Toronto International Film Festival 2013

[Stay Puft]

Sept. 5 to 15, 2013. Less than two months to go!

I've started seeing ads for it around town (those lamp post banners on University, etc.), packages are on sale, and the first set of films (galas and special presentations) are being announced tomorrow morning. Also, my first volunteer meeting is this Thursday.



I may even be able to get time off from work this year to actually enjoy the festival. Fingers crossed.

[Winston*]

Wellington International Film Festival starts this Friday.

[B-side]

I'll be there. My first time leaving the country. I'm sure you're all super eager to meet me, but my celebrity status belies a rather mundane existence.

[Stay Puft]

I totally missed this but they actually announced the first film back in May.

World Premiere of Godfrey Reggio's VISITORS. The first screening is Sunday, Sept. 8 at 6pm @ the Elgin. This screening will be presented in 4k digital and feature live musical accompaniment by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, performing the film's Philip Glass score. The event will be presented by Steven Soderbergh.

This is going to sell out so goddamn fast. Wow.

[Stay Puft]

Here we go!


GALAS

American Dreams in China (Peter Ho-Sun Chan)
The Art of the Steal (Jonathan Sobol)
August: Osage County (John Wells)
Cold Eyes (Choi Ui-seok and Kim Byung-seo)
The Fifth Estate (Bill Condon) - TIFF Opening Night Film
The Grand Seduction (Don McKellar)
Kill Your Darlings (John Krokidas)
Life of Crime (Daniel Schechter) - TIFF Closing Night Film
The Love Punch (Joel Hopkins)
The Lunchbox (Ritesh Batra)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Justin Chadwick)
Parkland (Peter Landesman)
The Railway Man (Jonathan Teplitzky)
The Right King of Wrong (Jeremiah Chechik)
Rush (Ron Howard)
Shuddh Desi Romance (Maneesh Sharma)
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (Mike Myers)


SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
All is By My Side (John Ridley)
Attila Marcel (Sylvain Chomet)
Bad Words (Jason Bateman)
Belle (Amma Asante)
Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche)
Burning Bush (Agnieszka Holland)
Can a Song Save Your Life? (John Carney)
Cannibal (Manuel MartÃ*n Cuenca)
Dallas Buyers Club (Jean-Marc Vallée)
Devil's Knot (Atom Egoyan)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her (Ned Benson)
Dom Hemingway (Richard Shepard)
Don Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
The Double (Richard Ayoade)
Enough Said (Nicole Holofcener)
Exit Marrakech (Caroline Link)
Felony (Matthew Saville)
For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (Jasmila Žbanić)
Gloria (Sebastián Lelio)
Going Away (Nicole Garcia)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino)
Half of a Yellow Sun (Biyi Bandele)
Hateship Loveship (Liza Johnson)
Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski)
L'intrepido (Gianni Amelio)
The Invisible Woman (Ralph Fiennes)
Joe (David Gordon Green)
Labor Day (Jason Reitman)
Like Father, Like Son (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Man of Tai Chi (Keanu Reeves)
MARY Queen of Scots (Thomas Imbach)
Mystery Road (Ivan Sen)
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt)
Omar (Hany Abu-Assad)
One Chance (David Frankel)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch)
The Past (Asghar Farhadi)
Philomena (Stephen Frears)
Pioneer (Erik Skjoldbjærg)
Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve)
Quai d'Orsay (Bertrand Tavernier)
REAL (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Starred Up (David Mackenzie)
Third Person (Paul Haggis)
Those Happy Years (Daniele Luchetti)
Tracks (John Curran)
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
Violette (Martin Provost)
Visitors (Godfrey Reggio)
Walesa. Man of Hope. (Andrzej Wajda)
We are the Best! (Lukas Moodysson)
Le Week-End (Roger Michell)
You Are Here (Matthew Weiner)
Young and Beautiful (François Ozon)

[Stay Puft]

I'm excited to see the new Kiyoshi Kurosawa, but disappointed that over the last few months the title has been whittled down from The Day of the Real, Perfect Plesiosaur to just Real. Oh well.

[Boner M]

I think I'll only have enough for a 10-pass this year, unless I land the work I've applied for (fingers crossed!) In that case I'll probably book Night Moves, Under the Skin, Blue is the Warmest Color and maybe REAL of the announced titles so far.

I'm more excited by the Locarno lineup announced a few days ago, and hope a bunch of it makes its way here (New Albert Serra, yo!)

[Raiders]

Love that lineup, but alas as always, I have no hope of going. Honestly, half of the Special Presentation titles I am anxious to see.

[Stay Puft]

(New Albert Serra, yo!)

Yeah I'm excited for that one. His previous have played TIFF so I imagine it should make its way here.

[Boner M]

Venice lineup announced, lots of titles that'll hopefully head to TIFF (Tsai, Garrel, Wiseman, Wang Bing, Ti West...)

[Stay Puft]

A new Tsai! Yay!

...but where's Hou Hsiao-hsien? You promised, Boner.

[Boner M]

I don't even know if the Hou exists anymore.

[Ezee E]

Steven Knight returns only a few months after his first directorial effort "Hummingbird" with "Locke," a thriller starring Tom Hardy and shot in one take

Interested.

[Stay Puft]

Just got back from my volunteer meeting. TIFF has lost another venue! The AMC theatre at YDS (which is actually a Cineplex now anyways) is no longer a festival partner. That was one of its biggest venues, too. Crazy. So many good festival memories there.

To compensate, though, the Scotiabank theatre is now an exclusive TIFF venue, which is pretty neat (and equally crazy - although I assume TIFF is not using its IMAX screen, so that should remain open to the public).

[Russ]

Somebody please let me know if Ayoade's The Double is worth seeing.

Sidenote: I had no idea he was voicing in The Boxtrolls movie.

[Stay Puft]

Lots of announcements this week...

First up, the 25th anniversary edition of Midnight Madness. Hitoshi Matsumoto returns to TIFF!
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375188384

Afflicted (Derek Lee and Clif Prowse)
All Cheerleaders Die (Lucky McKee) - Opening Night Film
Almost Human (Joe Begos)
The Green Inferno (Eli Roth)
Oculus (Mike Flanagan)
R100 (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
Rigor Mortis (Juno Mak)
The Station (Marvin Kren)
Why Don't You Play in Hell? (Sion Sono)

[Stay Puft]

Next up, Vanguard films - the bold and bodacious (as per the press release, not my own words):
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375194314

Blue Ruin (Jeremy Saulnier)
Borgman (Alex van Warmerdam)
Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari (Alexey Fedorchenko)
The Fake (Yeon Sang-ho)
Horns (Alexandre Aja)
People in Places (Juan Cavestany)
Proxy (Zack Parker)
The Sacrament (Ti West)
Sapi (Brillante Mendoza)
Sex, Drugs & Taxation (Christoffer Boe)
Soul (Chung Mong-hong)
The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani)
Thou Gild’st the Even (Onur Ãœnlü)
We Gotta Get Out of This Place (Simon Hawkins and Zeke Hawkins)

[Stay Puft]

And now the TIFF Cinematheque program, comprised of seven restored classics:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375194277

Shivers (David Cronenberg) - digital restoration
Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis) - 35mm restored print
An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu) - digital restoration
Manila in the Claws of Light (Lino Brocka) - 4k restoration
Rome Open City (Roberto Rossellini) - press release just says restoration
Hiroshima mon amour (Alain Resnais) - 4k restoration
Le Joli Mai (Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme) - digital restoration

[Stay Puft]

And here come the documentaries!
With the notice that other docs will be announced later outside of the TIFF Docs program.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375194193

A Story of Children and Film (Mark Cousins)
Ain't Misbehavin' (Marcel Ophüls)
At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman)
Beyond the Edge (Leanne Pooley)
Burt's Buzz (Jody Shapiro)
The Dark Matter of Love (Sarah McCarthy)
The Dog (Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren)
Faith Connections (Pan Nalin)
Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story (Barry Avrich)
Finding Vivian Maier (John Maloof and Charlie Siskel)
Hi-Ho Mistahey! (Alanis Obomsawin)
Ignasi M. (Ventura Pons)
Jodorowsky's Dune (Frank Pavich)
The Last of the Unjust (Claude Lanzmann)
The Mayor (Emiliano Altuna Fistolera)
Midway (Chris Jordan)
Mission Congo (David Turner and Lara Zizic)
The Square (Jehane Noujaim)
Tim's Vermeer (Teller)
The Unknown Known (Errol Morris)
Unstable Elements (Madeleine Sackler)
When Jews Were Funny (Alan Zweig)

[Stay Puft]

And finally here are the ten films from the City to City program.
This year's focus is on Athens, Greece.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375194244

The Daughter (Thanos Anastopoulos)
The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas (Elina Psykou)
J.A.C.E. – Just Another Confused Elephant (Menelaos Karamaghiolis)
Miss Violence (Alexandros Avranas)
September (Penny Panayotopoulou)
Standing Aside, Watching (Yorgos Servetas) - Opening Night Film
To the Wolf (Aran Hughes and Christina Koutsospyrou)
Unfair World (Filippos Tsitos)
Wasted Youth (Argyris Papadimitropoulos and Jan Vogel)
Wild Duck (Yannis Sakaridis)

[Gamblor]

A Story of Children and Film is excellent.

[Stay Puft]

Oh yeah they announced the Canadian films this week. Try not to get too excited. Lord knows I couldn't control myself.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375983408

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Enemy (Denis Villeneuve)
The F Word (Michael Dowse)
Gabrielle (Louise Archambault)
The Husband (Bruce McDonald)
Tom at the Farm (Xavier Dolan)
Watermark (Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky)

DISCOVERY
All the Wrong Reasons (Gia Milani)
Rhymes for Young Ghouls (Jeff Barnaby)
Sarah Prefers to Run (Chloé Robichaud)

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
A Journey (Catherine Martin)
The Animal Project (Ingrid Veninger)
Cinemanovels (Terry Miles)
Le Démantèlement (Sébastien Pilote)
The Dick Knost Show (Bruce Sweeney)
Empire of Dirt (Peter Stebbings)
Siddharth (Richie Mehta)
Stay (Wiebke von Carolsfeld)

VANGUARD
Asphalt Watches (Seth Scriver and Shayne Ehman)
Gerontophilia (Bruce LaBruce)

MASTERS
Triptych (Robert Lepage and Pedro Pires)

[Stay Puft]

And here are the Canadian short films:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1375891031

Also, the tofilmfest website finally went live and has apparently leaked some unannounced films:
http://tofilmfest.ca/films/?by=Annou...=05Aug&yr=2013

New films from Catherine Breillat and Claire Denis in the Masters program!
Also Cristi Puiu's latest in the Wavelengths program, along with a Ben Rivers x Ben Russell collaboration (sure to make a-g fans all hot and bothered).

[Stay Puft]

Yo the Wavelengths lineup is off the chain this year:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1376413344

Traditional Wavelengths programs:

Wavelengths 1: Variations On...
Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper (David Rimmer)
Pop Takes (Luther Price)
Airship (Kenneth Anger)
El Adios Largos (Andrew Lampert)
The Realist (Scott Stark)

Wavelengths 2: Now & Then
Instants (Hannes Schüpbach)
Pepper's Ghost (Stephen Broomer)
Man in Motion, 2012 (Christophe M. Saber, Ruben Glauser and Max Idje)
Flower (Naoko Tasaka)
Constellations (Helga Fanderl)

Wavelengths 3: Farther Than the Eye Can See
Farther Than the Eye Can See (Basma Alsharif)
Main Hall (Philipp Fleischmann)
45 7 Broadway (Tomonari Nishikawa)
Bann (Nina Könnemann)
Dry Standpipe (Wojciech Bakowski)
Gowanus Canal (Sarah J. Christman)
Nefandus (Carlos Motta)

Wavelengths 4: Elysium
Trissákia 3 (Nick Collins)
Brimstone Line (Chris Kennedy)
Listening to the Space in my Room (Robert Beavers)
Mount Song (Shambhavi Kaul)
Natpwe, the feast of the spirits (Tiane Doan na Champassak and Jean Dubrel)

And then there is also a collection of:

Medium Length Films
Un conte de Michel de Montaigne (Jean-Marie Straub)
The King's Body (Jõao Pedro Rodrigues)
Redemption (Miguel Gomes)
A Thousand Suns (Mati Diop)
Letter to a Refusing Pilot (Akram Zaatari)
Song (Nathaniel Dorsky)
Spring (Nathaniel Dorsky)
Three Lanscapes (Peter Hutton)

And finally a slate of features (originally, this would have been the separate Visions program):

Feature Length Films
A Field in England (Ben Wheatley)
A Spell to Ward off the Darkness (Ben Rivers and Ben Russell)
I'm the same, I'm an other (Caroline Strubbe)
La ultÃ*ma pelÃ*cula (Raya Martin and Mark Peranson) [preceded by RP31 (Lucy Raven)]
MANAKAMANA (Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez)
Pays Barbare (Yvervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi)
Story of My Death (Albert Serra)
Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-Liang)
The Battle of Tabatô (Joao Viana) [preceded by The Disquiet (Ali Cherri)]
The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh)
The Police Officer's Wife (Philip Gröning)
The Strange Little Cat (Ramon Zürcher)
'Til Madness Do Us Part (Wang Bing)
Three Interpretation Exercises (Cristi Puiu)

[Stay Puft]

Also announced today: The remaining Galas and Special Presentations!
http://s3.amazonaws.com/tiff-prod/pr...pdf?1376402573

GALAS

Blood Ties (Guillaume Canet)
Bright Days Ahead (Marion Vernoux)
Words and Pictures (Fred Schepisi)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

A Promise (Patrice Leconte)
The Armstrong Lie (Alex Gibney)
Blind Detective (Johnnie To)
Child of God (James Franco)
The Face of Love (Arie Posin)
Fading Gigolo (John Turturro)
The Finishers (Nils Tavernier)
How I Live Now (Kevin Macdonald)
The Last of Robin Hood (Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland)
The Liberator (Alberto Arvelo)
Love is the Perfect Crime (Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu)
Lucky Them (Megan Griffiths)
Rock the Casbah (Laïla Marrakchi)
Singing Women (Reha Erdem)
Southcliffe (Sean Durkin)
Sunshine on Leith (Dexter Fletcher)
Therese (Charlie Stratton)
Unforgiven (Lee Sang-il)
The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)