TIFF14: Running Naked in Out of Nature

With Ole Giaever. Photo by Nathalie Pampin, Clutch PR

You must admit that this poster for Out of Nature is eye-catching, so besides the fact that Nordic films are my priority at TIFF, I was curious to know why this character was running without pants. Well, I now know the secret, but you should go see the film yourself to find out the answer. After speaking to director Ole Giaever, he did admit that while filming the
scene, he did feel a sense of liberation, and apparently the rest of the crew were jealous of his freedom from pants.

What I liked about this film is it's simplicity: a man out in nature questioning his path in life. The character, Martin (played by Ole), is a married man with a son, and on the outside looking in, he appears to have a wonderful life, but Marin is bored with his status quo. He is not an alpha male. He is not the guy who gets chosen to go to lunch with the rest of the office gang, and as the film unfolds, we learn about his upbringing and how he was not the best socialized child.

While hiking through the beautiful Norwegian woods we are privy to his thoughts, some of which are quite funny while others are honest and cruel. Be honest, don't you sometimes have thoughts that happen only in your head, that you would never dare (or hope you don't) ever utter aloud? Sometimes such thoughts are fleeting and may even shock us, but when we hear them voiced by Martin we understand them. It was refreshing to hear a man's thoughts, as we never see men voicing their raw feelings in film. Did he marry too young, should he work out more, was his life better back when he use to go to clubs, is he a good father, what lies ahead or is this it?

My full interview with Ole will air on The More the Merrier on CIUT 89.5 FM (date TBC). Follow me on Facebook so you don't miss the broadcast.

Out of Nature
Saturday, September 13, 6:00 pm
Scotiabank Theatre

TIFF14: Questions, Questions...

Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää

I could spend hours interviewing actors/filmmakers about their work. As an interviewer I rarely feel as if I have asked all the questions I want or need. I always have the basic questions in mind going into to the interview, but as I don't use a script, the conversation can flow in any direction. If my subject becomes passionate about an aspect of their work, I don't cut them short; my next question is not as important as what they are presently sharing; as a result, I sometimes end my 15-20 minute chat with questions unanswered.

Today, for example, after interviewing Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää (They Have Escaped) for example, we began talking about the sound in the picture. It was on my list of questions that I had wanted to ask, but other elements of the filmmaking came up that trumped the question. I didn't turn my recorder back on because we were having a natural conversation and pulling out the recorder would have intruded on our conversation, even though what we were talking about wasn't private. 

I always think filmmakers as being confident in their vision but, as JP shared, watching the first cut of his films is always a "humiliating experience" where he feels uncertain about the film he is making. As for the sound elements, it wasn't until the last few weeks of the editing process that he felt he had the right mix for They Have Escaped. I was quite taken by the sound elements in his film and was happy that he was content to answer a question that fascinates me: how directors deal with silence. As JP agreed, "silence has a sound" and he worked very hard to find the right piece from his collection of sounds to use.

I'm satisfied with the recorded content of my interview, which will air post-TIFF on The More the Merrier (date TBC), but even as I said good-bye to JP, I realized that as usual, I had even more questions to ask...

The next screenings of They Have Escaped are:
WED Sept. 10, 4:00 pm, Scotiabank Theatre
SAT Sept 13, 10:00 pm, Scotiabank Theatre
Finnish with English Subtitles
My Warning: not for the faint of heart. It's in the Vanguard section!

TIFF14: How About a Quick Trip to Finland?

For the past several years, I have been focused on Nordic films at TIFF, a passion I developed thanks to Sprockets (now TIFF Kids) founder, and TIFF programmer, Jane Schoettle), and continues with programming by Steve Gravestock. The calibre of films from this region continues to impress me and I am beginning to establish a relationship with a few directors. Here are a couple of Finnish entries that you might want to check out. Complete details at http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 4 - 14.

I first interviewed Finnish director, Dome Karukoski, in 2010 with his TIFF entry, the comedic, Lapland Odyssey, and then last year with Heart of a Lion, a drama with unexpected touches of humour about a skinhead who falls in love with a white Finnish women with a bi-racial child. This year I am looking forward to seeing The Grump, and continuing my conversation with Dome about his filmmaking.

When I first interviewed another Finn, Jalmari Helander in 2010, he had just finished Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, and was looking forward to heading back home to see his brand new baby daughter; he had no idea what his next project would be "who the fuck knows". This year, he has a film screening in the Midnight Madness program and I am so happy for him! With Big Game, he is directing the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Felicity Huffman, James Broadbent, and Victor Garber!

The VANGUARD selections at TIFF are described as "provocative, sexy...possibly dangerous. This is what's next." The still (left) for They Have Escaped definitely fits that description; however, I am curious to see what director JP Valkeapää has in store for us with this drama about two young social outcasts trying to negotiate society norms. One positive note for the film is the attachment of Aleksi Bardy, the producer of Karukoski's highly successful, Heart of a Lion.

Inside Out 2014 Reveiw: My Thoughts on "Open Up To Me"

Open Up To Me leads Peter Franzen & Leea Klemola

Having last seen Peter Franzen, one of Finland's biggest stars playing a skinhead in Dome Karukoski's Heart of  Lion (TIFF14), it was a happy surprise to see his name attached to Open Up to Me (Kerron sinulle kaiken) in the Inside Out Toronto LFBT Film Festival guide. This actor has an "it" factor that would make millions if it was could be distilled. The man just has a sexuality about him that leaps off the screen! Maybe years ago audiences felt this way when they saw Clark Gable take his shirt off in It Happened One Night and revealed to the world that he wasn't wearing an undershirt, the style staple of era, or when they saw Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire; whatever it is, Franzen is heart-thumpingly captivating. 

Open Up to Me begins with Maarit (Leea Klemola), a cleaning lady, caught in her employer's clothes by Sami (Franzen) who mistakes as a therapist. Not sure how to correct the mistake, Maarit lets Sami pour his heart out to her. It seems that Sami, a married man, is a bit of a romantic, who, sexually, "doesn't feel safe if the woman doesn't love him." During this initial encounter, Maarit, becomes attracted to Sami and soon reveals to him her employment status (a school counsellor who can't find a job in her field), and sexual status (a divorced transgendered woman estranged from her son). 

As we follow the affair that develops between Maarit and Simo, we gain entrance into the world they inhabit together and the world they negotiate when they are apart. We meet briefly, Maarit's wife, and his daughter, Pinja (Emmi Nivala). We also meet Sami's wife Julia (Ria Kataja) and Teo (Alex Anton) a student that he both teaches and coaches. It doesn't take long to realize that everyone in this film is confused about something. Who can't relate to being unsure about the next step(s) to take in life? This is the crux of this drama, and the fact that it plays out with non-traditional characters is what makes this such a fascinating journey.

Rather than give us the expected story of a transgendered woman focused on her sexual identity, director Simo Halinen instead chooses to focus Maarit's story on how she attempts to negotiate her relationship with her teenage daughter, Pinja. Leea Klemola is extraordinary as the newly confident  Maarit, a woman who has moved mentally and physically from being in a "body that wanted to be touched [but which] didn't exist." She is tired of identity lies and readily admits her "crush" on Sami. What she is insecure about, however, is her role in her daughter's life. She waffles about how she should go about building a relationship with her child, despite the fact that her ex-wife constantly tries to keep them apart. She can admit boldly in a job interview that she used to be a man, but how does she dress/act with the child she loves and whom she desperately wants to love her back? 

From the outside looking in, we see Sami as a handsome, soccer playing gym teacher with a good looking wife (who teaches at the same school) and cute children; yet, even he who seems to have what many would long for, doubts his masculinity and his ability to love and to sexually satisfy a woman. He can teach Sex Ed class and openly challenge his students about their so-called knowledge of sex, but he doesn't know whether or not he should be with the his liberating lover/pal Maarit, or his wife. It's Franzen's ability to play a credible tough guy with a core of vulnerability that makes his character of Sami so endearing in this film.

Ria Kataja's portrayal of Julia is solidly delivered, with the right emotional shadings that reveals her character's confusion about whether or not she wants to remain married to Sami.  On the one hand, we see that Julia doesn't feel that Sami is man enough for her, and on the other hand, we have the sense that she is not quite ready to move on. Complicating matters for her, is the fact that as Sami becomes sexually open with Maarit, his newfound vigor with Julia results in mixed feelings that she doesn't know how to interpret.

Teo, Sami's student and soccer protege, is as confused as the adults in the film. A teenage hunk, he is intrigued by Maarit's confident femininity, but confused about his own sexuality. Only Pinja, Maarit's daughter, has the strength to live in her world. Many miles away from her father (Maarit), Pinja  forges ahead, even though she is teased about her transgendered parent, and lives with a mother bitter and ashamed about her ex-husband. Actress, Emmi Nivala manages to meld  teenage sensitivity and coming-of-age self-determination in such a way that we want to reach out and hug as well as applaud Pinja.

We may guess where Open Up to Me is leading, but as we watch the film we can't help but assess our own relationship boundaries and barriers in this character driven piece that is refreshingly devoid of stereotypes. 

Photo credit: www.insideout.ca

Inside Out 2014 Review: My Thoughts on "Someting Must Break"

Something Must Break's Saga Becker "Sebastian/Ellie"

My first thought upon screening Something Must Break (Nånting måste gå sönder) is "I'm loving this film." My second was, "Please keep on being good."  Happily, I can share with you that I kept on loving the film, so much so that rather than leave the experience to viewing the protected online screener, I went to see it on the big screen during Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. To my added pleasure, actress Saga Becker was in attendance. Yaay! 

In my humble opinion, Ester Martin Bergsmark is a director to watch. She has already won awards for her documentaries in her native Sweden, but Something Must Break is her first fiction film, and I can't wait to see what she handles next.

Bergsmark's cast is young, not only in age, but in screen credits. Lead actress, Saga Becker, is making her film debut and does a stunning job as the trans character Sebastian, a young man working at a dead end factory job. Sebastian has such low self-esteem and is so starved for romantic love that he admits that he will allow anyone to do anything to him just to be loved. Sebastian has a confidant in Lea (Shima Niavarani), but she has her own girlfriend problems and while she tries to help Sebastian with some advice, he is not ready, nor is he able to take it.

When Sebastian is rescued by Andreas (Iggy Malmborg), he falls in love so deeply with his hero that he becomes obsessed with him. He collects objects that Andreas has used, he follows him around town, and fantasizes about being with him. Bergsmark's dreamscape vision of of Sebastian's emotions are reflected in the slow motion portrait shots and echoed in the soundtrack of the film. "I've never loved this hard before," is a lyric that perfectly captures Sebastian's worship of Andreas while the desaturated image that accompanies a Peggy Lee ballad is both beautiful and disturbing, not because of what is taking place in the scene but because of how it encapsulates Sebastian's feelings of heartbreak and confusion.

While there is no question that Becker is the lead in the film, and that she manages to rise to the demands of her challenging role, much also rests on the shoulders of Iggy Malmborg. He had to be believable as the object of Sebastian's obsession in order for us to truly identify with how deeply that character had fallen in love with him. While the character of Andreas shows weakness in his inability to admit that he is gay, Malmborg had to find the right acting balance between playing a confused character, and being a strong secondary lead. Malmborg is successful in walking this tightrope because we adore him when Andreas and Sebastian lock themselves away from the world and are content, yet we hate him for the way he treats Sebastian when they move out into the real world. 

"It's like I'm destroying myself to become her." Like the duality of his hair colour, Sebastian is stuck between being Sebastian, the outward boy and Ellie, the young woman who sometimes makes an appearance in lipstick and heels. Early in the film, Lea admonishes, "You can never say yes or no."  As his yearning for a complete relationship with Andreas evolves, Sebastian must also evolve from his world of  "maybe" and emerge as his true self in order to stop himself from disappearing. The life lessons experienced in Something Must Break is beautifully captured by Bergesmark, and superbly realized through Saga Becker's acting. I'm not sure where Becker will go as a trans actress in Sweden, but she has a breakout role in this film, and I truly hope that she is able to grace the screen in many films to come.

Photo Credit: www.insideout.ca

Nordic Charmers: May I Recommend Olga and Love & Engineering

You know I love Nordic films, and I'm happy to direct you to Olga--To My Friends, and Love & Engineering screening at Hot Docs 2014.

Olga--To My Friends

Want me to watch a film? Show me a picture of reindeer. So, why have I chosen to show you this picture of Olga instead? Because, Olga--To My Friends is an intimate portrait of a fascinating young woman who deserves your attention. Yes, there are reindeer in the film because she works at a station guarding provisions used by the reindeer herdsmen in the summer; but what I found absolutely fascinating about this documentary is Olga and her quiet will to keep surviving whatever life dispenses. Director, Paul Aders-Simma and cinematographer, Elen Lotman have framed and lit Olga in a style that references Old Masters, while at the same time managing to capture the vastness and icy-stillness of the tundra.

At the opening of the film, Olga tells us that she has spent 177 days alone at the outpost with only her cat as her companion. Upon learning this I felt an automatic sorrow for her until she began summarizing her life: being abruptly separated from her childhood friend at at orphanage, reunited and briefly raised with a family whose Sami roots she knew nothing about, and as an adult, dealing with her sisters' alcoholism and dysfunctional lifestyle. After hearing Olga talk about her life, I understand why this job is so suited to her, and why she is able to function with a sense of freedom and contentment in what you and I would consider destitute conditions. Later, my heart skipped a beat when, it's revealed that Olga's job at the outpost is in jeopardy because the cooperative wants to sell it. How will Olga meet this next challenge in her life?  

TWO SCREENINGS ONLY!
OLGA-- TO MY FRIENDS
Scotiabank Theatre 7 
Wed, Apr 30 7:30 PM

 

TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 
Fri, May 2 7:30 PM

Olga--To My Friends

 Is there a perfect formula for finding the perfect mate? Well, in Love & Engineering, Atantas, a Bulgarian scientist living in Finland, seems to think he can help his mates find a wife using the data he used to find his bride. He can't promise them a Claudia Schiffer, but they will be able to find someone they can put up with for life.  To put it in contemporary terms, it's like watching the character, Leonard from The Big Bang Theory leading seminars and conducting scientific tests on how he "hacked" his way into being Penny's boyfriend. Yes, "hacked".  According to Atanas, women have a relationship system that his fellow scientists should be able to hack so that they can find true love.  Atanas's heart is in the right place, but I wanted to yell at one scientist to stop talking about gaming when his date has already told him she is not into games and doesn't know the one he is so excited about has been released! Dude, you already know from the smell testing that she found your scent appealing, and then you go and shoot yourself in the foot? Arggh! 

Love & Engineering is a straight up funny documentary in which you can't help but root for the brilliant, inept, charming subject matters to find their perfect partners.

SCREENING DATES/TIMES
LOVE & ENGINEERING
Scotiabank Theatre 3 
Thu, May 1 9:00 PM

 

TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 
Fri, May 2 8:30 PM

 

Revue Cinema 
Sun, May 4 1:30 PM

HOT DOCS
Canadian International Documentary Festival
April 24 - May 4, 2014
www.hotdocs.ca 
416.637.5150  


 

TIFF13: Meeting Concrete Night Director, Pirjo Honkasalo

Pirjo Honkasalo at TIFF '13
Photo by donna g

CONCRETE NIGHT
Remaining Screening:
Saturday, September 14

Scotiabank 14

9:45 PM

Deciding that we both liked the cool temperatures of the September morning, Finnish director, Pirjo Honkasalo, and I decided to sit on the patio of our downtown meeting place rather than chat inside the "old boys club" (her words) ambiance of the main floor bar. 

While she had a cappuccino and patiently sat through my mishap, first with my recorder then camera, she delighted in my reversion to pen and paper, lamenting the fact that digital technology doesn't allow our memories to retain information the way we used to. When you write, you remember, when you allow technology to do everything, your mind doesn't have to retain it in the same way. "Will you remember what we had discussed?" I assured her that I would and we segued into talking about Concrete Night, her thoughts on filmmaking, and the film industry. 

A fearless director, who clings to her indie spirit of making films on her terms, Pirjo filmed Concrete Night using only the shots she would need for the final cut. As a veteran director, cinematographer and editor, she has the experience to shoot a seven-minute sequence in the film, despite her gaffer's suggestion that they might need a master shot for coverage. "Why start something with the thought that it might not succeed?" is Pirjo's attitude. Knowing the scene in question, I am amazed at her guts and even more in awe of her experience.

Based on the much-lauded Finnish novel Betoniyö by Pirkko Saisio, Concrete Night is set in a rough Helsinki neighbourhood and relates the story of a teenage boy on the eve of his elder brother going to jail. After reading the book, Pirjo knew the one hundred and eighty-eight page book could be transitioned completely into a feature film. She strongly believes that distilling longer books into film language inevitably leads to a diminished creation.

After being tempted away from the book-to-film project by documentary work (The 3 Rooms of Melancholia, Ito Diary of an Uban Priest) Pirjo returned to the novel ten years later. In crafting the film, Pirjo immediately began planning the lighting she would use in the film: "I begin with images, rather than the story." Allowing the images to develop in her mind, she simplifies everything to the essential elements until the film is an expression of what is needed. She chose to shoot in black and white because she trained in black and white, and that is what she felt was was called for in Concrete Night. Why use colour if it's not needed? "Finns will be surprised at how the city looks," she says of the cinematic vision of Helsinki which she has created with black and white and lights. Why use artificial rain if the weather is cooperating? "Nothing is as good as natural rain. With artificial you can always see the source of the rain somehow."  

She called actor Jari Virman whom she had originally chosen for the roll of the elder brother, Ikko, and demanded that he"come and show his face." Upon seeing him, Pirjo decided that he was even better for the roll than he had been years earlier. As for the casting of Johannes Brotherus as younger brother Simo, she awarded him the role based on his ability to pass the audition of listening to a twenty-minute symphonic piece and reacting naturally and without words. "He was different from the others," Pirjo points out. While she observed them through her lens to see if they were suitable for the character of Simo, some young men would become restless, bored, and even leave mid-audition. Brotherus was able to react to the music, which is what she was looking for and why she didn't have a rehearsal period for the film. "I chose well," she says with conviction, to which I agree readily and whole-heartedly. Simo is at the core of the film, and had Brotherus been miscast, the dramatic tension in the film would have fallen flat; the boy's gradual awakening to the harsh truth about life would not have been communicated to us so thoroughly.

Making up the main quartet of actors in Concrete Night is, Anneli Karppinen as the Mother and Juhan Ulfsak as The Man. While Estonia-born Ulfsak is quite well-known in Finland, Karppinen is from what Pirjo calls "the treasure of older women" living in areas outside Helsinki, who are quite well-known in their small theatres but are not given a chance to participate in major projects. While she understands the financial need of some filmmakers to choose continually from the same roster of "twenty actors" she says that style of working is not what she wants. 

Pirjo's belief in her actors is what allows young Brotherus to show the innocence and experience necessary for his close up shots, and it is what allows him to withstand the nerves needed for the many underwater sequences that are a part of the film's metaphor. Virman, as the hardened older brother, is ruthless and irresponsible which makes his cry from the soul so much the more devastating when it arrives on screen. Karppinen's garishly made up face shows the age and hard living of her character, and Ulfsak's monologue on life manifests splendidly his years of training.

As the publicist gives us the five-minute warning and disappears inside to set up Pirjo's Skype interview, I ask Pirjo if she had any advice for young filmmakers. She acknowledges that there are many ways to learn and that film school shouldn't be mandatory, she does say that attending school gave her "the peace to try anything, to experiment without fear. You can make films and not succeed, but you can grow." Whichever way young filmmakers choose to go, she suggests that "they take the time to decide the type of filmmaker that they are going to be, to make films without self-censoring, and to make films for themselves, never for the financiers." Making films for financiers leads to a treadmill of compromise that will take them away from their original passion. Even at her stage of the game, she secured her financing before she started shooting because she  didn't want to go through the experience of filmmakers she knows who make a film and spend the rest of their lives paying for it. She wanted to make the film she wanted to make, not something that would be turned into a "product" as she calls the Hollywood system.
In a twist of fate, Pirjo and Betoniyö author, Pirkko Saisio now live together. I ask if her partner has any plans to have the book translated into English. I assure her that after seeing the film at TIFF many people would probably want to read the book. Apparently, Saisio is content with being famous in Finland and although a reprint of the book is scheduled for launch when Concrete Night opens there, we English speakers will either have to learn Finnish or be content with the magic that Pirjo has translated through the language of cinema.

The honking horns, truck deliveries, and Monday morning pedestrians stream by, oblivious to the fact that one of Finland's celebrated filmmakers is in their midst. I sit and enjoy a fresh, well-made Americano--the coffee shared earlier with another Finn, Dome Karukoski (Heart of a Lion) had grown cold in my travel mug--and looked forward to my second screening of my favourite film at TIFF '13, Concrete Night.

For all this TIFF13 visit http://tiff.net/thefestival

416-599-TIFF (8433) or 1-888-599-8433
Film stills courtesy of tiff.net

TIFF13: Nordic Observations ( Concrete Night, Heart of a Lion, Hotell, Sex Drugs & Taxation)

Okay, so how are my Nordic films faring at TIFF? I haven't had a chance to see them all, and my schedule is full, so I can only share quick thoughts now about the ones I've seen.

CONCRETE NIGHT. What happens when a boy on the cusp of manhood cloaks himself in the mantle of adulthood? Remember in a previous post I said I wasn't sure I would be able to handle the devastation of Pirjo Honkasalo's Concrete Night? Well, I am thankful that I sucked it up and went to see this Master's brilliant silver screen work of sight, sound and story. For those who were at the Chuck Workman What is Cinema? Maverick session, here is one answer to add to the list of definitions; for those who were not there, this film is a piece of art worth investing in.

Well, I've seen four of the films on my list, and the frontrunner for an audience pleaser with a solid contemplative plot is  HEART OF A LION. If you haven't bought your ticket yet, then do it now! Can a skinhead in love with a woman with a Black child forge an independent future or will he succumb to the "White Finland" dictates of his compatriots? A delicate balance of drama and comedy, well-controlled by director, Dome Karukoski (Lapland Odyssey).

HOTELL After seeing her in A Royal Affair with Mads, it was my first time seeing Alicia Vikander carry a film and does she ever do it well. I love watching actresses that could have reigned in the Silent Film era, because they know how to communicate emotions with their faces. After watching Vikander play a woman whose early delivery of a brain damaged son leaves her emotionallyy absent, I can definitely say that she would have given Garbo a run for her money! This is the second time that Vikander has worked with director Lisa Langseth and after seeing Hotell, I am now determined to see their previous collaboration, Pure. Langseth has also managed to create a real team out of the actors playing roles as support group members. It was easy to buy into the non-traditional manner in which they decide to combat their respective mental health issues.

SEX, DRUGS & TAXATION You get everything the English title spells out in this film of truth and fiction: a boozing womanizer whose fortune leaves him searching for the meaning of life in meditation and drug experimentation, and a sad sack tax attorney obsessed with revenge and extreme social politics.  The Swedish title of this film is Spies & Glistrup, and loosely documents their swinging 60's rise as economy airline moguls and the taxation scandal that made their names household fodder through Swedish headlines. Since this scandal is not common knowledge outside of Sweden, the English title makes the most sense to us, however, once you have observed the work of actors, Pilou Asbæk (Spies) and Nicolas Bro (Glisrup), you realize that this is a true symbiotic partnership in character development and acting. The film drags in the beginning, but what plays out in the remaining two-thirds of the film makes this a noteworthy study. Watch for a young actress named Camilla Cornelia Lehmann (Inger) whose luminous beauty and unaffected acting is captivating.

Toronto International Film Festival
September 5 - 15, 2013
Get Tickets: 
416.599.TIFF | 1.888.599.8433 | http://tiff.net/thefestival

TIFF13: Nordic Films

When I get my TIFF programme book each year, I automatically flip to the back and look up Iceland to see which films will be screening. I developed this passion thanks to TIFF programmer Jane Schoettle, when she ran Sprockets (now TIFF Kids). From listings under Iceland, I peruse the rest of the Nordic film offerings before moving on to other countries to see what my favourite TIFF programmers have selected. Here are my thoughts on this year's Nordic films programmed by Steve Gravestock. (At left, me with Mamma Gogo director, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson).



FILMS FROM ICELAND...

METALHEAD. I haven't had a chance to see works by director, Ragnar Bragason, but programmer Steve Gravestock calls this film a "darkly comic drama about a grief-stricken young woman who adopts the persona — and decibel-blasting predilections — of her deceased brother." The editor on this one is Valdís Óskarsdóttir, who directed  a blast of a road comedy, Country Wedding (TIFF '08) and edited such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Finding Forrester, to name a few.

THIS IS SANLITUN. I'm curious to see how Reykiavik director, Róbert I. Douglas handles this comic co-pro (China, Iceland, Ireland) in which a "pair of hapless ex-pats discover that Beijing isn’t the hotbed of entrepreneurial opportunity they had anticipated" (Steve Gravestock). I enjoyed Douglas' last film at TIFF '05, Eleven Men Out, so I have high hopes for this one.


FROM DENMARK...
 

SEX, DRUGS & TAXATION. In this film "an alcoholic playboy and a meek tax lawyer join forces to revolutionize the travel industry and alter the country’s political landscape ."
Actor, Jesper Christensen's ("Mr. White" in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) name in the cast makes me curious to see this film set in the 1960's Denmark; as does Pilou Asbæk, who starred in TIFF12's A Highjacking. Another cast member, Nicolas Bro, has worked with director, Christoffer Boe on his film Beast, so the collaboration on this film places it fairly high on my Try to See list.


FROM NORWAY...

I AM YOURS. More ex-pats, but this time the setting is the Pakistani community in Norway. First time director, Iram Haq is one of the lucky and talented filmmakers whose work has made it into TIFF's Discovery programme. With dialogue in Norwegian, Urdu and Swedish, how can I resist this cultural invitation, especially when the editors are the team that cut my TIFF12 fave, The Hunt (Anne Østerud and Janus Billeskov Jansen), and Axel Helgeland, a producer on one of my favourite melodramas, I Am Dina, and for dogma fans, Lars Von Trier's' Breaking the Waves?

PIONEER. Axel Hennie, is an actor who can make me both love (Max, in Max Manus) and hate (Trond, in 90 Minutes) his characters with equal passion, is back on the TIFF screen this year in Pioneer, a film by Erik Skjoldbjærg, the director Insomnia (later remade by Christopher Nolan). Steve describes this one as a "propulsive, gritty film about the birth of the Norwegian oil industry in the early 1980s."

THE IMMORAL. I'm not familiar with director, Lars Daniel Krutzkoff Jacobsen's work, so I'm going to this one, simply because Steve's description promises something beyond the ordinary for this film. He calls it a boundary-pushing comedy that is both "corrosive" and "provocative." I'm a sucker for a film that "rampages through notions of good taste, as it follows an ex-soldier and a single mother who go into the prostitution business after getting kicked off welfare." Bring. It. On.

FROM SWEDEN...

HOTEL. Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair) stars in this comedy-drama as a recovering control freak who finds support and a new lease on life when she enters group therapy.

Confession time: I think I'm a 75% control freak. Not as tightly wound as Lisa Langseth lead character, but I do wonder how much of myself I'll see in this director's second feature film. There's nothing like the personal connection to get you into a theatre seat. Who's with me on this one? Control freaks unite!

WE ARE THE BEST. My punk rock soul is urging me on to see Lukas Moodysson's latest TIFF presentation, but my control freak mind is wondering how I'm going to mange to see all of these films! I love the idea of sitting in a movie theatre cheering on these three young women as they navigate high school and the 1980's scene in Stockholm. No doubt cinematographer, Ulf Brantås, will do as spectacular a job on this project as he did in other Moodyson films such as Show Me Love, Together and Fucking Amal.

FROM FINLAND...

CONCRETE NIGHT. Believe it or not I sometimes enjoy the catharsis of an "emotionally devastating work", which is why veteran filmmaker, Pirjo Honkasalo's film appeals to me. Honkasalo's film is in the Masters section at TIFF13, and I usually include a viewing of one of these works as I can sit back and let the film unfold, certain that I am in the hands of greatness; however, the bleakness of this tale about "a fourteen-year-old boy in a stifling Helsinki slum [who] takes some unwise life lessons from his soon-to-be-incarcerated older brother" might be too much for me. I don't know...

HEART OF A LION. This one is definitely on my Must See list, as the director, Dome Karukoski, is someone I interviewed at TIFF10, and whose film Lapland Odyssey, I thoroughly enjoyed. I can't wait to see how he shapes this film about a skinhead who falls in love with a woman with a child who is half Black. Perkele!


Toronto International Film Festival
September 5 - 15, 2013
Get Tickets: 
416.599.TIFF | 1.888.599.8433 | http://tiff.net/thefestival

Nordic Films at TIFF KIDS International Film Festival2013



Me with Fridrik Fridriksson TIFF10

DID YOU KNOW my love of Nordic films was born out of attending Sprockets: The Toronto International Film Festival for Children? Well, Sprockets has morphed into TIFF KIDS International Film Festival, and Nordic flms continue to play a part in the festival's screening schedule. I attended the festival as an adult, but there is no reason why the children in your life can't get started on international films. Who knows, they may end of covering them at TIFF when they grow up. As for me, I continue to focus on Nordic films, and at TIFF10, I met and interviewed director, Fridrik Thór Fridriksson  who produced of one of my favourite films from Sprockets, Ikingut (2000).

Ella and Friends

When their beloved school is shut down by the schemes of a fame-hungry race-car driver, Ella and her friends must band together to take on their nemesis in the race of a lifetime!

Wednesday April 17

12:15 PM

Director: Taneli Mustonen
Country: Finland Year: 2012
Language: Finnish
Runtime: 81 minutes, Rating: G Ages 7,8,9,10

Will-Bot-Friend or Foe

Will-Bot, an anxious outer-space patrol robot, learns that sometimes a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet.

Saturday April 20 (Screening as part of Loot Bag: Destination Imaginiation)

12:45 PM

Director: Kim Hagen Jensen

Country: Denmark
Year: 2012

Language: No dialogue, 6 minutes, Rating: PG



Eskil and Trinidad

Arriving in his eleventh new home in as many years, young boating enthusiast Eskil befriends the town eccentric, whose exciting secret project might just hold the key to a new life.

 Saturday April 20

3:15 PM

Director: Stephan Apelgren
Country: Sweden
Year: 2013
Language: Swedish, 98 minutes, Rating: Ages 9-13

Note: this film stars on of my favourite actor, Torkel Petersson, who I was first introduced to at TIFF '08 in Patrick Age 1.5.

Casper and Emma 
 The first feature film based on the bestselling Norwegian children’s novels, this unique live action/ animation hybrid introduces us to best friends Casper and Emma and their favourite stuffed animals, Miss Rabbit and Lion Cub.

Sunday April 21

2:30 PM

Director: Arne Lindtner Næss

Country: Norway

Year: 2012

Language: Norwegian

Runtime: 74 minutes

Cast: Nora Amundsen, Elias Søvold Simonsen, Janne Formoe, Hilde Lyrån, Markus Tønseth

Rating: G Ages: 6, 7, 8

TIFF KIDS

April 9 - 21, 2013

http://tiff.net/tiffkids/festival

Get Tickets: 416.599.TIFF | 1.888.599.8433 or http://tiff.net/tiffkids/festival/ticketinfo

Credits: film descriptions, stills courtesy of http://tiff.net/tiffkids/festival