blog.TOfilmfest.ca

Saturday night at Lightbox LUMA

2010-09-05T14:30:00.008-04:00

Oliver & Bonacini (of Canoe, Jump, and Auberge du Pommier, among others) will operate three distinct spaces within the film festival's new Lightbox building:

O&B Canteen, café and ‘grab+go’ – now open to the public
Luma, fine dining – set to open Sunday, September 12th
Malaparte, 6th floor/rooftop event space –opening this fall

While Luma is not officially open to the public yet, we were very fortunate to be invited for a preview, last night.

At both Canteen and Luma, the carefully selected ingredients, attention to presentation, and culinary expertise, make dining a pleasure. But where Canteen offers the remarkable feat of fine-food at take-away prices, Luma upstairs offers fine dining unrestrained by such limitations.

Familiar dishes are artfully presented, perfectly prepared, and certain to please – even common salads are elevated with creativity. Inventive menu items are both surprising and delightful (an ice-cream that tastes like popcorn!) The staff, approachable and accommodating, make the whole experience feel like dinner with friends.

Executive chef Jason Bangerter, and his staff at Luma, are sure to make Lightbox a destination for dining in Toronto — try to catch a movie while you're there, too... ;-)

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

PS. thanks to Jason, Jane, Richard, Julie, Imogen, and Niamh, for making our first visit to Luma so enjoyable!

10th Anniversary of Peter Howell's CHASING THE BUZZ

2010-09-03T21:30:00.008-04:00

Once again, we're very happy to be invited by Peter Howell, Toronto Star movie critic, for his annual Chasing the Buzz poll – celebrating it's 10th anniversary!

A panel of critics, programmers, and movie-buffs, name the 3 films they are most looking forward to.

Peter Howell's "Ten bee-utiful years of great TIFF buzz" will be published as the entertainment section cover-story, for tomorrow's Toronto Star (Saturday Septmeber 4, 2010).

Here are our top 3 picks:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog
“Colin ‘Midnight Madness’ Geddes brought the first 3-D film to the festival last year, and now doc programmer Thom Powers brings us Werner Herzog in 3-D.”
The Sleeping Beauty, Catherine Breillat
“I debated with French auteur/provocateur Catherine Breillat over Anatomy of Hell in 2004, but anything she brings to the screen remains a must-see.”
Submarine, Richard Ayoade
“Richard Ayoade, music video director, talented comedy-writer, and very funny actor (‘Moss’ from the U.K.’s Channel4 The IT Crowd) helms his first feature film.”

Here are the overall top picks, from the entire panel:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog (5 votes)
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky (4 votes)
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson (3 votes)
Miral, Julian Schnabel (3 votes)
Trigger, Bruce McDonald (3 votes)
Biutiful, Alejandro González Iñárritu (2 votes)
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Alex Gibney (2 votes)
Incendies, Denis Villeneuve (2 votes)
The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper (2 votes)
Never Let Me Go, Mark Romanek (2 votes)
Score: A Hockey Musical, Michael McGowan (2 votes)
Three, Tom Tykwer (2 votes)

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS.
For a look back at previous picks, see Peter Howell's...

PPS.
Here's a list of the 2010 contributors...

Steve Almond, Parabola.ca
Gail Anthony, film buff/executive assistant
Barry Avrich, filmmaker & ad executive
Cameron Bailey, TIFF co-director
Jennifer Bell, TIFF vp-communications
Noah Cowan, Bell Lightbox
TOfilmfest.ca — that's us! ;-)
Chaz Ebert, film buff
Hanna Fisher, Floating Film Festival
Gabrielle Free, CTV
Alex Ganetakos, TV writer/producer
Piers Handling, TIFF CEO & director
Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE
Carla MacDonald, Our Lady of Perpetual Hell
Michèle Maheux, TIFF managing director
David Poland, MovieCityNews
B. Ruby Rich, BRubyRich
James Rocchi, RocchiReport
Anne Thompson, ThompsonOnHollywood
Kim Voynar, MovieCityNews
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
Ray Yick, TIFFReviews

Film festival all sorted

2010-09-01T22:45:00.003-04:00

The box-office for the Toronto International Film Festival opens to the public for single ticket sales this Friday, Sept. 3rd at 7 AM:

Online (Visa only)
By Phone at 416-968-3456 or 877-968-3456
Festival box-office at King W & Peter St

A single ticket order for the film festival will cost:

$24.75 – regular, single ticket order ($19.69 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
$45.75 – premium, single ticket order ($38.27 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
$17.00 – child, single ticket order ($12.83 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
[12 years and under, "Sprockets Family Zone" only]

How do you sort through over 350 films?

Here's how to browse all the films at TOfilmfest quickly and easily...

Know the title of the film you want to see?
— e.g. Easy A, I'm Still Here, The Town, etc.

Is a director you like, coming to Toronto?
— e.g. Woody Allen, Werner Herzog, Bruce McDonald, etc.

Is there an actor/actress you'd like to see?
— e.g. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Mirren, Tracy Wright, etc.

Looking for something that has garnered positive reviews?
— e.g. Blue Valentine, The Illusionist, Monsters, etc.

Looking for a 'premium' red-carpet experience, or perhaps a free screening?
— e.g. Free shows, Children's tickets, Premium tickets, etc.

Want to see a film in a certain language?
— e.g. Cantonese, French, Hindi, etc.

Want to see a film from a certain country?
— e.g. Argentina, Canada, Japan, etc.

Thinking of seeing a film with someone under 18 years of age? Check first!
— e.g. ,,,,

Love red-carpet galas? Discovering new directors? Avant-garde cinema? Browse by program! — e.g.

Canada First! – first-time Canadian directors
Canadian Open Vault – restored Canadian films
City to City – each year a new city spotlight
Contemporary World Cinema – around the world
Discovery – innovative new filmmakers
Future Projections – moving-image visual arts
Galas – premieres at Roy Thomson Hall
Masters – influential directors living today
Mavericks – dialogues with people in cinema
Midnight Madness – the wild side of cinema
Real to Reel – the best documentaries of the year
Short Cuts Canada – short films across Canada
Special Presentations – crowd pleasing films
Sprockets Family Zone – cinema for kids
TIFF For Free – screenings from Festivals past
Vanguard – edgy films with youthful feel
Visions – radical, innovative film-making
Wavelengths – works from film and video artists

Finally, if you've been following TOfilmfest over the summer, and want to catch-up on the films announced recently, you can!
– just click...

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

PS.

Email alerts at TOfilmfest.ca/email
Follow us on twitter.com/TOfilmfest
Find us on facebook.com/TOfilmfest (click 'Like' to get updates)
Feed this blog directly into your newsreader at TOfilmfest.ca/blog

Film festival mobile phone website (alpha version)

2010-08-27T22:30:00.013-04:00

The future is free.
TOfilmfest was specifically built on free software, back in 2005.
In fact, it was free advice that led to the website's re-design, and to various venues and sponsors who helped promote it.

This year, with increasing traffic costs, some small advertisements were added – to keep TOfilmfest free.

So, when the film festival announced it's mobile app would only be available for BlackBerry (a major sponsor), we wished for a free solution for all users of mobile devices.

Information wants to be free, so our database is available to other developers for collaboration on new projects.

Today, a new project is ready for testing!

TOfilmfest.ca/TIFFwidget
“a web-based app, optimized for iPhone – but should work with Android”

Since this project is considered an alpha version, it's announcement is being limited to this blog. Please do not spread the word just yet! It's being made available for those participating in the Advance Order process on Monday, August 30th.

A disclaimer from the developer:

IMPORTANT: Screening times listed are NOT official. There should be a high degree of accuracy, but the schedule can change at any time and this page is NOT maintained in real time. Use this form ONLY as a preliminary planning tool and be SURE to double-check a chosen movie’s screening times via the TIFF button.

Unfortunately short films are not included in the data.

Any feedback is welcome and appreciated!

We look forward to future versions of TIFFwidget to bring all the functionality of TOfilmfest to all mobile devices! :-)

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

Films, tickets, scheduling, tips

2010-08-26T23:55:00.011-04:00

Films

This week marked the final announcement of film titles for the Toronto international film festival, and the release of the official film schedule. Over 100 new film titles were added to the following programs:

As well, the Short Cuts Canada program was organized into six screenings.

Tickets

If you have questions on how to get tickets for the festival, we recommend visiting TIFFtalk. For years, Richard has put together the definitive guide on the process:

Part 1 – what type of tickets to buy
Part 2 – Advance Order procedure
Part 3 – selecting which films to see
Part 4 – buy tickets during the festival

Scheduling

Many people will be organizing their film schedule this weekend, and there are a few websites that aim to ease the process. The official tiff.net has a Login | Register at the bottom of their website; it allows you to build a film list. Our friends at tiffReviews have a one click addition to your Google Calendar or iCal (Apple). Last year tiffr appeared, but it's late again getting reliable data. We've tried all three — but every year ended up on the dining room table with Post-it notes and highlighters... ;-)

Tips

Finally, a friend we've met in ticket lines many times, Larry has put together a nice series of practical tips on attending the festival.

Updates

We're currently collecting reviews from press & industry screenings for TOfilmfest — here's how you can keep up to date with us:

get email alerts at TOfilmfest.ca/email
follow us on twitter.com/TOfilmfest
find us on facebook.com/TOfilmfest – click 'Like' to get updates
feed this blog directly into your newsreader at TOfilmfest.ca/blog

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

Doing the film fest for free

2010-08-20T21:30:00.008-04:00

That's right, for free. Doing the film fest this year doesn't have to cost you a dime.

A single ticket during the film festival will cost

$24.75 — regular, single ticket order ($19.69 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
$45.75 — premium, single ticket order ($38.27 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
$17.00 — child, single ticket order ($12.83 + HST + bldg fee + order fee)
[12 years and under, "Sprockets Family Zone" only]

— but that's not the only way to enjoy the festival...

You can watch films from past festivals, see some cinematic art, tour the new Lightbox centre, or find out how films are leading a new dialog in Turkish culture — you can even see the winner of the people's choice award for free!

Here's a list of what's free:

TIFF for Free

American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes
Away from Her (2006) – Sarah Polley
The Big Chill (1983) – Lawrence Kasdan
Crash (2004) – Paul Haggis
Outrageous! (1977) – Richard Benner
The Princess Bride (1987) – Rob Reiner
Roadkill (1989) – Bruce McDonald
Water (2005) – Deepa Mehta

2010 Future Projections

24 Hour Psycho Back and Forth... – Douglas Gordon
Angst Essen/Eat Fear – Ming Wong
Heavenhell – Chris Chong Chan Fui, Yasuhi
In Love for the Mood – Ming Wong
Jeanne – Martin Arnold
Journey to the Moon – William Kentridge
Klatsassin – Stan Douglas, Steffen Mennek
Man With a Movie Camera... Global Remake – Perry Bard
NYman With A Movie Camera – Michael Nyman
Otolith III – Otolith Group
Slidelength – Michael Snow
Soft Rains #6: Suburban Horror – Jennifer McCoy, Kevin McCoy
Workers Leaving the Factory... – Harun Farocki

Also free, and open to the public at Lightbox, beginning September at 12pm, for the duration of the festival:

Essential Cinema – a journey through the Essential 100, a list of the most influential films of all time; costumes, film stills, posters, music samples and film clips, the exhibition charts these works – all 100 of them – that have played such a key role in defining film culture for more than a century
Special Commissions
8½ Screens, Atom Egoyan – a key scene from Fellini’s masterpiece 8½, and a reversal of the customary relationship between the projector, the audience, and the screen
E-100, James Andean & François Xavier Saint-Pierre – a sound installation in which key samples of film dialogue culled from the films in the Essential 100 list are heard in random variations, interweaving dialogue, environmental sounds and instrumental accompaniment
Hauntings I, Guy Maddin – involves eleven projections in the main gallery space showing recreated fragments of lost or unrealized film masterpieces
Hauntings II, Guy Maddin – illuminating the Lightbox fifth floor windows every night of the Festival, forming a ghostly curtain that will reveal a siren beckoning visitors to enter
Essential Titles, Barr Gilmore – 5-minute looped motion graphic projection that isolates and recreates only the title and director's credit from the opening sequences of all of the films on the Essential 100 list — a visually stunning piece that will act as an environmental graphic at the entrance of the exhibition

Events

TIFF Bell Lightbox 101 — guided tour
Istanbul: A Conversation — panel discussion
People’s Choice Award — free screening

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

PS.

Email alerts at TOfilmfest.ca/email
Follow us on twitter.com/TOfilmfest
Find us on facebook.com/TOfilmfest (click 'Like' to get updates)
Feed this blog directly into your newsreader at TOfilmfest.ca/blog

2010 Sprockets Family Zone

2010-08-20T18:15:00.005-04:00

In 1998, Jane Schoettle brought the first Sprockets — a film festival for children — to Toronto. While it's been running each April on it's own, in 2003 the festival introduced a Sprockets Family Zone program to the main film festival in September.

Here's the line-up for this year:

2010 Sprockets Family Zone

Karla and Jonas, Charlotte Sachs Bostrup
Little Sister, Richard Bowen
Make Believe, J. Clay Tweel
Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage [in 3-D], Ben Stassen

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest
TIFF10

PS. advance ticket packages are still on-sale...

Online (Visa only)
By Phone, Mon-Fri/10am-7pm
at 416-968-3456 or 877-968-3456
New festival box-office opens at 363 King St W, Tue.24.Aug (10am-7pm)

2010 Midnight Madness schedule

2010-08-19T22:45:00.012-04:00

The schedule for the 2010 Midnight Madness was released today:

Thursday, September 9
Fubar II — Michael Dowse
Canada

Friday, September 10
Super — James Gunn
USA

Saturday, September 11
Bunraku — Guy Moshe
USA

Sunday September 12
Vanishing on 7th Street — Brad Anderson
USA

Monday September 13
The Ward — John Carpenter
USA

Tuesday, September 14
Insidious — James Wan
USA

Wednesday, September 15
Red Nights — Julien Carbon/Laurent Courtiaud
Hong Kong/China/France

Thursday, September 16
The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman — Wu Ershan
Hong Kong/China

Friday, September 17
Stake Land — Jim Mickle
USA

Saturday, September 18
Fire of Conscience — Dante Lam
Hong Kong/China

(All screenings take place at the Ryerson theatre — at midnight... ;-)

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

PPS.

Email alerts at TOfilmfest.ca/email
Follow us on Twitter.com/TOfilmfest
Find us on Facebook.com/TOfilmfest (click 'Like' to get updates)
Feed this blog directly into your newsreader at TOfilmfest.ca/blog

2010 City to City: Istanbul

2010-08-18T21:30:00.001-04:00

Although there was some speculation on which city would be chosen for the 2010 City to City program — Rio, Moscow, Edinburgh, and Shanghai were early guesses — the film festival Announced their choice of Istanbul, Turkey.

Here is an abbreviated version of the chronicle Cameron Bailey, co-director of the film fest, outlined via Twitter @cameron_tiff:

Sept-Oct 2009 – track back through debut Tel Aviv program for lessons learned

Oct 2009 – 5 city short list - Berlin, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Istanbul & Manila

Before Berlinale in Feb 2010 – focus narrows to Istanbul & Manila.
Turkish film wins Golden Bear. [Semih Kaplanoglu's Honey]

May 4, 2010 – Istanbul decided as City to City focus

May 31, 2010 – 8 Turkish nationals and 1 Turkish-American killed in Gaza flotilla raid

June 2010 – Pause. Reflect. Consult. Confirm. Go back to lessons learned.

August 2010 – Plan Sept. 16 symposium

The spotlight does arrive at a time when there seems to be a dialog between Turkish and Armenian filmmakers. The coordinator for the Armenia-Turkey Cinema Platform, Çiğdem Mater said,

“Recent years have seen an unprecedented enthusiasm for dialogue between Turkish and Armenian communities among civil society, which was sadly kick-started by the murder of Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor, in 2007.”

Back in 2002, politics prevented Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan's Ararat from release in Turkey. Now, eight years later, speaking from Yerevan, Armenia – just after the Golden Apricot Film Festival – Atom Egoyan wants to make a film in Turkey.

2010 City to City: Istanbul

10 to 11, Pelin Esmer
40, Emre Sahin
Block-C [1994 [1994], Zeki Demirkubuz
Dark Cloud, Theron Patterson
Distant [2002], Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Hair, Tayfun Pirselimoglu
The Majority, Seren Yüce
My Only Sunshine [2008]Reha Erdem
September 12, Özlem Sulak
Somersault in a Coffin [1996], Dervis Zaim

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS. advance ticket packages are still on-sale...

Online (Visa only)
By Phone, Mon-Fri/10am-7pm
at 416-968-3456 or 877-968-3456
At 2 Carlton St, West Mezzanine level, Mon – Fri, 10am-7pm, until Fri.20.Aug
(the new festival box-office opens at 363 King St West, on Tue.24.Aug)

Midnight announcement madness!

2010-08-16T23:59:00.000-04:00

Earlier today, Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes said — via Twitter...

@mmadnesstiff: Because you have all been patient in this EXTRA long wait, tonight at midnight I will tweet 3 of my MM picks! YES! Stay up! The remaining MM films will be announced Tuesday at 11AM

and later...

@mmadnesstiff: Cause I love being a tease, I am going to share some cropped photos of some of the Midnight Madness picks! Hang tight....

Images above, are linked to their film; and
the film titles below, are listed with their sources...

Bunraku, Guy Moshe — Hollywood Reporter
The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman, Wu Ershan — Colin Geddes
Insidious, James Wan — Hollywood Reporter
Red Nights, Julien Carbon —TIFF reviews
Stake Land, Jim Mickle — Bloody Disgusting
Super, James Gunn — Colin Geddes
The Ward, John Carpenter —TIFF reviews

These join the previously announced...

Fubar II, Michael Dowse — Opening Midnight Madness

The final two films will be announced tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11AM EST.

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

Notes from the Canadian film press launch

2010-08-16T00:05:00.001-04:00

Besides the announcement of Canadian features (including Canada First and Canadian Open Vault) and the Short Cuts Canada program, there were some other note-worthy items from last week's press conference...

Opening nights (all Canadian films)...
- Opening night Gala — Score: A Hockey Musical, Michael McGowan
- Canada First! opens with — Daydream Nation, Michael Goldbach
- Midnight Madness opening night — Fubar II, Michael Dowse
- Lightbox inaugural red carpet event — Trigger, Bruce McDonald
Since Blackberry is a sponsor of the festival, the official mobile phone application is only available from BlackBerry App World (early reviews say the app is 'slow' and that it 'needs more content' – so we expect other unofficial apps to appear soon, for iPhone, Nokia and Android phones)
the new Lightbox centre kicks off it's official opening with a "free, and festive block party" on Sunday, September 12th, 12pm-4pm

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

PS. advance ticket packages are still on-sale...

Online (Visa only)
By Phone, Mon-Fri/10am-7pm
at 416-968-3456 or 877-968-3456
At 2 Carlton St, West Mezzanine level, Mon – Fri, 10am-7pm, until Fri.20.Aug
(the new festival box-office opens at 363 King St West, on Tue.24.Aug)

Friday night at Lightbox CANTEEN

2010-08-14T23:55:00.011-04:00

The film festival's new Lightbox building has been in development for over 7 years (official opening September 12th) — and an adjacent dining and event space has always been integral to the centre's design.

Oliver & Bonacini (the landmark Canoe, the Jump café, and the uptown Auberge du Pommier, among others) will operate three distinct spaces within the new building:

O&B Canteen – 3,500 sq.ft. café and grab-and-go restaurant (90 seats inside +70 on patio); beginning full hours this Monday
Luma – 8,000 sq.ft. fine dining restaurant (130 seats, +40 on patio, +100 at the BlackBerry lounge); opening in time for the film festival
Malaparte – 6th floor/rooftop event space (200 seats, +terrace/outdoor amphitheatre recreating the roof of Casa Malaparte in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt); opening planned for the fall.

The restaurant interiors were designed by KPMB – the same architects as Lightbox itself – while the event space will be decorated by Anacleto Design.

We were fortunate to be at the first announcement of O&B's participation, back in 2008 — and were especially so last Friday night — as guests for the opening of the first restaurant, O&B Canteen.

Canteen takes food seriously — the selection of ingredients, attention to presentation, the culinary expertise — whether it's for a wonderful take-away treat, inside table service, or dining al fresco on the sidewalk-level patio. Tastes of six different dishes ranged from fresh-and-simple, to sublimely delicious. The hospitality we were shown, from the greeting at the door, throughout our meal, and well past closing hours, was outstanding.

After speaking with executive chef Jason Bangerter and his staff for Canteen and Luma, it's clear that their skill, passion, and dedication, will make Lightbox a destination for dining in the city — no matter what's playing nearby... ;-)

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

PS. thanks to Jason, Jane, Paul, Julie, Wendy, Craig and Nicholas, for making our first night out at Lightbox so special!

Unofficial titles update

2010-08-12T22:00:00.001-04:00

Next week, it is expected that there will be more films announced — including more Galas and Special Presentations — before the full line-up and schedule is published at the end of the month.

In the meantime, here's a list of all the films confirmed by other sources:

127 Hours, Danny Boyle — Screen Daily
Beautiful Boy, Shawn Ku — From Hollywood with Love
Everything Must Go, Dan Rush — Hollywood Reporter
Fire of Conscience, Dante Lam — iOnCinema
L.A. Zombie, Bruce La Bruce — Fangoria
The Tempest, Julie Taymor — The Playlist
Vanishing on 7th Street, Brad Anderson — CTV

and, more recently,

Bunraku, Guy Moshe — Hollywood Reporter
Insidious, James Wan — Hollywood Reporter

also, one other film has been officially listed — but, without a press release...

I Wish I Knew, Jia Zhangke

...and that film was commissioned for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai China.

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

Speculation on City to City program

2010-08-12T21:55:00.001-04:00

Is the appearance of Jia Zhangke's documentary on Shanghai – I Wish I Knew – any indication of the focus for the 2010 City to City program...?

The 2009 spotlight was on Tel Aviv, and the program's arrangements were subsidized by Israel (this revelation – and the absence of Arab/Palestinian film-makers – caused protests, and film cancellations, in 2009).

The Shanghai Expo was the most expensive world's fair in history — did China also budget a sponsorship for a "City to City: Shanghai" program, at the festival...?

The program announcement is expected Tuesday.

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

Audience buzz

2010-08-12T21:50:00.001-04:00

Since last year, we've been working on a measurement to indicate the amount of 'buzz' a film seems to be getting. Each year some films coming to Toronto have opened at other festivals around the world, and are quite well reviewed.
For example,

Armadillo by Janus Metz Pedersen — premiered at Cannes in May, and quietly garnered many positive reviews ()

But what about a film premiering at the festival?
For example,

Score: A Hockey Musical by Michael McGowan — screening for the first time in September; no reviews available ()

For the past 10 years, Peter Howell at the Toronto Star has chased down the films with the most buzz — using a panel of 25 cinephiles.
We wanted to bring a similar 'buzz rating' to TOfilmfest.
For example,

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Woody Allen
Great swarm of buzz! — many people wrote about it...
but it only rated — most reviewers agreed it was just 'above average'...

So, what about Score: A Hockey Musical ? — — it's getting quite a lot of buzz (appropriate, for the opening night gala of the festival).

We hope you find the audience buzz indicator useful.

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

More 2010 Canadian films

2010-08-11T22:30:00.001-04:00

In addition to the Canada First! and Canadian Open Vault presentations announced yesterday, a number of other Canadian features were added to other programs:

Gala Presentation

A Beginner's Guide to Endings — Jonathan Sobol

Special Presentations

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie — Sturla Gunnarsson
Good Neighbours — Jacob Tierney
Heartbeats — Xavier Dolan
Incendies — Denis Villeneuve
Repeaters — Carl Bessai

Contemporary World Cinema

Crying Out — Robin Aubert
Modra — Ingrid Veninger
A Night for Dying Tigers — Terry Miles
Route 132 — Louis Bélanger
Small Town Murder Songs — Ed Gass-Donnelly

Real to Reel

How to Start Your Own Country — Jody Shapiro
Man of a Thousand Songs — William D. MacGillivray

Visions

Curling — Denis Côté
Trois temps après la mort d'Anna — Catherine Martin

Midnight Madness

Fubar II — Michael Dowse

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS.

Email alerts at TOfilmfest.ca/email
Follow us on Twitter.com/TOfilmfest
Find us on Facebook.com/TOfilmfest (click 'Like' to get updates)
Feed this blog directly into your newsreader at TOfilmfest.ca/blog

2010 Canada First! and Canadian Open Vault announced

2010-08-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

Earlier this afternoon, the 2010 Canada First! program was announced:

Amazon Falls — Katrin Bowen
Daydream Nation — Michael Goldbach
The High Cost of Living — Deborah Chow
Jaloux — Patrick Demers
Oliver Sherman — Ryan Redford
You Are Here — Daniel Cockburn

As well, a newly restored print of the classic documentary film...

A Married Couple — Allan King

...will screen as the 2010 Canadian Open Vault presentation.

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS. advance ticket packages are still on-sale...

Online (Visa only)
By Phone, Mon-Fri/10am-7pm
at 416-968-3456 or 877-968-3456
At 2 Carlton St, West Mezzanine level, Mon – Fri, 10am-7pm, until Fri.20.Aug
(the new festival box-office opens at 363 King St West, on Tue.24.Aug)

Songs from the Lightbox promos

2010-08-10T09:30:00.004-04:00

For the past 3 years, the film festival's annual promotional ads, for the new Lightbox centre, have included music from Canadian artists.

Here's a quick list of the songs so far:

"I Feel It All" by Feist — from the 2007 album 'The Reminder'
"Luscious Life" by Patrick Watson — from the 2008 album 'Close To Paradise'
"Light You Up" by Pilot Speed — from the 2009 album 'Wooden Bones'
(Pilot Speed performed at Yonge-Dundas Square on September 18, 2009 as part of the film festival's free concert line-up.)

Click on the song title, or album cover, to download to a sample MP3... — and credit to Richard, who always seems to be the first to identify the new song at TIFFtalk ;-)

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

2010 Wavelengths program

2010-08-08T23:45:00.001-04:00

The Wavelength program — which has been celebrating avant-garde cinema for 10 years now — announced its line-up for 2010 last week:

Wavelengths 1: Soul of the City

Tokyo-Ebisu — Tomonari Nishikawa
The Soul of Things — Dominic Angerame
Get Out of the Car — Thom Andersen
Victoria, George, Edward & Thatcher — Callum Cooper
Landscape, semi-surround — Eriko Sonoda
Everywhere Was the Same — Basma Al-Sharif
Leona Alone — Oliver Husain

Wavelengths 2: Plein-Air

Burning Bush — Vincent Grenier
Home Movie — John Price
Ouverture — Christopher Becks
Cinematographie — Philipp Fleischmann
Blow-Ups: Portrait, Tea Time, Red Curtain — Helga Fanderl
Anne Truitt, Working — Jem Cohen
Color Films 1 & 2 — Madison Brookshire

Wavelengths 3: Ruhr

Ruhr — James Benning

Wavelengths 4: Pastourelle

Compline — Nathaniel Dorsky
Aubade — Nathaniel Dorsky
Pastourelle — Nathaniel Dorsky
Water Lillies — T. Marie

Wavelengths 5: Blue Mantle

Atlantiques — Mati Diop
One — Eve Heller
753 Mcpherson Ave — Kevin Jerome Everson
Blue Mantle — Rebecca Meyers
Slaveship — T. Marie
Hell Roaring Creek — Lucien Castaign-Taylor

Wavelengths 6: Coming Attractions

Photo Finish Figures (il Finish Delle Figure) — Paolo Gioli
The Day Was A Scorcher — Ken Jacobs
Concorso Di Bellezza Fra Bambino A Torino — Netherlands Film Institute
Delphine De Oliveira — Friedl vom Gröller
Kodachrome Days — Jonas Mekas
Le Roi Des Dollars — Segundo de Chomón
Coming Attractions — Peter Tscherkassky
Bits And Pieces — EYE Film Institute

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

Unofficial titles confirmed by other sources

2010-08-06T20:55:00.000-04:00

Since the Galas and Special Presentations were announced, there have been a number of films that have not been officially acknowledged by the Toronto International Film Festival.

So here's a list of all the films confirmed by others — with source:

127 Hours, Danny Boyle — Screen Daily
Everything Must Go, Dan Rush — Hollywood Reporter
Beautiful Boy, Shawn Ku — From Hollywood with Love
Fire of Conscience, Dante Lam — iOnCinema
The Tempest, Julie Taymor — The Playlist
L.A. Zombie, Bruce La Bruce — Fangoria
Vanishing on 7th Street, Brad Anderson — CTV

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

2010 Real to Reel program announced

2010-08-04T22:10:00.001-04:00

There are now over 120 films at TOfilmfest — with the announcement this morning, of the documentary program at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Real to Reel

ANPO Linda Hoaglund, Japan/US
Armadillo Janus Metz, Denmark
Boxing Gym Frederick Wiseman, USA
Cave of Forgotten Dreams [3-D!] Werner Herzog, USA
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Alex Gibney, USA
Cool It Ondi Timoner, USA
The Game of Death Christophe Nick & Thomas Bornot, France
Genpin Naomi Kawase, Japan
Guest Jose Luis Guerin, Spain
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, USA
Machete Maidens Unleashed! Mark Hartley, Australia
Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon Paul Clarke, Australia
Pink Saris Kim Longinotto, UK
The Pipe Risteard Ó Domhnaill, Ireland
Precious Life Shlomi Eldar, Israel
The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical Sarah McCarthy, United Kingdom
Tabloid Errol Morris, USA
Tears of Gaza Vibeke Løkkegerg, Norway
When My Child is Born Guo Jing & Ke Dingding, China
Windfall Laura Israel, USA
!Women Art Revolution – A Secret History Lynn Hershman Leeson, USA

Pick the best of the fest!
TOfilmfest
#TIFF10

PS. advance ticket packages are still on-sale...

Online (Visa only)
By Phone, Mon-Fri/10am-7pm
at 416-968-3456 or 877-968-3456
At 2 Carlton St, West Mezzanine level, Mon – Fri, 10am-7pm, until Fri.20.Aug
(the new festival box-office opens at 363 King St West, on Tue.24.Aug)

PPS.

TOfilmfest.ca/email updates via email
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Find us on Facebook.com/TOfilmfest (click 'Like' to get updates)
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Midnight Madness with Colin Geddes

2010-07-31T20:30:00.006-04:00

Last year, Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes announced his complete 2009 line-up via Twitter — before the official press release was posted.

Yesterday, Colin announced (via Twitter) that this year's program announcement might be delayed:

"Now bad news is the Midnight Madness press release might be delayed. Bummed, bc I am DYING to talk about my picks! Stay tuned!"

Today, he confirmed:

"Delayed. Bummed but its strategic..."

Well, while we are waiting... we put together a linked-list of Colin's past picks as Midnight Madness programmer — enjoy the look back... :-)

2009

Bitch Slap (USA) Dir. Rick Jacobson
Daybreakers (Australia/USA) Dir. Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Jennifer's Body (USA) Dir. Karyn Kusama
Ong Bak 2 (Thailand) Dir. Tony Jaa
[REC] 2 (Spain) Dir. Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza
Solomon Kane (UK) Dir. Michael J. Bassett
Survival of the Dead (Canada) Dir. George A. Romero
Symbol (Japan) Dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto
The Loved Ones (Australia) Dir. Sean Byrne
A Town Called Panic (Belgium/France) Dir. Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar

2008

Acolytes (Australia) Dir. Jon Hewitt
The Burrowers (USA) Dir. J.T. Petty
Chocolate (Thailand) Dir. Prachya Pinkaew
Deadgirl (USA) Dir. Marcel Sarmiento & Gadi Harel
Detroit Metal City (Japan) Dir. Toshio Lee
Eden Log (France) Dir. Franck Vestie
JCVD (France/Luxembourg/Belgium) Dir. Mabrouk El Mechri
Martyrs (Canada/France) Dir. Pascal Laugier
Not Quite Hollywood (Austalia) Dir. Mark Hartley
Sexykiller (Spain) Dir. Miguel Martí

2007

À l'Intérieur (France) Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo
Dai-Nihonjin (Japan) Dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto
The Devil's Chair (UK) Dir. Adam Mason
Diary of the Dead (USA) Dir. George Romero
Flash Point (Hong Kong) Dir. Wilson Yip
Frontière(s) (France) Dir. Xavier Gens
The Mother of Tears (Italy/USA) Dir. Dario Argento
Stuck (USA/Canada) Dir. Stuart Gordon
Sukiyaki Western Django (Japan) Dir. Takeshi Miike
Vexille (Japan) Dir. Fumihiko Sori

2006

The Abandoned (Spain) Dir. Nacho Cerda
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (USA) Dir. Jonathan Levine
Black Sheep (New Zealand) Dir. Jonathan King
Borat (USA) Dir. Larry Charles
The Host (South Korea) Dir. Bong Joon-ho
Princess (Denmark) Dir. Anders Morgenthaler
S&MAN (USA) Dir. JT Petty
Severance (UK) Dir. Christopher Smith
Sheitan (France) Dir. Kim Chapiron
Trapped Ashes (USA/Japan/Canada) Dir. Monte Hellman, Ken Russell, John Gaeta, Sean Cunningham, Joe Dante

2005

Bangkok Loco (Thailand) Dir. Pornchai Hongrattanaporn
District 13 (France) Dir. Pierre Morel
Evil Aliens (UK) Dir. Jake West
Hostel (USA) Dir. Eli Roth
Isolation (UK/Ireland) Dir. Billy O'Brien
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (Canada) Dir. Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise
Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic (USA) Dir. Liam Lynch
SPL (Hong Kong) Dir. Wilson Yip
The District (Hungary) Dir. Áron Gauder
The Great Yokai War (Japan) Dir. Takashi Miike

2004

Calvaire (Belgium/France/Luxembourg) Dir. Fabrice du Welz
Creep (UK/Germany) Dir. Christopher Smith
Dead Birds (USA) Dir. Alex Turner
Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 (Japan) Dir. Mamoru Oshii
Kontroll (Hungary) Dir. Nimród Antal
The Machinist (Spain) Dir. Brad Anderson
The Raspberry Reich(Germany) Dir. Bruce LaBruce
Rahtree: Flower of the Night (Thailand) Dir. Yuthlert Sippapak
Saw (USA) Dir. James Wan
Zebraman (Japan) Dir. Takashi Miike

2003

Cypher (USA) Dir. Vincenzo Natali
End of the Century (USA) Dir. Jim Fields & Michael Gramaglia
Gozu (Japan) Dir. Takashi Miike
Haute Tension (France) Dir. Alexandre Aja
Ju-On: The Grudge (Japan) Dir. Takashi Shimizu
Ong-bak (Thailand) Dir. Prachia Pinkaew
Save The Green Planet! (South Korea) Dir. Jang Jun-hwan
Undead (Australia) Dir. Michael & Peter Sperig
Underworld (USA) Dir. Len Wiseman

2002

Alive (Japan) Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
Bubba Ho-tep (USA) Dir. Don Coscarelli
Cabin Fever (USA) Dir. Eli Roth
MC5: A True Testimonial (USA) Dir. David Thomas
My Little Eye (UK) Dir. Marc Evans
Spun (USA) Dir. Jonas Akerlund
The Eye (Hong Kong/Thailand) Dir. Oxide Pang, Danny Pang
Volcano High (South Korea) Dir. Kim Tae-kyun

2001

Antinome (France) Dir. Grégory Morin
Bang Rajan (Thailand) Dir. Thanit Jitnukul
Dogtown and Z-Boys (USA) Dir. Stacy Peralta
Electric Dragon 80,000 V (Japan) Dir. Sogo Ishii
Full Time Killer (Hong Kong) Dir. Johnnie To Kei-fung, Wai Ka-fai
Ichi the Killer (Japan) Dir. Takashi Miike
The American Astronaut (USA) Dir. Cory McAbee
The Brotherhood of the Wolf (France) Dir. Christophe Gans
The Bunker (UK) Dir. Rob Green
Versus (Japan) Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura

2000

6ixtynin9 (Thailand) Dir. Pen-ek Ratanaruang
American Nightmare (USA) Dir. Adam Simon
City of Lost Souls (Japan) Dir. Takashi Miike
Quartered At Dawn (Germany) Dir. Norbert Keil
Tell Me Something (Korea) Dir. Chang Younhyun
The Foul King (Korea) Dir. Kim Jee Woon
The Irrefutable Truth About Demons (New Zealand) Dir. Glenn Standring
The Mission (Hong Kong) Dir. Johnnie To Kei-fung
Time And Tide (Hong Kong) Dir. Tsui Hark
Wild Zero (Japan) Dir. Tetsuro Takeuchi

1999

Born To Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie (USA) Dir. Lech Kowalski
Fever (USA/UK) Dir. Alex Winter
Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby (USA) Dir. Matthew Bright
Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (Japan) Dir. Shusuke Kaneko
George Lucas In Love Dir. Joe Nussbaum
Komodo (USA) Dir. Michael Lantieri
Possessed (Denmark) Dir. Anders Ronnow-Klarlund
The Item (USA) Dir. Dan Clark
The Wisdom of Crocodiles (UK) Dir. Po Chih Leong
Wadd: The Life & Times at John C. Holmes (USA) Dir. Cass Paley

1998

Bystander From Hell (USA) Dir. Mathew Harrision
Cascadeur - The Amber Chamber (Germany) Dir. Hardy Martins
Hang The DJ (Canada) Dir. Marco La Villa & Mauro La Villa
Heaven (USA/New Zealand) Dir. Scott Reynolds
I Woke Up Early The Day I Died (USA) Dir. Arlis Iliopulos
Mighty Peking Man (Hong Kong) Dir. Ho Meng-hua
Night Time (Germany) Dir. Peter Fratzscher
Perdita Durango (Spain) Dir. Alex de la Iglesia
Six-String Samurai (USA) Dir. Lance Mungia
The Acid House (Great Britain) Dir. Paul McGuigan

1997

A Chinese Ghost Story (Hong Kong) Dir. Tsui Hark
Fudoh: The New Generation (Japan) Dir. Takashi Miike
I Married A Strange Person (USA) Dir. Bill Plympton
Love God (USA) Dir. Frank Grow
Office Killer (USA) Dir. Cindy Sherman
Orgazmo (USA) Dir. Trey Parker
Sick (USA) Dir. Kirby Dick
The Ugly (New Zealand) Dir. Scott Reynolds

This list comes from the source — Colin's own history of the midnight madness programme.

Pick the best of the fest!
#TOfilmfest

Notes from yesterday's press conference

2010-07-28T23:00:00.009-04:00

Besides the announcement of Galas and Special Presentations yesterday, the festival's directors mentioned some other points of interest...

Piers Handling, Director and CEO:

three cinemas in the new Lightbox center will be in use 'for sure' during the festival:
- two cinemas will host art installations
  - 8½ Screens (Atom Egoyan)
  - E-100 (James Andean & François Xavier Saint-Pierre),
- the largest cinema, with a capacity of 550, 'will definitely be used'
free repeat screening of the audience award-winning film Sunday, Sept. 19th
The Essential 100 exhibition opens Sunday, Sept.12 and will continue until the end of 2010
the Tim Burton showcase will run from 'late' Nov [18th] to April

Cameron Bailey, Co-Director:

the one day extension of the film festival will host repeat screenings; it is expected to be a permanent addition
a new TIFF for Free program, featuring films from the festival's past – for example,
- 1983 The Big Chill, Lawrence Kasdan
- 1989 Roadkill, Bruce McDonald
- 2004 Crash, Paul Haggis
- 2005 Water, Deepa Mehta
– as 35mm presentations, inside Lightbox, during the festival; tickets will be available "first come first served... we'll be announcing the program, and once you know the films that you want to see... get there early"
no free Yonge-Dundas screenings — "because this is the year we open our building, we've decided to focus our free programming in TIFF Bell Lightbox"