The Toronto International Film Festival has revealed the shorts and Canadian portion of their line-up. Highlights include Patricia Rozema’s (“Mansfield Park,” and “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing”) “Into The Forest” starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood, and “Born To Be Blue” which stars Ethan Hawke as famous jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. ‘Woods’ centers on two teenage sisters (Page and Wood) who struggle to survive in a remote country house after a massive, continent-wide power outage, in what TIFF describes as a “gripping apocalyptic thriller” which also boasts a score from the great Max Richter. In ‘Blue,’ Hawke stars in this remarkably creative reimagining of the legendary jazz trumpeter’s struggle to overcome his drug addiction and stage a comeback. Another great highlight is Guy Maddin‘s deliriously strange "The Forbidden Room," which we reviewed in Berlin.
The 40th edition of the festival has added some 70 new Canadian features and shorts. More titles are still to come, including the Midnight Madness section, which currently only has one short, "The Chickening," from director Davy Force, which looks rather amusing. Full line-up below. Check out some first look photos of “Into The Forest” and “Born To Be Blue.”
Short Cuts Program (titles eligible for the Award for Best Canadian Short Film):
"4 Quarters" (Ashley McKenzie) – Toronto Premiere
"A New Year (Nouvel an)" (Marie-Ève Juste) – World Premiere
"Bacon & God’s Wrath" (Sol Friedman) – World Premiere
"The Ballad of Immortal Joe" (Hector Herrera) – World Premiere
"BAM" (Howie Shia) – World Premiere
"Benjamin" (Sherren Lee) – World Premiere
"Beyond The Horizon" (Ryan J. Noth) – World Premiere
"Boxing" (Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley) – World Premiere
"Boy" (Connor Jessup) – World Premiere
"Casualties of Modernity" (Kent Monkman) – World Premiere
"Clouds of Autumn" (Trevor Mack and Matthew Taylor Blais) – North American Premiere
"Dogs Don’t Breed Cats" (Cristina Martins) – Canadian Premiere
"Dredger" (Phillip Barker) – World Premiere
"The Guy From Work" (Jean-François Leblanc) – World Premiere
"It’s Not You" (Don McKellar) – World Premiere
"KOKOM" (Kevin Papatie) – Toronto Premiere
"The Magnificent Life Underwater" (Joel Vaudreuil) – World Premiere
"The Man Who Shot Hollywood" (Barry Avrich) – World Premiere
"Mia’" (Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett) – World Premiere
"Mobilize" (Caroline Monnet) – World Premiere
"Never Happened" (Mark Slutsky) – World Premiere
"Never Steady, Never Still" (Kathleen Hepburn) – World Premiere
"NINA" (Halima Elkhatabi) – World Premiere
"o negative" (Steve McCarthy) – World Premiere
"Our Remaining Lives" (Luiza Cocora) – World Premiere
"Overpass" (Patrice Laliberte) – World Premiere
"Portal to Hell!!!" (Vivieno Caldinelli) – World Premiere
"Quiet Zone" (David Bryant and Kar Lemieux) – Canadian Premiere
"Rock the Box" (Katherine Monk) – World Premiere
"She Stoops To Conquer" (Zachary Russell) – World Premiere
"The Sleepwalker" (Theodore Ushev) – North American Premiere
"The Swimming Lesson" (Olivia Boudreau) – North American Premiere
"Wolkaan" (Bahar Noorizadeh) – World Premiere
"World Famous Gopher Hole Museum" (Chelsea McMullan and Douglas Nayler) – World Premiere
Midnight Madness (title will precede the Opening Night Film in the Midnight Madness program):
"The Chickening" (Nick DenBoer and Davy Force) – World Premiere
Wavelengths:
"Bunte Kuh" (Ryan Ferko, Parastoo Anoushahpour and Faraz Anoushahpour) – Toronto Premiere
"Engram of Returning" (Daichi Saito) – World Premiere
"Fugue" (Kerstin Schrodinger) – North American Premiere
"Office Space Modulation" (Terrarea) – World Premiere
"May We Sleep Soundly" (Denis Cote) – World Premiere
"Palms" (Mary-Helena Clark) – World Premiere
"Something Horizontal" (Blake Williams) – World Premiere
"Theodolitique" (David K. Ross) – World Premiere
"UNcirCling" (John Creson and Adam Rosen) – World Premiere
TIFF has also revealed a lineup of bold Canadian works by filmmakers including Patricia Rozema, André Turpin, Anne Émond, Kazik Radwanski and Guy Édoin. The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film will be given to one of following outstanding Canadian filmmakers, with the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film being presented to the Canadian filmmaker with the most impressive debut feature film at the Festival. The Canadian program includes:
Special Presentations:
"Born to be Blue" (Robert Budreau) – World Premiere
"Into the Forest" (Patricia Rozema) – World Premiere
"Ville-Marie" (Guy Edoin) – World Premiere
TIFF DOCS:
"Al Purdy Was Here" (Brian D. Johnson) – World Premiere
"Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr" (Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard) – World Premiere
"Ninth Floor" (Mina Shum) – World Premiere
"This Changes Everythings" (Avi Lewis) – World Premiere
"Welcome to F.L." (Genevieve Dulude-De Celles) – World Premiere
Discovery:
"Closet Monster" (Stephen Dunn) – World Premiere
"Fire Song" (Adam Garnet Jones) – World Premiere
"The Rainbow Kid" (Kire Paputts) – World Premiere
"River" (Jamie M. Dagg) – World Premiere
"Sleeping Giant" (Andrew Cividino) – World Premiere
Contemporary World Cinema:
"How Heavy This Hammer" (Kazik Radwanksi) – World Premiere
"Our Loved Ones" (Anne Emond) – North American Premiere
"My Internship in Canada" (Phillipe Falardeau) – North American Premiere
"The Waiting Room" (Igor Drljaca) – North American Premiere
Vanguard:
"Endorphine" (Andre Turpin) – World Premiere
"Hellions" (Bruce McDonald) – Canadian Premiere
"No Men Beyond This Point" – North American Premiere
Wavelengths:
"88:88" (Isiah Medina) – North American Premiere
"The Forbidden Room" (Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin) – Canadian Premiere
"Invention" (Mark Lewis) – World Premiere
"Minotaur" (Nicolas Pereda) – World Premiere
"Bring Me The Head of Tom Horton" (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson) – World Premiere
"The Forbidden Room – A Living Poster" (Galen Johnson) – World Premiere
"La Giubba" (Tony Romano and Corin Sworn) – World Premiere
"Stories are Meaning-Making Machines" (Annie McDonnell and Maider Fortune) – International Premiere
Previously announced Gala Canadian features include Deepa Mehta’s "Beeba Boys," Jon Cassar’s "Forsaken," Paul Gross’ "Hyena Road (Hyena Road: Le Chemin du Combat)" and Atom Egoyan’s "Remember."