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Showing posts with the label TIFF 2017

TIFF 2017 review DOWNRANGE

2107 Directed by: Ryuhei Kitamura Starring: Kelly Connaire, Stephanie Pearson, Anthony Kirlew, and Rod Hernandez Kitamura wastes no time in DOWNRANGE. The tension in the film starts almost immediately and never lets up. I felt like I was holding my breath for 89 minutes, this film is utterly relentless. Six college-aged students are taking a cross-country trip when they have a blow out on one of their tires. In the middle of changing that tire, they happen across the shell casing from a long range rifle and realize, it wasn't a blowout. The tire had been shot. Within moments bullets are flying towards the young travelers and they are pinned down. Unable to move out from behind the vehicle, the elusive sniper unloads a barrage of fire. On an empty rural road, in the middle of nowhere, with inconsistent cell service, they are alone with this determined assassin. Their only hope seems to wait him out, to see if another car happens along their path. The marksman is frustrati

TIFF 2017 - 30WEST ACQUIRES PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER BEAST FOLLOWING WORLD PREMIERE

30WEST has proven to be an active buyer and seller at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival by closing its third deal in acquiring the North American distribution rights to Michael Pearce’s BEAST starring Jessie Buckley (Taboo, War and Peace), Johnny Flynn (Clouds of Sils Maria, Song One) and Geraldine James (45 Years, Calendar Girls). The Protagonist Pictures repped psychological thriller is the first feature-length project from writer/director Pearce and received strong reviews after its world premiere on Saturday night. BEAST centers around a small island community where a troubled young woman falls for a mysterious outsider who empowers her to escape from her oppressive family. When he comes under suspicion for a series of brutal murders she defends him at all costs and learns what she is capable of.

TIFF 2017 CLIP DEBUT - I KILL GIANTS

I KILL GIANTS , a film by Anders Walter tells the story of Barbara Thorsen (Madison Wolfe), a teenage girl who chooses to escape the realities of school and a drab family life by retreating into her magical world of Titans and Giants. With the help of her new friend Sophia (Sydney Wade) and her school therapist (Zoe Saldana), she will learn to battle her Giants and face her fears – tackling the mean bullies at school, her sister (Imogen Poots) and her difficult work situation, and eventually her fear of death. Director : Anders Walter Written by : Joe Kelly Cast: Zoe Saldana, Imogen Poots, Madison Wolfe, Sydney Wade Producers : Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Kyle Franke, Kim Magnusson, Adian Politowski, Nick Spicer TRT : 104 minutes TIFF Section : Discovery World Premiere : 12:15 PM | Saturday, September 9 | TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 3 Additional Screening : 3:45 PM | Saturday, September 16 | Scotiabank 11

TIFF 2017 - Clip - PUBLIC SCHOOLED

We are pleased to bring you a clip from Kyle Rideout’s PUBLIC SCHOOLED, which is making its World Premiere this Saturday, September 9th at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film stars Judy Greer, Daniel Doheny, Siobhan Williams, Russell Peters and Grace Park. PUBLIC SCHOOLED (World Contemporary Cinema) Director : Kyle Rideout Writers : Josh Epstein, Kyle Rideout Cast : Judy Greer, Daniel Doheny, Siobhan Williams, Russell Peters, Grace Park Producers : Josh Epstein, Adam Folk Sales : Kaleidoscope Synopsis : Socially awkward, Liam has been homeschooled his entire life. When he falls in love with a popular one-legged girl, he abandons his mother’s suffocating love and enrolls in public school, getting a crash course in sex, drugs and social mayhem. Premiere Screening : 7:15 PM | Saturday, September 9 | Jackman Hall Press Screenings : 11:45 AM | Sunday, September 10 | Scotiabank 8 9:30 AM | Thursday, September 14 | Scotia

TIFF review PORCUPINE LAKE

2017 Directed by: Ingrid Veninger Starring: Charlotte Salisbury and Lucinda Armstrong Hall PORCUPINE LAKE opens on Bea (Salisbury) as she rests in the back of her parent’s station wagon, peacefully unaware of the quiet tension that fills the front half of the vehicle. The juxtaposition of a picturesque countryside and her parent’s uncomfortable silence evokes a strange feeling of melancholy while staring through the lens of something utterly beautiful. The family is traveling across a Norman Rockwell like landscape to take over a restaurant bequeathed from Bea’s grandfather. The “Snack Shack”, situated in Port Severn Ontario, represents a missed opportunity for this struggling young family to start over. Scotty sees this as a chance to fix up the place and make a go of it, while Ally is only interested in selling. Ally and Scotty, absorbed with their own problems and mounting tensions from the restaurant leave Bea mostly to her own devices. One morning, while Bea

TIFF 2017 - LATCHED a film by Justin Harding and Rob Brunner, opens the SHORTS PROGRAM

Newly-single mom Alana (Alana Elmer) and her 14-month-old son Bowen (Bowen Harding) are alone in the off-season on an island cottage, with only a strange old neighbour (Peter Higginson) for company. A choreographer looking to get back into the dance world, Alana uses her time of solitude to practice her moves and prepare for a new adventure involving an experimental dance company. Then on a walk in the woods with Bowen, they discover the decomposing remains of what is dubiously identified as a bat. It is not a bat.  That’s the bare and chilling premise of Latched, directors Justin Harding and Rob Brunner’s latest horror short, which is debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, opening the Shorts Program. No stranger to the concept of terror-and-children, Harding and Brunner recently turned heads with Kookie, a short, terrifying film about a greedy little girl, a haunted cookie jar and a killer clown, which earned an Official Selection at SXSW and won of over 30 awards.