Mar 29, 2024
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Also on Toronto screens this week: Duelling film fests at Lightbox

The winter lull for the city’s ever-expanding roster of film festivals may finally be giving way to the traditional spring surplus. Two sure signs are the events that both take place at TIFF Bell Lightbox this week.

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival has become a reliably edifying survey of recent films that raise awareness of abuses of human rights in assorted corners of the globe. Highlights include In the Shadow of the Sun (Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.), a British documentary that follows the lives of two Tanzanians afflicted with albinism, a condition that elicits fear and hatred in their society. The festival also presents a contender in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category, albeit the evening after Hollywood’s big night. A stunning effort by Cambodia’s Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture (March 3 at 6:30 p.m.) uses clay figurines to stage images of genocide that were never captured on film during the years of the Khmer Rouge. The festival continues to March 6.

Elsewhere in the Lightbox this weekend, the fifth annual Toronto Irish Film Festival presents a program of rather different fare. Making its North American premiere on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., The Irish Pub is an affectionate survey of the country’s most iconic and best-loved drinking establishments. A boxing match that brought the legendary Muhammad Ali to Croke Park is the subject of When Ali Came to Ireland, another noteworthy doc that screens March 1 at 7 p.m. The festival also hosts the Canadian launch for the second season of Chris O’Dowd’s TV comedy series Moone Boy on March 2 at 5 p.m. before wrapping up with Lance Daly’s feel-good hit Life’s a Breeze at 7 p.m.

La Maison de la radio at Doc Soup: Filmed by French master Nicolas Philibert over a six-month period at the public broadcaster’s headquarters on the banks of the Seine, this month’s selection for Doc Soup reveals the inner workings of Radio France. Full of lively talk on subjects ranging from French politics to Justin Bieber, La Maison de la radio will be of keen interest to faithful devotees of the CBC, NPR and any other bastion of the radio arts when it plays three screenings at the Bloor on March 5 and 6.

Oscars go big: Viewers who want to enjoy the Academy Awards in high style have an abundance of choice on March 2. Thom Ernst hosts the licensed festivities at the Bloor, which also promises contests, prizes and surprises. The same goes for the live telecasts at the Carlton and the Revue, both of which feature awards for the evening’s best dressed attendee. Word to the wise: you can never go wrong with a swan dress.

PEN Picks and Books on Film: March 3 is a busy night for literary-minded moviegoers. At 7 p.m. at the Bloor, PEN Canada’s PEN Picks series of docs presented by Canadian authors continues with Camilla Gibb and two films that she considers crucial to western perceptions of Ethiopia. Also at 7 p.m. at Lightbox, the spring season of Books on Film gets underway when Eleanor Wachtel discusses the film and literary incarnations of The Reluctant Fundamentalist with author Mohsin Hamid.

Fateful Findings: Feeling understandably burned out after umpteen screenings of The Room, connoisseurs of very bad movies continue to scour the world for unheralded examples of cinematic ineptitude. Their latest discovery is Fateful Findings, a botched paranormal thriller that has all the wooden acting, baffling dialogue and dubious special effects that aficionados crave. The Royal begins a series of monthly late-night screenings on Feb. 28 at 11:30 p.m.

Source: The Toronto Star

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Front Page, Industry News

Also on Toronto screens this week: Duelling film fests at Lightbox

The winter lull for the city’s ever-expanding roster of film festivals may finally be giving way to the traditional spring surplus. Two sure signs are the events that both take place at TIFF Bell Lightbox this week.

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival has become a reliably edifying survey of recent films that raise awareness of abuses of human rights in assorted corners of the globe. Highlights include In the Shadow of the Sun (Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.), a British documentary that follows the lives of two Tanzanians afflicted with albinism, a condition that elicits fear and hatred in their society. The festival also presents a contender in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category, albeit the evening after Hollywood’s big night. A stunning effort by Cambodia’s Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture (March 3 at 6:30 p.m.) uses clay figurines to stage images of genocide that were never captured on film during the years of the Khmer Rouge. The festival continues to March 6.

Elsewhere in the Lightbox this weekend, the fifth annual Toronto Irish Film Festival presents a program of rather different fare. Making its North American premiere on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., The Irish Pub is an affectionate survey of the country’s most iconic and best-loved drinking establishments. A boxing match that brought the legendary Muhammad Ali to Croke Park is the subject of When Ali Came to Ireland, another noteworthy doc that screens March 1 at 7 p.m. The festival also hosts the Canadian launch for the second season of Chris O’Dowd’s TV comedy series Moone Boy on March 2 at 5 p.m. before wrapping up with Lance Daly’s feel-good hit Life’s a Breeze at 7 p.m.

La Maison de la radio at Doc Soup: Filmed by French master Nicolas Philibert over a six-month period at the public broadcaster’s headquarters on the banks of the Seine, this month’s selection for Doc Soup reveals the inner workings of Radio France. Full of lively talk on subjects ranging from French politics to Justin Bieber, La Maison de la radio will be of keen interest to faithful devotees of the CBC, NPR and any other bastion of the radio arts when it plays three screenings at the Bloor on March 5 and 6.

Oscars go big: Viewers who want to enjoy the Academy Awards in high style have an abundance of choice on March 2. Thom Ernst hosts the licensed festivities at the Bloor, which also promises contests, prizes and surprises. The same goes for the live telecasts at the Carlton and the Revue, both of which feature awards for the evening’s best dressed attendee. Word to the wise: you can never go wrong with a swan dress.

PEN Picks and Books on Film: March 3 is a busy night for literary-minded moviegoers. At 7 p.m. at the Bloor, PEN Canada’s PEN Picks series of docs presented by Canadian authors continues with Camilla Gibb and two films that she considers crucial to western perceptions of Ethiopia. Also at 7 p.m. at Lightbox, the spring season of Books on Film gets underway when Eleanor Wachtel discusses the film and literary incarnations of The Reluctant Fundamentalist with author Mohsin Hamid.

Fateful Findings: Feeling understandably burned out after umpteen screenings of The Room, connoisseurs of very bad movies continue to scour the world for unheralded examples of cinematic ineptitude. Their latest discovery is Fateful Findings, a botched paranormal thriller that has all the wooden acting, baffling dialogue and dubious special effects that aficionados crave. The Royal begins a series of monthly late-night screenings on Feb. 28 at 11:30 p.m.

Source: The Toronto Star

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

Also on Toronto screens this week: Duelling film fests at Lightbox

The winter lull for the city’s ever-expanding roster of film festivals may finally be giving way to the traditional spring surplus. Two sure signs are the events that both take place at TIFF Bell Lightbox this week.

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival has become a reliably edifying survey of recent films that raise awareness of abuses of human rights in assorted corners of the globe. Highlights include In the Shadow of the Sun (Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.), a British documentary that follows the lives of two Tanzanians afflicted with albinism, a condition that elicits fear and hatred in their society. The festival also presents a contender in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category, albeit the evening after Hollywood’s big night. A stunning effort by Cambodia’s Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture (March 3 at 6:30 p.m.) uses clay figurines to stage images of genocide that were never captured on film during the years of the Khmer Rouge. The festival continues to March 6.

Elsewhere in the Lightbox this weekend, the fifth annual Toronto Irish Film Festival presents a program of rather different fare. Making its North American premiere on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., The Irish Pub is an affectionate survey of the country’s most iconic and best-loved drinking establishments. A boxing match that brought the legendary Muhammad Ali to Croke Park is the subject of When Ali Came to Ireland, another noteworthy doc that screens March 1 at 7 p.m. The festival also hosts the Canadian launch for the second season of Chris O’Dowd’s TV comedy series Moone Boy on March 2 at 5 p.m. before wrapping up with Lance Daly’s feel-good hit Life’s a Breeze at 7 p.m.

La Maison de la radio at Doc Soup: Filmed by French master Nicolas Philibert over a six-month period at the public broadcaster’s headquarters on the banks of the Seine, this month’s selection for Doc Soup reveals the inner workings of Radio France. Full of lively talk on subjects ranging from French politics to Justin Bieber, La Maison de la radio will be of keen interest to faithful devotees of the CBC, NPR and any other bastion of the radio arts when it plays three screenings at the Bloor on March 5 and 6.

Oscars go big: Viewers who want to enjoy the Academy Awards in high style have an abundance of choice on March 2. Thom Ernst hosts the licensed festivities at the Bloor, which also promises contests, prizes and surprises. The same goes for the live telecasts at the Carlton and the Revue, both of which feature awards for the evening’s best dressed attendee. Word to the wise: you can never go wrong with a swan dress.

PEN Picks and Books on Film: March 3 is a busy night for literary-minded moviegoers. At 7 p.m. at the Bloor, PEN Canada’s PEN Picks series of docs presented by Canadian authors continues with Camilla Gibb and two films that she considers crucial to western perceptions of Ethiopia. Also at 7 p.m. at Lightbox, the spring season of Books on Film gets underway when Eleanor Wachtel discusses the film and literary incarnations of The Reluctant Fundamentalist with author Mohsin Hamid.

Fateful Findings: Feeling understandably burned out after umpteen screenings of The Room, connoisseurs of very bad movies continue to scour the world for unheralded examples of cinematic ineptitude. Their latest discovery is Fateful Findings, a botched paranormal thriller that has all the wooden acting, baffling dialogue and dubious special effects that aficionados crave. The Royal begins a series of monthly late-night screenings on Feb. 28 at 11:30 p.m.

Source: The Toronto Star

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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