Toronto Film Fest: A Lot to Look Forward to

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 03 September 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is running September 8 - 18, 2011 at AMC Yonge-Dundas 24, TIFF Bell Lightbox and The Princess of Wales Theater, as well as other venues, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TIFF is one of the premiere film festivals in the world, having evolved from its beginning in 1976 as a collection of films from other festivals -- a "festival of festivals". Throughout its history, TIFF has never wavered in its primary objectives: "to lead the world in cultural and creative discovery through the moving image, and to place Canadian achievements in an international context."

TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world through film.

Some of the onstage conversations with Festival Mavericks are:

Christopher Plummer – Moderator: Atom Egoyan
Plummer is considered "the greatest actor Canada has ever produced, as well as one of the finest classical actors of his generation." In 1996, he "took on a role...that would come to define him: John Barrymore, another actor of towering stature". The play, William Luce‛s Barrymore, is now a film directed by Erik Canuel and is having its world premiere at the Festival.  

Tilda Swinton
"Passionate cinephile and controversial movie star Tilda Swinton is the epitome of what we mean by the word ‛Maverick.‛" In addition to her phenomenal performances, Swinton "has produced several exceptional films, including I Am Love, ... "and is executive producer of We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay’s startling new work based on a book once thought unadaptable."

Francis Ford Coppola
From his start as a screenwriter for Roger Corman to his larger-than-life status as a living cinematic legend, Coppola almost needs no further introduction. His latest film, Twixt, premieres at the Festival.

Special Presentations include:

The Lady
dir. Luc Besson
starring Michele Yeoh, David Thewlis, William Hope
Finally, someone has filmed a drama memorializing the struggle of Burma‛s pro-democracy activist, leader, Nobel Prize winner -- and political prisoner -- Aung San Suu Kyi. As much a love story as a political saga, the story is as inspiring in life as it is on film.

Anonymous
dir. Roland Emmerich
starring Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Rafe Spall, Derek Jacobi
Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? Francis Bacon? Christopher Marlowe? Or was it Edward de Vere? Emmerich weaves the mystery in with the Essex Rebellion as he creates the precarious, even dangerous, world of politics that was the Elizabethan court.

Coriolanus
dir. Ralph Fiennes
starring Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Gerard Butler, Jessica Chastain
For his directorial debut, Fiennes chose the Shakespeare play that not only was one of his greatest stage triumphs, but also has never before been put onscreen. A portrayal of war as a "fitting human drama," the play is now set in contemporary Europe, with mass media as a contributing device.

Albert Nobbs
dir. Rodrigo García
starring Glenn Close (who co-wrote), Mia Wasikowska, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Brendan Gleeson, Aaron Johnson
An adaptation of the play about a 19th-century Irishwoman who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler for twenty years. Based on the short story The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs by George Moore, the adaptation is a collaboration by Close with Booker Prize-winning author John Banville.

The Skin I Live In / La Piel Que Habito
dir. Pedro Almodóvar
starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, Roberto Álamo, Blanca Suárez, Eduard Fernández
Almodóvar and Banderas are together again after 21 years in this thriller about a plastic surgeon who creates a new kind of synthetic skin and uses his worst enemy as a guinea pig.

Page Eight
dir. David Hare
starring Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Judy Davis
"An MI5 agent has learned to keep his observational skills perpetually operational. However, a top secret document containing unsavoury revelations about compromises made by Britain’s government will push his professional abilities, as well as his integrity, to their limits."

Violet & Daisy
dir. Geoffrey Fletcher
starring Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel, James Gandolfini, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Danny Trejo
Two teenage assassins expect business as usual on their latest assignment -- but it does not work out that way.

Intruders
dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
starring Clive Owen, Carice Van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala, Ella Purnell, Izán Corchero
Not just a horror film, but an "intense psychological drama" the director takes to whole other levels, as a man‛s 13-year-old daughter is terrorized by an unseen intruder.

Almayer's Folly / La Folie Almayer
dir. Chantal Akerman
starring Stanislas Merhar, Aurora Marion, Marc Barbé
Joseph Conrad’s 1895 debut novel is transposed to the 1950s. A Dutch trader living in Malaysia dreams of a Western life for his Malay daughter -- a dream that degenerates into destruction.

Billy Bishop Goes to War
dir. Barbara Willis-Sweete
starring Eric Peterson with writer/composer John Gray
An aged Billy Bishop recounts the triumphs and horrors of "the war to end all wars" using 18 different characters to share stories, memories, and songs. Based on Canada's greatest WWI flying ace, this film is the cinematic outgrowth of a highly successful one-man play that has received acclaim for over 30 years.

Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
dir. Bruce Beresford
starring Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener,  Elizabeth Olsen, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyle MacLachlan
A conservative lawyer splits with her husband and takes her two teenage children to meet their estranged, eccentric grandmother -- the mother she has not seen in 20 years.

And some new documentaries are:

Pink Ribbons, Inc.
dir. Léa Pool
The film addresses "the industry and "culture" around breast cancer with the rise of corporate involvement in fund-raising for charities and the impact it has had on research into the disease." The story is far from rosy.

Into the Abyss
dir. Werner Herzog
The cinematic Elder Statesman shifts gears once again as this time he tackles the saga of a triple murder in Texas with the perpetrators on death row. Eschewing his own voice-over narration for incisive questions, Herzog, against corporal punishment, interviews a wide cross-section of American humanity and lets the answers speak for themselves.

Comic-Con: Episode IV - A Fan's Hope
dir. Morgan Spurlock
Spurlock follows fans to San Diego Comic-Con, where he examines the passion of the fans and interviews Stan Lee, Joss Whedon, Frank Miller and Matt Groening, among others. "For fans weary of being mocked and misunderstood, this film is a hope come true."

This is only a sample of the quality and range to be found at TIFF. Regarded by many as " the leading public film festival in the world", this Festival definitely delivers.

For more information, go to tiff.net.

Toronto International Film Festival
September 8 - 18, 2011

AMC Yonge-Dundas 24
10 Dundas Street East, 4th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Isabel Bader Theatre
93 Charles Street West

Jackman Hall
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West

The Princess of Wales Theatre
300 King Street West

Roy Thomson Hall
60 Simcoe Street

Ryerson Theatre
43 Gerrard Street East

Scotiabank Theatre
259 Richmond Street West

TIFF Bell Lightbox
Reitman Square
350 King Street West

VISA Screening Room
Elgin Theatre
189 Yonge Street

The Winter Garden Theatre
189 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

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