There are some amazing Ontario productions getting the spotlight at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The economic impact of Ontario production is significant ($1.7 billion in annual expenditures), and it is great to see these features at TIFF this year:<\/p>\n
Alias Grace<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0A layered historical drama based on of Margaret Atwood\u2019s Giller Prize\u2013winning novel about a poor Irish servant accused and convicted of murder, from screenwriter Sarah Polley and director Mary Harron.<\/p>\n An Imagined Conversation: Kanye West & Stephen Hawking<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Over a picnic at the beach, Stephen Hawking and Kanye West discuss quantum mechanics, private insecurities, and Drake. In this wickedly hilarious alt-memoir, Hawking unlocks the coded language of the universe to lead them both closer to personal liberation.<\/p>\n Bickford Park<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0After a chance encounter, a Toronto woman discovers she\u2019d rather take skateboarding lessons from a handsome teen than contend with the grown-up complications in her marriage. Elegant black and white cinematography and terrific performances \u2014 including a charming lead turn by Liane Balaban \u2014 enrich this wry story about the challenges of adulthood.<\/p>\n Bird<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Molly Parker makes a remarkably self-assured debut as a writer and director with this richly nuanced family drama. Amanda Plummer stars as a woman whose daily struggles with her ailing parents are compounded when a beloved pet makes the kind of escape she herself longs for.<\/p>\n The Breadwinner<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Based on Deborah Ellis\u2019 award-winning novel, director Nora Twomey\u2019s The Breadwinner<\/em> tells the extraordinary story of an 11-year-old Afghan girl who finds strength in the love of her family and the power of storytelling.<\/p>\n Cardinals<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0When Valerie (Sheila McCarthy) returns home from prison years after killing her neighbour in an apparent drunk driving accident, she wants nothing more than to move on \u2014 until the deceased\u2019s son shows up at her door and it becomes clear that the past is not easily forgotten.<\/p>\n The Carter Effect<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:In his latest documentary, Sean Menard gives viewers an unprecedented look at Vince Carter: the six-foot-six, eight-time NBA All-Star from Daytona Beach who made waves in the Canadian basketball scene when he joined the Raptors in 1998.<\/p>\n Don’t Talk to Irene<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0An overweight teenage girl follows her passion for cheerleading and signs up for a talent-search reality show in order to prove that “physical perfection” isn\u2019t everything.<\/p>\n Downsizing<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Matt Damon headlines a cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Laura Dern, Jason Sudeikis, Alec Baldwin, and Neil Patrick Harris in Alexander Payne\u2019s sci-fi social satire about a man who chooses to shrink himself (literally) to simplify his life.<\/p>\n The Drop In<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0On a night like any other, Joelle is closing up her hair salon when a mysterious visitor appears asking too many questions about her citizenship. Nothing is what it seems in this fierce and stylish genre-bending allegory on immigration and belonging.<\/p>\n For Nonna Anna<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0In this raw and graceful testimony of intersectional womanhood, a trans girl has to care for her Italian grandmother. She assumes that her Nonna disapproves of her \u2014 but instead discovers a tender bond in their shared vulnerability.<\/p>\n The Girlfriend Experience Season 2<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0The second season of Starz’s chilling serialized drama \u2014 about highly paid sex workers who provide their clients with the full sexual and emotional girlfriend experience \u2014 focuses on the lives of Anna, caught up in the corrupt world of Washington politics, and Bria, an ex-sex worker in hiding who can\u2019t escape her past.<\/p>\n homer_b<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0From some of Winnipeg\u2019s weirdest minds comes a nightmarish vision that seems to have leaked out from the darkest recesses of Matt Groening\u2019s subconscious and then been somehow preserved on the world\u2019s last VHS cassette. Just who is this clown behind the microphone stand and what does he want?<\/p>\n Indian Horse<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Adapted from Richard Wagamese’s award-winning novel, Stephen Campanelli’s moving drama sheds light on the dark history of Canada\u2019s residential schools and the indomitable spirit of our nation’s Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Patricia Rozema\u2019s internationally acclaimed debut feature was a watershed moment in Canadian film.<\/p>\n Kodachrome<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, and Ed Harris star in this touching road movie that doubles as an elegy for analog in the digital age.<\/p>\n Latched<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0A choreographer pursues creative inspiration at a cottage retreat while attempting to wean her demanding toddler \u2014 and unknowingly awakens a vile fairy corpse in the process. When she discovers the creature\u2019s terrifying intentions, she will have to put her creativity to good use to lure the repugnant beast.<\/p>\n Lira’s Forest<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0As she approaches the end of her life, an elderly woman encounters a masked visitor who has emerged from the forest near her home. A testament to the unique directorial vision of former TIFF Rising Star Connor Jessup, the result is as beautifully realized as it is genuinely magical.<\/p>\n Long Time Running<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier capture the emotional and powerful 2016 final tour of Canadian rock icons The Tragically Hip.<\/p>\n Mary Goes Round<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0When a substance abuse counsellor gets arrested for a DUI and returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls, she learns that her estranged father is dying of cancer and wants her to form a bond with her teenaged half-sister that she\u2019s never met, in this family drama from writer-director Molly McGlynn.<\/p>\n Meditation Park<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Mina Shum directs an all-star cast \u2014 including Cheng Pei Pei, Sandra Oh, Tzi Ma, and Don McKellar \u2014 in her latest feature, about a devoted wife and mother (Pei Pei) who is forced to reassess her reverence for her husband after she finds another woman\u2019s thong in his laundry.<\/p>\n Molly’s Game<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0Aaron Sorkin\u2019s directorial debut stars Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba in the true story of Molly Bloom, proprietor of Hollywood\u2019s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being shut down by the FBI.<\/p>\n North of Superior<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0This very special TIFF Cinematheque presentation of IMAX\u00ae co-inventor Graeme Ferguson\u2019s 1971 masterwork, North of Superior<\/em>, takes place in the very theatre where it premiered: Ontario Place\u2019s beloved Cinesphere, the world\u2019s first permanent IMAX\u00ae cinema.<\/p>\n <\/u>On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/strong>:\u00a0Roman (Popi) and Ruth (Nani) Blank have been married for 65 years, but at age 95, Roman reveals a secret that tests their seemingly invincible union, in Brandon and Skyler Gross’ touching portrait of their grandparents.<\/p>\n Picture of Light<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0Peter Mettler and Andreas Z\u00fcst\u2019s attempt to capture the aurora borealis on film became a meditation on nature and technology, and on the very act of image-making itself.<\/p>\n Porcupine Lake<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0Two girls dangling on the brink of adulthood enjoy a summertime of fleeting childhood adventures, in the latest by Slovakian-Canadian director Ingrid Veninger.<\/p>\n PROTOTYPE<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0In his feature debut, experimental short filmmaker Blake Williams transforms images of the aftermath of the catastrophic 1900 Galveston Hurricane into a sci-fi landscape.<\/p>\n Public Schooled<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0After being homeschooled his whole life, wannabe physicist Liam (Daniel Doheny) “drops out” and enrolls in public school to chase the girl of his dreams, in this hilarious and heartwarming comedy from Kyle Rideout (Eadweard<\/em>).<\/p>\n Pyewacket<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0A frustrated girl attempts an occult ritual in order to kill her mother, but awakens something sinister in the woods instead, in the latest from director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry<\/em>).<\/p>\n Rude<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0The groundbreaking debut feature from Jamaica-born, Toronto-raised filmmaker Clement Virgo interweaves five urban narratives signalling an important departure from the traditional filmic depictions of Black Canadian life.<\/p>\n The Shape of Water<\/strong><\/em><\/a>:\u00a0At the height of the Cold War, circa 1962, two workers in a high-tech US government laboratory (Sally Hawkins and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer) discover a terrifying secret experiment, in this otherworldly fairytale from Guillermo del Toro (Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/em>).<\/p>\n Stronger<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0David Gordon Green (George Washington<\/em>, All the Real Girls<\/em>) directs Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany in this adaptation of the memoir by Jeff Bauman, recounting his struggles to adjust after losing his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing.<\/p>\n <\/u>There is a House Here<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/strong>:\u00a0Spanning years of correspondence and three separate trips to Nunavut, Alan Zweig’s latest documentary navigates issues of culture and identity with his pen-pal and semi-reluctant guide, Tatanniq Idlout, a.k.a. Inuk rock singer Lucie Idlout.<\/p>\n