Toronto International Film Fest Unleashes Cinema Onslaught

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 04 September 2012 05:00

Written by Renzo Adler

These days to have a film festival, you need an angle. Press (Tribeca), Prestige (Cannes), general wackiness (Alamo Drafthouse). The Toronto International Film Fest (September 6 – 16, 2012) at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Theater (350 King Street West  Toronto, ON M5V 3X5, Canada) and various other venues,  emphasizes something for everyone. TIFF has more than 300 films from over 60 countries every September.

The scope of this festival is really staggering. Forgeign dramas, animation, family films, horror, genre films, and more fill out TIFF. Trying to find a common element in all these films, other than enthusiastic innovation, is difficult. Films are grouped into categories like Short Cuts Canada, TIFF Kids, TIFF Docs, Masters, Gala Presentations, Vanguard, and Contemporary World Cinema.

Eagerly anticipated is Nick Cassevetes’ (The Notebook) bizarre incest/road-trip movie, Yellow in which a young substitute teacher escapes from her drudging everyday life by fantasizing bizarre parallel realities. Other TIFF films include:

• Fly With Crane
  The second from Chinese director Li Ruijun, is a touching testament to our need to die with dignity.
   
• The Gatekeepers
  In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel's intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel's decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means.
   
• Gangs of Wasseypur: Part One & Two
  Anurag Kashyap's decade-spanning gangster epic chronicles the bloody turf war between two competing criminal families during the tumultuous era of Indian independence and industrialization.
   
• The Last Supper
  Though born a commoner, Liu Bang (Liu Ye) — later to be known as the Son of the Dragon — is destined to become the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. 
   
• The Last Time I Saw Macao
  Part memoir, part city symphony, part noir-ish B-movie adventure, the new feature from critically acclaimed filmmaking duo João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata (To Die Like a Man) is a sensual, shape-shifting ode to one of the world's most mythic, alluring and exoticized cities.

For years Canada has been building up a reputation as a sort of haven for cinema. The TIFF represents that ideal with a focus on bringing new and interesting forms of cinema from as many walks of life, styles, and directors as possible.

To learn more, go to: http://tiff.net

Toronto International Film Festival
September 6 – 16, 2012

TIFF Bell Lightbox Theater
350 King Street West  T
oronto, ON M5V 3X5, Canada

Fantastic Fest Delights and Dismembers at the Alamo

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 31 August 2012 15:23

Written by Renzo Adler

The Alamo Drafthouse (1120 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin TX) is a veritable fortress of cinema decked out in art-deco regalia. Known for attracting both Austin’s eclectic artistic elite and filmmakers the world over, it is also home to Fantastic Fest (September 20 – 27, 2012), America’s largest festival for genre films.

Founded in 2005, making it practically an infant compared to other festivals, it has quickly grown in recognition and has become a hotbed for cult, Asian, horror, and sci-fi/fantasy films like a US counterpart to Canada's Fantasia.

Read more: Fantastic Fest Delights and...

Aspen Filmfest 2012 Heats Up October

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 29 August 2012 17:09

Written by Renzo Adler

The 34th Annual Aspen Filmfest (October 2 -7, 2012) brings together a unique and intimate selection of films. It was recently announced that Ben Affleck’s new dramatic thriller, Argo -- about the secrets behind an Iranian hostage crisis -- will be the closing night feature of the festival.

Established in 1979, the Aspen Filmfest brings together acclaimed films from the Festival de Cannes, Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival at the Wheeler Opera House (320 E Hyman Ave, Aspen CO).

Other films being shown include:

• The Matchmaker
• Like Crazy (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner)
• Building Hope (Conversation with director Turk and Christy Pipkin follows)
• These Amazing Shadows (Conversation with co-director Kurt Norton follows)
• The Women on the 6th Floor
• Wild Horse, Wild Ride (Conversation with directors Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus follows)
• Young Goethe in Love
• Take Shelter
• Hermano
• Somewhere Between
• Romantics Anonymous
• Salt of Life

Continuing a Filmfest tradition, on Friday September 23, there will be a screening of a special mystery film that will not be revealed until the film starts playing.

Says Aspen FilmFest Executive Director Kip Hubbard, "Whether you're a local movie maven or a film loving visitor, what a perfect time to enjoy Aspen Filmfest and all the Roaring Fork Valley has to offer. With fall colors exploding, and some truly astonishing cinema, we're expecting this year's festival to be one of our best ever." 

To learn more, go to http://www.aspenfilm.org/

Aspen Filmfest
October 2 – 7, 2012

The Wheeler Opera House
320 E Hyman Ave
Aspen, CO 81611