Friday, November 4, 2011

2011 Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival, Nov 4-12


Tonight is the opening night for the 19th Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival in Toronto. The festival on mental health issues features over 25 programs of feature and short films, artist talks, industry events, installations and performances. All artist talks and industry events are free.

The festival begins with a pre-gala reception in the Blackberry Lounge at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Then at 7pm, they'll screen the opening night gala film Sisters&Brothers with director Carl Bessai in attendance. The film stars Cory Monteith (Glee), Dustin Milligan, Amanda Crew, Gabrielle Miller and Kacey Rohl. It premiered at TIFF and mixes comedy and drama in portraying the lives of several sets of siblings.

Other highlights include the screening and discussion Intervention Canada, an experimental short Canadian film program curated by Award-winning filmmaker Deirdre Logue and Erik Martinson of Vtape featuring an Artist Talk and work by Canadian Media Artist Jenn E Norton, and an evening with stand-up Comedian Big Daddy Tazz followed by a conversation featuring Yuk Yuk’s founder Marc Breslin.

The 2011 Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival continues until November 12 at Lightbox, Workman Arts, NFB, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and T.A.N. Coffee.

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WORKMAN ARTS PRESENTS 
The 19th ANNUAL RENDEZVOUS WITH MADNESS FILM FESTIVAL 
NOVEMBER 4 – 12, 2011 PROGRAM SCHEDULE 
www.rendezvouswithmadness.com

Friday November 4 

5:15pm ― Opening Night Pre Gala Reception TIFF Bell Lightbox, BlackBerry® Lounge Reitman Square, 330 King St. West

7:00pm ― Opening Night Gala Feature: Sisters & Brothers Carl Bessai, Canada, 2011, 90 min, English A comedic, endearing look at dysfunctional families and the bonds that hold them together. Featuring an ensemble cast including Glee’s Cory Monteith and Corner Gas’s Gabrielle Miller. Director in attendance.

Saturday, November 5


*1:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Feature: Yelling to the Sky Victoria Mahoney, USA, 2011, 95 min, Canadian Premiere, English With an alcoholic father, and mentally ill mother, Sweetness has had to grow up tough. But is she strong enough to make it alone in the slums of New York? Starring Zoe Kravitz and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).
Short: Collect Call Christopher Mills, Canada, 2010, 5 min, English A meditative short that follows a young woman as she faces her mortality, death, and her ultimate renewal. Part ‘goodbye lullaby,’ part steampunk hallucination, and part music video (Metric). 

3:00pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Feature: Isolerad (Corridor) Johan Lundberg, Sweden, 2010, 80 min, Canadian Premiere, Swedish with English subtitles, Brussels European Film Festival: Cineurope Prize 2010 A withdrawn medical student suspects something terrible is happening in the apartment above him. Without a friend to confide in, paranoia and reality converge and terror becomes real.


7:00pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Feature: U.F.O. Burkhard Feige, Germany, 2010, 95 min, Toronto Premiere, German with English subtitles Bodo’s always loved science fiction, but in 1986 the lines between fantasy and reality blur when the Challenger explodes, Chernobyl erupts, and his mother, Christa, falls apart.

Sunday, November 6 

1:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Our Stories, Our Voices: Canadian Shorts When someone has a mental illness, it can change everything. As friends, family, and individuals struggle with the impact, the affects can ripple through generations.
Pins and Needles Nicole Nyholt, Canada, 1 min, No Language
Wilderness Dawn Wilkinson, Canada, 2011, 10 min, World Premiere, English
Nowhere Elsewhere Annick Blanc, Canada, 2010, 15 min, French with English Subtitles
Beyond the Pale Maureen Bradley, Canada, 2010, 18 min, Toronto Premiere, English
I Need My Best Friend Back Gina Simone, Canada, 2011, 15 min, World Premiere, English
Burning Blossom Kathryn Threlkeld, Canada, 2010, 9 min, World Premiere, English

3:00pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Feature: Baderech Lemalla (The Way Up) Shirly Berkovitz, Israel, 2009, 52 min, North American Premiere, Hebrew with English subtitles, Best Documentary: Romania International Film Festival From the streets and alleys of Tel Aviv, Lian searches for a family, fights her addictions, and rebuilds her life in this powerful and intimate portrait.


Short: Latzuf (Floating) Inbal Gibrolter, Israel, 2010, 33 min, North American Premiere, Hebrew with English Subtitles Two young women battle with their weight: one is a binge eater, the other an anorexic. They share a hospital room in the facility in which they have been committed. Both girls rebel against their rehabilitation, bonding over the experience, but to terrible consequence. This film is a cautionary story about female body image. 


7:00pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Feature: Part Time Fabulous Alethea Root, USA, 2011, 78 min, Canadian Premiere, English, Best Narrative Feature Audience Award: Berkshire International Film Festival 2011
Blending documentary and drama, Alethea Root captures the ups and downs of loving someone with mental illness with an accuracy rarely seen on screen. Filmmaker in attendance. 

Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Industry Artist Talk: Jenn E Norton Jenn will discuss how working intimately with the technology used in the production of her practice in a DIY capacity marries intuitive and formal approaches to her creative process. 



8:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Wee Requiems: Shorts Curated by Deirdre Logue and Erik Martinson A program of short experimental videos in lament. Mourning for the increasingly complex worlds of animals, plants and people, these works wander in and around the real and the alien, animated, mutated, recorded and illustrated. 
How to Care for Introverts
  Leslie Supnet, Canada, 2010, 2 min
Bird
  Julieta Maria, Canada, 2010, 3 min 

Wee Requiem
  Jenn E Norton, Canada, 2010, 7 min 

Beauty Plus Pity
  Emily Vey Duke & Cooper Battersby, Canada, 2009, 14 min 

The Fire Theft
  Isabelle Hayeur, Canada, 2010, 9 min, Toronto Premiere
Thalé
  Barry Doupé, Canada, 2009, 5 min
Golden Room 

  Michael Stecky, Canada, 2008, 5 min, Toronto Premiere
Cartoon For Those Who Have A Certain Fondness For Ideas but Are Tired Of Thinking
  Steve Reinke, Canada, 2010, 2 min, Toronto Premiere


Monday, November 7 

1:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West
Feature: 22 Mei (22nd of May) Koen Mortier, Belgium, 2010, 86 min, French with English subtitles, Golden Palm: Mexico International Film Festival It's a quiet day at the mall, until a suicide bomber destroys the tranquility. Immediately afterwards, Sam struggles to make sense of the chaos, the terror, the loss.


5:00pm Workman Arts, Lower Hall, 651 Dufferin St. Opening Reception ― Between the Temporal and the Eternal Falls the Shadow, Raja Moussaoui (Runs until November 12th) The installation explores the potential for architecture to reveal beauty and communicate meaning through the simple but powerful use of light, shadow and reflection — elements that characteristically serve to animate architecture.


7:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Feature: People in White Tellervo Kalleinen, Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, Netherlands, Finland, 2011, 65 min, Dutch with English subtitles In this performative doc, the directors manage to subtly undermine the power imbalances inherent in psychiatric treatment by capturing the haunting reflections of people who’ve been through it.
Short: Art Works Julie Pasila, Canada, 2011, 19 min, World Premiere, English Art Works explores the transformative, regenerative, and healing power of the arts through a look at the practices of three Toronto artists. 


Tuesday, November 8 

7:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Feature: We’ll Get Used to It Mohsen Ostad Ali Makhmalbaf, Iran, 2009, 52 min, Canadian Premiere, Farsi with English subtitles In Iran, women end up institutionalized for mental illness, addiction, and disobeying their fathers. The women in this film, struggle with patriarchy as much as mental health.


7:00pm NFB, 150 John St. Industry Presentation: Portrayals of Suicide: Shifting the Lens,
featuring clips from The Next Day, The High Level Bridge, and Burning Blossom Industry panel discussion and multi-media interactive exhibition of documentary approaches to suicide, in conversation with filmmakers, academics, journalists and clinicians exploring the changing attitudes around presenting this difficult issue.



Wednesday, November 9 

6:00pm 
Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Laughing like Crazy: Shorts Program A lighter look at mental illness and addiction in this collection of short films.
Hello Caller Andrew Putschoegl, USA, 2011, 6 min, English, Toronto Premiere
Distilled Love Joe Kicak, Canada, 2010, 14 min, English, National Screen Institute Drama Prize
What the Fud? Phillipp Berg, Canada, 2011, 4 min, English
Blunderkind Zak Mechanic,USA, 2011, 20 min, Canadian Premiere, English
Monster Flu Brian Wiebe, USA, 2010, 6 min, Canadian Premiere, French with English Subtitles< Cataplexy John Salcido, USA, 2010, 7 min, Canadian Premiere, English


8:00pm
Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Performance: The Bi-Polar Buddha A stand-up comedy performance by Big Daddy Tazz. Acclaimed as “one of the most talented comics in the business,” Tazz brings his unique worldview of life after mental illness to the Festival. Hosted by Yuk Yuk’s founder and Toronto-native Mark Breslin, followed by a conversation with Big Daddy Tazz and Dr. Kwame McKenzie of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.



Thursday, November 10 

*12:00pm - Media must reserve The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 Russell St. CAMH Grand Rounds Presentation: Television Presentation: Intervention Canada Karen Wookey, Canada, 2011, episode highlights, English Join Rendezvous with Madness and DOC Toronto as we explore the balance between exploitation and recovery with the creative team of one of Canada’s hottest new shows.

*6:30pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Television Presentation: Intervention Canada Karen Wookey, Canada, 2011, 44 min/episode, English Join Rendezvous with Madness and DOC Toronto as we explore the balance between exploitation and recovery with the creative team of one of Canada’s hottest new shows. 


*9:30pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Feature: Gods of Youth, Kate Twa, Canada, 2009, 95 min, Canadian Premiere, English Paul and Jay are getting desperate. What started as an adventure is spiralling out of control. When the drugs run out, the ride doesn’t always stop. 


Friday November 11 


6:45pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Feature: Finding Kind Lauren Parsekian, USA, 2010, 75 min, English, Student Choice Award: Sprockets Film Festival In this acclaimed documentary, filmmaker Lauren Parsekian travels the USA with a mission of healing: to stop the emotional trauma girls inflict on one another. 


9:30pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 330 King St. West Feature: Amphetamine Scud, China, 2010, 97 min, Toronto Premiere, Cantonese and English with English subtitles For Kafka and Daniel, finding the perfect love was easy. Keeping it against a backdrop of emotional trauma, hardcore drug addiction, and conflicting sexual identities is a bit harder.


Saturday, November 12 

12:00pm Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Feature: Sisters & Brothers (encore screening) Carl Bessai, Canada, 2011, 90 min, English A comedic, endearing look at dysfunctional families and the bonds that hold them together. Featuring an ensemble cast including Glee’s Cory Monteith and Corner Gas’s Gabrielle Miller.

8:00pm Closing Night Gala: Carnivale of the Mind featuring “Lens of Illusion” with Dr. Bruce Ballon Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. West Multimedia Performance: The Lens of Illusion with Dr. Bruce Ballon Leah Cherniak, Director; Andy Moro, Designer; Lisa Brown, Producer For your consideration, a collection of possible inner truths and outer deceptions ― or is it inner deceptions and outer truths? Please join your guide on a mysterious multimedia journey through distorted perceptions and uncertain realities. Experience mysteries that unite us; for people are more alike than different. A gala party to close the Festival will follow Dr. Ballon’s performance; the Workman Theatre will be transformed into a carnival of the mind with midway refreshments, buskers, sideshow amusements and flim flam.

LOCATIONS: TIFF Bell Lightbox - Reitman Square, 350 King St. West/ Workman Arts - 651 Dufferin Street/ NFB - 150 John St. / Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 Russell St. / T.A.N. Coffee, 992 Queen St. West

BOX OFFICE (OPENS OCT. 19): TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King St. West - 
- By phone: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily,
416-599-TIFF (8433) / Toll free: 1-888-599-8433
- In person: 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily,Tickets may be purchased at the venue one hour before each screening, if available.

Price: Regular Programs: $10 or pay what you can at the door (suggested min. $2) / Opening Night Gala: $30 / Special Presentation (Big Daddy Tazz and reception)$15 / Closing Night Gala (Carnivale of the Mind): $15 / Artist Talks, Industry Events: Free!


Rendezvous with Madness continues to bridge the arts and mental health worlds through our post-screening panel discussions featuring over 100 panelists from the arts, mental health and consumer survivor communities. The Festival is proud to thank its more than 50 presenting partners from the arts and mental health fields. As part of our commitment to bring artists to new audiences, each panel discussion will feature one of our presenting filmmakers in person when possible, or via internet video conferencing.

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