Measuring up against the likes of Sophie Dupuis‘ just released sophomore film (a Val-d’Or set dramatic thriller) Souterrain, it’s Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette‘s third feature (a Chicoutimi set coming-of-ager) La déesse des mouches à feu (a 2020 Berlin Film Festival winner) that claimed the top prize at this year’s Gala Québec Cinéma aka Prix Iris Awards. Barbeau-Lavalette’s won Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Caroline Néron) and Newcomer of the Year (Kelly Depeault) and Best Editor Stéphane Lafleur (Tu dors Nicole helmer).
Souterrain did nab Dupuis the Best Screenplay award, Best Sound, and a much deserving best Supporting Actor for Théodore Pellerin.…...
Souterrain did nab Dupuis the Best Screenplay award, Best Sound, and a much deserving best Supporting Actor for Théodore Pellerin.…...
- 6/7/2021
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Orange Studio is set to co-produce and represent in international markets a trio of ambitious French movies, “L’astronaute,” “Madame de Sevigné” and “Chien blanc.” All three films will start shooting during the first quarter of 2021 and will be co-distributed by Orange Studio in theaters.
“Chien blanc,” to be directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, will be headlined by Denis Ménochet and Canadian actress Kacey Rohl (“The Killing”). Produced by Nicole Robert at Go Films, “Chien blanc” is an adaptation of Romain Gary’s novel. Barbeau-Lavalette bought the adaptation rights from Alexandre Diego Gary, the only child of Gary and Jean Seberg.
The film, mainly inspired by Gary’s own life, unfolds in the U.S. in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Gary and his wife, Seberg, welcome in their home an abandoned dog who appears to have been trained to attack Black people. Gary nevertheless refuses to have the dog euthanized,...
“Chien blanc,” to be directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, will be headlined by Denis Ménochet and Canadian actress Kacey Rohl (“The Killing”). Produced by Nicole Robert at Go Films, “Chien blanc” is an adaptation of Romain Gary’s novel. Barbeau-Lavalette bought the adaptation rights from Alexandre Diego Gary, the only child of Gary and Jean Seberg.
The film, mainly inspired by Gary’s own life, unfolds in the U.S. in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Gary and his wife, Seberg, welcome in their home an abandoned dog who appears to have been trained to attack Black people. Gary nevertheless refuses to have the dog euthanized,...
- 12/16/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The 70th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival is now in the books. The jury, featuring Jeremy Irons, Bérénice Bejo, Bettina Brokemper, Annemarie Jacir, Kenneth Lonergan, Luca Marinelli, and Kleber Mendonça Filho, shared their award winners–and now here’s a look at what we admired the most during the festival.
Featuring a fair bit of cross-over, check out our favorites below and return for more coverage (including reviews and interviews). Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter for updates as these films get distribution and release dates.
Dau. Natasha
It is no use of hyperbole to suggest that Dau. Natasha already looks like one of the most provocative art films ever made. The first strictly theatrical feature to be released from Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s gargantuan, unprecedented Dau project (12 other films were shown at an immersive exhibition in Paris last year), it offers the viewer a kind of...
Featuring a fair bit of cross-over, check out our favorites below and return for more coverage (including reviews and interviews). Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter for updates as these films get distribution and release dates.
Dau. Natasha
It is no use of hyperbole to suggest that Dau. Natasha already looks like one of the most provocative art films ever made. The first strictly theatrical feature to be released from Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s gargantuan, unprecedented Dau project (12 other films were shown at an immersive exhibition in Paris last year), it offers the viewer a kind of...
- 3/5/2020
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Die-hard grunge fan (and drug dealer) Fred (Noah Parker) tells Catherine (Kelly Depeault) she can’t play her Hole CD because Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain. It’s a remark that was probably half joke and half memorial that leads into Keven (Robin L’Houmeau) dropping the necessary wisdom of knowing Love wouldn’t have been able to stop him if she tried. Cobain wasn’t a victim. He lived hard and walked a road of his own making to an end he ultimately embraced enough to pull the trigger. It’s the same type of lives these Québécois teens lead—mescaline, sex, rock-n-roll, and rage. So when Catherine replies with an “I don’t care” after being confronted about her fast-moving downward spiral, she isn’t being flippant. She truly doesn’t. She’s embraced the risks.
This is the reality many coming-of-age films forget. You need the complexity of...
This is the reality many coming-of-age films forget. You need the complexity of...
- 2/23/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything among roster.
Montreal-based WaZabi Films is launching four titles at Efm including Generation 14plus selection Goddess Of The Fireflies and Frankel starring Berlinale international jury president Jeremy Irons.
Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s team will be in Berlin introducing buyers to three other titles, having boarded Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything (Merci Pour Tout), which is approaching $1m (C$1.3m), youth drama Flashwood, and Pascal Plante’s Nadia Butterfly, about a professional swimmer in her 20s facing retirement.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches À Feu) is...
Montreal-based WaZabi Films is launching four titles at Efm including Generation 14plus selection Goddess Of The Fireflies and Frankel starring Berlinale international jury president Jeremy Irons.
Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s team will be in Berlin introducing buyers to three other titles, having boarded Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything (Merci Pour Tout), which is approaching $1m (C$1.3m), youth drama Flashwood, and Pascal Plante’s Nadia Butterfly, about a professional swimmer in her 20s facing retirement.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches À Feu) is...
- 1/23/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything among roster.
Montreal-based WaZabi Films is launching four titles at Efm including Generations 14+ selection Goddess Of The Fireflies and Frankel starring Berlinale international jury president Jeremy Irons.
Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s team will be in Berlin introducing buyers to three other titles, having boarded Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything (Merci Pour Tout), which is approaching $1m (C$1.3m), youth drama Flashwood, and Pascal Plante’s Nadia Butterfly, about a professional swimmer in her 20s facing retirement.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches À Feu) is based...
Montreal-based WaZabi Films is launching four titles at Efm including Generations 14+ selection Goddess Of The Fireflies and Frankel starring Berlinale international jury president Jeremy Irons.
Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s team will be in Berlin introducing buyers to three other titles, having boarded Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything (Merci Pour Tout), which is approaching $1m (C$1.3m), youth drama Flashwood, and Pascal Plante’s Nadia Butterfly, about a professional swimmer in her 20s facing retirement.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches À Feu) is based...
- 1/23/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Vimeo has announced its 2018 nominees for the Best of the Year Staff Picks Awards. Vimeo has recognized the best Staff Picks of the year by calling out the winners on its blog since 2016, but the company is elevating its end-of-the-year celebration this year by revealing nominations and bringing in a distinguished jury for each category to decide the winner. Each award recipient will receive a cash prize and a physical trophy, in addition to the Best of the Year badge, and the winning films will be screened at Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on January 17th.
There are three jurors for each Staff Pick category, including the 2017 winners for each respective category. Categories include: Best of Action Sports, Best of Animation, Best of Comedy, Best of Documentary, Best of Drama, Best of Eye Candy and Best of Travel. Jury members include Alan Cumming, Roger Ross Williams, Reinaldo Green, and Sarah Schneider,...
There are three jurors for each Staff Pick category, including the 2017 winners for each respective category. Categories include: Best of Action Sports, Best of Animation, Best of Comedy, Best of Documentary, Best of Drama, Best of Eye Candy and Best of Travel. Jury members include Alan Cumming, Roger Ross Williams, Reinaldo Green, and Sarah Schneider,...
- 1/7/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Not unlike the previous year, a whopping eight thousand plus short films were submitted to Sundance this year. Among some of the filmmaker names that we are already familiar with, we find several feature filmmakers moonlighting back to the short form; basically the short is healthier than ever. Topping the 2015 crop, we have Jake Mahaffy (whose feature, Free in Deed appears to be somewhere in post) who contributes to our understanding of 13th century rule with the year specific, A.D. 1363, The End of Chivalry. We have Cutie and the Boxer helmer working in the fiction form with Hugh the Hunter and form the same vintage 2013 year, fellow feature film helmer Shaka King (director of Newlyweeds) turns in a short in Mulignans (see pic above). Michael Mohan who has been to Sundance with features One Too Many Dates and Save the Date, returns with Pink Grapefruit.
Crossing into the international shorts,...
Crossing into the international shorts,...
- 12/9/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Top brass have announced 60 films culled from 8,061 submissions across four categories – Us and international narrative, documentary and animation.
“This year’s short film-makers have broken through their limited timeframe with a high level of artistry and story that will resonate with audiences long after each film has ended,” said senior programmer Mike Plante.
The Short Film programme is presented by YouTube.
Sundance 2015 is set to run in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah, from January 22 to February 1.
All synopses provided by the festival.
Us Narrative Short Films
Actresses
Jeremy Hersh
The film follows the relationship between a young, aspiring actress and an established off-Broadway star.
A.D. 1363, The End Of Chivalry (USA-New Zealand)
Jake Mahaffy
A little-known historical catastrophe leads to the definitive end of the era of chivalry and questing.
Color Neutral
Jennifer Reeves
A color explosion sparkles, bubbles, and fractures in this handcrafted 16mm film. Jennifer Reeves utilises...
“This year’s short film-makers have broken through their limited timeframe with a high level of artistry and story that will resonate with audiences long after each film has ended,” said senior programmer Mike Plante.
The Short Film programme is presented by YouTube.
Sundance 2015 is set to run in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah, from January 22 to February 1.
All synopses provided by the festival.
Us Narrative Short Films
Actresses
Jeremy Hersh
The film follows the relationship between a young, aspiring actress and an established off-Broadway star.
A.D. 1363, The End Of Chivalry (USA-New Zealand)
Jake Mahaffy
A little-known historical catastrophe leads to the definitive end of the era of chivalry and questing.
Color Neutral
Jennifer Reeves
A color explosion sparkles, bubbles, and fractures in this handcrafted 16mm film. Jennifer Reeves utilises...
- 12/9/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
There will be some Eloise and Lena Dunham, protests from Hong Kong, self-declared pop-ups from Canada, and unbelievable animated images of the final moments of a World War II hero. Those are just a few of the offerings among the 60 short films revealed today by the Sundance Film Festival. In the last of its four official announcements, the 31st annual Park City shindig rolled out an eclectic mix culled from the 8,061 submissions in the category that perhaps shows the true scope of Sundance most acutely.
The fest runs January 22-February 1. (As in past years, Deadline co-Editor-in-Chief, Film Mike Fleming Jr. and myself will be in Park City.)
Here is the full short films list:
U.S. Narrative Short Films
Actresses / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeremy Hersh) — The film follows the relationship between a young, aspiring actress and an established off-Broadway star.
A.D. 1363, The End of Chivalry / U.
The fest runs January 22-February 1. (As in past years, Deadline co-Editor-in-Chief, Film Mike Fleming Jr. and myself will be in Park City.)
Here is the full short films list:
U.S. Narrative Short Films
Actresses / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeremy Hersh) — The film follows the relationship between a young, aspiring actress and an established off-Broadway star.
A.D. 1363, The End of Chivalry / U.
- 12/9/2014
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline
The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.
Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.
He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.
Brazil
The festival will focus this year on Brazil...
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.
Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.
He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.
Brazil
The festival will focus this year on Brazil...
- 10/16/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The luxurious banquet hall in Toronto’s Royal York hotel was electric with excitement as Tiff senior programmers including Steve Gravestock and Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo announced the robust lineup of Canadian films (several world preems) at this year’s Tiff plus the 40+ short titles (out of an astounding 840 short films — an increase of over 200 titles from last year) that will screen at the prestigious festival. With features populating almost every section at the fest, among the headliner items from English Canada, Cairo Time‘s Ruba Nadda returns to the fest with October Gale, while also world preeming is Bang Bang Baby — Jeffrey St. Jules marks his feature film debut with a film that is equal parts Rocky Horror Picture Show and early Cronenberg. Starring Jane Levy of the recent About Alex, it revolves around a small-town teenager in the ’60s whose dream of becoming a famous singer is dashed...
- 8/6/2014
- by Leora Heilbronn
- IONCINEMA.com
The Guadalajara International Film Festival (also known as FICG29 or Festival International of Cine in Guadalajara) is on my regular beat, but this year my work with the Talents will include an introduction to the book I am writing on Iberoamerican Film Financing.
The festival's inception occurred in 1986 during Mexican cinema's worst crisis in terms of production (only 12 features were made that year), and it was held with the help of the University of Guadalajara. This small showcase was curated by filmmaker Jaime Humberto Hermosillo and researcher/professor Emilio García Riera. It consisted of 5 features, 7 shorts, 2 documentaries, and a selection of Jaime Humberto Hermosillo's work. During this edition a young Guillermo del Toro stood out as one of the most outstanding volunteers.
A few years after in 1992, the festival premiered Alfonso Cuaron's Love in the Time of Hysteria (Solo con tu pareja), the film that launched his Hollywood career, this year he won the Academy Award as Best Director for his film Gravity. The next year, Guillermo del Toro presented his feature debut Cronos, which would go on to be selected for the Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival. From the beginning this film showcase became a required stop for Mexican filmmakers and programmers from various international film festivals.
In 1999 a selection of Iberoamerican films was added to the program and a section highlighting Canadian cinema was included, from the 7-selection 3 were from Quebec (Streetheart by Charles Binamé; The Red Violin by François Girard and 2 Seconds by Manon Briand). During the 23rd edition of the festival a selection of 7 features and 7 shorts was presented. Added to this Patrick Bouchard held a workshop on animation at the University of Guadalajara. This year the festival will have the pleasure to present the latest works from Léa Pool, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, and of course, Patrick Bouchard.The results of the 2008 workshop are visible in the constant production of animation in Guadalajara.
Starting in its 15th edition, in 2000, the showcase became a competitive contest for Mexican films. Two years after all iberoamerican films began taking part in the competition. From that year on, the impact of the Guadalajara program reached the entire iberoamerican region and became the premier meeting point for the region's cinema. In 2003 the initiative know as Iberoamerican Market (Mercano Iberoamericano) was launched bringing together over 170 industry professionals dedicated to selling, buying, and distributing films internationally.
In 2005 the showcase became the Guadalajara International Film Festival (Ficg) with the clear goal of having a space for Mexican and Latin American films, as well as a to expose the public and the industry professionals to international works. In 2013 the festival screened 254 films, 102 of which were in competition. The festival received over 800 journalist, and 817 companies in the industry section. Throughout the years the festival has honored artists such as Pedro Almodóvar, the Taviani brothers, Patricio Guzmán, Theo Angelopoulos, Álex de la Iglesia, Agnès Varda, and more recently Werner Herzog and Mike Leigh, among many other great filmmakers. In terms of actors John Malkovich, Marisa Paredes, Andy Garcia and Ángela Molina have also been recognized at the Ficg.
The festival is divided in 3 competitive sections: Iberoamerican Dramatic Features, Iberoamerican Documentaries, and Iberoamerican Shorts. In total Ficg hands out 16 Official Awards and 5 parallel others though different sections.
Among the array of awards the one dedicated to the Best Mexican Film stands out -The Mezcal Award (Premio Mezcal)
This year the third edition of the Maguey Award (Read more Here) will take place. It brings together, promotes, and recognizes cinema focused on sexual diversity around the world
In total there are more than 200 works programmed and there will be over 500 screenings in Guadalajara and the surroundings areas. Throughout the last 29 years Mexican cinema has changed deeply. From the crisis it suffered in 1986 to its current state there is a notable contrast. From 12 films a year, the average number of films produced currently a year is 120. During the 20 years the Mexican Cinema Showcase and the Ficg have been protagonists in the promotion of Mexican cinema, specially in the last decade.
It is also revelatory to see how influential has Mexican cinema been in the emergence of other film industries in the region such as in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Paraguay, as well as the great period that the cinema of of Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay are experiencing.
Withing the Ficg there are also other sections dedicated to international cinema, which are not competitive, but allow for the festival to be a meeting point for many cinematic voices.
Industry and Market
In order to encourage a productive agenda for filmmakers, producers, distributors, and sales agents during the festival, the Market oriented department will hold the following events:
IX Iberoamerican Conference of Iberoamerican Co-productions
the 7ª edition of the "Guadalajara Builds" program
Bilateral Conference: Quebec-Mexico
Over 800 film-related companies will be in attendance
Organization
During the last edition of the Ficg, the different events taking place at the festival were the product of strenuous labors by the organizers. They included the 5th edition of Talents Guadalajara, an experience in which 70 filmmakers from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean participated, as well as the the 5th edition of the Doculab where several Iberoamerican documentaries in post-production were evaluated. Aiming to take advantage of the important figures present, the festival also hosted the 9th Creators Conference on Writing with Light.
Relationships with International Festivals
Throughout its development the Ficg has formed working relationships of support with many of the most important festival in the world. With the Marché du Film at Cannes the two festivals have developed the Guadalajara Film Market Producers Network, which is a window for the exchange of knowledge and ideas among professionals interested in the Iberoamerican cinematic spectrum. Talents Guadalajara is organized with the collaboration of the Berlinale Talents from the Berlin Film Festival, which supports filmmakers from the region. In addition with the help of the San Sebastian Film Festival, Ficg presents the program known as New European Trends : San Sebastian-Guadalajara, allowing for the discovery of new European directors. It is important to mention that Ficg has a close relationship with the Montreal World Film Festival, which allows for films of the region to screen at the Canadian event.
Special Guest
Since 2001 the festival hascdesignated a country or region to be the guest of honor
Germany, 16, 2001
Switzerland, 17, 2002
Chile, 18, 2003
Italy, 19, 2004
Greece, 20, 2005
Spain, 21, 2006
Brazil, 22, 2007
Argentina, 23, 2008
Colombia, 24, 2009
France, 25, 2010
Israel, 26, 2011
U.K., 27, 2012
Scandinavia : Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, 28. 2013
Besides screening a selection of films from the selected nation, the Ficg always tries to have some of their most notable filmmakers present at the festival. After a decade of its inception the Special Guest section has become one of the most anticipated ones. It allows attendees the opportunity to see the most recent works from that national cinema as well as to have a direct conversation with the filmmakers, actors, and other representatives of that country's film industry.
Quebec 2014
The selection of films was made possible thanks to the support of the Quebecois Delegation in Mexico, the Sodec, the International Documentary Conference in Montreal, the Onf, among other institutions, companies, and filmmakers. This offers the possibility to be confronted with visions that explore the world and its conflicts, it's cinema without borders.On the other hand this can also be a very intimate cinema that captures the multicultural richness of contemporary Quebec with its diverse contradictions. This selection also represents the audiovisual expression of several generations, there are films from filmmakers with a careers that expand over 4 decades who interact with directors who have just finished their debut features.
The selection of films is divided into 4 sections
Narrative Features
Conformed of 16 features completed between 2012 and 2013. Each one of these films has had acclaimed international exposure and have played at festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, San Sebastian, among others. Together these films have received more than 23 international awards and 30 awards in Canada.
Ridm - Documentaries
Counting with 15 years of experience the Montreal International Documentary Festival (Ridm) is one of the most important events for documentary filmmaking. The rigorous selection process of this festival gives validation to the 5 films that will be shown at the Ficg, which will definitely be a center piece within the Quebecois program in Guadalajara. The Ficg will also have a special screening of a very important work in the history of film, For Those Who Will Follow (Pour la suite du monde) by Michel Brault, who past away last year.
Denis Côté
Denis Côté's career as a filmmaker began in 2005. Since then, he has created a short film, 3 documentaries, and 5 narrative features. Via his intense working rhythm this artist has demonstrated his abilities, rigor, and creativity. A look into his work will easily confirm that he has a profoundly original vision that takes storytelling to its radical limits.
The Short Films
Quebecois short films show an incredible imaginative freedom. Given the fact that in recent years several shorts, including animation, have been produced in Guadalajara, this will be an enriching exchange of perspectives.
Women in Film and TV Quebec-Mexico
Finally, aiming to strengthen the friendship that exists between the associations for Women in Film and TV both in Quebec and Mexico, the Ficg will host a second panel, which will be paired with a selection of documentaries that deal with the contemporary female experience.
David K. Ross
David K. Ross (1966, Canada) works in various mediums including film, video, photography, and art installations. Ross' formal training in architecture and great experience in photography of large scale and film have resulted in a great variety of projects in which he investigates the history of optical technology and geodesic practices, as well as many urban structures. His work has been exhibited in the most important institutions in the Americas and Europe, they also form part of many public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal and the Canadian Center for Architecture. The artist will be present at the Ficg screening his work to expose the audience to his particular style.
Quebecois Presence in the Different Juries
Prominent members of the Quebecois film industry will be part of the diverse juries which will evaluate the films in competition.
Narrative Feature: Denise Robert's experience as a producer expands over 51 projects including narrative features, documentaries, shorts, and television.
Documentary: Roxanne Sayegh, who has worked with Ambulante, the most ambitious project to promote documentary distribution in Mexico. She is currently the Executive Director of the Ridm.
Short Films: Danièle Cauchard, Executive Director of the Montreal World Film Festival.
Maguey Award to Support Sexual Diversity in Film: Katharine Setzer, in charge of programming at the Image+Nation festival, which is in its 26th edition.
Fipresci: Montreal based critic Jorge Gutman
Mezcal Award for Best Mexican Film: Alisi Telengut, a student from Concordia University, whose film Tears of Inge was honored at the World Film Festival.
For more information on Ficg 29 and its different sections visit Here...
The festival's inception occurred in 1986 during Mexican cinema's worst crisis in terms of production (only 12 features were made that year), and it was held with the help of the University of Guadalajara. This small showcase was curated by filmmaker Jaime Humberto Hermosillo and researcher/professor Emilio García Riera. It consisted of 5 features, 7 shorts, 2 documentaries, and a selection of Jaime Humberto Hermosillo's work. During this edition a young Guillermo del Toro stood out as one of the most outstanding volunteers.
A few years after in 1992, the festival premiered Alfonso Cuaron's Love in the Time of Hysteria (Solo con tu pareja), the film that launched his Hollywood career, this year he won the Academy Award as Best Director for his film Gravity. The next year, Guillermo del Toro presented his feature debut Cronos, which would go on to be selected for the Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival. From the beginning this film showcase became a required stop for Mexican filmmakers and programmers from various international film festivals.
In 1999 a selection of Iberoamerican films was added to the program and a section highlighting Canadian cinema was included, from the 7-selection 3 were from Quebec (Streetheart by Charles Binamé; The Red Violin by François Girard and 2 Seconds by Manon Briand). During the 23rd edition of the festival a selection of 7 features and 7 shorts was presented. Added to this Patrick Bouchard held a workshop on animation at the University of Guadalajara. This year the festival will have the pleasure to present the latest works from Léa Pool, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, and of course, Patrick Bouchard.The results of the 2008 workshop are visible in the constant production of animation in Guadalajara.
Starting in its 15th edition, in 2000, the showcase became a competitive contest for Mexican films. Two years after all iberoamerican films began taking part in the competition. From that year on, the impact of the Guadalajara program reached the entire iberoamerican region and became the premier meeting point for the region's cinema. In 2003 the initiative know as Iberoamerican Market (Mercano Iberoamericano) was launched bringing together over 170 industry professionals dedicated to selling, buying, and distributing films internationally.
In 2005 the showcase became the Guadalajara International Film Festival (Ficg) with the clear goal of having a space for Mexican and Latin American films, as well as a to expose the public and the industry professionals to international works. In 2013 the festival screened 254 films, 102 of which were in competition. The festival received over 800 journalist, and 817 companies in the industry section. Throughout the years the festival has honored artists such as Pedro Almodóvar, the Taviani brothers, Patricio Guzmán, Theo Angelopoulos, Álex de la Iglesia, Agnès Varda, and more recently Werner Herzog and Mike Leigh, among many other great filmmakers. In terms of actors John Malkovich, Marisa Paredes, Andy Garcia and Ángela Molina have also been recognized at the Ficg.
The festival is divided in 3 competitive sections: Iberoamerican Dramatic Features, Iberoamerican Documentaries, and Iberoamerican Shorts. In total Ficg hands out 16 Official Awards and 5 parallel others though different sections.
Among the array of awards the one dedicated to the Best Mexican Film stands out -The Mezcal Award (Premio Mezcal)
This year the third edition of the Maguey Award (Read more Here) will take place. It brings together, promotes, and recognizes cinema focused on sexual diversity around the world
In total there are more than 200 works programmed and there will be over 500 screenings in Guadalajara and the surroundings areas. Throughout the last 29 years Mexican cinema has changed deeply. From the crisis it suffered in 1986 to its current state there is a notable contrast. From 12 films a year, the average number of films produced currently a year is 120. During the 20 years the Mexican Cinema Showcase and the Ficg have been protagonists in the promotion of Mexican cinema, specially in the last decade.
It is also revelatory to see how influential has Mexican cinema been in the emergence of other film industries in the region such as in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Paraguay, as well as the great period that the cinema of of Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay are experiencing.
Withing the Ficg there are also other sections dedicated to international cinema, which are not competitive, but allow for the festival to be a meeting point for many cinematic voices.
Industry and Market
In order to encourage a productive agenda for filmmakers, producers, distributors, and sales agents during the festival, the Market oriented department will hold the following events:
IX Iberoamerican Conference of Iberoamerican Co-productions
the 7ª edition of the "Guadalajara Builds" program
Bilateral Conference: Quebec-Mexico
Over 800 film-related companies will be in attendance
Organization
During the last edition of the Ficg, the different events taking place at the festival were the product of strenuous labors by the organizers. They included the 5th edition of Talents Guadalajara, an experience in which 70 filmmakers from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean participated, as well as the the 5th edition of the Doculab where several Iberoamerican documentaries in post-production were evaluated. Aiming to take advantage of the important figures present, the festival also hosted the 9th Creators Conference on Writing with Light.
Relationships with International Festivals
Throughout its development the Ficg has formed working relationships of support with many of the most important festival in the world. With the Marché du Film at Cannes the two festivals have developed the Guadalajara Film Market Producers Network, which is a window for the exchange of knowledge and ideas among professionals interested in the Iberoamerican cinematic spectrum. Talents Guadalajara is organized with the collaboration of the Berlinale Talents from the Berlin Film Festival, which supports filmmakers from the region. In addition with the help of the San Sebastian Film Festival, Ficg presents the program known as New European Trends : San Sebastian-Guadalajara, allowing for the discovery of new European directors. It is important to mention that Ficg has a close relationship with the Montreal World Film Festival, which allows for films of the region to screen at the Canadian event.
Special Guest
Since 2001 the festival hascdesignated a country or region to be the guest of honor
Germany, 16, 2001
Switzerland, 17, 2002
Chile, 18, 2003
Italy, 19, 2004
Greece, 20, 2005
Spain, 21, 2006
Brazil, 22, 2007
Argentina, 23, 2008
Colombia, 24, 2009
France, 25, 2010
Israel, 26, 2011
U.K., 27, 2012
Scandinavia : Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, 28. 2013
Besides screening a selection of films from the selected nation, the Ficg always tries to have some of their most notable filmmakers present at the festival. After a decade of its inception the Special Guest section has become one of the most anticipated ones. It allows attendees the opportunity to see the most recent works from that national cinema as well as to have a direct conversation with the filmmakers, actors, and other representatives of that country's film industry.
Quebec 2014
The selection of films was made possible thanks to the support of the Quebecois Delegation in Mexico, the Sodec, the International Documentary Conference in Montreal, the Onf, among other institutions, companies, and filmmakers. This offers the possibility to be confronted with visions that explore the world and its conflicts, it's cinema without borders.On the other hand this can also be a very intimate cinema that captures the multicultural richness of contemporary Quebec with its diverse contradictions. This selection also represents the audiovisual expression of several generations, there are films from filmmakers with a careers that expand over 4 decades who interact with directors who have just finished their debut features.
The selection of films is divided into 4 sections
Narrative Features
Conformed of 16 features completed between 2012 and 2013. Each one of these films has had acclaimed international exposure and have played at festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, San Sebastian, among others. Together these films have received more than 23 international awards and 30 awards in Canada.
Ridm - Documentaries
Counting with 15 years of experience the Montreal International Documentary Festival (Ridm) is one of the most important events for documentary filmmaking. The rigorous selection process of this festival gives validation to the 5 films that will be shown at the Ficg, which will definitely be a center piece within the Quebecois program in Guadalajara. The Ficg will also have a special screening of a very important work in the history of film, For Those Who Will Follow (Pour la suite du monde) by Michel Brault, who past away last year.
Denis Côté
Denis Côté's career as a filmmaker began in 2005. Since then, he has created a short film, 3 documentaries, and 5 narrative features. Via his intense working rhythm this artist has demonstrated his abilities, rigor, and creativity. A look into his work will easily confirm that he has a profoundly original vision that takes storytelling to its radical limits.
The Short Films
Quebecois short films show an incredible imaginative freedom. Given the fact that in recent years several shorts, including animation, have been produced in Guadalajara, this will be an enriching exchange of perspectives.
Women in Film and TV Quebec-Mexico
Finally, aiming to strengthen the friendship that exists between the associations for Women in Film and TV both in Quebec and Mexico, the Ficg will host a second panel, which will be paired with a selection of documentaries that deal with the contemporary female experience.
David K. Ross
David K. Ross (1966, Canada) works in various mediums including film, video, photography, and art installations. Ross' formal training in architecture and great experience in photography of large scale and film have resulted in a great variety of projects in which he investigates the history of optical technology and geodesic practices, as well as many urban structures. His work has been exhibited in the most important institutions in the Americas and Europe, they also form part of many public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal and the Canadian Center for Architecture. The artist will be present at the Ficg screening his work to expose the audience to his particular style.
Quebecois Presence in the Different Juries
Prominent members of the Quebecois film industry will be part of the diverse juries which will evaluate the films in competition.
Narrative Feature: Denise Robert's experience as a producer expands over 51 projects including narrative features, documentaries, shorts, and television.
Documentary: Roxanne Sayegh, who has worked with Ambulante, the most ambitious project to promote documentary distribution in Mexico. She is currently the Executive Director of the Ridm.
Short Films: Danièle Cauchard, Executive Director of the Montreal World Film Festival.
Maguey Award to Support Sexual Diversity in Film: Katharine Setzer, in charge of programming at the Image+Nation festival, which is in its 26th edition.
Fipresci: Montreal based critic Jorge Gutman
Mezcal Award for Best Mexican Film: Alisi Telengut, a student from Concordia University, whose film Tears of Inge was honored at the World Film Festival.
For more information on Ficg 29 and its different sections visit Here...
- 3/21/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Tu Dors Nicole
Director: Stéphane Lafleur
Writer: Stéphane Lafleur
Producers: micro_scope’s Luc Déry and Kim McCraw
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Julianne Côté, Catherine St-Laurent, Marc-André Grondin, Francis La Haye and Simon Larouche
The tendency of throwing his Coenesque character set into perilous type of predicaments should continue with his summer set, boys vs. girls titled Tu Dors Nicole. A third feature for Quebecois helmer Stéphane Lafleur, we fully expect to stick to the same black humor template found in his previous pair: the festival favorites Continental, un film and En terrain connu.
Gist: Enjoying the family home while her parents are away, Nicole (22 years old) is quietly spending the first weeks of her year off until her older brother Rémi shows up with his music group. The summer then takes an unexpected turn for Nicole and her best friend Véronique.
Release Date: Filming took place last...
Director: Stéphane Lafleur
Writer: Stéphane Lafleur
Producers: micro_scope’s Luc Déry and Kim McCraw
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Julianne Côté, Catherine St-Laurent, Marc-André Grondin, Francis La Haye and Simon Larouche
The tendency of throwing his Coenesque character set into perilous type of predicaments should continue with his summer set, boys vs. girls titled Tu Dors Nicole. A third feature for Quebecois helmer Stéphane Lafleur, we fully expect to stick to the same black humor template found in his previous pair: the festival favorites Continental, un film and En terrain connu.
Gist: Enjoying the family home while her parents are away, Nicole (22 years old) is quietly spending the first weeks of her year off until her older brother Rémi shows up with his music group. The summer then takes an unexpected turn for Nicole and her best friend Véronique.
Release Date: Filming took place last...
- 2/4/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
We follow a woman wearing a backpack through a crowded street. Kids play around her, diners laugh and eat at a cafe, and a caged pigeon stares blankly at a little boy’s smiling face. And then the world explodes. Chloé (Evelyne Brochu) is a Canadian doctor straddling the Israeli/Palestinian border both in her daily activities and in her sympathies. She lives in Israel but works in a clinic on the other side of the concrete wall in the Palestinian city of Ramallah. In addition to the day job she’s taken on private nurse duties for a young, pregnant woman named Rand (Sabrina Ouazani) whose husband awaits sentencing from an Israeli judge. Chloé is equally friendly with Ava (Sivan Levy), a female soldier who lives one floor below her. They share the ride to work every day with Ava stopping at the border while Chloé continues past it. The...
- 8/24/2013
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The striking story of a Western doctor in Palestine and her long, hard path to the realization that all of her good intentions can barely begin to counter the tidal wave of history she has chosen to surf. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Nice white Canadian doctor goes to Palestine, wants to help poor disenfranchised people who aren’t getting quite the attention they should. Well, nice white Canadian doctor goes to Israel to live and has to cross the border every day into the camps to the jury-rigged medical clinic that has to shut down on days when it’s just too dangerous to be there, because terrorism and politics and entrenched anger. But still: there’s the do-gooding and the beneficence. If Inch’Allah — which translates from Arabic to French (and then...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Nice white Canadian doctor goes to Palestine, wants to help poor disenfranchised people who aren’t getting quite the attention they should. Well, nice white Canadian doctor goes to Israel to live and has to cross the border every day into the camps to the jury-rigged medical clinic that has to shut down on days when it’s just too dangerous to be there, because terrorism and politics and entrenched anger. But still: there’s the do-gooding and the beneficence. If Inch’Allah — which translates from Arabic to French (and then...
- 8/16/2013
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Ultimately having direct access to the film festival findings helps facilitate future deals and here we find one more instance of Tribeca Film picking from its own gene pool with a 2013 showcased Tribeca Film Festival offering. The distrib’s head buyer Nick Savva has picked up distribution rights to Jonathan Gurfinkel’s teen drama and re-baptized as the more playfully codified S#x Acts. The film gets a theatrical release on October 25th.
Gist: Written by Rona Segel, Gili is a teenager who decides to change schools. She is determined to improve her lame social status. Over the course of a few weeks she hooks up with several different boys, all from her new school. Their encounters get more and more sexual, each time exploring their limits a little further. The boys are eager to take what is so generously offered, and Gili is thrilled with the attention.
Worth Noting:...
Gist: Written by Rona Segel, Gili is a teenager who decides to change schools. She is determined to improve her lame social status. Over the course of a few weeks she hooks up with several different boys, all from her new school. Their encounters get more and more sexual, each time exploring their limits a little further. The boys are eager to take what is so generously offered, and Gili is thrilled with the attention.
Worth Noting:...
- 8/8/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Watch the trailer and see the poster for Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette's Inch'Allah, starring Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Sivan Levy, Yousef Sweid, Hammoudeh Alkarmi and Carlo Brandt. The eOne Films release opens in theaters on : August 16th in New York City at The Quad Cinema, followed by an August 23rd, 2013 expansion in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Music Hall and West Park Theater in Orange County. Chloe (Brochu) is a young Canadian obstetrician working in a makeshift clinic in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, where she treats pregnant women under the supervision of Michael (Brandt), a French doctor. Facing daily checkpoints and the separation barrier, Chloe is confronted with the conflict and the people it affects: Rand (Ouazani), a patient for whom Chloe develops a deep affection; Faysal (Sweid), Rand’s older brother, a fervent resister; Safi (Alkarmi), their younger brother, a child shattered by war who...
- 8/7/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
For short films, the Tribeca Film Festival is a must. Winning the award for Narrative Short or Best Documentary Short automatically qualifies a film for the Academy Awards. Their track record isn’t too bad either. Shawn Christensen’s Curfew had its New York premiere at the Festival and went on to win the Academy Award.
This year, Tribeca will show 60 short films in eight categories, from a variety of new and returning directors (including Christensen with Grandma’s Not A Toaster), and featuring performances from a number of Hollywood stars. Elijah Wood plays a standup comic who attempts a daring set in Setup,...
This year, Tribeca will show 60 short films in eight categories, from a variety of new and returning directors (including Christensen with Grandma’s Not A Toaster), and featuring performances from a number of Hollywood stars. Elijah Wood plays a standup comic who attempts a daring set in Setup,...
- 3/11/2013
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
The 63rd Berlinale is coming to a close, and the awards have been announced!
In Competition
Golden Bear - Child's Pose, directed by Călin Peter Netzer
Jury Grand Prix - An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, directed by Danis Tanović
Silver Bear for Best Director - Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green
Best Actor - Nazif Mujić, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
Best Actress - Paulina Garcia, Gloria
Best Screenplay - Closed Curtain, written by Jafar Panahi
Alfred Bauer Prize - Vic+Flo Saw a Bear, directed by Denis Côté
Outstanding Artistic Contribution - Cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiyev, for Harmony Lessons
Special Mentions - Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant & Layla Fourie, directed by Pia Marais
Best First Feature Award
Best First Feature - The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt
Special Mention - The Battle of Tabatô, directed by João Viana
Teddy...
In Competition
Golden Bear - Child's Pose, directed by Călin Peter Netzer
Jury Grand Prix - An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, directed by Danis Tanović
Silver Bear for Best Director - Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green
Best Actor - Nazif Mujić, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
Best Actress - Paulina Garcia, Gloria
Best Screenplay - Closed Curtain, written by Jafar Panahi
Alfred Bauer Prize - Vic+Flo Saw a Bear, directed by Denis Côté
Outstanding Artistic Contribution - Cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiyev, for Harmony Lessons
Special Mentions - Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant & Layla Fourie, directed by Pia Marais
Best First Feature Award
Best First Feature - The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt
Special Mention - The Battle of Tabatô, directed by João Viana
Teddy...
- 2/17/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
British filmmaker Kim Longinotto’s India-based documentary Salma has bagged the second place in Panorama Audience awards at Berlinale.
Salma chronicles the life of a woman from south India who was locked by her parents on reaching puberty and decided to fight her way back to the outside world twenty-five years later. Now she is a well-known poet.
The Panorama Audience Award has been given since 1999. During the Berlinale, movie-goers were asked to rate the films shown in the Panorama section and over 28,000 votes were cast and counted altogether. This year the Panorama presented 52 productions from 33 countries, of which 20 were documentaries.
The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival will come to a close on February 16 with the presentation of the awards.
Winners of the Panorama Audience Award – fiction film 2013:
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Belgium/Netherlands 2012
Directed by Felix van Groeningen
2nd Place
Reaching for the Moon
Brazil 2013
Directed by Bruno Barreto...
Salma chronicles the life of a woman from south India who was locked by her parents on reaching puberty and decided to fight her way back to the outside world twenty-five years later. Now she is a well-known poet.
The Panorama Audience Award has been given since 1999. During the Berlinale, movie-goers were asked to rate the films shown in the Panorama section and over 28,000 votes were cast and counted altogether. This year the Panorama presented 52 productions from 33 countries, of which 20 were documentaries.
The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival will come to a close on February 16 with the presentation of the awards.
Winners of the Panorama Audience Award – fiction film 2013:
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Belgium/Netherlands 2012
Directed by Felix van Groeningen
2nd Place
Reaching for the Moon
Brazil 2013
Directed by Bruno Barreto...
- 2/16/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Canadian Screen Awards 2013 nominations: War Witch rules The Genie Awards are dead, long live the Canadian Screen Awards! Well, in truth, the Genie Awards aren’t exactly dead; they’ve just been transmogrified, along with Canadian television’s Gemini Awards, into the aforementioned Canadian Screen Awards, organized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. But Genie or Canadian Screen, once again a Québécois production dominates the nominations roster. (Photo: Rachel Mwanza in Kim Nguyen’s War Witch.) Kim Nguyen’s Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nominee Rebelle / War Witch, the story of a (very) young African rebel fighter, received a total of 12 Canadian Screen Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Berlin Film Festival’s Best Actress Rachel Mwanza), Best Supporting Actor (Serge Kanyinda), and Best Original Screenplay (Nguyen). War Witch follows in the heels of recent Quebec-made Genie Award powerhouses and eventual Best Picture winners such...
- 1/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
This year’s Toronto was competing in my psyche with the recent loss of my mother. My focus was less on finding the greatest of films this year. I hear from others that the festival offered a good mix, if not the most outstanding, selection of films. Personally, I am discovering that a new community has opened its arms to me and the films that are standing out most for me are by women and about women. My community, those women who have lost their mothers, is sharing a unique and profound rite of passage whose meaning continuously unfolds.
In Toronto I was hyper aware of the women and their position in this corner of the world I inhabit. Canadian women, Helga Stephenson, Director Emerita of the Toronto Film Festival, predecessor to Piers Handling; Michele Maheux, Executive Director and COO of Tiff ever since I've known her which has been a long time; Linda Beath who headed United Artists when I was beginning my career and who has since moved to Europe where she teaches at Eave (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs), Kay Armitrage, programmer of the festival for 24 years and professor at University of Toronto, are all women to helped me envisage myself as a professional in the film business, and they are still as vibrant and active as when we met more than 25 years ago. Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Canada’s Executive Director continues Canada’s female lineage as does Karen Thorne-Stone, the President and CEO of Ontario Media Development Corporation.
18 films currently are in a large part attributable to Omdc; they include Nisha Pahuja’s doc The World Before Her (contact Cinetic) (Best Doc Feature of 2012 Tribeca Ff), Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz (Isa: TF1), Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children (Isa: FilmNation), Anita Doron’s The Lesser Blessed, (Isa: EOne) Ruba Nadda’s Inescapable (Isa: Myriad), Alison Rose’s doc, Following the Wise Men.
Tiff’s new program for year-round support of mid-level Canadian filmmakers, Studio, under the directorship of Hayet Benkara is bringing industry mentorship to 16 filmmakers with experience, shorts in the festival circuit, features in development. Exactly half of these filmmakers are women. This was a conscious move on Hayet’s part. She said there is always such a predominance of males without thinking about it that she decided to bring balance.
Then a look at some more of the Canadian talent here brings me to the Birks Diamonds celebration of seven Canadian women: Anais Barbeau-Lavalette, Manon Briand, Anita Doron, Deepa Mehta (Midnight’s Children), Kate Melville, and Ruba Nadda which honored each with a Birks diamond pendant in a reception hosted by Shangri-La Hotel and Telefilm Canada where 300 guests mingled and caught up with each other. The pre-eminence of women was again made so apparent to me.
Talking to publicist Jim Dobson at Indie PR at the reception of Jordanian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir whose film When I Saw You was so evocative of the 60s, a time of worldwide freedom and even optimism among the fedayeem in Jordan looking to resist the Expulsion of the Palestinians from Palestine; he said that all five of his clients here are women directors, “I had When I Saw You, (Isa: The Match Factory), Satellite Boy (Isa: Celluloid Dreams/ Nightmare), Hannah Arendt (The Match Factory), Inch'allah (Isa: eOne), English Vinglish (Isa: Eros Int')."
Of the 289 features here at Tiff, Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood is trying to zero in on the women directors, so watch her blogs More Women-Directed Films Nab Deals out of Tiff, Tiff Preview: Women Directors to Watch and Tiff Preview: The Female Directing Masters Playing at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival.
Add to this the upcoming Sundance initiative on women directors that Keri Putnam is heading up (more on that later!) and I am feeling heartened by the consciousness of women, directors and otherwise, out there. That is saying a lot since last season in Cannes with the pathetic number of women directors showing up in the festival and sidebars this past spring.
Here is the Female Factor for Tiff 12 which scores an A in my book:
Gala Presentations - 6 out of 20 = c. 30% which is way above the usual 13% which has been the average up until Cannes upended that with its paltry 2%..2 of these were opening night films.
Mira Nair The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Also showed in Venice. Isa: K5. Picked up for U.S. and Canada by IFC. Shola Lynch Free Angela & All Political Prisoners. Isa: Elle Driver Deepa Mehta Midnight’s Children. Isa: FilmNation already sold to Roadshow for Australia/ N.Z., Unikorea for So. Korea, DeaPlaneta for Spain. Ruba Nadda Inescapable. Isa: Myriad. Canada: Alliance. Liz Garbus Love, Marilyn. Isa: StudioCanal. HBO picked up No. American TV rights. Madman has Australia. Gauri Shinde English Vinglish. Isa: Eros International.
Masters – 0 – Could we say that women directors have not been around that long or shown such longevity as the men? Lina Wertmiller was a long time ago. I don’t even know if she is still alive. Ida Lupino was an anomaly. Who else was there in those early days? Alice Guy-Blaché ?
Special Presentations - 13 out of 70 = 19%
Everybody Has A Plan - Argentina/ Germany/ Spain - Ana Piterbarg - Isa: Twentieth Century Fox International - U.S.: Ld Entertainment, U.K.: Metrodome Lines Of Wellington - Also in Venice, San Sebastian Ff - Portugal - Valeria Sarmiento - Isa: Alfama Films. Germany: Ksm Cloud Atlas--Germany - Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski - Isa: Focus Int'l. - U.S. and Canada: Warner Bros. , Brazil - Imagem, Finland - Future Film, Eastern Europe - Eeap, Germany X Verleih, Greece - Odeon, Iceland - Sensa, India - PVR, So. Korea - Bloomage, Benelux - Benelux Film Distributors, Inspire, Slovenia - Cenemania, Sweden - Noble, Switzerland - Ascot Elite, Taiwan - Long Shong, Turkey - Chantier Inch'allah – Canada - Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette - Isa and Canada: Entertainment One Films Hannah Arendt – Germany – Margarethe von Trotta – Isa: The Match Factory Imogine – U.S. – Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini - Isa: Voltage. U.S.: Lionsgate/ Roadside Attractions acquired from UTA, Netherlands: Independent Ginger and Rosa – U.K. – Sally Potter – Isa: The Match Factory. U.S. contact Cinetic Love is All You Need – Also played in Venice) Denmark – Susanne Bier – Isa: TrustNordisk - U.S. : Sony Pictures Classics, Canada: Mongrel, Australia - Madman, Brazil - Art Films, Bulgaria - Pro Films, Colombia - Babilla Cine, Czech Republic - Aerofilms, Finland - Matila Rohr Nordisk, Germany - Prokino, Hungary - Cirko, Italy - Teodora, Japan - Longride, Poland - Gutek, Portugal - Pepperview Lore – Australia/ Germany/ U.K. – Cate Shortland – Isa: Memento. U.S.: Music Box, France: Memento, Germany - Piffl, Hong Hong - Encore Inlight, So. Korea - Line Tree, Benelux - ABC/ Cinemien, U.K., Artificial Eye Dreams for Sale – Japan – Miwa Nishkawa – Isa: Asmik Ace Stories We Tell – Canada – Sarah Polley - Isa: Nfb. U.K.: Artificial Eye Liverpool – Canada – Marion Briand - Isa: Max Films. Canada: Remstar Venus and Serena – U.S./ U.K. – Michelle Major, Maikin Baird. Producer's Rep: Cinetic
Mavericks - 3 out of 7 “Conversations With” were with women (43%)
Discovery 11 out of 27 = 40% which includes The-Hottest-Public Ticket for the Israeli Film directly below (a Major Buzz Film Among its Public)
Fill the Void by Rama Burshtein, a first-time-ever Hasidic woman director Kate Melville’s Picture Day Alice Winocour Augustine - Isa: Kinology 7 Cajas by Tana Schembori from Paraguay - Isa: Shoreline Gabriela Pichler’s Eat Sleep Die from Sweden, Serbia and Croatia - Isa: Yellow Affair Oy Rola Nashef’s Detroit Unleaded France’s Sylive Michel’s Our Little Differences Contact producer Pallas Film Russian censored film Clip from Serbia by Maja Milos - Isa: Wide sold to Kmbo for France, Maywin for Sweden, Artspoitation for U.S. Satellite Boy by Australian Catriona McKenzie - Isa: Celluloid Dreams/ Nightmares Ramaa Mosley’s The Brass Teapot - Isa: TF1 sold to Magnolia for U.S., Intercontinental for Hong Kong, Cien for Mexico, Vendetta for New Zealand Veteran Korean-American Grace Lee’s Janeane from Des Moines.
Tiff Docs 7 out of 29 = 24% - Women traditionally have directed a greater portion of docs
Christine Cynn (codirector ) The Act of Killing - Isa: Cinephil Janet Tobias No Place on Earth - Isa: Global Screen Sarah Burns (codirector) The Central Park Five Isa: PBS sold to Sundance Select for U.S. Treva Wurmfeld Shepard & Dark - Contact Tangerine Entertainment Nina Davenport First Comes Love - Contact producer Marina Zenovich Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out - Isa: Films Distribution Halla Alabdalla As If We Were Catching a Cobra (Comme si nous attraptions un cobra) about the art of caricature in Egypt and Syria! Halla is Syrian herself, studied science and sociology in Syria and Paris - Isa: Wide
Contemporary World Cinema 11 out of 61 = 18%
Children of Sarajevo by Aida Begic, Sarajevo - Isa: Pyramide Baby Blues by Katarzyna Rostaniec, Poland. Contact producer The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky by Yuki Tanada, Japan - Isa: Toei Comrade Kim Goes Flying by Anja Daelemans (co-director), Belgium/ No. Korea. The first western financed film out of No. Korea Three Worlds by Catherine Corsini, France - Isa: Pyramide sold to Lumiere for Benelux, Pathe for Switzerland Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay, U.S. - Contact Paradigm Talent Agency The Lesser Blessed by Anita Doron, Canada - Isa: eOne Watchtower by Pelin Esmer, Turkey/ France/ Germany- Isa: Visit Films Jackie by Antoinette Beumer, Netherlands - Isa: Media Luna When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir, Palestine,/ Jordan/ Greece All that Matters is Past by Sara Johnsen, Norway- Isa: TrustNordisk
Tiff Kids 0 out of 5. Any meaning to this???
City To City – Mumbai 0 Out Of 10 Any meaning to this???
Vanguard 2 out of 15 = 13% (the average for most festivals)
90 Minutes– Norway – Eva Sorhaug - Isa: Level K Peaches Does Herself – Germany - Peaches. Contact producer. See Indiewire review.
Midnight Madness 0 out of 9 which is fine with me, thank you. This is a boy's genre or a date-night genre for girls and boys with a plan for the night.
In Toronto I was hyper aware of the women and their position in this corner of the world I inhabit. Canadian women, Helga Stephenson, Director Emerita of the Toronto Film Festival, predecessor to Piers Handling; Michele Maheux, Executive Director and COO of Tiff ever since I've known her which has been a long time; Linda Beath who headed United Artists when I was beginning my career and who has since moved to Europe where she teaches at Eave (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs), Kay Armitrage, programmer of the festival for 24 years and professor at University of Toronto, are all women to helped me envisage myself as a professional in the film business, and they are still as vibrant and active as when we met more than 25 years ago. Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Canada’s Executive Director continues Canada’s female lineage as does Karen Thorne-Stone, the President and CEO of Ontario Media Development Corporation.
18 films currently are in a large part attributable to Omdc; they include Nisha Pahuja’s doc The World Before Her (contact Cinetic) (Best Doc Feature of 2012 Tribeca Ff), Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz (Isa: TF1), Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children (Isa: FilmNation), Anita Doron’s The Lesser Blessed, (Isa: EOne) Ruba Nadda’s Inescapable (Isa: Myriad), Alison Rose’s doc, Following the Wise Men.
Tiff’s new program for year-round support of mid-level Canadian filmmakers, Studio, under the directorship of Hayet Benkara is bringing industry mentorship to 16 filmmakers with experience, shorts in the festival circuit, features in development. Exactly half of these filmmakers are women. This was a conscious move on Hayet’s part. She said there is always such a predominance of males without thinking about it that she decided to bring balance.
Then a look at some more of the Canadian talent here brings me to the Birks Diamonds celebration of seven Canadian women: Anais Barbeau-Lavalette, Manon Briand, Anita Doron, Deepa Mehta (Midnight’s Children), Kate Melville, and Ruba Nadda which honored each with a Birks diamond pendant in a reception hosted by Shangri-La Hotel and Telefilm Canada where 300 guests mingled and caught up with each other. The pre-eminence of women was again made so apparent to me.
Talking to publicist Jim Dobson at Indie PR at the reception of Jordanian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir whose film When I Saw You was so evocative of the 60s, a time of worldwide freedom and even optimism among the fedayeem in Jordan looking to resist the Expulsion of the Palestinians from Palestine; he said that all five of his clients here are women directors, “I had When I Saw You, (Isa: The Match Factory), Satellite Boy (Isa: Celluloid Dreams/ Nightmare), Hannah Arendt (The Match Factory), Inch'allah (Isa: eOne), English Vinglish (Isa: Eros Int')."
Of the 289 features here at Tiff, Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood is trying to zero in on the women directors, so watch her blogs More Women-Directed Films Nab Deals out of Tiff, Tiff Preview: Women Directors to Watch and Tiff Preview: The Female Directing Masters Playing at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival.
Add to this the upcoming Sundance initiative on women directors that Keri Putnam is heading up (more on that later!) and I am feeling heartened by the consciousness of women, directors and otherwise, out there. That is saying a lot since last season in Cannes with the pathetic number of women directors showing up in the festival and sidebars this past spring.
Here is the Female Factor for Tiff 12 which scores an A in my book:
Gala Presentations - 6 out of 20 = c. 30% which is way above the usual 13% which has been the average up until Cannes upended that with its paltry 2%..2 of these were opening night films.
Mira Nair The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Also showed in Venice. Isa: K5. Picked up for U.S. and Canada by IFC. Shola Lynch Free Angela & All Political Prisoners. Isa: Elle Driver Deepa Mehta Midnight’s Children. Isa: FilmNation already sold to Roadshow for Australia/ N.Z., Unikorea for So. Korea, DeaPlaneta for Spain. Ruba Nadda Inescapable. Isa: Myriad. Canada: Alliance. Liz Garbus Love, Marilyn. Isa: StudioCanal. HBO picked up No. American TV rights. Madman has Australia. Gauri Shinde English Vinglish. Isa: Eros International.
Masters – 0 – Could we say that women directors have not been around that long or shown such longevity as the men? Lina Wertmiller was a long time ago. I don’t even know if she is still alive. Ida Lupino was an anomaly. Who else was there in those early days? Alice Guy-Blaché ?
Special Presentations - 13 out of 70 = 19%
Everybody Has A Plan - Argentina/ Germany/ Spain - Ana Piterbarg - Isa: Twentieth Century Fox International - U.S.: Ld Entertainment, U.K.: Metrodome Lines Of Wellington - Also in Venice, San Sebastian Ff - Portugal - Valeria Sarmiento - Isa: Alfama Films. Germany: Ksm Cloud Atlas--Germany - Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski - Isa: Focus Int'l. - U.S. and Canada: Warner Bros. , Brazil - Imagem, Finland - Future Film, Eastern Europe - Eeap, Germany X Verleih, Greece - Odeon, Iceland - Sensa, India - PVR, So. Korea - Bloomage, Benelux - Benelux Film Distributors, Inspire, Slovenia - Cenemania, Sweden - Noble, Switzerland - Ascot Elite, Taiwan - Long Shong, Turkey - Chantier Inch'allah – Canada - Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette - Isa and Canada: Entertainment One Films Hannah Arendt – Germany – Margarethe von Trotta – Isa: The Match Factory Imogine – U.S. – Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini - Isa: Voltage. U.S.: Lionsgate/ Roadside Attractions acquired from UTA, Netherlands: Independent Ginger and Rosa – U.K. – Sally Potter – Isa: The Match Factory. U.S. contact Cinetic Love is All You Need – Also played in Venice) Denmark – Susanne Bier – Isa: TrustNordisk - U.S. : Sony Pictures Classics, Canada: Mongrel, Australia - Madman, Brazil - Art Films, Bulgaria - Pro Films, Colombia - Babilla Cine, Czech Republic - Aerofilms, Finland - Matila Rohr Nordisk, Germany - Prokino, Hungary - Cirko, Italy - Teodora, Japan - Longride, Poland - Gutek, Portugal - Pepperview Lore – Australia/ Germany/ U.K. – Cate Shortland – Isa: Memento. U.S.: Music Box, France: Memento, Germany - Piffl, Hong Hong - Encore Inlight, So. Korea - Line Tree, Benelux - ABC/ Cinemien, U.K., Artificial Eye Dreams for Sale – Japan – Miwa Nishkawa – Isa: Asmik Ace Stories We Tell – Canada – Sarah Polley - Isa: Nfb. U.K.: Artificial Eye Liverpool – Canada – Marion Briand - Isa: Max Films. Canada: Remstar Venus and Serena – U.S./ U.K. – Michelle Major, Maikin Baird. Producer's Rep: Cinetic
Mavericks - 3 out of 7 “Conversations With” were with women (43%)
Discovery 11 out of 27 = 40% which includes The-Hottest-Public Ticket for the Israeli Film directly below (a Major Buzz Film Among its Public)
Fill the Void by Rama Burshtein, a first-time-ever Hasidic woman director Kate Melville’s Picture Day Alice Winocour Augustine - Isa: Kinology 7 Cajas by Tana Schembori from Paraguay - Isa: Shoreline Gabriela Pichler’s Eat Sleep Die from Sweden, Serbia and Croatia - Isa: Yellow Affair Oy Rola Nashef’s Detroit Unleaded France’s Sylive Michel’s Our Little Differences Contact producer Pallas Film Russian censored film Clip from Serbia by Maja Milos - Isa: Wide sold to Kmbo for France, Maywin for Sweden, Artspoitation for U.S. Satellite Boy by Australian Catriona McKenzie - Isa: Celluloid Dreams/ Nightmares Ramaa Mosley’s The Brass Teapot - Isa: TF1 sold to Magnolia for U.S., Intercontinental for Hong Kong, Cien for Mexico, Vendetta for New Zealand Veteran Korean-American Grace Lee’s Janeane from Des Moines.
Tiff Docs 7 out of 29 = 24% - Women traditionally have directed a greater portion of docs
Christine Cynn (codirector ) The Act of Killing - Isa: Cinephil Janet Tobias No Place on Earth - Isa: Global Screen Sarah Burns (codirector) The Central Park Five Isa: PBS sold to Sundance Select for U.S. Treva Wurmfeld Shepard & Dark - Contact Tangerine Entertainment Nina Davenport First Comes Love - Contact producer Marina Zenovich Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out - Isa: Films Distribution Halla Alabdalla As If We Were Catching a Cobra (Comme si nous attraptions un cobra) about the art of caricature in Egypt and Syria! Halla is Syrian herself, studied science and sociology in Syria and Paris - Isa: Wide
Contemporary World Cinema 11 out of 61 = 18%
Children of Sarajevo by Aida Begic, Sarajevo - Isa: Pyramide Baby Blues by Katarzyna Rostaniec, Poland. Contact producer The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky by Yuki Tanada, Japan - Isa: Toei Comrade Kim Goes Flying by Anja Daelemans (co-director), Belgium/ No. Korea. The first western financed film out of No. Korea Three Worlds by Catherine Corsini, France - Isa: Pyramide sold to Lumiere for Benelux, Pathe for Switzerland Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay, U.S. - Contact Paradigm Talent Agency The Lesser Blessed by Anita Doron, Canada - Isa: eOne Watchtower by Pelin Esmer, Turkey/ France/ Germany- Isa: Visit Films Jackie by Antoinette Beumer, Netherlands - Isa: Media Luna When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir, Palestine,/ Jordan/ Greece All that Matters is Past by Sara Johnsen, Norway- Isa: TrustNordisk
Tiff Kids 0 out of 5. Any meaning to this???
City To City – Mumbai 0 Out Of 10 Any meaning to this???
Vanguard 2 out of 15 = 13% (the average for most festivals)
90 Minutes– Norway – Eva Sorhaug - Isa: Level K Peaches Does Herself – Germany - Peaches. Contact producer. See Indiewire review.
Midnight Madness 0 out of 9 which is fine with me, thank you. This is a boy's genre or a date-night genre for girls and boys with a plan for the night.
- 9/21/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
A Québec native who has lived and studied in the vicinity of the West Bank, director Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette is no stranger to the latent frictions of multiculturalism. Having cut her teeth on a slew of lauded documentaries, Barbeau-Lavalette makes her sophomore foray into the world of fiction features with "Inch'Allah" ("God Willing"). The film, she says, uses the perspective of a young Canadian physician abroad to explore the experience of "the divided population of the West Bank." Chloé, who works in a women's health clinic on the Palestinian side of the border and lives in an apartment on the Israeli side, develops close ties to people in both worlds. Ultimately faced with a choice that carries consequences for each of these twin realities, Chloé is confronted with the absurdity of her impact on struggles that can never really be her own. How did you get involved in features? "I come.
- 9/12/2012
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
Quebecois filmmaker Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette started off as a documentary director, making such features as Les Petits princes des bidonvilles (2000), focusing on young Hondurans growing up in Montreal, and Si j’avais un chapeau (2005), which is about children in Quebec, India, Tanzania and Palestine. In 2007, she progressed to fiction features with The Ring, a coming of age story centering on a 12-year-old in the Montreal neighborhood of Hochelaga. At Tiff 2012, she now premieres her second narrative effort, Inch’Allah, about Chloé (Evelyne Brochu), a 20-something doctor from Quebec, who works at a women’s clinic in Palestine, and gets drawn into the West Bank conflict after becoming close to people on both sides. Filmmaker interviewed Barbeau-Lavalette about her new film, which plays at the festival on Saturday September 8 and Monday September 10.
Filmmaker: How did you come to tell this story? What was inspiration behind it?
Barbeau-Lavalette: I first visited Palestine while...
Filmmaker: How did you come to tell this story? What was inspiration behind it?
Barbeau-Lavalette: I first visited Palestine while...
- 9/8/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
It’s truly amazing to watch how guilt, regret, and sorrow can change the very make-up of your character. It may only be for a brief while, but that moment can impact the lives of many in tragic and devastating ways. This is the portrait of the war-torn area in the Middle East housing Israeli and Palestinian hostilities that writer/director Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette shares in her powerful new film Inch’Allah. A work marked by an unparalleled authenticity through its performances and depictions of the emotional turmoil wrought, we follow a Canadian doctor as she attempts to exist in both worlds. Naively idealistic, Chloé (Evelyne Brochu) believes she can bridge the gap and make a difference. The inevitable reality that the situation will instead change her is a sobering, heartbreaking experience.
Living in Israel, Cholé makes the commute to the Ramallah clinic employing her daily. Close friends with neighbor Ava...
Living in Israel, Cholé makes the commute to the Ramallah clinic employing her daily. Close friends with neighbor Ava...
- 9/7/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
- 8/22/2012
- MUBI
Toronto – On August 8th, in the Imperial Room of The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, the 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival held its Canadian Press Conference. Inside, guests were treated to an assortment of trademark Canadiana, including free beer, cakes, polite conversations and poutine.
Just as you thought the conference couldn’t get more Canadian, Tiff 2012 announced the next wave of hometown content to appear at this year’s festival.
“Through comedy, thrills, drama and suspense, films in the lineup present stories of youth and violence, coming of age, the environment, dysfunctional families, sex and celebrity,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer of the festival.
“From intimate, affecting stories with big impact to films with global scope, the Canadian films in this year’s Festival will move audiences”.
Screenings include:
Antiviral (North American Premiere)
Brandon Cronenberg, USA/Canada
Starring Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith, Malcolm McDowell
An employee at a clinic,...
Just as you thought the conference couldn’t get more Canadian, Tiff 2012 announced the next wave of hometown content to appear at this year’s festival.
“Through comedy, thrills, drama and suspense, films in the lineup present stories of youth and violence, coming of age, the environment, dysfunctional families, sex and celebrity,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer of the festival.
“From intimate, affecting stories with big impact to films with global scope, the Canadian films in this year’s Festival will move audiences”.
Screenings include:
Antiviral (North American Premiere)
Brandon Cronenberg, USA/Canada
Starring Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith, Malcolm McDowell
An employee at a clinic,...
- 8/8/2012
- by Justin Li
- SoundOnSight
In the last major update for the Toronto International Film Festival 2012 slate, they’ve announced their Canadian features. The line-up includes Sarah Polley’s upcoming documentary Stories We Tell, coming off her Take This Waltz this summer (which also premiered at Tiff). The other major films include two we’ve seen at Cannes,one being Brandon Cronenberg‘s Antiviral, which premiered alongside his father’s Cosmopolis. We disliked it (full review), saying it came off as an “an amateurish, high-budget student film.” The other major title is Xavier Dolan‘s Laurence Anyways, which we loved (full review), calling it a major step forward for the filmmaker. Check out the rest of the titles below, which I’m sure will include many discoveries.
Antiviral Brandon Cronenberg, Canada/USA North American Premiere
Syd March is an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans.
Antiviral Brandon Cronenberg, Canada/USA North American Premiere
Syd March is an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans.
- 8/8/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
A year ago in Sundance we interviewed Telefilm Canada’s Carolle Brabant who had taken the reins of Telefilm the previous March. While often the Canadian films are waiting to premiere at Cannes or Toronto. This year the number of upcoming greats which might make it to Cannes include Xavier Dolan’s latest Laurence Anyways (Isa: MK2), and Deepa Mehta’s Midnight's Children, based on a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie that deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It won both the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981 and was awarded the "Booker of Bookers" Prize and the best all-time prize winners in 1993 and 2008 to celebrate the Booker Prize 25th and 40th anniversary. It was also added to the list of Great Books of the 20th Century, published by Penguin Books.
Also coming up is the uncharacteristically quickly produced latest from of David Cronenberg,Cosmopolis, based on Don DeLillo’s novella and starring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, a study of capitalism that takes place in a billionaire’s limo in a slightly futuristic New York metropolis, which since Cannes, Kinology has already presold for Canada to eOne, France to Canal+, Hong Kong to Tomson, Switzerland to Ascot Elite and the Ukraine to Top Film Distribution. 7 other Canadian features are also in the works.
From micro_scope, the producers of Incendies and Monsieur Lazhar (which makes this their second year in a row as an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film) comes ’Inch’Allah directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette and which will star Evelyne Brochu as one of three women in a clinic in Jordan for Palestinian refugees.
The Canadians have already exceeded their Oscar nominations from last year where they had 4 nominations: Incendies for Best Foreign Language Film, Barney’s Version in the Makeup category (Adrien Morot). This year in the Best Foreign Film category, they have 2 films: Monsieur Lazhar and Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness which began as a Polish/ German/ Canadian co-production and received most notably development funds from Telefilm Canada. There was no production financing because to have that the film must be in French, English or Inuit.
They also are proud of Christopher Plummer who has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Howard Shore, nominated for Best Original Score, David Giammarco for Sound Mixing for Moneyball. One of the producers for Beginners is Canadian Miranda de Pencier, born and raised in Toronto. Graduate of Canadian Film Centre. And finally there arer two animated shorts from National Film Board of Canada (Dimanche/ Sunday) from Quebec and The Wild One. All that is missing is any mention of David Cronenberg’s brilliant brainy movie A Dangerous Method (Isa: Hanway).
This Year of the Dragon looks very propitious, even more so because Carolle Brabant herself was born in the Year of the Dragon. Speaking of Chinese, Telefilm Canada is also launching a new initiative with China, China Gateway, which will take place this year at the Whistler Film Festival. Of their 57 co-production treaties the one with China will be emphasized this year.
What a difference a year makes. So much has been accomplished since our interview last year at Sundance. All we need to do now is wait and count the prizes. Inch'Allah, Ojala, Kine-Hora and ptu-ptu-ptu.
Also coming up is the uncharacteristically quickly produced latest from of David Cronenberg,Cosmopolis, based on Don DeLillo’s novella and starring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, a study of capitalism that takes place in a billionaire’s limo in a slightly futuristic New York metropolis, which since Cannes, Kinology has already presold for Canada to eOne, France to Canal+, Hong Kong to Tomson, Switzerland to Ascot Elite and the Ukraine to Top Film Distribution. 7 other Canadian features are also in the works.
From micro_scope, the producers of Incendies and Monsieur Lazhar (which makes this their second year in a row as an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film) comes ’Inch’Allah directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette and which will star Evelyne Brochu as one of three women in a clinic in Jordan for Palestinian refugees.
The Canadians have already exceeded their Oscar nominations from last year where they had 4 nominations: Incendies for Best Foreign Language Film, Barney’s Version in the Makeup category (Adrien Morot). This year in the Best Foreign Film category, they have 2 films: Monsieur Lazhar and Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness which began as a Polish/ German/ Canadian co-production and received most notably development funds from Telefilm Canada. There was no production financing because to have that the film must be in French, English or Inuit.
They also are proud of Christopher Plummer who has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Howard Shore, nominated for Best Original Score, David Giammarco for Sound Mixing for Moneyball. One of the producers for Beginners is Canadian Miranda de Pencier, born and raised in Toronto. Graduate of Canadian Film Centre. And finally there arer two animated shorts from National Film Board of Canada (Dimanche/ Sunday) from Quebec and The Wild One. All that is missing is any mention of David Cronenberg’s brilliant brainy movie A Dangerous Method (Isa: Hanway).
This Year of the Dragon looks very propitious, even more so because Carolle Brabant herself was born in the Year of the Dragon. Speaking of Chinese, Telefilm Canada is also launching a new initiative with China, China Gateway, which will take place this year at the Whistler Film Festival. Of their 57 co-production treaties the one with China will be emphasized this year.
What a difference a year makes. So much has been accomplished since our interview last year at Sundance. All we need to do now is wait and count the prizes. Inch'Allah, Ojala, Kine-Hora and ptu-ptu-ptu.
- 2/10/2012
- by SydneyLevine
- Sydney's Buzz
Yesterday, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (Fnc), which will take place from October 13 to 24, revealed its full line-up of films. Nineteen Canadian feature films and documentaries will be presented. However, don't expect to see all films that were screened at the latest Toronto or Vancouver International Film Festivals.
Opening film:
10 1/2
Director: Daniel Grou (Podz)
Starring: Claude Legault, Robert Naylor and Albert Kwan
International selection
Jo pour Jonathan
Director: Maxime Giroux
Starring: Jean-Sébastien Courchesne, Raphaël Lacaille, Jean-Alexandre Létourneau and Vanessa Pilon
Focus Québec/Canada
A Night for Dying Tigers
Director: Terry Miles
Starring: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyan, Kathleen Robertson, John Pyper-Ferguson, Leah Gibson, Sarah Lind and Jessica Heafey
Affinity Point
Director: Deeh
Starring: Danielle Hubbard, Jason D. Pitre, Sophie Ricard and Yann Faussurier
2 fois une femme
Director: François Delisle
Starring: Evelyne Rompré, Marc Béland and Catherine de Léan
Falardeau (Documentary)
Director: German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia...
Opening film:
10 1/2
Director: Daniel Grou (Podz)
Starring: Claude Legault, Robert Naylor and Albert Kwan
International selection
Jo pour Jonathan
Director: Maxime Giroux
Starring: Jean-Sébastien Courchesne, Raphaël Lacaille, Jean-Alexandre Létourneau and Vanessa Pilon
Focus Québec/Canada
A Night for Dying Tigers
Director: Terry Miles
Starring: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyan, Kathleen Robertson, John Pyper-Ferguson, Leah Gibson, Sarah Lind and Jessica Heafey
Affinity Point
Director: Deeh
Starring: Danielle Hubbard, Jason D. Pitre, Sophie Ricard and Yann Faussurier
2 fois une femme
Director: François Delisle
Starring: Evelyne Rompré, Marc Béland and Catherine de Léan
Falardeau (Documentary)
Director: German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia...
- 9/29/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
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