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Bruce Sweeney's Kingsway is among the notable Canadian premieres TIFF |
The
TIFF Canadian line-up is and it’s…a bit underwhelming. There’s some good stuff,
to be sure, like the documentaries including the World Premieres of Rob
Stewart’s Sharkwater: Extinction and Igor Drljaca’s The Stone
Speakers. (Readmore about the docs at POV.) But, beyond those titles, TIFF might have been
smart to reserve some of the four Canadian films announced last week, like
Patricia Rozema’s Moutpiece and Don McKellar’s Through Black Spruce for today. They’re doing the media line,
anyways, and are bound to dominate the coverage.
Arcand
might be an early favourite to rep Canada at the Oscars after nabbing our lone
win 15 years ago—especially since the American empire has fallen spectacularly—in
a year that has yet to produce much of a viable contender. He’ll have to outshine Maxime Giroux,
who previously repped Canada with Felix
and Meira and returns to TIFF with The
Great Darkened Days. Also coming from Quebec is Sébastien
Pilote’s The Fireflies Are Gone,
which was well received at Karlovy Vary this summer, and Renée Beaulieu’s Les Salopes or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure
of Skin featuring Les Affamés MVP Brigitte Poupart.
World
premiering is The Grizzlies, the
feature directorial debut of Beginners producer
Miranda de Pencier, which was originally slated to open theatrically the last
week of August… Festival veterans
Bruce Sweeney and Thom Fitzgerald return with Kingsway and Splinters,
respectively, and should provide worthwhile no frills tickets outside the glitzier
parts of the festival.
Also
of note is Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around
Here, which gives a lead performance to recent Academy invitee Tantoo
Cardinal, and Faust, an experimental
feature from Andrea Bussmann, who continues to do some of the most interesting
and challenging work on the scene.
On
the shorts front, Oscar winners Alison Snowden and David Fine are back with Animal Behaviour and Patrick Bouchard
lands with his Cannes hit The Subject.
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson will unveil Accidence, a not-to-miss event after their Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton was the best Canadian film at TIFF
2015 even if it was only playing on a TV near the bathroom at the Lightbox. New
works by Caroline Monnet, Matthew Hannam, Sophy Romvari, Sofia Bohdanowicz, and
Lina Rodriguex are other immediate highlights on the shorts front.
Notably
absent is Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which is
sure to be the talking point of the Canadian presser for the second year in a
row.
Here
are the Canadian features coming to TIFF:
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS*
Anthropocene
Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier,
Edward Burtynsky | Canada | World Premiere
The Fall of the American Empire
Denys Arcand | Canada | Toronto Premiere
The Grizzlies
Miranda de Pencier | Canada
World
Premiere
* Previously announced Canadian features
at the Festival include Keith Behrman’s Giant Little Ones (Special Presentation),
Kim Nguyen’s The Hummingbird Project (Special Presentation), Patricia
Rozema’s MOUTHPIECE (Opening Special Presentation), and Don McKellar’s Through
Black Spruce (Special Presentation).
SPECIAL EVENT
Sharkwater Extinction
ob Stewart | Canada | World Premiere
TIFF DOCS
Carmine Street Guitars
Ron Mann | Canada | North American
Premiere
Prosecuting Evil: The
Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz
Barry Avrich | Canada | World Premiere
What is Democracy?
Astra Taylor | Canada | North American
Premiere
DISCOVERY
Clara
Akash Sherman | Canada | World Premiere
Edge of the Knife
Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown | Canada | World
Premiere
Firecrackers
Jasmin Mozaffari | Canada | World Premiere
Freaks
Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein | Canada | World
Premiere
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
Falls Around Her
Darlene Naponse | Canada | World Premiere
The Fireflies Are Gone
Sébastien Pilote | Canada | North
American Premiere
The Great Darkened Days
Maxime Giroux | Canada | World Premiere
Kingsway
Bruce Sweeney | Canada | World Premiere
Les Salopes or the
Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin
Renée Beaulieu | Canada | World
Premiere
Splinters
Thom Fitzgerald | Canada | World
Premiere
WAVELENGTHS
Fausto
Andrea Bussmann | Canada/Mexico | North
American Premiere
The
Stone Speakers
Igor Drljača | Canada/Bosnia and
Herzegovina | World Premiere
TIFF runs Sept. 6 to 16.
Stay tuned for more coverage!