MORE COUNTRIES, LESS FILMS

64 countries will be represented at this year’s TIFF, including first-time participant the Bahamas.  They are up from last year’s festival of 55 nations.  Though, the festival has downsized from last year, by 40 films including 12 features.  The aim is to make TIFF a global film festival.  And the reduction of films screened was a deliberate move by the festivals co-directors, Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling.  “It was maybe getting to the point where some of the smaller films were getting ignored,” Handling said.  “We were beginning to hear that from the filmmakers.” (source: The Star).

Factsheet on TIFF

• 312 FILMS:  Features– 249; Shorts – 63 (In 2007, 352 Total: Features – 261; Shorts – 91)
• 237 Features that are world, international, or North American premieres:  116, 29, and 92 respectively (In 2007, 234: 101 world; 25 international; 108 North American.
• 75% Feature-length films that are world, international, or North American premieres (In 2007, 85%)
• 64 Countries (In 2007, 55)
• 4209 Total Submissions: International – 3445, Canadian -764 (In 2007, 4156: International – 3415, Canadian – 741)
• 61 First Features (In 2007, 71)  
• 29 Canadian features, including co-productions (In 2007, 41)
• 38 Canadian shorts, including co-productions (in 2007, 54)
• 18 Canadian features making their world premiere, including co-productions (In 2007, 22)
• 36 Screens used (In 2007, 29)
• 340,000+ Admissions annually, both public and industry

Remembering Dusty Cohl

TIFF will be remembering Dusty Cohl.  A founder of the Toronto International Film Festival, died on Friday January 11 of this year, he was 79 and lived in Toronto.  Mr. Chol and two other friends, Henk van der Kolk and Bill Barshal, created the festival in 1976.  That year, 127 films from around the world were screened at five Toronto theaters, attracting approximately 42,000 ticket-holders. 

Mr. Cohl was named to the Order of Canada in 2003.

Vision and Vanguard series

Along with the Discovery series, is the Vision and Vanguard programs that is quite popular at TIFF.  The fest adds twelve titles to the Vanguard and Visions programming (six in each category). “Visions and Vanguard films both push boundaries- Vision for form, Vanguard for content,” says Co-Director Cameron Bailey.  ”We find TIFF audiences love a new challenge; this is where to find it.”

Discovery series at TIFF

Film festival has announced the line up for its Discovery series.  The series acknowledges the year’s most exciting debuts in cinema.  TIFF has announced 19 films from 18 countries for Discovery.  

They join seven previously announced movies. All are eligible for the Diesel Discovery Award, chosen by the more than 1,000 members of the festival press corps.

Here are a few of the debuts (that I found interesting): 

$9.99 Tatia Rosenthal, Israel/Australia

World Premiere

Unemployed and still living at home at 28 years old, Dave Peck discovers a booklet claiming to answer the meaning of life for the low price of only $9.99. In his struggle to share his amazing find with the world, Dave’s surreal path crosses with those of his unusual neighbours, including an old man and his disgruntled guardian angel, a magician in debt and a bewitching woman who likes her men extra smooth. A stop-motion animated film, $9.99 features the voices of Geoffrey Rush and Anthony LaPaglia.

Gigantic Matt Aselton, USA

World Premiere

Smart and well-educated, Brian (Paul Dano) feels adrift in his life and his job at an upscale mattress store. The one thing he knows is that he wants to adopt a Chinese baby, and is on a wait list to do so. When he meets Happy (Zooey Deschanel), an odd and feisty rich girl sent to pick up a mattress for her father (John Goodman), he falls head over heels. But Happy has deep reservations about dating a guy who could become a dad at any time. As they negotiate their increasing intimacy, Brian awaits the call from the adoption agency.

Kabuli Kid Barmak Akram, France/Afghanistan

North American Premiere

Kabul taxi driver Khaled picks up a woman and, after settling on a price, takes her to her destination. The woman gets out and a new passenger climbs in, only to find a baby in the backseat. Khaled leaps out after the woman, whose face had been obscured by her burqa, but she has vanished. He’s left holding the baby – a six-month-old boy. Who was this woman and how will Khaled find her?

Tale 52 Alexis Alexiou, Greece

North American Premiere

After Iasonas and Penelope meet at a dinner party, the flirtatiousness between them quickly blossoms into a relationship. But awaking one morning to find that Penelope has mysteriously disappeared, Iasonas is unable to reconstruct what happened. The disappearance of his new girlfriend drives the rather shy Iasonas to despair, prompting confusing delusions on top of his already fragile mental state.

Rain Maria Govan, Bahamas

World Premiere

In hopes of reconciling with the mother who abandoned her, Rain leaves her simple, sheltered life on rural Ragged Island for the big city of Nassau. But her dream of a loving reunion is quickly shattered when she meets Glory, a scarred, angry woman who bears no resemblance to the mother she had hoped for. Driven by a passion for running and the support of a caring track coach, Rain must find the inner strength to build a new life. 

To find the entire list: http://www.cinemaeye.com/index/movienews/more/2837/

First World War epic kicks off at TIFF

TIFF has chosen Canadian filmmaker Paul Gross Passchendaele for the Opening Gala Presentation which will be held at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto at 8pm on September 4th. You may recognize Gross from his role on Due South.  Passchendaele is focused on Michael Dunne, a soldier who served in the 10th Batalion, in the First World War at the Battle of Passchendaele (aka Third Battle of Ypres).  The film is also expected to release on Rememberance Day, November 11, 2008.

The film was written and directed by Gross and is his feature directorial debut.

Guess who’ll be in Toronto??

Celebs will be strutting their fancy outfits at the Gala red carpet in Toronto, and the festival has confirmed a 500-plus guest list.  Just to name a few big stars, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Edward Norton, Rachel McAdams, George Clooney, Kiera Knightley, Charlize Theon, Adrien, Broday, Mark Ruffalo.  It’s shaping up to be a killer year.

TIFF 101

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is hosted each September, beginning on the Thursday night after Labour Day, and lasts for ten days.  So, the 33rd annual event will be held on September 4 to 13.  Approximately, 300-400 films are screened at a number of downtown Toronto venues.  TIFF usually attracts over 300,000 people, either for business or pleasure.  Yorkville, a Toronto neighborhood, is where the festival is centered around, with several luxury hotels and movie theaters.  

TIFF was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel and is originally known as “The Festival of Festivals.”  Many notable films had their global or North American premiere at TIFF, such as Juno, American Beauty, Sideways, Crash, Chariots of Fire.