Saturday, September 6-------The facts and figures of this year's Toronto International Film Festival go something like this: 312 films from 64 countries, including 249 feature-length films, 76 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 61 of which are feature directorial debuts. Aside from close to 1500 international members of the press and the film industry, the Festival is also welcoming over 500 international stars and special guests on the red carpet. T...
 Saturday, September 6------Coming off of a shopping spree of acquisitions at the Cannes Film Festival, New York-based specialty distributor IFC Films is screening an unprecedented seven films at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. With most US distributors in retrenchment mode (or some being shuttered completely), IFC's day-and-date release of films in theaters and via Video On Demand has given them the financial clout to fill the need for an expanding pipeline of new product.That...
Friday, September 5------The Canadian Film and Television Production Association announced yesterday that Canadian producer Rob Merilees is the recipient of the third annual CFTPA Producer’s Award. The award includes a cash prize of $10,000 CAD and was presented at the 5th Elementt Restaurant (The Match Club) at the opening of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) .Merilees’ most recent project, Stone of Destiny, is already drawing high praise and was selected to make its North A...
Friday, September 5--------One of the first announcements of a US distribution deal was made today, on the first day of full out screenings here at the Toronto International Film Festival. Regent Releasing, a leading independent U.S. distributor, announcedthat it has acquired North American distribution rights to Serbis (Service), the new film from acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza. Regent acquired the film from international sales agent Fortissimo Films and will distribute Ser...
 Thursday, September 4-------Following the lead of the selection of a Canadian film to open the Festival this evening (the World War I epic Passchendale by Paul Gross), the Toronto International Film Festival has laced all of its program strands with some highly anticipated local films. This is not only critical for the Toronto audiences but for the cadre of international film buyers and programmers who have descended on the city to discover, among other things, the next Canadian film gem.Five ...
 Thursday, September 4------With more than 265 films from over 50 countries around the world screening at this year's event, the Toronto International Film Festival could have its pick of whatever film from whatever country it wanted for its opening slot (unless Venice had it first). But the Festival understands the importance of reserving its Opening Night Gala for homegrown talent, and as it has done for the past several years, the Festival opener is an indeed a Canadian film.One of the mos...
 Thursday, September 4------ The TIFF Talent Lab is a three day intensive workshop for 24 young Canadian filmmakers who are all charged with making a film using their cellphones. It's not a coincidence that the entire program is sponsored by Motorola, which yesterday unveiled its fall lineup of cellphones and some of the films already produced under the initiative.At the press conference held yesterday, the cellphone manufacturer premiered A Short History of Filmmaking, a commercial...
 Wednesday, September 3--------What is it like when two of the major film festivals on the international circuit actually overlap? A mix of competition and cooperation it seems. As the Toronto event takes a deep breath in anticipation of its big opening tomorrow and the Venice Film Festival exhales after nearly 10 days of movie madness, the next few days sees a rare overlapping of two major film showcases, 5000 miles apart.The accent of both events are in apparent transition. Venice is makin...
 Wednesday, September 3--------Music documentaries and special music events are taking center stage at the Toronto International Film Festival, which opens tomorrow evening with the world premiere of the Canadian epic Passchendaele. Following last year's docs on the Rolling Stones and U2, this year's crop looks at the worlds of rock music, international rhythms and Broadway showtunes.One of the hottest tickets in town is for the film It Might Get Loud, which features the likes of Jimmy Page (L...
Tuesday, September 2-------European film will again have a high profile at the Toronto International Film Festival, which opens on Thursday. European Film Promotion (EFP) the trans-European organization representing Europe's national film boards, will be in Toronto again, as it has for the past 12 years. Toronto is one of the major industry venues EFP’s sales support initiative, Film Sales Support (FSS). Now in its fourth year of supporting European sales agents and production companies, Film ...
Tuesday, September 2------While the Toronto International Film Festival, which starts this Thursday, does embrace its valuted position as a a prime launching pad for films with "awards season" ambitions, this year's program contains a number of high profile films that can only be classified as "difficult". Perhaps the Festival alchemy can transform these audience-challenging films into something that has "must see" buzz, but the Festival is to commended for attempti...
 Monday, September 1--------Although Toronto has no official market the likes of Cannes, Berlin or American Film Market, this is still very much an industry-rich event. Film sellers, buyers and programmers are expected here in the thousands to sample new films, sell old ones and do the necessary networking. While it has resisted the creation of a formal Film Market (although this may change with the opening in the next few years of a new Festival hq, the Bell Lightbox), the Festival does mainta...
Friday, August 30-------Some of world cinema's most famous faces are on tap for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off the North American film season next week. Celebrities on the screen and on the red carpet include such popular stars as Keira Knightley, Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Thandie Newton, Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Bill Maher, Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson and Jeremy Piven. Keira Knightley could be Oscar bound for her role as th...
 Thursday, August 28------The Toronto International Film Festival, which starts next week, has a good number of gala presentations on tap, featuring the newest works from such critically acclaimed directors as Kathryn Bigelow, Spike Lee and Paolo Sorrentino and featuring performances by such diverse talents as John Malkovich, Viggo Mortensen, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, John Leguizamo, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Michael Cera. In Disgrace by Australian director Steve Jacobs, Australia, cult actorÂ...
 Wednesday, August 27------While the Toronto International Film Festival is nothing if not international in scope, the Festival has also been mindful of its role of introducing Canadian film talents to the larger public and the worldwide industry that attends the annual festival bash. Continuing in its commitment to celebrate Canadian works, the Festival will present nine new films in the Canada First! program section.Focusing on works from first-time Canadian directors as well as those prese...
Monday, August 25------Although it is not an official sidebar to the Festival, the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival is highlighting a dozen new films from Spain. In fact, Spain is the European country most represented at the Festival which opens in two weeks. With a mix of straight-out Spanish productions and a host of co-productions with Latin American partners, the accent is on the continued vitality and strong international impression of contemporary Spanish cinema."This is a...
by Sandy Mandelberger, Toronto Online Dailies EditorFriday, August 22-------The 33rd Toronto International Film Festival announced today a lineup of esteemed governors and 22 filmmaker participants who will be taking part in this year's Talent Lab. Now in its fifth year, Canadian Initiatives' Talent Lab offers invaluable artistic development opportunities to emerging filmmakers in a four-day intensive programme. This year's governors include celebrated French director Olivier Assayas (Chacun Son...
 by Sandy Mandelberger, Toronto FF Dailies Editor Wednesday, April 20-----With little more than two weeks to go before the opening of the Toronto Film Festival, it is appearing that the Festival will again be a prime showcase of European cinema. While films are still being announced, nearly 30% of the films presented will be of European origin. They will include heavy contributions from such stalwarts as Britain, France, Spain and Germany, but will also devote a considerable amount of screen ...
 by Sandy Mandelberger, Toronto FF Dailies Editor Monday, August 18-----With summer in its final sizzle, the Fall film festival season is just moments away. The troika of Montreal, Venice and Toronto begins in the Quebec capital later this week. While other industries still relish the slow period known as the "dog days of August", the film industry is already in high gear mode, looking to these Festivals to unveil the films that everyone will be talking about this awards season.Of th...
Sunday, September 16----------The Toronto International Film Festival marathon (365 films in 10 days......pant, pant) is over and whichever way the pundits will lean, it is clear that this is an adventurous, rigorous and exciting event for film buffs and film lovers. While the overall analysis was that the sales/acquisition activity was a little underwhelming, the fact is that the story is not completely written on that aspect of the Festival. Perhaps, considering the chances taken by so many of...
 Sunday, September 16---------The Toronto International Film Festival marathon came to a close last evening with the announcement of the film awards at the historic Fairmont Royal York Hotel. While the Festival is mainly a non-competitive affair, the Canadian entries are up for a number of awards, which only helps to strengthen their international profile. Toronto International Film Festival Award WinnersAWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILMThe award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Chris Cho...
 Saturday, September 15---------There are very few words in our contemporary culture that are as charged as the word "jihad". It has been used as a kind of talisman for conjuring up the fears of Western society for the resurgence of political, economic and ideological influence of the Muslim world. Indian-born Muslim director Parvez Sharma uses the word in the title of his debut documentary film in its more literal Arabic meaning. Rather than simply being equated with "holy war...
 Saturday, September 15------The complex, competitive and ultimately loving relationship between fathers and their sons has been the potent theme of a number of films at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Perhaps it is only my own personal taste (after all, in a sea of over 350 films, one chooses to take the journeys that most resonate with one's own sensibilities), but the theme came up again and again in a group of very different films.The struggle for reconciliation between a ...
 Friday, September 14------One of the most controversial films of the Festival, Alan Ball's feature directorial debut, NOTHING IS PRIVATE has been acquired for $1.25 million by Warner Independent and Netflix offshoot Red Envelope. This is the first directorial effort of Alan Ball, the Oscar-winning writer of AMERICAN BEAUTY and the creator of the HBO series SIX FEET UNDER. The film has been considered a hot potato due to its unflinching portrayal of the often painful sexual awakening of a young...
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