The Tenth Annual Canada’s Top Ten Begins January 20 At TIFF Bell Lightbox
Featuring Screenings Of Canada’s Top Ten Feature And Short Films, Appearances By Filmmakers, And A Panel Discussion With Industry Insiders
Toronto — TIFF kicks off the tenth annual Canada’s Top Ten on January 20 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Featuring public screenings of select feature and short films on the Top Ten list, introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers – including Denis Côté, Guy Maddin, Catherine Martin, Ingrid Veninger and Denis Villeneuve – and a discussion featuring a panel of industry insiders, Canada’s Top Ten will run to February 1, 2011. Select films will tour theatres across Canada in early 2011, including Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque, Ottawa’s Canadian Film Institute and Montreal’s Cinéma du Parc. Established in 2001, Canada’s Top Ten celebrates excellence in Canadian cinema and raises public awareness of Canadian achievements in film.
Canada’s Top Ten screening schedule (guests in attendance noted below)
Thursday, January 20
6:30 PM
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve)
9:00 PM
Curling (Denis Côté)
Friday, January 21
12:30 PM
Incendies
3:15 PM
Curling (Denis Côté)
6:30 PM
Panel Discussion - Cast This! The Ins and Outs of Casting (Denis Côté, Deborah Chow, Ingrid Veninger, casting agents John Buchan and Jason Knight (Splice), producers Leonard Farlinger and Jennifer Jonas (Trigger), producer Damon D’Oliveira)
9:00 PM
The High Cost of Living (Deborah Chow)
Saturday, January 22
6:30 PM
Canada’s Top Ten Shorts Programme A:
Above the Knee (Greg Atkins)
Les fleurs de l'âge (Vincent Biron)
The Legend of Beaver Dam
Lipsett Diaries (Theodore Ushev)
Mokhtar (Halima Ouardiri)
9:00 PM
Canada’s Top Ten Shorts Programme B:
I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors (Ann Marie Fleming)
The Little White Cloud That Cried (Guy Maddin)
Marius Borodine (Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais)
On the Way to the Sea
Vapor (Kaveh Nabatian)
Sunday, January 23
12:30 PM
The High Cost of Living (Deborah Chow)
Monday, January 24
6:30 PM MODRA (Ingrid Veninger)
9:00 PM Last Train Home (Lixin Fan)
Tuesday, January 25
12:30 PM
MODRA
3:15 PM
Last Train Home
9:00 PM
Trois temps après la mort d’Anna (Catherine Martin)
Wednesday, January 26
3:15 PM
Trois temps après la mort d’Anna (Catherine Martin)
9:00 PM
Les Amours imaginaires
Thursday, January 27
3:15 PM
Splice (Vincenzo Natali)
9:00 PM
Trigger (filmmakers in attendance)
Friday, January 28
3:15 PM
Trigger
6:30 PM
Last Train Home
Saturday, January 29
9:00 PM
The High Cost of Living
Sunday, January 30
3:15 PM
Les Amours imaginaires
Tuesday, February 1
6:00 PM
Splice (Vincenzo Natali)
Canada’s Top Ten Panel Discussion: Cast This!: The ins and outs of casting
January 21, 2011 at 6:30pm
Canada’s Top Ten filmmakers Denis Côté (Curling); Deborah Chow (The High Cost of Living); Ingrid Veninger (MODRA); casting agents John Buchan and Jason Knight (Splice); and producers Leonard Farlinger and Jennifer Jonas (Trigger) share their thoughts on and experiences with the art of casting. The panelists will discuss the different approaches they took when casting and developing their films. The panel will be moderated by noted producer Damon D’Oliveira (Rude, Law of Enclosures, Proteus, Lie With Me, Poor Boy’s Game).
Canada’s Top Ten feature film selections for 2010 (in alphabetical order):
Les Amours imaginaires Xavier Dolan
Wunderkind filmmaker Xavier Dolan returns with his second feature – a sophisticated comedy about close friends, Francis and Marie, who pursue their mutual obsession with a young man. As they face off in competition, cracks in their friendship begin to appear with both comic and tragic results.
Barney’s Version Richard J. Lewis
From producer Robert Lantos, Barney’s Version is a film based on Mordecai Richler's prize-winning comic novel. Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) is a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. Barney’s candid confessional spans four decades and two continents, and includes three wives (Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver and Rachelle Lefevre), one outrageous father (Dustin Hoffman) and a charmingly dissolute best friend (Scott Speedman).
Curling Denis Côté
Set in a village in Quebec, Denis Côté’s Curling follows inveterate loner Jean-François, a single father, and his isolated 12-year-old daughter Julyvonne. Between his unremarkable jobs, Jean-François devotes an awkward energy to Julyvonne until some unexpected events jeopardize the fragile balance of their relationship.
The High Cost of Living Deborah Chow
Deborah Chow’s dark drama centres on the burgeoning relationship between an unlikely pair. Nathalie (Isabelle Blais) is expecting her first child and Henry (Zach Braff) is on his way to his next drug deal. Their paths fatefully collide one night in an event that will irrevocably change their lives.
Incendies Denis Villeneuve
After their mother Nawal's death, twins Simon and Jeanne embark on a journey to the Middle East that shines a disturbing light on their mother's past and culminates in a shocking revelation. Based on the acclaimed play by Wajdi Mouawad and directed by Genie and Jutra award-winner Denis Villeneuve (Polytechnique).
Last Train Home Lixin Fan
The stunning debut from Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan, Last Train Home portrays the fractured lives of a migrant family in China.
MODRA Ingrid Veninger
In this authentic portrait of teenaged self-discovery, recently-dumped seventeen-year-old Lina and free spirit Leco travel to visit Lina's extended family in the quirky town of Modra, Slovakia.
Splice Vincenzo Natali
Intense and unsettling, Vincenzo Natali’s modern day variation on the Frankenstein story follows two brilliant scientists who venture where angels fear to tread.
Trigger Bruce McDonald
Molly Parker and the late Tracy Wright form a highly dysfunctional yet endearing rock duo reuniting a decade after their band called it quits. Directed by Bruce McDonald (Pontypool, The Tracey Fragments, Hard Core Logo, Highway 61), and written by Daniel MacIvor, the film features Sarah Polley, Don McKellar and Callum Keith Rennie.
Trois temps après la mort d’Anna Catherine Martin
After vibrant young violinist Anna dies, her mother Françoise leaves Montreal and takes refuge at the country home of her maternal ancestors in Kamouraska. She has given up on life, but an old friend attempts to revive her desire to live.
Canada’s Top Ten short film selections for 2010 (in alphabetical order, by programme):
Programme A
Above the Knee Greg Atkins
Jack’s suit-and-tie career never quite fit. As he summons the courage to dress for the job he wants, he risks changing the way his co-workers and his wife see and treat him.
Les fleurs de l'âge Vincent Biron
Selling ice cream, smoking pot, falling in love, dealing with family: it’s just another summer day for a regular group of school kids.
The Legend of Beaver Dam Jerome Sable
This musical horror comedy follows an unlikely hero – nerdy Danny Zigwitz – at a summer camp as he listens to fireside stories.
Lipsett Diaries Theodore Ushev
Deconstructing a visionary in experimental film, this animated documentary presents the incredible creativity and emotional tumult that defined filmmaker Arthur Lipsett’s life.
Mokhtar Halima Ouardiri
Based on the eponymous folktale, Mokhtar recounts the tale of a young boy in a remote Moroccan village as he adopts a fallen owl.
Programme B
I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors Ann Marie Fleming
Director and animator Ann Marie Fleming adapts Bernice Eisenstein’s acclaimed illustrated memoir about living second-hand the traumatic Holocaust memories of the generation before her.
The Little White Cloud That Cried Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin's latest short started with him and his friends at a cottage with a 16mm camera, with underground queer filmmaker Jack King in mind. Let the shoot begin...
Marius Borodine Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais
A mockumentary about inventor Marius Borodine who is on the brink of completing his master creation when something goes terribly awry.
On the Way to the Sea Tao Gu
On May 12, 2008, the largest earthquake in China’s history devastated the Wenchuan region. Director Tao Gu visits his parents’ home to capture the physical and emotional aftermath.
Vapor Kaveh Nabatian
In this stunning portrait of a shattered psyche, a Mexican man begins to understand his life when he confronts his own deep-seated phobias.
Tickets for Canada’s Top Ten are on sale now. Visit tiff.net, call 416-599-TIFF (8433) and 1-888-599-8433 or visit TIFF Bell Lightbox box office for more information. TIFF Bell Lightbox is located at Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Pricing as follows: nine feature films (evening) plus the panel discussion for $65; nine feature films (day) plus the panel discussion for $45; special price for the two short film programmes for $18; single tickets (film, shorts programme or panel) are $12. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the screening. Visa† is the only credit card accepted by TIFF.
Canada’s Top Ten lists are chosen from features, shorts, documentaries, animation and experimental films. Each film must have premiered at a major Canadian film festival or obtained a commercial theatrical release in Canada in 2010. The filmmaker must be a Canadian citizen or resident and have a history of working in Canada or on Canadian-financed films.
Canada’s Top Ten is generously supported by Lead sponsor Bell, Major Sponsors RBC and BlackBerry, the Government of Ontario, and the City of Toronto.
About TIFF Bell Lightbox
TIFF Bell Lightbox, a breathtaking five-storey complex located in downtown Toronto, provides a permanent home for film lovers to celebrate cinema from around the world and will propel TIFF forward as an international leader in film culture. Designed by innovative architecture firm KPMB, TIFF Bell Lightbox’s fluid structure encourages exploration, movement and play. The campaign to build TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by founding sponsor Bell, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the King and John Festival Corporation - consisting of the Reitman family and The Daniels Corporation – major sponsor and official bank RBC, major sponsor BlackBerry, HSBC Bank Canada, Visa†, the Copyright Collective of Canada, the Slaight Family Foundation, NBC Universal Canada, the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, Mackenzie Financial, the Harbinger Foundation, CIBC and BMO. The Board of Directors, staff and many generous individuals and corporations have also contributed to the campaign. For more information on the TIFF Bell Lightbox campaign, visit tiff.net.
About TIFF
TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world through film. Its vision is to lead the world in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image. TIFF generates an annual economic impact of $170 million CAD and currently employs more than 100 full-time staff and 500 part-time and seasonal staff, and counts upon the largesse of over 2,000 volunteers year-round.
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