Why should I see the films you pick?
I am one of the few programmers with any discernible taste.
Which is you most unforgettable film discovery?
Nicholas Winding Refn's Pusher Trilogy. From Canada, it's a tie between Reg Harkema's Monkey Warfare, Jacob Tierney's The Trotsky, and Léa Pool's Pink Ribbons, Inc. The list goes on...
What classic film could use an update?
Spartacus, re-cast entirely with cats.
You secretly sympathize with what movie villain?
Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe) from Wild at Heart, mostly because of his dental problems.
Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, is responsible for the organization's Canadian programming initiatives, which includes Canada's Top Ten, the Canadian programming in TIFF Cinematheque, and most notably the year-round Canadian Open Vault programme — a selection of Canadian classics. As a Festival programmer, he has been part of the Canadian feature film selection since 2004 and also selects films from Scandinavia, the Philippines and the Netherlands; previously he programmed films from India and Australia. In 2001, Gravestock organized and programmed a national spotlight on Nordic films at the Festival. Many of the films he has programmed have been nominated for Oscars including Petter Naess's Elling, Mikael Hafstrom's Evil, Denis Villeneuve's Incendies, Philippe Falardeau's Monsier Lazhar, and Susan Bier's In a Better World which took home the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2011.
In addition, Gravestock oversees the organization's ongoing series of monographs on Canadian films and filmmakers, which has recently partnered with University of Toronto Press. Gravestock contributed an essay and managed the 2009 publication of the anthology Toronto on Film. In spring 2008, Gravestock helped mount a multi-faceted retrospective on filmmaker Peter Lynch, which included an extensive talk and elaborate audio-visual presentation and in 2005, Gravestock programmed the Canadian Retrospective on Canadian filmmaker Don Owen. Gravestock programmed Dialogues for almost a decade, which has included the participation of industry professionals such as John Sayles, Sally Potter, James Toback, Tim Roth and Guy Maddin.
Having interviewed over 100 directors, ranging from Abel Ferrara to Krzysztof Kieślowski, Gravestock has written extensively on cinema for many publications including the Toronto Star, POV Magazine, NOW Magazine and Cinema Scope. He has also written the programme notes for numerous TIFF Cinematheque series, including the films of Daniel MacIvor, the Toronto on Film series, and a retrospective of films celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. Gravestock's interview with John Sayles was published in Interviews: John Sayles from the University of Mississippi Press in 1999, and in 2005 Don Owen: Notes on a Filmmaker and His Culture was published by TIFF and distributed by Wilfred University Press and Indiana University Press.