Sid Adilman Mentorship

September 18, 2021
Liz's Festival Highlights!
Posted By Elizabeth Beddall At 11:46 PM
File under: Memories
-          Watching graceful society women opt for bare feet over heels at Norman Jewison’s soaking wet CFC Barbeque. -          Eavesdropping on Agnes Varda’s pen-doodling, listening to her talk about Jim Morrison and having her insist that I eat a scone, all in one amazing morning at Le Peridot on Bloor street.       Playing ‘spot that Canadian actor’ at the incredible Toronto Stories afterparty in Union Station, and searching for ways to strike up a conversation with the beautiful Tygh Runyan. -          Having Justin Simms, director of Down to the Dirt, tell me that "getting to talk to people like me, is making [his] Festival...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 16, 2021
'It's the end of summer camp'
Posted By Elizabeth Beddall At 6:27 PM
File under: Memories
- A phrase that I have heard spoken many times in the past few days.It's really starting to hit me though, now that I'm back home in Ottawa, trying not to crumple under a backlog of school assignments - that my Festival experience truly was comparable to those camper days of my youth. Not only because I fell in love with every boy or because I'm leaving with an enviable list of pen pals, but because it was the kind of life experience that will leave me with a permanent heartache -...

(more...)
• Comments (1)
September 8, 2021
Cooper's Castaways
Posted By Elizabeth Beddall At 4:21 PM
A rowdy good time was clearly had by all who attended the Cooper's Camera premiere last night. It was my second turn seeing the film and I annoyed all of my neighbors by declaring my love for it as soon as the credits started rolling. Armed with a 23 dollars worth of junk food (I don't want to talk about it), I watched Cooper's alongside its cast and was thrust back, once again, into the chaotic realms of my very own childhood. This time around I even noticed a Santa Claus decoration...

(more...)
• Comments (1)
September 7, 2021
Fashionably Late!
Posted By Elizabeth Beddall At 4:23 PM
File under: Memories
  I'd like to extend my sincere and most heartfelt apologies to those who have waited so patiently for my blog to take shape. A combination of extreme technical difficulty and general inability to manage my time has resulted in my not being able to pour my heart and soul out onto the computer screen. But here I am, having far too much to say in one short sitting. Thus I am going to organize my prelimary thoughts in point form and blogs of greater eloquence will materialize in the next few...

(more...)
• Comments (2)
July 23, 2021
The Sid Adilman Mentorship Programme
Posted By Elizabeth Beddall At 10:22 AM
The Sid Adilman Mentorship Programme was established in memory of Toronto Stars veteran entertainment journalist Sid Adilman. This programme will develop the journalistic skills of one emerging reporter who demonstrates a strong interest in film and the arts. The Sid Adilman Mentorship Programme is made possible through philanthropic donations to the Sid Adilman Mentorship Programme endowment fund.About this years blogger:Elizabeth Beddall is a former theatre student with a compulsion for arts-writing and a major crush on the city of Toronto. In her three years as a Journalism and English student at...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 15, 2021
The best of the fest
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 5:46 PM
File under: Memories
The who's who of TIFF came out this afternoon to the Royal York to say goodbye and also honour seven award winners -- films that had the most impact at this year's festival.As the ceremony was about to begin, I bumped into Rupinder Nagra, who plays the title character in Amal at the omelette station. Now that the festival is wrapping up, everyone was relaxed and having fun -- actors and filmmakers mingled with organizers and press while enjoying the most extensive array of brunch choices I have ever seen.I'm disappointed to say I missed screenings for the majority of award winners announced today, but I hope I'll...

(more...)
• Comments (1)
September 14, 2021
The art of the video game
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 4:24 PM
File under: Picks
The arts are all related in some way or another. I've talked about music and film already, but perhaps even more closely connected, is the visual arts and film. TIFF brings the two together in Future Projections, an inaugural programme of installations and film-related art work that can be seen in galleries throughout Toronto. I dropped by Into The Pixel today at the Ontario College of Art and Design. On display were artwork taken from video games -- a medium that's a very popular form of entertainment, but not one that is lauded often...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

My festival favourite
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 11:26 AM
File under: Picks
It’s hard to believe the festival is coming to an end. One more day to go tomorrow but for the Festival Daily, there will be no issue to produce tomorrow. Today is it. Over the course of the festival, I’ve seen about eight films – a fair amount but fewer than I’d have liked. I thought it’d be easy to go on a movie binge this week but sleep got the better of me. Weak, I know. Of all the movies I’ve seen this year, I would have to say that Richie Mehta’s Amal...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 13, 2021
Canadian musicians get their time to shine during TIFF
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 3:15 PM
File under: Music
This afternoon marked the finale of TIFF's Canadian Music Cafe series. Lest Canadian singers feel that they don't get enough attention as their filmmaking counterparts, Canadian Music Cafe gives them a chance to shine, too. (And if you remember my previous blog entry, we know just how strongly connected music is to film.) So for three days during the festival each year, TIFF guests are invited to showcases of emerging Canadian music talent at the Rivoli. Toronto singer-songwriter Justin Rutledge kicked off Thursday's set that also featured Simon Wilcox, Camouflage Nights, Hunter Valentine,...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

A guy you can't miss
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 11:36 AM
File under: Picks
If you see a man with long dark hair and black-framed glasses – a little like Johnny Depp, if you will – you should stop him and thank him. Chances are, it’s Steve Gravestock, TIFF’s director of Canadian programming, and he’s the kind of guy you can’t miss. Gravestock, along with Marguerite Piggott and Jesse Wente, make up the Canadian Feature Film Selection Committee, and they’re the ones who brought crowd-pleasers such as My Winnipeg, The Tracey Fragments, and Young People Fucking to this year’s festival. Gravestock’s job begins early in the year,...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 12, 2021
Movie, Meet Music
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 4:18 PM
File under: Panels
I don’t cry all that often. But I’m one of those people who can burst into tears while watching a movie. And I realize that while what’s happening on screen plays a big role in my emotional outbursts, the thing that really does it is something I can’t see. When the music kicks in, that’s when my eyes start to well. Music and movies have been connected since the time of silent movies and live bands played in theatres. Today, TIFF guests were invited to an Industry Initiatives event that looked specifically at the...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

Advice from the Adilmans
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 11:11 AM
File under: Memories
Last night, I was invited to dinner at the home of the Adilman family, the people who brought me here to this festival. Toshiko Adilman, widow of the late Sid Adilman, lives in an inviting old character home in the Annex and had created a delicious feast for the evening. After so many days living off bad take-out, it was nice to have something home-made (still thinking about that apricot pie...) It was also nice to chat with Toshiko and her sons Nobu and Mio about the festival, about the industry, and about the profession I've chosen for myself. I don't know if you're lucky or...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 11, 2021
Giantland, coming soon to a theatre near you?
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 5:57 PM
File under: Panels
There were some very unique and creative ideas pitched at this year's Telefilm Canada Pitch This! competition. Geoff Redknap and Katie Weekley's The Auburn Hills Breakdown turns the horror movie genre upside down - focussing on the plight of a family of monsters who find themselves stuck in the very scary world of a yuppy couple's country mansion. The Engagement Pact, a romantic comedy from the Shehori brothers, would feature celebrity cameos from an Orlando Bloom-like character and a Britney Spears-like character. Adnan Ahmed's Invisible City, looks at the people who live on society's fringes. Senior Year, from Mona Waserman and Peter Reynolds, is a quirky comedy...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

The great thing about TIFF...
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 11:33 AM
Yes there are big stars and big movies at TIFF but a lot of attention is also paid to new talent. TIFF has several inititatives for new talent such as the Talent Lab, where emerging filmmakers get the chance to work with those more established, and Telefilm Canada Pitch This! where anyone with a good idea (and courage!) have the chance to convince a jury of industry veterans that their feature is worth making. I'm heading to Pitch This! now and am excited to see what people have come up with...will give you an update later this

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 10, 2021
Too many parties, too little time...
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 6:01 PM
File under: Parties
Today, I recieved invites to two more TIFF parties happening before the week is over. While I love my parties, I'm frankly not so sure how many more of these I can take. I know -- cry me a river -- but the late nights are starting to get to me. Maybe I am getting old. Not that the parties aren't fun. I must say Skyy Vodka's Red Carpet Fizz martini is delicious, and they alone make not having any sleep totally worth it. I'll be trying very hard to make it to tonight's Planet Africa party at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, assuming I don't pass out in...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

Hanging with Jason Anderson
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 5:40 PM
File under: Panels
Hello dear blog readers, I must apologize for being MIA - I've been out all day with Eye Weekly's film critic Jason Anderson. Wherever Jason went, I went. My official title was "shadow" but I preferred to introduce myself as "bodyguard" -- that's right, Brad Pitt's not the only one with an entourage. Our first stop was the press conference for Julie Taymor's movie-musical Across The Universe, where Jason acted as moderator. You know you're good when you get asked to moderate. The conference went by fairly quickly -- it seemed like more time was spent...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 9, 2021
Lights, cameras, and action
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 4:20 PM
File under: Celebrities
I’m thinking now that the premiere of the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is over and done with, press here at the festival are breathing a sigh of relief. While there are tons of great films at the festival, they unfortunately get second billing to Jesse James. Joining the media fray on the red carpet last night, I was told by one reporter that he had never in his career seen a red carpet quite like that one before. Can you blame them? The number of stars who came out...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

Cocktails and Conversation
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 2:08 PM
File under: Directors, Panels
Saturday evening, I covered a Film Club event for an upcoming issue of the Festival Daily. Long-time supporters were invited to enjoy cocktails, finger foods and a discussion with the filmmaker of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Cristian Mungiu. The film, which won the Palm d'Or at Cannes this year, is screening in the Special Presentations programme at this year's festival. The soft-spoken Mungiu was a wonderful speaker, sharing with guests all the stories behind his provocative new film. The event was held on the third-floor terrace of the Elgin Theatre, which meant attendees...

(more...)
• Comments (0)

Conferencing
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 11:16 AM
File under: Celebrities
Yesterday afternoon, I dropped by as a spectator at the two big kahunas of TIFF press conferences: one for Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney, and The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, starring Brad Pitt. They were held back to back in the Four Seasons hotel and it seemed like all 1,000 of TIFF’s accredited journalists were crammed into the conference rooms. Everyone had a question, but not every question was a good one. Some searched for meanings in key scenes. Others asked about superhuman powers (I have no idea). And...

(more...)
• Comments (0)
September 8, 2021
Red Carpet Treatment
Posted By Jennifer Fong At 10:30 AM
File under: Parties
One thing I'd like to know is how celebrities manage to walk down red carpets in stiletto heels. Those things are so thick and so plush, my feet were sinking into them even in flats when I got to walk down one for the first time last night at the Star! Schmooze. The Festival Daily's awesome editor Nick Davies offered me a ticket and I jumped at the opportunity. I grew up watching this party every year on TV, after all. While I'd like to believe I'm at least a Y-list celebrity, I must tell you that there were no fans, no cameras, and...

(more...)
• Comments (0)