The Panther Print 2009-2010 | Lawrence Park C.I Network
Toronto International Film Festival comes to a Close - Written by Rebecca White posted on 07 Sep 2009
Another September has come and gone and so has the 32nd edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, the biggest film festival in North America. Running from September 6-15 at several different theatres downtown including the Cumberland Theatre, the Scotia Bank Theatre and the Wintergarden Theater, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the most important film festivals in the world, second only to Cannes. It is no surprise that it not only attracts many North American premieres, but it also displays many world premiers. Its influence is mainly due to the fact that it starts off the Oscar race. Last year, for instance, several Academy Award nominees were screened at the TIFF, including Babel, The Last King of Scotland and Little Children.
This year’s TIFF was home to the screening of 349 films. The features were separated into 19 categories including Gala Presentations, Special Presentations, Mavericks, Canada First, Canadian Open Vault, Canadian Retrospective, Contemporary World Cinema, Sprockets and Midnight Madness.
There were several highly anticipated films that appeared in this year’s festival, such as Eastern Promises, the new movie by David Cronenberg. It stars Viggo Mortensen as a driver for London’s Russian mob and Naomi Watts as the midwife who discovers a diary linking them to a dead 14-year-old girl. Another is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It stars Brad Pitt as the infamous outlaw Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Robert Ford, the man who joins his posse and kills him. There was also this month’s blockbuster Across the Universe by Julie Taymor. It, starring Evan Rachel Wood, uses 33 Beatles songs to tell a 1960s love story. Despite a few technical difficulties, like those that disrupted Woody Allen’s movie Cassandra’s Dream, the show went on.
Besides watching the upcoming films, movie stars turned up to do press for their films or sign autographs. For example, George Clooney turned up to promote his legal thriller Michael Clayton. Jodie Foster showed up to answer questions about her vigilante thriller The Brave One in fluent French. This exciting story revolves around a woman whose boyfriend is killed in a brutal mugging and takes her revenge by hunting down the perpetrators. Ryan Gosling also appeared at the TIFF for screening of his new movie Lars and the Real Girl.
Some people wonder if the TIFF is becoming too commercialized. Many people wonder if it has sacrificed artistic expression for mainstream acceptance. Others worry that it has become more about the celebrities than the films themselves. But this year, the movies managed to come first. Sure, there was Paris Hilton, but she was in Toronto filming Repo! The Genetic Opera. Brangelina also made an appearance because Brad Pitt had Jesse James to promote.
These days, it helps to have tabloid targets around. It brings much-needed attention to movies that otherwise might not get the coverage they deserve. The TIFF, like Sundance, is an excellent jumping-off point for independent films that may not get a chance anywhere else. Let us not forget last year when Sean Penn broke Toronto’s anti-smoking laws. It caused a huge controversy over whether he should be fined or if everyone should just let it slide. It may have been breaking the law, but it garnered his movie All the King’s Men a lot of media attention. Quite simply, it is a fine balance between what is needed and what is overkill.
Here are some of the highlights for this year’s award recipients:
? Best Canadian Short Film - Pool (Chris Chong Chan Fui)
? City TV Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film - Continental, Un Film Sans Fusil (Stephane Lafleur)
? Toronto-City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film - My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin)
? Diesel Discovery award - Cochochi (Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guzman)
? Prize of the International Critics - La Zona (Rodrigo Pla)
? Cadillac People's Choice Award - Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg)
All-in-all, this year’s festival was a success. It may not have sparked bidding wars over distribution rights like previous years, but that is not the most important thing. Being a good film is more important than making a hundred million at the box office. With that said, quality should always triumph over quantity… but making some extra dough is a nice plus.
This year’s TIFF was home to the screening of 349 films. The features were separated into 19 categories including Gala Presentations, Special Presentations, Mavericks, Canada First, Canadian Open Vault, Canadian Retrospective, Contemporary World Cinema, Sprockets and Midnight Madness.
There were several highly anticipated films that appeared in this year’s festival, such as Eastern Promises, the new movie by David Cronenberg. It stars Viggo Mortensen as a driver for London’s Russian mob and Naomi Watts as the midwife who discovers a diary linking them to a dead 14-year-old girl. Another is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It stars Brad Pitt as the infamous outlaw Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Robert Ford, the man who joins his posse and kills him. There was also this month’s blockbuster Across the Universe by Julie Taymor. It, starring Evan Rachel Wood, uses 33 Beatles songs to tell a 1960s love story. Despite a few technical difficulties, like those that disrupted Woody Allen’s movie Cassandra’s Dream, the show went on.
Besides watching the upcoming films, movie stars turned up to do press for their films or sign autographs. For example, George Clooney turned up to promote his legal thriller Michael Clayton. Jodie Foster showed up to answer questions about her vigilante thriller The Brave One in fluent French. This exciting story revolves around a woman whose boyfriend is killed in a brutal mugging and takes her revenge by hunting down the perpetrators. Ryan Gosling also appeared at the TIFF for screening of his new movie Lars and the Real Girl.
Some people wonder if the TIFF is becoming too commercialized. Many people wonder if it has sacrificed artistic expression for mainstream acceptance. Others worry that it has become more about the celebrities than the films themselves. But this year, the movies managed to come first. Sure, there was Paris Hilton, but she was in Toronto filming Repo! The Genetic Opera. Brangelina also made an appearance because Brad Pitt had Jesse James to promote.
These days, it helps to have tabloid targets around. It brings much-needed attention to movies that otherwise might not get the coverage they deserve. The TIFF, like Sundance, is an excellent jumping-off point for independent films that may not get a chance anywhere else. Let us not forget last year when Sean Penn broke Toronto’s anti-smoking laws. It caused a huge controversy over whether he should be fined or if everyone should just let it slide. It may have been breaking the law, but it garnered his movie All the King’s Men a lot of media attention. Quite simply, it is a fine balance between what is needed and what is overkill.
Here are some of the highlights for this year’s award recipients:
? Best Canadian Short Film - Pool (Chris Chong Chan Fui)
? City TV Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film - Continental, Un Film Sans Fusil (Stephane Lafleur)
? Toronto-City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film - My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin)
? Diesel Discovery award - Cochochi (Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guzman)
? Prize of the International Critics - La Zona (Rodrigo Pla)
? Cadillac People's Choice Award - Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg)
All-in-all, this year’s festival was a success. It may not have sparked bidding wars over distribution rights like previous years, but that is not the most important thing. Being a good film is more important than making a hundred million at the box office. With that said, quality should always triumph over quantity… but making some extra dough is a nice plus.
Content Management Powered by CuteNews
