A closer look at 5 Canadian titles ahead of TIFF 2023 | 24CA News
TORONTO — From age-old terrors to highschool queer angst, Canadian movies and sequence showcased at this yr’s Toronto International Film Festival provide a big selection of choices even with out the standard draw of A-listers.
Although the Hollywood actors’ strike has solid a shadow over the fest, it hasn’t dampened the passion of each seasoned and rising Canadian filmmakers as they promote their newest tasks.
The Canadian Press spoke with 5 administrators who’re set to take part within the pageant happening from Sept. 7 to 17.
“In Flames” — Pakistani-Canadian director Zarrar Kahn’s Urdu-language movie follows the dying of a household patriarch whose loss upends the lives of a mom and daughter now haunted by ghosts. To overcome the malicious influences that loom over them, they have to draw upon one another for energy and resilience.
Kahn, based mostly in Canada however initially from Karachi, formed his function debut as an extension of his 2018 24-minute quick “Dia.”
“My family moved back to Pakistan when I was a teenager, and I think the thing that really changed for me was seeing how much the lives of the women around me shifted while my life remained fairly unchanged,” says Kahn.
“That was the seed of the story I wanted to tell, all these incredible women around me working in Pakistan and achieving incredible things.”
“Fitting In” — Montreal-born director Molly McGlynn’s semi-autobiographical film tells the story of a 16-year-old woman’s exploration of intercourse and pleasure, which is upended when she is recognized with a congenital situation that impacts her reproductive organs.
Maddie Ziegler stars on this “traumedy” that explores the themes of gender, womanhood and sexuality. Emily Hampshire of “Schitt’s Creek” fame showcases each comedic and dramatic performing abilities in her function as a mom making an attempt to make sense of her personal ache and triumphs.
“This is a complex movie. And there’s a lot going on here and I don’t expect everyone necessarily to maybe grasp all of it,” says McGlynn. “The people who get it, get it ? and also, I want people to understand that this is a joyful, fun film. You’re not going to a sex-ed lecture.”
“Seven Veils” — Amanda Seyfried stars in Atom Egoyan’s function as a playwright tasked with transforming the manufacturing of “Salome” after the dying of the unique director who served as her mentor. As time goes on, her world begins to unwind as her tormented previous begins to bleed by way of her creative interpretations of the play.
The movie takes inspiration from Egoyan’s experiences mounting the identical opera for the Canadian Opera Company, courting again to 1996.
“I think as artists you have your antenna up, and I’ve been thinking that we’re living in this time where we question how far to assert our own claims for identity,” says Egoyan. “How do we redefine our boundaries when it comes to our works of art?”
“Backspot” — Canadian DJ-turned-director D.W. Waterson stated: cheerleaders, however make it homosexual and angsty. The movie centres on Riley, an anxious perfectionist performed by “Reservation Dogs”’ Devery Jacobs, who makes an elite cheer squad alongside her girlfriend. The movie is Waterson’s function directorial debut, and each Jacobs and Elliot Page have been producers.
“I’m really excited to kind of give audiences and viewers a full gritty, raw sports movie about cheerleaders,” says D.W. Waterson. “I think we have ideas about cheerleaders in our heads and it’s very far from what I deliver. It’s high adrenalin, and intensity, but has heart.”
“Bria Mack Gets A Life” _ Sasha Leigh Henry, who produced “When Morning Comes” and “Black Bodies,” is the showrunner of this 30-minute Crave comedy sequence on the TV aspect of TIFF.
Co-directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, the creator of “When Morning Comes,” it tells the story of Bria “Mack” McFarlane, a 25-year-old Black girl and college graduate navigating a principally white establishment. It’s a journey made harder within the presence of Black Attack, an invisible hype woman performed by Hannan Younis who helps her navigate life’s frustrations and hurdles.
“Black Attack is the best friend that we all need and want in our lives in situations where micro aggressions are coming at us … when we want to say the things we can’t say,” says Fyffe-Marshall.
“This show is also another way to bring Jamaicans to the screen in a way that’s positive. There are a lot of Jamaican immigrants in Canada so this series allows us to showcase that.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
