TIFF #48 – Day 8

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TIFF #48 – Day 8
by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent

(September 14, 2023 – Toronto, ON) Director Monia Chokri tackles the romantic comedy with The Nature of Love, titled Simple comme Sylvain in French. In its way, The Nature of Love is a rather complex observation of infidelity (or at least the perception of infidelity) and class conflict.

Magalie Lépine Blondeau stars as Sophia, a professor who is smitten by Sylvain (a charismatic performance from Pierre-Yves Cardinal) the contractor—masculine, capable, confident, and rural—who’s been hired to fixiup the summer place Sophia shares with her partner. The romance is hot and heavy, which Chokri directs her characters to dive into with inhibited passion. But can passion withstand disparaging glances from the academics who flaunt their perceived intellectual superiority at dinner parties? The Nature of Love manages both humour and charm despite putting its characters through a gauntlet of misgivings, failures and frustrations.

The Nature of Love screens:
Thursday, September 14 at 4:00pm at the Scotiabank Theatre
Friday, September 15 at 9:15 pm, at Scotiabank Theatre.

Quick takes: Other Canadian Features (and shorts) to watch out for today:

RU, 11 am, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
In Flames, 2 pm, Scotiabank 3
I Am Sirat, 6 pm TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Mademoiselle Kenopsia, 8 pm, Scotiabank 12

Meteor and Gaby’s Hills are part of the Short Cuts Programme 01, 6:15 pm, at Scotiabank 13.   

Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies. Currently he can be heard interviewing Canadian filmmakers on the Kingston Canadian Film Festival podcast, Rewind, Fast-Forward.

Kanaval: In a Strange Land

Kanaval, movie, review, image, news, — Images courtesy of TIFF 2023.

Henri Pardo’s Kanaval: In a Strange Land
By Maurie Alioff

(September 13, 2023 – Toronto, ON) Set in 1975, the unusual Tiff selection Kanaval focuses on Haiti, one of the most troubled countries on earth, while conflating it with Quebec. Pardo’s movie, which veers between ultra-realism and fantasy, was supported by The Canadian Film Centre/Netflix Project Development Accelerator Program. With its measureless international reach, Netflix can think beyond conventional distribution and exhibition.

While Kanaval does not explore the island’s history, the movie’s Haitians obviously live with the impact of legacy. The African born slaves of Haiti were the first Caribbeans to lead a revolt against their European colonial masters, the French, succeed and establish a republic. Nearby Jamaicans also rebelled against their monstrously cruel British enslavers – a punishment device called the “treadmill” forced victims to walk for hours while they were molested, beaten, and whipped.

But while Jamaican “Maroons” succeeded in overcoming English armies and carving out free territories, Jamaicans, while freed from slavery in 1838, remained under British control until 1962. Sugar plantations on both Haiti and Jamaica provided the French and the British with the sweetener they craved in their lovely pastries and cups of tea. Plantation owners and importers made spectacular fortunes.

When Haiti achieved its status as an independent republic in 1804, eventually the French terms demanded massive compensatory payments that crippled and impoverished the island to this day. Over the years, Haiti has also suffered numerous epidemics, earthquakes, famines, criminality, and violent dictators like Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier. In 2023, it is deemed a failed nation.

Kanaval, movie, image, — Image courtesy of TIFF 2023.

Kanaval plays out from the point-of-view of a young boy, Rico (Rayan Dieudonné). A child with an active imagination, the film introduces him in screen-filling closeups, his face full of wonder, eager to enjoy the annual kanaval (the Creole word for carnival). Pardo offers glimpses of the event: the drumming, dancing, the masks and costumes some of them jokingly mocking authority figures, the hints of magic.

For Rico however, something is amiss. His pregnant mother Erzuile (Penande Estime), insists that he stay away from the kanaval. “We don’t know who is whom tonight!”, she says. Something could happen, a warning she doesn’t explain.

In follow-up reaction closeups, Rico is confronted by a horrific sight in total contrast with the wonders of the carnival. Erzuile is being beaten, tortured by thugs with clubs. We discover she’s been condemned as an activist who teaches “communism” to her students.

The movie segués from drums and tropical heat to Rico and Erzuile crossing a snowy track in rural Quebec. Mother and son have run for their lives. Without much exposition about how they got of Haiti, or why they chose the Quebec countryside, mother and son are ensconced in the comfortable house of an elderly couple, Albert (Martin Dubreuil) and Cécile (Claire Jacques). They have no children, and for them Rico is like a gift from God. Cécile is all hugs, kisses, and comforting embraces. Albert takes Rico hunting and teaches him the ways of the woods.

For much of the film, Albert and Cecile, who would fit into the classic Quebec TV series, Les Plouffes, are kind and welcoming, a little too much so from my perspective. Maybe there’s a bit of White Saviour attitude going down.

Of course, rural Quebec turns out to have snakes in the grass. The film turns into a depiction of black refugee/immigrants in a white world. Rico gets ridiculed by a blatant racist (Sylvain Massé), who at best thinks black people are funny. In the 1950s, there would have been a lawn jockey adorning his house, and he would have taken his kids to a restaurant called Sambo. Even worse, sneering cracker kids attack Rico amd shove him into shit. Erzuile, who has become distant, blames him for the mess, and orders him to get a strap for punishment.

Pressure builds on Rico to the point he commiserates with an imaginary friend, a horned alter ego out of myth, or a carnival. Mother and son escaped a trap, and now they are snagged in another one. Haiti was dangerous, but in the Quebec countryside they are aliens who are not entirely at home. They need to make another move.

Images courtesy of TIFF

Maurie Alioff is a film journalist, critic, screenwriter and media columnist. He has written for radio and television and taught screenwriting at Montreal’s Vanier College. A former editor for Cinema Canada and Take One, as well as other magazines, he is affiliated with the Quebec media industry publication, CTVM.Info. His articles have appeared in various publications, including Canadian Cinematographer, POV Magazine, and The New York Times. He is the Québec Correspondent for northernstars.ca.

TIFF #48 – Day 7

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TIFF #48 – Day 7
by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent

(September 13, 2023 – Toronto ON) The writer’s strike, which has inadvertently cleared a path to consider other roles in the filmmaking process aside from actors and directors, has me thinking about Canadian screenwriters.

Last year, Women Talking premiered at TIFF to great acclaim and went on to earn Sarah Polley, who writes and directs, an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. It’s with the writers in mind that I approach today’s screenings.

Albert Shin is a festival favourite and a known commodity coming out of the Canadian independent filmmaker community. Shin co-wrote The King Tide with William Woods from a story by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby.

Directed by Christian Sparks, The King Tide tells a contemporary fable of an infant who mysteriously (magically?) appears on the shores of an East Coast community, changes lives, and then, as though reminding us that ‘no good deed goes unpunished’, faces possible persecution from the people she’s helped.

Evidence of the screenwriters—specifically Shin—reverberates in themes of immigration, fear of the unknown, and belonging. Shin left his mark as both screenwriter and director on the Canadian cinema landscape with In Her Place (2014) and Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019).

The King Tide screens
Wednesday, September 13 at 2:50pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

Director Charles-Olivier Michaud’s RU (still image above) is a story of kindness and compassion as seen through the eyes of a young immigrant who relocates to rural Quebec. In keeping with our acknowledgments of a film’s screenwriter, it’s noted that Michaud is credited as screenwriter, along with Kim Thûy and Jacques Davidts (the latter whose work includes writing Denis Villeneuve’s film Polytechnique).

RU screens:
Wednesday, September 13 at 8:30pm at Scotiabank Theatre
Thursday, September 14 at 11:30 am at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

Director Denis Côté’s Mademoiselle Kenopsia starring Larissa Corriveau gets its first of two screenings tonight. No need to highlight the screenwriter here, as it happens that Côté steps into both the director’s and the writer‘s limelights.

Mademoiselle Kenopsia screens: 
Wednesday, September 13 at 1:00pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Thursday, September 14 at 8:00pm at Scotiabank Theatre

Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies. Currently he can be heard interviewing Canadian filmmakers on the Kingston Canadian Film Festival podcast, Rewind, Fast-Forward.

Alison Thornton

Cast Members

B: August 14, 1999 in Vancouver, British Columbia

Born to American parents who had moved to Canada, Alison Thornton is probably best known for her role as Zoey Hernandez Frumpkis in 26 episodes of the series Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce. She played the role of Tacy Cassidy in all 10 episodes of Dare Me.

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

Let it Snow (TV-2013)
The Color of Rain (TV-2014)
Love, Colin (2016, short)
My Obsession with Death (2020, short)
Run & Gun (2022)
Caught in His Web (TV-2022)
Girl Gone Bad (2022)
The Mental State (2022)
What Comes Next (2024)

TV Series – Cast:
Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce (2015-2018)
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016)
Dare Me (2019-2020)

TV Series – Guest appearances:
The 100 (2014)
Supergirl (2017)
Nancy Drew (2021, 2022, 2023)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2021)
FBI: Most Wanted (2023)
School Spirits (2023)
The Rookie (2023)

What Comes Next

– Drama, Relationships
Language: English
Release date: TDB
Production companies: Black Moon Media, Screen Siren Pictures
Canadian distributor: Game Theory Films

What Comes Next is an intergenerational coming of age story that follows 17-year-old Tanya (Alison Thornton) as she begins an ill-advised relationship with an older family friend Grant (Aaron Ashmore) before heading off to college. Unbeknownst to Tanya, Grant had an affair with her mother, Laura (Mena Suvari), a decade earlier. Tanya and her mother must each navigate the liminal space between action and consequence over the course of a single summer.

What Comes Next began filming in the Greater Vancouver area, Langley and Maple Ridge in September 2023. Running time, release dates, etc., are not avalable at this time. The production was made possible through the support of Telefilm Canada.


	Crew:
	Producer:	Kate Kroll Tony Cerciello
	Executive Producer:	Trish Dolman Steven Thibault
	Director:	Alex Caulfield
	Screenwriter:	Alex Caulfield
	Cinematographer:	Leonardo Harim
	Production Designer:	Louisa Birkin
	Cast:	Roles:
	Alison Thornton Mena Suvari Aaron Ashmore Maya Chariandy Stephen Lobo Sasha Warner Christina Jastrzemska Daxton Gujral Kalyn Miles River Codack	Tanya Laura (Tanya’s mother) Grant

Alex Caulfield

Directors

Alex Caulfield is an award-winning non-binary director and writer with a background as a creative producer. An alum of the National Screen Institute, the Whistler Film Festival Talent Labs, they were awarded a Creator Mentorship from the Geena Davis Institute. They were also one of eight participants selected for the Women in the Director’s Chair Story and Leadership program with What Comes Next. Embracing a passion for “telling stories that make people feel less alone,” Alex is known for their work on character-driven films portraying complex female and non-binary protagonists. They are deeply committed to supporting queer, trans and gender non-conforming people, autistic people and those dealing with mental illnesses by creating greater onscreen representations and providing professional mentorship opportunities. We list their credits as a Director first.

NOTE: As the film What Comes Next had just started filimg in and around Vancouver in September 2023, our page for that film is incomplete, but will be updated as we received more information.

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

A Paperback Life (2010)
Free Section (2015, short)
Dear Departed (2021 short)
The Podcast Murders (TV-2022)
Sins of the Family (TV-2023)
What Comes Next (2024)

Credits as a Screenwriter:
A Paperback Life (2010)
Free Section (2015, short)
Dear Departed (2021 short)
What Comes Next (2024)

Credits as a Producer:
A Paperback Life (2010)
Mess (2012, short)
Free Section (2015, short)
Son in the Barbershop (2015, short)
Last Night (2016, short)
Do We Leave This Here (2017, short)
Fatal Rhapsody (Line Producer, 2017, short)
Dog Bite (Executive Producer, 2019, short)

Irena’s Vow: Sorrow and Survival

Louise Archambault’s Irena’s Vow: Sorrow and Survival 
Review by Maurie Alioff – Québec Correspondent

(September 12, 2023 – Toronto, ON) A Tiff 2023 selection, Irena’s Vow opens on a closeup of the real-life heroine’s exquisite face, a shot that re-occurs at the end of Louise Archambault’s heart-wrenching story about the trials and tribulations of a young Polish woman in Nazi-Occupied Warsaw. Archambault crash-cuts to a hospital where Irena (Sophie Nélisse, pictured above), a hardworking nurse, comes close to being destroyed in a bomb blast. Soon after, she is a forced labourer under the thumb of the German occupation.

While an S.S. officer’s satanic malevolence departs from any semblance of humanity (he whistles merrily during a hanging), Archambault depicts regular soldiers as monstrously cruel – with the exception of one character who eventually redeems himself. The Germans are insanely arrogant in their assumption they have the right to dominate people’s lives. In our current reality, where the will of powerful people to dominate simply because they think they should, Archambault’s film has a frightening resonance. Nazi occupation leading to mass murder is the extremity of the toxins that are in our air now.

Forced to contribute to the German “war effort,” Irena displays skill, resourcefulness, and compliant hard work, graduating from a tailor shop, where she “supervises” Jews, to kitchen, to becoming the housekeeper for a powerful officer (Dougray Scott). In the movie’s startling descent to the worst, Irena witnesses a horrifying atrocity. Nélisse’s depiction of overwhelming shock and sorrow, and her ongoing portrayal of the mask of impassiveness that allows her to survive, will be recalled as one of the year’s richest performances in a Canadian film.

Written by Dan Gordon (The Assignment, The Hurricane), and based on his own stage play, Irena’s Vow recalls Schindler’s List when Irena risks her life by protecting a group of Jews in the basement of a Nazi occupied villa. Somehow, she orchestrates impeccable dinner parties where German officers engage in genteel chit-chat and crackpot discussions about the “science” of destroying people, while she feeds and protects the Jews she has vowed to keep alive.

The film emphasizes the victimized Jews’ individuality as business people, artists, and professionals who lost everything. When a young married woman gets pregnant, the doctor in the group offers to abort the baby, but Irena, a strict catholic won’t allow it. Ignoring consequences and acting on her morality and faith, she comes up with strategy after strategy. The narrative builds on Irena’s determined reactions to one trap after another, near misses that can seem improbable, even impossible if much of the story weren’t true. Post-credit titles update the audience on the fates of the actual characters, and one in particular is mind-boggling in its happy outcome.

A Poland-Canada coproduction, Irena’s Vow is a classic period piece that could have been produced by Robert Lantos. The mise-en-scène is often uncannily immaculate. The fugitive Jews are well-dressed and coiffed. The English language dialogue can be on-the-nose.

But as in her previous feature, 2019’s And the Birds Rained Down, Archambault expresses her fascination with human beings who defy the odds and thrive. As she told me at the time during a Tiff interview, “It’s basic. We want love, being loved, and dignity. That’s human nature.”

Irena’s Vow will have its final screening at TIFF tomorrow, September 13 at 6:05pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

Maurie Alioff is a film journalist, critic, screenwriter and media columnist. He has written for radio and television and taught screenwriting at Montreal’s Vanier College. A former editor for Cinema Canada and Take One, as well as other magazines, he is affiliated with the Quebec media industry publication, CTVM.Info. His articles have appeared in various publications, including Canadian Cinematographer, POV Magazine, and The New York Times. He is the Québec Correspondent for northernstars.ca.  

TIFF 48 – Day 6

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TIFF 48 – Day 6
by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent

(September 12, 2023 – Toronto, ON) Note to self: Do not overlook the shorts program!

Ahh, the arrogance! And completely unwarranted. Why is it that I consider the shorts program at TIFF well after I’ve earmarked the schedules with must-see features? Programmer, Jason Anderson has been doing this gig for enough years to know what works and the shorts (and we’ll focus on the Canadian submissions) work.

Mothers and Monsters director Edith Jorisch’s instinct for absurdity is so well honed that even when pushing the camera along a fallopian tube, the situations she creates are more consequential than allegorical. Jorisch tells the story without dialogue, aside from the customary coos and ahhs from a dining room table of a collection of elegant, young, and fertile women. One by one the guests are presented with a head of cabbage which, when unwrapped, reveals a healthy newborn. But the film has the grey hues of a George Orwell novel, putting the viewer on guard for something to rock the cradle—and no, I don’t care that I’m mixing my metaphors.

On the same program is Express. Despite its overt and heavy-handed messaging, there is a lot to like in Ivan D. Ossa’s direction. Express is without contest, a morality tale. There is nothing allegorical to ponder; everything the film needs to express is expressed without ambiguity. But the story holds together with fine performances from the entire cast.

Baigl Nuur – Lake Baikal is an experimental short coming out of Germany and Canada. I can best describe this 9-minute animated short as hypnotic. There is an exploration of language and image that (and I know this from reading the film notes) “reimagines the formation of a sacred lake in Siberia…”. The animation is strong, and constantly evolving, blending from one frame to the next with kaleidoscope-like movements.

Other Canadian shorts appearing at the festival include: Director Atefeh Khademolreza’s Meteor, Director Zoé Pelchat, Gaby’s Hills, Kasey Lum’s Bloom, Miryam Charles’ All the Days of May, Anubha Momin’s Aftercare, Eric K. Boulianne’s Making Babies, Andrea Nirmala Widjanjanto’s Sawo Matang, Marielle Dalpé’s Aphasia, Ryan McKenna’s I Used to Live There, Marni Van Dyk’s This is Not About Swimming, James Michael Chiang’s Xie Xie, Ollie, Catherine Boivin’s 6 Minutes Per Kilometer, Karsten Wall’s Modern Goose, and Jasmin Mozaffari’s Motherland.

Promotional photo from Mothers and Monsters courtesy of TIFF.

Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies. Currently he can be heard interviewing Canadian filmmakers on the Kingston Canadian Film Festival podcast, Rewind, Fast-Forward.

Throw Back Wednesday

News

Throw Back Wednesday
by Ralph Lucas – Publisher

(September 11, 2023 – Toronto, ON) I know, I know, it should be Throw Back Thursday or TBT, but this event happens this Wednesday and it is quite a throw back. Set in Toronto, it’s 1969 and some wild and crazy guys think about having a rock concert on the University of Toronto campus, specifically the 20,000 seat Varsity Stadium.

I was in Toronto and working in radio and had come up with an idea for CBC called The Midnight Farm Report. The story behind that title is too long to go into now. The short version is I was working on the hour long show with a friend and former pirate DJ from England, Roger Keene. I had heard about the concert and mentioned to Roger how great it would be if he could get some interviews. What he got was great, the demo we submitted to the CBC was fantastic, but they declined, and I still have the master tape and would love to have it digitized.

Now, some 54 years later, there’s a documentary that will be great for those of us who made it (or didn’t in my case), and for everyone who loves that “old time tock ‘n roll.” Who was on stage? Who wasn’t? Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, The Doors and Alice Cooper. Even with that lineup the organizers were having trouble selling tickets. Knowing it was the longest of long shots, they invited John Lennon and Yoko Ono and…the rest is history. John Lennon did show up, his first appearance without the Beatles, and brought Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White with him.

Titled REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World, the 90-minute documentary uses footage from a priceless cinematic archive that includes unreleased 16mm concert and backstage footage shot by the legendary D.A. Pennebaker. The story is told on camera by many of the people who were there and was shot in 2021 in Toronto, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, London, and Munich. Just a few of the people who lend their talent to the production, Alice Cooper, Harper Lea, Geddy Lee, pictured below.

Directed by Ron Chapman and produced by Trish Dolman, Ron Chapman and Sally Blake, it was written by Phyllis Ellis. Revival69 is a Telefilm, Screen Siren Pictures, Chapman Productions and Pennebaker Hegedus Films presentation. A CRAVE Original documentary in association with Myriad Pictures.

REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World debuts on CRAVE this Wednesday, September 13, 2023.

Ralph Lucas is a former broadcast executive and award-winning director in high-end corporate video production. The founder and publisher of Northernstars.ca, online since 1998, he began writing about film and reviewing movies while in radio in Montreal in the mid-1970s.

Solo: The Show Must Go On

Solo: The Show Must Go On
By Maurie Alioff – Québec Correspondent

(September 11, 2023 – Toronto ON) As I write, one of the hottest entries in TIFF 2023 is Sophie Dupuis’ Solo, which dives into the agonies and ecstasies of a young drag queen performer. To be released in Québec on September 16, the movie is Dupuis’s follow-up to her award-winning Chien de garde (Family First), which was Canada’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2019 competition.

Like Chien de garde, Solo confronts the viewer with a marginal reality, but is at heart explosive family drama. As in the previous film, Théodore Pellerin (pictured above) plays the lead with uncoiled power. In Chien, he’s a sadistic enforcer who terrorizes victims and beats them senseless. At the same time, he loves his family unconditionally, especially his mother who plays mock lover with him.

For Solo, Pellerin pulls off a spectacular switch from an exuberantly nasty punk out of Clockwork Orange to a drag queen devoted to her performance skills. Simon does share an acute mother love with Vincent, but in his case it’s sadly unrequited.

Probably influenced by P.T. Anderson’s Boogie Nights and maybe even Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, Solo flips back and forth between its drag artists backstage and onstage. Backstage, they swagger around in their skimpy costumes, bantering, gossiping, and dissing each other while they apply makeup and fine tune their look. On stage, Dupuis keeps the dreamy chorography and pumped up energy coming. Simon is clearly a rising star with his kinetic dance movies and lip synching stars like Donna Summers. We get interesting glimpses of straight young women, fans of the queens, a subculture onto themselves. “They come to laugh at the fags,” laughs one of the drag scenes.

Dupuis brings up the movie on music, blasting the screen with her high energy visuals. Then Solo cuts to a quiet domestic scene. Simon’s sister (Alice Moreault) is appalled he hasn’t showered. He bares an armpit and cracks, “Take it all in, honey.” The movie follows this pattern of operatic, hyper-dramatic, ironic drag show biz and an unfolding narrative closer to daily life.

Contrary to what the audience might expect, the picture’s tensions don’t come from clichéd family disapproval of Simon’s artistic and life choices. His sister has just made a beautiful dress for him. He basks in familial warmth. Tension does get triggered by Simon’s problematic relationship with a handsome and charismatic drag performer called Olivier (French actor Felix Maritaud). At first the relationship is passionate and sweetly romantic: intimate, tenderly acted love scenes between Simon and Oli on a dance floor, in gently falling snow. But eventually, probably inevitably the relationship goes into Oli’s manipulation and emotional abuse.

Even more painful is the impact of Simon’s absent mother, a major opera star (Anne-Marie Cadieux). Simon’s longing for her love and her detachment drives the narrative. In a painfully intimate moment, he says to her “You don’t love me.” He seems to be facing his reality. Claire’s impassiveness says he’s right.

Cadieux offers a measured, subtle performance. Claire is self-assured and friendly on the surface, offering champagne, showing interest in Simon’s career. But there is the subtext of a vacuum. She is not nasty, or condescending. However she harms her son without going all Joan Crawford with her alleged coat hangers.

Sophie Dupuis has already been named a director to watch. As the movie was launched at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Hollywood Reporter is raving: “She has solid promise to follow Denis Villeneuve and the late Jean-Marc Vallée as one of the top creative voices out of French-speaking Quebec.”  

Solo has its final screening today at 3:30pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

Maurie Alioff is a film journalist, critic, screenwriter and media columnist. He has written for radio and television and taught screenwriting at Montreal’s Vanier College. A former editor for Cinema Canada and Take One, as well as other magazines, he is affiliated with the Quebec media industry publication, CTVM.Info. His articles have appeared in various publications, including Canadian Cinematographer, POV Magazine, and The New York Times. He is the Québec Correspondent for northernstars.ca.

TIFF 48 – Day 5

News

TIFF 48 – Day 5
 by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent

(September 11, 2023 – Toronto, ON) Today begins the first full week at the Toronto International Film Festival and there’s plenty of Canadian content to come.

Topping a lot of festival film lists today (Canadian audiences and others) is director Dominic Savage’s Close to You starring Elliot Page—screens today at 12:12 pm at The Scotiabank Theatre. Page (pictured above) plays Sam, a man returning to Cobourg for the first time since transitioning. Sam is there to celebrate his father’s birthday. It is not a journey that Sam is wanting to make. His dread is momentarily pushed aside when he meets up with an old friend (Hillary Baack) who shares a past, as well as her own complicated, scaring issues. Page both stars in and produces the film. Close to You has its final screening on Thursday, September 14 at 9:30am also at Scotiabank Theatre. 

Backspot at TIFF, image, — Courtesy of Night is Y.

Backspot, the cheerleading drama from director (and DJ) D.W. Waterson, screens today at 3 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. This is the final screening.

Lots of positive buzz floating through the festival about director Sophie Duplus’ Solo. The film focuses on a drag performer in Montreal’s vibrant drag scene. A new and healthy relationship forms between the performer, Simon (played by Théodore Pellerin) and Olivier (Félix Maritaud), and the two become duo performers. Then comes the return of Simon’s opera-singing mother (Anne-Marie Cadieux) comes to visit. Tender and affirming moments get lost in a scurry of attempts to be heard, seen, and understood—by lover and by mother. Also see Maurie Alioff’s excellent take on the feature, which has its final screening today at 3:30pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

Watch for director Louise Archambault’s war drama Irena’s Vow screens today at 3:35 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

  Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies. Currently he can be heard interviewing Canadian filmmakers on the Kingston Canadian Film Festival podcast, Rewind, Fast-Forward.

TIFF 48 – Day 4 

News

TIFF 48 – Day 4 
by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent

(September 10, 2023 – Toronto, ON) While watching director Charles-Olivier Michaud’s RU I was reminded of Barry Greenwald’s Who Gets In? (1989) a docudrama about landed immigrants (literally) taken in by an East Coast Canadian village. There is a similar tone in Michaud’s film as in Greenwald’s, in that the grassroots acceptance of the immigrants by their hosts is a given.

With RU, Michaud expands on the immigrant story. RU is a film that takes the p.o.v. of a young girl born out of privilege, forced from her homeland, and into a life of relative obscurity in rural Quebec. The young girl is Tinh (Chloé Djandji in an outstanding performance). Tinh is our witness through the ordeal of panicked but controlled evacuation to relocation. Michard effectively captures the upheaval and confusion through the eyes of Tinh and her family. But the story tilts away from the traditional in that focus is placed on the enthusiastic attempt of the family’s hosts to ensure all feel welcomed. Memories of the dangerous land Tinh’s family has left behind come back in flashbacks played against the idyl and idylistic magic of discovering snow and taking part in a line dance.

The screenings for RU are complete, but it remains a good title to put aside and wait for its commercial or streaming release.

Canadian films that are showing today:

There is hardly a more iconic Canadian name than Ed Coombs, or as he is better known to our inner children, Mr. Dressup. The documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe plays today at 8:45 pm in Scotiabank 3.

It’s heartening to know that documentaries can be made without the hook of a scandal. I was one of the few existing Canadians who did not watch Mr. Dressup when growing up, but even in my ignorance, I know who Mr. Dressup is; and I know of his puppet pal, Finnegan.

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is a charming toast to a charming icon, as seen through clips, and interviews with people like Patty Sullivan (Kid’s Host), Biff Naked (musician) The Bare-Naked Ladies (musicians), Eric McCormack (actor) Rob Salem (journalist), Scott Thompson (actor) and Bruce McCulloch (actor). The film could have worked just as an outlet for those nostalgic enough to want to revisit the days of model trains, tree houses, and tickle-boxes, but the story of Ernie Coombs’s rise, his friendships, and his life is a joy for all can appreciate.

Viggo Mortensen’s second directorial outing as director is a western. And it’s a Western with a feminist bent. It also has one of those overtly descriptive titles that state the obvious: The Dead Don’t Hurt.

Mortenson plays freely with time so that his character, a handsome, loner who carries his moral backbone with every stepMlike he was carrying six-shooters, cocked and ready, appears to be in two places at the same time. Morgenston’s character is essential to the story, but it’s Vicky Krieps as Viviane who the audience is most invested in. Krieps prefers to live alone and make her own money. Not even Morgenston’s faithful and loving partner, Holger Olsen can keep her down on the homestead. But not long after Holger and Viviane find each other, doe Holger go off to war. Now, alone on the homestead, Viviane forages a life against isolation, Western unlawfulness, and a toxic male environment.

Still unseen, is Hey Viktor! screening this evening at 9:15 p.m. at Scotiabank Theatre 10. And the midnight madness tonight is Finn Wolfhard’s Hell of a Summer at 11:59 p.m. at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Seven Veils, Atom Egoyan, — Photo by Amanda Matlovich.

The big-ticket item today was Atom Egoyan’s much anticipated Seven Veils, which screened at the Prince of Wales at 3:45 pm. And seen and recommended is Summer Qamp, a documentary of a LGBTQ2+ friendly camp in rural Alberta. Also unseen today is Bria Mack Gets A Life, which screened this afternoon at Scotiabank Theatre.

  Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies. Currently he can be heard interviewing Canadian filmmakers on the Kingston Canadian Film Festival podcast, Rewind, Fast-Forward.

Charles-Olivier Michaud

Directors

Charles-Olivier Michaud grew up in Quebec City and first worked in the field of international business in Asia and United States. But he dreamt, thought about and began working toward a lifelong desire. He attended the Los Angeles Film School from 2006 to 2008 and received honourable mention for his work as a director and screenwriter. His first film, Snow & Ashes, in which he was writer, director and producer, was released in 2011. Selected by film festivals around the world, it won prestigious prizes and honours almost everywhere it screened. His first TV series, Boomerang (2014-2019) became a comedy hit, winning three Gemini awards for the lead actors, and collecting more than ten nominations in the major categories for its first season only. Michaud continued as director on the series for the following seasons. His 2023 feature RU, was selected to have its World Premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Also see: TIFF 48 – Day 4 .

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

Sur le rythme (2011)
Snow & Ashes (2012)
One Square Mile (2013)
Exil (2013)
Anna (2015)
RU (2023)

TV Series:
La galère (2013)
Boomerang (2014-2019)
Prémonitions (2016)
M’entends-tu? (2019-2020)
Moi non plus! (2021)
Canadiens Nordiques – La rivalité (2022)

Credits as a Screenwriter:
Snow & Ashes (2012)
One Square Mile (Co-writer, 2013)
Anna (2015)
RU (2023)

TV Series:
Prémonitions (2016)

Charles-Olivier Michaud is represented by:
MVA
1009, avenue Laurier Ouest
Outremont, QC H2V 2L1
Telephone: 514-277-4842
Email: infos(at)agencemva.com

RU, movie, poster,

Solo

102 minutes – Romantic Drama, LGBTQ2+
Language: French, English subtitles
Festival release date: September 10, 2023 – Toronto International Film Festival (World Premiere)
Release date: September 15, 2023 – Québec
Release date: October 6, 2023 –
Production companies: Bravo Charlie
Canadian distributor: Axia Films

SOLO tells the story of Simon, a rising star of Montreal’s drag queen scene. It was love at first sight when he met Olivier, the new recruit at the show-bar where he performed. While Simon believes he is living an electrifying love story, a toxic and destructive dynamic is established between them. At the same time, Claire, Simon’s mother, a famous opera singer, has returned to work in Québec after a 15-year absence. Fascinated by this woman whom he hardly knows but whom he idealizes, Simon persists in trying to create a bond with her. Weakened by the failure of these two impossible loves, Simon will have no choice but to realize that he deserves better.

Also see: Solo: The Show Must Go On. A review by Maurie Alioff.


	Crew:
	Producer:	Étienne Hansez
	Director:	Sophie Dupuis
	Screenwriter:	Sophie Dupuis
	Cinematographer:	Mathieu Laverdière
	Editor:	Marie-Pier Dupuis Dominique Fortin Maxim Rheault
	Composer:	Charles Lavoie
	Cast:	Roles:
	Théodore Pellerin Félix Maritaud Anne-Marie Cadieux Jean Marchand Vlad Alexis Tommy Joubert Alice Moreault Marc-André Leclair.	Simon Olivier Claire

TIFF 48 Is Here

News

TIFF 48 Is Here
by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent

(September 8, 2023 – Toronto, ON) The first day of TIFF was met with a few gremlins in the gears. An initial screening began late, which was closely followed by the shut-down of one theatre with a projector that refused to cooperate. But not to worry—the hiccups were all in press and industry screenings. Public screenings, as far as I know, went without error.

But whatever wounds were inflicted by the initial delay were quickly healed by Cameron Bailey’s welcoming voice in the land acknowledgment followed by this year’s TIFF graphics—a colourful kaleidoscope of images that would be right at home as an opening for a kid’s show on an educational network.

Director M.H. Murray’s debut feature film, I Don’t Know Who You Are premiered. (a second screening, tonight, September 8, 10 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox.). Mark Clennon (pictured below) plays Benjamin, a musician, reeling from a recent breakup. Benjamin is getting back into his music plus he’s met a promising romantic prospect. But after an awkward date—maybe even disastrous—Benjamin is sexually assaulted by a stranger. The rest of the film is Benjamin attempting to secure cash to pay for the PEP medication to ensure he is not HIV infected. There is a time limit of 48 hours.

The film has the distant flavour of the 1968 film, The Swimmer—a movie based on John Cheever’s short story of a man (played by Burt Lancaster) who swims his way home through suburbia from backyard pool to backyard pool. Only in Murry’s film, the swimming pools are replaced with wine glasses. (Benjamin’s a bit of a drinker). Clennon’s performance might remind some viewers of David Thewlis’s commanding performance in Naked (1993), or even Oscar Issac’s journey in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).

But where the film falters is where it heralds the benefit of PEP (which is no doubt true) to the point of sounding like a PSA.

It’s Day 2 and don’t talk to me about a celebrity-free festival when Nickelback is in the house. Well, if not actually in the house, then onstage in the closed-off King Street weekend-long TIFF party. But probably in the house at the first screening of Hate to Love: Nickelback, from director Leigh Brooks. Film unseen, but I’m going to trust Brooks can pull this off given that his career began operating a camera on music videos.

Hate to Love: Nickelback screened today at 2:00 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall and will again at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, September 9 at Scotiabank Theatre 12.

Today is the first full day at the Festival, and if you’re not careful where you step, you’re liable to trip and stumble on a Canadian movie. Your pick from Seagrass, The Dead Don’t Hurt, Hey Vicktor!, Summer Qamp, Swan Song, The Queen of My Dreams, Fitting In, Woman of the Hour, and Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe and Hate to Love: Nickelback.

Seagrass, gets its first public screening today at 5:45 pm at Scotiabank 3. It’s the directorial debut of Meredith Hama-Brown and it’s a stand-out piece of cinema. The title references the weedy swads of grass pushed ashore when the tide ebbs in and then left behind when it leaves. Take what meaning you will from that imagery, but it seems an apt definition of how first-generation immigrants might feel if they are already part of the cultural fabric yet still made to feel stranded and out of place. The story focuses on a Canadian family; Steve, the husband (Luke Roberts) is white, and Judith, the wife (Ally Maki) is of Japanese descent. There is trouble in paradise both literally and figuratively. With their relationship on rocky shores, Judith and Steve attend a holistic, therapeutic couple’s retreat—with kids in tow. While Judith and Steve attend group therapy, pounding pillows and finding their inner angst, their preteen girls attempt to entertain themselves. But for a third-act twist, Hama-Brown follows a routine path of what we could reasonably expect to be a portrait of a marriage in disintegration. To the film’s credit, things are never as simple as they may seem.

Summer Qamp, is an inspiring and affirming documentary about a summer camp for LGTBQ2S+ youth and children. The camp is set in rural Alberta which might surprise some (it surprises me, and it’s a curiosity not lost on the campers). Summer Qamp gets its premiere tomorrow, Saturday, September 9 at 12:15 pm at the Scotiabank 13 and Sunday, September 10 at Scotiabank 12.

Screening today, but as yet unseen, is Swan Song, featuring Karen Kain and the National Ballet of Canada, The Queen of My Dreams, Fitting In, and the documentary Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe.

Click through to watch the trailers and learn more about these films.
Images used in this article courtesy of The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

  Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies. Currently he can be heard interviewing Canadian filmmakers on the Kingston Canadian Film Festival podcast, Rewind, Fast-Forward.

Nancy Grant, Anam Abbas Honoured by CMPA

News

Nancy Grant, Xavier Dolan — Photo of Nancy Grant & Xavier Dolan at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards © 2015 by Ralph Lucas

Nancy Grant, Anam Abbas Honoured by CMPA
by Staff Editors

(September 8, 2023 – Toronto, ON) The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has announced that Nancy Grant and Anam Abbas are recipients of its annual Indiescreen Awards, which celebrates the best and brightest in Canadian independent feature film production. The winners were announced at a ceremony, presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) yesterday, September 7.

Nancy Grant (Metafilms) was named the recipient of the Established Producer Award. The Quebec-based producer was recognized for her exceptional contributions to the Canadian production sector and her steadfast support of emerging filmmakers. Grant has produced dozens of films over her 15-year career, including Falcon Lake (2022), The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018), and Felix et Meira (2014). Her latest feature film, Simple Comme Sylvain (The Nature of Love), directed by Monia Chokri, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and will have its North American premiere at TIFF this fall. As the winner of the Established Producer Award, Ms. Grant was awarded a $20,000 cash prize.

Anam Abbas, filmmaker, — Photo of Anam Abbas supplied.

Anam Abbas was named the recipient of the 2023 Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award. Ms. Abbas was recognized for her ingenuity and her passion for creating films that feel urgent and essential. Her latest project, In Flames, also premiered at Cannes and will be screening at TIFF. As the winner of the Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award, Ms. Abbas was awarded a $10,000 cash prize.

“The Indiescreen Awards bring the industry together to honour the extraordinary talent of Canada’s independent producers who give blood, sweat and tears to bring to life the incredible stories that inspire us all,” said the CMPA’s President and CEO Reynolds Mastin. “Congratulations to the winners—we are thrilled to celebrate and recognize your impressive accomplishments and your contributions to the domestic production sector and beyond.”

The award winners were selected by two national juries. The Established Producer Award jury and the Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award jury were each chaired by last year’s CMPA Indiescreen Award winners, Damon D’Oliveira, and Sara Blake, Magali Gillon-Krizaj and Tyler Hagan, respectively.

SOURCE: The Canadian Media Producers Association

Nyha Huang Breitkreuz

Cast Members

B: in Vancouver, British Columbia

Nyha Huang Breitkreuz was born in Vancouver and at a very young age has a passion for the arts, acting, modelling, dancing and rhythmic gymnastics. She competes at a competitive level in gymnastics and has won several medals within provincial and international competitions. She has a natural talent for languages and speaks English, French and some Mandarin. She is also a natural in front of the camera and has modelled for several Vancouver kids fashion shows, multiple photo shoots for local magazines, kids clothing and also a photograph piece with well known Canadian artist Jeff Wall. The 2023 film Seagrass, was her feature-length debut film.

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

My Christmas Family Tree (TV-2021)
Grandma Lee’s Dress (2022 short)
Day at the Gallery (2023, short)
Seagrass (2023)

CDN Docs at TIFF ’23

News

CDN Docs at TIFF ’23
by Ralph Lucas – Publisher

 (September 7, 2023 – Toronto, ON) The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) launches today, and being a huge fan of documentaries, today our focus narrows to the handful of Canadian docs screening this year at TIFF.   Within the wide scope of the entire festival, there are 22 feature length docs on the schedule and two of them are Canadian.

Summer Qamp, (pictured above) which Thom Ernst has already written about, will have three public screenings (and one for the media) during the festival’s run, the first is this Friday, September 8.   Directed by Jen Marowitz, as Thom wrote, it is his “must see” documentary at the festival, and “It’s a summer camp for queer, non-binary, and trans kids. That might be enough to get you into the screening but the added oomph that has me lining up at the box-office is that the camp is in rural Alberta. I don’t know all there is to know about rural Alberta, but a non-binary, queer, trans summer camp sounds a bit off brand.”

Summer Qamp screens at the Scotiabank Theatre in downtown Toronto on: 
Friday September 8 at 12:05pm
Saturday September 9 at 12:15pm
Sunday September 10 at 4:30pm

  You may need to be of a certain age to appreciate the doc titled Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe. Mr. Dressup was Ernie Coombs, an American artist who ended up in Canada and ended up spending almost 30 years of his life playing this character in 4000 episodes of his show that ran on CBC from 1967 to 1996. Coombs died in September 2001. An Amazon Canada original production, the 90-minute documentary combines never-before-seen archival footage, interviews with series puppeteers including original puppeteer Judith Lawrence, the Coombs family, other notable Canadians, who share the impact the series had on them. The project also includes fascinating insights into Coombs and how he worked with other key creators and partners, including his friendship with Fred Rogers.

In addition to two press screenings, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe screens on:
Saturday September 9 at 9:00pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sunday September 10 at 8:45pm at Scotiabank 3
Friday September 15 at 11:40am at Scotiabank 14

The National Film Board (NFB) returns to TIFF with two short documentaries. The first is titled, Modern Goose. Described as an “exquisitely observed film essay,” Modern Goose is embedded in the daily life of these iconic animals. Able to navigate by reading the Earth’s magnetic field, fiercely loyal to flock and family, at home on land, air and water, geese straddle the territory between ancient instincts and the contemporary world. In flipping the usual nature-film perspective to centre another form of consciousness, something radical begins to happen. The concrete sprawl of parking lots, drive-thru restaurants and busy highways transforms from normalized to something extremely unsettling. It isn’t the geese who are the interlopers here, but people who have forced the birds into the margins, disrupting age-old patterns. Combining beauty, humour and profound empathy, Modern Goose reveals how the mysteries of the natural world persist in the face of continual urbanization. In a statement provided by NFB, director Karsten Wall said, in part, “The idea for Modern Goose came about as a way to rethink the standard nature documentary format. As an editor who often works in this genre, I have always had the desire to create a more contemplative and authentic documentary about a wild animal’s struggle for survival. With Modern Goose, I tried my best to remove my human perspective from the story and see the world through the eyes of an urban Canada goose.”

In addition to a press screening, Modern Goose screens on:
Tuesday, September 12 at 6:45pm at Scotiabank 14
Saturday, September 16 at 6:15pm at Scotiabank 13

Premiering in the TIFF Short Cuts program, Marielle Dalp makes her professional debut with the animated short Aphasia. Described as “both striking and unsettling,” the 3 minute and 45 second short is “a deeply moving foray into the heart of a devastating neurocognitive condition, one that progressively destroys the ability to speak and understand words, afflicting many people who have Alzheimer’s disease.” A graduate of Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Marielle Dalpé has dedicated herself to multiple forms of expression, ranging from illustration to animation, multimedia installation to theatrical stage design. A finalist in the 2017 edition of the NFB’s Cinéaste recherché(e) contest, she received a special mention at the pitch competition held at the Cinémathèque québécoise’s Sommets du cinéma d’animation in 2020.   

Screening as part of a program of shorts, Aphasia can be seen on:
 Monday, September 11 at 3:45pm at the Scotiabank Theatre
 Friday, September 15 at 9:15pm at the Scotiabank Theatre

Ralph Lucas is a former broadcast executive and award-winning director in high-end corporate video production. The founder and publisher of Northernstars.ca, online since 1998, he began writing about film and reviewing movies while in radio in Montreal in the mid-1970s.       

Meredith Hama-Brown

Meredith Hama-Brown’s short films have screened at a number of international film festivals including: Palm Springs Shortfest, Shnit, Fantastic Fest, and Fantasia International Film Festival. In 2018 she won the Telus Sea to Sky Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Best Narrative Film Award at Las Cruces International Film Festival and the Best Film Award at the Future of Film Show for her film Broken Bunny. In 2020 she was selected for the TIFF Filmmaker Lab and was awarded the Canada Goose Fellowship for her feature film, Seagrass. Hama-Brown completed post production on the feature in 2023 and it was selected to have its World Premiere at TIFF 2023. Her career began in front of the cameras, but we list her credits as a Director first.

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

Two Dreams (2011, short)
The Fight (2011, short)
Parts (2012, short)
Nature (2014, short)
Broken Bunny (2018, short)

Cosmic (2020, short)
Seagrass (2023)

Credits as a Screenwriter:
Two Dreams (2011, short)
The Fight (2011, short)
Time Slip (2012, short)
Parts (2012, short)
Nature (2014, short)
Cinephallac (2018, short)
Broken Bunny (2018, short)

Cosmic (2020, short)
Seagrass (2023)

Credits as an Actor:
The Fight (2011, short)
Parts (2012, short)
Wild Nothing (2013, short)
Pour Retourner(2014, short)
Nature (2014, short)
Esperanza (2014, short)
Air (2015)
Lifeguard (2015, short)
Cinephallac (2018, short)
A Backward Glance (2017, short)
Medical Drama (2017, short)
Hand Job (2019, short)
Deady Freddy (voice, 2019, short)

Be Still (2021)

TV Series – Guest appearances:
The Romeo Section (2016)
Zoo (2017)
Somewhere Between (2017)

Seagrass, movie, poster,

Seagrass

115 minutes – Drama
Language: English
Festival release date: September 8, 2023 – Toronto International Film Festival (World Premiere)
Release date: TBA
Production companies: Experimental Films, Ceroma Films
Canadian distributor: Game Theory Films

Desperate to find a deeper connection in her marriage after the recent death of her mother, Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman, brings her family to a self-development retreat on a remote island. But when they befriend another interracial couple who seem to have the perfect marriage, Judith begins to recognize how irreparably fractured her relationship is. Meanwhile, their two daughters are plunged into a destabilizing world under the constant stress of their parents’ crumbling relationship. In the end, the family must collectively face their most unnerving insecurities before they become permanently broken.

Seagrass premieres on September 8th, 2023 as a part of TIFF’s Discovery Programme.


	Crew:
	Producer:	Tyler Hagan Sara Blake
	Executive Producer:	Ally Maki Chad Shields Tony Yang
	Director:	Meredith Hama-Brown
	Screenwriter:	Meredith Hama-Brown
	Cinematographer:	Norm Li (CSC)
	Editor:	Kane Stewart Shun Ando
	Composer:	Oscar Vargas
	Production Designer:	Louisa Birkin
	Art Director:	Claudia Tyzo
	Costume Designer:	Athena Theny
	Cast:	Roles:
	Ally Maki Luke Roberts Chris Pang Sarah Gadon Nyha Huang Breitkreuz Remy Marthaller Hannah Bos Gabriel Carter Miles Phoenix Foley Kate Gajdosik Benjamin Goas Ava Kelders Milania Kerr Danielle Klaudt Sawyer Proulx Kane Stewart	Judith Steve Pat Carol Stephanie Emmy Sam John Jeremiah Newscaster Matt Jessica Jenny Leanne Justin Karaoke Host

Staff

TIFF #48 – Day 8

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TIFF 48 – Day 6

Throw Back Wednesday

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Charles-Olivier Michaud

Solo

TIFF 48 Is Here

Nancy Grant, Anam Abbas Honoured by CMPA

Nyha Huang Breitkreuz

CDN Docs at TIFF ’23

Meredith Hama-Brown

Seagrass

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