Festival Daily






September 4, 2021
We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes: Midnight Madness programme set to provoke, inspire and terrify
Posted By Festival Daily At 9:01 AM
By Neil Karassik For 10 consecutive late nights, the Festival’s revered Midnight Madness programme packs the theatre with ravenous cult cinema fans, all salivating for their annual fix of chills, thrills and arterial blood spills. The programme, which has been around for more than 20 years, is much more than an excuse to catch some after-dark mayhem.Over the past decade, Colin Geddes – who was just a fan when Noah Cowan co-founded the programme in 1989 – has created something truly special that fans of all genres cherish each year. When selecting films for his programme, Geddes has a simple...

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On Location with Revision
Posted By Festival Daily At 9:01 AM
By Elizabeth Beddall En route to meet the Toronto International Film Festival’s Senior Manager of Print Traffic, my cab driver inquires for the second time, “Are you sure you’ve got the right address?” With a half-smile I imply that yes, I do. But I’ve certainly got my doubts. To describe my and Alyson Carty’s rendezvous point as “shady” would be giving the decaying, ghost-town intersection a dash too much credit. But thankfully, after a series of redirected phone calls, a cheery Carty materializes at the foot of a nearby doorway. “I’m not going to pretend like I have any idea...

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A Filmmaker’s Guide to Toronto: Astra Taylor, Examined Life
Posted By Festival Daily At 9:01 AM
By Hailey EisenWhen Canadian documentary filmmaker Astra Taylor agreed to show me around her Toronto, it seemed only appropriate that we begin at the University of Toronto’s scenic Philosopher’s Walk – a pathway that runs through the school’s downtown campus. An academic and writer, Taylor made her second feature documentary, Examined Life, with the intention of taking philosophy out of the classroom and into the streets. Presenting some of today’s most influential thinkers, including Cornel West, Judith Butler and Michael Hardt, Taylor’s film takes us from New York’s Fifth Avenue to San Francisco’s Mission District to Toronto’s Pearson Airport as...

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A Round With... Cameron Bailey and Raymond Phathanavirangoon
Posted By Festival Daily At 9:01 AM
By Neil Karassik Who: Cameron Bailey, Co-Director, Toronto International Film Festival, and Raymond Phathanavirangoon, International Programmer Where: Urban, 303 King Street WestWhen: August 25, 8:30pmWhat: Australian shiraz; virgin fruit juice cocktail; vodka martini After another 12-plus-hour day at the office, I meet up with Raymond Phathanavirangoon, the Festival’s Southeast Asian Programmer, and Festival Co-Director Cameron Bailey. We hop into Bailey’s immaculate, jet-black car and make our way to Urban, a posh yet inviting restaurant on the trendy King West strip. En route, Bailey and Phathanavirangoon converse like old friends, chatting about their anticipation of this year’s Festival and mutually frantic work...

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Shekels and Sense: Tatia Rosenthal on the New Wave of Israeli cinema
Posted By Festival Daily At 9:01 AM
By Ghita LoebensteinThe new guard of Israeli cinema announced itself at last year’s Festival with stellar titles like The Band’s Visit (Eran Kolirin) and Jellyfish (Shira Geffen, Etgar Keret), and the current Israeli lineup suggests it has only strengthened its resolve. It’s not that politics are out per se, but Israeli cinema has humanized itself, and in the process is finding passionate new audiences. This year, Ari Folman explores war without explicit politics in Waltz with Bashir, while Nati Baratz documents a Buddhist monk’s sacred quest in his documentary Unmistaken Child. Amos Kollek’s Restless examines the shifting dynamic between a...

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WELCOME TO PLANET TIFF!!!: The Festival Daily's How-To-TIFF Guide
Posted By Festival Daily At 9:01 AM
By Ghita Loebenstein 312 films! 20,693 minutes of film! Nine venues! Only 10 days! For the love of film!!! But fear not, dear reader, the Daily has come to the rescue! We’ll zap you through ticket-buying, decode the programme book, whip your schedule into shape and gamma-ray you to the cinema on time. Bam! Instant cinephile.HOW TO CHA-CHING YOUR TICKETSFASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLETHaven’t bought a TIFF pass already? Quit lazing about and go online! Just visit www.tiff08.ca and make your selections. Once you’ve bought tickets, you’ll receive a top-secret missive via email confirming your purchases. Print out this message...

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