The Toronto International Film Festival could have fewer Hollywood stars on the carpet this year as strikes by actors and writers continue. But during a pre-festival event Thursday that announced this year’s Canadian films, local talent was front and center, an exciting prospect for festival organizers, programmers, and talent.
“The great news is that Canadian films and filmmakers always feature prominently at our festival. But I think this year they will be even more prominent,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said during an interview with Breaking:.
“More will come out for a broader range of people looking for something new.”
Bailey pointed to Canadian actors like Theodore Pellerin in the Sophie Dupuis film. Onlywho “gives one of the best performances I’ve seen all year in this great story, a love story set in the Montreal drag community.”
“Canadian talent is strong enough to attract actors and artisans from around the world,” he said.
Bailey noted that American actress Amanda Seyfried met with Canadian director Atom Egoyan for the film. seven veilsa psychological drama about a young theater director.
There will be 50 Canadian titles at this year’s festival, including 21 features, 20 shorts, six documentaries and three TV series, programming director Anita Lee said during a presentation focusing on Canadian contributions on Thursday. The full festival schedule was released earlier in the week.
During an interview, Lee acknowledged that it has been an unusual year leading up to the festival due to the strikes.
“At the same time, I think in relation to Canadian cinema, we’re very, very excited. It is an incredibly strong area,” he said. “We have 50 serial films in the festival this year from very celebrated veteran directors, from Atom Egoyan, Deepa Mehta, to truly unknown discoveries that we will present this year.”
TIFF galas and special presentations include Only and seven veils; ballet doctor swan song by Chelsea McMullan; doctor rock I Hate to Love: Nickelback by Leigh Brooks; Drama directed by Elliot Page Near you by Dominic Savage; coming of age tale ru by Charles-Olivier Michaud; and orchestral theater days of happiness by Chloe Robichaud.
TIFF will take place from September 7 to 17 in Toronto. The typically celebrity-studded festival is facing an unusual year as the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America are on strike, which could affect the number of high-profile guests in attendance. The strikes prohibit the actors and writers from doing any promotional work.
Directors are not affected by the strike, however, and several actor-turned-directors will be there, including Ethan Hawke, Anna Kendrick and Michael Keaton, Bailey confirmed.
Canadian Films at This Year’s TIFF
Christian Sparkes king’s tide will be screened in the Platform section of the festival, which highlights cinema directed by directors.
Movies in the Centerpiece section include appropriate in by Molly McGlynn; Hello Victor! by Cody Rayo; Humanist vampire seeking suicidal consent Person by Ariane Louis-Seize; On fire by Zarrar Kahn; irena’s vow by Louise Archambault; canaval by Henri Pardo; and the nature of love by Monia Chokri.
The Canadian documentaries in the TIFF Docs showcase are boil alert by James Burns and Stevie Salas; I am sirat by Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja; Mr. Dressup: The magic of fantasy by Robert McCallum; and summer camp By Jen Markowitz.
The Discovery section highlights emerging talent. D.W. Waterson bottom point it drew huge applause from the crowd: the film is produced by Elliot Page’s production company, Pageboy.
“Canadian artists are doing things here and it’s great that we have the opportunity to come together and say, ‘What stories do we want to tell as Canadians?'” Waterson told Breaking: on the carpet.
“And that’s what TIFF is. It’s a great platform for us to have a dialogue with who we are as a country.”
canadian movies I do not know who you are by MH Murray; sea grass by Meredith Hama-Brown; Tautuktavuk (What we see) by Carol Kunnuk and Lucy Tulugarjuk; and The queen of my dreams by Fawzia Mirza will also be screened in this section.
Three Canadian television series will also have airtime at the film festival, including Black Life: Untold Stories; bria mack gets a life; and telling our story. The Wavelengths section, which highlights experimental and avant-garde cinema, includes he thought he was dead; Mademoiselle Kenopsis; and maze sequences.
