Short Film 'Wakening' to Precede 'The Fifth Estate' at TIFF 2013

TIFF opener The Fifth Estate will be joined by the short Wakening

Hot on the heels of this afternoon’s Short Cuts Canada programming announcement comes a major addition to the presence of short films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. It was announced today that TIFF would kick-off with the unprecedented inclusion of the first independently produced short film to launch TIFF’s public opening night gala screening. That film is the bravoFACT funded short Wakening, directed by Danis Goulet and written by Orphan Black’s Tony Elliott. Wakening will screen before the WikiLeaks drama The Fifth Estate, directed by Bill Condon and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Brühl, which nabbed the prestigious opening night slot.

Wakening is a fitting selection to mark the opening night of TIFF 2013, which will see The Fifth Estate screen to the public in the VISA Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre before its gala presentation at Roy Thomson Hall, as it is a part of the commemorative Stage to Screen project marking the 100th anniversary of the Toronto landmark The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, both of which serve as TIFF screening venues. Stage to Screen was created by The Ontario Heritage Trust and producer Glen Wood of ViDDYWELL FiLMS. Wakening and the five other selected films from Stage to Screen were tasked with the mission of incorporating the unique character of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres into a film. All screenings at The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres will include a thirty-second teaser for the Stage to Screen shorts, which invites TIFFgoers to view the shorts online at bravofact.com. Joining Wakening are shorts by some of TIFF’s most notable short filmmakers of recent years, including Jeremy Ball (Frost, TIFF 2012) and Nadia Litz (How to Rid Your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused by You!, TIFF 2010). Three other Stage to Screen shorts screen as part of the Short Cuts Canada programme: Method by Gregory Smith, Pilgrims by Marie Clements, and Sam’s Formalwear by Yael Staav.

The six Stage to Screen shorts are:

THE ARCHIVIST

(Jeremy Ball, British Columbia)

A young assistant projectionist investigates a series of mysterious disappearances at the cinema where he works.

THE GOOD ESCAPE

(Nadia Litz, Ontario)

Set in a time when the movie house was a place of escape and dreams, a criminal takes a break in a theatre audience.

SILENT GARDEN

(Dylan Reibling, Ontario)

A silent film set against the backdrop of popular entertainment’s tumultuous transition from live vaudeville performances to silent film projections.

TINY DANCER

(Doug Karr, Nova Scotia)

The young daughter of a tiny family that lives in the Winter Garden Theatre longs to dance on the big stage.

WAKENING

(Danis Goulet, Ontario)

An ancient aboriginal myth told as a post-apocalyptic story, set in the Winter Garden Theatre.

WINTER GARDEN 

(Alex Epstein, Quebec)

A wildly successful playwright desperately tries to renegotiate a deal he made for his success.

The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival opens September 5^th.

Please check www.tiff.net for final show times and screening info.