Toronto International Film Festival 2012

[Stay Puft]

The road to TIFF '12 starts this week. Cameron Bailey confirmed on twitter that the first batch of films are being announced this coming Tuesday, and on Thursday I have my first volunteer meeting. Hype get.

Info about this year's festival:

The festival dates are September 6 to 16.

The official box office this year is at the Metro Centre (225 King St. W).

This year's focus of the City to City program is Mumbai.

There are two new programs this year:
TIFF Cinematheque (free screenings of restored classics, including the former Canada Open Vault program)
TIFF Docs (formerly Real to Reel)

The newly renovated Bloor Hot Docs Cinema has been added as a new theatre venue for 2012. They probably needed another venue after we lost the Cumberland earlier this year. The theatre closed, much to my sadness. It only had four screens but it was a familiar home on TIFF closing weekends, and played some good films year round (I saw stuff like Summer Hours, Exit Through the Gift Shop and Certified Copy there).

Also announced, the Toronto Asian Film Summit at the new Shangri-La Hotel (I've been walking by the construction site of this building reguarly, don't know when exactly it's supposed to open though), an industry event with the aim of strengthening ties between the film industries in Asia and the West. Jackie Chan has been annouced as the guest of honour, and Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the MPAA, will be speaking at the event.

This probably doesn't mean a damn thing but I really, really want Jackie Chan to have a movie at this year's festival. Like, Chinese Zodiac. You know. I don't think that's terribly realistic but unfortunately he doesn't have any other movies in the pipeline at the moment.

Anyways, who's coming this year?

[Boner M]

I'll be there! Still waiting on news of media accreditation, which it looks like I probably won't receive.

Is it worth applying as a volunteer if that falls through? What are the perks?

[NickGlass]

I'll be there, too--whether it's in a film or simply hanging around Toronto.

Very much looking forward to any announcements; very happy to hear we'll find out more about the selection tomorrow morning.

Ian, I think it may be too late for your sign up as a volunteer--plus, you'd have to attended preparation meetings that you'll probably have to miss (being in NYC and Australia, and all). I don't think the perks are near the level of pass-worthy; perhaps a few free screenings when you're not working.

[Stay Puft]

Yeah, it's too late to register as a volunteer. They usually start that process in May and get swarmed with applications as I understand. And, no, it wouldn't substitute for a press pass.

The perks are good for the average joe, though. You get a reward voucher for each shift including all pre-festival meetings, and these can be redeemed for a few things but most significantly of course is free screenings. As a volunteer, you can also use the reward vouchers to get into press screenings, which certainly helps when you're trying to resolve conflicts with volunteer shifts and screening times for desired films (and that ended up being the only reason I was able to see Headshot last year, since the public screenings were cancelled at the last minute for whatever reason).

I got nine vouchers last year (two meetings and six shifts, one of which was a Midnight Madness shift which nets two vouchers) so that was nine free movies, but in the second half of the festival when screenings are not as busy you can redeem one voucher for multiple tickets for select screenings, so for example I got myself and my roommate into one of the Midnight Madness films midweek using only one voucher. It's also nice if you live in Toronto because you can redeem the vouchers year round at the Lightbox.

[Boner M]

Ahh well, call it Karma for the unlimited passport I was accredited for w/ MIFF (53 films in 12 days, whaaa).

btw, Variety article confirms(?) a dozen titles

[Stay Puft]

Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder," starring Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem

PLEASE GOD

[Raiders]

Malick films released in back-to-back years is surely a sign that the Mayans were right. Five months to live!

[Boner M]

I keep forgetting Weisz and McAdams are in the film. This will be the most aesthetically pleasing of Malick's films, and by extension, all films.

[NickGlass]

I'm not really looking forward to Ben Affleck being the toast of the festival.

[NickGlass]

Malick made it in. Oh boy.

Annnnnd, we're off:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/tif...-film-festival

[number8]

Malick films released in back-to-back years is surely a sign that the Mayans were right. Five months to live!

Or that he believes it and wants to make as many films as possible before he dies. Maybe he's also shot other films cheap and dirty. Come December, we may see Terrence Malick's Paranormal Activity 4.

[Sven]

Ooooooo, new films from Neil Jordan, Chen Kaige, Costa-Gavras, Takeshi Kitano, and Billy Bob Thornton, AND an animated documentary about Graham Chapman.

I'd be excited if I was remotely near Toronto.

[number8]

Son of a bitch, I just realized I missed the press accreditation deadline. AGAIN. I am never going to this festival, am I?

[Stay Puft]

Outrage Beyond. LOL. What a title. Can't fucking wait.

Hoping for a potential Chen Kaige renaissance here, too. His previous film, Sacrifice, is supposed to open in theatres this week. The trailer looks lovely, and Fengyi Zhang is in it (they haven't worked together in over a decade).

[Stay Puft]

Huh. I'm surprised the opening film is Looper and not some milquetoast Canadian movie.

[Pop Trash]

Huh. I'm surprised the opening film is Looper and not some milquetoast Canadian movie.

In fairness, Looper might be some milquetoast American movie.

[Pop Trash]

I'm also surprised that Costa-Gavras is still alive.

[Stay Puft]

You get a reward voucher for each shift including all pre-festival meetings

Oh yeah, for the record (the meeting reminded me), one reward voucher for a short shift (usually 5.5 hours), two for a longer shift (usually seven to eight hours, or a Midnight Madness shift as I said since that requires you to volunteer until 2 or 3am, even though it ends up being only a three or four hour shift). I only did 5.5 hour shifts last year because of my school schedule so I forgot about that. Good deal if you can volunteer during the day. Whether or not my employer keeps me for the overnight shifts in the fall will determine whether or not I can do more this year or will be stuck doing four 5.5 hour shifts on the weekends (which would also royally screw up my ability to attend films this year, but I won't complain; I need the money).

[Stay Puft]

Anyways, next week we get film announcements for the following programs:

TIFF Docs
TIFF Kids
City to City
Midnight Madness

[Stay Puft]

Midnight Madness (copy/paste from the press release):

The ABCs of Death World Premiere
Kaare Andrews, Angela Bettis, Adrián GarcÃ*a Bogliano, Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet, Ernesto DÃ*az Espinoza, Jason Eisener, Xavier Gens, Jorge Michel Grau, Lee Hardcastle, Noboru Iguchi, Thomas Cappelen Malling, Anders Morgenthaler, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Simon Rumley, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Srdjan Spasojevic, Timo Tjahjanto, Andrew Traucki, Nacho Vigalondo, Jake West, Ti West, Ben Wheatley, Adam Wingard, and Yûdai Yamaguchi

Twenty-six directors... 26 ways to die! The ABCs Of Death is perhaps the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived, featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world’s leading talents in contemporary genre film. With each director assigned a letter of the alphabet, they were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving a tale of mortality. It’s an alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by some of the most exciting names in global horror including Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Ti West (House of the Devil), Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Adam Wingard (You're Next), Xavier Gens (Frontieres), and Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes).

Aftershock Nicolás López, USA/Chile World Premiere
In Chile, an American tourist’s vacation goes from good to great when he meets some beautiful women travellers. But when an earthquake ravages the underground nightclub they’re in, a fun night quickly turns to terror. Escaping to the surface is just the beginning as they face nightmarish chaos above ground. Starring Eli Roth and Selena Gomez.

The Bay Barry Levinson, USA World Premiere
A brutal and harrowing film about a deadly parasite, The Bay chronicles the descent of a small Maryland town into absolute terror.

Come Out and Play Makinov, Mexico World Premiere
Beth and Francis vacation before the birth of their child. Francis insists on venturing to a more serene island, Beth hesitantly agrees. They set out to a beautiful island, but soon discover it’s mysteriously abandoned, and the only people on the island are children. Beth and Francis are left to uncover the mystery of the disappearances, and a day in paradise quickly turns into a struggle for survival. Cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vinessa Shaw and Daniel Gimenez Cacho.

Dredd Pete Travis, USA/United Kingdom/India World Premiere
The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later) and director Pete Travis bring the iconic masked police officer Dredd to life in this futuristic neo-noir action film. Filmed in 3D with stunning slow-motion photography sequences, the film returns the celebrated comic book anti-hero to his dark, violent and visceral roots. Starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.

Hellbenders JT Petty, USA World Premiere
Hellbenders, an R-rated 3D exorcism comedy, follows the Order of Hellbound Saints (Brooklyn Parish), a highly secretive and profoundly blasphemous men of God, as they battle demonic forces too terrible to be cast out by traditional Vatican-approved methods. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Robyn Rikoon and Andre Royo.

John Dies at the End Don Coscarelli, USA Canadian Premiere
In John Dies at the End, it’s all about the Soy Sauce, a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly, a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John (Rob Mayes) and David (Chase Williamson), a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't. Adapted from David Wong's audacious trans-genre horror novel, John Dies at the End is written and directed by Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep) and also stars Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti.

The Lords of Salem Rob Zombie, USA/United Kingdom/Canada World Premiere
Heidi, a radio station DJ, receives a wooden box containing a record. Heidi listens and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of Salem's violent past. Is Heidi going mad or are the Lords of Salem returning for revenge on modern day Salem?

No One Lives Ryuhei Kitamura, USA World Premiere
From the director of Versus and The Midnight Meat Train, No One Lives is a smart and original horror movie with, at its heart, a killer in the grip of a dark and twisted love affair. A ruthless criminal gang takes a young couple hostage and goes to ground in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. When the captive girl is killed, the tables are unexpectedly turned. The gang finds itself outsmarted by an urbane and seasoned killer determined to ensure that no one lives. Featuring Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens, Derek Magyar, Lee Tergesen and America Olivo.

Seven Psychopaths Martin McDonagh, USA/United Kingdom World Festival Premiere
Written and Directed by Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh, the comedy Seven Psychopaths follows a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko and Zeljko Ivanek.

[Stay Puft]

TIFF Cinematheque (free screenings of restored classics):

The Bitter Ash Larry Kent, Canada
A landmark in Canadian independent cinema, Larry Kent’s jazzy, Nouvelle Vague–style chronicle of the sexual shenanigans of a young printer returns in a new restoration.

The Cloud Capped Star Ritwik Ghatak, India
A young woman desperately struggles to keep her family out of poverty in this fiercely moving masterpiece by the great, perennially under-recognized Indian auteur Ritwik Ghatak.

Dial M for Murder Alfred Hitchcock, USA
Alfred Hitchcock’s devilish drawing-room thriller, about a retired tennis pro (Ray Milland) who plans the “perfect� murder of his adulterous wife (Grace Kelly), is revived in a new, eye-popping 3D digital restoration.
Loin du Viêtnam Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, France
The legendary, rarely-seen 1967 agit-prop classic from celebrated filmmakers mixes fact and fiction in an angry rebuke to the U.S. war in Vietnam.

Stromboli Roberto Rossellini, Italy/USA
Long circulated in severely truncated or re-edited versions, Roberto Rossellini's once reviled, now revered masterpiece — the first of an epochal trilogy of films starring Ingrid Bergman — returns in this glorious new restoration. Stromboli will be followed by Francesco Patierno’s new documentary, The War of the Volcanoes, the story of one of the biggest jet-set love scandals of all time, between the world’s most famous actress (Ingrid Bergman), the most appreciated director by Hollywood of his time (Roberto Rossellini) and Italy’s most beloved actress (Anna Magnani).

Tess Roman Polanski, France/United Kingdom
Roman Polanski’s gorgeous, sweeping version of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles returns in a 4K digital restoration.

[Stay Puft]

TIFF Kids:

Ernest & Célestine Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier, France/Belgium/Luxembourg North American Premiere
Giant bears and tiny mice don’t tend to mingle much, but when Ernest and Célestine cross paths, the two become inseparable friends and embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

Finding Nemo 3D Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, USA/Australia World Premiere
Academy Award-winning film Finding Nemo returns to the big screen in thrilling Disney Digital 3D™ for the first time ever. Teeming with memorable comedic characters and heartfelt emotion, this stunning underwater adventure follows the momentous journey of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his young son Nemo (Alexander Gould) –– who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from his ocean home to a fish tank in a dentist’s office. Buoyed by the companionship of Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic effort to rescue his son –– who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home.

Hotel Transylvania Genndy Tartakovsky, USA World Premiere
Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world’s most famous monsters — Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more — to celebrate his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem — but his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis. A considerable portion of animation on Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania was completed out of the newly-expanded Sony Pictures Imageworks’ offices in Vancouver.

Igor & the Cranes' Journey Evgeny Ruman, Israel/Poland/Germany World Premiere
During his involuntary migration from Russia to Israel, 11-year-old Igor faces many challenges, just like the baby crane Igor observed hatching while he was still together

[Stay Puft]

Vanguard (films that - supposedly - defy convention and ride on the pulse of cutting edge cinema):

90 Minutes Eva Sørhaug, Norway World Premiere
Director Eva Sørhaug (Cold Lunch) reveals the rage and violence lurking beneath seemingly tranquil domesticity in her bold and uncompromising sophomore feature.

Beijing Flickers Zhang Yuan, China World Premiere
Beneath Beijing's dazzling economic boom exists the downtrodden and the forgotten “little� people who bear the weight of life's trials and injustices.

Berberian Sound Studio Peter Strickland, United Kingdom North American Premiere
Set in 1976: Gilderoy is hired to orchestrate the sound mix for the latest film by Italian horror maestro, Santini. As time and realities shift, Gilderoy is lost in a spiral of sonic and personal mayhem, and has to confront his own demons in order to stay afloat.

Blondie Jesper Ganslandt, Sweden North American Premiere
Three sisters, all adrift and in crisis, reunite at their childhood home as their domineering mother arranges a big birthday. But as the festivities come to an end, repressed conflicts rise to the surface. Old wounds are opened and a new family is born.

Here Comes the Devil Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Mexico/Argentina World Premiere
On a family vacation, a couple’s son and daughter disappear while exploring a cave-riddled mountainside. The children eventually return home seemingly unharmed, but are withdrawn and devoid of emotion. The parents fear they have fallen prey to something inhuman — and that this dark evil has come home with them.

iLL Manors Ben Drew, United Kingdom International Premiere
iLL Manors is the highly anticipated directorial debut by pioneering British music artist Ben Drew (a.k.a. Plan B). A unique crime thriller set on the unforgiving streets of London, iLL Manors follows six disparate lives, all struggling to survive the circles of violence that engulf them. Narratively linked through original music from Plan B, the film is a visually stunning and emotionally impactful experience laced with street-wise humour. The film’s soundtrack just topped the U.K.’s album chart.

Motorway Soi Cheang, Hong Kong North American Premiere
A cocky young cop on the city's top-secret, high-speed pursuit squad must learn the tricks of the trade from a grizzled veteran (Hong Kong action star Anthony Wong) as he prepares to take down a getaway driver in this super-charged, high-octane thriller from Hong Kong action auteur Soi Cheang (Accident) and legendary producer Johnnie To.

Painless Juan Carlos Medina, Spain/France/Portugal World Premiere
At the dawn of the Spanish civil war, a group of children insensitive to pain is locked in a sanatorium in the heart of the Pyrénées. In the present day, brilliant neurosurgeon David Martel discovers that he has a tumor and starts searching for his biological parents, in order to get the bone marrow transplant necessary for his survival. During his quest, he will exhume terrifying secrets about his origins, reanimate ghosts of his country and confront Berkano, the only fateful survivor of the insensitive children. From the writer of [Rec].

Peaches Does Herself Peaches, Germany World Premiere
On the advice of a 65-year-old stripper, Peaches makes music that is sexually forthright. Her popularity grows and she becomes what her fans expect her to be: transsexual. She falls in love with a beautiful she-male, but Peaches gets her heart broken and has to realize who she really is. Described as an anti-jukebox musical. Peaches writes, directs and plays the role of Peaches herself.

Pusher Luis Prieto, United Kingdom North American Premiere
As edgy and explosive as Nicolas Winding Refn’s (Drive) 1996 cult classic, this English language remake tells the story of a week in the life of Frank, a big time drug pusher in London. Frank’s life is a fun-filled rollercoaster ride that spins out of control. Friendships start to vanish, there is no longer room for love within his life, and violence takes over. Danger and chaos ensue, and eventually Frank is left with no one to turn to and nowhere to go.

Room 237 Rodney Ascher, USA Canadian Premiere
Room 237 fuses fact and fiction through interviews with ardent fans convinced they have decoded Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining’s secret messages regarding genocide, government conspiracy, and the nightmare that we call history. Ideas of five devotees of the film are braided together in a kaleidoscopic deconstruction of the horror classic.

Sightseers Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom North American Premiere
Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way: on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford caravan. Erotic odyssey... Killing spree... Caravanning holiday... The trip taken by Tina and Chris in Sightseers is all these things and more.

Thale Aleksander Nordaas, Norway Canadian Premiere
Two crime-scene cleaners discover a mythical, tailed female creature in a concealed cellar. She never utters a word, unable to tell her story, but the pieces of the puzzle soon come together: she's been held captive for decades for reasons soon to surface.

The We and the I Michel Gondry, USA North American Premiere
It’s the last day of the year at a high school in the Bronx, and students pile on to the usual bus home. The raucous bunch of aggressive and superficial teens — the bullies and the bullied — develops and is transformed as the bus empties. Relationships become closer and more personal between students with absolutely nothing in common.

[Stay Puft]

And copy/paste-ing the TIFF Docs selections will probably be absurd (there are a lot) so here's a link to the press release:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1343746449

And here are the films in the City to City program:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1343746436

And that's all the film announcements for today.

[Boner M]

Denis Cote's Bestiaire is the only title in Wavelengths at the moment... seeing it at MIFF next week, can't wait.

Visionary filmmaker Denis Côté (Curling) offers a strikingly beautiful contemplation of the caged denizens of a zoo in this intriguing cinematic inquiry into the mysterious rapport and inseperable gulf between animals and humans.