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Toronto fest adds 20 films to lineup
Thursday August 14th 2008The 33rd Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 4 – 13, has announced the addition of twenty new films to its special presentations line-up.
Per usual, some of the same films will also be showing at October’s New York Film Festival, including Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” starring Mickey Rourke as a broken-down fighter. French sales company Wild Bunch is seeking a North American distrib for the drama.
Both fests will be showing Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” (starring Benicio del Toro as the Latin American revolutionary), which divided audiences at Cannes, at its full length. “We get to have our cake and eat it too,” said long-time fest programmer Cameron Bailey, who replaced Noah Cowan as fest co-director this year. “We’ll show it the first time as two separate films on two separate nights. People also will get to see it as one back-to-back epic with a 15- minute intermission. You can choose your “Che.”
Clint Eastwood’s Cannes Fest entry “Changeling,” which will be the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, will not be at Toronto because there was uncertainty about new mother Angelina Jolie’s availability to participate in a gala premiere. “We would have loved to have had Clint Eastwood,” said Bailey, “but the only way to present the movie in a big way was as a gala with Eastwood and Jolie.”
Toronto, but not New York, will screen another Cannes Fest entry, from writer-turned-director Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York,” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director who mounts an endlessly unfolding ensemble theater piece inside a warehouse in New York City. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the film last week.
Another theater-world film, Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” stars young Christian McKay (who played Welles off-Broadway) in the title role. Claire Danes and teen hunk Zac Efron co-star. The Brit pic is expected to be a key sales title.
Balancing out the serious dramas, many of them about “family loss,” said Bailey, are several “wild comedies taking on taboos and sacred cows in society,” such as Kevin Smith’s hard-R-rated “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as long-time pal roommates who try to raise cash by making a porn film. The Weinstein Co. will release the comedy stateside October 31.
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment will be seeking a distrib for Stephen Belber’s romantic road comedy “Management,” starring Jennifer Aniston as a buttoned-down girl pursued by slacker motel clerk Steve Zahn, in his first role as a romantic leading man.
While Toronto has announced Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” for the fest, the recently shuttered Warner Independent Pictures is shopping the film to other distribs. The Telluride Film Festival has also invited the film.
Of the foreign line-up, Bailey and his programmers sifted through strong selections, he said, especially from Latin America, Japan and Germany. French director Barbet Schroeder supplied the thriller “Inju, la bete dans l’ombre,” about a crime novelist who visits Japan and finds that fiction becomes indistinguishable from reality. “It’s Schroeder’s take on Japanese culture,” said Bailey. “It’s perverse, weird and sexy.”
The Toronto Fest will close with the North American premiere gala presentation of “Stone of Destiny,” written and directed by Charles Martin Smith. Robert Carlyle stars in a recreation of the true 1950 story of four Glasgow University students who try to restore the 300-pound Stone of Destiny to its rightful Scotland home.
Source: Variety
Headline, Industry News
Toronto fest adds 20 films to lineup
Thursday August 14th 2008The 33rd Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 4 – 13, has announced the addition of twenty new films to its special presentations line-up.
Per usual, some of the same films will also be showing at October’s New York Film Festival, including Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” starring Mickey Rourke as a broken-down fighter. French sales company Wild Bunch is seeking a North American distrib for the drama.
Both fests will be showing Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” (starring Benicio del Toro as the Latin American revolutionary), which divided audiences at Cannes, at its full length. “We get to have our cake and eat it too,” said long-time fest programmer Cameron Bailey, who replaced Noah Cowan as fest co-director this year. “We’ll show it the first time as two separate films on two separate nights. People also will get to see it as one back-to-back epic with a 15- minute intermission. You can choose your “Che.”
Clint Eastwood’s Cannes Fest entry “Changeling,” which will be the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, will not be at Toronto because there was uncertainty about new mother Angelina Jolie’s availability to participate in a gala premiere. “We would have loved to have had Clint Eastwood,” said Bailey, “but the only way to present the movie in a big way was as a gala with Eastwood and Jolie.”
Toronto, but not New York, will screen another Cannes Fest entry, from writer-turned-director Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York,” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director who mounts an endlessly unfolding ensemble theater piece inside a warehouse in New York City. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the film last week.
Another theater-world film, Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” stars young Christian McKay (who played Welles off-Broadway) in the title role. Claire Danes and teen hunk Zac Efron co-star. The Brit pic is expected to be a key sales title.
Balancing out the serious dramas, many of them about “family loss,” said Bailey, are several “wild comedies taking on taboos and sacred cows in society,” such as Kevin Smith’s hard-R-rated “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as long-time pal roommates who try to raise cash by making a porn film. The Weinstein Co. will release the comedy stateside October 31.
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment will be seeking a distrib for Stephen Belber’s romantic road comedy “Management,” starring Jennifer Aniston as a buttoned-down girl pursued by slacker motel clerk Steve Zahn, in his first role as a romantic leading man.
While Toronto has announced Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” for the fest, the recently shuttered Warner Independent Pictures is shopping the film to other distribs. The Telluride Film Festival has also invited the film.
Of the foreign line-up, Bailey and his programmers sifted through strong selections, he said, especially from Latin America, Japan and Germany. French director Barbet Schroeder supplied the thriller “Inju, la bete dans l’ombre,” about a crime novelist who visits Japan and finds that fiction becomes indistinguishable from reality. “It’s Schroeder’s take on Japanese culture,” said Bailey. “It’s perverse, weird and sexy.”
The Toronto Fest will close with the North American premiere gala presentation of “Stone of Destiny,” written and directed by Charles Martin Smith. Robert Carlyle stars in a recreation of the true 1950 story of four Glasgow University students who try to restore the 300-pound Stone of Destiny to its rightful Scotland home.
Source: Variety
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Headline, Industry News
Toronto fest adds 20 films to lineup
Thursday August 14th 2008The 33rd Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 4 – 13, has announced the addition of twenty new films to its special presentations line-up.
Per usual, some of the same films will also be showing at October’s New York Film Festival, including Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” starring Mickey Rourke as a broken-down fighter. French sales company Wild Bunch is seeking a North American distrib for the drama.
Both fests will be showing Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” (starring Benicio del Toro as the Latin American revolutionary), which divided audiences at Cannes, at its full length. “We get to have our cake and eat it too,” said long-time fest programmer Cameron Bailey, who replaced Noah Cowan as fest co-director this year. “We’ll show it the first time as two separate films on two separate nights. People also will get to see it as one back-to-back epic with a 15- minute intermission. You can choose your “Che.”
Clint Eastwood’s Cannes Fest entry “Changeling,” which will be the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, will not be at Toronto because there was uncertainty about new mother Angelina Jolie’s availability to participate in a gala premiere. “We would have loved to have had Clint Eastwood,” said Bailey, “but the only way to present the movie in a big way was as a gala with Eastwood and Jolie.”
Toronto, but not New York, will screen another Cannes Fest entry, from writer-turned-director Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York,” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director who mounts an endlessly unfolding ensemble theater piece inside a warehouse in New York City. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the film last week.
Another theater-world film, Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” stars young Christian McKay (who played Welles off-Broadway) in the title role. Claire Danes and teen hunk Zac Efron co-star. The Brit pic is expected to be a key sales title.
Balancing out the serious dramas, many of them about “family loss,” said Bailey, are several “wild comedies taking on taboos and sacred cows in society,” such as Kevin Smith’s hard-R-rated “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as long-time pal roommates who try to raise cash by making a porn film. The Weinstein Co. will release the comedy stateside October 31.
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment will be seeking a distrib for Stephen Belber’s romantic road comedy “Management,” starring Jennifer Aniston as a buttoned-down girl pursued by slacker motel clerk Steve Zahn, in his first role as a romantic leading man.
While Toronto has announced Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” for the fest, the recently shuttered Warner Independent Pictures is shopping the film to other distribs. The Telluride Film Festival has also invited the film.
Of the foreign line-up, Bailey and his programmers sifted through strong selections, he said, especially from Latin America, Japan and Germany. French director Barbet Schroeder supplied the thriller “Inju, la bete dans l’ombre,” about a crime novelist who visits Japan and finds that fiction becomes indistinguishable from reality. “It’s Schroeder’s take on Japanese culture,” said Bailey. “It’s perverse, weird and sexy.”
The Toronto Fest will close with the North American premiere gala presentation of “Stone of Destiny,” written and directed by Charles Martin Smith. Robert Carlyle stars in a recreation of the true 1950 story of four Glasgow University students who try to restore the 300-pound Stone of Destiny to its rightful Scotland home.
Source: Variety
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