The founder of the inaugural Third Horizon Caribbean Film Festival and his friend, director of programming, preview this week’s event.
Jeffers, a Barbados native, musician and former journalist who founded the festival and also serves as its artistic director, and London-based Trinidadian Ali, a veteran programmer who has worked at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and Toronto, believe the time is right for Third Horizon and its particular focus.
The event runs from September 29-October 2 and opens with Guetty Felin’s Ayiti Mon Amour (pictured). All screenings will take place at the O Cinema in Wynwood, Miami.
What’s the idea behind Third Horizon?
Jason Jeffers (from a note previously sent to Ali): Third Horizon came about from this sense, as a kid, that I had of the stories of the Caribbean and Third World being regarded as supplementary to those of the First World. We were bit players in world affairs and in...
Jeffers, a Barbados native, musician and former journalist who founded the festival and also serves as its artistic director, and London-based Trinidadian Ali, a veteran programmer who has worked at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and Toronto, believe the time is right for Third Horizon and its particular focus.
The event runs from September 29-October 2 and opens with Guetty Felin’s Ayiti Mon Amour (pictured). All screenings will take place at the O Cinema in Wynwood, Miami.
What’s the idea behind Third Horizon?
Jason Jeffers (from a note previously sent to Ali): Third Horizon came about from this sense, as a kid, that I had of the stories of the Caribbean and Third World being regarded as supplementary to those of the First World. We were bit players in world affairs and in...
- 9/29/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) has been in the making for several years and in September its debut took place at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) . Bruce Paddington, a filmmaker himself as well as an academic and the Founder and Director of the Festival, along with Annebelle Alcazar, Jonathan Ali and Nneka Luke, and spearheading the Cfm and the Caribbean Film Database (Cfdb) , Emilie Upczak and Melanie Archer, have created an A level event which after 10 years now encompasses three important aspects of film beyond the showcasing of the Caribbean and international docs and fiction films: filmmaking, film marketing and film education which this year included an academic symposium through the University of the West Indies, a Youth Jury of young people from 16 to 21 and sold out matinees for school children.
Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.
For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.
This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.
The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.
“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.
The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.
The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.
The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.
Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.
The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:
1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.
Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.
“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.
This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.
Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.
2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.
The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.
Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.
Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.
The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.
3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.
This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.
In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.
“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”
The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.
4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).
This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.
5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.
Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.
In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.
Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011
Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)
Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:
filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/
Watch the short Here.
6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.
What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.
Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”
http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida
7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.
The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.
8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.
http://www.miquelgalofre.com .
You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice
9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.
The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.
10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.
The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.
11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.
12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.
Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.
13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.
It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.
14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.
Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.
The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.
The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.
Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.
15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.
Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.
They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.
Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.
Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer
Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171
Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include
16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.
“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.
17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.
The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.
18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.
This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.
19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams
“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“
“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.
“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”
The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.
Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.
For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.
This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.
The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.
“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.
The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.
The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.
The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.
Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.
The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:
1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.
Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.
“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.
This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.
Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.
2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.
The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.
Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.
Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.
The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.
3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.
This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.
In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.
“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”
The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.
4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).
This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.
5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.
Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.
In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.
Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011
Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)
Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:
filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/
Watch the short Here.
6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.
What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.
Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”
http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida
7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.
The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.
8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.
http://www.miquelgalofre.com .
You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice
9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.
The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.
10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.
The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.
11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.
12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.
Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.
13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.
It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.
14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.
Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.
The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.
The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.
Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.
15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.
Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.
They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.
Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.
Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer
Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171
Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include
16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.
“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.
17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.
The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.
18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.
This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.
19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams
“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“
“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.
“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”
The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.
- 10/7/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Last fall, Ian Harnarine's short film, Doubles with Slight Pepper, which was exec produced by Spike Lee, won the Telefilm Canada Pitch This! contest at the Toronto Film Festival, which carried a prize of C$10,000 - money which Ian will use to adapt the short film into a feature film. Ian, who grew up in Toronto, the son of immigrants from Trinidad, was one of 6 Canadians to pitch feature projects to what is said to have been a "packed industry crowd" at the Tiff Lightbox last September. The synopsis for Doubles with Slight Pepper reads: Growing up in a poverty stricken village, Dhani supports himself and mother by selling doubles in the busy...
- 8/30/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
At the Dctv short film panel I hosted a few weeks ago, I was chatting with Ian Harnarine, one of our 25 New Faces of 2012, and 2011 New Face Jason Sondhi, who runs Short of the Week and Staff Picks at Vimeo. So I’m wondering if it’s a coincidence that Harnarine’s excellent Trinidad-set family drama Doubles with Slight Pepper (the feature version of which is in Ifp’s Emerging Storytellers program next month) has just debuted on Vimeo (where it’s a Staff Pick, naturally) and is the current pick on Short of the Week. Either way, make sure to check […]...
- 8/14/2013
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
During the fall, Filmmaker magazine organized a traveling screening series showcasing the work of this year’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” which included a fantastic show at the IFC Center. Tonight, the 25 New Faces series returns to NYC for a week of screenings at the reRun Theater in Dumbo, with the festivities kicking off with an excellent shorts program followed by an opening night party. Screening this evening are shorts by Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari (Aquadettes), Desiree Akhavan and Ingrid Jungermann (3 episodes of their web series The Slope), Julia Pott (Belly), Ian Harnarine (Doubles with Slight …...
- 12/14/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Hi, my name is Ian Harnarine and I’m one of Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” for 2012. My short film Doubles With Slight Pepper won the award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) and also won the Genie Award (Canada’s Oscar). I am adapting the short film into a feature and was invited back by the festival to compete in their Pitch This! competition. I will compete with five other filmmakers that each have six minutes to pitch their feature film idea to a live audience of over 200 industry professionals. The winner, selected by a jury of would receive $10,000 to further develop the project. Here is my experience at TIFF12.
Wednesday September 5th, 2012
Picked up my credentials and the Industry headquarters at the Hyatt Hotel. My badge gets me into all Press & Industry Screenings but can also work for public...
Wednesday September 5th, 2012
Picked up my credentials and the Industry headquarters at the Hyatt Hotel. My badge gets me into all Press & Industry Screenings but can also work for public...
- 9/20/2012
- by Ian Harnarine
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
I was busy sitting in an editing suite putting Spanish subtitles on to my short film in mid-July, when I received a call from the Toronto International Film Festival. I had been accepted to take part in Telefilm Canada Pitch This!. This competition has been a popular component of Tiff for thirteen years and consists of six teams having six minutes to pitch their feature idea to an audience of over 200 people which would include a jury, industry professionals and general public. The winner is awarded $10,000. Editor's Note: Ian Harnarine is a filmmaker who recently won the Pitch This! competition at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. He wrote a personal account of doing so exclusively for Indiewire. My feature film is an adaptation of my short film "Doubles With Slight Pepper" (available on iTunes). The short premiered at the 2011 Toronto Film Fest, won the award for Best Short there...
- 9/20/2012
- by Ian Harnarine
- Indiewire
If you’re in New York, please join us tonight at 8:00 Pm at the IFC Center for a program selected from our 2009 “25 New Faces” list. Derek Cianfrance, director of Blue Valentine and a 2009 “25″ alumni, will be hosting along with myself and Nick Dawson, and a panel discussion will follow after the screenings. The complete information is below, and tickets can be purchased here at the link.
A special Ifp Film Week showcases of work from members of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” of 2012:
The Gathering Squall (Hannah Fidell, 2012, 13 mins)
Doubles with Slight Pepper (Ian Harnarine, 2011, 15 mins)
Belly (Julia Pott, 2011, 8 mins)
3 episodes of The Slope (Desiree Akhavan and Ingrid Jungermann, 2011/2012, 11 mins)
Extract from yet-to-premiere documentary by one of 2012?s “25 New Faces” (10 mins)
There will be a panel discussion and Q&A, moderated by Filmmaker magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Scott Macaulay, with the attending filmmakers and Derek Cianfrance,...
A special Ifp Film Week showcases of work from members of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” of 2012:
The Gathering Squall (Hannah Fidell, 2012, 13 mins)
Doubles with Slight Pepper (Ian Harnarine, 2011, 15 mins)
Belly (Julia Pott, 2011, 8 mins)
3 episodes of The Slope (Desiree Akhavan and Ingrid Jungermann, 2011/2012, 11 mins)
Extract from yet-to-premiere documentary by one of 2012?s “25 New Faces” (10 mins)
There will be a panel discussion and Q&A, moderated by Filmmaker magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Scott Macaulay, with the attending filmmakers and Derek Cianfrance,...
- 9/19/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Congrats to Nyu grad Ian Harnarine whose short film, Doubles with Slight Pepper, which we've featured on this site, and which was exec produced by Spike Lee, won the Telefilm Canada Pitch This! contest yesterday at the Toronto Film Festival, which carries a prize of C$10,000 - money which Ian will use to adapt the short film into a feature film. Ian, who grew up in Toronto, the son of immigrants from Trinidad, was one of 6 Canadians to pitch feature projects to what is said to have been a "packed industry crowd" at the Tiff Lightbox. The synopsis for Doubles with Slight Pepper reads: Growing up in a poverty stricken village,...
- 9/12/2012
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
A few weeks ago on the newsletter, I pondered the evolution of the “25 New Faces,” and posited the idea that it’s more than just a list that is published annually. I wrote that the list takes on a life of its own, that “it does not stop after the Filmmaker Summer issue hits newsstands. When Scott and I spend nights and weekends watching screeners and reading scripts through all of April, May and June, we’re looking for exciting creative voices that we think are the future of independent film. Once the list is done, that excitement has not dissipated; it prevails. As do many of the friendships with filmmakers we establish along the way.”
At the time, I said that there was a “25 New Faces” project that I was working on which would be revealed soon. Today, I’m very happy to announce that over the course of...
At the time, I said that there was a “25 New Faces” project that I was working on which would be revealed soon. Today, I’m very happy to announce that over the course of...
- 8/31/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Last week, the New York Times published a profile on writer/director (and also nuclear physicist) Ian Harnarine, who is a member of our 2012 “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” The article details Harnarine’s interesting backstory — he is a Trinidadian Canadian, an Nyu professor who teaches both film and nuclear physics, a Spike Lee acolyte — but is maybe most interesting in its description of the difficulties the director of the award-winning short Doubles with Slight Pepper had in connecting with an audience and the Indo-Carribbean community in his adopted home city.
[F]or all the accolades the film has received, Mr. Harnarine has had a difficult time finding a receptive audience in New York, landing screenings in relatively modest venues and minor festivals and failing to stoke any significant interest among the city’s large Indo-Caribbean community.
“It being a short film is already pretty difficult because you know it’s...
[F]or all the accolades the film has received, Mr. Harnarine has had a difficult time finding a receptive audience in New York, landing screenings in relatively modest venues and minor festivals and failing to stoke any significant interest among the city’s large Indo-Caribbean community.
“It being a short film is already pretty difficult because you know it’s...
- 8/27/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Kaelen Meuiner, Garret Dillahunt, Oliver Sherman Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau: Genie Award Winners INTERPRÉTATION Masculine Dans Un Premier RÔLE / Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role * Fellag – Monsieur Lazhar Garret Dillahunt – Oliver Sherman Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method Patrick Huard – Starbuck Scott Speedman – Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE Dans Un Premier RÔLE / Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role Catherine De LÉAN – Nuit #1 Pascale Montpetit – The Girl in the White Coat * Vanessa Paradis – Café de Flore Rachel Weisz – The Whistleblower Michelle Williams – Take This Waltz INTERPRÉTATION Masculine Dans Un RÔLE De Soutien / Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role Antoine Bertrand – Starbuck Kevin Durand – Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster Marin Gerrier – Café de Flore Taylor Kitsch – The Bang Bang Club * Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE Dans Un RÔLE De Soutien / Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role Roxana Condurache – The Whistleblower...
- 3/9/2012
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
It’s been another fantastic year for Canadian cinema and there is a good chance a few films will crack our staff’s best of 2011 list (which we will be posting sometime between Christmas and New Years). Until than, you can also check out Tiff’s selections of the top 10 best features and top 10 best short films of 2011, as determined by a panel of industry professionals, during tonight’s 11th annual Canada’s Top Ten announcement.
Here is the press release:
Established in 2001, Canada’s Top Ten celebrates excellence in Canadian cinema and raises public awareness of Canadian achievements in film. Taking place from January 5 to 15, 2012 at Tiff Bell Lightbox, the programme features a panel discussion and public screenings accompanied by introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers. Select films will tour major cities across the country, including Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque, Edmonton’s Metro Cinema and Ottawa’s ByTowne Cinema.
Here is the press release:
Established in 2001, Canada’s Top Ten celebrates excellence in Canadian cinema and raises public awareness of Canadian achievements in film. Taking place from January 5 to 15, 2012 at Tiff Bell Lightbox, the programme features a panel discussion and public screenings accompanied by introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers. Select films will tour major cities across the country, including Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque, Edmonton’s Metro Cinema and Ottawa’s ByTowne Cinema.
- 12/7/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Cadillac People.s Choice Award: Where Do We Go Now?
· First runner-up: A Separation
· Second runner-up: Starbuck
Cadillac People.s Choice Award for Best Documentary: The Island President
Cadillac People.s Choice for Midnight Madness: The Raid
Int.l Critics Special Presentations Prize: The First Man
Int.l Critics Discovery Programme Prize: Avalon
Best Canadian Feature: Monsieur Lazhar
Skyy Vodka Award for Best First Canadian feature: Edwin Boyd
Best Cdn short film goes to: Ian Harnarine.s Doubles With Slight Pepper...
· First runner-up: A Separation
· Second runner-up: Starbuck
Cadillac People.s Choice Award for Best Documentary: The Island President
Cadillac People.s Choice for Midnight Madness: The Raid
Int.l Critics Special Presentations Prize: The First Man
Int.l Critics Discovery Programme Prize: Avalon
Best Canadian Feature: Monsieur Lazhar
Skyy Vodka Award for Best First Canadian feature: Edwin Boyd
Best Cdn short film goes to: Ian Harnarine.s Doubles With Slight Pepper...
- 9/20/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Nadine Labaki's "Where Do We Go Now?" won the coveted Cadillac People's Choice Award on Sunday at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. At the noncompetitive festival with no jury, this award is voted on by moviegoers on their way out of the theaters, and tallied by a formulas that equalizes for audience sizes.
The film takes place in a Lebanese village torn by years of violence. Improbably, it is a musical. The local women, both Muslim and Christian, work together to draw the minds of their husbands away from revenge; their schemes range from imported showgirls to hashish brownies. When a period of peace is interrupted, they rise anew to a more serious challenge.
Labaki's first film "Caramel" (2007) was a great success at a 2007 Tiff Gala. This film's title is an oblique reference to the problem that the village is surrounded by unexploded land mines. It doesn't yet have a North American distributor.
The film takes place in a Lebanese village torn by years of violence. Improbably, it is a musical. The local women, both Muslim and Christian, work together to draw the minds of their husbands away from revenge; their schemes range from imported showgirls to hashish brownies. When a period of peace is interrupted, they rise anew to a more serious challenge.
Labaki's first film "Caramel" (2007) was a great success at a 2007 Tiff Gala. This film's title is an oblique reference to the problem that the village is surrounded by unexploded land mines. It doesn't yet have a North American distributor.
- 9/18/2011
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
"A largely non-competitive festival, Toronto gives out very few awards," notes Twitch editor Todd Brown, "the most prominent of which are the People's Choice picks, three awards given based on audience ratings of the films with one each awarded to the Midnight Madness section, the Real to Reel documentary section and the overall festival at large." And as an executive producer on The Raid, his congratulations to the film's team for winning the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness are particularly jubilant. The runners-up are Adam Wingard's You're Next and Bobcat Goldthwait's God Bless America, and roundups on both are on the way, but first:
"Audiences will be scrambling to find enough compound adjectives to describe Gareth Huw Evans hard-driving, butt-kicking, pulse-pounding, bone-crunching, skull-smashing, blood-curdling martial arts siege movie, The Raid," writes David Rooney in the Hollywood Reporter. "Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions grabbed Us rights prior to Toronto...
"Audiences will be scrambling to find enough compound adjectives to describe Gareth Huw Evans hard-driving, butt-kicking, pulse-pounding, bone-crunching, skull-smashing, blood-curdling martial arts siege movie, The Raid," writes David Rooney in the Hollywood Reporter. "Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions grabbed Us rights prior to Toronto...
- 9/18/2011
- MUBI
As I sit here in the Toronto airport waiting for my flight back to New York City, Tiff has announced their winners of the 2011 fest. The top prize, recently given to films that would go on to win Best Picture including The King’s Speech and Slumdog Millionaire, has gone to something unexpected. In my ten days and almost 40 screenings attended, I didn’t hear a single person mention it.
The Cadillac People’s Choice Award, voted on by fest audience was the drama Where Do We Go Now?, directed by Nadine Labaki. The official synopsis reads, “set against the backdrop of a war-torn country, [the film] tells the heartwarming tale of a group of women’s determination to protect their isolated, mine-encircled community from the pervasive and divisive outside forces that threaten to destroy it from within.” I supposed we can look for it in the Best Foreign Oscar race. Runners...
The Cadillac People’s Choice Award, voted on by fest audience was the drama Where Do We Go Now?, directed by Nadine Labaki. The official synopsis reads, “set against the backdrop of a war-torn country, [the film] tells the heartwarming tale of a group of women’s determination to protect their isolated, mine-encircled community from the pervasive and divisive outside forces that threaten to destroy it from within.” I supposed we can look for it in the Best Foreign Oscar race. Runners...
- 9/18/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Director Nadine Labaki's comedy "Where Do We Go Now?" has won the Cadillac People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Premise of the film follows a group of women in Lebanon who use a variety of schemes to distract their men from tensions that threaten their community.
Runners-up include "Starbuck" and "A Separation".
Audience award winners in the Documentary and Midnight Madness categories are "The Raid" and "The Island President".
The People’s Choice Award is the chief award handed out at Tiff, which does not convene a jury to vote the way the Cannes and Venice film festivals do.
A small jury awarded cash prizes for Canadian films including $30,000 for Best Canadian Feature Film, "Monsieur Lazare", $15,000 for Best Canadian First Feature Film, "Edwin Boyd" and $10,000 for Best Canadian Short Film, "Doubles With Slight Pepper".
And the winners are :
People’s Choice Award: "Where Do We Go Now?...
Runners-up include "Starbuck" and "A Separation".
Audience award winners in the Documentary and Midnight Madness categories are "The Raid" and "The Island President".
The People’s Choice Award is the chief award handed out at Tiff, which does not convene a jury to vote the way the Cannes and Venice film festivals do.
A small jury awarded cash prizes for Canadian films including $30,000 for Best Canadian Feature Film, "Monsieur Lazare", $15,000 for Best Canadian First Feature Film, "Edwin Boyd" and $10,000 for Best Canadian Short Film, "Doubles With Slight Pepper".
And the winners are :
People’s Choice Award: "Where Do We Go Now?...
- 9/18/2011
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Nadine Labaki, Where Do We Go Now? Cadillac People's Choice Award Nadine Labaki for Where Do We Go Now? Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award Gareth Evans for The Raid Cadillac People's Choice Documentary Award Jon Shenk for The Island President The International Federation of Film Critics Awards Prize Discovery Axel Petersén for Avalon The International Federation of Film Critics Awards Prize Special Presentation Gianni Amelio for The First Man Canadian Awards City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian Feature Philippe Falardeau for Monsieur Lazhar Skyy Vodka Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film Nathan Morlando for Edwin Boyd Award for Best Canadian Short Film Ian Harnarine for Doubles with Slight Pepper Where Do We Go Now? photo: Tiff...
- 9/18/2011
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Feature Films – People’s Choice Award: Where Do We Go Now?, directed by Nadine Labaki
Documentaries – People’s Choice Award: The Island President, directed by Jon Shenk
Midnight Madness – People’s Choice Award: The Raid, directed by Gareth Evans
Discovery Section – Fipresci Prize: Avalon, directed by Axel Petersen
Special Presentations Section – Fipresci Prize: The First Man, directed by Gianna Amelio
Best Canadian Feature Film: Monsieur Lazare, directed by Philippe Falardeau
Best Canadian First Feature Film: Edwin Boyd, directed by Nathan Morlando
Best Canadian Short Film: Doubles with Slight Pepper, directed by Ian Harnarine...
Documentaries – People’s Choice Award: The Island President, directed by Jon Shenk
Midnight Madness – People’s Choice Award: The Raid, directed by Gareth Evans
Discovery Section – Fipresci Prize: Avalon, directed by Axel Petersen
Special Presentations Section – Fipresci Prize: The First Man, directed by Gianna Amelio
Best Canadian Feature Film: Monsieur Lazare, directed by Philippe Falardeau
Best Canadian First Feature Film: Edwin Boyd, directed by Nathan Morlando
Best Canadian Short Film: Doubles with Slight Pepper, directed by Ian Harnarine...
- 9/18/2011
- by arno
- IMDb Blog - All the Latest
HollywoodNews.com: And this year’s winners of the Toronto International Film Festival are:
Cadillac People’s Choice Awards
As voted by Festival attendees:
Cadillac People’s Choice Award
Nadine Labaki for Where Do We Go Now?
Cadillac People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award
Gareth Evans for The Raid
Cadillac People’s Choice Documentary Award
Jon Shenk for The Island President
Canadian Awards
As voted by the Canadian Film Jury
City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian Feature
Philppe Falardeau for Monsieur Lazhar
Skyy Vodka Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film Nathan Morlando for Edwin Boyd
Award for Best Canadian Short Film
Ian Harnarine for Doubles With Slight Pepper
The International Film Critics’ Awards
The International Federation of Film Critics Awards Prize Discovery
Axel Petersén for Avalon
The International Federation of Film Critics Awards Prize Special Presentation
Gianni Amelio for The First Man
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Cadillac People’s Choice Awards
As voted by Festival attendees:
Cadillac People’s Choice Award
Nadine Labaki for Where Do We Go Now?
Cadillac People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award
Gareth Evans for The Raid
Cadillac People’s Choice Documentary Award
Jon Shenk for The Island President
Canadian Awards
As voted by the Canadian Film Jury
City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian Feature
Philppe Falardeau for Monsieur Lazhar
Skyy Vodka Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film Nathan Morlando for Edwin Boyd
Award for Best Canadian Short Film
Ian Harnarine for Doubles With Slight Pepper
The International Film Critics’ Awards
The International Federation of Film Critics Awards Prize Discovery
Axel Petersén for Avalon
The International Federation of Film Critics Awards Prize Special Presentation
Gianni Amelio for The First Man
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
- 9/18/2011
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
The 2011 Toronto Film Festival is drawing to a close, and the festival just handed out its prizes. The winners: Cadillac People’s Choice Award Nadine Labaki-directed Where Do We Go Now? Cadillac People’s Choice Award For Documentary Jon Shenk-directed The Island President Cadillac People’s Choice Award For Midnight Madness Gareth Evans-directed The Raid City of Toronto and Astral Media’s The Movie Network Award For Best Canadian Feature Philippe Falardeau-directed Monsieur Lazhar Skyy Vodka Award For Best Canadian First Feature Film Nathan Morlando-directed Edwin Boyd Fipresci Prize For Special Presentations Section Gianni Amelio-directed The First Man Fipresci Prize For Discovery Programme Axel Petersen-directed Avalon (Sweden) Best Canadian Short Film Ian Harnarine-directed Doubles With Slight Pepper...
- 9/18/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
The list as they came in [thanks to The Lost Boy]
Best Canadian First Feature Edwin Boyd, directed by Nathan Morlando (Paolo's review, Amir's review)
Best Canadian Feature Monsieur Lazhar, directed by Philippe Falardeau
Best Canadian Short Film Doubles With Slight Pepper by Ian Harnarine
People's Choice Midnight Madness The Raid, directed by Gareth Huw Evans
People's Choice Documentary The Island President by Jon Shenk
International Critics Special Presentations The First Man, directed by Gianni Amelio
International Critics Discovery Section Avalon directed by Axel Petersen
And the biggie, the People's Choice Award, which often signifies Oscar attention in either Best Picture or Foreign Film categories is Where Do We Go Now? the musical from Lebanon which is from the director of Caramel. It was recently submitted for Oscar consideration for Best Foreign Language Film.
Update: Here's the international trailer.
It's officially one to watch now, a very likely nominee if past awards are indication. Runners...
Best Canadian First Feature Edwin Boyd, directed by Nathan Morlando (Paolo's review, Amir's review)
Best Canadian Feature Monsieur Lazhar, directed by Philippe Falardeau
Best Canadian Short Film Doubles With Slight Pepper by Ian Harnarine
People's Choice Midnight Madness The Raid, directed by Gareth Huw Evans
People's Choice Documentary The Island President by Jon Shenk
International Critics Special Presentations The First Man, directed by Gianni Amelio
International Critics Discovery Section Avalon directed by Axel Petersen
And the biggie, the People's Choice Award, which often signifies Oscar attention in either Best Picture or Foreign Film categories is Where Do We Go Now? the musical from Lebanon which is from the director of Caramel. It was recently submitted for Oscar consideration for Best Foreign Language Film.
Update: Here's the international trailer.
It's officially one to watch now, a very likely nominee if past awards are indication. Runners...
- 9/18/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Brad Pitt, Keira Knightley, George Clooney, Carey Mulligan, Rachel Weisz, Gerard Butler and Ryan Gosling are heading to Toronto for the 36tht international film festival, which kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 8.
The fest today confirmed the hundreds of celebrities that will be attending the can’t-miss event, promoting films and making the rounds as the annual awards season starts to take shape.
Davis Guggenheim, Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Luc Besson, Oren Moverman, Malgoska Szumowska, Bennett Miller, Sarah Polley, Jessica Yu, Michael Winterbottom and Werner Herzog are just a few of the filmmakers who have confirmed their attendance.
Celebrities making the trek include Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Clive Owen, Jon Hamm, Shahid Kapoor, Michael Fassbender, Michelle Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Glenn Close, Matthew Goode, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson. Musicians U2, Pearl Jam and Neil Young also are expected to...
Hollywoodnews.com: Brad Pitt, Keira Knightley, George Clooney, Carey Mulligan, Rachel Weisz, Gerard Butler and Ryan Gosling are heading to Toronto for the 36tht international film festival, which kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 8.
The fest today confirmed the hundreds of celebrities that will be attending the can’t-miss event, promoting films and making the rounds as the annual awards season starts to take shape.
Davis Guggenheim, Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Luc Besson, Oren Moverman, Malgoska Szumowska, Bennett Miller, Sarah Polley, Jessica Yu, Michael Winterbottom and Werner Herzog are just a few of the filmmakers who have confirmed their attendance.
Celebrities making the trek include Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Clive Owen, Jon Hamm, Shahid Kapoor, Michael Fassbender, Michelle Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Glenn Close, Matthew Goode, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson. Musicians U2, Pearl Jam and Neil Young also are expected to...
- 8/23/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
Toronto - The 36th Toronto International Film Festival® welcomes hundreds of guests this year. Filmmakers expected to present their world premieres in Toronto include: Davis Guggenheim, Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne, Agnieszka Holland, Guy Maddin, Luc Besson, Bill Duke, Oren Moverman, Malgoska Szumowska, Bennett Miller, Darrell Roodt, Sarah Polley, Jessica Yu, Michael Winterbottom and Werner Herzog.
Actors expected to attend include Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Jeon Do-Yeon, Jon Hamm, Shahid Kapoor, Michael Fassbender, Michelle Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Glenn Close, Matthew Goode, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Ryan Gosling, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson. Musicians include: U2, Pearl Jam and Neil Young.
The Festival also welcomes thousands of producers and other industry professionals bringing films to us.
The following filmmakers are expected to attend the Toronto International Film Festival:
Adam Shaheen, Adam Wingard, Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr., Agnieszka Holland, Akin Omotoso,...
Actors expected to attend include Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Jeon Do-Yeon, Jon Hamm, Shahid Kapoor, Michael Fassbender, Michelle Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Glenn Close, Matthew Goode, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Ryan Gosling, Salma Hayek, Viggo Mortensen and Woody Harrelson. Musicians include: U2, Pearl Jam and Neil Young.
The Festival also welcomes thousands of producers and other industry professionals bringing films to us.
The following filmmakers are expected to attend the Toronto International Film Festival:
Adam Shaheen, Adam Wingard, Adolfo Borinaga Alix Jr., Agnieszka Holland, Akin Omotoso,...
- 8/23/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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