The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007.[1] The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissions. The selection included 275 mid- to feature length films, of which 234 were premieres, with 71 by first-time directors.[2] The festival was attended by members of the industry, press and general public. It opened with the world premiere of Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces, a film based on the international bestselling novel by Anne Michaels,[3] and closed with Paolo Barzman's Emotional Arithmetic.[4]
Film reception
Critical favourites included No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days which were equally well received at the Cannes Film Festival, plus the Joy Division biopic Control which, along with the eponymously titled documentary on the band, Joy Division, was picked up by The Weinstein Company. Peter Howell of the Toronto Star named Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead a major Oscar contender.[5] The audience favourite, David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, won the top prize at the festival. The New York Times pointed out that two previous winners had gone on to win Best Picture Oscars.[6]
Highly-discussed but divisive films among the public and critics include comedies Juno and Margot at the Wedding, the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There and Brian De Palma's Iraq War documentary Redacted. Films expected to stir controversy for their transgressive sexual content, such as Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, Alan Ball's Nothing Is Private and Martin Gero's Young People Fucking, did divide audiences but without fanfare. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Across the Universe both won their share of supporters despite previous reports of shooting delays and director-studio clashes.[5]
Awards
- Chris Chong Chan Fui's POOL won the Award for Best Canadian Short Film
- Stéphane Lafleur's Continental, a Film Without Guns won the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film
- Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg won the Toronto-City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film
- Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán's Cochochi won the DIESEL Discovery Award
- Anahí Berneri's Encarnación won the Artistic Innovation Award
- Rodrigo Plá's La Zona won the Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize)
- David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises won the Cadillac People's Choice Award
In addition, film director and historian Peter Bogdanovich was awarded the International Federation of Film Archives Award for his contribution towards film preservation. The award was presented at a screening of Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion (1937) which Bogdanovich selected to illustrate the importance of film restoration.[8]
Programmes
Canada First!
| Canada First! |
| Number of films |
Eight |
| Language |
English
French
Hindi |
The Canada First! programme features first or second time Canadian film directors and established Canadian filmmakers who have not previously appeared in the festival. Eight films were selected to appear in the festival.[9] Stéphane Lafleur's directorial debut Continental, a Film Without Guns won the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film and a CDN$15 000 bursary.[7]
Canadian Open Vault
The Canadian Open Vault programme features a recently restored and iconic Canadian film.[10] Quebec-based filmmaker Francis Mankiewicz's Good Riddance was selected. The film has previously won eight Genie Awards and appeared on every Canada's Ten Best film survey.[11][12]
Canadian Retrospective
The Canadian Retrospective programme features a section of films representing an aspect of the history of Canadian cinema. It was the seventh year the festival has held the retrospective.[13] Influential Québécois filmmaker Michel Brault was spotlighted through nine films he directed or shot. He has been credited for his visual style and creating some of the most important films to come from Quebec. In conjunction, the Toronto International Film Festival Group published a book on Brault, Cinema as History: Michel Brault and Modern Quebec by Andre Loiselle.[14]
- Acadia Acadia?!? (L'Acadie, l'Acadie?!?, 1971) directed by Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault
- Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d'un été, 1961) directed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch
- Drifting Upstream (Entre la mer et l'eau douce, 1967) directed by Michel Brault
- Geneviève (1964) directed by Michel Brault
- Wrestling (La Lutte, 1961) directed by Claude Fournier, Marcel Carrière, Claude Jutra and Michel Brault
- The Paper Wedding (Les Noces de papier, 1989) directed by Michel Brault
- Orders (Les Ordres, 1974) directed by Michel Brault
- The Moon Trap (Pour la suite du monde, 1963) directed by Pierre Perrault and Michel Brault
- The Snowshoers (Les Raquetteurs, 1968) directed by Gilles Groulx and Michel Brault
Contemporary World Cinema
| Contemporary World Cinema |
| Number of films |
62 |
| Language |
International |
The Contemporary World Cinema programme features films from around the world. It included premieres and prize-winning films from other festivals. Sixty-two films were selected,[15] including eight from Canada.[16]
Dialogues: Talking With Pictures
| Dialogues: Talking With Pictures |
| Number of films |
Eight |
| Language |
English
French
Swedish |
The Dialogues: Talking With Pictures series features a selection of classic films which are chosen and introduced by well-known directors or artists who have found a given film influential or pivotal throughout the course of their own career.[17] Eight films were selected between nine filmmakers and artists.[18]
Discovery
| Discovery |
| Number of films |
14 |
| Language |
International |
The Discovery programme features the work of new film directors from around the world. Fourteen films were selected.[19] Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán's feature debut Cochochi won the DIESEL Discovery Award and a CDN$10 000 bursary. The International Federation of Film Critics returned to the festival for the 16th year and awarded Rodrigo Plá's La Zona the FIPRESCI Prize.[7]
Doc Talks
| Doc Talks |
| Language |
English
French |
The Doc Talk series features discussions with various documentary filmmakers on topics such as the future of the medium and their work and its subject matter.[20] Clips from their new and upcoming documentaries are screened. The series was opened to the public for the first time. Topics included biography films, Michel Brault, war and democracy.[21]
Future Projections
| Future Projections |
| Language |
International |
The Future Projections programme features non-theatrical installations in various mediums.[22] This marked the programme's inaugural run. Nine installations were curated by the Toronto International Film Festival Group and other Torontonian cultural institutions. Admission was free for all exhibitions, with the exception of the exhibit at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery which was free only to Festival passholders.[23]
- Best Minds Part One created by Jeremy Shaw; curated by Wayne Baerwaldt
- Darfur/Darfur created by various artists; curated by Leslie Thomas
- Death in the Land of Encantos (Kagadanan sa Banwaan ning mga Engkanto) created by Lav Diaz; curated by Cameron Bailey
- Francesco Vezzoli: A True Hollywood Story! created by Francesco Vezzoli; curated by Gregory Burke
- Into the Pixel created by various artists; organized by Nick Pagee
- Late Fragment - An Interactive Film directed by Daryl Cloran, Anita Doron and Mateo Guez; produced by Anita Lee and Ana Serrano
- The Soft Revolution directed by Brian Johnson and Anthony Roberts
- Tyranny created by Ryan Sluggett; organized by Wayne Baerwaldt
- Wildflowers of Manitoba created by Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob; curated by Wayne Baerwaldt
Gala Presentations
Gala Presentations spotlights prestige films of Canadian, American and foreign-language origins in equal measure. They are often world or North American premieres and are screened at the Roy Thomson Hall. Twenty films were selected.[19] David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises received the Cadillac People's Choice Award.[7]
Masters
| Masters |
| Number of films |
20 |
| Language |
International |
The Masters programme features films by world renowned filmmakers. Twenty films were selected.[24]
Mavericks
Mavericks features discussions with film industry and other professionals.[25] Four events were held on a variety of socio-political topics. Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter discussed their activist work after his presidential term. Comedians Bill Maher and Larry Charles tackled religion. Mira Nair brought together three other Indian filmmakers who covered HIV/AIDS and screened four new short films on the subject. Finally, the conflict in Sudan was discussed by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and a panel of filmmakers.[26]
- Everything to Gain: A Conversation with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter (Jonathan Demme's Man from Plains); moderated by Allan Gregg
- Mira Nair Presents: Four Views on AIDS in India with Mira Nair (Migration), Santosh Sivan (Prarambha), Vishal Bharadwaj (Blood Brothers) and Farhan Akhtar (Positive); moderated by Mira Nair and Ashok Alexander (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Indian HIV/AIDS initiative)
- Religulous: A Conversation with Bill Maher and Larry Charles with Bill Maher and Larry Charles (Religulous)
- The Time Is Now: A Conversation About Darfur with Luis Moreno-Ocampo (Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court), Don Cheadle (actor, activist), Adam Sterling (co-founder, Sudan Divestment Task Force), Ted Braun (director, Darfur Now), Mark Jonathan Harris (producer, Darfur Now) and Cathy Schulman (producer, Darfur Now)
Midnight Madness
Real to Reel
Short Cuts Canada
- Automoto directed by Neil McInnes and Cathy McInnes
- Blood Will Tell directed by Andrew McPhillips
- Boar Attack directed by Jay White
- Bumblebee directed by Jonathan van Tulleken
- Burgeon and Fade directed by Audrey Cummings
- Can You Wave Bye-Bye? directed by Sarah Galea-Davis
- The Canadian Shield directed by Simon Ennis
- Code 13 directed by Mathieu L. Denis
- The Colony directed by Jeff Barnaby
- Congratulations Daisy Graham directed by Cassandra Nicolaou
- A Cure for Terminal Loneliness directed by Samir Rehem
- Cursing Hanley directed by Kelly Harms
- Dada Dum directed by Britt Randle
- Diamonds in a Bucket directed by Sherry White
- Dust Bowl Ha! Ha! directed by Sébastien Pilote
- Farmer's Requiem directed by Ramses Madina
- found oBjects directed by David Birnbaum
- Four Walls directed by Raha Shirazi
- francas directed by Eduardo Menz
- Gene Boy Came Home directed by Alanis Obomsawin
- God Provides directed by Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky
- The Schoolyard (Les Grands) directed by Chloé Leriche
- Hastings Street directed by Larry Kent
- Hirsute directed by A.J. Bond
- Hymn to Pan directed by François Miron
- I Have Seen the Future directed by Cam Christiansen
- I've Never Had Sex... directed by Robert Kennedy
- Knights of Atomikaron directed by Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany
- The Last Moment directed by Deco Dawson
- Latchkey's Lament directed by Troy Nixey
- Loudly, Death Unties directed by Sheila Pye and Nicholas Pye
- Madame Tutli-Putli directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
- No Bikini directed by Claudia Morgado Escanilla
- Paradise directed by Jesse Rosensweet
- ReOrder directed by Sean Garrity
- Shooting Geronimo directed by Kent Monkman
- A Short Film About Falling directed by Peter Lynch and Max Dean
- Smile directed by Julia Kwan
- Teenage Girl directed by Greg Atkins
- Terminus directed by Trevor Cawood
- Terry Southern's Plums and Prunes directed by Dev Khanna
- Three Beans for George directed by Sean Anicic
- Tic Tac Toe directed by Matthew Swanson
- The Whole Day Through directed by Adam Budd
Special Presentations
- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 sǎptǎmâni şi 2 zile) directed by Cristian Mungiu
- Angel directed by François Ozon
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford directed by Andrew Dominik
- Atonement directed by Joe Wright
- Battle in Seattle directed by Stuart Townsend
- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead directed by Sidney Lumet
- Before the Rains directed by Santosh Sivan
- Bill directed by Melisa Wallack and Bernie Goldmann
- The Brave One directed by Neil Jordan
- Captain Mike Across America directed by Michael Moore
- To Each His Own Cinema (Chacun son cinéma) directed by Theo Angelopoulos, Olivier Assayas, Bille August, Jane Campion, Youssef Chahine, Chen Kaige, David Cronenberg, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Manoel de Oliveira, Raymond Depardon, Atom Egoyan, Amos Gitai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Aki Kaurismäki, Abbas Kiarostami, Takeshi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, David Lynch, Nanni Moretti, Roman Polanski, Raúl Ruiz, Walter Salles, Elia Suleiman, Tsai Ming-liang, Gus Van Sant, Lars von Trier, Wim Wenders, Wong Kar-wai and Zhang Yimou
- Chaotic Ana (Caótica Ana) directed by Julio Medem
- Death Defying Acts directed by Gillian Armstrong
- The Girl in the Park directed by David Auburn
- Grand Illusion (La Grand Illusion, 1937) directed by Jean Renoir; introduced by director Peter Bogdanovich
- Here Is What Is directed by Adam Vollick, Daniel Lanois and Adam Samuels
- Honeydripper directed by John Sayles
- I'm Not There directed by Todd Haynes
- In Bloom directed by Vadim Perelman
- In the Valley of Elah directed by Paul Haggis
- Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn
- Juno directed by Jason Reitman
- Lars and the Real Girl directed by Craig Gillespie
- Love Comes Lately directed by Jan Schütte
- Lust, Caution (pinyin: Sè, Jiè) directed by Ang Lee
- Mad Detective directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai
- Man from Plains directed by Jonathan Demme
- Margot at the Wedding directed by Noah Baumbach
- Married Life directed by Ira Sachs
- Mongol directed by Sergei Bodrov
- My Winnipeg directed by Guy Maddin
- Nightwatching directed by Peter Greenaway
- No Country for Old Men directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
- Nothing Is Private directed by Alan Ball
Sprockets Family Zone
- The Besieged Fortress (La Citadelle assiégée) directed by Philippe Calderon
- Max & Co directed by Frédéric Guillaume and Samuel Guillaume
- Mid Road Gang (Ma-Mha-See-Kha-Krub) directed by Pantham Thongsang and Somkiat Vithuranich
- Nocturna directed by Victor Maldonado and Adriàn García
- The Substitute (Vikaren) directed by Ole Bornedal
Vanguard
Visions
Wavelengths
- The Acrobat directed by Chris Kennedy
- All That Rises directed by Daïchi Saïto
- The Anthem directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
- At Sea directed by Peter Hutton
- The Butterfly in Winter directed by Ute Aurand and Maria Lang
- Capitalism: Slavery directed by Ken Jacobs
- Cross Worlds directed by Cécile Fontaine
- Discoveries on the Forest Floor 1-3 directed by Charlotte Pryce
- Echo directed by Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof
- ecp 2D: sun directed by John Price
- Erzählung directed by Hannes Schüpbach
- Europa 2005, 27 Octobre directed by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet
- Evertwo Circumflicksrent...Page 298 directed by Bruce McClure
- Wrong Moves (Faux Mouvements) directed by Pip Chodorov
- gone directed by Karoe Goldt
- Monica directed by Enrico Mandirola
- Papillon directed by Olivier Fouchard
- POOL (KOLAM) directed by Chris Chong Chan Fui
- Pour Vos Beaux Yeux directed by Henri Storck
- Profit motive and the whispering wind directed by John Gianvito
- Quartet directed by Nicky Hamlyn
- Schindler's Houses (Photography and Beyond Part 12) directed by Heinz Emigholz
- Tape Film directed by Chris Kennedy
- What the Water Said, nos. 4-6 directed by David Gatten
References
- ^ "Toronto International Film Festival Announces Complete Lineup Of Programming Including 349 Films From 55 Countries". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=485. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Fact Sheet". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=490. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "World Premiere Of Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces To Open Festival". Toronto International Film Festival Group. May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=438. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Emotional Arithmetic Announced As Closing Night Film". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=468. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ a b Howell, Peter (September 2007). "No hive mentality at this year's TIFF". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. http://www.thestar.com/article/257076. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Best Picture winners American Beauty and Chariots of Fire had both previously won the People's Choice Award.
"Honors in Toronto for 'Eastern Promises'". The New York Times. September 2007. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/movies/17arts-HONORSINTORO_BRF.html. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ a b c d "International Titles Top Festival Awards". Toronto International Film Festival Group. September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=504. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Renoir Classic And Filmmaking Legend Bogdanovich Honoured At Special Event". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=489. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ "Canada First!". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20070708214236/http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/canadafirst/. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Canadian Open Vault". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715174630/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/canadianopenvault/. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Canadian Open Vault Presents Les Bons Débarras". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=460. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Canada's Ten Best: 1984, 1993 & 2004 Film Surveys". Film Reference Library. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071012085647/http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?navid=98&csid=114. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ Loiselle, André (2007). "Canadian Retrospective". Toronto International Film Festival Group. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715175007/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/canadianretrospective/. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Filmmaker Michel Brault Honoured With Retrospective". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=461. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Contemporary World Cinema". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20070708213916/http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/contemporaryworld/. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Canadian Titles In Contemporary World Cinema And Real To Reel". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=464. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "Dialogues: Talking With Pictures". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715175119/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/dialogues/. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Von Sydow, Kuwabara, Loach, Burstyn, Lumet, Bogdanovich, Dong, Kwan And Attenborough In Dialogues". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=488. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ a b "Discovery". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715175019/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/discovery/. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Doc Talks". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715175029/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/doctalks/. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Doc Talks Now Open To The Public, Plus Political Personalities And Legendary Music Artists Headline At TIFF". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=487. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Future Projections". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20071012224602/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/futureprojections/. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Film Meets Visual Arts Throughout Toronto With New Programme: Future Projections". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=478. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Masters". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715174915/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/masters/. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ "Mavericks". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715174915/http://tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/masters/. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ "Carter! Moreno-Ocampo! Maher! Pious Comedy And Presidential Activism Come Together Under Politically Charged Mavericks Programme". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. http://www.tiffg.ca/content/mediacentre/viewrelease.asp?recordId=486. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
External links