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Quebec filmmakers have a home at Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has become the go-to event for Quebec directors to launch new work, offering unparalleled visibility, as well as access to distributors and media from around the world.

The preponderance of Quebec filmmakers at TIFF (which runs from Thursday to Sept. 20) has risen alongside the skyrocketing prominence of Quebec directors in the film world. And while this year’s crop of Quebec-related productions heading to TIFF is smaller than usual (seven features, as opposed to the dozen or so that graced the festival in both 2013 and 2014), there will be no lack of fireworks.

Highlights range from the latest high-profile American releases by Denis Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallée to a political satire by Philippe Falardeau, mature Bond girl Monica Bellucci in a drama by Guy Édoin, and the debut documentary from Geneviève Dulude-De Celles.

Here’s a closer look at this year’s Quebec contingent at TIFF.

Demolition, by Jean-Marc Vallée

Vallée’s latest film has the honour of opening this year’s festival with a gala presentation. The director follows his Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club (best actor, best supporting actor) and Reese Witherspoon-carried soul-searcher Wild with another emotionally fraught portrait of a character in crisis.

Last year, he and Falardeau (with The Good Lie) both had Witherspoon star-powering their films. This time, Vallée borrows Villeneuve’s go-to guy, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays a distressed investment banker reeling from the death of his wife. The man finds a kindred spirit in a complete stranger (played by Naomi Watts) via an unlikely correspondence.

Vallée has established himself as an actor’s director, able to extract maximum emotional impact from his charges. Expect no less from Gyllenhaal, who is always up for a little psychological turbulence, and from the versatile Watts, who recently showed her lighter side in Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young and last year’s Oscar-winner Birdman.

Sicario, by Denis Villeneuve

Though he had been nominated for an Oscar (best foreign-language film, for Incendies) and broken into Hollywood (with his 2013 thriller Prisoners), Villeneuve received an overdue acknowledgment of his artistry when Sicario premièred in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

It’s quite a feat for a police drama set in the world of North American drug cartels. Emily Blunt plays an FBI agent and Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro are government operatives plotting the takedown of a Mexican drug lord.

Cinematography is again handled by Coen brothers ringer Roger Deakins (who shot Prisoners). Mark this as another notch in Villeneuve’s belt as he cements his reputation as a master of murky, haunting cinema that sits squarely between auteur and mainstream fare — and as another reason he has been selected to helm the highly anticipated Blade Runner sequel, starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling, again with Deakins behind the camera.

Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre (My Internship in Canada), by Philippe Falardeau

After dipping into the U.S. for last year’s Sudanese refugee drama The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon, Falardeau returns to Quebec with this French-language political satire, which premièred at the Locarno Film Festival.

It stars Patrick Huard (Starbuck) as an independent member of Parliament in northern Quebec who ends up with the deciding vote to determine whether Canada will go to war in the Middle East.

“It’s certainly less of a sure shot, internationally, than Monsieur Lazhar, which had a universal theme,” said Kim McCraw, who co-produced the film with her micro_scope partner Luc Déry. (The two are also handling André Turpin’s Endorphine.) “We were nervous (in Locarno), presenting the film to over 5,000 people, hoping they would understand the humour and the politics.

“People reacted super well. It was great to hear them laugh at all the right places, and where we didn’t expect. It reassured us that the film is a success.”

Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre has been sold in Switzerland, France and Germany, McCraw noted, emphasizing TIFF’s importance in expanding a movie’s reach.

“Everyone is there,” she said. “We’ll try to have the trade magazines see our film and provide the first reviews; and it’s where international distributors seal their deals. Toronto is where it happens.”

Source: Montreal Gazette

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Front Page, Headline, Industry News

Quebec filmmakers have a home at Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has become the go-to event for Quebec directors to launch new work, offering unparalleled visibility, as well as access to distributors and media from around the world.

The preponderance of Quebec filmmakers at TIFF (which runs from Thursday to Sept. 20) has risen alongside the skyrocketing prominence of Quebec directors in the film world. And while this year’s crop of Quebec-related productions heading to TIFF is smaller than usual (seven features, as opposed to the dozen or so that graced the festival in both 2013 and 2014), there will be no lack of fireworks.

Highlights range from the latest high-profile American releases by Denis Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallée to a political satire by Philippe Falardeau, mature Bond girl Monica Bellucci in a drama by Guy Édoin, and the debut documentary from Geneviève Dulude-De Celles.

Here’s a closer look at this year’s Quebec contingent at TIFF.

Demolition, by Jean-Marc Vallée

Vallée’s latest film has the honour of opening this year’s festival with a gala presentation. The director follows his Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club (best actor, best supporting actor) and Reese Witherspoon-carried soul-searcher Wild with another emotionally fraught portrait of a character in crisis.

Last year, he and Falardeau (with The Good Lie) both had Witherspoon star-powering their films. This time, Vallée borrows Villeneuve’s go-to guy, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays a distressed investment banker reeling from the death of his wife. The man finds a kindred spirit in a complete stranger (played by Naomi Watts) via an unlikely correspondence.

Vallée has established himself as an actor’s director, able to extract maximum emotional impact from his charges. Expect no less from Gyllenhaal, who is always up for a little psychological turbulence, and from the versatile Watts, who recently showed her lighter side in Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young and last year’s Oscar-winner Birdman.

Sicario, by Denis Villeneuve

Though he had been nominated for an Oscar (best foreign-language film, for Incendies) and broken into Hollywood (with his 2013 thriller Prisoners), Villeneuve received an overdue acknowledgment of his artistry when Sicario premièred in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

It’s quite a feat for a police drama set in the world of North American drug cartels. Emily Blunt plays an FBI agent and Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro are government operatives plotting the takedown of a Mexican drug lord.

Cinematography is again handled by Coen brothers ringer Roger Deakins (who shot Prisoners). Mark this as another notch in Villeneuve’s belt as he cements his reputation as a master of murky, haunting cinema that sits squarely between auteur and mainstream fare — and as another reason he has been selected to helm the highly anticipated Blade Runner sequel, starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling, again with Deakins behind the camera.

Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre (My Internship in Canada), by Philippe Falardeau

After dipping into the U.S. for last year’s Sudanese refugee drama The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon, Falardeau returns to Quebec with this French-language political satire, which premièred at the Locarno Film Festival.

It stars Patrick Huard (Starbuck) as an independent member of Parliament in northern Quebec who ends up with the deciding vote to determine whether Canada will go to war in the Middle East.

“It’s certainly less of a sure shot, internationally, than Monsieur Lazhar, which had a universal theme,” said Kim McCraw, who co-produced the film with her micro_scope partner Luc Déry. (The two are also handling André Turpin’s Endorphine.) “We were nervous (in Locarno), presenting the film to over 5,000 people, hoping they would understand the humour and the politics.

“People reacted super well. It was great to hear them laugh at all the right places, and where we didn’t expect. It reassured us that the film is a success.”

Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre has been sold in Switzerland, France and Germany, McCraw noted, emphasizing TIFF’s importance in expanding a movie’s reach.

“Everyone is there,” she said. “We’ll try to have the trade magazines see our film and provide the first reviews; and it’s where international distributors seal their deals. Toronto is where it happens.”

Source: Montreal Gazette

Leave a Reply

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

Front Page, Headline, Industry News

Quebec filmmakers have a home at Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has become the go-to event for Quebec directors to launch new work, offering unparalleled visibility, as well as access to distributors and media from around the world.

The preponderance of Quebec filmmakers at TIFF (which runs from Thursday to Sept. 20) has risen alongside the skyrocketing prominence of Quebec directors in the film world. And while this year’s crop of Quebec-related productions heading to TIFF is smaller than usual (seven features, as opposed to the dozen or so that graced the festival in both 2013 and 2014), there will be no lack of fireworks.

Highlights range from the latest high-profile American releases by Denis Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallée to a political satire by Philippe Falardeau, mature Bond girl Monica Bellucci in a drama by Guy Édoin, and the debut documentary from Geneviève Dulude-De Celles.

Here’s a closer look at this year’s Quebec contingent at TIFF.

Demolition, by Jean-Marc Vallée

Vallée’s latest film has the honour of opening this year’s festival with a gala presentation. The director follows his Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club (best actor, best supporting actor) and Reese Witherspoon-carried soul-searcher Wild with another emotionally fraught portrait of a character in crisis.

Last year, he and Falardeau (with The Good Lie) both had Witherspoon star-powering their films. This time, Vallée borrows Villeneuve’s go-to guy, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays a distressed investment banker reeling from the death of his wife. The man finds a kindred spirit in a complete stranger (played by Naomi Watts) via an unlikely correspondence.

Vallée has established himself as an actor’s director, able to extract maximum emotional impact from his charges. Expect no less from Gyllenhaal, who is always up for a little psychological turbulence, and from the versatile Watts, who recently showed her lighter side in Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young and last year’s Oscar-winner Birdman.

Sicario, by Denis Villeneuve

Though he had been nominated for an Oscar (best foreign-language film, for Incendies) and broken into Hollywood (with his 2013 thriller Prisoners), Villeneuve received an overdue acknowledgment of his artistry when Sicario premièred in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

It’s quite a feat for a police drama set in the world of North American drug cartels. Emily Blunt plays an FBI agent and Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro are government operatives plotting the takedown of a Mexican drug lord.

Cinematography is again handled by Coen brothers ringer Roger Deakins (who shot Prisoners). Mark this as another notch in Villeneuve’s belt as he cements his reputation as a master of murky, haunting cinema that sits squarely between auteur and mainstream fare — and as another reason he has been selected to helm the highly anticipated Blade Runner sequel, starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling, again with Deakins behind the camera.

Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre (My Internship in Canada), by Philippe Falardeau

After dipping into the U.S. for last year’s Sudanese refugee drama The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon, Falardeau returns to Quebec with this French-language political satire, which premièred at the Locarno Film Festival.

It stars Patrick Huard (Starbuck) as an independent member of Parliament in northern Quebec who ends up with the deciding vote to determine whether Canada will go to war in the Middle East.

“It’s certainly less of a sure shot, internationally, than Monsieur Lazhar, which had a universal theme,” said Kim McCraw, who co-produced the film with her micro_scope partner Luc Déry. (The two are also handling André Turpin’s Endorphine.) “We were nervous (in Locarno), presenting the film to over 5,000 people, hoping they would understand the humour and the politics.

“People reacted super well. It was great to hear them laugh at all the right places, and where we didn’t expect. It reassured us that the film is a success.”

Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre has been sold in Switzerland, France and Germany, McCraw noted, emphasizing TIFF’s importance in expanding a movie’s reach.

“Everyone is there,” she said. “We’ll try to have the trade magazines see our film and provide the first reviews; and it’s where international distributors seal their deals. Toronto is where it happens.”

Source: Montreal Gazette

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

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