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Venice fuels awards talk BY JEREMY KAY
Atom Egoyan
Playtime invites Egoyan’s Guest Of Honour BY JEREMY KAY
Playtime has partnered with Canada’s Elevation Pictures, Ego Film Arts and The Film Farm on Atom Egoyan’s Guest Of Honour, the second English-language project involving the Paris-based company to be announced out of TIFF. Days after Playtime revealed it was remaking with Animal Kingdom the Austrian genre hit Goodnight Mommy, co-founder Nicolas Brigaud-Robert said Egoyan was preparing for a November production start in Ontario on his new “twisted morality tale”. Egoyan penned the script about the relationship between a man and his imprisoned twentysomething daughter, who wants to remain in jail even though she believes she was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault. Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada. “I’m particularly excited and passionate about this script,” said Egoyan. “I’m thrilled to be working with partners Playtime and Elevation Pictures, who have clarity and understand my vision for the film.”
Last night’s Venice Golden Lion win for ROMA and a pair of prizes for The Favourite have steered awards talk towards a handful of strong contenders as several hot prospects line up for their Toronto bow. Alfonso Cuaron’s first Venice win for his autobiographical Spanish-language film consolidates its position as one of Netflix’s big best-picture pushes alongside 22 July from Paul Greengrass and the Coen brothers’ The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs. Screen International understands the streaming giant is still mulling over the minutiae of theatrical qualifying runs for all three, while Fox Searchlight will now be planning a getting-to-know-you US tour for its lead actress contender
Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody with Rami Malek. Willem Dafoe is in line for a second consecutive Oscar nomination after his Coppa Volpi triumph as Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate. The leading man category has thrown Hugh Jackman into the ring with Sony’s The Front Runner, Ryan Gosling from Universal’s First Man, Bradley Cooper from Warner Bros’ A Star Is Born and possibly Steve Coogan from Sony Pictures Classics’ Stan & Ollie. Anticipated upcoming Toronto premieres include Moonlight director Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, Claire Denis’ Englishlanguage debut High Life and Steve McQueen’s Widows featuring Viola Davis.
JOURNEY BEGINS Geena Davis was among those to speak at yesterday’s Share Her Journey rally for women in film, urging efforts to raise gender-parity awareness from a young age. “I feel like this is the easiest fix, because why are we teaching kids something that we try so hard to get rid of later on?”
The Front Runner, review, page 8
REVIEWS Gloria Bell Sebastian Lelio’s remake is a showcase for Julianne Moore » Page 6
The Front Runner This portrait of Gary Hart’s downfall has enough juice to attract audiences » Page 8
FEATURE Festival shakedown Reshaping the A-list film festivals for the 21st century » Page 12
Bac unveils sales on Terra Willy, Funan BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Bac Films has announced deals on family film Terra Willy, the latest animated feature from TAT Productions. New pre-sales include a multi-territory deal for Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Telepool as well as to Czech Republic (AQS), Indonesia (CGV) and Southeast Asia (Antenna International). The Paris-based outfit has also sold Annecy Grand Prize winner Funan, following the fate of a family under Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime, to Gkids for the US.
Stray Dogs dips in for The Dive
Cinepolis plots Museo heist Cinepolis Distribution has revealed plans for the Mexican release of TIFF selection Museo and announced a raft of Latin American sales. Gael Garcia Bernal stars in Alonso Ruizpalacios’s heist film, the first Spanish-language YouTube Original, which will open in Mexico on October 26 in 500 cinemas. Leo Cordero, head of Cinepolis Distribution — which acquired Latin American sales rights before
Olivia Colman following her Coppa Volpi-winning turn as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Silver Lion winner The Favourite. Potential rivals for the UK veteran at this stage include Lady Gaga for Warner Bros’ A Star Is Born, Julianne Moore for Gloria Bell, newcomer Thomasin McKenzie for Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace, Keira Knightley for Colette and possibly Rachel Weisz for Disobedience. Bleecker Street distributes the last three in the US. Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie star in Focus Features’ December release Mary Queen Of Scots. Other notable late arrivals appear to be Annapurna Pictures’ Backseat from Adam McKay starring Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, and Fox’s
TODAY
Museo’s world premiere in Berlin — has licensed Colombian rights to Cinecolombia and Brazilian rights to Supo Mungam Films in Brazil. Wiesner Distribution will release in Central America, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Cuba, and V&R releases the film in Peru. Paris-based Luxbox represents the balance of international territories. Jeremy Kay
Indie Sales bursts out Alien doc BY JEREMY KAY
Paris-based Indie Sales has launched worldwide sales talks at TIFF on the documentary Memory — The Origins Of Alien, which reveals the exclusive untold origin story behind Ridley Scott’s cinematic masterpiece. Director Alexandre O Philippe and producer Exhibit A Pictures collaborated on Sundance 2017 documentary 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene, which sold around the world to IFC Midnight, Dog-
woof, Netflix, Hulu and ARTE, among others. The filmmakers said Memory — The Origins Of Alien will feature previously unseen materials from the archives of writer Dan O’Bannon and designer HR Giger. Screen Division and Milkhaus are co-producing the feature, and Diane O’Bannon, Carmen Giger and Leslie Barany serve as executive producers. Memory — The Origins Of Alien is being lined up for an early 2019 release.
Stray Dogs has closed a French distribution deal for Israeli drama The Dive, which is screening in Contemporary World Cinema. It is the feature debut of Yona Rozenkier, who also stars with reallife siblings Micha and Yoel in a story of three brothers who return to their childhood kibbutz to bury their father shortly before the youngest brother is due to go off to war. The homecoming soon spirals out of control. The film won best Israeli feature, best debut and shared best actor for the Rozenkiers at last month’s Jerusalem Film Festival. Pyramide is planning an early 2019 release. The film has its first P&I screening tomorrow. Matt Mueller
NEWS
TIFF BRIEFS PTI finds its Sweethearts Picture Tree International (PTI) has taken on international sales for German actress/director Karoline Herfurth’s action comedy Sweethearts. Herfurth also stars as an anxious woman taken hostage by a single mother. The film will be released in Germany by Warner Bros on Valentine’s Day 2019. At TIFF, PTI is representing Carolina Hellsgard’s female-led zombie movie Endzeit — Ever After, screening in Discovery.
Let Me Fall takes flight with Raven Banner Toronto’s Raven Banner is introducing worldwide buyers to dark Icelandic drama Let Me Fall from director Baldvin Z, which had its world premiere at TIFF. The film follows two Reykjavik teens who enter a vortex of drugs, sex and parties and reunite 12 years later.
Premiere grabs Danger One Los Angeles-based Premiere Entertainment Group has acquired international rights to action thriller Danger One and is in talks with TIFF buyers. Tom Everett Scott and James Jurdi star in the story of two paramedics who keep $1m they found in the clothing of a dying man, triggering a night of violence when the owner comes looking for his money.
Solis, School on trip to US BY JEREMY KAY
Los Angeles-based Cinema Management Group (CMG) has closed US deals on TIFF sales titles Solis and The School. Goldfinch Studios’ sci-fi thriller Solis from Carl Strathie will get a release through Blue Fox Entertainment on October 26. Steven Ogg and Alice Lowe star in the tale of an astronaut in
an escape pod hurtling towards the sun who tries to communicate with the commander of his mothership in a race for survival. CMG launched sales in Berlin and has struck deals for Germany (Capelight), China (Wing Sight), France and Italy (Wild Side), South Korea (First Run), the Middle East (Front Row), Philippines
(Crystal Sky), Japan (Hark), India (MVP) and airlines (Captive). Vertical Entertainment will release supernatural horror The School from Bronte Pictures and Lunar Pictures in North America on October 26. The film centres on an emergency surgeon who finds herself in a purgatory state haunted by children from her past.
Sweden’s The Unthinkable scores UK, Canada deals BY WENDY MITCHELL
Swedish thriller The Unthinkable has sold to Signature Entertainment for the UK and Mongrel Media for Canada. SF International has now sold the disaster thriller to more than 70 countries. The film was a box-office hit in Sweden this summer for the company’s distribution arm, SF Studios, racking up more than 100,000 admissions. Other deals include to Germanspeaking territories (Ascot Elite), French-speaking territories (Wild Bunch), Italy (BIM Distribuzione), Spain (ADSO), Turkey (Filmarti), Japan (New Select), China (Times Vision), Taiwan (Movie Cloud) and South Korea (Lumix). The Unthinkable will have its
The Unthinkable
international premiere at Fantastic Fest (September 20-27) in Austin, Texas, where it will screen in the official competition. The film is directed by Norrköpingbased filmmaking collective Crazy Pictures, and is about a musician who returns to his
hometown when Sweden comes under mysterious attack. Christoffer Nordenrot wrote the script with Victor Danell. SF’s slate also includes Amundsun, directed by Espen Sandberg, and Britt-Marie Was Here, directed by Tuva Novotny.
Finecut conjures up The Witch deal for Japan BY JEAN NOH
South Korean sales company Finecut has announced a raft of deals on Park Hoon-jung’s supernatural thriller The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion led by sales to Japan (Culture Entertainment). The film made its international premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal this summer where it won an audience award and best actress prize for newcomer Kim Da-mi. She plays a telekinetic girl who escapes a government facility, forgets her past, and appears on a talent show that gives away her whereabouts. Produced by Park’s Gold Moon Film, the film also sold to Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand (CJ E&M Hong Kong), as well as to Taiwan (Eagle International Communications) and Poland (Mayfly). Wa r n e r B ro t h e r s Ko re a released The Witch locally on June 27, where it scored more than 3.1 million admissions. Finecut is selling the film in Toronto, where it will have a market screening on September 10.
EXECUTIVE FOCUS NICK MANZI, LIONSGATE UK Nick Manzi is head of production and acquisitions at Lionsgate UK, responsible for acquiring titles for UK distribution, including projects at script stage and completed features. Recent acquisitions include Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History Of David Copperfield and Dominic Cooke’s Ironbark.
Nick Manzi
What has changed in the market over the last few years? The market has polarised. The films that work are either the big ones or the small ones, and anything in between doesn’t. In the old days, everyone could look at ancillary numbers and know you’d make money somewhere, but you can’t do that now. There have been fewer projects in the markets recently and companies have been more cautious about buying films — supply and demand have gone down together. TV has also had an effect, audiences only have so many hours in the day. However, when you get a hot project, like [Jessica Chastain-led female spy thriller] 355 in Cannes, people still want to believe and will invest significant sums.
What kind of projects are you looking for at markets? Our remit is very specific. We want English-language, mainstream, commercial films that have an emphasis on being British. We don’t get British films from our US colleagues [at Lionsgate], so we are looking for complementary films to that slate.
What makes a project pop for you? I can’t tell you my secret! Seriously, I think it’s seeing the film and understanding what the audience is. You have to be very clear on that because there’s so much out there to excite audiences now. Also, the cost of the film needs to be in
‘The films that work are either the big ones or the small ones, and anything in between doesn’t’ Nick Manzi, Lionsgate UK
of blockbusters, then it has a healthy future. But when I was young, I was excited by Star Wars and the Bond movies, so maybe things aren’t as different as we think. I think people still value the cinematic experience, and the quality of filmmaking is incredibly high.
How healthy is the UK industry? What will be the big changes in the next five years? sync with the audience potential. If someone pitches you an exciting arthouse movie but wants $10m for it, that isn’t going to work.
4 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
I still believe in the theatrical experience but then I’ve been doing this for a long time. If we can find a way of re-energising young people to believe in cinema outside
I’m overseeing five British films this summer. In years gone past, we wouldn’t necessarily have anything. I can’t remember a year we’ve been involved in so many productions. That feels positive. Tom Grater
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REVIEWS
» Beautiful Boy p6 » Gloria Bell p6 » White Boy Rick p8
Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
» The Front Runner p8 » The Predator p10 » Mothers’ Instinct p10
» Gwen p11 » Rojo p11
Gloria Bell Reviewed by Allan Hunter
Beautiful Boy Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan The trauma of an addiction that rages through a comfortable middle-class white family is painfully remembered in Beautiful Boy, with Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet playing a loving father and his teenage son, who both wrote memoirs adapted here by director Felix van Groeningen (with co-writer Luke Davies). Strong, committed performances anchor a highly personal film that cycles through addiction, relapse and rehab in an episodic way, each high as inevitable as the low that follows. The film’s length, coupled with the true-to-life repetition and raw pain so convincingly portrayed onscreen, may prove a deterrent to wider audiences. In an America ravaged by meth addiction, however, Beautiful Boy could hit home for many families, wherever they choose to view it. Carell provides strong ballast in a thankless role as a father bewildered by the incremental loss of his son to addiction. Chalamet is elusively liquid in the role of a child who sabotages his life without ever really being able to express why. Guilt drives dad David Sheff (Carell) and son Nic (Chalamet) from the start when, as a young child of divorced parents, Nic is sent alone on a plane to New York every summer. David has remarried and now has two much younger children. His job as a freelance journalist has enabled a comfortable existence in Marin County for the family. College is on the horizon for brilliant student Nic, when a well-disguised fondness for experimenting with drugs kicks over into full-blown meth addiction. Years of rehab and relapse follow. Beautiful Boy makes interesting observations. Nic’s habit is introspective and self-driven: he teaches himself to inject alone from the internet. Van Groeningen does not have a problem depicting the grim reality of that, but the thorny issue of how he financed the habit is never addressed. Repeated overdoses come and go, but the fact Nic turned tricks to survive seems to be a difficult subject for the film ever to mention. Drugs aside, the most successful part of the film is a portrait of the love between a father and son and all the pressures, guilt and expectations it entails, and it is here that Beautiful Boy may find its strongest resonance.
6 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
GALA PRESENTATIONS US. 2018. 120mins Director Felix van Groeningen Production companies Amazon Studios, Plan B Entertainment, Big Indie ictures tarbuc s Entertainment International sales FilmNation Entertainment, n office@filmnation.com Producers Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner Screenplay Felix van roeningen u e a ies based on separate memoirs by David Sheff an ic eff Production design Ethan Tobman Editing ico eunen Cinematography Ruben Impens Main cast te e arell imot e alamet Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan
The track record for directors remaking their own films does not inspire great confidence. Anyone care to recall The Vanishing or Funny Games? Yet Sebastian Lelio bucks the trend with Gloria Bell. The US version of his 2013 Chilean hit Gloria works as a precision-engineered showcase for Julianne Moore. Her nuanced, smiling-through-the-tears personification of middleaged indomitability wins her a place among Lelio’s growing gallery of fantastic women, and could earn awards consideration. Astute and witty, Gloria Bell should attract arthouse audiences drawn to rousing tales of multi-faceted female characters. Moore’s presence can only broaden the appeal of a character who previously made Paulina Garcia an international name. Gloria (Moore) faces the world with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. She is divorced and trying to live her best life. No longer essential in the lives of her children, she spends many an evening dancing the blues away in Los Angeles’ singles clubs. Moore makes Gloria a sympathetic figure, but there is a brittle tension in her performance. There is a slight air of desperation, a neediness that leaves the impression she could be on the verge of a breakdown. The lonely life looks to become a thing of the past, however, when she catches the eye of the recently divorced Arnold (a sweetly vulnerable John Turturro), but the tentative relationship begins to test how much she values herself and what she really wants from life. Gloria Bell could almost be a musical as the character drives to work, heartily singing along to vintage pop anthems. There is also a fairytale, magic-realist flavour in the use of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as the larger-thanlife setting for a romantic weekend. Lelio’s exploration of Gloria’s often melancholy existence stretches through the smallest domestic moments to the harsh glare of public occasions. And Moore’s performance means we are with Gloria every step of the way, sharing in the little victories and the jolting setbacks. Her hard-won belief in herself and undimmed appetite for life make for a joyous finale that is impossible to resist.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS US-Chile. 2018. 102mins Director/screenplay Sebastian Lelio Production companies Fabula, FilmNation Entertainment International sales FilmNation Entertainment, n office@filmnation.com Producers Juan de Dios Larrain, Pablo Larrain, Sebastian Lelio Production design Dan Bishop Editing Soledad Salfate Cinematography Natasha Braier Music Matthew Herbert Main cast Julianne Moore, John Turturro, ic ael era aren Pistorius
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A FILM BY
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SCREENINGS
Wed 12 Sept - 11:15 - Scotiabank 11 - P&I Sun 16 Sept - 18:30 - Scotiabank 9
DOGWOOF at TIFF: Hyatt, 9th floor, UK Films
A 16-hour journey narrated by Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda and others
SCREENINGS - FIRST 4 HOURS
Tue 11 Sept - 20:00 - TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 5 - P&I Wed 12 Sept - 19:00 - Scotiabank 10 Sun 16 Sept - 19:45 - Scotiabank 4
REVIEWS
The Front Runner Reviewed by Allan Hunter
White Boy Rick Reviewed by Tim Grierson What at first appears to be a solid, albeit conventional, rise-and-fall story of a cocky young FBI informant soon morphs into something far more moving and thoughtful in White Boy Rick. Based on the life of Richard Wershe Jr, who as a teen reluctantly agreed to work with the US government to infiltrate the local Detroit drug scene, the new film from ’71 director Yann Demange is best when it pauses to explore the father-son drama at the heart of this tale, as well as coldly examining the US’s ruinous drug policy. Opening September 14 in the US and December 7 in the UK, this Sony film benefits from the marquee value of Matthew McConaughey as Rick’s father, joined by an acclaimed cast that includes Bel Powley and Jennifer Jason Leigh. And its superficial similarities to true-life crime sagas such as GoodFellas may raise awareness for this nuanced drama. Taking place over several years in the 1980s, the film’s title is a reference to Richard Wershe Jr (Richie Merritt), who earns the nickname from the African-American friends he hangs out with in his economically devastated section of Detroit. Rick’s single father, Richard Sr (McConaughey), is a ne’er-do-well trying to support Rick and his sister Dawn (Powley), selling guns out of the back of his car. But once Richard Sr runs afoul of some FBI agents (Leigh and Rory Cochrane), Rick must agree to be an informant in exchange for his dad not going to jail. White Boy Rick derives its suspense from watching Rick become enmeshed in the Curry Crew, powerful drug dealers led by the suave Johnny (Jonathan Majors). These scenes have a familiar pull, recalling other crime films in which the main character is seduced by power, beautiful women and lavish parties. But Demange eventually moves past these de rigueur sequences to give us a socioeconomic snapshot of a broken city that is tearing itself apart. White Boy Rick can sometimes be a little underpowered dramatically, losing momentum on subplots that diffuse the film’s emotional and political urgency. But when Demange focuses on Rick’s worsening situation as an informant, it becomes a sobering portrait of how US law enforcement’s aggressive stance on drugs proved to do more harm than good.
8 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS US. 2018. 110mins Director Yann Demange Production companies Columbia Pictures, Studio 8 Worldwide distribution Sony Pictures Producers John Lesher, Julie Yorn, Scott Franklin, Darren Aronofsky Screenplay Andy Weiss, Logan Miller, Noah Miller Production design Stefania Cella Editing Chris Wyatt Cinematography Tat Radcliffe Music Max Richter Main cast Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Tyree Henry, Rory Cochrane, RJ Cyler, Jonathan Majors, Eddie Marsan, Taylour Paige, Bruce Dern, Piper Laurie
The dramatic fall of 1988 US presidential hopeful Gary Hart proved that the private indiscretions of public figures could destroy political careers — at least back then. The Front Runner captures the moral dilemmas and changing attitudes inspired by the Hart story with sprawling, Altmanesque brio. The combination of breezily entertaining political turmoil and personal tragedy may lack a sharp focus but it still has enough juice to attract audiences who also sought out The Ides Of March (2011) or The Post (2017). In 1987, Colorado senator Hart (Hugh Jackman) seemed the ideal figure to carry the hopes of a Democratic Party deeply demoralised after Ronald Reagan’s two-term presidency. A handsome charmer with lofty principles and a crowd-pleasing eloquence, he was significantly ahead in the polls for the party’s presidential nomination. Based on Matt Bai’s book All The Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, The Front Runner focuses on three key weeks in the Hart campaign. Director Jason Reitman uses overlapping conversations, multilayered sound and a fast, snappy pace to capture all the backroom hustle and bustle of a political campaign. It becomes clear that Hart has no stomach for the showbusiness side of running for office. He is a serious politician and refuses to make his private life into public property. When The Miami Herald breaks a story that exposes his infidelity, it is the start of a feeding frenzy that becomes a defining moment in the shifting relationship between the media and the powerful. Hugh Jackman’s Hart is a righteous figure and the actor does nothing to soften the fact Hart was arrogant enough to consider himself invincible. He is a victim of his own womanising but also of changing times. He fumes against a media reduced to gutter-press tactics of doorstepping his wife Lee (Vera Farmiga) or hiding in bushes to capture intimate photos. Jackman is a solid presence at the centre of The Front Runner but the ensemble nature of the storytelling means he does not dominate to the detriment of other figures. Notable performances include a poignant Sara Paxton as the object of Hart’s affections Donna Rice, Farmiga as his steely, long-suffering wife and a terrific Mamoudou Athie as a young journalist from The Washington Post who is taught bitter lessons about journalistic responsibility.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS US. 2018. 113mins Director Jason Reitman Production companies Bron Studios, Right Of Way Worldwide distribution Sony Pictures Producers Jason Reitman, Helen Estabrook, Aaron L Gilbert Screenplay Matt Bai, Jay Carson, Jason Reitman based on All The Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid by Matt Bai Production design Steve Saklad Editing Stefan Grube Cinematography Eric Steelberg Music Rob Simonsen Main cast Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, JK Simmons, Alfred Molina, Sara Paxton, Mamoudou Athie
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— Rosie Paddy Breathnach Contemporary World Cinema
— Papi Chulo John Butler Special Presentation
— Float Like a Butterfly Carmel Winters Discovery
— Greta Neil Jordan Special Presentation
— Black ’47 Lance Daly Contemporary World Cinema
— Vita & Virginia Chanya Button Special Presentation
Irish Film at TIFF ’18 www.screenireland.ie
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REVIEWS
Mothers’ Instinct Reviewed by Wendy Ide
The Predator Reviewed by Tim Grierson Tongue firmly in cheek and sporting a taste for blood, The Predator has some nasty down-and-dirty pleasures, but director Shane Black cannot entirely reconcile his lightly self-mocking tone with the film’s muscular B-movie action. This latest instalment in a franchise that started in 1987 fields a game cast led by Boyd Holbrook and Olivia Munn, building to a suitably combustible final battle sequence. And yet, the prevailing sentiment is that a lot of energy and a marginal amount of wit have gone into relaunching a property that is probably not worth the effort. Holbrook plays Quinn, a military sniper whose team is ambushed in Mexico by a frightening alien warrior. The only survivor of the attack, Quinn reluctantly joins forces with a team of misfit soldiers who have been diagnosed with various emotional problems — including Keegan-Michael Key’s unhinged Coyle and Trevante Rhodes’ mercurial Nebraska — and evolutionary biologist Casey (Munn) to figure out precisely why this extraterrestrial (nicknamed the Predator) has come to Earth. The Predator aspires to be a throwback to the kind of rough-and-tumble 1980s sci-fi/horror that gave us the original Predator. The nostalgic association is driven home by the fact Black (who wrote Lethal Weapon and recently directed and co-wrote Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys) was one of Predator’s stars. It is no surprise, then, that this sequel flaunts a politically incorrect comedic tone and a flair for extravagantly gruesome violence, both hallmarks of an earlier era of action cinema. And in small doses, the knowing homage to a bygone style of R-rated moviemaking has its charms. That said, wry humour only goes so far in a film with sub-par special effects and an overly complicated narrative. (Room’s Jacob Tremblay plays Rory, Quinn’s autistic son, who may hold the key to the Predator’s mission.) Despite a few gritty action scenes and a gonzo finale that show off the actors’ physicality — Holbrook and Munn are especially convincing as characters who shoot and run with gusto — The Predator exudes a threadbare midnight-movie vibe that reduces this killer alien to just another generic bogeyman wreaking havoc across government labs and dense forests.
10 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
MIDNIGHT MADNESS US. 2018. 106mins Director Shane Black Production companies TSG Entertainment, Davis Entertainment Worldwide distribution 20th Century Fox Producer John Davis Screenplay Fred Dekker & Shane Black, based on characters created by Jim Thomas & John Thomas Production design Martin Whist Editing Harry B Miller III, Billy Weber Cinematography Larry Fong Music Henry Jackman Main cast Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Thomas ane lfie llen terling Brown
Bourgeois Brussels in the early 1960s is the setting for Mothers’ Instinct (Duelles), a Hitchcockian psychological thriller that pits two suburban housewives against each other following the death of one of their children in a freak accident. Olivier Masset-Depasse deftly handles a plot that flirts openly with ripe melodrama, but keeps the audience guessing about which household the madness and paranoia lurks within. This meticulously styled period piece, which is based on a novel by Belgian writer Barbara Abel, is a change of tone for Masset-Depasse, whose last feature, refugee drama Illégal (2010), won the SACD award at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes. Haut Et Court and O’Brother Distribution have claimed French and Belgian distribution deals respectively; elsewhere the film could attract arthouse interest. The film opens with a shot that goes on to become a recurring motif: a woman, in this case Alice (Veerle Baetens) peering through her net curtains at her neighbour. Yet there is no malign plan in action, just a surprise birthday party for Céline (Anne Coesens). The traits of the two women are also established: Alice is nervy and riddled with self-doubt, while Céline is poised and calm. Their children, Theo and Maxime, are best friends. The death of Céline’s son, Maxime, is a tragic accident but the fact Alice witnessed it means that, in the first crashing wave of grief, Céline holds her partially accountable. Unable to comfort her friend and distraught on her behalf, Alice begins to wonder whether there was something she could have done. A month or so later and there has been a rapprochement between the pair. But something has changed. Alice starts to question Céline’s motives when she befriends Theo with gifts and confidences; Alice’s husband questions whether his increasingly unpredictable wife needs a psychiatrist. Things take a darker turn when further members of each family start to die. Mothers’ Instinct is a polished package. The orchestral score pays homage to Hitchcock, and the saturated colours are a nod to Sirk. The eloquent use of architecture adds another level of symbolism to the tricky mystery. Fans of photogenic female treachery and mid-century interiors will appreciate the attention to detail in both the choice of soft furnishings and the elegantly manicured malice.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Bel-Fr. 2018. 97mins Director Olivier Masset-Depasse Production company Versus Production International sales Indie Sales, neschbach@ indiesales.eu Producer Jacques-Henri Bronckart Screenplay Olivier Masset-Depasse, Giordano Gederlini Production design Anna Falgueres Editing Damien Keyeux Cinematography Hichame Alaouie Music Frédéric Vercheval Main cast Veerle Baetens, Anne Coesens, Mehdi Nebbou, Arieh Worthalter, Luan Adam
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Rojo Reviewed by Allan Hunter
Rosie Reviewed by Allan Hunter Director Paddy Breathnach ventures into Dardenne brothers terrain with Rosie, a plaintive tale of a family struggling to stay afloat in the wake of becoming homeless. A modest social-realist drama, its air of familiarity does not diminish its impact as a heartbreaker. The reputation of Breathnach and screenwriter Roddy Doyle should attract further festival invitations following its Toronto premiere, and possibly some commercial interest. A cacophony of news headlines baldly establishes that Ireland has one of the highest rates of family homelessness in Europe. One casualty of this crisis is Rosie (Sarah Greene), who alongside her partner John-Paul (Moe Dunford) and their four children have rented the same house in Dublin for seven years. Once the landlord decides to sell, they struggle to find or afford an alternative. John-Paul works as a kitchen porter, the older children attend school and proud Rosie is determined to keep up appearances. Every day she works her way through a council list of temporary accommodation trying to find somewhere to stay for a week, a few days or even one night. The endless telephone calls become a kind of mantra that starts with hope and ends in dejection. The film unfolds over 36 hours and is notable for its sense of restraint. There is nothing in the family’s plight that is made to seem extraordinary or melodramatic. These are just everyday individuals coping with a change of circumstances. Breathnach and Doyle stress that this is a tight-knit family unit filled with love and affection. Their situation may be grim but there is humour, acts of solidarity and moments of rebellion. The adults are doing the best they can in a situation that goes from bad to worse as their world shrinks down to the car they own. Observed with sympathy, Rosie inexorably escalates the family’s sense of desperation. Cinematographer Cathal Watters makes effective use of handheld close-ups to focus on Rosie and her frantic efforts to keep the family together. Stephen Rennicks’ sentimental score sometimes feels at odds with an otherwise sober, sombre tale. The naturalistic performances are impressive throughout, with Greene conveying the pressures on a woman striving to remain positive against all the odds. There is a strong sense of Rosie being just one more disappointment away from letting her anger and desperation break through a surface of weary resilience.
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CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA Ire. 2018. 86mins Director Paddy Breathnach Production company Element Pictures International sales Protagonist Pictures, info@protagonistpictures. com Producers Emma Norton, Rory Gilmartin, Juliette Bonass Screenplay Roddy Doyle Production design Mark Kelly Editing Una Ni Dhonghaile Cinematography Cathal Watters Music Stephen Rennicks Main cast Sarah Greene, Moe Dunford, Molly McCann
PLATFORM
Deceptive appearances and fatal disappearances convey the rotten heart of 1970s Argentina in Rojo. Writer/director Benjamin Naishtat’s subtle, twisting, state-of-thenation drama works effectively as a noir-like thriller, and as an exploration of a country that has lost its moral compass. The intriguing, unsettling material and commanding performances should earn this festival invitations and some commercial attention following its world premiere at Toronto. A lengthy pre-title sequence sets the tone as a collection of ordinary citizens quietly loot an abandoned home. Naishtat (History Of Fear, The Movement) places his initial focus on Claudio (Dario Grandinetti) and his family. A respected provincial lawyer, Claudio is a pillar of the community in 1975 Granada. He looks like a man with nothing to hide. One Saturday evening, he is confronted by a stranger in a busy restaurant. The encounter is tense and ill-mannered as the two men square off like gunfighters in a western. The situation escalates from verbal sparring to physical violence before the story advances to events three months later. The focus spreads gradually to reveal a world in which nothing is pure and nobody is completely innocent. It is an era when there are lucrative deals to be made that are not entirely legal, when those who insult or offend might leave a party and never be seen again. Everyone turns a blind eye, nobody is willing to rock the boat and the sense of paranoia suggests a whole community infected with an incurable amorality. The murky ethics of the period are matched by the director’s choice of a muddy visual palette. Claustrophobic offices have walls covered in wooden panels, nights are treacly, danger lurks in the shadows and there is something altogether oppressive and unhealthy in a film that feels stained with guilt. At one point there is an eclipse in which the sun is obscured and the world grows dark in the long shadows much, one assumes, like Argentina at this period. Late in the day, Columbo-like detective Sinclair (an enjoyably theatrical Alfredo Castro) arrives from Buenos Aires to investigate a missing person. His presence could spell a long-awaited reckoning or a further reflection of how much the country has abandoned any pretence of law and order.
Arg-Bel-Bra-Ger-Fr-Swi. 2018. 109mins Director/screenplay Benjamin Naishtat Production company Pucara Cine International sales Luxbox, info@luxboxfilms.com Producers Barbara Sarasola-Day, Federico Eibuszyc Production design Julieta Dolinsky Editing Andres Quaranta Cinematography Pedro Sotero Music Vincent Van Warmerdam Main cast Dario Grandinetti, Andrea Frigerio, Alfredo Castro, Diego Cremonesi
September 9, 2018 Screen International at Toronto 11
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ANALYSIS FESTIVAL LANDSCAPE
A-list festivals: Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto
FESTIVAL
SHAKEDOWN As the dust settles on Cannes’ fallout with Netflix, the Berlinale appoints well-known cineaste Carlo Chatrian, and sales agents despair over selection decisions, Geoffrey Macnab asks whether the big festivals are becoming elitist and what that means for the indie film industry
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umblings of discontent have been heard this year about the programming and jury choices of the A-list festivals. “Victory for Adina Pintilie’s humourless and clumsy documentary essay underscores Berlin’s status as a festival that promotes the dull and valueless,” wrote UK newspaper The Guardian of the Romanian Golden Bear winner, Touch Me Not. Many festival delegates expressed dismay about Cannes Film Festival’s standoff with Netflix in May, which meant some of the most eagerly anticipated titles of the year were not shown on the Croisette: the SVoD giant could not guarantee that the films would receive the local theatrical window required by the French industry, and the festival bowed to local pressure. The gender imbalance among film-
makers chosen for official selection is increasingly, and embarrassingly, apparent. Programmers have been accused of being too populist and mainstream in their choices, or not populist and mainstream enough. It matters because securing a slot at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice or Toronto is often crucial to the distribution chances of an arthouse or even an independent film. When faced with competition from the SVoD streamers, the declining pre-sales market and the crisis facing arthouse distribution, independent films simply may not be noticed by buyers without a festival platform. “The big festivals are becoming more and more the make-or-break element in the career of arthouse films,” says Thorsten Ritter, executive vice-president of acquisitions, sales and marketing at Berlin-based sales agent Beta Cinema.
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‘Festivals are the makeor-break element in the career of arthouse films’ Thorsten Ritter, Beta Cinema
Sales agents point out that being in official selection at Cannes, in particular, will multiply the market potential of the film. International distributors go there determined to secure the best new titles and the world’s press is on the ground to write about them. “You can only create that kind of buzz if you have everyone from the industry in one place,” says Moritz Hemminger,
deputy head of sales and acquisitions at Germany’s ARRI Media. Some sales agents express frustration when small, fragile, defiantly uncommercial, experimental films are chosen in the main competitions. If those titles win the main prizes and are then ignored by audiences when released worldwide, the net effect can be to devalue the economic standing of the entire event that programmed it. A counter-argument can be made that when films such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives or Pintilie’s Touch Me Not win the Palme d’Or, the Golden Bear or the Golden Lion, their success gives a major boost to arthouse distribution in general. “The recognition Touch Me Not received at the Berlinale had a huge impact on the film’s life,” says Pintilie, the film’s Romanian writer/director. »
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ANALYSIS FESTIVAL LANDSCAPE
Touch Me Not took seven years to develop and make, and has gone on to screen at festivals around the world and secure distribution deals in 30 countries. By contrast, certain genre titles shut out of the A-list festivals have subsequently flourished. For example, Beta’s Scottish thriller Calibre finally premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival this June to rave reviews and then streamed on Netflix only days later. “Many would say, ‘This film deserved to play in the theatres and find regular distributors around the world.’ But this is where we are headed now,” says Beta’s Ritter. “The romantic side of me agrees, yes, this could have had an individual campaign in every country. But with Netflix, it was the perfect combination, it is now available in so many language versions simultaneously around the world. The effect on the career of the filmmaker is maximised and the doors for the producers are open.” It is not hard to find those who believe Cannes’ attempts to prohibit films without theatrical distribution in France cannot be sustained. After all, as Efe Cakarel — founder and CEO of UKbased arthouse streaming platform MUBI, which bought Touch Me Not for the UK — suggests, doing so is going against the spirit of a festival dedicated to artistic excellence. “It is very backwards thinking, not necessarily aligned with the ethos that a festival like Cannes is committed to, which is introducing really great cinema to the audience,” Cakarel says. “It should be completely independent of the commercial considerations of release windows.” Some fervent admirers of Cannes believe the festival — and other A-list events — are in urgent need of artistic renewal. “Festivals must adapt, even reset themselves,” says Anaïs Emery, artistic director of Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) in Switzerland. “We should rethink what is an independent production, what is an auteur, what are the new processes of creation. Our responsibility is to be more open-minded. Festivals have always had a business model in which we show films before the exhibitors. We have the first window of exhibition but to protect this hierarchy is a bit old-fashioned. We have to look for a new business model.” Venice prospers In the short term, Venice has benefited from Cannes’ position, snagging the world premieres of Alfonso Cuaron’s ROMA and Paul Greengrass’s 22 July — two films that were in a prime position for a Cannes slot. “It’s impossible to keep a conservative position in front of these new players,”
Carlo Chatrian picks up the reins in Berlin from May 2019
‘Festivals must adapt, even reset themselves’ Anaïs Emery, NIFFF
says Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera, who came under fire for programming just one film by a woman director in the main competition this year. He says it is in traditional exhibitors’ interests to “make innovative proposals” about how best now to release films rather than to engage in a war of attrition with the streaming platforms. Meanwhile, Harriet Harper-Jones, acquisitions and development manager at leading UK arthouse distributor and exhibitor Curzon, suggests this year’s Venice selection felt like “Old Cannes”. The Horizons sidebar was “incredibly cinephilic and auteur-driven”, with “other strands being a lot more mainstream and international”. Harper-Jones does not believe festivals are falling out of touch with the industry. “There is continued symbiosis between them,” she counters, pointing to initiatives such as Cannes’ Next VR platform, the various talent labs at the festivals and the more flexible programming that saw titles such as the Twin Peaks and Top Of The Lake TV series screened in Cannes last year. “The festivals are responding to the desire of viewership.” The programming choices of the major festivals, Cannes in particular, resonate
14 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
culturally beyond the industry vortex of each event. “Its curation is extraordinary,” director Jane Campion said of Cannes last year. “It really has such beautiful high standards of enjoying visionary voices and I don’t think there is anything else like it. Everything else is just more populist in its emphasis.” However, those choices, particularly in the headline sections, are always open to criticism. Last year, a declaration signed by 79 German film directors called for “renewal” of the Berlinale and for the appointment of a new artistic director who would streamline its programme and strengthen its competition. The statement called the latter “by far the weakest of all the major film festivals”. The Chatrian era Several names were floated as potential successors to the Berlinale’s long-serving artistic director Dieter Kosslick. These included TIFF’s Cameron Bailey, Rajendra Roy, chief curator of Film at MoMA, and Bero Beyer, artistic director of International Film Festival Rotterdam. In the end, Locarno’s artistic director, Carlo Chatrian, was chosen. He will take up the job in May 2019, concentrating on the artistic side of the festival while Mariette Rissenbeek, presently the managing director of German Films, will serve alongside him as executive director. Chatrian’s appointment has been broadly welcomed. “Carlo is a cinephile and he listens,” says Ritter. “He is not about his persona or his ego — he
is always about the films and the filmmakers.” Jean-Christophe Simon, CEO of sales agent Films Boutique, agrees: “It looks to me a very natural change for Berlin.” He expects Chatrian to “continue the tradition of Berlin being a political festival favouring discoveries”. Many point out none of the major A-list festivals have a female artistic director — and most of them never have done. They suggest unconscious bias can still slip into programming decisions. “If you want to achieve diversity in the programme, you have to work on the diversity of the programming team because each programmer is biased by their own experience. It depends on the decision makers,” suggests Maren Kroymann, managing director of Berlinbased M-Appeal. “We should have female representation in every level of society and in festivals as well,” agrees Emery. The campaign for gender parity grows louder, the Berlinale under Chatrian remains an unknown quantity and no one would bet against Cannes in its Netflix showdown. But what does seems certain is the power of film festivals to give an invaluable global platform to arthouse and independent films is resolutely undiminished. Whether these films will eventually be watched in cinemas or on TVs and mobile devices, the distributors will still be coming to Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Sundance and Venice in their hordes to s find them. ■
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TORONTO IN PICTURES
Scotland sets the standard Where When Who Why
The Fifth Social Club, Toronto Friday, September 7 Screen Scotland and Screen International Celebrating Scottish films, talent and partnerships at Toronto International Film Festival
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Flore Cosquer producer, Naziha Arebi director, Katya Mihailova composer, Freedom Fields
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Guests at The Fifth Social Club
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Matt Mueller Screen International, Isabel Davis Screen Scotland
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Andrew Murphy Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, Sophie Green Bankside Films
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Karen Bruce Academy of Canadian Cinema & TV, Holly Daniel, Diane Henderson, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Michael Robson D Films, Meaghan Brander Cineplex Events
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Naysun Alae-Carew producer, Chris Leveaux actor, Nicholas Crum producer, Sarah Swire actor
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Ross McKenzie Screen Scotland, Annabel Jankel director, Daisy Allsop producer, Fiona Shaw author, Tell It To The Bees, Nick Hill producer, Jessica Ashworth, Henrietta Ashworth screenwriters, Tell It To The Bees
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Agnieszka Moody Screen Scotland
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Daisy Allsop producer, Tell It To The Bees, Stephen Kelliher Bankside Films
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10 Annie Bradley Directors Guild of Canada, Allison Gardner Glasgow Film Festival 11 Michael Wilson producer, Isabel Davis Screen Scotland
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12 The Outlaw King team and friends, front left: Paul Blair, Tony Curran, Gillian Berrie, Isabel Davis, David Mackenzie, Hazel Mackenzie, Robbie Allen Back left: Colin Kennedy, Jamie Michie, Chris Fulton, Jack Greenlees, Gilly Gilchrist, Lorne MacFadyen, Brian Coffey
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September 9, 2018 Screen International at Toronto 17
Grayson Lee
GUEST LIST
SPOTLIGHT BRON MEDIA CORP
V
ancouver-based BRON Media Corp has made plenty of recognisable films since it launched at the start of the decade. Yet over the past couple of years the husband-and-wife team of Aaron L Gilbert and Brenda Gilbert have been really cooking with gas. Heading into awards season, the film and TV division BRON Studios is likely to be in the conversation with hotly anticipated Torontobound drama The Front Runner, which premiered in Telluride and stars Hugh Jackman as flawed 1988 Democratic presidential contender Gary Hart. It joins Debra Granik’s acclaimed father-daughter drama Leave No Trace on the contenders roster and keeps the prestige bandwagon rolling after strong notices in recent awards seasons for Fences, the company’s first film to earn Oscar nods, Roman J. Israel, Esq. and, for a while there, The Birth Of A Nation. The company philosophy of nurturing the best possible talent encompasses commercial plays. Sam Levinson’s Sundance hit and Toronto selection Assassination Nation, for example, gets a September 21 US launch after Neon and the Russo brothers’ AGBO stumped up more than $10m for worldwide rights in Park City. Everything is an evolution, notes Aaron L Gilbert, president and CEO
Hugh Jackman in The Front Runner
BRON’S
BRAWN
Canadian producer-financier BRON Media Corp is looking to cement its pedigree awards season credentials with The Front Runner and Leave No Trace. Jeremy Kay reports Tom Hardy in Fonzo
‘The early films involved a lot of trial and error’ Aaron L Gilbert, BRON Studios
of BRON Studios and CEO and chairman of BRON Media Corp, the umbrella company established several years ago as part of a reorganisation. “Fences wouldn’t have happened had many other films not have happened before it,” he says. “It was a very important film and we couldn’t be more proud of it.” Entering the industry Aaron, a former music licensing executive, and Brenda, who comes from the finance sector, formed BRON Holdings inspired by an amalgam of their first names in 1999, the year they were married. Aaron was bitten by the film bug when friends asked him to invest in projects in 2009. The following year, the couple launched BRON Studios to develop, produce and finance content. The early films involved “a lot of trial and error” and were mostly transactional. Three years in, the focus shifted to
supporting the best talent they could access. Welcome To Me, a 2014 comedy starring Kristen Wiig, marked BRON’s first partnership with Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions. A year later came the Rebecca Hall comedy drama Tumbledown with The Departed producer Kristin Hahn, as well as the Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston, which Sony acquired for the world. In 2014, the Gilberts met Jason Cloth of Creative Wealth Management, who has backed all BRON productions exclusively ever since. The Gilberts partner with various investors across the businesses of BRON Media Corp, which houses BRON Studios, BRON Animation, slate cofinancing vehicle BRON Creative, and
18 Screen International at Toronto-September 9, 2018
BRON Ventures, a strategic investor in companies including Michael Ellenberg’s high-end TV venture Media Res. It was a tough year in 2016. After Aaron fought hard to get Nate Parker’s slavery drama The Birth Of A Nation made, it erupted in Sundance, earning awards and sparking a record $17.5m worldwide deal with Fox Searchlight. When revelations about Parker’s personal life resurfaced, the film imploded. “It’s probably one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to go through,” says Aaron. “I’m still heartbroken with the notion that the film and its important messages never really got out to the world in the way that they could have.” Yet The Birth Of A Nation showed Hollywood that BRON was a force to be
reckoned with, and brought greater access. “How we’ve thrived is the three Ps,” says Brenda, president of BRON Media Corp and BRON Animation. “First is the passion for the art we want to make; second is patience; and third is perseverance. We’ve been knocked down many times and we’ve got up together.” The Vancouver-based animation hub has produced Mighty Mighty Monsters TV specials, and US distribution deals are understood to be close on the first two feature-length projects: Henchmen and The Willoughbys featuring Ricky Gervais. The company has a good retention rate on its world-class animators, notes Brenda. There are roughly 135 people in the BRON Media Corp headquarters and BRON Animation in Vancouver, and some 17 in New York and new offices in Beverly Hills. Recent promotions among the senior executive suite include
‘We’ve been knocked down many times and we’ve got up together’ Brenda Gilbert, BRON Studios
Anjay Nagpal to chief content officer, Steven Thibault to chief operating officer, Joel Guralnick to chief legal officer and David Davoli to senior vice president. The slate includes The Nightingale, Jennifer Kent’s acclaimed follow-up to The Babadook that just premiered in Venice. Coming up in 2019 are the Chris Evans action thriller The Red Sea Diving Resort, Tom Hanks war drama Greyhound, Fonzo starring Tom Hardy, and Bill Condon’s thriller The Good Liar with Helen Mirren, a co-finance arrangement with New Line. BRON Creative’s cofinance slate deal with Lionsgate covers The Spy Who Dumped Me, and upcoming titles such as Doug Liman’s Chaos Walking and Luc Besson’s Anna. The TV business launched around 18 months ago and the first two projects are set to go into pre-production. Deals are in place with leading players in the UK, France, Scandinavia and Germany. BRON Studios is partnering with Studiocanal’s German outfit Tandem Productions on eight-part period thriller Shadow Play, from The Bridge co-creator Mans Marlind. Further project announcements are expected soon. For now, though, the focus is on Toronto. “[Jason Reitman] did a great job on The Front Runner,” says Aaron. “That is our front runner this year for the s awards season.” ■
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SCREENINGS » Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration
Edited by Jamie McLeish
PUBLIC SCREENINGS
08:30 MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIERES
(France) 110mins. Indie Sales. Dir: Emmanuel Mouret. Cast: Alice Isaaz, Cécile De France, Edouard Baer, Laure Calamy, Natalia Dontcheva. When a romance between a widow and a notorious libertine takes an unexpected turn, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres becomes instrumental to one lover’s plans for revenge. Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 3 — Piers Handling Cinema
09:00 GRAVES WITHOUT A NAME
(France-Cambodia) 115mins. Playtime. Dir: Rithy Panh. In Rithy Panh’s latest exploration of the lasting effects of the Cambodian genocide, a 13-year-old boy who loses most of his family begins a search for their graves. TIFF Docs Jackman Hall
PHOENIX
PUBLIC SCREENING 10:30 WIDOWS
(UK-US) 128mins. 20th Century Fox. Dir: Steve McQueen. Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Daniel Kaluuya, Elizabeth Debicki, Jacki Weaver, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert Duvall, Viola Davis.
(Norway-Sweden) 86mins. Hummelfilm. Dir: Camilla Strom Henriksen. Cast: Casper Falck-Lovas, Maria Bonnevie, Sverrir Gudnason, Ylva Thedin Bjorkaas. A young girl struggles to keep her family together in the aftermath of a tragedy that forces her to grow up far too quickly.
Merritt, RJ Cyler, Rory Cochrane. A fact-based crime drama about a 1980s-era petty hustler who became a drug boss, then FBI informant, before the age of 16.
Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
BEN IS BACK
WHITE BOY RICK
(US) 110mins. Sony Pictures Releasing. Dir: Yann Demange. Cast: Bel Powley, Brian Tyree Henry, Bruce Dern, Eddie Marsan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jonathan Majors, Matthew McConaughey, Piper Laurie, Richie
Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
09:30
(US) 103mins. Sierra/ Affinity. Dir: Peter Hedges. Cast: Courtney B Vance, Julia Roberts, Kathryn Newton, Lucas Hedges. The unexpected homecoming of a mother’s charming yet troubled prodigal son forces her into a situation where she must do all she can
20 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
A heavyweight cast propels Steve McQueen’s white-knuckle thriller (co-written by Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn) about four women left in a deadly lurch when their criminal husbands are all killed. Gala Presentations Princess of Wales
to prevent her family’s downfall. Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
CAPERNAUM
(Lebanon) 120mins. Wild Bunch. Dir: Nadine Labaki. Cast: Alaa Chouchnieh, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Cedra Izam, Fadi Youssef, Kawthar Al Haddad, Nadine Labaki, Yordanos Shiferaw, Zain Al Rafeea. Nadine Labaki (2011 TIFF People’s Choice Award winner Where Do We Go Now?) explores the lives of children living on the fringes of Lebanese society, in this heartbreaking story of a boy who sues his parents
for bringing him into the world when they couldn’t properly care for him. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
10:00 EVERYBODY KNOWS
(France-Spain-Italy) 133mins. Memento Films International. Dir: Asghar Farhadi. Cast: Barbara Lennie, Eduard Fernandez, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Ricardo Darin. Asghar Farhadi directs Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in this layered psychological drama about a family wedding interrupted by a shocking crime and some longburied secrets. Gala Presentations Ryerson Theatre
THE SISTERS BROTHERS
(US-France-RomaniaSpain) 120mins. IMR International. Dir: Jacques Audiard. Cast: Carole Kane, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, John C Reilly, Rebecca Root, Riz Ahmed, Rutger Hauer. Joaquin Phoenix, John C
Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed headline Jacques Audiard’s adaptation of Patrick deWitt’s award-winning western novel about the picaresque adventures of two brothers sent to kill a prospector accused of stealing from a tyrannical crime boss. Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
10:30 WIDOWS See box, above
11:15 THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT
(Canada-Belgium) 111mins. HanWay Films. Dir: Kim Nguyen. Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Mando, Salma Hayek. In the hope of striking it rich, two scheming cousins try to build a 1,000-milelong, four-inch-wide tunnel from Kansas to New Jersey that will give them a one-millisecond edge on transactions at the New York Stock Exchange. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
11:30 THE STONE SPEAKERS
(Canada-Bosnia & Herzegovina) 92mins. Dir: Igor Drljaca. A visually sumptuous piece that oscillates between sly humour and trenchant analysis while exploring unusual tourism-related attempts to resuscitate economies in Bosnia & Herzogovina and the Balkan region. Wavelengths TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
THE SWEET REQUIEM
(India-US) 91mins. Dir: Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam. Cast: Jampa Kalsang, Lhakpa Tsering, Rabyoung Thonden Gyalkhang, Shavo Dorjee, Tenzin Dolker. In a follow-up to 2005’s Dreaming Lhasa, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam return with the story of a Tibetan woman grappling with life in exile, revealing a side of the refugee crisis we rarely get to see. Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox 3 — Piers Handling Cinema
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JURY GRID, PAGE 30
12:00 AMERICAN DHARMA
(US-UK) 100mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. Dir: Errol Morris. Cast: Stephen . Bannon. From groundbreaking documentarian Errol Morris comes a probing portrait of controversial Breitbart honcho and former Trump adviser Stephen K Bannon. TIFF Docs TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
THE FRONT RUNNER
(US) 113mins. Sony Pictures Releasing. Dir: Jason Reitman. Cast: Alfred Molina, Hugh Jackman, JK Simmons, Vera Farmiga. Jason Reitman’s biopic about US senator Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign and his scandalous affair that derailed it. Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
13:15 ICEBOX
LES SALOPES OR THE NATURALLY WANTON PLEASURE OF SKIN
(Canada) 97mins. Filmoption International. Dir: Renée Beaulieu. Cast: Brigitte Poupart, Charlotte Aubin, Guillaume Gauthier, Hubert Proulx, JeanMarie Coudou, Joseph Delorey, Louise Portal, Nathalie Cavezzali, Normand D’Amour, Paul Ahmarani, Pierre Kwenders, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Romane Denis, Sophie Clément, Vincent Lecler. A happily married wife and mother with a promiscuous secret life must confront the consequences her choices have for her family and career when a scandal threatens to shed light on her affairs, in this introspective drama about the nature, limits and consequences of desire. Contemporary World Cinema Jackman Hall
12:30 DONNYBROOK
(US) 101mins. Sierra/ Affinity. Dir: Tim Sutton. Cast: Frank Grillo, James Badge Dale, Jamie Bell, Margaret Qualley. This hard-hitting drama follows an ex-marine who is struggling to provide for his family, and a violent drug dealer with an undefeated fight record. They are determined to compete in the Donnybrook, a bareknuckle brawl with a prize of $100,000. Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
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(US) 86mins. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. Dir: Daniel Sawka. Cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Genesis Rodriguez, Jessica Juarez, Johnny Ortiz, Matthew Moreno, Omar Leyva. A 12-year-old Honduran’s dangerous quest for a better life is interrupted when he is interned at a US immigration detention centre full of other kids in Daniel Sawka’s timely social drama, told from a child’s point of view. Discovery Scotiabank 14
13:30 BURNING
(South Korea) 148mins. Finecut. Dir: Lee Changdong. Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Jun Jong-seo, Steven Yeun.
A young man grows suspicious about the motives of a deceptive interloper who is hanging around with his childhood friend-turned-burgeoning love interest. Special Presentations Ryerson Theatre
TEL AVIV ON FIRE
(Luxembourg-FranceIsrael-Belgium) 97mins. Indie Sales. Dir: Sameh Zoabi. Cast: Kais Nashef, Lubna Azabal, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Yaniv Biton. A middle-aged slacker fails upwards in his job on the set of a popular Palestinian soap opera only to end up fielding script notes from a disgruntled Israeli military officer, in this satire from writer/director Sameh Zoabi. Discovery Scotiabank 3
TELL IT TO THE BEES
(UK) 106mins. Film Constellation. Dir: Annabel Jankel. Cast: Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger. A wrenching drama of a shunned small-town doctor and beekeeper in postwar Britain who befriends a struggling mother and son, helping them discover that love can be found in many forms. Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
13:45 THE REALM
(Spain-France) 122mins. Latido Films. Dir: Rodrigo Sorogoyen. Cast: Ana Wagener, Antonio de la Torre, Barbara Lennie, Jose Maria Pou, Luis Zahera, Monica Lopez, Nacho Fresneda. Systemic government corruption is at the heart of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s thriller, which follows a crooked Spanish politician whose lavish lifestyle, made possible through nefarious kickbacks and bribes, threatens to bring down his entire party. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 13
14:00 CHOCOLAT
(France) 105mins. Janus Films. Dir: Claire Denis. A young girl observes a forbidden love triangle in her family home in French colonial Africa, in Claire Denis’ acclaimed 1988 feature debut. TIFF Cinematheque TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
FIRST MAN See box, below
THE BLACK BOOK
(Portugal-France) 103mins. Alfama Films. Dir: Valeria Sarmiento. Cast: David Caracol,
Fleur Fitoussi, Jenna Thiam, Lou de Laage, Niels Schneider, Stanislas Merhar. Valeria Sarmiento’s vibrant period piece tells the intertwining stories of an orphan and his nurse — both with mysterious pasts — as they navigate the shifting social and political landscapes of late18th century Europe. Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox 3 — Piers Handling Cinema
14:15 THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM
(US) 91mins. United Talent Agency (UTA). Dir: John Chester. The successes and failures of a couple determined to live in harmony with nature on a farm outside Los Angeles are lovingly chronicled by filmmaking farmer John Chester.
THE PUBLIC
(US) 119mins. Capstone Group. Dir: Emilio Estevez. Cast: Alec Baldwin, Bryant Bentley, Che Rhymefest Smith, Christian Slater, Emilio Estevez, Gabrielle Union, Jacob Vargas, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Ki-hong Lee, Michael Hall, Michael K Williams, Richard T Jones, Spencer Garrett, Taylor Schilling. A sit-in by patrons at a public library escalates into a police standoff and a media sideshow, in Emilio Estevez’s arresting drama that explores issues surrounding homelessness, mental health and community. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
14:45 ANGELO
(US) 124mins. Netflix. Dir: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones. Cast: Dr Dre, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Quincy Jones, Rashida Jones. An intimate look at the life, labours and legacies of the legendary music producer Quincy Jones.
(Austria-Luxembourg) 111mins. Playtime. Dir: Markus Schleinzer. Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Larisa Faber, Makita Samba. In Markus Schleinzer’s long-awaited second feature and true-story drama, a young African boy is abducted, sold and forced into 18th-century Viennese court life where he must wrestle with the restrictions placed upon him by society.
TIFF Docs Princess of Wales
Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
TIFF Docs Scotiabank 1
14:30 QUINCY
PUBLIC SCREENING 14:00 FIRST MAN
(US) 133mins. Universal Pictures. Dir: Damien Chazelle. Cast: Christopher Abbott, Ciaran Hinds, Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Lukas Haas, Patrick Fugit, Ryan Gosling. La La Land’s Damien Chazelle and Ryan Gosling reunite for this biopic of Neil Armstrong, from joining Nasa in 1961 to his walk on the moon. Gala Presentations Ontario Place Cinesphere
»
September 9, 2018 Screen International at Toronto 21
SCREENINGS
FAUSTO
(Canada-Mexico) 70mins. Dir: Andrea Bussmann. Cast: Alberto Nuñez, Fernando Renjifo, Gabino Rodriguez, Victor Pueyo, Ziad Chakaroun. Andrea Bussmann’s mystical debut feature offers a beautiful, cryptic take on shapeshifting, telepathy, and dealings with the devil on the Mexican seaside of Oaxaca. Wavelengths Jackman Hall
15:00 CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
(US) 107mins. Fox Searchlight Pictures. Dir: Marielle Heller. Cast: Anna Deavere Smith, Ben Falcone, Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin, Melissa McCarthy, Richard E Grant, Stephen Spinella. A jaded biographer resorts to selling forged historical letters on the black market, and grapples with the ethical complications that arise, in Marielle Heller’s charming biopic about bestselling writer Lee Israel. Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
15:15 FREE SOLO See box, above
15:45 GIANT LITTLE ONES
(Canada) 93mins. Celluloid Dreams. Dir: Keith Behrman. Cast: Darren Mann, Josh Wiggins, Kyle MacLachlan, Maria Bello, Niamh Wilson, Peter Outerbridge, Taylor Hickson. Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello star as divorced parents whose teenage son faces seismic personal upheaval after an unexpected incident at a party. Special Presentations Elgin Theatre
16:00 NEKROTRONIC
(Australia) 99mins. Sierra/Affinity. Dir: Kiah Roache-Turner. Cast: Ben O’Toole, Caroline Ford, David Wenham, Epine Bob Savea, Monica Bellucci, Tess Haubrich.
PUBLIC SCREENING
A group of hunters known as Nekromancers do battle with evil forces that use social-media apps to possess the masses, in this riotous romp from the director of Wyrmwood. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 4
SCREWBALL
(US) 105mins. 30WEST. Dir: Billy Corben. Cast: Anthony Bosch, Porter Fischer, Tim Elfrink. Billy Corben’s true-crime dramedy investigates Major League Baseball’s infamous doping scandal involving a nefarious clinician and his most famous client: the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 14
16:30 BULBUL CAN SING
(India) 95mins. Dir: Rima Das. Cast: Arnali Das, Bonita Thakuriya, Manabendra Das, Manoranjoan Das, Pakija Begam. A coming-of-age drama about a girl in rural India, fighting her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 3
16:45 ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT
(US-Denmark-Norway)
22 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
117mins. ro*co films. Dir: James Longley. A dozen years after his Oscar-nominated Iraq In Fragments, American documentarian James Longley delivers a sweeping, profoundly compassionate group portrait of Afghan students and teachers still weathering national turbulence. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 11
FIG TREE
(Israel-Germany-FranceEthiopia) 93mins. Films Boutique. Dir: AalamWarqe Davidian. Cast: Betalehem Asmamawe, Kidest G/Selasse, Mareta Getachew, Mitiku Haylu, Rodas Gizaw, Tilahune Asagere, Weyenshiet Belachew, Yohanes Muse. Aalam-Warqe Davidian’s unflinching feature debut, set at the end of the Ethiopian Civil War, follows a Jewish Ethiopian teenage girl as she attempts to save her Christian boyfriend from being drafted, even as she and her family are poised to flee the country. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
MINUSCULE — MANDIBLES FROM FAR AWAY
(France) 90mins. Futurikon. Dir: Hélene Giraud, Thomas Szabo. When a young ladybug
15:15 FREE SOLO
(US) 97mins. Cinetic Media. Dir: E Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin. Cast: Alex Honnold. The documentarian duo behind 2015’s acclaimed Meru return to high altitudes, this gets trapped in a cardboard box shipped to the Caribbean, his father sets off for Guadeloupe to rescue him and save others from a human construction site, in this charming animated series based on the creative universe of Minuscule. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 13
THE VICE OF HOPE
(Italy) 100mins. True Colours. Dir: Edoardo de Angelis. Cast: Cristina Donadio, Marina Confalone, Massimiliano Rossi, Pina Turco. To support her family, Maria works as a trafficker of surrogate mothers, transporting them from place to place along a river. But when one disappears, Maria is left with the task of finding her and must enter deeper into a world she wishes to escape. Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox 3 — Piers Handling Cinema
time as rock climber Alex Honnold attempts to do what no-one has done before: ascend free solo — without safety ropes — up the 3,000foot cliff of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. TIFF Docs TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
17:00 A FAITHFUL MAN
(France) 75mins. Wild Bunch. Dir: Louis Garrel. Cast: Laetitia Casta, LilyRose Depp, Louis Garrel. Award-winning actor Louis Garrel (The Dreamers, Redoubtable) directs and stars in this light-hearted drama about the unanticipated joys and heartbreaks one man experiences over the years. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
own painful grief in the aftermath of her mother’s sudden death. Discovery Scotiabank 10
FALLS AROUND HER
(Canada) 98mins. Dir: Darlene Naponse. Cast: Gail Maurice, Hope McGregor, JD Nicholsen, Johnny Issaluk, Rob Stewart, Tantoo Cardinal, Tina Keeper. Tantoo Cardinal shines as a world-famous Anishinaabe musician who returns to the reserve to rest and recharge — only to discover that fame (and the outside world) are not easily left behind, in writer/director Darlene Naponse’s riveting portrait of resilience set among a northern First Nation. Contemporary World Cinema Jackman Hall
17:45 HER SMELL
EMU RUNNER
(Australia) 95mins. Dir: Imogen Thomas. Cast: Georgia Blizzard, Letisha Boney, Lindsay Waites, Mary Waites, Maurial Spearim, RhaeKye Waites, Rob Carlton, Rodney McHughes, Stella Carter, Wayne Blair. A spirited young girl in small town Australia forms a meaningful bond with a wild emu as she tries to cope with her beleaguered father, a naïve social worker and her
(US) 135mins. Voltage Pictures. Dir: Alex Ross Perry. Cast: Agyness Deyn, Amber Heard, Ashley Benson, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens, Dylan Gelula, Elisabeth Moss, Eric Stoltz, Gayle Rankin. In Alex Ross Perry’s star-studded drama, Elisabeth Moss takes centre stage as Becky Something, a talented but self-destructive musician who seems determined to alienate everyone around www.screendaily.com
FILMS FROM ISRAEL
AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018 DISCOVERY
her — even at the cost of her band’s success. Platform Winter Garden Theatre
18:00 A STAR IS BORN
(US) 135mins. Warner Bros Pictures. Dir: Bradley Cooper. Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Dave Chappelle, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay. Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut tells the story of a seasoned musician who discovers — and falls in love with — a struggling artist, but, even as her career takes off, he fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
GIRL
(Belgium) 106mins. The Match Factory. Dir: Lukas Dhont. Cast: Arieh Worthalter, Victor Polster. Lukas Dhont’s expressive first feature follows a young girl, assigned male at birth, as she struggles to realise her dreams of becoming a ballerina, all the while desperate for her body to reflect her true identity. Discovery Scotiabank 2
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
(US) 117mins. Annapurna International. Dir: Barry Jenkins. Cast: Aunjanue Ellis, Bryan Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Ed Skrein, Emily Rios, Finn Wittrock, KiKi Layne, Michael Beach, Pedro Pascal, Regina King, Stephan James, Teyonah Parris. Director Barry Jenkins’ ambitious follow-up to Moonlight adapts James Baldwin’s poignant novel about a woman fighting to free her falsely accused husband from prison before the birth of their child. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
SUNSET
(Hungary-France) 144mins. Playtime. Dir: Laszlo Nemes. Cast: Evelin Dobos, Juli Jakab,
www.screendaily.com
Marcin Czarnik, Vlad Ivanov. Shot in 35mm, the latest from Laszlo Nemes (Son of Saul) focuses on a young woman eager to work as a milliner at the legendary hat store that belonged to her late parents. When she is turned away by the new owner, she embarks on a quest to uncover her lost past. Special Presentations TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
18:45 EXT. NIGHT
(Egypt-United Arab Emirates) 98mins. Dir: Ahmad Abdalla. Cast: Ahmad Magdy, Ahmed Malek, Aly Kassem, Amr Abed, Basma, Donia Maher, Karim Kassem, Magdy Ahmed Aly, Mona Hala, Sabry Abdel Moniem, Sherief El Desouky. When a day in the life of a beleaguered Egyptian filmmaker goes sideways, he witnesses anew issues such as class and gender relations, in director Ahmad Abdalla’s touching social satire. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 4
HER JOB
(Greece-France-Serbia) 90mins. Jour2Fête. Dir: Nikos Labot. Cast: Dimitris Imellos, Marisha Triantafyllidou. Nikos Labot’s feature debut offers a compassionate look at a devoted but underappreciated housewife whose brief taste of autonomy as a mall cleaner — where she is a popular, model employee — is threatened by impending layoffs. Discovery Scotiabank 8
19:15 CARMINE STREET GUITARS
(Canada) 80mins. The Match Factory. Dir: Ron Mann. Cast: Cindy Hulej, Dorothy Kelly, Lenny Kaye, Rick Kelly. Documentarian Ron Mann delivers a ballad to Greenwich Village guitar-maker Rick Kelly, who builds his custommade instruments from repurposed wood scavenged from historic
New York City buildings. With appearances by store clientele, including Charlie Sexton, Bill Frisell and Jim Jarmusch. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 3
CONSEQUENCES
(Slovenia-Austria) 95mins. Wide. Dir: Darko Stante. Cast: Blaz Setnikar, Gasper Markun, Lea Cok, Lovro Zafred, Matej Zemljic, Rosana Hribar, Timon Sturbej. A troubled teen must adapt to the harsh hierarchy of a youth detention centre and come to terms with his sense of self and developing masculinity in Slovenian filmmaker Darko Stante’s debut feature, based on his own experiences working with youths in a correctional facility. Discovery Scotiabank 9
LIGHT AS FEATHERS
(Netherlands) 85mins. Wide. Dir: Rosanne Pel. Cast: Eryk Walny, Ewa Makula, Klaudia Przybylska. The confusion of adolescence is captured with sensitivity and startling acuteness in writer/director Rosanne Pel’s debut feature, about a small-town teen fumbling for emotional connections outside of his stiflingly codependent relationship with his single mother.
FIG TREE Director: Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian Israel / Germany / France Producers: Saar Yogev, Naomi Levari Co-Producers: Felix Eisele, Sandrine Brauer Production Companies: Black Sheep Film Productions/av Medien Penrose/En Compagnie Des Lamas World Sales: Films Boutique E-mail: contact@films boutique.com Web: filmsboutique.com SAT SEP 8 19:00 SCOTIABANK 10 SUN SEP 9 16:45 TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4 SAT SEP 15 13:00 SCOTIABANK 10 PRESS & INDUSTRY FRI SEP 7 11:45 SCOTIANABK 6 WED SEP 12 12:00 TIFF BELL LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA 5 TEL AVIV ON FIRE (TEL AVIV AL HAESH) Director: Sameh Zoabi Producers & Productions Companies: Amir Harel & Ayelet Kait - Lama Films, Israel Bernard Michaux - Samsa Films, Luxembourg / Milena Poylo & Gilles Sacuto - TS Productions, France / Patrick Quinet – Artemis, Belgium World Sales: Indie Sales / E-mail: mgondre@indiesales.eu SUN SEP 9 13:30 SCOTIABANK 3 THU SEP 13 21:30 TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3 SUN SEP 16 18:45 SCOTIABANK 10 PRESS & INDUSTRY SAT SEP 8 21:00 SCOTIABANK 6 TUE SEP 11 09:15 SCOTIABANK 8
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA REDEMPTION Directors: Joseph Madmony & Boaz Yehonatan Yacov Producers: Marek Rozenbaum, Michael Rozenbaum, Jonathan Rozenbaum Production Company: Transfax Film Productions World Sales: Transfax Film Productions E-mail: sales@transfax.co.il TUE SEP 11 21:00 SCOTIABANK 2 THU SEP 13 14:45 SCOTIABANK 4 SAT SEP 15 21:30 SCOTIABANK 4 PRESS & INDUSTRY SUN SEP 9 09:15 SCOTIABANK 9 THE OTHER STORY Director: Avi Nesher Producers: David Silber, Moshe & Leon Edery, Avi Nesher, David M. Milch Production Companies: United King Films, Metro, Artomas, Mila Media World Sales: Foresight Unlimited E-mail: kyleb@foresight-unltd.com SAT SEP 8 21:45 SCOTIABANK 4 MON SEP 10 15:15 TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX CINEMA 2 SUN SEP 16 18:45 SCOTIABANK 3 PRESS & INDUSTRY FRI SEP 7 13:00 SCOTIABANK 11 WED SEP 12 11:45 SCOTIABANK 10 THE DIVE Director: Yona Rozenkier Producers: Efrat Cohen, Kobi Mizrahi Production Company: Gaudeamus Productions World Sales: Nathan Fischer – Stray dogs E-mail: Sales@stray-Dogs.com Web: www.stray-dogs.biz WED SEP 12 19:15 SCOTIABANK 4 MON SEP 14 09:30 SCOTIABANK 3 SUN SEP 16 21:30 SCOTIABANK 11 PRESS & INDUSTRY MON SEP 10 09:15 SCOTIABANK 8 WORKING WOMAN Director: Michal Aviad Producers: Ayelet Kait, Amir Harel, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery Production Companies: Lama Films, United King Films World Sales: M-Appeal E-mail: sales@m-appeal.com Web: www.m-appeal.net/contact
Discovery Scotiabank 11
TUE SEP 11 18:15 SCOTIABANK 2 THU SEP 13 09:30 TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX, CINEMA 1 SUN SEP 16 09:15 SCOTIABANK 1
THE CHAMBERMAID
PRESS & INDUSTRY FRI SEP 7 11:30 SCOTIABANK 9
(Mexico) 102mins. Alpha Violet. Dir: Lila Aviles. Cast: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sanchez. The daily routine and grand ambitions of a hard-working young chambermaid at a highend Mexican hotel are poignantly explored in Lila Avilés’ striking debut feature. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
PRIME TIME STOCKHOLM Creator & Writer: Noa Yedlin Director: Daniel Syrkin Producers: Dafna Prener, Shai Eines Production: Artza Productions World Sales : KI (Keshet International) E-mail: Info@keshet International.com FRI SEP 7 12:15 TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX, CINEMA 2 PRESS & INDUSTRY MON SEP 10 14:00 SCOTIABANK 6
SHORT CUTS OLD THING Director, Producer & Production: Rono Bahat Sales Contact: Ron Bahat E-mail: ronobahat@gmail.com FRI SEP 7 18:45 SCOTIABANK 13 THU SEP 13 21:00 SCOTIABANK 13 PRESS & INDUSTRY SAT SEP 8 09:15 SCOTIABANK 5
19:30 A STAR IS BORN
(US) 135mins. Warner Bros Pictures. Dir: Bradley Cooper. Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley »
ISRAEL FILM FUND / TEL: 972 3 562 8180, FAX: 972 3 562 5992 / INFO@FILMFUND.CO.IL / WWW.FILMFUND.ORG.IL THE YEHOSHUA RABINOVICH FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS / CINEMA PROJECT / INFO@CINEMAPROJECT.ORG.IL TEL: +972-3-5255020, +972-3-5254920 / FAX: +972-3-5255130 / WWW.CINEMAPROJECT.ORG.IL Ministry of Culture and Sport
September 9, 2018 Screen International at Toronto 23
SCREENINGS
Cooper, Dave Chappelle, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay. Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut tells the story of a seasoned musician who discovers — and falls in love with — a struggling artist, but, even as her career takes off, he fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons. Gala Presentations Elgin Theatre
ENDZEIT — EVER AFTER
(Germany) 90mins. Dir: Carolina Hellsgard. Cast: Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Maja Lehrer, Trine Dyrholm. Carolina Hellsgard’s chilling second feature follows two women fighting for their lives in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies — a future Hellsgard presents as both horrific and hopeful. Discovery Scotiabank 10
PUTIN’S WITNESSES
(Latvia-SwitzerlandCzech Republic) 102mins. Deckert Distribution. Dir: Vitaly Mansky. Through testimonies from Gorbachev, Yeltsin and the current Russian president himself, Vitaly Mansky tells the story of how Putin rose to power and has held his position for nearly two decades. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 13
TEEN SPIRIT
(UK) 92mins. Mister Smith Entertainment. Dir: Max Minghella. Cast: Elle Fanning, Rebecca Hall, Zlatko Buric. A shy teenager dreams of pop stardom and enters an international singing competition as an escape from her small town and difficult family life, in The Handmaid’s Tale actor Max Minghella’s feature debut. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
THE CROSSING
(China) 99mins. Wanda Pictures. Dir: Bai Xue. Cast: Huang Yao, Sunny Sun, Carmen Soup, Elena Kong May Yee,
PUBLIC SCREENING 21:30 HIGH LIFE
(Germany-France-USUK-Poland) 110mins. Wild Bunch. Dir: Claire Denis. Cast: Agata Buzek, André Benjamin, Claire Tran, Ewan Mitchell, Gloria Obianyo, Jessie Ross, Juliette Binoche, Lars Eidinger, Mia Goth, Robert Pattinson, Ni Hongjie, Liu Kaichi, Jiao Gang. A 16-year-old student turns to smuggling to raise the necessary funds to join her wealthy friend on holiday, crossing several boundaries in the process. Discovery Jackman Hall
21:00 DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES
(US) 107mins. A+E Networks. Dir: Alexis Bloom. The rise and fall of the late Republican Party booster and Fox News mogul who went down in flames amid multiple sexual harassment allegations. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 2
21:15 MID90S
(US) 84mins. A24. Dir:
24 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
Scarlett Lindsey, Victor Banerjee. French filmmaker Claire Denis’ long-anticipated English-language debut and sci-fi drama stars Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Mia Goth and André Benjamin as criminals sent into deep space. Gala Presentations Roy Thomson Hall
Jonah Hill. Cast: Alexa Demie, Gio Galicia, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Ryder McLaughlin, Sunny Suljic. Jonah Hill makes his directorial debut with this coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who finds his scene when he meets an eclectic group of neighbourhood skateboarders. Special Presentations Ryerson Theatre
investigation into the shooting of a leading astrophysicist and blackhole expert destabilises her view of the universe and herself, in the third fiction feature from Carol Morley (Dreams Of A Life).
obsessed passengers to consider their place in the universe, in Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja’s eerie and caustic sci-fi adaptation of a work by Swedish Nobel Prizewinning writer Harry Martinson.
Mexico’s 1982 economic crisis, in this meticulously crafted feature from Alejandra Marquez Abella (Semana Santa).
Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Discovery Scotiabank 8
(UK) 122mins. Protagonist Pictures. Dir: Amma Asante. Cast: Abbie Cornish, Amandla Stenberg, Christopher Eccleston, George MacKay, Tom Sweet. Amandla Stenberg stars in A United Kingdom director Amma Asante’s disquieting coming-of-age romance about a black German teenager who falls in love with a member of the Hitler Youth.
21:30 AMERICAN WOMAN
(US) 111mins. Bloom Media. Dir: Jake Scott. Cast: Aaron Paul, Amy Madigan, Christina Hendricks, Sienna Miller, Will Sasso. Following the disappearance of her teenage daughter, a woman must raise her infant grandson and find some answers, in this decade-spanning drama starring Sienna Miller, Christina Hendricks and Aaron Paul. Special Presentations Princess of Wales
MOTHERS’ INSTINCT (DUELLES)
(Belgium-France) 97mins. Indie Sales. Dir: Olivier MassetDepasse. Cast: Anne Coesens, Veerle Baetens. When a sudden tragedy uproots the lives of two women and their families, they begin to question the relationships they once held so dear, in this psychological thriller from Olivier Masset-Depasse (Illégal). Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
HIGH LIFE See box, above
ANIARA OUT OF BLUE
(UK) 110mins. Independent. Dir: Carol Morley. Cast: Aaron Tveit, Devyn Tyler, Jacki Weaver, James Caan, Jonathan Majors, Mamie Gummer, Patricia Clarkson, Toby Jones, Yolonda Ross. A homicide detective’s
(Sweden) 106mins. Dir: Hugo Lilja, Pella Kagerman. Cast: Anneli Martini, Arvin Kananian, Bianca Cruzeiro, Emelie Jonsson, Emma Broomé, Jennie Silfverhjelm, Peter Carlberg. A ship carrying settlers to Mars is knocked off course, causing the consumption-
THE GOOD GIRLS
(Mexico) 93mins. Cinépolis Distribucion. Dir: Alejandra Marquez Abella. Cast: Cassandra Ciangherotti, Flavio Medina, Ilse Salas, Paulina Gaitan. A well-to-do socialite and her husband must wrestle with the impact of
Platform TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
WHERE HANDS TOUCH
Special Presentations Winter Garden Theatre
21:45 HELMET HEADS
(Costa Rica-Chile) 84mins. Visit Films. Dir: Neto Villalobos. Cast: Arturo Pardo, Charly Mora, Daniela Mora, Gabriel Rojas, Harvey Monestel, Janko Navarro, William Quiros. A Costa Rican motorcycle messenger leads a simple life of hanging out with his delivery crew and meeting up with his girlfriend, but things take a comic turn when they www.screendaily.com
lose their jobs and must find a new way to stay together, in the latest from Neto Villalobos (All About The Feathers). Discovery Scotiabank 11
WALKING ON WATER
(Italy-US) 100mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Dir: Andrey Paounov. Cast: Christo. Bulgarian filmmaker Andrey Paounov follows internationally renowned artist Christo on his quest to realise the mammoth and logistically complex installation, The Floating Piers, on Italy’s Lake Iseo, seven years after the death of Christo’s collaborator wife, JeanneClaude. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 3
22:00 COMPLICITY
(Japan-China) 116mins. MPM Premium.
Dir: Kei Chikaura. Cast: Kio Matsumoto, Sayo Akasaka, Tatsuya Fuji, Lu Yulai. A Chinese illegal immigrant in Japan finds new direction when he fakes his identity and lands an apprenticeship with a master soba chef, in this moving ChinaJapan co-production from director Kei Chikaura.
Algerian director Merzak Allouache. Masters Jackman Hall
HOTEL MUMBAI
Discovery Scotiabank 9
DIVINE WIND
(Algeria-France-QatarLebanon) 96mins. Les Asphofilms. Dir: Merzak Allouache. Cast: Abdelatif Benahmed, Hacene Benzerari, Mohamed Oughlis, Sarah Layssac. A young man and woman form an intense bond when they are assigned to launch an armed action against an oil-refinery in the North African desert, in the latest from veteran
(Australia) 125mins. Arclight Films. Dir: Anthony Maras. Cast: Anupam Kher, Armie Hammer, Dev Patel, Jason Isaacs, Nazanin Boniadi, Tilda CobhamHervey. Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi and Anupam Kher star in Anthony Maras’s debut feature, about the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks and its survivors. Special Presentations Scotiabank 1
SUMMER SURVIVORS
(Lithuania) 91mins. Heretic Outreach. Dir: Marija Kavtaradze. Cast: Gelminé Glemzaité, Indré Patkauskaité, Paulius Markevicius. A young psychologist
bonds with two psychiatric patients and a nurse during a road trip to a seaside clinic, in Lithuanian filmmaker Marija Kavtaradze’s lighthearted but compassionate comedy. Discovery TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 — Paul & Leah Atkinson Family Cinema
THAT TIME OF YEAR
(Denmark) 101mins. TrustNordisk. Dir: Paprika Steen. Cast: Fanny Leander Bornedal, Jacob Lohmann, KarenLise Mynster, Lars Brygmann, Lars Knutzon, Paprika Steen, Patricia Schumann, Sofie Grabol. From Danish director and actor Paprika Steen comes a caustic comedy about the deep-rooted grievances that can rip families apart — and the ties that bind them together. Contemporary World Cinema TIFF Bell Lightbox 3 — Piers Handling Cinema
THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF CELESTE GARCIA
(Cuba-Germany) 92mins. The Match Factory. Dir: Arturo Infante. Cast: Maria Isabel Diaz, Nestor Jimenez, Omar Franco, Yerlin Perez. Cuban director Arturo Infante’s film mixes absurd humour and wry political commentary as it follows a kindly planetarium worker who accepts a very special invitation from her neighbour, an extraterrestrial. Discovery Scotiabank 10
22:30 GWEN
(UK) 84mins. Great Point Media. Dir: William McGregor. Cast: Eleanor WorthingtonCox, Maxine Peake. A mysterious — and suspicious — run of ill fortune plagues a
teenage girl (Eleanor Worthington-Cox) and her mother and sister on their hillside farm, in this atmospheric, Walesset period piece from writer/director William McGregor. Discovery Scotiabank 13
MIDNIGHT CLIMAX
(France) 96mins. Wild Bunch. Dir: Gaspar Noé. Cast: Claude Gajan Maull, Giselle Palmer, Kiddy Smile, Romain Guillermic, Sofia Boutella, Souheila Yacoub. Set in 1996 and supposedly inspired by real-life events, arthouse agitator Gaspar Noé’s latest depicts the malevolent madness that envelops a dance troupe’s post-rehearsal party after a punchbowl of sangria is spiked with LSD. Ryerson Theatre Midnight Madness
»
CINEMA DO BRASIL CONGRATULATES THE BRAZILIAN FILM SELECTED TO TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018 PLATFORM - COMPETITION
ROJO
Sep 9 Sep 10 Sep 10 Sep 12 Sep 12 Sep 14 Sep 15
12h30 11h30 18h00 8h30 13h45 9h00 15h00
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Scotiabank 5 (press & industry) TIFF Bell Lightbox The Gallery (press) TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 1 (public) Scotiabank 7 (press & industry) TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 4 (public) Scotiabank 6 (press & industry) TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 2 (public)
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September 9, 2018 Screen International at Toronto 25
SCREENINGS
PRESS & INDUSTRY 08:30 THE INNOCENT
(Switzerland-Germany) 114mins. Kinology. Dir: Simon Jaquemet. Cast: Anna Tenta, Christian Kaiser, Judith Hofmann, Naomi Scheiber, UrsPeter Wolters. Ruth is committed to her work, her family and her faith, but when an ex-lover is released from prison and comes back into her life, her convictions are threatened, in Simon Jaquemet’s haunting film about the limits of spirituality. Platform Scotiabank 14
WIDOWS
(UK-US) 128mins. 20th Century Fox. Dir: Steve McQueen. Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Daniel Kaluuya, Elizabeth Debicki, Jacki Weaver, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert Duvall, Viola Davis. A heavyweight cast propels Steve McQueen’s whiteknuckle thriller (co-written by Gone Girl’s Gillian Flynn) about four women left in a deadly lurch when their criminally connected husbands are all killed. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 1 and 3
08:45 SKIN
(US) 110mins. ICM Partners. Dir: Guy Nattiv. Cast: Bill Camp, Danielle Macdonald, Jamie Bell, Mike Colter, Vera Farmiga. Jamie Bell stars in the true life story of Bryon Widner, a young man raised by skinheads, for whom turning his back on hatred and violence meant undergoing painful and expensive operations to remove the tattoos that signified his terrible past life — a process only possible with the support of a black activist. Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
THE ELEPHANT QUEEN
(UK-Kenya) 96mins.
Mister Smith Entertainment. Dir: Mark Deeble, Victoria Stone. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor. A majestic female elephant leads her herd in search of a new place to call home, in this empowering and breathtaking documentary from veteran wildlife filmmakers Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 8
09:00 22 JULY
(Norway-Iceland) 143mins. Netflix. Dir: Paul Greengrass. Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Isak Bakli Aglen, Jon Oigarden, Jonas Strand Gravli, Maria Bock, Ola G Furuseth, Seda Witt, Thorbjorn Harr. Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, United 93) recounts the true story of the aftermath of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack on July 22, 2011, when 77 people were killed after a far-right extremist detonated a car bomb in Oslo before carrying out a mass shooting at a leadership camp for teens. Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
FREAKS
(Canada) 104mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Gersh Agency. Dir: Adam Stein, Zach Lipovsky. Cast: Amanda Crew, Bruce Dern, Emile Hirsch, Grace Park, Lexy Kolker. In this genre-bending psychological sci-fi thriller, a bold girl discovers a bizarre, threatening and mysterious new world beyond her front door after she escapes her paranoid father’s control. Discovery Scotiabank 13
09:15 REDEMPTION
(Israel) 104mins. Dir: Boaz Yehonatan Yaacov, Joseph Madmony. Cast: Emily Granin, Moshe Folkenflik, Shahar Even-Tzur, Sivan Shtivi, Yonatan Galila. A devout, middle-aged Hasid must return to his younger rock star days in order to pay for his daughter’s expensive
26 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
PRESS & INDUSTRY 11:45 SCREWDRIVER
(Palestine-US-Qatar) 108mins. Dir: Bassam Jarbawi. Cast: Amir Khoury, Areen Omari, Jameel Khoury, Mariam Basha, Yasmine Qaddumi, Ziad Bakri. After spending more than a decade in
medical bills, in Joseph Madmony and Boaz Yehonatan Yacov’s rousing and affecting story of faith, love and making peace with the past. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 9
WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?
(Canada) 107mins. National Film Board of Canada. Dir: Astra Taylor. A vast, timely and often chilling investigation into the idea and practice of democracy, ranging from Ancient Greece and Renaissance Europe to civil rights, fears of voter fraud and the spectre of authoritarianism. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 7
11:00 CITIES OF LAST THINGS
(Taiwan-China-USFrance) 107mins. Dir: Ho Wi Ding. Cast: Jack
prison for a failed attack on an Israeli settler, Ziad struggles to readjust to life in Ramallah, in Bassam Jarbawi’s incisive drama examining the effects of the Occupation and its attendant traumas. Discovery Scotiabank 9
Kao, Li Hong-Chi, Louise Grinberg, Ding Ning, Stone, Huang Lu, Liu Rui-Chi, Hsin Yin, Liu Juei-Chi, Shin Yin. This arresting tale from Ho Wi Ding, told in reverse-chronological order, reveals one man’s fraught inner world and the circumstances that led to a life-altering decision.
BEN IS BACK
THE WEDDING GUEST
(US) 103mins. Sierra/ Affinity. Dir: Peter Hedges. Cast: Courtney B Vance, Julia Roberts, Kathryn Newton, Lucas Hedges. The unexpected homecoming of a mother’s charming yet troubled prodigal son forces her into a situation where she must do all she can to prevent her family’s downfall.
(UK) 94mins. United Talent Agency (UTA), Endeavor Content. Dir: Michael Winterbottom. Cast: Dev Patel, Jim Sarbh, Radhika Apte. The latest from Michael Winterbottom follows a mysterious young British man (Dev Patel) on a journey across Pakistan and India.
Special Presentations Scotiabank 3
11:30 FARMING
Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
11:45 SCREWDRIVER See box, above
(France) 75mins. Wild Bunch. Dir: Louis Garrel. Cast: Laetitia Casta, Lily-Rose Depp, Louis Garrel. Award-winning actor Louis Garrel directs and stars in this lighthearted drama about the unanticipated joys and heartbreaks one man experiences over the years.
(UK) 107mins. HanWay Films. Dir: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Cast: Damson Idris, Genevieve Nnaji, Gugu MbathaRaw, Jaime Winstone, John Dagleish, Kate Beckinsale, Zephan Amissah. Actor Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje draws on his own life for this electrifying feature directorial debut, about a London-born Nigerian child voluntarily placed in a white workingclass home as part of a 1960s social experiment, stranding him between cultures and sending him through adolescence on a twisting journey from destructive self-loathing to perseverance.
(France-GermanyLuxembourg-Turkey) 95mins. Pyramide International. Dir: Cagla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti. Cast: Damla Sonmez, Elit Iscan, Emin Gursoy, Erkan Kolcak Kostendil, Meral Cetinkaya. A mute woman living as an outcast in a remote, superstitious mountain village near Turkey’s Black Sea finds her true voice when she comes to the aid of an injured fugitive, in this poetic film from Franco-Turkish directing duo Guillaume Giovanetti and Cagla Zencirci.
Special Presentations Scotiabank 14
Discovery Scotiabank 13
Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 11
Platform Scotiabank 8
11:15 A FAITHFUL MAN
12:00 SIBEL
www.screendaily.com
THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK
(US) 88mins. XYZ Films. Dir: Henry Dunham. Cast: Brian Geraghty, Chris Mulkey, Gene Jones, Happy Anderson, James Badge Dale, Patrick Fischler, Robert Aramayo. In this intricate debut thriller from Henry Dunham, a neighbourhood militia is shocked to discover that a recent mass shooting was apparently carried out by one of its own members. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 7
12:15 CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
(US) 107mins. Fox Searchlight Pictures. Dir: Marielle Heller. Cast: Anna Deavere Smith, Ben Falcone, Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin, Melissa McCarthy, Richard E Grant, Stephen Spinella.
www.screendaily.com
A jaded, out-of-work biographer resorts to selling forged historical letters on the black market, and grapples with the ethical complications that arise, in Marielle Heller’s charming biopic about bestselling writer Lee Israel. Special Presentations Scotiabank 2
HEARTBOUND
(Denmark-NetherlandsSweden) 90mins. Autlook Filmsales. Dir: Janus Metz, Sine Plambech. Cast: Frank Andersen, Jarinya Andersen, John Nielsen, Kjeld B Andersen, Niels Jorgen Molbæk, Nuntawat Tantiang, Prasoet Navoram, Saengrawi Ainchan-Saa, Saowalak Nielsen, Sommai Molbæk, Titakorn Phoothanonnok. This dual effort from Janus Metz and Sine Plambech chronicles the lives of several women who leave
their home countries in order to find husbands and provide for their families. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 10
12:30 LIFE ITSELF
(US-Spain) 118mins. FilmNation Entertainment. Dir: Dan Fogelman. Cast: Alex Monner, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Jean Smart, Laia Costa, Mandy Patinkin, Olivia Cooke, Olivia Wilde, Oscar Isaac, Sergio Peris-Mencheta. Writer, director and producer Dan Fogelman’s affecting drama about life, love and loss, ambitiously set across years and continents, features an impressive ensemble cast, including Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening, Olivia Cooke, Mandy Patinkin and Antonio Banderas. Gala Presentations Scotiabank 12
ROJO
(Argentina-Brazil-FranceNetherlands-Germany) 109mins. Luxbox. Dir: Benjamin Naishtat. Cast: Alfredo Castro, Andrea Frigerio, Dario Grandinetti, Diego Cremonesi. Set in Argentina during the mid-1970s, Benjamin Naishtat’s hypnotic drama follows a successful lawyer whose picture-perfect life begins to unravel when a private detective comes to his seemingly quiet small town and starts asking questions. Platform Scotiabank 5
13:30 GHOST FLEET
(US) 90mins. Endeavor Content. Dir: Jeffrey Waldron, Shannon Service. Cast: Chutima Oi Sidasathian, Patima Tungpuchayakul, Tun Lin. The global fishing industry is cast under a harsh
light in this documentary following Thai humanrights activist Patima Tungpuchayakul as she and her team seek to bring home workers essentially enslaved at sea. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 8
13:45 WILD ROSE
(UK) 101mins. Sierra/ Affinity. Dir: Tom Harper. Cast: Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo. An inspiring comedy drama about a would-be country singer who dreams of leaving her dreary, workaday Glasgow life for the bright lights of Nashville. Special Presentations Scotiabank 4
14:00 THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
(US) 97mins. ICM Partners. Dir: Tom Donahue. Cast: Alan
Alda, Amandla Stenberg, Anita Hill, Cate Blanchett, Chloë Grace Moretz, Geena Davis, Jessica Chastain, Jill Soloway, Judd Apatow, Maria Geise, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan, Sandra Oh, Shonda Rhimes. In this timely follow-up to his documentary Casting By, Tom Donahue explores the insidious and systemic sexism in Hollywood through the voices of marquee celebrities and many other ambassadors of the #TimesUp movement. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 6
14:15 REASON
(India) 260mins. Dir: Anand Patwardhan. In what is perhaps his most urgent and thorough exploration of Indian »
September 9, 2018 Screen International at Toronto 27
SCREENINGS
society yet, documentarian Anand Patwardhan charts his country’s slide away from secular democracy and toward divisions of power, caste and religious belief — and the violence that has followed. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 9
WALKING ON WATER
(Italy-US) 100mins. Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Dir: Andrey Paounov. Cast: Christo. Bulgarian filmmaker Andrey Paounov follows internationally renowned artist Christo on his quest to realise the mammoth and logistically complex installation, The Floating Piers, on Italy’s Lake Iseo. TIFF Docs Scotiabank 7
14:30
PRESS & INDUSTRY
PAPI CHULO
(Ireland) 98mins. Bankside Films. Dir: John Butler. Cast: Alejandro Patiño, Matt Bomer. A solitary and alienated television weatherman hires a middle-aged Latino migrant worker to be his friend, in this darkly comic reflection on class, ethnicity, and companionship in contemporary Los Angeles. Special Presentations Scotiabank 10
15:00 AKASHA
(Sudan-South AfricaQatar-Germany) 78mins. Big World Cinema. Dir: hajooj kuka. Cast: Ekram Marcus, Ganja Chakado, Kamal Ramadan. Documentarian hajooj kuka takes a self-assured step towards fictional storytelling in this comedy pivoting on an unlikely love triangle between a boy, a girl and an AK-47 in rebel-held areas of Sudan. Discovery Scotiabank 11
RETROSPEKT
(Netherlands-Belgium) 101mins. Dir: Esther Rots. Cast: Circé Lethem, Lien Wildemeersch, Martijn van der Veen. Esther Rots’ second feature puzzles together a timeline-jumping narrative as Mette’s relationship to work, life
and motherhood change and evolve, culminating in catastrophic events. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 5
15:45 LET ME FALL
(Iceland-FinlandGermany) 136mins. The Icelandic Film Company. Dir: Baldvin Z. Cast: Elin Sif Halldorsdottir, Eyrun Bjork Jakobsdottir, Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir, Lara Johanna Jonsdottir, Thorsteinn Bachmann. Drawing on true stories and interviews with the families of addicts, this harrowing portrait of addiction follows Stella and Magnea through the decades as precarious teenage years morph into perilous adulthoods. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 8
16:00 THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT
(Canada-Belgium) 111mins. HanWay Films. Dir: Kim Nguyen. Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Mando, Salma Hayek. In the hope of striking it rich, two scheming cousins try to build a 1,000-milelong, four-inch-wide tunnel from Kansas to New Jersey that will give them a one-millisecond
28 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
edge on transactions at the New York Stock Exchange. Special Presentations Scotiabank 12
16:30 MANTA RAY
(Thailand-France-China) 105mins. Jour2Fête. Dir: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng. Cast: Aphisit Hama, Rasmee Wayrana, Wanlop Rungkumjad. Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s beautiful debut feature about a Rohingya refugee and the Thai fisherman who rescues him. Discovery Scotiabank 6
16:45 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUPLE
(Germany-France) 97mins. Beta Cinema. Dir: Sven Taddicken. Cast: Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Leonard Kunz, Luise Heyer, Maximilian Brückner. A couple grapples with the difficult, lingering trauma of a sexual assault and must work out how to live with that crime, themselves, and each other. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 7
17:30 TWIN FLOWER
(Italy) 96mins. Fandango. Dir: Laura Luchetti. Cast: Alessandro Pani, Anastasyia Bogach,
19:30 WHAT THEY HAD
(US) 101mins. Bloom. Dir: Elizabeth Chomko. Cast: Blythe Danner, Hilary Swank, Josh Lucas, Michael Aniello Arena, Giorgio Colangeli, Kalill Kone, Mauro Addis. Two teenagers — one on the run from the immigrant trafficker her father used to work for, the other an illegal migrant from the Ivory Coast — form an unlikely but powerful bond as they travel together across the harsh and beautiful Sardinian landscape. Discovery Scotiabank 5
19:00 CORE OF THE WORLD
(Russia-Lithuania) 124mins. Indie Sales. Dir: Natalia Meshchaninova. Cast: Dmitriy Podnozov, Ekaterina Vasilyeva, Elena Papanova, Evgeniy Sytyy, Jana Sekste, Stepan Devonin, Vitya Ovodkov. Terrified of human intimacy but longing to join a pack, a hardworking countryman hopes to gain the respect of a man and his daughter at any cost. Contemporary World Cinema Scotiabank 6
Shannon, Robert Forster, Taissa Farmiga. Hilary Swank, Blythe Danner, Robert Forster and Michael Shannon star in this intimate family drama about a
woman who returns home to help her Alzheimer’safflicted mother, while also grappling with her own past.
19:15
in Marija Kavtaradze’s compassionate comedy.
THE WIND
(US) 86mins. Dir: Emma Tammi. Cast: Ashley Zukerman, Caitlin Gerard, Dylan McTee, Julia Goldani Telles, Miles Anderson. When a woman moves to the American frontier to settle in with her husband, an evil presence soon makes itself known and infects her with paranoia, in Emma Tammi’s sinister western horror. Midnight Madness Scotiabank 7
19:30 WHAT THEY HAD See box, above
19:45 SUMMER SURVIVORS
(Lithuania) 91mins. Heretic Outreach. Dir: Marija Kavtaradze. Cast: Gelminé Glemzaité, Indré Patkauskaité, Paulius Markevicius. A psychologist bonds with two psychiatric patients and a nurse during a road trip to a seaside clinic,
Gala Presentations Scotiabank 12
Discovery Scotiabank 5
21:30 BABY
(China) 96mins. Wild Bunch. Dir: Liu Jie. Cast: Yang Mi, Guo Jingfei, Lee Hongchi, Wang Yanjun, Zhu Shaojun, Yan Surong. When a woman who was abandoned at birth because of a genetic disorder sees a child facing the same fate, she tries to persuade their parents to reconsider. Special Presentations Scotiabank 7
22:00 THE GRAND BIZARRE (preceded by short film THOSE WHO DESIRE)
(Switzerland-Spain, US) 85mins. Dir: Jodie Mack. A fast-paced examination of the global circulation of textiles and patterns, The Grand Bizarre is the debut feature of experimental animator Jodie Mack. Wavelengths Scotiabank 6
www.screendaily.com
Discovery
Screenings
Phoenix
09/07/18
9:15PM
Scotiabank 11
09/08/18
2:15PM
Scotiabank 5 (Press & Industry)
09/09/18
9:00AM
TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 4
09/12/18
12:00PM
Scotiabank 5 (Press & Industry)
09/15/18
12:30PM
Scotiabank 9
Director Camilla Strøm Henriksen Contact: Hummelfilm
Norwegian films in Toronto MARIA
BONNEVIE
SVERRIR
GUDNASON
YLVA
BJØRKAAS THEDIN
Minority Co-Productions Platform The River / Director Emir Baigazin Special Presentations 22. juli * / Director Paul Greengrass
CASPER
FALCK-LØVÅS
PHOENIX
Discovery Rafiki / Director Wanuri Kahiu TIFF Docs Angels Are Made Of Light / Director James Longley
HUMMELFILM PRESENTS ”PHOENIX” A FILM BY CAMILLA STRØM HENRIKSEN STARRING YLVA BJØRKAAS THEDIN, MARIA BONNEVIE, SVERRIR GUDNASON AND CASPER FALCK-LØVÅS CASTING CELINE ENGEBRIGTSEN COSTUME DESIGN ELLEN YSTEHEDE POST PRODUCER ELEONORE ANSELME COMPOSER PATRIK ANDRÉN SCORE PRODUCER JOHAN SÖDERQVIST SOUND DESIGN BENT HOLM LINE PRODUCER TESSA EGGESBØ PRODUCTION DESIGN EVA NORÉN EDITOR SVERRIR KRISTJÁNSSON DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY RAGNA JORMING FSF CO-PRODUCERS ANNIKA HELLSTRÖM, ERIKA MALMGREN AND RAMUNAS ŠKIKAS EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS DAVID YATES, YVONNE WALCOTT-YATES AND PAULINA RIDER WILHELMSEN PRODUCER GUDNY HUMMELVOLL WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY CAMILLA STRØM HENRIKSEN PRODUCED BY HUMMELFILM CO-PRODUCED BY CINENIC FILM, RIDER FILM AND THE WYCHWOOD MOVING PICTURE COMPANY IN COOPERATION WITH UAB AHIL, SHORTCUT OSLO, C-MORE W/SUZANNE GLANSBORG AND SVT W/AGNETA PERMAN PRODUCED WITH THE SUPPORT OF NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE W/WIBECKE RØDSETH AND SWEDISH FILM INSTITUTE W/YABA HOLST
*support from the Norwegian Incentive Programme
★★★
Good
AVERAGE
Excellent
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
Le Film Français, France
VINCENT LE LEURCH
Time Out New York, US
JOSHUA ROTHKOPF
Boston Globe, US
LOREN KING
NOW/CTV, Canada
★★★★
RADHEYAN SIMONPILLAI
Los Angeles Times, US
THE SCREEN JURY — PLATFORM
JUSTIN CHANG
JURY GRID
★★ Average ★ Poor
✖ Bad
Screen office Fourth floor, meeting room one, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3X5 Editorial Tel +1 310 922 5908
THE RIVER (Kaz-Pol-Nor) Emir Baigazin
★ ★★
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Editor Matt Mueller, matt.mueller@screendaily.com, +44 7880 526 547 Americas editor Jeremy Kay, jeremykay67@gmail.com, +1 310 922 5908
JESSICA FOREVER (Fr) Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel
DESTROYER (US) Karyn Kusama
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Chief critic and reviews editor Finn Halligan, finn.halligan@screendaily.com, +44 7798 571 270 Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray, mark.mowbray@screendaily.com, +44 7710 124 065 Features editor Charles Gant, charles.gant@screendaily.com Art director, MBI Peter Gingell, peter.gingell@mb-insight.com
MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIERES (Fr) Emmanuel Mouret
★ ★★
DONNYBROOK (US) Tim Sutton
★★
OUT OF BLUE (UK) Carol Morley
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Sid Adilman mentorship programme Karina Mohammed Advertising and publishing Publishing director Nadia Romdhani, nadia.romdhani@ screendaily.com, +44 7540 100 315 Commercial director Scott Benfold, scott.benfold@ screendaily.com International account managers Hettie Halden, hettie.halden@ screendaily.com Ingrid Hammond, ingridhammond@ mac.com Gunter Zerbich, gunter.zerbich@ screendaily.com
ANGELO (Aust-Lux) Markus Schleinzer
CITIES OF LAST THINGS (Tai-China-US-Fr) Ho Wi Ding
THE INNOCENT (Switz-Ger) Simon Jaquemet
★ ★★
★★
★ ★★
★ ★★
★
★ ★★
2.5
Through a triptych in which the future, the present and the past are told in reverse chronology over several ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ decades, Ho’s tale examines three significant moments in the life of an ordinary man and the circumstances that ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ led to a life-altering decision. The cast includes Jack Kao, Ding Ning, Li Hong-Chi and Louise Grinberg.
0.0
Judith Hofmann stars as a woman who is a committed member of a free church movement. When her former ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ lover, played by non-professional actor Thomas Schüpbach, is released from prison, she questions her family ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ responsibilities and her faith.
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President, North America Nigel Daly, nigeldalymail@gmail.com, +1 213 447 5120 Business development executive, North America Danny De Lillo, danny.delillo@screendaily.com, +1 917 818 8701 Business development executive, North America Nikki Tilmouth, nikki.screeninternational@gmail.com +1 323 868 7633 Production manager Neil Sinclair, neil.sinclair@mb-insight. com, +44 7703 823 444 Marketing executive Charlotte Peers, charlotte.peers@mbi. london Managing director, publishing and events Alison Pitchford
ROJO (Arg-Braz-Fr-Neth-Ger) Benjamin Naishtat
Set in Argentina during the mid-1970s, this hypnotic drama follows a successful lawyer whose picture-perfect life ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ begins to unravel when a private detective arrives in his seemingly quiet small town and starts asking questions. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ Dario Grandinetti stars with Andrea Frigerio and Alfredo Castro.
HER SMELL (US) Alex Ross Perry
In Alex Ross Perry’s star-studded drama, Elisabeth Moss takes centre stage as Becky Something, a talented ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ but self-destructive musician who seems determined to alienate everyone around her — even at the cost of her ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ band’s success. Cara Delevingne and Amber Heard co-star.
THE GOOD GIRLS (Mex) Alejandra Marquez Abella
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Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam Printer Big Bark Graphics, S/B — 68 Healey Road, Units 1-3, Bolton, ON, L7E 5A4 Screen International, London MBI, Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ, United Kingdom Subscription enquiries help@subscribe.screendaily.com +44 330 333 9414
The Good Girls tackles Mexico’s 1982 financial crash, and its impact on a well-to-do socialite and her husband ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ as the social and economic order starts to shift around them. Ilse Salas and Flavio Medina star. Mexican director ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ Alejandra Marquez Abella made a name for herself with Toronto 2015 and SXSW 2016 drama Semana Santa.
30 Screen International at Toronto September 9, 2018
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Norwegian Films in Toronto Discovery Blind Spot Director Tuva Novotny Discovery Phoenix Director Camilla Strøm Henriksen Short Cuts To Plant a Flag Director Bobbie Peers
MARIA
BONNEVIE
SVERRIR
GUDNASON
YLVA
BJØRKAAS THEDIN
CASPER
FALCK-LØVÅS
PHOENIX
HUMMELFILM PRESENTS ”PHOENIX” A FILM BY CAMILLA STRØM HENRIKSEN STARRING YLVA BJØRKAAS THEDIN, MARIA BONNEVIE, SVERRIR GUDNASON AND CASPER FALCK-LØVÅS CASTING CELINE ENGEBRIGTSEN COSTUME DESIGN ELLEN YSTEHEDE POST PRODUCER ELEONORE ANSELME COMPOSER PATRIK ANDRÉN SCORE PRODUCER JOHAN SÖDERQVIST SOUND DESIGN BENT HOLM LINE PRODUCER TESSA EGGESBØ PRODUCTION DESIGN EVA NORÉN EDITOR SVERRIR KRISTJÁNSSON DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY RAGNA JORMING FSF CO-PRODUCERS ANNIKA HELLSTRÖM, ERIKA MALMGREN AND RAMUNAS ŠKIKAS EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS DAVID YATES, YVONNE WALCOTT-YATES AND PAULINA RIDER WILHELMSEN PRODUCER GUDNY HUMMELVOLL WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY CAMILLA STRØM HENRIKSEN PRODUCED BY HUMMELFILM CO-PRODUCED BY CINENIC FILM, RIDER FILM AND THE WYCHWOOD MOVING PICTURE COMPANY IN COOPERATION WITH UAB AHIL, SHORTCUT OSLO, C-MORE W/SUZANNE GLANSBORG AND SVT W/AGNETA PERMAN PRODUCED WITH THE SUPPORT OF NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE W/WIBECKE RØDSETH AND SWEDISH FILM INSTITUTE W/YABA HOLST
QVISTEN ANIMATION AS IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH DYREPARKEN PRESENTS CATTLE HILL IN COOPERATION WITH THE LIPP, VIGMOSTAD & BJØRKE INVESTOR FILMINVEST ETTE FAYE SCHØLL, FRITJOF SÅHEIM, BJARTE TJØSTHEIM, JAN MARTIN JOHNSEN, MATS ELDØEN, SIGRID BONDE TUSVIK, MARIT ANDREASSEN, CHARLOTTE FROGNER, ARIF OG UNGE FERRARI, ODA OSVOLL AAVATSMARK ANIMATION COMPANY QVISTEN ANIMATION AS LINE PRODUCER ARNFINN MOSENG PRODUCTION DESIGNER ARE AUSTNES ECTOR WILL ASHURST SOUND DESIGNER BAARD HAUGAN INGEBRETSEN COMPOSER GAUTE STORAAS SCRIPT WRITER ANNE ELVEDAL EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS OVE HEIBORG, FREDRIK KIØSTERUD, RASMUS SIVERTSEN OG PER ARNSTEIN AAMOT CO-PRODUCER JONAS RØYEM NY PRODUCERS INGVILD EVJEMO OG ANJA NICOLAS DIRECTOR LISE I. OSVOLL