Tuesday, July 29, 2014

TIFF announces 2014 Vanguard selections


PETER STRICKLAND, TAKASHI MIIKE AND FABRICE DU WELZ LEAD VANGUARD PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO SEDUCE SOPHISTICATED THRILL SEEKERS

TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival® Vanguard programme seduces audiences with a sensory experience full of mystery and boundary-busting madness, with bold international films that walk the razor’s edge. International programmer Colin Geddes brings together the work of some of the most audacious auteurs in the world to present a cinematic adventure that takes audiences to the dark, dangerous places that both unnerve yet intrigue them.

“The Vanguard programme presents the intersection between genre and arthouse to showcase intrepid works that fearlessly defy convention,” said Geddes. “Daring audiences who have grown to love the extreme cinema of Midnight Madness will definitely be seduced by the subversive sophistication of Vanguard.”

TIFF announces 2014 Midnight Madness lineup


MIDNIGHT MADNESS PACKS A POWERFUL PUNCH OF THE WILD, WACKY AND WEIRD AT THE 2014 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival®’s Midnight Madness programme brings thrills, chills and all sorts of kills to Festival audiences once again. Get your passports stamped and experience an international cinematic rollercoaster which includes: a Yakuza street gang hip-hop musical epic; spine-chilling Spanish zombies with insatiable appetites; a Finnish boy hunter rescuing the President of the United States from terrorists; and Flemish cub scouts trapped in the woods with sinister companions.

“Midnight Madness has been entertaining connoisseurs of the exquisitely explicit for over 25 years, and is now an essential destination for cinematic masters of outrageous expression,” says Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “After the sun sets on the Festival days, fearless audiences will converge at the Ryerson Theatre to be served a visual feast of the bizarre, the horrifying and the wonderfully wacky.”

TIFF announces 2014 Masters selections


TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS WORKS FROM CONTEMPORARY MASTERS OF CINEMA
Masters programme lineup includes latest films from Jean-Luc Godard, Ann Hui, Abderrahmane Sissako, Michael Winterbottom and Andrey Zvyagintsev

TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival® today announced the selections for the 2014 Masters programme, a lineup of the most inspiring, audacious, and original filmmakers working in cinema today. Hong Sang-soo, Michael Winterbottom, Jean-Luc Godard, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Bent Hamer, Roy Andersson, Ann Hui, Im Kwon-taek and Abderrahmane Sissako are among thefilmmakers screening their latest works in the Festival’s Masters programme this year.

Films screening as part of the Masters programme include:

TIFF announces 2014 documentary lineup


TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL LOCKS HIGH-PROFILE DOCUMENTARY LINEUP FEATURING TIMELY WORKS OF GLOBAL REACH
Established and emerging directors fill this year’s TIFF Docs slate, which showcases new films by Nick Broomfield, Ethan Hawke, The Yes Men, Joshua Oppenheimer, Frederick Wiseman, Jonathan Nossiter, and first-timers Marah Strauch and Tamara Erde

TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival’s 2014 documentary programme presents a diverse collection of international works through the lens of both veteran filmmakers and newcomers. Digging deep into today’s most newsworthy headlines, the TIFF Docs lineup delivers a world of discovery that promises to entertain, educate and incite audience dialogue that will resonate long after the credits roll.

“This year’s selection is heavily populated with rebels, resisters and risk-takers,” said TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers. “That’s true of the characters on screen, but also of filmmakers who are making bold choices in their subject matter and treatment. Those risks pay off with films that are thrilling, provocative and eye-opening.”

Friday, July 25, 2014

TIFF announces 2014 opening film is David Dobkin’s The Judge


2014 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OPENS WITH DAVID DOBKIN’S THE JUDGE

TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival today announced that David Dobkin’s The Judge will open the 2014 Festival on Thursday, September 4. From Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the Big Kid Pictures/Team Downey production stars Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard and Billy Bob Thornton.

Big city lawyer Hank Palmer (Downey Jr.) returns to his childhood home where his estranged father (Duvall), the town’s judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth, and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.

“The stars aligned and we are thrilled to announce that we will kick off the Festival with The Judge,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO, TIFF. “David Dobkin has delivered a moving, textured story about family, duty and the way we remember our past. We couldn’t have asked for a better start to this year’s event.”

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

2014 TIFF announces first films - Galas and Special Presentations


2014 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL UNVEILS ITS FIRST SLATE OF GALAS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

TORONTO — Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, announced the first round of titles premiering in the Galas and Special Presentations programmes of the 39th Toronto International Film Festival®.

Of the 13 Galas and 46 Special Presentations announced, this initial lineup includes 37 world premieres from directors including Noah Baumbach, Susanne Bier, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, David Dobkin, Philippe Falardeau, Mia Hansen-Løve, Ning Hao, François Ozon, Christian Petzold, Lone Scherfig and Chris Rock.

“Toronto can anticipate another remarkable lineup of films,” said Handling. “Cinema’s collective and transformative experience lives at the heart of our Festival — a sentiment that inspires the global dialogue rippling throughout the selections revealed today.”

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

2014 Polaris Music Prize announces short list


The 10 albums on the 2014 Polaris Music Prize Short List were revealed at The Carlu‘s Round Room in Toronto earlier today.

Montreal actor, producer and writer Jay Baruchel will host the 2014 Polaris Gala being held September 22 at The Carlu in Toronto. Baruchel, who once played the role of obsessed Led Zeppelin fan Vic Munoz in Almost Famous, also helped unveil the 10 albums on the 2014 Short List earlier today in Toronto.

The actor is known for his roles in This Is The End, Goon, as well as the How To Train Your Dragon series, The Trotsky, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder. His current projects include the FXX comedy series Man Seeking Woman and an adaptation of the book Baseballismo written by Dave Bidini.

2014 TIFF presents 25th anniversary screening of Michael Moore's Roger & Me


TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING OF MICHAEL MOORE’S ROGER & ME

Moore to Participate in Keynote Conversation at Festival's Doc Conference

Twenty-five years after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Michael Moore’s first feature, the 1989 documentary Roger & Me, returns for a special anniversary screening with the filmmaker in attendance.

Roger & Me documents the efforts of General Motors as it turns its hometown of Flint, Michigan, into a ghost town. In his quest to discover why GM would want to do such a thing, Michael Moore – a Flint native – attempts to meet the chairman, Roger Smith, and persuade him to come and visit Flint to see the destruction first-hand.

Michael Moore, Douglas Trumbull, Peter Loehr to headline 2014 TIFF Industry events


MICHAEL MOORE, DOUGLAS TRUMBULL AND PETER LOEHR HEADLINE TIFF INDUSTRY EVENTS AT THE 2014 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

TIFF announced today the initial lineup of speakers joining this year’s TIFF Industry events as part of the 39th Toronto International Film Festival®. The Industry Conference is headlined by cinema technology pioneer and visionary Douglas Trumbull; the opening keynote speaker for Asian Film Summit is Legendary East’s Peter Loehr; and Academy Award®–winning filmmaker Michael Moore participates in a keynote conversation at Doc Conference.

"We are excited to announce the participation of these visionary filmmakers in our industry programming,” said Justin Cutler, Director, Industry Office. “Our programmes will connect 180 top-calibre speakers with an extensive industry audience of filmmakers from over 80 countries, making this year's programming a true global film summit. We aim to attract the best and brightest industry professionals to inspire, motivate and transform the way our attendees think about the art and business of content creation."

Thursday, July 10, 2014

ComedyPRO announces winners of the 2014 Just For Laughs Awards


Emmy® and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, comedian and writer, Andy Samberg, is this year’s Just For Laughs Comedy Person of the Year. He joins a prestigious list of former recipients that includes Amy Poehler (2013), Chelsea Handler (2012) and Louis CK (2011). Mr. Samberg and six fellow recipients will receive their awards at a live show on Friday, July 25, 2014 at 5 pm, Grand Salon Opera, Hyatt Regency Montreal. A limited number of tickets to the Just For Laughs Awards Show are now on sale at www.hahaha.com.

Star of the break-out comedy TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Andy Samberg was a cast member on Saturday Night Live (2005 - 2012), where he co-created the popular SNL Digital Shorts as a member of The Lonely Island alongside Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. Film appearances have included Hot Rod, I Love You, Man, That’s My Boy, Celeste and Jesse Forever and Hotel Transylvania.

RIDM free outdoor summer screenings – lineup announced


The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is proud to announce it free outdoor screenings for the summer of 2014. Working with several organizations and festivals, the RIDM will have a presence in several Montreal parks and other sites.

Throughout the summer, the RIDM will present a diverse line-up of documentaries, for free, in unconventional locations. It’s a great way to enjoy the warm season while watching the world’s best documentaries.

All screenings will start at nightfall. Here is the program: