THE MOUNTAIN" (2010 feature film directed by Ghassan Salhab)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:42:18 -0400

As night falls over Beirut, Fadi, a 40-year-old man, packs his bags and sets out for the airport with a friend. Although he has said that he will be leaving the country for a month, when he arrives at the airport, he rents a car, gets on the highway and takes the mountainous route north .

"MR. BRAINWASH IN TORONTO" (2011 presentation)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:20:04 -0400

Made famous by the film Exit through the Gift Shop as legendary street-artist Banksy's alter ego, Thierry Guetta, a.k.a. Mr. Brainwash, has continued to produce provocative and playful Pop art. His work hungrily appropriates contemporary visual-art masters and cheekily tweaks the nose of gallery-based convention. His unique tribute to the style icon will be seen wildposted all over town. He will be engaged in multiple projects during the Festival, including a significant, multiple-piece exhibition at Gallery One. (In collaboration with Gallery One, 121 Scollard Street, September 8 to October 22.) His presence will also be felt outside Roy Thomson Hall, with his spray cans towering over the red carpet, providing emergency assistance for evenings requiring additional glamour and pomp. (Presented at David Pecaut Square, 55 John Street, September 8 to 18.) And, finally, he will collaborate with TIFF on "Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess," our fall exhibition.

"MR. TREE" (2011 feature film directed by Han Jie)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:42:43 -0400

Hello Mr. Tree is a dark fable on greed and guilt told in an absurdist key, yet shot with documentary-like verisimilitude. It weaves the strange fate of a misfit, who could be an idiot or a seer, into the backdrop of a rural community that's ruthlessly uprooted by a private mining venture.

"MUSHROOMS" (2011 feature film directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:42:50 -0400

Rahul, a Bengali architect who had gone off to build a career in Dubai, returns to Kolkata to launch a huge construction site. He is reunited with his girlfriend, Paoli, who had long awaited his homecoming. Together, they try to find Rahul's brother, who is said to have gone mad, living in the forest and sleeping in the trees. Despite appearances, the two brothers might have a lot in common.

"MY WORST NIGHTMARE" (2011 feature film directed by Anne Fontaine)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:42:56 -0400

Agathe doesn't realize to what extent her life is going to be turned upside down when she takes in Tony, the best friend of her son Adrien. Tony's father, Patrick, leads Agathe down a merry path of existential chaos, which just may deliver her from herself.

"A MYSTERIOUS WORLD" (2011 feature film directed by Rodrigo Moreno)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:43:01 -0400

After his girlfriend suddenly breaks up with him, a young man's life transforms into an erratic urban journey inexplicably connected to his temperamental communist-era car. The latest film from Rodrigo Moreno (El Custodio) is an affectionate, singular portrait of one guileless protagonist's quixotic journey through a period of uncertainty.

"NEIL YOUNG LIFE" (2011 feature film directed by Jonathan Demme)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:24:16 -0400

At the culmination of Neil Young's solo "Le Noise" tour, director Jonathan Demme documents the legendary rocker's masterful return to Toronto's iconic Massey Hall, with concert footage interspersed with a road trip through Ontario. At sixty-five, Young retains a youthful vitality and musical curiosity that balances his wisdom and experience. Filmed over two nights and highlighting both new songs and some of the classics, Neil Young Life is a musical journey like no other. For this Mavericks event, Young and Demme will present the world premiere of Neil Young Life in the splendid Princess of Wales Theatre, followed by a live conversation.

"NUIT #1" (2011 feature film directed by Anne Emond)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:43:11 -0400

Clara and Nikolai meet at a rave. They return to Nicolai's apartment and make love. Afterwards, instead of parting, the two lovers divulge their deepest secrets to one another. Nicolai is a beautiful loser. At the age of 31, he leads a simple and frugal life. He envisions big projects and has large ideas but, inevitably and despite himself, loses sight of them before they are realized. Clara, like Nikolai, seems not to be made for this world. By day, she works as a Grade 3 school teacher; by night, she is a compulsive party-girl, sleeping with men, women or both at once.

"THE ODDS" (2011 feature film directed by Simon Davidson)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:43:22 -0400

In The Odds, a murder mystery set in the world of illegal teenage gambling, 17-year-old Desson Orr must find his best friend's killer before the game is exposed.

"OMAR KILLED ME" (2011 feature film directed by Roschdy Zem)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:43:30 -0400

What if you woke up one day and found the police at your door? What if they told you that the woman you had always thought of as a mother was murdered and that, moments before she died, she wrote in her own blood that it was you who killed her? These were the facts that lead Omar Raddad to be imprisoned for eighteen years. February 2, 1994: Omar Raddad, a Moroccan gardener, is sentenced to 18 years for the murder of a wealthy widow in Marseille, France. Convinced of Raddad's innocence, a journalist sets out to defend his case.

"ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA" (2011 feature film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:31:53 -0400

Life in a small town is akin to journeying in the middle of the steppes: the sense that "something new and different" will spring up behind every hill, but always unerringly similar, tapering, vanishing or lingering monotonous roads... As a confessed killer tries to lead the authorities to the place where he buried the body, a series of clues are laid as to what has actually happened.

"THE ORANGES" (2011 feature film directed by Julian Farino)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:29:50 -0400

A guy falls for the daughter of a good friend, resulting in a massive upheaval for all the families involved. The Ostroff and Walling families are best friends and neighbours, living across the street from each other on Orange Drive. Prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester) returns home for Thanksgiving dinner after a five-year absence, newly broken up with her fiance Ethan (Sam Rosen). Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbours, Toby Walling (Adam Brody), which would please both families, it's her parents' best friend David Walling (Hugh Laurie) that captures Nina's attention. When the romantic attraction between Nina and David Walling becomes too great to ignore, the lives of the two families are thrown into upheaval. It is not long, however, before the ramifications of the affair begin to work on the other family members in unexpected, hilarious and even positive ways, leading everyone to reassess what it means to be happy, and how to find happiness with, and perhaps in spite of, your own family and friends.

"OSLO AUGUST 31" (2011 feature film directed by Joachim Trier)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:43:50 -0400

The movie is very loosely based on the French book "Leu feu follet", a 1931 novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. Anders wanders the city, meeting people he hasn't seen in a while. Long into the night, the ghosts of past mistakes will wrestle with the chance of love, of a new life, with the hope to see some future by morning... From the director of the award-winning Reprise.

"THE OTHER SIDE OF SLEEP" (2011 feature film directed by Rebecca Daly)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:22:10 -0400

The film is a suspense story of the impact of a killing on a small Irish community and, in particular, on a young woman, Arlene, who suffers from sleepwalking and whose own mother disappeared in mysterious circumstances.

"OUTSIDE SATAN" (2011 feature film directed by Bruno Dumont)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:40:34 -0400

By the Channel, along the Cote d'Opale, near a hamlet with river and marshland lives a strange guy who struggles along, poaches, prays and builds fires. A girl from a local farm takes care of him and feeds him. They spend time together in the wide scenery of dunes and woods, mysteriously engaging in private prayer at the edge of the ponds, where the devil is prowling.

"PAGE EIGHT" (2011 feature film directed by David Hare)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:44:22 -0400

Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) is a long-serving M15 officer. His boss and best friend Benedict Baron (Michael Gambon) dies suddenly, leaving behind him an inexplicable file, threatening the stability of the organization. Meanwhile, a seemingly chance encounter with Johnny's striking next-door neighbour and political activist Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz) seems too good to be true. Johnny is forced to walk out of his job, and then out of his identity to find out the truth. Set in London and Cambridge, PAGE EIGHT is a contemporary spy film for the BBC, which addresses intelligence issues and moral dilemmas peculiar to the new century.

"PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:44:26 -0400

Berlinger and Sinofsky's documentary of a gruesome triple murder in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trials of three suspects, takes a hard look at both the occult and the American justice system in 'small-town' America. Three teenagers are accused of this horrific crime of killing three children, supposedly as a result of involvement in Satanism. As in their previous documentary, things turn out to be more complex than initial appearances.

"PARIAH" (2011 feature film directed by Dee Rees)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:09:23 -0400

Alike, a young African American teenager, juggles family and friendships in search of sexual expression. She yearns to embrace her identity as a lesbian, but pressures from her conservative family leave her conflicted while she strives to move through her adolescence with grace, humour and integrity.

"THE PATRON SAINTS" (2011 feature film directed by Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:46:37 -0400

The Patron Saints is a disquieting and hyper-realistic glimpse into life at a nursing home. Bound by the candid confessions of a recently disabled resident, the film weaves haunting images, scenes and stories from within the institution walls. Sidestepping conventional documentary methods for a heightened cinematic approach to storytelling, the film employs lyrical realism and black humour in its charged portrait of fading bodies and minds.

"PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Stephen Kessler)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:46:48 -0400

A documentary filmmaker tracks down Grammy and Oscar award-winning actor/singer/songwriter Paul Williams in an attempt to find out what happened to his fallen idol. Paul Williams was one of the biggest stars of the 1970s. He was everywhere - on The Tonight Show 50 times and appeared on variety shows, sitcoms, game shows and movies from The Love Boat to Phantom of the Paradise. But in the 1980s, he just disappeared. This movie is about what happened when filmmaker Stephen Kessler finds him.

"PEACE, LOVE, & MISUNDERSTANDING" (2011 feature film directed by Bruce Beresford)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:46:53 -0400

An uptight NYC lawyer takes her two teenagers to her hippie mother's farmhouse upstate for a family vacation. What was meant to be a weekend getaway quickly turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets and self-discovery. Directed by two-time Academy Award nominated Bruce Beresford, Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding stars Academy Award-winning Jane Fonda, two-time Academy Award-nominated Catherine Keener, international heartthrob Chace Crawford, and Sundance's breakout star Elizabeth Olsen. The film is a comedy about an uptight New York City lawyer who takes her two spirited teenagers to her hippie mother's farmhouse in the countryside for a family vacation. What was meant to be a weekend getaway quickly turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets, and self-discovery.

"PEARL JAM TWENTY" (2011 feature film directed by Cameron Crowe)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:46:58 -0400

A documentary on the band Pearl Jam that marks their 20th anniversary in the year 2011. Pearl Jam Twenty chronicles the years leading up to the band's formation, the chaos that ensued soon after their rise to megastardom, their step back from centre stage, and the creation of a trusted circle that would surround them - giving way to a work culture that would sustain them. Told in big themes and bold colours with blistering sound, the film is carved from over 1,200 hours of rarely seen and never-before seen footage spanning the band's career. Pearl Jam Twenty is the definitive portrait of Pearl Jam: part concert film, part intimate insider-hang, and part testimonial to the power of music and uncompromising artists.

"PEOPLE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE SEA" (2011 feature film directed by Cai Shangjun)

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:39:19 -0400

Inspired by a true crime story, this bold and unsettling revenge film takes a road trip down the dark corners of modern Chinese society. Surveying the moral debris of the country's economic growth, director Cai Shangjun lays the foundations for a new Chinese neorealism.

"PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD WINNER" (2011 feature film)

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:38:56 -0400

Audiences will have the chance to rank all eligible films after each screening. The winner of the Cadillac People's Choice Award will be announced on Sunday, September 18, 2011, and a free screening of the winning film will take place that evening. Sunday September 18, Ryerson, 6:00pm Tickets for the Cadillac People's Choice Award winner will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from the relevant venue box office two hours prior to start of the screening.

"PINA" (2011 3-D feature documentary film directed by Wim Wenders)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:47:07 -0400

How to capture the essence of Pina Bausch, the queen of German dance theatre? How to film dance? How to do justice to Bausch's unique look at the world? These were the questions that had haunted Wenders for two decades, from his first encounter with Bausch in 1985 in Venice and his immediate wish to combine her (dance) world and his (film) world.

"PINK RIBBONS, INC" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Lea Pool)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:47:14 -0400

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people walk, run and shop for "the cure." Millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does all the money go, and what is actually achieved? Award-winning Quebec filmmaker Lea Pool directs Pink Ribbons, Inc. which examines what many have called the 'dream case' of cause-related marketing. Inspired by Dr. Samantha King's book "Pink Ribbons Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy," the film juxtaposes footage from some of the biggest fundraising walks and runs in North America with uncompromising interviews.

"PLAY" (2011 feature film directed by Ruben Ostlund)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:47:22 -0400

Play is an astute observation based on real cases of bullying. In central Gothenburg, Sweden, a group of boys, aged 12-14, robbed other children on about 40 occasions between 2006 and 2008. The thieves used an elaborate manipulation scheme called the 'brother trick,' involving advanced role-play and gang rhetoric rather than physical violence. (Uses the latest generation of Red cameras to capture long-held shots that were so high-resolution that editors could readjust the framing in post-production, apparently the first time the technique has been used for a feature.)

"PLOT AGAINST TIME" (2011 short film directed by David Rokeby)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:54:47 -0400

Throughout his distinguished career, Governor General's Award-winning artist David Rokeby has experimented prolifically with a variety of new media. Unifying all his work is an insatiable fascination with the recording of motion, and, in turn, of time. His new series, Plot Against Time, consists of four exquisite videos, each set in milieus in which figures' and objects' movements are meticulously tracked, creating gestural streaks across the screen. The vignettes vary widely, with marked seasonal modulations: bugs flitting about in the artist's sun-soaked backyard; snowflakes vibrating in the turbulence created by Mies Van Der Rohe's TD Centre skyscrapers and an Al McWilliams sculpture in Toronto's financial district; tourists and pigeons forming searching paths in Venice's Piazza San Marco; and, in the series' most recent work which receives its world premiere at this year's TIFF, gannets swooping off the coast of Newfoundland. Brilliantly suggesting abstract-expressionist precedents from Whistler to Pollock, Plot Against Time's interest in kinesis is as sociological and technological as it is philosophical and painterly. Presented in collaboration with The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West. September 8 to 18.

"POMPEYA" (2011 feature film directed by Tamae Garateguy)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:47:36 -0400

A junior screenwriter is hired by an established film director to write his new film: a gangster movie set in Buenos Aires. In each meeting, the filmmakers create a story that takes place in an imaginary Pompeya neighbourhood, plagued by secrets, political disputes and crime. When pure fiction and reality are completely corrupted, the unexpected happens. In her first solo feature, Tamae Garateguy simultaneously lambasts the Buenos Aires filmmaking scene and the gangster film, ingeniously stirring up a volatile alchemy of genres.

"PORFIRIO" (2011 feature film directed by Alejandro Landes)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:47:47 -0400

A man disabled by a stray police bullet lives in a world that stretches only from bed to wheelchair in a faraway city on the outskirts of the Colombian Amazon. There, he sells call time on his cellular phone to get by as he waits in vain for a government cheque and takes calls that are never for him. Determined to make himself heard, he hatches a desperately violent plan to take back the reins of his life - only to find himself back where he began. Tells the true story of a Colombian man, crippled in a wheelchair after being injured in a crossfire with the police, that after more than a decade asking for a disability allowance decides to hijack a plane with the help of his teen son in order to attract attention from the country's president about his situation. The film is the first Colombian film shot in Cinemascope with the intention to fully portray the complexity of the horizontal world the main character finds himself sunk into. Main photography took place in natural Colombian locations in the area of Claqueta.

"THE RAID" (2011 feature film directed by Gareth Evans)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:47:57 -0400

Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the sixth floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission. RAID is scheduled to open Midnight Madness

"RAMPART" (2011 feature film directed by Oren Moverman)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:28:36 -0400

Follows veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, as he struggles to take care of his family, and fights for his own survival. A genre-bending, 1990s Los Angeles police family drama, Rampart explores the dark soul and romantic misadventures of a never-changing LAPD cop (Woody Harrelson) whose past is finally catching up with him in the wake of a department-wide corruption scandal. Along the way, he is forced to confront his disgruntled daughters (Brie Larson, Sammy Boyarsky), his two ex-wives (Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon), a tenacious Deputy DA (Sigourney Weaver), an investigator on his trail (Ice Cube), a homeless witness to his crimes (Ben Foster), his aging mentor (Ned Beatty) and a mysterious new lover who may or may not be on his side (Robin Wright), as he fights for his own sanity and survival.

"RANDOM" (2011 short film directed by Debbie Tucker Green)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:48:08 -0400

Kaleidoscopic, monologue-driven portrait of a Black British woman on the day her younger brother is killed in random violence. Set over the course of one day in London, Random tells the story of an ordinary family on an ordinary day whose lives are shattered by the impact of one random event. It is a lively and beautifully observed portrait of family dynamics which draws us into a moving story.

"REBELLION" (2011 feature film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:48:14 -0400

April 1988, Ouvea island, New Caledonia, a French colony. Thirty policemen are kidnapped by locals fighting for their independence. Three hundred members of the French army special forces unit are immediately sent on a mission to fix the situation. An encounter of two cultures: Philippe Legorjus, head of the unit, versus Alphonse Dianou, head of the rebels. Together, they'll fight to resolve the situation through mutual trust and dialogue over violence. Except that they're at the heart of the most-tense presidential elections in French history - when issues at stake are purely political, rules of law and order are not exactly moral.

"RESTLESS" (2010 feature film directed by Gus Van Sant)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:22:54 -0400

Restless is a powerful and emotional story of discovery that centres on the relationship of two outsiders brought together by unforeseen circumstances. The story of friendship becomes an engaging and provocative love story.

"RESTORATION" (2011 feature film directed by Yossi Madmoni)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:48:29 -0400

A drama about a family's effort to save their antique restoration business. Yaakov Fidelman (Sasson Gabai, The Band's Visit) hangs on with all his might to the antique restoration workshop that has been his life's work. After his partner passes away, Fidelman rejects his son's idea to close the business and build on the site. Will he understand that his only hope for redemption is to learn to let go?

"THE RIVER USED TO BE A MAN" (2011 feature film directed by Jan Zabeil)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:48:37 -0400

A young German man travels through an African country. He meets an old fisherman who takes him deep into the wilderness. The next morning, he finds himself alone in the middle of an endless delta. His continuous loss of control leads him into a world far beyond his own comprehension. Director Jan Zabeil continues in a recent strain of German films working out national dilemmas by exploring Europe's engagement with Africa. A German actor visiting a rural waterway enters an existential fog while attempting to find meaning in ancient tradition. But the narrative here is only a gesture towards the full meaning: what can divination, memory and traditional belief mean to a man so far outside them?

"ROAD MOVIE" (2011 short film directed by Elle Flanders, Tamira Sawatzky)

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:55:22 -0400

Presented on six double-sided walls and comprised of a series of short films, Elle Flanders and Tamira Sawatzky's powerful and beautifully nuanced installation, Road Movie, examines contemporary life in Palestine. Palestinians living in the West Bank are confronted with a segregated and impossible road system made all the more problematic and unpredictable by shifting political currents. The subjects of the films - from Palestinian ambulance and taxi drivers to Israeli settlers and human-rights activists offer a unique and unconventional glimpse into the human landscape of this volatile land. Filmed in stop-motion animation, with a screen set-up suggesting the foreboding wall surrounding Palestine, Road Movie is full of arresting and vibrant images, from the deserts of the Jordan Valley to the circumference of Jerusalem. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada and presented at O'Born Contemporary offsite, 51 Wolseley St. 5th Floor, September 8 to 18.

"ROMAN'S CIRCUIT" (2011 feature film directed by Sebastian Brahm)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:30:04 -0400

When a prominent researcher in the field of human memory returns home, he stumbles upon the fact that a man's past - as he remembers and tells it - is nothing but fiction.

"ROMEO ELEVEN" (2011 feature film directed by Ivan Grbovic)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:49:11 -0400

Romeo Eleven is the intimate portrait of a shy young man looking for love in all the wrong places. A path of lies slowly catches up to him before leading the audience to a surprising and moving conclusion.

"ROSE" (2011 feature film directed by Wojciech Smarzowski)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:49:16 -0400

Summertime 1945: the end of the war brings continued chaos and violence for Polish inhabitants of the former East Prussia. Rose is Polish and her German husband has been killed in the war, leaving her alone on their farm. A Polish army officer tries to conceal his identity as he helps protect her from suspicious Soviet soldiers and foraging people circling the farm.

"ROUGH HANDS" (2011 feature film directed by Mohamed Asli)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:49:25 -0400

Mustafa is an illiterate hairdresser who lives with his blind mother. He runs an underground trade as a middleman facilitating favours in exchange for money - among them is Zakia who wants to immigrate to Spain. Unable to realize her Spanish dream, she remains in her country and marries Mustafa.

"SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN" (2011 feature film directed by Lasse Hallstrom)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:28:43 -0400

Ewan McGregor stars as a fisheries scientist who finds himself saddled with the task of introducing salmon fishing to the Highlands of Yemen. Director Lasse Hallstrom adapts this charming British comedy from Paul Torday's acclaimed novel. Stuffy government fisheries scientist Fred is asked by a fishing-obsessed Arab Sheik to do the seemingly impossible - introduce British salmon to the wadis of the Yemen. Despite considerable trepidation, Fred is finally won over by the charismatic Sheik, who reveals that fishing brings him closer to God, and he hopes it will have the same effect on his countrymen. Fred also begins to fall for the Sheik's beautiful legal representative Harriet; and so he rises to the Sheik's eccentric challenge, casting off his English reserve on a transformative journey of self discovery and late blooming love.

"SAMSARA" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Ron Fricke)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:49:41 -0400

Samsara is a Tibetan word that means "the ever turning wheel of life," a concept both intimate and vast, the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka. Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that spans the globe on a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet. The word 'Samsara' in Sanskrit means "the world around us that imprisons the soul in never ending cycles of death and rebirth until 'moksha' (liberation) is attained." It will be the first feature-length film in over a decade to be shot entirely on 70mm film.

"SANCTUARY" (2009 presentation)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:57:54 -0400

With La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini broke with the neorealist tradition of filming on location, and moved to Cinecitta Studios, where he built a near-exact replica of Rome's famed Via Veneto. Cinecitta, then known for hosting American epics like Ben Hur, would become inextricably linked with the great director. In this series of photographs, artist Gregory Crewdson revisits Fellini's stomping grounds, documenting a cinematic ruin where narratives linger like ghosts. The traces of bygone productions are everywhere: a painted sign, perhaps from Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York; flooded alleyways that evoke HBO's Rome. Presented in collaboration with the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. CONTACT Gallery, 80 Spadina Avenue, suite 310. September 8 to October 22.

"SARAH PALIN - YOU BETCHA!" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:49:56 -0400

Nick Broomfield's quest for the real Sarah Palin involves battling the icy snows of Alaska in mid-winter to speak to the school friends, family, and Republican colleagues that in previous days gave their heart, soul and belief to the charismatic, charming, intoxicating ex-hockey mom. But it's not all plain sailing. People are frightened to talk; Wasilla makes Twin Peaks look like a walk in the park. It's a devout evangelical community - 76 churches with a population of only 6 thousand, and the Crystal meth capital of Alaska. Broomfield brings his celebrated wit and determination to cracking her story.

"SCC: PROGRAMME 1" (2011 short films directed by Jeanne Leblanc, Hugh Dillon, Enrico Colantoni, Craig Goodwil, Gina Haraszti, Renaud Hallee, Simon Ennis, Kyle Sanderson)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:12 -0400

Screening as part of SCC: Programme 1: One Night With You - A fat young man's lustful fantasies are crushed by his insecure and immature reality. Issues - A troubled clown in therapy, played by Hugh Dillon, gives his psychiatrist a challenging assignment. Patch Town - An epic musical satire featuring an oppressive management team at Patch Town Enterprises (where cabbage babies are born everyday on the work line) lead by a merciless villain and a man trying to liberate himself from the claws of the system to retrieve a sense of family. Starring Lisa Ray and Julian Richings. Waning - A man, a dead woman, a depleted apartment. Not your typical murder mystery, Waning takes on the visual and temporal deconstruction of a homicide in a single fractured frame. Combustion - A rare visual trip into the elements, when fire, darkness and sound dictate each other to create a possessing rhythm. Up In Cottage Country - An absurd re-imagining of Kafka's In Der Strafkolonie, Up in Cottage Country has George (Josh Peace), stumble upon an elaborate torture machine operated by a defunct Officer (Julian Richings). Lie Down and Die - A bitter-sweet comedy about Seth's will to live in a world where all his family members have died bizarre deaths.

"SCC: PROGRAMME 2" (2011 short films directed by Matthew Rankin, Ian Lagarde, Igor Drljaca, DJ Parmar, Benjamin Schuetze, Evan Morgan, Mark Slutsky)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:18 -0400

Screening as part of SCC: Programme 2: Tabula Rasa - A surrealist tale of loss and longing finds forlorn Fernand succumbing to the rising flood waters of the Red River. Slumped in his recliner, he is resigned to nature's fate. Solar Wind - The last day before the mass suicide of the members of a secluded sect. The Fuse: Or How I Burned Simon Bolivar - Using personal home video footage, this documentary follows how a young boy's attempts to avoid a poor mark on a school assignment in 1990's Sarajevo, may have contributed to a civil war. Afternoon Tea - An elderly Indian man is questioned by a young boy who shows up at his doorstep to use his phone, revealing that we're quick to jump to assumptions that can have serious consequences. The Paris Quintet In Practice Makes Perfect - Sharply dressed and exquisitely choreographed, five men go about their daily routine in a cramped apartment in this fun and fashionable short film. The Pedestrian Jar - Hit a pedestrian with your car, put a quarter in the office jar. It's that simple. And fun. The Red Virgin - Madrid, 1933: Aurora Rodriguez Carballeira shoots to death Hildegart, the 18 year-old daughter she had raised and tailored to become the utopian woman of the future.

"SCC: PROGRAMME 3" (2011 short films directed by Mike Maryniuk, John Scoles, Ian Harnarine, Alain Fournier, Pedro Pires, Miranda de Pencier, Jean-Guillaume Bastien)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:23 -0400

Screening as part of SCC: Programme 3: The Yodeling Farmer - Stu Clayton of Manitou, Manitoba is the yodelling farmer, portrayed with humour and wit in this fantastic animated documentary that looks the way yodelling sounds. Doubles With Slight Pepper - A father's request of his only son, who he left behind in Trinidad, reveals deep wounds and family traditions in this immigrant story that is poetic and heartfelt. The Weight of Emptiness - A mother and son are in a power struggle - is the boy her little angel as well as the cause of her grief? Hope - A dying General's final moments on the battlefield takes us on a visceral, and stunningly visual journey into death in Pedro Pires' phenomenal follow up to his award-winning Danse Macabre. Throat Song - A young Inuit woman seeks to reclaim her voice, lost in a community that's been tragically separated from its past. Sundays - Putting a surreal twist on the most regular of days, Les Dimanches literally and filmically shakes the normalcy of three narratives at play.

"SCC: PROGRAMME 4" (2011 short films directed by Sophie Goyette, Mathieu Tremblay, Eduardo Menz, Christian Sparkes, Alexander Gorelick, Adam Shaheen, Chelsea McMullan, Darrin Klimek)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:29 -0400

Screening as part of SCC: Programme 4: Mandeep - Mandeep lives with Tourette's syndrome and other behavioral disorders that make everyday tasks difficult challenges. He's open, honest and uncensored in this sharply focused portrait. Derailments - Frederico Fellini's unmade film Il viaggio di Mastorna became a comic book, just before Fellini's death. This is the story of how that came to be. The Devil's Due - When a mysterious box is dropped from the skies, a calm world is turned upside down. A River in the Woods - A group of kids befriend a monster they find in the woods. Be careful who you play with. A Film Portrait on Reconstructing 12 Possibilities that Preceded the Disappearance of Zoe Dean Drum - A one of a kind cinematic mystery reveals meticulously created scenes that provide subtle hints about the abduction of its central (and noticeably absent) title character. Of Events - The rhythm of a train's passage is expressively animated in sharp monochromatic tones, as it carries its cargo across a barren landscape. La ronde - Twin siblings deal with their father's imminent death: Alexandre feels the need to stay while Ariane has an uncontrollable urge to leave.

"SCC: PROGRAMME 5" (2011 short films directed by Cory Bowles, Yoakim Belanger, Xstine Cook, Jesse Gouchey, Yan Giroux, Janine Fung, Nicholas Pye, Ryan Flowers, Lisa Pham)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:34 -0400

Screening as part of SCC: Programme 5: If I Can Fly - A stunning dance piece featuring a naked, solitary man through a visceral introspection in three movements, layered by music, painting and ink. Spirit of the Bluebird - Back alley graffiti transforms into a beautiful animated elegy to a native elder whose lifetime of suffering lead to a tragic death. Surveillant - The city park is a microcosm of its own, where teens form clans and shape their social status. 4am - Spoken-word poet Muhammad Muwakil conveys a powerful portrait of life in a suburb of Port of Spain, Trinidad, against peaceful pre-dawn images of a city at peace. The Encounter - A mystical young woman's synethesia transforms her vision into beautiful song. Evocative and hypnotic, The Encounter is a transcendent and haunting sensory experience. No Words Came Down - Thomas, a good looking but awkward young man is set up on a blind date with Mary, a middle-aged woman. Heart of Rhyme - Following a heart transplant surgery, Saxton, a middle-aged white man, finds himself compelled to rap, tag public property, and be overall aware of the rhythmns of his environment.

"SCC: PROGRAMME 6" (2011 short films directed by Philippe Baylaucq, Stephanie Dudley, Raha Shirazi, Dusty Mancinelli, Andrew Cividino, Sheila Pye, Arnaud Brisebois, Francis Leclerc)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:38 -0400

Screening as part of SCC: Programme 6: ORA - An unprecedented, game-changing 3D visual art trip uses infrared technology to capture contemporary dance choreography. Music by Robert Lepage. Little Theatres: Homage to the Mineral of Cabbage - There's a lot you don't know about cabbage, as this craftily animated tale will tell you. ACQUA - A celebration of traditions, Acqua presents the quest for water partly as a necessity, partly as a solemn pilgrimage. Pathways - Young Marco, bullied at school and lonely at home, stumbles upon a dead man's body in the woods. We Ate the Children Last - A futuristic, but increasingly believable surgical transplant involving a pig's digestive system leads a human population to drastic gastronomic measures in adapted Yan Martel story. The Red Virgin - Madrid, 1933: Aurora Rodriguez Carballeira shoots to death Hildegart, the 18 year-old daughter she had raised and tailored to become the utopian woman of the future. Trotteur - A young outcast pits himself in a race against a raging locomotive. Fantastic visual effects add to this powerful tale of man versus machine.

"A SEPARATION" (2011 feature film directed by Asghar Farhadi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:50:57 -0400

When Simin's husband Nader refuses to grant her a divorce, she returns to her parents' home. Nader hires a young woman to assist in his wife's absence, hoping his life will return to normal. However, after discovering that the new maid has been lying, he realizes there is more on the line than just his marriage. Most of the movie was shot using a handheld camera. The first-ever movie to win 3 Bears from Berlin Film Festival. Farhadi's win came against the backdrop of the jail sentence handed down to Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was scheduled to be a member of this year's jury, but was prohibited from attending the festival owing to his recent conviction by the Iranian government for producing propaganda against the Islamic establishment.

"SHAME" (2011 feature film directed by Steve McQueen)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:01 -0400

Brandon (played by Michael Fassbender) is a 30-something man living in New York City who has trouble controlling and managing his sexual compulsions once his willful younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves in. Brandon is a thirty-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon's world spirals out of control. From director Steve McQueen (Hunger), Shame is a compelling and timely examination of the nature of need, how we live our lives and the experiences that shape us.

"THE SILVER CLIFF" (2011 feature film directed by Karim Ainouz)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:16 -0400

Follows a woman wandering around Rio de Janeiro after her husband leaves her. A phone message from her husband propels Violeta into the streets of Rio until sunrise. Telling their teenage son that a last minute trip has come up, she sets out to find her husband. Rio at night is her sole companion as she struggles to face his abrupt and sudden change of heart, but the beach also provides renewal, unexpected meetings and a window to a whole other world.

"A SIMPLE LIFE" (2011 feature film directed by Ann Hui)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:22 -0400

Inspired by a true story, the film tells about a heartwarming relationship between a young master a big family, Roger (Lau) and the servant of the family who raised him, Sister Peach (Ip). Based on real people and events. Ah Tao was born in Taishan, China. She works as a servant for 60 years and has been serving four generations of the Leung family. For the past decade, Ah Tao lived with Roger, the only family member left in Hong Kong.

"SISTERS&BROTHERS" (2011 feature film directed by Carl Bessai)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:28 -0400

A comedic exploration of the lives of four intersecting sister and brother relationships. A hard-done-by "entrepreneur" corrals a young girl and her sister into a trip to Los Angeles to chase the acting dream. A schizophrenic man and his pro-bono lawyer who lives in the woods cause problems with his sister.

"THE SKIN I LIVE IN" (2011 feature film directed by Pedro Almodovar)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:34 -0400

A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession. Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig... Based on the Thierry Jonquet novel, "Mygale" (Tarantula).

"SLEEPING BEAUTY" (2010 feature film directed by Julia Leigh)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:39 -0400

"You will go to sleep: you will wake up. It will be as if those hours never existed." Death-haunted, quietly reckless, Lucy is a young university student who takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty. In the Sleeping Beauty Chamber, old men seek an erotic experience that requires Lucy's absolute submission. This unsettling task starts to bleed into Lucy's daily life and she develops an increasing need to know what happens to her when she is asleep.

"SLEEPLESS NIGHT" (2011 feature film directed by Frederic Jardin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:51 -0400

During a routine mission, Vincent, a 30 years old cop, steals a bag full of cocaine from drug dealers. When Vincent come back home, he realizes the drug dealers have recognized him and have taken his son hostage. While the city plunges into darkness, Vincent will to sacrifice everything to save his son. The film has been shot in Belgium; we can recognize the famous Casino of Brussels. "Sleepless Night" is a powerful thriller.

"SLOW ACTION" (2010 feature film directed by Ben Rivers)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:59:27 -0400

Ben Rivers' four-part film, Slow Action, is a heady mix of lingering, mysterious beauty and charmingly offbeat humour, transforming four real locales into wholly imagined futuristic communities. Referencing classic-documentary and '50s-era ethnographic cinema, Rivers mischievously plays with the disarming and ironic porosity of science fiction. Taking inspiration from such utopian literary classics as Francis Bacon's The New Atlantis and Mary Shelley's The Last Man, Slow Action uses a commissioned text by writer Mark von Schlegell, read by an omniscient female and male voice (the former a nod to Werner Herzog's Fata Morgana). As they negotiate the utopian terrain of these post-flood parallel worlds, the searing 16mm anamorphic images testify to Rivers' visionary flair and eye for the breathtaking. Though reminiscent of such august precedents as Chris Marker's La Jetee and Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, Slow Action is, indelibly, a creation of its maker, whose ongoing study of hybrids and hermits belongs in a category all its own. Presented in collaboration with Gallery TPW, 56 Ossington Avenue. September 8 to October 1.

"SMUGGLER" (2011 feature film directed by Katsuhito Ishii)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:52:08 -0400

After his acting career fails, Kinuta is left drifting and disconnected. When a confrontation in an arcade turns bad, he ends up in debt. To earn the money, he takes a job with Jo, cleaning up murder scenes. To his surprise, he makes friends with Jo, but the cruelty of the underworld in which they work shocks him--and inevitably challenges him to find the strength to take a different path.

"SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO" (2011 feature film directed by Robert Guediguian)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:39:08 -0400

Despite losing his job, Michel lives happily with Marie-Claire. They have been in love for over thirty years. Their conscience is as clear as their view of life. This happiness will be shattered by two young men, armed and masked, who beat them, tie them up and snatch their money to go for a trip to Kilimanjaro.

"SNOWTOWN" (2011 feature film directed by Justin Kurzel)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:52:30 -0400

When 16-year-old Jamie is introduced to a charismatic man, a friendship begins. As the relationship grows so do Jamie's suspicions, until he finds his world threatened by his loyalty for, and fear of, his newfound father-figure John Bunting, Australia's most notorious serial killer. Sixteen-year-old Jamie lives with his mother, Elizabeth, and two younger brothers, Alex and Nicholas, in a housing trust home in Adelaide's northern suburbs. Their home is but one of many sun-starved houses crammed together to cater for a disenfranchised society. Jamie longs for an escape from the violence and hopelessness that surrounds him and his salvation arrives in the form of John, a charismatic man who unexpectedly comes to his aid. As John spends more and more time with Jamie's family, Elizabeth and her boys begin to experience a stability and sense of family that they have never known. John moves from the role of Jamie's protector to that of a mentor, indoctrinating Jamie into his world, a world brimming with bigotry, righteousness and malice. Like a son mimicking his father, Jamie soon begins to take on some of John's traits and beliefs as he spends more and more time with him and his select group of friends.

"SONS OF NORWAY" (2011 feature film directed by Jens Lien)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:52:40 -0400

SONS OF NORWAY is an energetic film about revolt, punk rock, suburban hell and the eternal struggle between freaks and punks. And it's not least a touching story of an unusual father-son relationship, and about the strength of the bonds we sometimes do our best to rip apart. Nikolaj moves to Rykkin where his father has helped design the new satellite town. His father is a playful, self-declared free spirit, who firmly believes that a new community soul will flourish the Norwegian town. Nikolaj tries to make sense of life under the thumb of his optimistic and energetic father. They're a happy little alternative family - until his mother is suddenly killed in a traffic accident.

"SONY PICTURES CLASSICS: 20 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS" (2011 presentation hosted by Jonathan Demme)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:52:50 -0400

Sony Pictures Classics founders Michael Barker and Tom Bernard boast a roster of directors that reads like a pantheon of world talent: Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Susanne Bier, David Cronenberg, Guillermo del Toro, Norman Jewison, Ang Lee, Errol Morris, Gus Van Sant, Mike Leigh, Zhang Yimou, and the list goes on. To celebrate the company's twentieth anniversary, Mavericks presents a special conversation with Barker and Bernard. They have an unlimited supply of stories from behind the scenes at the Toronto International Film Festival, Cannes and the Oscars. For cinema lovers, this is a unique opportunity to hear how some of the most lauded films of our time were shepherded to success. The discussion will be moderated by Jonathan Demme, who worked with the duo most recently on Rachel Getting Married.

"STARBUCK" (2011 feature film directed by Ken Scott)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:52:59 -0400

Just when David Wosniak (Patrick Huard) decides to finally take control of his life, this eternal 42-year-old teenager discovers that he's the biological father of 533 children. Suddenly, his life is much more complicated than he anticipated.

"THE STONES" (2011 feature film directed by Roman Cardenas)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:53:06 -0400

In a quiet interrupted only by the noise of boats, a couple lives without crossing each other's paths. He is a writer waiting for the words; she is an alienated employee of a fumigation company. The Stones explores the increasing space between two people at the same time as it maps the short distance between urban Buenos Aires and its rustic flip-side in the neighbouring Parana Delta. Roman Cardenas pairs a spellbinding visual acuity with thrilling eruptions of comedy in this feature debut.

"THE STORY OF FILM: AN ODYSSEY" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Mark Cousins)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:53:24 -0400

Filmed on four continents over six years, this epic 15-hour documentary tells the story of innovation in the movies based on the acclaimed book of the same title by Mark Cousins. Featuring exclusive interviews with legendary filmmakers like Stanley Donen and Abbas Kiarostami, The Story of Film: An Odyssey is a passionate, cinematic journey across 11 decades of cinema, and a thousand films. The film will be screened first in five instalments of three hours each, every morning at 10am from Monday, September 12 to Friday, September 16. Monday September 12, Jackman Hall - AGO, 10:00am Tuesday September 13, Jackman Hall - AGO, 10:00am Wednesday September 14, Jackman Hall - AGO, 10:00am Thursday September 15, Jackman Hall - AGO, 10:00am Friday September 16, Jackman Hall - AGO, 10:00am On the Festival's final weekend the film will be screened again: eight hours on Saturday, September 17 and seven hours on Sunday, September 18. Saturday September 17, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4, 9:15am Sunday September 18, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4, 9:15am Tickets for The Story of Film will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from the relevant venue box office two hours prior to start of the screening.

"THE STUDENT" (2011 feature film directed by Santiago Mitre)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:53:29 -0400

The graffitied halls, run-down classrooms and surrounding streets of the University of Buenos Aires provide the ideal location for Santiago Mitre's briskly paced debut, The Student. Mitre brilliantly exposes the backroom dealings and negotiations in the murky world of student politics, a microcosm for the world at large, in this fictional account of a young man's discovery of his talent for politicking through his seduction of an assistant professor and activist.

"SUMMER GAMES" (2011 feature film directed by Rolando Colla)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:43:12 -0400

A beach holiday in Tuscany draws families and their children together. The youngsters join into a little gang and engage in fun and games in a nearby abandoned shack. The two eldest find themselves attracted to each other despite their family problems.

"SUNDAY" (2009 short film directed by Duane Hopkins)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:59:55 -0400

UK director Duane Hopkins' full-scale installation project, Sunday, is both an extension of his previous films and a haunting, elegiac projection-based work in its own right. Consisting of a series of subtly looped diptychs and triptychs, Sunday focuses on the West Midlands youth of his much-celebrated feature-film debut Better Things (2008) and his early shorts Field and Love Me or Leave Me Alone. Hopkins captures the ennui, sadness and beauty of isolated adolescence in painterly tones and colors that recall the British Romantics, while twinning and reconceptualizing his landscapes to evoke the brooding, twitchy surrealism of the ever-encroaching contemporary world. Sunday builds to a climax of poignant helplessness, a politics of alienation that presages the violence and turmoil engulfing England this summer. Presented in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), 952 Queen Street West. September 9 to18.

"SUPERCLASICO" (2011 feature film directed by Ole Christian Madsen)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:04:23 -0400

Christian (Anders W. Berthelsen) owns a wine store approaching bankruptcy - and he is just as unsuccessful in about every other aspect of life. His wife Anna (Paprika Steen) leaves him and finds work as a successful football agent in Buenos Aires, living a life of luxury with Juan Diaz, a star football player. One day, Christian arrives under the false pretence of finalizing divorce papers, but his real motives involve winning his wife back.

"SURVIVING PROGRESS" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Mathieu Roy, Harold Crooks)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:04:31 -0400

Ronald Wright's bestseller A Short History Of Progress inspired this cinematic requiem to progress-as-usual. Throughout human history, what seemed like progress often backfired. Some of the world's foremost thinkers, activists, financiers and scientists challenge us to overcome 'progress traps,' which destroyed past civilizations and lie treacherously embedded in our own.

"SWIRL" (2011 feature film directed by Helvecio Marins Jr., Clarissa Campolina)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:04:36 -0400

At 81, Bastu still loves a good party and dancing until dawn with her friends. When her husband dies, she is suddenly forced to rethink her life and her routine. She spends time telling stories to her grandchildren and reminiscing with friends. Magical and moving, this delicate debut is a wonderful depiction of life in the small village of Sao Romao, in the arid region of Brazil's north.

"THE SWORD IDENTITY" (2011 feature film directed by Haofeng Xu)

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:41:07 -0400

Set during the Ming dynasty, when Japanese pirates had long been eliminated from China, a swordsman tries to prove that his weapon was used by the famous General Qi's regiment to resist Japanese pirates. While attempting to prove the sword's identity, a top martial arts master finally obtains inner peace.

"TAHRIR 2011: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE POLITICIAN" (2011 feature film directed by Tamer Ezzat, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:49:02 -0400

On Jan 25th 2011, Egyptians woke up not expecting that the commemoration of the burning of Cairo and 'Police Day' would turn into a revolution that would end the 30-year reign of the regime. Through social media, the new generation of Arabs and Egyptians were able to witness the atrocities that President Hosni Mubarak's regime had caused over the past 30 years. For 18 days, the world watched as Egyptians marched out calling for an end of the injustice, poverty, and corruption. Among this new generation, three directors decided to tell the story in a unique cinematic point of view. The Good, directed by Tamer Ezzat, gives voice to the everyday heroes from Tahrir Square. The Bad, directed by Ayten Amin, films a rare account from four internal security officers assigned to crush the uprising. The Politician, directed by Amr Salama, offers a satirical take on "how to become a dictator in ten steps," and a smart deconstruction of Mubarak's persona over his 30-year rule. In this special Mavericks presentation, the screening will be followed by a conversation with two of the Cairo-based filmmakers, Ezzat and Amin, who will offer their personal reflections on the changes taking place in their country.

"TAKE SHELTER" (2011 feature film directed by Jeff Nichols)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:12 -0400

Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. Curtis lives in Ohio with his wife Samantha and daughter Hannah. When he begins having dreams about an encroaching apocalyptic storm, he channels his anxiety into building a shelter in their backyard. Though his obsessive behaviour provokes intolerance in his community, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing their bond against the highest possible stakes. Take Shelter premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

"TAKE THIS WALTZ" (2011 feature film directed by Sarah Polley)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:18 -0400

A funny, bittersweet and heart-wrenching story about a woman struggling to choose between two different types of love. Swelteringly hot, bright and colourful like a bowl of fruit, Take this Waltz leads us laughing through the familiar, but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves. Closing Night Gala.

"THE TALL MAN" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Tony Krawitz)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:23 -0400

This is the story of Palm Island, the Australian tropical Paradise where one morning Cameron Doomadgee swore at a policeman and forty-five minutes later lay dead in a watch-house cell. It's also the story of that policeman, the tall enigmatic Christopher Hurley who prior to Doomadgee's death had been decorated for his work with aboriginal communities. Based on Chloe Hooper's award winning book, The Tall Man explores one of Australia's most sensational cases of culture clash and the haunting moral puzzle at its core. Following traditional Aboriginal protocol of not naming the dead by their real names, Cameron Doomadgee was named Mulrunji after his death. THE TALL MAN is based on the book by Chloe Hooper.

"TEN YEAR" (2011 feature film directed by Jamie Linden)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:30 -0400

A group of friends reunite ten years after their high-school graduation. Ten Year focuses on a group of friends - married and unmarried, successful and unsuccessful, happy and unhappy - as they return home on the night of their high school reunion. It stars a large ensemble cast.

"TERRAFERMA" (2011 feature film directed by Emanuele Crialese)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:35 -0400

Terraferma is the story of an uncontaminated Sicilian island inhabited by fisherman. Still barely touched by tourism, the islanders have begun to alter their mentality and behaviour as they realize the economic potential of this new industry. At the same time, they deal with illegal aliens flooding the island and a new law requiring them to turn back undocumented peoples seeking aid.

"THAT SUMMER" (2011 feature film directed by Philippe Garrel)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:42 -0400

A couple living together in Paris - he's a painter, she's a film actress - befriends a couple of film extras who fall in love with each other. All four go to Rome where their relationships undergo profound changes as emotions shift and change.

"THINK OF ME" (2011 feature film directed by Bryan Wizemann)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:47 -0400

Angela, a single mother, struggles to make ends meet for her daughter. Beneath the Las Vegas neon glow, her life hits a breaking point, presenting her with an impossible choice: keep trying to make things work, or let it all go for the promise of something better.

"THIS IS NOT A FILM" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:05:58 -0400

Sentenced to six years in prison and banned from writing and making films for 20 years by the Islamic Republic Court in Tehran, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi waited for the verdict of his court appeal for months. Through the depiction of a day in his life while he's on house arrest, Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb (a documentary filmmaker and former assistant director) offer audiences an overview of the current situation of Iranian cinema. Thursday September 8, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2, 9:45pm Friday September 9, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3, 4:45pm Tickets for This is Not a Film will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from the relevant venue box office two hours prior to start of the screening.

"THIS SIDE OF RESURRECTION" (2009 feature film directed by Joaquim Sapinho)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:06:17 -0400

Questions of religious belief do not concern young Ines, who is more interested in surfing and boyfriends than in God. When her brother Rafael returns, she discovers that he had never left Portugal for Australia as she had originally thought, but had been living nearby in a monastery. As Rafael wrestles with his faith and future, Ines tries to connect with him. Exquisitely shot, Joaquim Sapinho delicately approaches themes of family, sibling love and faith in his latest feature film.

"TILDA SWINTON" (2011 presentation hosted by Noah Cowan)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:07:13 -0400

Passionate cinephile and controversial movie star Tilda Swinton is one of those rare performers who has forged a relationship with Hollywood on her own terms, using her stardom to support often challenging film projects. Audiences know that a Swinton performance will give them an uncomfortable glimpse into our own frailty, and she has been richly rewarded for her honesty as an actor with multiple accolades, including an Academy Award for Michael Clayton. Swinton has produced several exceptional films, including I Am Love, and is at the Festival this year as lead actress and executive producer of We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay's startling new work based on a book once thought unadaptable. Swinton talks about her career in this Mavericks session.

"TIME AS ACTIVITY (BUENOS AIRES)" (2010 feature film directed by David Lamelas)

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:02:57 -0400

Pioneering '60s conceptualist David Lamelas began, tellingly, as a sculptor. His explorations of time and space through film emerge from his desire "to produce sculptural forms without any physical volume." Central to his career is his ongoing Time as Activity series, which began in 1969 in Dusseldorf when the artist filmed three separate views of the city in static, silent takes on 16mm, intercutting these with titles bearing the elapsed time of each. For the seventh instalment - after 40 years and excursions to Berlin, Los Angeles, New York, Warsaw, St. Gallen and Fribourg - Lamelas represents his native Buenos Aires via its landmark Plaza Congreso. With tranquil elegance, economy and ostensible simplicity, Time as Activity (Buenos Aires) underlines Lamelas' proposition that time is our own construct and that hyperrealism entails fiction. Originally an in situ work exhibited opposite the Congreso, Time as Activity (Buenos Aires) comes to Toronto on the occasion of TIFF's City to City focus on Buenos Aires. Presented in collaboration with Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, ste. 124, 401 Richmond Street West. September 8 to 18.

"TRESPASS" (2011 feature film directed by Joel Schumacher)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:07:28 -0400

What happens when a man with everything - a beautiful wife, a teenage daughter and a wealthy estate - is confronted with the reality of losing it all? That is what Kyle Miller must come to terms with as he and his family become the victims of a vicious home invasion. In a private, wealthy community, priority is placed on security and no exception is made for the Miller family's estate. Behind their pristine walls and manicured gardens, Kyle, a fast-talking businessman, has entrusted the mansion's renovation to his stunning wife, Sarah. But between making those big decisions and keeping tabs on their defiant teenage daughter, Sarah often finds herself distracted by a young, handsome worker at their home. Nothing is what it seems, and it will take a group of cold-blooded criminals led by Elias, who have been planning a vicious home invasion for months, to bring the Miller family together. When they storm the manor, everyone is tangled up in betrayal, deception, temptation and scheming. Kyle, Sarah and Avery will take the ultimate risk to make it out with their lives -- and their family -- intact.

"TRISHNA" (2011 feature film directed by Michael Winterbottom)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:27:04 -0400

Self-effacing British auteur Michael Winterbottom sets his unique spin on Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles against a contemporary Indian backdrop. Freida Pinto stars as the titular Trishna, a young woman who is seduced by the wealthy son of a property developer. As the romance develops, their relationship also becomes increasingly sordid and volatile. Starring Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) and Riz Ahmed (Centurion) and based on Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the film is set in contemporary India and tells the tragic love story between the son of a wealthy property developer and the daughter of a rickshaw driver. The film is a contemporary adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic Tess Of The d'Urbervilles, now relocated to India. Tess was previously brought to the big screen by Roman Polanski in 1979.

"THE TURIN HORSE" (2011 feature film directed by Bela Tarr, Agnes Hranitzky)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:07:48 -0400

1889. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche witnessed the whipping of a horse while traveling in Turin, Italy. He tossed his arms around the horse's neck to protect it then collapsed to the ground. In less than one month, Nietzsche would be diagnosed with a serious mental illness that would make him bed-ridden and speechless for the next eleven years until his death. But whatever did happen to the horse? This film, which is Tarr's last, follows up this question in a fictionalized story of what occurred. The man who whipped the horse is a rural farmer who makes his living taking on carting jobs into the city with his horse-drawn cart. The horse is old and in very poor health, but does its best to obey its master's commands. The farmer and his daughter must come to the understanding that it will be unable to go on sustaining their livelihoods. The dying of the horse is the foundation of this tragic tale.

"TWIGGY" (2011 feature film directed by Emmanuelle Millet)

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:53:56 -0400

When a young teenager becomes pregnant, she goes into denial. Too late to have an abortion, she is determined to give the child up for adoption immediately. Struggling with her situation, she keeps the news from her mother and withdraws into herself, while also reaching out to a young man.

"TWILIGHT PORTRAIT" (2011 feature film directed by Angelina Nikonova)

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:24:48 -0400

An upper-crust social worker with a doting husband and an enviable downtown apartment is suddenly transformed into a bizarre twilight version of herself when she is raped by three policemen.

"TWIXT" (2011 feature film directed by Francis Ford Coppola)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:20 -0400

A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He's unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

"TYRANNOSAUR" (2011 feature film directed by Paddy Considine)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:26 -0400

The story of Joseph a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction. As Joseph's life spirals into turmoil a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker. Their relationship develops to reveal that Hannah is hiding a secret of her own with devastating results on both of their lives.

"UFO IN HER EYES" (2011 feature film directed by Xiaolu Guo)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:33 -0400

Kwok Yun leads a simple peasant's life in the peaceful village mountains. She lives with her grandfather and works as a labourer. Following a countryside tryst with a married man, she spots a UFO - a giant glowing object in the shape of a dumpling. Later that same day, she helps a snake-bitten American businessman who disappears as mysteriously as the UFO. Using the unexpected events for political gain, the ambitious village leader, Chief Chang, stimulates tourism with UFO tours and gets the local economy roaring, despite the dangers such radical change can bring, especially to the environment. The movie's score is composed by the Somali-Canadian musician Mocky.

"UNDEFEATED" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:37 -0400

In 2004, football coach Bill Courtney took on the daunting job of coaching at Manassas High School in inner-city Memphis, where players are more likely to wind up in jail than in college. The Manassas Tigers were perennial whipping boys of the league, bereft of victories, funds, and morale. Courtney recruited a group of freshmen to turn things around, and in their first season they got creamed. But with each passing year they won more games and more respect. At the start of the season in 2009, Courtney set a goal: to win the first play-off game in the school's 110-year history.

"UNION SQUARE" (2011 feature film directed by Nancy Savoca)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:43 -0400

Union Square chronicles the reluctant reunion of two estranged sisters: one on the verge of marriage, the other on the brink of a nervous breakdown. A reluctant reunion of two estranged sisters. One is on the verge of marriage; the other is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Both struggle with truths they're hiding from each other - and from themselves. Jenny has rejected her tumultuous family and cut off communication, seeking a more ordered life far from her roots in the Bronx. And she's almost ready to commit to her longtime fiance when her sister Lucy - the personification of all that Jenny has been trying to flee - surprises her at a critical time. Lucy and Jenny's combustible reunion brings both of them to unforeseen places, shattering and reconstructing the worlds they have both carefully constructed.

"URBANIZED" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Gary Hustwit)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:48 -0400

A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.

"VAQUERO" (2011 feature film directed by Juan Minujin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:08:56 -0400

The story of Julian Lamar, an Argentine actor who tries to get a part in a North American western that will be shot in Argentina. Julian Lamar, a 33-year-old actor working on the fringes of the Buenos Aires film scene, wants to give his career a boost by landing a role in a Western a Hollywood director is going to shoot in Argentina. Vaquero, the debut feature by Argentine actor, Juan Minujin, gives an insider's perspective of Argentina's film community in this hilariously dark comedy.

"VIOLET & DAISY" (2011 feature film directed by Geoffrey Fletcher)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:02 -0400

Violet & Daisy, the whimsical story of a teenager's surreal and violent journey through New York City, follows Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, Atonement, The Lovely Bones) as Daisy. With her volatile partner-in-crime Violet, played by Alexis Bledel (Sin City, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Gilmore Girls), the two young assassins face a series of opponents, including one unusually mysterious man (James Gandolfini), in a life-altering encounter. The film, written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious).

"VOLCANO" (2011 feature film directed by Runar Runarsson)

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:08:17 -0400

Hannes is an old man who has grown apart from his children. Recently retired when his wife gets ill he tries to reconcile with them and to atone for his cold demeanor in the past. This coming of age story follows a 67-year-old man who proves that it is never too late to change. Hannes is a bitter old man who finds renewed purpose in life in the wake of a family tragedy. For years, Hannes isolated himself from his wife and his now grown children. Determined to care for his wife for the first time, Hannes slowly discovers sentiments long buried within him.

"W.E." (2011 feature film directed by Madonna)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:15 -0400

A two-tiered romantic drama focusing on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcee Wallis Simpson and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard. W.E. is a romantic exploration of the mysterious connection across decades between two women confronting the consequences of desire. Caught in a loveless Manhattan marriage, abused and frustrated Wally (Abbie Cornish) obsesses over Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough), the stylish American divorcee who captured the heart of Edward the VIII (James D'Arcy) who abdicated the throne as King of England. As the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis spends the rest of her life in the glare of celebrity exile. Inspired by the Duchess' determination to pursue love in the face of social exile, Wally escapes into the arms of another man (Oscar Isaac) whose love sets her free. Madonna and a world class team of collaborators present a passionate tale of the search for love and the meaning of happiness. W.E. (for Wallis and Edward, forever entwined in the love story of the 20th century) is a rich, cinematic portrayal of two strong women resolved to find romance.

"WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW: SEEDIQ BALE" (2011 feature film directed by Te-Sheng Wei)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:21 -0400

Wei Te-Sheng's epic film Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale reclaims an extraordinary episode from 20th-century history which is little-known even in Taiwan. It's a story of the encounter between a people who believe in rainbows and a nation which believes in the sun. It takes the form of a heroic battle in defence of faith and dignity.

"WAVELENGTHS 1: ANALOGUE ARCADIA" (2011 presentation)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:32 -0400

As celluloid threatens to disappear altogether, Wavelengths launches with a celebratory and elegiac programme comprised of doomed desire, vanishing worlds and a love of analogue. Wavelengths launches with a rare screen-ing of Tacita Dean's Edwin Parker(USA/United Kingdom - courtesy of the Marion Goodman Gallery), an intimate portrait of Cy Twombly, one of the great artis-tic geniuses of the past century. The film's inclusion in the Festival has been exclusively made possible in honour of Twombly, who died on July 5. Dean is a vociferous defender of the threatened medium of 16mm. Her latest subject was a notoriously private titan whose work of deep emotional beauty, doomed desire and Arcadian abstraction remained impervious to shifting tastes. Edwin Parker (Twombly's birth name) builds textures from the man himself and his crammed storefront studio in Lexington, Virginia. As a prelude, we offer Nick Collins' Loutra/Baths(United Kingdom), a painterly study of an ancient Roman bath surrounded by a lush olive grove in Loutra, Arcadia. Emptiness is wistfully transformed in Sophie Michael's 99 Clerkenwell Road(United Kingdom) as the remnants of an empty shop provide the mak-ings of an abstract light film-cum-toy solar system. Similarly beguiling is Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Empire(Thailand/Austria), whose bobbing underwater creature leads us down a tawny, mysterious path. Sack Barrow(United Kingdom), the latest sul-phurous short by Ben Rivers and winner of the prestigious Baloise Art Prize, is a portrait of a London suburb plating factory established in 1931 for limbless and disabled war veterans. Documenting a vanished world, the film's decelerated rhythm and focus on surface - from chemical aggregate to nostalgia-era pin-up girls - lends a portentous feel. A conquistador counts his blessings in Raya Martin's Ars Colonia(The Philippines/The Netherlands), a hand-coloured effigy shot on hi-8 analogue video, transferred to 35mm. Lastly, Joshua Bonnetta's American Colour(USA/ Canada), was shot on old rolls of 16mm Kodachrome dur-ing a pilgrimage from the stock's birthplace in upstate New York to Houston, where its final rolls were processed earlier this year. Like a postscript to Dean's Kodak, American Colour explores Kodachrome's historic use and sin-gular hues, doing so with digital means in the wake of its obsolescence.

"WAVELENGTHS 2: TWENTY CIGARETTES" (2011 presentation)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:41 -0400

In James Benning's Twenty Cigarettes(USA), a pack of twenty cigarettes is consumed by twenty different smokers - friends and acquaintances from Montreal to Seoul. Ostensibly a film about duration, Twenty Cigarettes is structured around the time it takes to smoke a ciga-rette, and we observe the subjects from the moment they light up until they butt out, with a few surprises along the way. These living, smoking peo-ple offer glimpses into their lives as Benning records them amid familiar surroundings. While each background offers clues to their respective stories, it is their distinct relation-ships with the camera, their faces and their gazes, that make this film so compelling. The film includes fellow avant-garde icons Thom Andersen (whose Get out of the Car was featured in last year's Wavelengths programme), looking bored and slightly enervated, and photog-rapher/filmmaker Sharon Lockhart cast as a wistful western settler amid an open blue sky.

"WAVELENGTHS 3: SERIAL RHYTHMS" (2011 presentation)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:47 -0400

With serial rhythms, a sinewy exchange between opposites and increasing intensity, this programme builds to a propulsive, ever-sharpening sense of the present. From a Russian documentary to moire patterns, these works serve to heighten our viewing experience. Adriana Salazar Arroyo's Found Cuban Mounts(Costa Rica/Germany) uses excerpts from Fidel Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech to determine her film's rhythm, tracking in reverse the journey of the revolutionaries. Filmed in grisaille with a sober eye, Alina Rudnitskaya's I Will Forget This Day(Russia) is a wrenching portrait of waiting young women, whose decisions are not always willfully made. John Price's Sea Series #10(Canada) hovers at the brink of widescreen extinction as it ruminates on the recent disaster in Japan. Joyce Wieland's Sailboat(Canada) is a playful yet vaguely ominous haiku. Rose Lowder's on-going Bouquets series is among the major works of the past two decades. Filmed at various European ecological sites, Bouquets 11-20(France) vibrate with splendour inherent to the pleasure-pull of nature's imperiled state. Shot along the Bosphoros, Jonathan Schwartz's frenetic A Preface to Red's(USA)dense, field-recorded soundtrack colludes with the beauty of the images to overwhelm. Vibrating frequencies emerge in a freshly blown-up 16mm print of Resonance (USA) by Super 8 filmmaker Karen Johannesen, who summons flickering force fields. The latest triptych in T. Marie's Optra Field series, Optra Field VII-IX (USA) focus on the diagonal grid are investigations into our own perception of perceiving. Kevin Jerome Everson's car-crushing Chevelleis a straight-up account of two GM cars put down to rest. Shot in Cookstown, Ontario, Chevelle (Canada/USA)embodies a working-class ethos while suggesting scrap metal's potential to be art.

"WAVELENGTHS 4: SPACE IS THE PLACE" (2011 presentation)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:09:55 -0400

The disparate works in this programme expand spatial possibility through a consideration of inner and outer spaces, of varying cartographies and aesthetic patterns. Chris Kennedy's 349 (for Sol LeWitt) (Canada)is a digi-tally animated version of Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #349, which was commissioned by Toronto's Mercer Union gallery in 1981. Recreating LeWitt's geometric vocabulary and primary colour palette, 349 careens through emblazoned emblems, lifted from walls and transported into dialogue with LeWitt's exploration of spatial systems and human emotion. A black mirror mounted to a motion control machine trawls the Dutch Landscape and Genre Scenes painting rooms at the National Gallery in London as camera and mirror partake in a three-way play of representation in Mark Lewis' latest transfixing investigation into cinematic technique and pictorial composition, Black Mirror at the National Gallery (Canada, United Kingdom). A chasm between what we hear and see in Neil Beloufa's kaleidoscopic Untitled(France) echoes the fabrication of its ink-jet mise en scene. Space is the Place(Japan)is the latest video animation by Eriko Sonoda, whose meticu-lous lo-fi explorations of flattened space use sheets of paper to transcend finitude. A corner wall in the artist's room is transmuted through a staccato of origami exchanges. Ute Aurand's Young Pines(Germany) is a portrait of Japan rendered with formal acuity and a capacious curiosity. The beauty and grace of its culture - from calligraphy to ike-bana - are matched by the awesome power of its land and seascapes, which oscillate, in a post-tsunami imagination, between time and place. From the Japanese countryside, we travel to rural Australia along Coorow-Latham Road (Canada).In a radical recasting of the long take, Blake Williams reconstructs the eponymous route using Google Street View, producing a vapourous road movie in which our perspective gradually shifts. Both elegant and visceral, it is an internet-sourced work of structuralist cinema.

"WAVELENGTHS 5: THE RETURN/ABERRATION OF LIGHT" (2011 presentation)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:10:06 -0400

Wavelengths concludes with two vastly different cinematic experiences that col-lectively affirm film's status as one of today's most exciting art forms, unyielding and wondrously alive in face of increasing obsolescence. Nathaniel Dorsky's The Return (USA) is shot on 16mm and projected at silent speed (18 fps). Dorsky delves deep into multiple (under)worlds, sometimes uncanny and surreal, reflected and refracted through vari-ous natural and man-made obfuscations like grids, glass, water and brush. From its wintry willow branches to wafting hand gestures in a cafe, The Return harbours a phantasmal feel, offering a sentient, some-times dark rumination on the mysteries that await us. From the resonant silence of The Return, we segue to transfixing audiovisual immer-sion in Aberration of Light: Dark Chamber Disclosure (USA), the second collaborative live cin-ema project by Sandra Gibson, Luis Recoder and Olivia Block. For the past decade, Gibson and Recoder have created performances and installa-tions that employ the mechanics and optical properties of film projection to forge hyp-notic, sculptural works of light. Using a series of film loops, crystals and manual gestures to bend, reflect and refract the projector's beam, the artists recast the theatrical space of the cinema into a three-dimensional encounter. Aberration of Light: Dark Chamber Disclosure was developed specifically with Block, who mixes and improvises field recordings and live instrumentation, and is presented in conjunction with the Wavelength Music series, one of Toronto's longest-running and most influential underground music forums.

"WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN" (2011 feature film directed by Lynne Ramsay)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:27:30 -0400

The mother of a teenage boy who went on a high-school killing spree tries to deal with her grief -- and feelings of responsibility for her child's actions -- by writing to her estranged husband. A suspenseful and psychologically gripping exploration into a parent dealing with her child doing the unthinkable, We Need to Talk About Kevin is the highly-anticipated third feature from director Lynne Ramsay and features a tour-de-force performance by Tilda Swinton. Based on Lionel Shriver's novel.

"WETLANDS" (2011 feature film directed by Guy Edoin)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:10:20 -0400

On a dairy farm in the Eastern Townships, in the middle of a drought, an accident will disrupt the life of the Santerre family. Forced to band together like never before, they will have to learn to forgive. Opening Night of Canada First!

"WHERE DO WE GO NOW?" (2011 feature film directed by Nadine Labaki)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:10:42 -0400

A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village. Set against the backdrop of a war-torn country, Where Do We Go Now? tells the heart-warming tale of a group of women's determination to protect their isolated, mine-encircled community from the pervasive and divisive outside forces that threaten to destroy it from within.

"WHITEONWHITE:ALGORITHMICNOIR" (2011 feature film directed by Eve Sussman, Rufus Corporation)

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:24:20 -0400

Eve Sussman | Rufus Corporation's much-celebrated work utilizes iconic images and ideas from art history as a starting point. Their whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir, shot mostly in post-Soviet Central Asia, reinvents the Suprematists' radical abstractions through the deployment of paranoiac sci-fi film noir. Tarkovsky's Solaris, with its perpetual sense of crisis, looms large, as does Jean-Luc Godard: the film concerns one Mr. Holz, newly employed in the futuristic metropolis City-A, a clear reference to Alphaville but infused with the sadness, horror and lost Utopian spirit of ever-present Soviet architecture. The work is of indeterminate length, generated algorithmically in real time by a computer program called a "serendipity machine," which runs alongside the film. Made up of over 3,000 filmic fragments, some colour and some black and white, whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir displays an amazing coherence and narrative thrust. Perpetually evolving, Eve Sussman | Rufus Corporation's exciting new work evokes the same radical spirit and willfulness as Malevich's squares and circles must have done so many years ago. Presented in collaboration with the NFB Mediatheque, 150 John Street. September 9 to 11.

"WHORES' GLORY" (2011 feature documentary film directed by Michael Glawogger)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:10:52 -0400

Tells several stories of prostitution around the world. The documentary revolves around the lives and individual hopes, needs and experiences of the women. This film triptych deals with prostitutes in Thailand, Mexico, and Bangladesh. The stories are about longings, hopes, and needs and about the brutalities they experience and those they impose. The premise of the film is that these women can tell us more about the relationships between men and women than anyone else, for these women have physically, mentally, and emotionally experienced all that can take place between a man and a woman. They have awakened desires, spurned passions, fulfilled fantasies, and allayed fears. For this they have always received money, but it has not made their lives rich in anything but stories and history. 'Whore's Glory' is the third and final part in Michael Glawogger's "globalization-documentaries", the others being Megacities and Workingman's Death.

"WINNIE" (2011 feature film directed by Darrell Roodt)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:11:00 -0400

This film reveals the enigma that is Winnie Mandela. A sensitive depiction, Winnie portrays her life's journey amidst the unwavering love between her and Nelson Mandela, and their unfaltering commitment to the struggle for democracy in South Africa. Winnie takes the audience on an epic voyage of understanding - painting a vivid portrait of one of the world's most remarkable women.

"THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH" (2011 feature film directed by Pawel Pawlikowski)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:11:06 -0400

A college lecturer flees to Paris after a scandal costs him his job. In the City of Lights, he meets a widow who might be involved in a series of murders. American writer Tom Ricks comes to Paris desperate to put his life together again and win back the love of his estranged wife and daughter. When things don't go according to plan, he ends up in a shady hotel in the suburbs, having to work as a night guard to make ends meet. Then Margit, a beautiful, mysterious stranger walks into his life and things start looking up. Their passionate and intense relationship triggers a string of inexplicable events... as if an obscure power was taking control of his life. Based on Douglas Kennedy's novel.

"WUTHERING HEIGHTS" (2011 feature film directed by Andrea Arnold)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:11:12 -0400

A Yorkshire hill farmer on a visit to Liverpool finds a homeless boy on the streets. He takes him home to live as part of his family on the isolated Yorkshire moors where the boy forges an obsessive relationship with the farmer's daughter.

"THE YEAR OF THE TIGER" (2011 feature film directed by Sebastian Lelio)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:11:18 -0400

Manuel is in jail in the south of Chile. During the earthquake of February 27th, 2010, the prison collapses. In the chaos, some inmates, including Manuel, manage to break out. He becomes a fugitive, lost in the middle of the catastrophe. When he returns home, he finds that it has been ravaged by a tsunami that has also taken the lives of his wife and his daughter. Manuel makes his way to his mother's house, where he finds her dead in the rubble of the earthquake. As he makes his way through the ravaged landscapes, surviving on whatever he can scavenge from his surroundings, he begins to delve deeper and deeper into his own inner anguish and devastation. This strange new-found freedom will lead him to some unexpected encounters, and bring him face to face with nature's cruelty, pushing his existence to its limits.

"YOU'RE NEXT" (2011 feature film directed by Adam Wingard)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:11:27 -0400

Story centers on a family coming under attack from a terrifying group of sadistic murderers during a family reunion getaway. Barricaded in their secluded vacation home, they fight off a barrage of axes, crossbows and machetes from both inside and outside the house.

"YOUR SISTER'S SISTER" (2011 feature film directed by Lynn Shelton)

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:11:39 -0400

Still mourning the recent death of his brother, a bereft and confused man finds love and direction in a most unexpected place.