festival spotlight on IncluCity

 

The Italians do it in style, and that extends to their film festivals. At least in Toronto.

The ICFF, once the Italian Contemporary and since morphed into the multicult IncluCity, has weathered the ice age of Covid and the onslaught of Neflix and other streamers to survive and perhaps thrive. Unlike many fests, IncluCity doesn't chase world or even city premieres, but focuses on experiential programming. In plain language, this means giving audiences a good time watching movies, specifically on big, cushy sofas out in the open, under the stars as they nurse a Moretti or Campari-infused negroni and a chocolate. 

An example of sponsorship branding

The brand names are key, since IncluCity has managed to attract a range of sponsors to pay for filling the main street and a square inside the historic Distillery District of Toronto. Forget speakers. How it works is ticket-holders listen to a movie through headphones. The picture is surprisingly sharp, the sound clear and the sofas comfy. When it rains, the screenings move indoors.

A ticket runs $35-60 and includes a sample of pasta you can eat on the spot, plus a box of dry pasta from sponsor Barilla, a negroni or beer, a chocolate from Bari and a coffee from Lavazza. A ticket can include a sample from one of the Distillery shops, like a bar of orange and cinnamon-scented soap from Gentil Uomo one night. The price will be too high for some, reasonable to others. Also factor getting here, either by car, bus (not subway), bike or walk. (I bike.) All in all, this is the most satisfying way to watch a movie outside a 3D IMAX and perfect on a summer's night.

Movies run the gamut, from drama to comedy and kids, from good to meh, and released sometime in the past year. As mentioned, these are not premieres, so the screenings offer audiences a fun way to catch a flick they missed. As a bonus, the film's directors and stars introduce each film either in person, like Atom Egoyan, or by video.

 

An example of good is Weekend Heroes, a light German drama about a father who takes his autistic son to football (soccer) games around Germany so he can settle on a team to cheer. The father is at times too nice and the son at times is a little tyrant. Well, that's the point: teach the audience about autistic behaviour, though the movie begs the question, Are parents nurturing such kids or feeding their dysfunction? The performance by the actor playing the autistic son, Cecilio Andresen, is superb.

 

Another fine film was shown at the smaller Moretti Theatre, Il padre d’Italia and introduced by diretor-writer in person, Fabia Mollo. Mollo spoke on a panel with other filmmakers about adaptatig novels to films. The translation of his 2017 film is The Father of Italia, not the country, but a baby. That baby is carried by a carefree, but reckless young woman who sings in a band. She hooks up a gay mensch and they make an unlikely duo, searching for the baby's father in this road movie. The strong performances by the leads, particularly Isabella Ragonese, and a good script make this two-hander worth watching. The film has heart without lapsing into corniness, though the ending felt a little unresolved.

Tips for viewing: True, there's some audio bleed through your headphones from the surrounding patios if you sit at the edge of the smaller stage. Better is the larger Trinity Theatre, because the neighbouring shops are closed during screenings and the sightlines are good.

IncluCity offers programming beyond movies, including a wine tasting, and concludes July 26 with a gala honouring Isabella Rossellini. The latter is a pricey but lavish affair including an Italian dinner, which has been delicious in past years.

 

Completely free is a small, but fascinating exhibition of legendary director, Federico Fellini. On display in the box office mere steps from the Trinity Theatre screen are scripts, drawings, director chairs and even the great man's desk. IncluCity organizer, Dominic Sciullo, is displaying a sample of the collection that he's finding a home for. I certainly wish him well and would love to see more.

IncluCity (officially Lavazza IncluCity Festival) runs through July 26 in the Distillery and surrounding venues.

film review: Save Yourselves!

 

Directed & written by Alex H. Fischer & Eleanor Wilson

ChinoKino score: B-

Review by Allan Tong

A tongue-in-cheek comedy about social media, Save Yourselves! is a fun, likable film centering on a  Brooklyn couple named Jack (John Reynolds) and Su (Sunita Mani). Like countless millennials, they are addicted to their devices. Phones, laptops, you name it. However, they fear that all this connectedness disconnects them from the real world. So, they jump on a friend's offer to stay at his isolated cabin in the woods so they can unplug and go e-cold turkey for a few days. What could go wrong?

An alien invasion, for one. Because Jack and Su have disconnected, they have no idea that a swarm of aliens, which look like oversized puffballs, have seized planet Earth. All hell is breaking loose around the globe while our couple live the unwired life. Eventually, they encounter one of these puffballs and notice weird things happening around the cabin, like empty whisky bottles (apparently aliens like to party). Jack and Su break down and finally check their massive backlog of voice-mails and texts to learn that Earth is doomed.

film review: Summerland

Directed by Jessica Swale

Written by Jessica Swale

ChinoKino score: B

Review by Allan Tong


Summerland is the imaginary, pagan heaven envisioned by reclusive writer Alice (Gemma Arterton) in the idyllic English coast of Sussex during World War Two. Alice is lonely and unfriendly, spending her days tapping on her typewriter until a young boy, Frank (Lucas Bond) is assigned to live with her. Frank has been evacuated from London during the Blitz when the Germans pummeled the capital with bombs.

Suddenly, grouchy Alice must take care of chipper, young Frank and open her heart and home to him. This means eventually revealing her secret of a past, forbidden love affair with Vera (Gugu Mbatha Raw) who left Alice during the Roaring Twenties to pursue a conventional family. The two women haven't seen each other since. To Alice's relief, young Frank actually sees nothing wrong Alice's lost love, and the two gradually grow close following some rocky false starts.

film review: Border (Gräns)

Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Written by:  Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf and John Ajvide Lindqvist (based on a short story by Lindqvist)

ChinoKino score: B+

Review by Allan Tong

What the hell did I just watch?

Border plays like an art-house European drama but veers into sci-fi, noir and even romance. At times, it unwinds drily, while at others, Border mesmerizes. Throughout, it is unsettling.

Border follows Tina (Eva Melander) as a lonely, cold customs agent. Tina looks part-animal with a big forehead, fang-like teeth, heavy body hair and scars galore. She looks repulsive, and has drawn scorn all her life, from schoolyard bullies to adults who openly call her an "ugly bitch." Naturally, she has developed a thick emotional shell. She isn't warm. She's guarded, and hard to know--and like. Meanwhile, her father (Jörgen Thorsson ) is falling into dementia while her boyfriend (Sten Ljunggren ) leeches off her in a loveless relationship.