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Home | News | 2010 Toronto Film Festival lineup – and early look at STAKELAND

2010 Toronto Film Festival lineup – and early look at STAKELAND

 

Jim Mickle’s STAKE LAND – Midnight Madness – World Premiere

(Dark Sky Films)
Starring Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Michael Cerveris and Danielle Harris

In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic, a teen is taken in by a grizzled vampire hunter on a road trip through a post-apocalyptic America, battling both the bloodsuckers and a fundamentalist militia that interprets the plague as the Lord’s work.

Xavier Dolan’s HEARTBEATS – Special Presentation – North American Premiere

(IFC Fims)

Starring Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider and Xavier Dolan

A sophisticated romantic comedy about close friends, Francis and Marie, who pursue their mutual obsession with a young man. As they face off in competition, cracks in their friendship begin to appear with both comic and tragic results.

Laura Israel’s WINDFALL – Real to Reel – World Premiere

(acquisition title)

After wind turbines are proposed for installation in upstate New York, the community’s excitement turns to suspicion over what the project entails. This eye-opening story exposes the dark side of wind energy development and the potential for financial scams.

Ann Hui’s ALL ABOUT LOVE – Contemporary World Cinema – North American Premiere (acquisition title)

Starring Vivian Chow and Sandra Ng

The film takes a rare look at not only the lives of queer women, but also the challenges of creating a family. Ann Hui expertly balances the serious themes of motherhood, sexuality and discrimination, rarely addressed in Hong Kong films, with wit, humor and compassion.

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Xavier Dolan’s HEARTBEATS – Special Presentation – North American Premiere (IFC Films)

Part gleaming farce, part-tough-minded exploration of the inherent insanity of love and desire, HEARTBEATS centers on two close friends: Francis (Xavier Dolan) and Marie (Monia Chokri). At a dinner party one evening they meet Nicolas (Niels Schneider), a striking young man from the country who has just recently arrived in town. His boyish charm and classical good looks create an irresistible mystique that neither of the two friends can shake.

The threesome begins to spend more and more time together. But the more intimate they get, the more remote and unattainable Nico becomes, sending Francis and Marie’s comic obsession into overdrive. And as their hunger for Nicolas’ affections grow, the more their once cast-iron friendship begins to crack and shift to rivalry.

Xavier Dolan’s directorial follow-up to the acclaimed I KILLED MY MOTHER (in which he also starred alongside Niels Schneider), HEARTBEATS is a study of the descent into poetically passionate love and the complexities of young human emotions. HEARTBEATS premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and was the recipient of the Youth Prize. The film will be released by IFC Films theatrically in 2011.

Screenings:

Press & Industry Screening – Monday, September 13 at 9:00am – Scotiabank Theater 2

Premiere — Tuesday, September 14 at 6:45 pm – Varsity 8

Public Screening 2 – Wednesday September 15 at 3:15pm – AMC 5

Talent Available:

Xavier Dolan

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Jim Mickle’s STAKE LAND – Midnight Madness – World Premiere (Dark Sky Films)

America is a lost nation. When an epidemic of vampirism strikes, humans find themselves on the run from vicious, feral beasts. Cities are tombs and survivors cling together in rural pockets, fearful of nightfall. When his family is slaughtered, young Martin (Gossip Girl’s Connor Paolo) is taken under the wing of a grizzled, wayward hunter (Nick Damici) whose new prey are the undead.

Simply known as Mister, the vampire stalker takes Martin on a journey through the locked-down towns of America’s heartland, searching for a better place while taking down any bloodsuckers that cross their path. Along the way they recruit fellow travellers, including a nun (Kelly McGillis) who is caught in a crisis of faith when her followers turn into ravenous beasts. This ragtag family unit cautiously moves north, avoiding major thoroughfares that have been seized by The Brethren, a fundamentalist militia headed by Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris) that interprets the plague as the Lord’s work.

Director Jim Mickle first grabbed the attention of horror film fans with his zombie-rat thriller Mulberry Street, in which Damici also starred and served as co-writer. They have teamed up again to deliver an even darker and bloodier shocker. Drawing on the post-apocalyptic frenzy described by Richard Matheson (author of the novel I Am Legend) and George Romero, Stake Land is a road movie with fangs and a phantasmagoric journey.

Also starring horror movie icon Danielle Harris and produced by indie horror director Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter).

Screenings:

Press & Industry 1 – Monday, September 13 at 1:45pm – Scotiabank Theater 4

Press & Industry 2 – Thursday, September 16 at 1:30pm – Scotiabank Theater

Premiere – Friday, September 17at 11:59pm – Ryerson

Public Screening 2 – Saturday, September 18 at 12:15pm – Scotiabank Theater 4

Public Screening 3 – Sunday, September 19 at 9:00pm – AMC2

Talent Available:

Kelly McGillis, Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Michael Cervis and Jim Mickle

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Laura Israel’s WINDFALL – Real to Reel – World Premiere (acquisition title)

Wind power… it’s sustainable … it limits our dependence on foreign oil…it produces no air pollution. Who could object to wind energy? That’s what the people of Meredith, NY first thought when a shadowy wind developer looked to supplement the rural farm town’s failing economy with a wind energy farm — that of 40 industrial wind turbines. WINDFALL, Laura Israel’s probing feature-length film, documents how this proposal brutally divides Meredith’s residents, as they fight over the future of their community. Attracted at first to the financial incentives that would seemingly boost their dying economy; the townspeople grow increasingly alarmed as they discover that the 400-foot high, windmills slated for Meredith are far from a renewable energy source. Hauntingly filmed, WINDFALL exposes the dark side of wind energy development and the unforeseen consequences of “progress”.

Making her directorial debut after years of experience as a film editor – most notably with such individualists as Robert Frank (True Story) and John Lurie (Fishing with John) – Laura Israel brings her own distinctive approach to WINDFALL, paying careful attention to visual detail and sound design and bringing freshness and vitality to the much debated topic of renewable energy.

Screenings:

Premiere – Friday, September 10 at 6:00pm – AMC 9

Press & Industry 1 – Saturday, September 11 at 2:00pm – Scotiabank Theater 9

Public Screening 2 – Sunday, September 12 at 9:15am – AMC10

Press & Industry 2 – Wednesday, September 15 at 7:30pm – Scotiabank Theater 4

Public Screening 3 – Sunday September 19 at 10:15am – AMC10

Talent Available:

Laura Israel

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Ann Hui’s ALL ABOUT LOVE – Contemporary World Cinema – North American Premiere (acquisition title)

Anita (Vivian Chow) meets 19-year-old Mike (William Chan) online, and gets pregnant unexpectedly after their first date and one-night-stand. She is torn between having an abortion and keeping the baby. Macy (Sandra Ng), a lawyer by profession, is bi-sexual and fears commitment. Her two good friends Eleanor (Joey Meng) and Wai Wai (Jo Koo) are eager to find a loving partner for her.

Robert (Eddie Cheung) runs an advertisement company next door to Macy’s office. His wife sues him for domestic violence and demands a divorce. Robert hires Macy to defend him in court. Macy counsels Robert on his chauvinism. She succeeds in helping him win back his wife’s love and they settle out of lawsuit. At the same time, Macy finds out she is pregnant with Robert’s baby.

Macy and Anita meet when they sign up for counseling courses at . Despite 12 years of separation, they rekindle their passion for each other. Should they abort their babies or deliver them? Macy and Anita both find it hard to make a decision. Macy is still afraid to commit to a lasting relationship and treasures her freedom. On the other hand, Anita is tortured by the gossiping behind her back among her colleagues, while her boss plans to fire her without compensation. Meanwhile, either out of love or friendship, Robert and Mike keep in contact with both women and are prepared to offer help. Will Anita and Macy give birth? Will the two men be recognized as the babies’ fathers? What will become of Anita and Macy?

Screenings:

Press & Industry Screening 1 – Monday, September 13 at 9:45am – Scotiabank Theater 8

Premiere – Tuesday, September 14 at 4:45pm – Isabel Bader Theatre

Public Screening 2 – Wednesday, September 15 at 9:30pm – AMC 5

Press & Industry Screening 2 – Friday, September 17 at 9:30am- Scotiabank Theater 11

Public Screening 3 – Saturday, September 18 at 9:30pm – AMC 3

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