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| Sarah Gadon stars in Cosmopolis. Courtesy of eOne Films |
As suggested above, there are a few notable omissions on the
Canada’s Top Ten list, but that was inevitable considering what a strong year
it was for our filmmakers. I am surprised that Antiviral didn’t make the list, but I’m not going to grumble since
it wouldn’t have been on my own list of ten. (It’s a good debut nevertheless and
Brandon Cronenberg will surely be on the list soon enough.) I am disappointed
that the some of the films mentioned above didn’t make the list, as well as a
few others that I missed and was hoping to see (ex: Blackbird, Picture Day).
However, those films will certainly appear on my own “Canada’s Top Ten” list in
the coming weeks, and roughly half of the features that appear here will join
them.
As for the shorts, I am excited to see so many new films. I can't really comment on the shorts because I’ve
only seen one of the films included, Bydlo,
and it certainly deserves a spot. I’m a bit disappointed that strong films such
as Frost, Margo Lily, Kali, and Let the Daylight Into the Swamp won’t be
travelling the film circuit—I'm shocked that Frost didn't make the list—but I’ll keep
these shorts in mind for my upcoming lists.
So how does Canada's Top Ten bode well for the Genies? (Forget Oscar predictions, I should guess the Canadian Screen Awards... that's an untapped market!) If you'll recall, four of last year's Best Picture nominees were on the list (Monsieur Lazhar, Café de flore, A Dangerous Method, and Starbuck) while The Whistleblower was not (but it should have, since it was the best Canadian film of last year! Likewise, four out of five films made both lists in 2010: Banrey's Version, Incendies, Les amours imaginaires, and Splice. 10 1/2 did not. (It was never even released here.)
Those odds make it safe to say that the frontrunners are probably Rebelle and Stories We Tell, since they're the most widely loved Canadian films this year. Next in line is probably Laurence Anyways, since Xavier Dolan is bound to win one year and has a lot of passionate support. He did beat both those films at TIFF... (We can also presume that Suzanne Clément is atop the leaderboard for Best Actress, although I would have bet the farm on I Killed My Mother's Anne Dorval to win a few years ago and the film was shut out.) Deepa Mehta has never won either and Midnight's Children is a strong enough project to merit the award. I think MC is in the top five as is its fellow Canuck adaptation Cosmopolis, which should bring Cronenberg into the race for the best Canadian film he's made since 1996's Crash. Finally, I wouldn't count out Still since it's built strong word of mouth and would benefit strongly from the awards.
Overall, though, I think that the panelists chose strong and diverse lists. There is a blend of new and established talent, English and French, and fiction and non-fiction. The features list also includes three films by female directors, as well as a range in onscreen representation and varied stories. All in all, well done TIFF!
Canada’s Top Ten Features, in alphabetical order, are:
Cosmopolis
David Cronenberg (Entertainment One Films)
The End of Time
Peter Mettler (Mongrel Media, National Film
Board)
Goon
Michael Dowse (Alliance Films)
Photo removed due to Google's ludicrous and Draconian censorship.
Laurence Anyways
Xavier Dolan (Alliance Films)
Midnight's Children
Deepa Mehta (Mongrel Media)
Photo removed due to Google's ludicrous and Draconian censorship.
My Awkward Sexual Adventure
Sean Garrity (Phase 4 Films)
Rebelle
Kim Nguyen (Mongrel Media)
Still
Michael McGowan (Mongrel Media)
Stories We Tell
Sarah Polley (Mongrel Media, NFB)
The World Before Her
Nisha Pahuja (KinoSmith)
Canada’s Top Ten shorts, in alphabetical order, are:
Bydlo
Patrick Bouchard (NFB)
Chef de meute (Herd Leader)
Chloé Robichaud
(Locomotion Distribution)
Crackin' Down Hard
Mike Clattenburg
Kaspar
Diane Obomsawin (NFB)
Ne crâne pas sois modeste (Keep a Modest Head)
Deco Dawson
(Microclimat Films Inc.)
Lingo
Bahar Noorizadeh
Malody
Phillip Barker
Old Growth
Tess Girard
Reflexions
Martin Thibaudeau
(Locomotion Distribution)
Paparmane (Wintergreen)
Joëlle Desjardins
Paquette (Locomotion Distribution)
Canada’s Top Ten lists were decided by two panels – one for
features and one for shorts.
The panelists for features:
Barri Cohen – filmmaker, Executive Producer, AllScreen
Entertainment Inc.
Kerri Craddock – Senior Manager of Festival Programming,
TIFF
Paul Ennis – Associate Editor (TheWholeNote.com), film and
music critic, programmer
Matt Galloway – radio host (CBC’s Metro Morning)
Judy Gladstone – Chief Creative Officer, E & E
Productions, and former head of Bravo!FACT
Jacob Tierney – actor and filmmaker (The Trotsky, Good Neighbours)
Elizabeth Yake – Executive Producer (It’s All Gone Pete Tong)
and President, True West Films
The panel for shorts:
Eileen Arandiga – programmer, former festival director for
the Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival
Laura Good – Film Circuit Programming Coordinator, TIFF
Matthew Hays – author and journalist (The Globe and Mail, The
New York Times)
Jennifer Jonas – producer (I’m Yours, Trigger) and
President, New Real Films
Greg Klymkiw – writer, producer and long-time creative
consultant at the CFC
The films in Canada’s Top Ten play in Toronto at TIFF Bell
Lightbox from January 4 to 13, 2013.
(We will let you know if and when CTT
comes to Ottawa!)
For more information, please visit www.tiff.net/topten
