All Toronto articles – Page 152
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News
As industry leaves Venice for Toronto, Italian titles still strong
As a week of screenings at the Venice Film Festival winds up and the industry moves to Toronto, Italian titles are likely to be a focal point of year’s traditional festival migration.That is because seven Italian films will be on this year’s Toronto roster compared to three last year, across ...
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EFP's Film Sales Support promotes 42 European films in Toronto
European Film Promotion is working with the Toronto International Film Festival for the 12th year.The MEDIA-backed Film Sales Support initiative is now in its fourth year supporting European sales agents and producers with films in Toronto's official market.This year, Toronto's programme includes about 120 European films -- of which 42 ...
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News
New Wave takes UK rights to Denis' 35 Shot Of Rum
New UK distributor New Wave Films has acquired Claire Denis' 35 Shots Of Rum (35 Rhums).The deal was struck with sales company Elle Driver.The film is in competition in Venice and will also screen here in Toronto.Bruno Pesery produced for Soudaine Compagnie.Denis wrote the screenplay with Jean-Pol Fargeau.Alex Descas, Mati ...
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ReviewsThe Sky Crawlers
Dir: Mamoru Oshii. Japan. 2008. 122mins.Mamoru Oshii’s most meditative feature-length animation to date tells the story of a group of genetically modified eternally-young fighter aces in a world where war has become a company-sponsored reality game. Like the Peter-Pan ‘Kildren’ that it depicts, The Sky Crawlers ...
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ReviewsA Country Teacher
Dir: Bohdan Slama. Czech-Ger-Fr. 2008. 113mins.A bittersweet comedy about a gay teacher hiding out in a country school, Bohdan Slama’s follow-up to his award-winning Something Like Happiness feels slightly old-fashioned, going over ground that has already been dealt with in other films. The kind of gay ...
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ReviewsMilk (Sut)
Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu. Turkey-France-Germany. 2008. 111mins.Painfully slow but at the same time a resonant, elegiac coming of age story, the second installment in Turkish arthouse director Semih Kaplanoglu’s Yusuf trilogy shows him to be something of a magic-realist Terence Davies. But with its overlong shots in ...
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ReviewsGoodbye Solo
Dir: Ramin Bahrani. US. 2008. 91mins.An odd-couple relationship fuels a slow-burning but ultimately moving emotional and spiritual journey in Ramin Bahrani’s third feature. As in the well-received festival faves Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, the US director of Iranian origins unspools a story set among ...
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ReviewsPlastic City (Dangkou)
Dir: Yu Lik-wai. Brazil-China-Japan. 2008. 118mins.An underdeveloped yakuza-in-Brazil storyline and a hip- hop VJ sound-and-image assault do not add up to a rounded arthouse film in Yu Lik-wai’s PlasticCity. Despite some moments of visual brilliance, this third directorial outing by Jia Zhangke’s regular cinematographer betrays the ...
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ReviewsA Perfect Day (Un Giorno Perfetto)
Dir: Ferzan Ozpetek. Italy. 2008. 101mins.Obsessive love, corrupt politicians, coming-of-age crisis and teenage rebellion are just some of the ingredients in Ferzan Ozpetek’s Competition entry A Perfect Day. Adapted from a novel by Melania Mazzucco, this tragic melodrama spreads itself rather thin trying to pack it ...
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ReviewsThe Burning Plain
Dir: Guillermo Arriaga. USA. 2008. 105 mins.His much-publicised falling out with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu seems to have done Guillermo Arriaga the world of good. The Burning Plain, which the Mexican writer directed from his own script, is a powerful contemporary melodrama, more restrained but also ...
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ReviewsAchilles And The Tortoise
Dir: Takeshi Kitano. Japan. 2008. 119mins.Takeshi Kitano’s trilogy looking at his own career, his relations to the industry and cinema itself takes yet another turn in its final part which at first appears to be less self-obsessed than his two previous efforts but soon follows the ...
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ReviewsCold Lunch (Lonsj)
Dir: Eva Sorhaug. Norway. 2008. 86mins.A few good scenes, some quirky characters and a striking visual style don’t quite add up to a hot meal in Eva Sorhaug’s bite-sized Cold Lunch. Screening as an out of competition title in this year’s Critics’ Week, the Norwegian interlinked ...
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News
Toronto: The Buzz Films
THE BUZZ FILMSGALA PRESENTATIONSDean Spanley (UK-NZ)Dir: Toa FraserThe story: Based on Lord Dunsany's novel My Talks With Dean Spanley, this charts the relationship between a stiff Englishman and his son.The cast: Peter O'Toole plays opposite Jeremy Northam as his son and Sam Neill as an eccentric dean.The buzz: A co-production ...