The cast of “Yellowjackets” is a sprawling one, with different actors portraying the main characters in both the 1996 timeline, when the team’s plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, and in the present.
Season 2 introduced us to Lauren Ambrose as adult Van, Simone Kessell as adult Lottie and Elijah Wood as Walter. In Season 3, we’ll meet characters played by Hilary Swank, Joel McHale and Ashley Sutton.
Here are all the key characters and who plays them in which timeline.
Spoilers up through the Season 2 finale.
Photo credit: Showtime
Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna, Melanie Lynskey as Adult Shauna
Before the crash, teenage Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) was best friends with Jackie (Ella Purnell), but was secretly pregnant by Jackie’s boyfriend Jeff. In the wilderness, their eventual fall-out led to Jackie freezing to death outside the cabin. In Season 2, Shauna gave birth, but the baby was stillborn.
Adult Shauna (Melanie...
Season 2 introduced us to Lauren Ambrose as adult Van, Simone Kessell as adult Lottie and Elijah Wood as Walter. In Season 3, we’ll meet characters played by Hilary Swank, Joel McHale and Ashley Sutton.
Here are all the key characters and who plays them in which timeline.
Spoilers up through the Season 2 finale.
Photo credit: Showtime
Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna, Melanie Lynskey as Adult Shauna
Before the crash, teenage Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) was best friends with Jackie (Ella Purnell), but was secretly pregnant by Jackie’s boyfriend Jeff. In the wilderness, their eventual fall-out led to Jackie freezing to death outside the cabin. In Season 2, Shauna gave birth, but the baby was stillborn.
Adult Shauna (Melanie...
- 2/14/2025
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
Even three-and-a-half decades later, it's no small wonder that Dead Poets Society is such a Hollywood classic. With one of Robin Williams' most iconic performances as inspiring English instructor John Keating, the movie presents audiences with a stirring message about human individuality while also providing plenty of thought-provoking quotes, ultimately delivering a stellar academic drama that set the standard for the cinematic sub-genre for decades. Yet, while not all of Hollywood's subsequent attempts to tell inspirational teacher stories quite reached the existential nostalgia of 1989's Welton Academy, fans of Peter Weir's beloved film can learn an even more poignant lesson in a more contemporary classroom, that of 2011's Monsieur Lazhar.
- 10/26/2024
- by Cameryn Barnett
- Collider.com
Exclusive: Sophie Nélisse has signed with Brillstein Entertainment for management in all areas.
Nélisse can be seen starring as Young Shauna in Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets. which is currently in production on its third season. A shocking scene in the final moments of the Season 2 premiere where Young Shauna ate the frozen ear of her best friend Jackie, played by Ella Purnell, went viral, kickstarting the show’s descent into cannibalism in the second episode titled “Edible Complex”.
On the film side, Nélisse can recently be seen starring in Irena’s Vow which premiered last year at the Toronto Film Festival. She recently wrapped production on high school horror movie Whistle, starring alongside Daphne Keen, Sky Yang, Percy Hynes White and Nick Frost. She began her career in
Philippe Falardeau’s film Monsieur Lazhar and went on to play the lead role of Liesel Meminger in 2013’s The Book Thief for 20th,...
Nélisse can be seen starring as Young Shauna in Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets. which is currently in production on its third season. A shocking scene in the final moments of the Season 2 premiere where Young Shauna ate the frozen ear of her best friend Jackie, played by Ella Purnell, went viral, kickstarting the show’s descent into cannibalism in the second episode titled “Edible Complex”.
On the film side, Nélisse can recently be seen starring in Irena’s Vow which premiered last year at the Toronto Film Festival. She recently wrapped production on high school horror movie Whistle, starring alongside Daphne Keen, Sky Yang, Percy Hynes White and Nick Frost. She began her career in
Philippe Falardeau’s film Monsieur Lazhar and went on to play the lead role of Liesel Meminger in 2013’s The Book Thief for 20th,...
- 10/2/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Academy Award-nominated director Philippe Falardeau will present his documentary series “Lac Mégantic: This Is Not an Accident” at Canneseries as its world premiere, followed by its North American premiere at Hot Docs as part of the Deep Dive category. Variety debuts its heart-breaking trailer here (see below).
In the four-part series, Falardeau investigates one of the worst oil train tragedies in history; a foreseeable catastrophe ignited by corporate and political negligence.
Almost 10 years ago, on July 6, 2013, a devastating tragedy occurred in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, when a runaway train derailed in the heart of this idyllic town. Within seconds, six million liters of Bakken oil explode, killing everyone in its vicinity, and incinerating downtown.
At the heart of this series are the survivors who share their most intimate stories of lost loved ones and the string of injustices they’ve faced since that summer night. Yet, the steps needed to prevent another...
In the four-part series, Falardeau investigates one of the worst oil train tragedies in history; a foreseeable catastrophe ignited by corporate and political negligence.
Almost 10 years ago, on July 6, 2013, a devastating tragedy occurred in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, when a runaway train derailed in the heart of this idyllic town. Within seconds, six million liters of Bakken oil explode, killing everyone in its vicinity, and incinerating downtown.
At the heart of this series are the survivors who share their most intimate stories of lost loved ones and the string of injustices they’ve faced since that summer night. Yet, the steps needed to prevent another...
- 3/28/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
After 25 years, Toronto International Film Festival Senior Programmer Steve Gravestock has decided to retire at the end of 2022.
Gravestock has overseen the organization’s Canadian programming initiatives, including the Canada’s Top Ten film selection and the year-round See the North program, a free showcase of homegrown classics. As a programmer for the festival, he has selected Canadian feature films since 2004 and was responsible for selections from the Nordic Region.
Many of the films he has programmed have been nominated for Academy Awards, including Petter Næss’s Elling, Mikael Håfström’s Evil, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, Susanne Bier’s In a Better World — which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 — and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World.
Gravestock has also overseen TIFF’s series of monographs on Canadian films in partnership with the University of Toronto Press. In 2005 he...
Gravestock has overseen the organization’s Canadian programming initiatives, including the Canada’s Top Ten film selection and the year-round See the North program, a free showcase of homegrown classics. As a programmer for the festival, he has selected Canadian feature films since 2004 and was responsible for selections from the Nordic Region.
Many of the films he has programmed have been nominated for Academy Awards, including Petter Næss’s Elling, Mikael Håfström’s Evil, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, Susanne Bier’s In a Better World — which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 — and Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World.
Gravestock has also overseen TIFF’s series of monographs on Canadian films in partnership with the University of Toronto Press. In 2005 he...
- 6/6/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Canadian director Philippe Falardeau (“Monsieur Lazhar”) and screenwriter Florence Longpré, who has “Audrey’s Back” at April’s Canneseries, have teamed up on new series “Last Summers of the Raspberries” which pulled off the rare feat of screening at Berlinale Series, before being selected for Series Mania, where it will compete in the International Panorama.
The heartfelt drama follows Élizabeth, played by Sandrine Bisson (“Le bonheur”), who stands to inherit and run her husband’s ranch when he suddenly dies. Learning to overcome the pain of her loss, Élizabeth will have to find her late husband in the hearts of those he touched.
“Last Summers of the Raspberries” is set in rural Quebec and uses the unique language demographics of the region to bring humor and playfulness to the series’ inciting tragedy. Falardeau, whose film “It’s Not Me, I Swear!” landed him a Crystal Bear in 2009, is no stranger to...
The heartfelt drama follows Élizabeth, played by Sandrine Bisson (“Le bonheur”), who stands to inherit and run her husband’s ranch when he suddenly dies. Learning to overcome the pain of her loss, Élizabeth will have to find her late husband in the hearts of those he touched.
“Last Summers of the Raspberries” is set in rural Quebec and uses the unique language demographics of the region to bring humor and playfulness to the series’ inciting tragedy. Falardeau, whose film “It’s Not Me, I Swear!” landed him a Crystal Bear in 2009, is no stranger to...
- 3/10/2022
- by JD Linville
- Variety Film + TV
Ivan Grbovic’s Drunken Bird (Les Oiseaux Ivres) will represent Canada in the best international feature film category as its official Oscar submission.
Telefilm Canada executive director and CEO Christa Dickenson said on Monday (October 4) that 10 films had been submitted to the pan-Canadian selection committee, adding: “Telefilm will support the film’s team on this exciting journey. This vote of confidence is a phenomenal springboard for these creators and a terrific opportunity for Canada to demonstrate the excellence of its film industry.”
‘Drunken Birds’: Toronto Review
Grbovic and Sara Mishara co-wrote the film produced by micro_scope. It premiered...
Telefilm Canada executive director and CEO Christa Dickenson said on Monday (October 4) that 10 films had been submitted to the pan-Canadian selection committee, adding: “Telefilm will support the film’s team on this exciting journey. This vote of confidence is a phenomenal springboard for these creators and a terrific opportunity for Canada to demonstrate the excellence of its film industry.”
‘Drunken Birds’: Toronto Review
Grbovic and Sara Mishara co-wrote the film produced by micro_scope. It premiered...
- 10/4/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
With a full year of creative pauses and improvisational workflow behind them, Canadian producers hit the 2021 Toronto festival bullish that in-person screenings and heightened fall fest excitement will focus critics and sales buzz to connect their films with audiences beyond their home turf.
Luc Dery and Kim McCraw of Montreal’s micro_scope, who introduced Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” and Philippe Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar” to North American audiences at TIFF, return with Ivan Grbovic’s “Drunken Birds” (pictured), one of eight titles screening in Platform, the festival’s juried competition program.
Jorge Antonio Guerrero (“Roma”) stars as a Mexican drug-cartel worker who falls in love with his boss’s wife and whose pursuit of her lands him in rural Quebec, where he gets mixed up in his host family’s troubles. The film is exec produced by Nicolas Celis (“Roma”), with Wazabi Films selling.
“The marketplace is quite brutal right now,...
Luc Dery and Kim McCraw of Montreal’s micro_scope, who introduced Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” and Philippe Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar” to North American audiences at TIFF, return with Ivan Grbovic’s “Drunken Birds” (pictured), one of eight titles screening in Platform, the festival’s juried competition program.
Jorge Antonio Guerrero (“Roma”) stars as a Mexican drug-cartel worker who falls in love with his boss’s wife and whose pursuit of her lands him in rural Quebec, where he gets mixed up in his host family’s troubles. The film is exec produced by Nicolas Celis (“Roma”), with Wazabi Films selling.
“The marketplace is quite brutal right now,...
- 9/10/2021
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
Telefilm Canada has launched Canada Now, a new portal devoted to highlighting Canadian content in the U.S. The site will add new titles each month to its portfolio, which ranges from recent films such as “My Salinger Year” and “Antigone” to Oscar nominees like “Barbarian Invasions” and “Monsieur Lazhar,” as well as some series.
The site, developed in collaboration with Telescope, features close to 5,000 productions available across more than 150 VOD platforms.
Canada Now’s monthly boutique curation will spotlight six different programming sections in addition to the searchable database of productions accessible within the U.S. Every month the site will feature a section on New Arrivals, Classic Films and a spotlight called Indigenous Voices.
For the month of May, it will focus on a celebration of Asian Canadians with films including Sandra Oh starring as a struggling single mother whose daughter decides that Taoist magic will make everything better,...
The site, developed in collaboration with Telescope, features close to 5,000 productions available across more than 150 VOD platforms.
Canada Now’s monthly boutique curation will spotlight six different programming sections in addition to the searchable database of productions accessible within the U.S. Every month the site will feature a section on New Arrivals, Classic Films and a spotlight called Indigenous Voices.
For the month of May, it will focus on a celebration of Asian Canadians with films including Sandra Oh starring as a struggling single mother whose daughter decides that Taoist magic will make everything better,...
- 5/8/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” will represent Canada in the race for best international feature film at the 2021 Oscars.
Based on the best-selling novel by Shyam Selvadurai, the film follows a young boy’s sexual awakening in Sri Lanka during the turbulent Tamil-Sinhalese conflict leading up to the civil war. Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing picked up the film for distribution earlier this month, with a Netflix release planned for Dec. 10, as revealed by Variety.
Mehta’s film “Water,” the third feature in her Elements trilogy, was Oscar-nominated in the international feature film category in 2007.
“Eleven outstanding films were submitted this year, and we are confident that Deepa Mehta’s ‘Funny Boy’ will appeal to Academy members just as her powerful film ‘Water’ did in 2007, when it was nominated in this prestigious category,” said Christa Dickenson, executive director of Telefilm Canada.
Telefilm coordinates and chairs — without voting right — the pan-Canadian...
Based on the best-selling novel by Shyam Selvadurai, the film follows a young boy’s sexual awakening in Sri Lanka during the turbulent Tamil-Sinhalese conflict leading up to the civil war. Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing picked up the film for distribution earlier this month, with a Netflix release planned for Dec. 10, as revealed by Variety.
Mehta’s film “Water,” the third feature in her Elements trilogy, was Oscar-nominated in the international feature film category in 2007.
“Eleven outstanding films were submitted this year, and we are confident that Deepa Mehta’s ‘Funny Boy’ will appeal to Academy members just as her powerful film ‘Water’ did in 2007, when it was nominated in this prestigious category,” said Christa Dickenson, executive director of Telefilm Canada.
Telefilm coordinates and chairs — without voting right — the pan-Canadian...
- 10/29/2020
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
A writer writes, but there’s no evidence that Joanna Rakoff can even type when she takes the job as an assistant working for literary agent Phyllis Westberg in “My Salinger Year.” Because Rakoff went on to pen a book-length memoir about her time working for Westberg, who represented reclusive writer J.D. Salinger, we can rest assured that she eventually achieved her goal, but her story is less like Lauren Weisberger’s novelized “The Devil Wears Prada” than it is Truman Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which is to say, , played here by Margaret Qualley.
In late 1995, Joanna Rakoff landed a job for which countless readers would kill: She found herself in the position to answer a phone and hear, on occasion, Salinger’s voice on the other end. At times, this notorious hermit and presumed curmudgeon would proactively express curiosity about her, offering unsolicited advice on writing (“Don’t get stuck answering the phone.
In late 1995, Joanna Rakoff landed a job for which countless readers would kill: She found herself in the position to answer a phone and hear, on occasion, Salinger’s voice on the other end. At times, this notorious hermit and presumed curmudgeon would proactively express curiosity about her, offering unsolicited advice on writing (“Don’t get stuck answering the phone.
- 2/20/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
From the moment he read Joanna Rakoff's memoir about literary New York, Philippe Falardeau knew his eighth movie, My Salinger Year, would be his first with a female protagonist.
"I've never been as excited about one of my films, because it's told from a woman's perspective," says the Quebec director, who rose to prominence with the Oscar-nominated classroom drama Monsieur Lazhar in 2011.
Now Falardeau, 52, finds himself opening the Berlin Film Festival with this Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver starrer. Set in '90s-era New York, the film tells the story of an aspiring poet ...
"I've never been as excited about one of my films, because it's told from a woman's perspective," says the Quebec director, who rose to prominence with the Oscar-nominated classroom drama Monsieur Lazhar in 2011.
Now Falardeau, 52, finds himself opening the Berlin Film Festival with this Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver starrer. Set in '90s-era New York, the film tells the story of an aspiring poet ...
- 2/20/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From the moment he read Joanna Rakoff's memoir about literary New York, Philippe Falardeau knew his eighth movie, My Salinger Year, would be his first with a female protagonist.
"I've never been as excited about one of my films, because it's told from a woman's perspective," says the Quebec director, who rose to prominence with the Oscar-nominated classroom drama Monsieur Lazhar in 2011.
Now Falardeau, 52, finds himself opening the Berlin Film Festival with this Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver starrer. Set in '90s-era New York, the film tells the story of an aspiring poet ...
"I've never been as excited about one of my films, because it's told from a woman's perspective," says the Quebec director, who rose to prominence with the Oscar-nominated classroom drama Monsieur Lazhar in 2011.
Now Falardeau, 52, finds himself opening the Berlin Film Festival with this Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver starrer. Set in '90s-era New York, the film tells the story of an aspiring poet ...
- 2/20/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
In light of recent revelations that Berlinale founding director Alfred Bauer was once an active, high-ranking Nazi, the film festival has suspended his namesake prize, the Alfred Bauer Silver Bear. A report in German newspaper Die Zeit last week detailed Bauer’s ties to Joseph Goebbels, the infamous Reich Minister of Nazi Propaganda who set up Reich Film Office in 1942 to control the moviemaking industry and use it as a pipeline for information from the party. The report details how Bauer appeared to be a key member of this operation in the 1940s, and prior to, had been a member of the Nazis’ pre-war paramilitary arm.
“We welcome the research and its publication in Die Zeit and will seize the opportunity to begin a deeper research on the festival history with the support of external experts,” the festival wrote on Facebook. “The interpretation of these sources suggests that [Bauer] had held...
“We welcome the research and its publication in Die Zeit and will seize the opportunity to begin a deeper research on the festival history with the support of external experts,” the festival wrote on Facebook. “The interpretation of these sources suggests that [Bauer] had held...
- 2/3/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The 70th edition of the Berlinale will open with Philippe Falardeau’s anticipated “My Salinger Year,” headlined by a powerful female duo, Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley.
Set in New York’s literary world in the 90’s, the coming-of-age story is based on Joanna Rakoff’s international bestseller and follows Joanna (Qualley), who leaves graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and gets hired as an assistant to Margaret (Weaver), the stoic and old-fashioned literary agent of J. D. Salinger.
Fluctuating between poverty and glamour, Joanna spends her days in a plush office and her nights in a sink-less Brooklyn apartment with her socialist boyfriend.
“We are delighted to open the 70th edition of the festival with a coming-of-age story that takes the viewpoint of the protagonist who has a fresh perspective, which is in no way naïve,” said Carlo Chatrian, the new artistic director of the Berlin Film Festival.
Set in New York’s literary world in the 90’s, the coming-of-age story is based on Joanna Rakoff’s international bestseller and follows Joanna (Qualley), who leaves graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and gets hired as an assistant to Margaret (Weaver), the stoic and old-fashioned literary agent of J. D. Salinger.
Fluctuating between poverty and glamour, Joanna spends her days in a plush office and her nights in a sink-less Brooklyn apartment with her socialist boyfriend.
“We are delighted to open the 70th edition of the festival with a coming-of-age story that takes the viewpoint of the protagonist who has a fresh perspective, which is in no way naïve,” said Carlo Chatrian, the new artistic director of the Berlin Film Festival.
- 1/24/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlinale Special Gala of My Salinger Year by writer-director Philippe Falardeau will open the 70th Berlin Film Festival on February 20, 2020 at the Berlinale Palast.
Three-time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actress Margaret Qualley and Mary Shelley actor Douglas Booth star in the Canadian-Irish co-production about a college grad (Qualley) who takes a clerical job working for the literary agent (Weaver) of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher In The Rye. The film is based on the novel of the same name by U.S. author Joanna Rakoff.
Pic was produced by micro_scope (Canada) and Parallel Films (Ireland). Memento Films International handles international sales and UTA handles U.S. sales.
Berlin artistic director Carlo Chatrian said, “We are delighted to open the 70th edition of the festival with a coming-of-age story that takes the viewpoint of the protagonist who has a fresh perspective,...
Three-time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actress Margaret Qualley and Mary Shelley actor Douglas Booth star in the Canadian-Irish co-production about a college grad (Qualley) who takes a clerical job working for the literary agent (Weaver) of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher In The Rye. The film is based on the novel of the same name by U.S. author Joanna Rakoff.
Pic was produced by micro_scope (Canada) and Parallel Films (Ireland). Memento Films International handles international sales and UTA handles U.S. sales.
Berlin artistic director Carlo Chatrian said, “We are delighted to open the 70th edition of the festival with a coming-of-age story that takes the viewpoint of the protagonist who has a fresh perspective,...
- 1/24/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
My Salinger Year
Quebec’s Philippe Falardeau will unleash his highest profile project to date next year with My Salinger Year, an adaptation of Joanna Rakoff’s 2014 memoir. Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley headline, while Douglas Booth, Colm Feore and Théodore Pellerin are among the supporting cast members. Lensed by Sara Mishara (of Maxime Giroux’s Felix & Meira and The Great Darkened Days), the project was produced by micro_scope’s Luc Dery and Kim McCraw with Ruth Coady and Susan Mullen. Falardeau’s breakout was 2011’s Monsieur Lazhar, which premiered in Locarno and went on to nab an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.…...
Quebec’s Philippe Falardeau will unleash his highest profile project to date next year with My Salinger Year, an adaptation of Joanna Rakoff’s 2014 memoir. Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley headline, while Douglas Booth, Colm Feore and Théodore Pellerin are among the supporting cast members. Lensed by Sara Mishara (of Maxime Giroux’s Felix & Meira and The Great Darkened Days), the project was produced by micro_scope’s Luc Dery and Kim McCraw with Ruth Coady and Susan Mullen. Falardeau’s breakout was 2011’s Monsieur Lazhar, which premiered in Locarno and went on to nab an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.…...
- 1/3/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Juliette Lewis (Camping) and Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Christina Ricci (Z: The Beginning of Everything) are set as series regulars in Showtime drama pilot Yellowjackets, from writers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Narcos), Entertainment One and studio-based producer Drew Comins.
Rounding out the cast are regulars Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Sammi Hanratty (Shameless), Sophie Thatcher (Prospect), Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Steven Krueger (The Originals) and Amy Okuda (Atypical). They join previously announced Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown.
Karyn Kusama (Destroyer) will direct and executive produce the pilot, a co-production of Showtime and Entertainment One. Comins of Creative Engine also serves as executive producer.
Written by Lyle and Nickerson, Yellowjackets is equal parts survival epic, horror story and coming-of-age drama and tells the narrative of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors...
Rounding out the cast are regulars Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Sammi Hanratty (Shameless), Sophie Thatcher (Prospect), Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Steven Krueger (The Originals) and Amy Okuda (Atypical). They join previously announced Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown.
Karyn Kusama (Destroyer) will direct and executive produce the pilot, a co-production of Showtime and Entertainment One. Comins of Creative Engine also serves as executive producer.
Written by Lyle and Nickerson, Yellowjackets is equal parts survival epic, horror story and coming-of-age drama and tells the narrative of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors...
- 11/19/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s film news roundup, Screen Gems is rebooting “Look Who’s Talking,” “Gilmore Girls” star Yanic Truesdale gets cast and Sony hires a veteran marketer.
Reboot Development
Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems is developing a reboot of “Look Who’s Talking” with Jeremy Garelick writing and directing.
The studio is planning to feature a diverse cast similar to Garelick’s film “The Wedding Ringer,” also for Screen Gems. Adam Fields will produce alongside Scott Strauss and Brian Dukes who will oversee for Screen Gems.
The original “Look Who’s Talking” was written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and starred John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis voiced the son of Alley’s character.
“Look Who’s Talking” performed strongly at the box office with nearly $300 million in worldwide grosses. It spawned a pair of sequels — “Look Who’s Talking Too” (1990) and “Look Who’s Talking Now” (1993). The news was first reported by Deadline.
Reboot Development
Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems is developing a reboot of “Look Who’s Talking” with Jeremy Garelick writing and directing.
The studio is planning to feature a diverse cast similar to Garelick’s film “The Wedding Ringer,” also for Screen Gems. Adam Fields will produce alongside Scott Strauss and Brian Dukes who will oversee for Screen Gems.
The original “Look Who’s Talking” was written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and starred John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis voiced the son of Alley’s character.
“Look Who’s Talking” performed strongly at the box office with nearly $300 million in worldwide grosses. It spawned a pair of sequels — “Look Who’s Talking Too” (1990) and “Look Who’s Talking Now” (1993). The news was first reported by Deadline.
- 7/9/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Memento Films Intl. has inked a raft of strong pre-sales on Philippe Falardeau’s “My Salinger Year,” the big-screen adaptation of Joanna Rakoff’s international bestseller that will star Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”).
Set to start shooting May 23, “My Salinger Year” has pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Latin America (Cinepolis), the U.K. (Thunderbird), Benelux (Paradiso Filmed Entertainment), Japan (Ccc), Portugal (Outsider), Greece and Cyprus (Spentzos), Bulgaria (Btv Media Group), the former Yugoslavia (Dexin), Hungary (Hungaricom), China (Huanxi Media), South Korea (Jin Jin Pictures), Taiwan (Catchplay), the Middle East (Falcon Film) and global airlines (Entertainment in Motion).
Falardeau, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated film “Monsieur Lazhar,” wrote the big-screen adaptation of the memoir and will direct the film. “My Salinger Year” takes place in New York in the 1990s and follows Joanna (Qualley), who leaves graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming...
Set to start shooting May 23, “My Salinger Year” has pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Latin America (Cinepolis), the U.K. (Thunderbird), Benelux (Paradiso Filmed Entertainment), Japan (Ccc), Portugal (Outsider), Greece and Cyprus (Spentzos), Bulgaria (Btv Media Group), the former Yugoslavia (Dexin), Hungary (Hungaricom), China (Huanxi Media), South Korea (Jin Jin Pictures), Taiwan (Catchplay), the Middle East (Falcon Film) and global airlines (Entertainment in Motion).
Falardeau, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated film “Monsieur Lazhar,” wrote the big-screen adaptation of the memoir and will direct the film. “My Salinger Year” takes place in New York in the 1990s and follows Joanna (Qualley), who leaves graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming...
- 5/16/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley are set to co-star in “My Salinger Year,” the big-screen adaptation of Joanna Rakoff’s international bestseller, which will be directed by Oscar-nominated Canadian director Philippe Falardeau.
Memento Films International (“Call Me by Your Name”) has come on board to handle international sales and is co-representing the U.S. rights with UTA Independent Film Group.
“This is a total crowd-pleaser that will draw a substantial audience,” said Tanja Meissner, head of international sales at Memento. “All the relevant ingredients are assembled: an irresistibly charming and tender story in which ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meets the literary world.”
“My Salinger Year” will start shooting in Montreal and New York this Spring. Luc Déry and Kim McCraw from micro_scope are producing the film. The Canadian company’s critically acclaimed credits include Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” and “Enemy,” as well as Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar,” which was...
Memento Films International (“Call Me by Your Name”) has come on board to handle international sales and is co-representing the U.S. rights with UTA Independent Film Group.
“This is a total crowd-pleaser that will draw a substantial audience,” said Tanja Meissner, head of international sales at Memento. “All the relevant ingredients are assembled: an irresistibly charming and tender story in which ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meets the literary world.”
“My Salinger Year” will start shooting in Montreal and New York this Spring. Luc Déry and Kim McCraw from micro_scope are producing the film. The Canadian company’s critically acclaimed credits include Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” and “Enemy,” as well as Falardeau’s “Monsieur Lazhar,” which was...
- 2/8/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Since breaking through to U.S. audiences after her electric turn in the original Swedish versions of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and its sequels, Noomi Rapace has forged a fruitful career playing no-nonsense, ass-kicking women in mostly genre fare. She earned positive reviews as the lead in Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus,” though the film was not so fortunate. She struck out again with another critical flop, the Will Smith vehicle “Bright,” a poorly-received stab at Netflix Originals programming. Undeterred, Rapace is returning to Netflix, this time working with director Vicky Jewson on an almost entirely woman-led thriller, titled simply “Close.”
The official synopsis reads: “Inspired by the life of the world’s leading female bodyguard, Jacquie Davis. The film stars Rapace as Sam, a counter-terrorism expert used to war zones, who takes on the job of protecting Zoe (Sophie Nélisse), a young and rich heiress — a babysitting job for her.
The official synopsis reads: “Inspired by the life of the world’s leading female bodyguard, Jacquie Davis. The film stars Rapace as Sam, a counter-terrorism expert used to war zones, who takes on the job of protecting Zoe (Sophie Nélisse), a young and rich heiress — a babysitting job for her.
- 1/3/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
A remote village in Quebec is terrorized by a flesh-eating plague, in the latest from Robin Aubert. Actor Marc-André Grondin (Goon) stars in the arthouse horror thriller Les Affamés (Ravenous), alongside actress Monia Chokri (Venice/Tiff 2016 selection Réparer les vivants), Veteran actresses Micheline Lanctôt (My Internship in Canada) and Brigitte Poupart (Monsieur Lazhar). Directed by Aubert, who also penned the script, “The film follows a group of rural villagers […]...
- 9/22/2017
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
A remote village in Quebec is terrorized by a flesh-eating plague, in the latest from Robin Aubert. Actor Marc-André Grondin (Goon) stars in the arthouse horror thriller Les Affamés (Ravenous), alongside actress Monia Chokri (Venice/Tiff 2016 selection Réparer les vivants), Veteran actresses Micheline Lanctôt (My Internship in Canada) and Brigitte Poupart (Monsieur Lazhar). Directed by Aubert, who also penned the script, “The film follows a group of rural […]...
- 9/6/2017
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
French-Canadian filmmaker Philippe Falardeau has actually been making movies for almost twenty years, but it wasn’t until about 2011 when he first started getting attention for his drama Monsieur Lazhar, which was nominated for a foreign language Oscar. Falardeau’s 2014 movie The Good Lie, didn’t get much notice despite starring Reese Witherspoon and being released by Warner Bros. Therefore, he hasn’t quite made the waves into Hollywood as his country-mates Denis Villeneuve or Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild).
Undaunted, Falardeau decided to take on the story of Bayonne, New Jersey boxer Chuck Wepner, who famously went up against Ali at the height of his success in the ‘70s and managed to go 15 rounds before the fight was called due to Wepner’s famed “bleeding” during fights. Wepner was alternately known as “The Bayonne Brawler” and “The Bayonne Bleeder.”
The movie Chuck stars Liev Schreiber as the famed boxer who would...
Undaunted, Falardeau decided to take on the story of Bayonne, New Jersey boxer Chuck Wepner, who famously went up against Ali at the height of his success in the ‘70s and managed to go 15 rounds before the fight was called due to Wepner’s famed “bleeding” during fights. Wepner was alternately known as “The Bayonne Brawler” and “The Bayonne Bleeder.”
The movie Chuck stars Liev Schreiber as the famed boxer who would...
- 5/8/2017
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 Kicks Off the Summer With a Sci-Fi Action-Comedy
After three weeks of dominating the box office, Universal’s The Fate of the Furious is going to have to give way to a new movie, and that’s because the first weekend of May means that it’s officially...The Summer Movie Season!!!!
Just like the last couple years, the summer movie season is kicking off with a new movie from Marvel Studios, and their sequel Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Marvel Studios/Disney), reunites Chris Pratt as Starlord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Michael Rooker’s Yondu with the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as Groot and Rocket Racoon, for the next...
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 Kicks Off the Summer With a Sci-Fi Action-Comedy
After three weeks of dominating the box office, Universal’s The Fate of the Furious is going to have to give way to a new movie, and that’s because the first weekend of May means that it’s officially...The Summer Movie Season!!!!
Just like the last couple years, the summer movie season is kicking off with a new movie from Marvel Studios, and their sequel Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Marvel Studios/Disney), reunites Chris Pratt as Starlord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Michael Rooker’s Yondu with the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as Groot and Rocket Racoon, for the next...
- 5/4/2017
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Of course, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (Disney) will dominate the box office this weekend. Just like it’s a given that “Avengers: Infinity War” will be Number One on May 4, 2018 and another “Avengers” film will top the charts on May 3, 2019, and so on to infinity and beyond.
This will be the 11th consecutive year that a Marvel title will spark the start of the four-month summer movie season; six were released by Disney. Marvel’s top four opening weekends have all arrived on this date, led by the first two “Avengers” titles.
The date is critical to why the “Guardians” sequel, expected to open to at least a $150 million, will likely open 50 per cent or more above the first one in August 2014 (adjusted to just over $100 million). That was by far the biggest hit of summer 2014 (actual gross $333 million, adjusted $364 million).
“Captain America: Civil War” last year opened to $179 million,...
This will be the 11th consecutive year that a Marvel title will spark the start of the four-month summer movie season; six were released by Disney. Marvel’s top four opening weekends have all arrived on this date, led by the first two “Avengers” titles.
The date is critical to why the “Guardians” sequel, expected to open to at least a $150 million, will likely open 50 per cent or more above the first one in August 2014 (adjusted to just over $100 million). That was by far the biggest hit of summer 2014 (actual gross $333 million, adjusted $364 million).
“Captain America: Civil War” last year opened to $179 million,...
- 5/4/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
It would be tough finding a harder working actor than Liev Schreiber who has successfully transitioned from supporting roles in movies to his very own TV show, playing fixer Ray Donovan on the Showtime series for five seasons. He’s received four Golden Globe nominations and two Emmy nominations playing that role.
In between seasons he’s found the time to make Chuck, a movie about the famed “Bayonne Brawler,” Chuck Wepner, whose career was documented in the Espn “30 for 30” doc, The Real Rocky. Besides being the New Jersey Heavyweight Champion in the ‘70s, Wepner famously went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, but his somewhat tragic story was also the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone to make Rocky.
The movie, directed by Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), recreates Chuck’s family life with his second wife Phyllis (Elisabeth Moss) and daughter. It then shows how his brush with fame led to drinking and...
In between seasons he’s found the time to make Chuck, a movie about the famed “Bayonne Brawler,” Chuck Wepner, whose career was documented in the Espn “30 for 30” doc, The Real Rocky. Besides being the New Jersey Heavyweight Champion in the ‘70s, Wepner famously went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, but his somewhat tragic story was also the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone to make Rocky.
The movie, directed by Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), recreates Chuck’s family life with his second wife Phyllis (Elisabeth Moss) and daughter. It then shows how his brush with fame led to drinking and...
- 5/4/2017
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Celebrate National Canadian Film Day with six essential Canadian filmsCelebrate National Canadian Film Day with six essential Canadian filmsAdriana Floridia4/19/2017 11:42:00 Am
Today is National Canadian Film Day and there's no better way to celebrate than by watching Canadian movies!
Canadian films are largely underrated, but there are tons of filmmakers, both new and old, that are resurrecting the Canadian film scene. While Quebec has always had a strong presence in the film-making world, with directors like Xavier Dolan, Denis Villeneuve and Jean Marc Vallee constantly doing us proud, there's also a lot of great efforts from the English-speaking Canadian film realm, that we often forget about. Legends like David Cronenberg, Deepa Mehta and Guy Maddin have always made distinct, challenging work, and there's a new emerging scene--from the more established filmmakers like Jason Reitman and Sarah Polley, to a new crop of directors like Matt Johnson and Andrew Cividino.
Today is National Canadian Film Day and there's no better way to celebrate than by watching Canadian movies!
Canadian films are largely underrated, but there are tons of filmmakers, both new and old, that are resurrecting the Canadian film scene. While Quebec has always had a strong presence in the film-making world, with directors like Xavier Dolan, Denis Villeneuve and Jean Marc Vallee constantly doing us proud, there's also a lot of great efforts from the English-speaking Canadian film realm, that we often forget about. Legends like David Cronenberg, Deepa Mehta and Guy Maddin have always made distinct, challenging work, and there's a new emerging scene--from the more established filmmakers like Jason Reitman and Sarah Polley, to a new crop of directors like Matt Johnson and Andrew Cividino.
- 4/19/2017
- by Adriana Floridia
- Cineplex
Celebrate National Canadian Film Day with six essential Canadian filmsCelebrate National Canadian Film Day with six essential Canadian filmsAdriana Floridia4/19/2017 11:42:00 Am
Today is National Canadian Film Day and there's no better way to celebrate than by watching Canadian movies!
Canadian films are largely underrated, but there are tons of filmmakers, both new and old, that are resurrecting the Canadian film scene. While Quebec has always had a strong presence in the film-making world, with directors like Xavier Dolan, Denis Villeneuve and Jean Marc Vallee constantly doing us proud, there's also a lot of great efforts from the English-speaking Canadian film realm, that we often forget about. Legends like David Cronenberg, Deepa Mehta and Guy Maddin have always made distinct, challenging work, and there's a new emerging scene--from the more established filmmakers like Jason Reitman and Sarah Polley, to a new crop of directors like Matt Johnson and Andrew Cividino.
Today is National Canadian Film Day and there's no better way to celebrate than by watching Canadian movies!
Canadian films are largely underrated, but there are tons of filmmakers, both new and old, that are resurrecting the Canadian film scene. While Quebec has always had a strong presence in the film-making world, with directors like Xavier Dolan, Denis Villeneuve and Jean Marc Vallee constantly doing us proud, there's also a lot of great efforts from the English-speaking Canadian film realm, that we often forget about. Legends like David Cronenberg, Deepa Mehta and Guy Maddin have always made distinct, challenging work, and there's a new emerging scene--from the more established filmmakers like Jason Reitman and Sarah Polley, to a new crop of directors like Matt Johnson and Andrew Cividino.
- 4/19/2017
- by Adriana Floridia
- Cineplex
In a case of art imitating art imitating life, IFC Films has released a lively first trailer for its biopic about the man who inspired Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky,” starring Liev Schreiber as Chuck Wepner. The movie also stars Naomi Watts and Elizabeth Moss as Wepner’s two love interests, along with comedian Jim Gaffigan and Ron Perlman.
Read More: Cristian Mungiu Is a World-Famous Auteur, But In Romania, He Self-Distributes His Movies
Known as the Bayonne Bleeder, Wepner was a 1970’s-era heavyweight boxer who went 15 rounds in the rings with Muhammad Ali and once fought an actual live bear. The true pride of his life was being the real “Rocky,” however, and his newfound fame led him to a life of drinking, drugs, and infidelity. As Chuck struggles to hang onto the people that matter, including his no-nonsense wife (Moss) and a straight-talking local bartender (Watts), the film offers...
Read More: Cristian Mungiu Is a World-Famous Auteur, But In Romania, He Self-Distributes His Movies
Known as the Bayonne Bleeder, Wepner was a 1970’s-era heavyweight boxer who went 15 rounds in the rings with Muhammad Ali and once fought an actual live bear. The true pride of his life was being the real “Rocky,” however, and his newfound fame led him to a life of drinking, drugs, and infidelity. As Chuck struggles to hang onto the people that matter, including his no-nonsense wife (Moss) and a straight-talking local bartender (Watts), the film offers...
- 4/7/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
A subgenre which has had a resurgence in the past few years in the boxing drama. Following Creed, Southpaw, Hands of Stone, and Bleed for This, another will arrive this year with Chuck, once titled The Bleeder when it premiered at Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival last fall. The latest drama from Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar, The Good Lie) stars Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, and Naomi Watts and follows the life of New Jersey boxer Chuck Wepner who was the inspiration behind Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky character. Ahead of a release this May, IFC Films have now released the first trailer.
We said in our review, “The Bleeder looks a bit familiar. A film of browns and greens; disco music and ‘70s rock tunes; big haircuts and even bigger lapels. Indeed, in a way reminiscent of recent period efforts such as Black Mass and David O. Russell’s last two outings,...
We said in our review, “The Bleeder looks a bit familiar. A film of browns and greens; disco music and ‘70s rock tunes; big haircuts and even bigger lapels. Indeed, in a way reminiscent of recent period efforts such as Black Mass and David O. Russell’s last two outings,...
- 4/7/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Last year, two boxing movies duked it out on the festival circuit: “Bleed Like This” starring Miles Teller, which also opened in the fall, and “The Bleeder,” led by Liev Schreiber. Now, perhaps as a bid to extinguish any confusion, the latter has been blandly retitled “Chuck,” as it gears up to hit theaters.
Co-starring Elisabeth Moss, Ron Perlman, Naomi Watts, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Rapaport, and Pooch Hall, and directed by Philippe Falardeau (“Monsieur Lazhar“), the film tells the true story of journeyman boxer Chuck Wepner, who suddenly found himself in sport’s biggest spotlight.
Continue reading First Trailer For Boxing Pic ‘Chuck’ (Formerly ‘The Bleeder’) Starring Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss & Naomi Watts at The Playlist.
Co-starring Elisabeth Moss, Ron Perlman, Naomi Watts, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Rapaport, and Pooch Hall, and directed by Philippe Falardeau (“Monsieur Lazhar“), the film tells the true story of journeyman boxer Chuck Wepner, who suddenly found himself in sport’s biggest spotlight.
Continue reading First Trailer For Boxing Pic ‘Chuck’ (Formerly ‘The Bleeder’) Starring Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss & Naomi Watts at The Playlist.
- 4/7/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
The greatest thing about the best foreign-language film category is the recognition of works from all around the world. Throughout the years, movies made outside the United States of America have gotten the recognition they deserve thanks to the implementation of this specific award. With the 2017 Oscars right around the corner, let’s take a look back at the distribution of nominations and wins across the seven continents that make up this big world we inhabit.
This year’s best foreign-language film contenders are: Toni Erdmann (Germany), The Salesman (Iran), Land of Mine (Denmark), A Man Called Ove (Sweden), Paradise (Russia), The King’s Choice (Norway), My Life as a Zucchini (Switzerland), It’s Only the End of the World (Canada), and Tanna (Australia). This site’s namesake, The Hollywood’s Scott Feinberg, lists the first five of those as frontrunners and the other four as major threats.
Managing Editor
The greatest thing about the best foreign-language film category is the recognition of works from all around the world. Throughout the years, movies made outside the United States of America have gotten the recognition they deserve thanks to the implementation of this specific award. With the 2017 Oscars right around the corner, let’s take a look back at the distribution of nominations and wins across the seven continents that make up this big world we inhabit.
This year’s best foreign-language film contenders are: Toni Erdmann (Germany), The Salesman (Iran), Land of Mine (Denmark), A Man Called Ove (Sweden), Paradise (Russia), The King’s Choice (Norway), My Life as a Zucchini (Switzerland), It’s Only the End of the World (Canada), and Tanna (Australia). This site’s namesake, The Hollywood’s Scott Feinberg, lists the first five of those as frontrunners and the other four as major threats.
- 1/5/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
Edward Arentz is in a good mood. Earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, the Music Box Films managing director picked up a little Swedish comedy, “A Man Called Ove.” (That’s “oo-veh.”) No one else was much interested in the grumpy-old-man movie starring the original Wallander, Rolf Lassgård, which falls in the mold of Jack Nicholson’s “About Schmidt” or Clint Eastwood’s “Grand Torino” (without the guns).
But Arentz found himself crying, laughing, and deeply moved. And over the years he has learned to trust his gut. After all, he picked up U.S. rights to three other little Swedish films that became a worldwide phenomenon, “The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” series ($22 million U.S. total). That experience paved the way for “A Man Called Ove.” At $3.3 million, it’s the highest-grossing foreign-language film of 2016, has landed on the foreign-language Oscar shortlist, and has a strong shot at a nomination.
But Arentz found himself crying, laughing, and deeply moved. And over the years he has learned to trust his gut. After all, he picked up U.S. rights to three other little Swedish films that became a worldwide phenomenon, “The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” series ($22 million U.S. total). That experience paved the way for “A Man Called Ove.” At $3.3 million, it’s the highest-grossing foreign-language film of 2016, has landed on the foreign-language Oscar shortlist, and has a strong shot at a nomination.
- 12/22/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Edward Arentz is in a good mood. Earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, the Music Box Films managing director picked up a little Swedish comedy, “A Man Called Ove.” (That’s “oo-veh.”) No one else was much interested in the grumpy-old-man movie starring the original Wallander, Rolf Lassgård, which falls in the mold of Jack Nicholson’s “About Schmidt” or Clint Eastwood’s “Grand Torino” (without the guns).
But Arentz found himself crying, laughing, and deeply moved. And over the years he has learned to trust his gut. After all, he picked up U.S. rights to three other little Swedish films that became a worldwide phenomenon, “The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” series ($22 million U.S. total). That experience paved the way for “A Man Called Ove.” At $3.3 million, it’s the highest-grossing foreign-language film of 2016, has landed on the foreign-language Oscar shortlist, and has a strong shot at a nomination.
But Arentz found himself crying, laughing, and deeply moved. And over the years he has learned to trust his gut. After all, he picked up U.S. rights to three other little Swedish films that became a worldwide phenomenon, “The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” series ($22 million U.S. total). That experience paved the way for “A Man Called Ove.” At $3.3 million, it’s the highest-grossing foreign-language film of 2016, has landed on the foreign-language Oscar shortlist, and has a strong shot at a nomination.
- 12/22/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
With the Toronto International Film Festival wrapping up today, they’ve handed out their award winners. While our top picks will be arriving shortly, the big winner of the festival was Damien Chazelle‘s La La Land, which won the People’s Choice Awards, while Raoul Peck‘s I Am Not Your Negro won on the documentary side. Other winners include Free Fire in the Midnight Madness category and Jackie in the Platform section, which is in its second year.
Check out the full press release below.
The short film awards below were selected by a jury comprised of American filmmaker Abteen Bagheri (That B.E.A.T.), French filmmaker Eva Husson (Bang Gang), and Canadian filmmaker Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls).
Short Cuts Award For Best Canadian Short Film
The Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Alexandre Dostie’s Mutants. The jury remarked, “Mutants...
Check out the full press release below.
The short film awards below were selected by a jury comprised of American filmmaker Abteen Bagheri (That B.E.A.T.), French filmmaker Eva Husson (Bang Gang), and Canadian filmmaker Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls).
Short Cuts Award For Best Canadian Short Film
The Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Alexandre Dostie’s Mutants. The jury remarked, “Mutants...
- 9/18/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Few film festivals in the world double as an acquisitions marketplace quite like the Toronto International Film Festival, which will screen more than 300 movies between September 8 and September 18. Most of these films have yet to land a U.S. distributor, and only a select group of titles will secure a distribution deal before the end of the fest.
Which movies are likely to be swarmed by buyers at Tiff 2016? Here are nine hot titles from the lineup that could be prime targets for acquisition execs.
“The Bad Batch”
Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour’s follow-up to her hit debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” is billed as a “dystopian love story in a Texas wasteland.” The film follows a young girl named Samantha (Suki Waterhouse) who’s been banished from civilized society and ends up escaping from a community of cannibals. Produced by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures, the film stars Keanu Reeves,...
Which movies are likely to be swarmed by buyers at Tiff 2016? Here are nine hot titles from the lineup that could be prime targets for acquisition execs.
“The Bad Batch”
Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour’s follow-up to her hit debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” is billed as a “dystopian love story in a Texas wasteland.” The film follows a young girl named Samantha (Suki Waterhouse) who’s been banished from civilized society and ends up escaping from a community of cannibals. Produced by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures, the film stars Keanu Reeves,...
- 9/7/2016
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Liev Schreiber starrer The Bleeder has its official out-of-competition screening here at the Venice Film Festival this evening, before stepping into the Toronto ring on September 10. Directed by Monsieur Lazhar Oscar nominee Philippe Falardeau, The Bleeder tells the real-life story of Chuck Wepner, the journeyman underdog boxer who was 35 when he improbably pushed world champ Muhammad Ali to the limit in their 1975 title fight. Schreiber also produces the redemption drama…...
- 9/2/2016
- Deadline
The Bleeder looks a bit familiar. A film of browns and greens; disco music and ‘70s rock tunes; big haircuts and even bigger lapels. Indeed, in a way reminiscent of recent period efforts such as Black Mass and David O. Russell’s last two outings, The Bleeder is drenched in that particular decade’s elaborate trappings. It also owes a lot to the school of Scorsese, complete with wise-guy narration, east-coast working-class lilts, and a sense of “You gotta be shitting me! Is this really my life?” But it’s a sports film at heart and a rather good one at that, all plucky underdog right hooks and tragic, humiliating falls. In a way, it’s also a film about movies, too. Coming from decorated Québécois filmmaker Philippe Falardeau, it is the true life story of Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner, the man who fought Muhammed Ali after the champ...
- 9/2/2016
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Few may realize that the greatest drama faced by the real-life Rocky Balboa began after his landmark fight. Canadian filmmaker Philippe Falardeau goes after this tale of human frailty and redemption in the unpretentious but gently affecting biopic The Bleeder. "The Bayonne Bleeder” was the moniker of prizefighter Chuck Wepner, a liquor salesman from New Jersey who in 1975, quite incredibly, challenged Muhammad Ali for Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world and stood up to him for 15 punishing rounds. Falardeau, who made his mark with the Oscar-nominated teacher-student tale Monsieur Lazhar, again brings real tenderness to his
read more...
read more...
- 9/2/2016
- by Deborah Young
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
by Murtada
A clip should give us a small taste that makes us want to see the movie it’s from. Unlike trailers, clips can’t be manipulated with mood and music, which is why sometimes they are jarring and don’t work out of context. But not this clip.
This clip from The Bleeder has it all. It’s like a short film with a complete story. Even if you knew nothing about the movie, you’d still get a full portrait of two of its character. One is a philandering husband (Liev Schreiber), the other is his wife (Elisabeth Moss) catching him in flirting with another woman in a diner. We know the setting because of the spot on accent from Moss. And watching Moss talk we understand a lot about this marriage.
The Bleeder is a biopic of boxer Chuck Wepner who is the real life inspiration...
A clip should give us a small taste that makes us want to see the movie it’s from. Unlike trailers, clips can’t be manipulated with mood and music, which is why sometimes they are jarring and don’t work out of context. But not this clip.
This clip from The Bleeder has it all. It’s like a short film with a complete story. Even if you knew nothing about the movie, you’d still get a full portrait of two of its character. One is a philandering husband (Liev Schreiber), the other is his wife (Elisabeth Moss) catching him in flirting with another woman in a diner. We know the setting because of the spot on accent from Moss. And watching Moss talk we understand a lot about this marriage.
The Bleeder is a biopic of boxer Chuck Wepner who is the real life inspiration...
- 8/18/2016
- by Murtada Elfadl
- FilmExperience
7 more must-see films at this year's Toronto International Film Festival7 more must-see films at this year's Toronto International Film FestivalAdriana Floridia8/16/2016 10:52:00 Am
Every Tuesday, we are showered with more film announcements for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, and therefore become that much more excited and overwhelmed.
Lucky for you, we're helping you narrow down which films you absolutely must-see at the festival if you're attending, and those that you should keep your eye out for when they hit Cineplex theatres if you're not.
Today, Tiff announced their programs for Contemporary World Cinema, Wavelengths, Masters, and topped up their Galas and Special Presentations. It's a lot of information to process, and there is a wide variety of films here for everyone. We've chosen seven stand-out films from today's announcement that we think you should definitely have on your radar.
Here are seven more films to watch at the...
Every Tuesday, we are showered with more film announcements for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, and therefore become that much more excited and overwhelmed.
Lucky for you, we're helping you narrow down which films you absolutely must-see at the festival if you're attending, and those that you should keep your eye out for when they hit Cineplex theatres if you're not.
Today, Tiff announced their programs for Contemporary World Cinema, Wavelengths, Masters, and topped up their Galas and Special Presentations. It's a lot of information to process, and there is a wide variety of films here for everyone. We've chosen seven stand-out films from today's announcement that we think you should definitely have on your radar.
Here are seven more films to watch at the...
- 8/16/2016
- by Adriana Floridia
- Cineplex
Our five most anticipated Canadian films at #TIFF16Our five most anticipated Canadian films at #TIFF16Adriana Floridia8/3/2016 11:56:00 Am
For a Canadian filmmaker, having your film play at the Toronto International Film Festival is a pretty big deal.
One of the biggest film festivals in the world (and with the amount of films, quantitatively, Tiff plays more new movies than anywhere else), launching your new film at not just a prestigious event, but in a place that you can call home, is a beautiful thing.
As Canadians, we take a certain pride in our homegrown cinema, and Tiff is a major launching pad for these films. Today the festival revealed all of the Canadian films that are playing throughout various programs in the festival, adding to the already announced Special Presentations and Galas, and giving us a sneak peek into the Tiff Documentaries, Masters (films made by iconic directors), Contemporary World Cinema,...
For a Canadian filmmaker, having your film play at the Toronto International Film Festival is a pretty big deal.
One of the biggest film festivals in the world (and with the amount of films, quantitatively, Tiff plays more new movies than anywhere else), launching your new film at not just a prestigious event, but in a place that you can call home, is a beautiful thing.
As Canadians, we take a certain pride in our homegrown cinema, and Tiff is a major launching pad for these films. Today the festival revealed all of the Canadian films that are playing throughout various programs in the festival, adding to the already announced Special Presentations and Galas, and giving us a sneak peek into the Tiff Documentaries, Masters (films made by iconic directors), Contemporary World Cinema,...
- 8/3/2016
- by Adriana Floridia
- Cineplex
This weekend New Yorkers will have a change to dive into a selection of the best recent Canadian cinema thanks to a showcase created by Tiff and Telefilm Canada appropriately called "See the North." On April 1, 2 and 3 2016, audiences at the IFC Center in New York City will be treated to this curated program of Canada’s finest creative talent, with directors in attendance for intros and Q+A’s.
The series includes the most recent work my Oscar-nominated filmmaker Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar"), an Lgbt-themed debut, and a drama starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood.
Here is the full lineup:
"Closet Monster" – Ontario/Newfoundland
A film by Stephen Dunn
Starring Connor Jessup, Aaron Abrams, Joanne Kelly, Aliocha Schneider, Sofia Banzhaf, Jack Fulton, Mary Walsh, Isabella Rossellini
Rt: 90min
U.S. Distributor: Strand Releasing
Screening: 4/1 at 9:30pm with intro and Q + A from director Stephen Dunn
Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
An East Coast teenager and aspiring special-effects makeup artist (Connor Jessup, Blackbird, 2012 Tiff Rising Star) struggles with both his sexuality and his fear of his macho father, in this imaginative twist on the coming-of-age tale from first-time feature director Stephen Dunn.
"The Demons" (Les démons) – Quebec
A film by Philippe Lesage
Starring: Edouard Tremblay-Grenier, Pier-Luc Funk, Pascale Buissière
Rt: 118min
Sales Agent: FunFilm Distribution
Screening: 4/2 at 9:30pm with intro and Q + A with director Philippe Lesage
While Montreal is in the throes of a string of kidnappings targeting young boys, 10-year-old Felix is finishing his school year in the seemingly quiet suburb where he lives. A sensitive boy with a vivid imagination, Felix is afraid of everything. Little by little, his imaginary demons begin to mirror those of the increasingly disturbing world around him.
"Into the Fores" – British Columbia/Ontario
A film by Patricia Rozema
Starring Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie, Michael Eklund, Wendy Crewson
Rt: 101min
U.S. Distributor: A24 Films
Screening: 4/1 at 7:00pm with intro and Q + A from director Patricia Rozema
Two sisters (Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood) struggle to survive in a remote country house after a continent-wide power outage, in this gripping apocalyptic drama by one of Canada’s most celebrated filmmakers.
"My Internship in Canda" (Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre) – Quebec
A film by Philippe Falardeau
Starring Patrick Huard, Irdens Exantus, Clémence Dufresne-Deslières and Suzanne Clément
Produced by Luc Déry, Kim Mccraw
Rt: 108min
Sales Agent: Film Distribution
Screening: 4/2 at 7:00pm with intro and Q+A from director Philippe Falardeau
Guibord is an independent Member of Parliament representing a vast county in Northern Quebec who unwillingly finds himself in the awkward position of determining whether Canada will go to war. Accompanied by his wife, daughter and Souverain (Sovereign) Pascal, an idealistic intern from Haiti, Guibord travels across his district in order to consult his constituents and face his own conscience. This film is a sharp political satire in which politicians, citizens and lobbyists go head-to-head while tearing democracy to shreds.
"Our Loved Ones" (Les Êtres Chers) – Quebec
A film by Anne Émond
Starring: Maxim Gaudette, Karelle Tremblay, Valérie Cadieux, Mickaël Gouin
Rt: 102min
Sales Agent: Wide Management
Screening: 4/3 at 7:00pm with intro and Q+A from director Anne Émond
The story begins in 1978 in a small town on the Lower St.-Lawrence where the Leblanc family is rocked by the tragic death of Guy, found dead in the basement of the family home. For many years, the real cause of his death is hidden from certain members of the family, his son David among them. David starts his own family with his wife Marie and lovingly raises his children, Laurence and Frédéric, but deep down he still carries with him a kind of unhappiness. Our Loved Ones is a film of filial love, family secrets, redemption and inherited fate. Featuring 2015 Tiff Rising Star Karelle Tremblay.
"Sleeping Giant" (Le géant endormi) – Ontario
A film by Andrew Cividino
Starring: Jackson Martin, Nick Serino, Reece Moffett, David Disher, Erika Brodzky, Katelyn McKerracher, Lorraine Philp
Rt: 90min
U.S. Distributor: FilmBuff
Screening: 4/3 at 9:30pm with intro and Q+A from director Andrew Cividino
City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
Spending his summer vacation on rugged Lake Superior, teenager Adam befriends Riley and Nate, smart-aleck cousins who pass their ample free time with pranks, vandalism and reckless cliff jumping. The revelation of a hurtful secret sets in motion a series of irreversible events that test the bonds of friendship and change the boys forever.
The series includes the most recent work my Oscar-nominated filmmaker Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar"), an Lgbt-themed debut, and a drama starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood.
Here is the full lineup:
"Closet Monster" – Ontario/Newfoundland
A film by Stephen Dunn
Starring Connor Jessup, Aaron Abrams, Joanne Kelly, Aliocha Schneider, Sofia Banzhaf, Jack Fulton, Mary Walsh, Isabella Rossellini
Rt: 90min
U.S. Distributor: Strand Releasing
Screening: 4/1 at 9:30pm with intro and Q + A from director Stephen Dunn
Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
An East Coast teenager and aspiring special-effects makeup artist (Connor Jessup, Blackbird, 2012 Tiff Rising Star) struggles with both his sexuality and his fear of his macho father, in this imaginative twist on the coming-of-age tale from first-time feature director Stephen Dunn.
"The Demons" (Les démons) – Quebec
A film by Philippe Lesage
Starring: Edouard Tremblay-Grenier, Pier-Luc Funk, Pascale Buissière
Rt: 118min
Sales Agent: FunFilm Distribution
Screening: 4/2 at 9:30pm with intro and Q + A with director Philippe Lesage
While Montreal is in the throes of a string of kidnappings targeting young boys, 10-year-old Felix is finishing his school year in the seemingly quiet suburb where he lives. A sensitive boy with a vivid imagination, Felix is afraid of everything. Little by little, his imaginary demons begin to mirror those of the increasingly disturbing world around him.
"Into the Fores" – British Columbia/Ontario
A film by Patricia Rozema
Starring Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie, Michael Eklund, Wendy Crewson
Rt: 101min
U.S. Distributor: A24 Films
Screening: 4/1 at 7:00pm with intro and Q + A from director Patricia Rozema
Two sisters (Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood) struggle to survive in a remote country house after a continent-wide power outage, in this gripping apocalyptic drama by one of Canada’s most celebrated filmmakers.
"My Internship in Canda" (Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre) – Quebec
A film by Philippe Falardeau
Starring Patrick Huard, Irdens Exantus, Clémence Dufresne-Deslières and Suzanne Clément
Produced by Luc Déry, Kim Mccraw
Rt: 108min
Sales Agent: Film Distribution
Screening: 4/2 at 7:00pm with intro and Q+A from director Philippe Falardeau
Guibord is an independent Member of Parliament representing a vast county in Northern Quebec who unwillingly finds himself in the awkward position of determining whether Canada will go to war. Accompanied by his wife, daughter and Souverain (Sovereign) Pascal, an idealistic intern from Haiti, Guibord travels across his district in order to consult his constituents and face his own conscience. This film is a sharp political satire in which politicians, citizens and lobbyists go head-to-head while tearing democracy to shreds.
"Our Loved Ones" (Les Êtres Chers) – Quebec
A film by Anne Émond
Starring: Maxim Gaudette, Karelle Tremblay, Valérie Cadieux, Mickaël Gouin
Rt: 102min
Sales Agent: Wide Management
Screening: 4/3 at 7:00pm with intro and Q+A from director Anne Émond
The story begins in 1978 in a small town on the Lower St.-Lawrence where the Leblanc family is rocked by the tragic death of Guy, found dead in the basement of the family home. For many years, the real cause of his death is hidden from certain members of the family, his son David among them. David starts his own family with his wife Marie and lovingly raises his children, Laurence and Frédéric, but deep down he still carries with him a kind of unhappiness. Our Loved Ones is a film of filial love, family secrets, redemption and inherited fate. Featuring 2015 Tiff Rising Star Karelle Tremblay.
"Sleeping Giant" (Le géant endormi) – Ontario
A film by Andrew Cividino
Starring: Jackson Martin, Nick Serino, Reece Moffett, David Disher, Erika Brodzky, Katelyn McKerracher, Lorraine Philp
Rt: 90min
U.S. Distributor: FilmBuff
Screening: 4/3 at 9:30pm with intro and Q+A from director Andrew Cividino
City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
Spending his summer vacation on rugged Lake Superior, teenager Adam befriends Riley and Nate, smart-aleck cousins who pass their ample free time with pranks, vandalism and reckless cliff jumping. The revelation of a hurtful secret sets in motion a series of irreversible events that test the bonds of friendship and change the boys forever.
- 4/1/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Murtada with a bit of news about BFFs Nic and Naomi.
Remember when Nicole Kidman worked with John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) in Rabbit Hole (2010)? Of course you do. It was the last time she put her considerable talent in a movie that completely worked. Yes Oscar noticed but more importantly she won the Film Bitch best actress award.
They're working together again right now. The movie is called How to Talk to Girls at Parties and is about an alien who visits Earth, landing in the London suburb of Croydon during 1970s punk era. And what has excited us most about this picture of Kidman is the costume, of course. Nicole looks like a character from Velvet Goldmine! It's not a coincidence. The costumes are by Haynes favorite Sandy Powell and this marks the first time ever she’s designed for Kidman. Can you believe it?...
Remember when Nicole Kidman worked with John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) in Rabbit Hole (2010)? Of course you do. It was the last time she put her considerable talent in a movie that completely worked. Yes Oscar noticed but more importantly she won the Film Bitch best actress award.
They're working together again right now. The movie is called How to Talk to Girls at Parties and is about an alien who visits Earth, landing in the London suburb of Croydon during 1970s punk era. And what has excited us most about this picture of Kidman is the costume, of course. Nicole looks like a character from Velvet Goldmine! It's not a coincidence. The costumes are by Haynes favorite Sandy Powell and this marks the first time ever she’s designed for Kidman. Can you believe it?...
- 12/3/2015
- by Murtada Elfadl
- FilmExperience
Mandalay Sports Media and Campbell Grobman Films will begin production this month in New York on The Bleeder, with Ray Donovan‘s Liev Schreiber to play heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, and Naomi Watts to play his wife Linda. Philippe Falardeau, the Canadian helmer of The Good Lie and the Oscar nominated Monsieur Lazhar, is set to direct a script written by Jeff Feuerzeig & Jerry Stahl and Michael Cristofer. Schreiber, coming off his third season as the title character in…...
- 10/7/2015
- Deadline
Liev Schreiber and his wife Naomi Watts are set to play heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner and Chuck's wife Linda respectively in "The Bleeder" for Mandalay Sports Media and Campbell Grobman Films.
The story follows the New Jersey liquor salesman and boxer who at age 35 got a shot to fight Muhammad Ali right after the infamous 'Rumble in the Jungle' bout. The 40-1 underdog Wepner surprised everybody when he became only the third man to knock Ali to the canvas.
Ali got up and pummeled Wepne until the fight ended, but Wepner became a folk hero and an inspiration for Sly Stallone's "Rocky" script. The film will also deal with Wepner's sudden fame and hard partying lifestyle.
Philippe Falardeau ("The Good Lie," "Monsieur Lazhar") helms from a script by Jeff Feuerzeig & Jerry Stahl and Michael Cristofer. Schreiber, Mike Tollin, Carl Hampe, Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman are producing and shooting kicks...
The story follows the New Jersey liquor salesman and boxer who at age 35 got a shot to fight Muhammad Ali right after the infamous 'Rumble in the Jungle' bout. The 40-1 underdog Wepner surprised everybody when he became only the third man to knock Ali to the canvas.
Ali got up and pummeled Wepne until the fight ended, but Wepner became a folk hero and an inspiration for Sly Stallone's "Rocky" script. The film will also deal with Wepner's sudden fame and hard partying lifestyle.
Philippe Falardeau ("The Good Lie," "Monsieur Lazhar") helms from a script by Jeff Feuerzeig & Jerry Stahl and Michael Cristofer. Schreiber, Mike Tollin, Carl Hampe, Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman are producing and shooting kicks...
- 10/7/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Welcome to the ever-shifting and oft-delayed world of indie filmmaking, with projects whipped by the seas of changing fortune and scheduling issues. One film, boxing biopic The Bleeder, has been waiting for its shot in the production ring for nearly four years now and appears to be coming together with a new director, Monsieur Lazhar/The Good Lie’s Philippe Falardeau. Back in 2011, we brought word that Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts had signed on to star as boxer Chuck Wepner and his wife Linda, cannily going method by becoming a real-life couple in 2005 (all right, not that last bit, though they have been together since then). Wepner got his start in the ring when he boxed as a Us Marine before turning pro, becoming a popular fighter in New Jersey. But he never quite found real fame and fortune, earning the nickname “The Bayonne Bleeder” for some of his more serious injuries,...
- 10/7/2015
- EmpireOnline
The Vancouver International Film Festival has announced its most anticipated films in the Gala and Special Presentation categories. The films selected represent a true showcase of international cinema, while highlighting homegrown talent in the world's largest showcase of Canadian films during the 34th annual festival running from September 24th to October 9th.
John Crowley's "Brooklyn" starts the festival off in the Opening Night Gala spot. Marc Abraham's "I Saw the Light" holds the Closing Night Gala position with a feature on the life of country star Hank Williams. The film was produced by Vancouver's Bron Studios. Canadian productions remain a crucial part of the festival, Philippe Falardeau's "My Internship in Canada" will open the Canadian Images program, while Patricia Rozema's "Into the Forest" will occupy the BC Spotlight Awards Gala spot.
In 2015, Vancouver audiences will be exposed to 355 films from 70 countries. With 32 World Premieres, 33 North American Premieres and 53 Canadian Premieres, this year's festival promises to be a feast for Canadian film lovers.
The full line-up and ticket are available at viff.org. Here are some highlights:
Opening Gala "Brooklyn" (John Crowley, U.K/Ireland/Canada)
Lured from Ireland by the American Dream, Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) instead lands in a hardscrabble reality of cramped boarding houses and grungy dancehalls. As homesickness grips her, she's also torn between two admirers (Domhnall Gleeson and Emory Cohen). With Nick Hornby scripting, John Crowley crafts a stirring 50s-era immigration tale that also serves as an exhilarating profile of female empowerment.
Closing Gala "I Saw the Light" (Marc Abraham,USA) Having played gods and monsters with aplomb, Tom Hiddleston takes centre stage as country music legend/renegade Hank Williams. In turns as rambunctious as a barn dance and as reflective as a ballad, Marc Abraham's film chronicles Williams' rapid ascent to stardom and the tragedy of a career cut short by substance abuse. Laid to rest at only 29, Williams left behind a truly remarkable body of work. Handling the singing chores himself, Hiddleston does the man—and his music—proud.
Canadian Images Opening Film My Internship in Canada (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)
Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar") returns with an energetic, laugh-out-loud political comedy that couldn't be more timely. Steve Guibord (Patrick Huard, brilliant) is an independent Quebec MP traveling to his northern riding with a new Haitian intern. Soon after finding themselves caught in the crossfire of activists, miners, truckers, politicians and aboriginal groups, it turns out that Guibord somehow holds the decisive vote in a national debate that will decide whether Canada will go to war in the Middle East! The fabulous Suzanne Clément co-stars.
BC Spotlight Awards Gala "Into the Forest" (Patricia Rozema, Canada)
The BC coastal forest is in all its glory as a father and his two daughters drive off to their remote and idyllic getaway home. They have little sense at first of the growing apocalypse that they are leaving in their wake. It will come to them. Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie and Michael Eklund star in this Patricia Rozema-directed adaptation of Jean Hegland's novel.
Spotlight Gala "Beeba Boys" (Deepa Mehta, Canada/India)
Mix propulsive bhangra beats, blazing Ak-47s, bespoke suits, solicitous mothers and copious cocaine, and you have the heady, volatile cocktail that is Deepa Mehta's latest film, an explosive clash of culture and crime. Jeet Johar (Indian star Randeep Hooda) and his young, charismatic Sikh crew vie to take over the Vancouver drug and arms trade in this all-out action/drama. Blood is spilled, heads are cracked, hearts are broken and family bonds are pushed to the brink.
Special Presentations "Arabian Nights" ("Miguel Gomes," Portugal)
Miguel Gomes' ("Tabu," "Our Beloved Month of August") astonishing three-volume, six-hour epic draws inspiration from the tales of Scheherazade (here played by Crista Alfaiate) and once again uses a fascinating combination of reality and fiction to comment on Portugal's past, present and future.
"Dheepan" (Jacques Audiard, France)
Jacques Audiard's ("A Prophet," "Rust and Bone") latest dramatic inquiry into life on society's margins is an alternately gripping and tender love story about the eponymous former Tamil fighter (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) and his improvised family, who exchange war in Sri Lanka for violence of another kind in Paris.
"High-Rise" (Ben Wheatley, U.K)
Ben Wheatley's bold adaptation of Jg Ballard's novel takes no prisoners. This scorching satire on class, hedonism and depravity in an imploding luxury apartment building is an even more apocalyptic class polemic than "Snowpiercer". Throw in exquisitely unsettling turns from Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons, a string quartet cover of Abba's 1975 hit "Sos," an orgy or two and spice with cannibalism, and you have a tour de force of astonishing architectural ambition.
"Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words" (Stig Björkman, Sweden ), Canadian Premiere
Casablanca , Notorious, Voyage to Italy... That Ingrid Bergman, three-time Oscar winner, is one of filmdom's all-time greats is inarguable. Narrated by Swedish (and now Hollywood) star Alicia Vikander, Stig Björkman's intimate exploration of Bergman's personal and professional life benefits immensely from the cooperation of Bergman's daughter Isabella Rossellini, who allowed him access to never-before-seen private footage, notes, letters, diaries and interviews. The result is a rich and multicolored portrait of this extraordinary human being—in her own words.
"Louder Than Bombs" (Joachim Trier, U.S.A/France)
When a war photographer (Isabelle Huppert) dies on assignment, her husband (Gabriel Byrne) struggles to mount a retrospective while dealing with his grieving sons (Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid) and her combative colleague (David Strathairn). Joachim Trier ("Oslo, 31st August") poses tough questions about family, marital responsibility and balancing one's calling and kin.
"Room" (Lenny Abrahamson, Ireland, Canada, U.K)
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson and based on the best-selling Man Booker Prize-nominated novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue, this is the story of five-year old Jack, who lives in an 11-by-11-foot room with his mother. Since it's all he's ever known, Jack believes that only "Room" and the things it contains (including himself and Ma) are real. Then reality intrudes and Jack's life is turned on its head... A remarkable and disturbing work.
"A Tale of Three Cities" (Mabel Cheung, Hong Kong/China)
A rousingly entertaining movie romance, this historical drama tells the deeply moving story of kung fu superstar Jackie Chan's parents. Both grew up in China's tumultuous 20th century, swept by war, revolution and resistance. When charismatic customs officer Fang (Lau Ching-wan) meets impoverished young widow Chen (Tang Wei), an unbreakable bond is forged. Together, their love endures through extraordinary adventures, as they head towards a future in Hong Kong.
"This Changes Everything" (Avi Lewis, Canada)
Naomi Klein ("Shock Doctrine") has risen to prominence around the world as one of Canada's most forceful and relevant public intellectuals. Her cogent call to direct action has inspired youth, helped chart roadmaps for social progressives and environmentalists, and yet worried those who believe that her critique of capitalism plays into the hands of right wingers who think climate change is a socialist plot. Join us, Naomi Klein and director Avi Lewis for this special presentation of "This Changes Everything."
"Youth" (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France/Switzerland/U.K)
Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz anchor Paolo Sorrentino's gorgeous follow-up to The Great Beauty. Fred (Caine), a retired composer, and friend Mick (Keitel), a film director, are sojourning in a stunning Swiss alpine spa. Surrounded by bodies old and young, supple and sagging, they reconsider their pasts–while Sorrentino choreographs the action with exquisite control.
Canadian Images Special Presentations "Hyena Road" (Paul Gross, Canada)
In Paul Gross' film, ripped from the headlines, a sniper, who has never allowed himself to think of his targets as human, becomes implicated in the life of one of them. An intelligence officer, who has never contemplated killing, becomes the engine of a plot to kill. A legendary Mujahideen warrior, who had put war behind him, is now deeply involved. Three different men, three different worlds, three different conflicts, yet all stand at the intersection of modern warfare.
"Remember" (Atom Egoyan, Canada)
Atom Egoyan returns with a completely original take on the darkest chapter of horror in the last century. Christopher Plummer plays a man who's looking for the person who might be responsible for wiping out his family, as he strains to seize the evanescent memories of long-ago brutality. The all-star cast includes Henry Czerny, Martin Landau and Bruno Ganz. Benjamin August's screenplay will keep you guessing until the very end.
John Crowley's "Brooklyn" starts the festival off in the Opening Night Gala spot. Marc Abraham's "I Saw the Light" holds the Closing Night Gala position with a feature on the life of country star Hank Williams. The film was produced by Vancouver's Bron Studios. Canadian productions remain a crucial part of the festival, Philippe Falardeau's "My Internship in Canada" will open the Canadian Images program, while Patricia Rozema's "Into the Forest" will occupy the BC Spotlight Awards Gala spot.
In 2015, Vancouver audiences will be exposed to 355 films from 70 countries. With 32 World Premieres, 33 North American Premieres and 53 Canadian Premieres, this year's festival promises to be a feast for Canadian film lovers.
The full line-up and ticket are available at viff.org. Here are some highlights:
Opening Gala "Brooklyn" (John Crowley, U.K/Ireland/Canada)
Lured from Ireland by the American Dream, Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) instead lands in a hardscrabble reality of cramped boarding houses and grungy dancehalls. As homesickness grips her, she's also torn between two admirers (Domhnall Gleeson and Emory Cohen). With Nick Hornby scripting, John Crowley crafts a stirring 50s-era immigration tale that also serves as an exhilarating profile of female empowerment.
Closing Gala "I Saw the Light" (Marc Abraham,USA) Having played gods and monsters with aplomb, Tom Hiddleston takes centre stage as country music legend/renegade Hank Williams. In turns as rambunctious as a barn dance and as reflective as a ballad, Marc Abraham's film chronicles Williams' rapid ascent to stardom and the tragedy of a career cut short by substance abuse. Laid to rest at only 29, Williams left behind a truly remarkable body of work. Handling the singing chores himself, Hiddleston does the man—and his music—proud.
Canadian Images Opening Film My Internship in Canada (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)
Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar") returns with an energetic, laugh-out-loud political comedy that couldn't be more timely. Steve Guibord (Patrick Huard, brilliant) is an independent Quebec MP traveling to his northern riding with a new Haitian intern. Soon after finding themselves caught in the crossfire of activists, miners, truckers, politicians and aboriginal groups, it turns out that Guibord somehow holds the decisive vote in a national debate that will decide whether Canada will go to war in the Middle East! The fabulous Suzanne Clément co-stars.
BC Spotlight Awards Gala "Into the Forest" (Patricia Rozema, Canada)
The BC coastal forest is in all its glory as a father and his two daughters drive off to their remote and idyllic getaway home. They have little sense at first of the growing apocalypse that they are leaving in their wake. It will come to them. Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie and Michael Eklund star in this Patricia Rozema-directed adaptation of Jean Hegland's novel.
Spotlight Gala "Beeba Boys" (Deepa Mehta, Canada/India)
Mix propulsive bhangra beats, blazing Ak-47s, bespoke suits, solicitous mothers and copious cocaine, and you have the heady, volatile cocktail that is Deepa Mehta's latest film, an explosive clash of culture and crime. Jeet Johar (Indian star Randeep Hooda) and his young, charismatic Sikh crew vie to take over the Vancouver drug and arms trade in this all-out action/drama. Blood is spilled, heads are cracked, hearts are broken and family bonds are pushed to the brink.
Special Presentations "Arabian Nights" ("Miguel Gomes," Portugal)
Miguel Gomes' ("Tabu," "Our Beloved Month of August") astonishing three-volume, six-hour epic draws inspiration from the tales of Scheherazade (here played by Crista Alfaiate) and once again uses a fascinating combination of reality and fiction to comment on Portugal's past, present and future.
"Dheepan" (Jacques Audiard, France)
Jacques Audiard's ("A Prophet," "Rust and Bone") latest dramatic inquiry into life on society's margins is an alternately gripping and tender love story about the eponymous former Tamil fighter (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) and his improvised family, who exchange war in Sri Lanka for violence of another kind in Paris.
"High-Rise" (Ben Wheatley, U.K)
Ben Wheatley's bold adaptation of Jg Ballard's novel takes no prisoners. This scorching satire on class, hedonism and depravity in an imploding luxury apartment building is an even more apocalyptic class polemic than "Snowpiercer". Throw in exquisitely unsettling turns from Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons, a string quartet cover of Abba's 1975 hit "Sos," an orgy or two and spice with cannibalism, and you have a tour de force of astonishing architectural ambition.
"Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words" (Stig Björkman, Sweden ), Canadian Premiere
Casablanca , Notorious, Voyage to Italy... That Ingrid Bergman, three-time Oscar winner, is one of filmdom's all-time greats is inarguable. Narrated by Swedish (and now Hollywood) star Alicia Vikander, Stig Björkman's intimate exploration of Bergman's personal and professional life benefits immensely from the cooperation of Bergman's daughter Isabella Rossellini, who allowed him access to never-before-seen private footage, notes, letters, diaries and interviews. The result is a rich and multicolored portrait of this extraordinary human being—in her own words.
"Louder Than Bombs" (Joachim Trier, U.S.A/France)
When a war photographer (Isabelle Huppert) dies on assignment, her husband (Gabriel Byrne) struggles to mount a retrospective while dealing with his grieving sons (Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid) and her combative colleague (David Strathairn). Joachim Trier ("Oslo, 31st August") poses tough questions about family, marital responsibility and balancing one's calling and kin.
"Room" (Lenny Abrahamson, Ireland, Canada, U.K)
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson and based on the best-selling Man Booker Prize-nominated novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue, this is the story of five-year old Jack, who lives in an 11-by-11-foot room with his mother. Since it's all he's ever known, Jack believes that only "Room" and the things it contains (including himself and Ma) are real. Then reality intrudes and Jack's life is turned on its head... A remarkable and disturbing work.
"A Tale of Three Cities" (Mabel Cheung, Hong Kong/China)
A rousingly entertaining movie romance, this historical drama tells the deeply moving story of kung fu superstar Jackie Chan's parents. Both grew up in China's tumultuous 20th century, swept by war, revolution and resistance. When charismatic customs officer Fang (Lau Ching-wan) meets impoverished young widow Chen (Tang Wei), an unbreakable bond is forged. Together, their love endures through extraordinary adventures, as they head towards a future in Hong Kong.
"This Changes Everything" (Avi Lewis, Canada)
Naomi Klein ("Shock Doctrine") has risen to prominence around the world as one of Canada's most forceful and relevant public intellectuals. Her cogent call to direct action has inspired youth, helped chart roadmaps for social progressives and environmentalists, and yet worried those who believe that her critique of capitalism plays into the hands of right wingers who think climate change is a socialist plot. Join us, Naomi Klein and director Avi Lewis for this special presentation of "This Changes Everything."
"Youth" (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France/Switzerland/U.K)
Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz anchor Paolo Sorrentino's gorgeous follow-up to The Great Beauty. Fred (Caine), a retired composer, and friend Mick (Keitel), a film director, are sojourning in a stunning Swiss alpine spa. Surrounded by bodies old and young, supple and sagging, they reconsider their pasts–while Sorrentino choreographs the action with exquisite control.
Canadian Images Special Presentations "Hyena Road" (Paul Gross, Canada)
In Paul Gross' film, ripped from the headlines, a sniper, who has never allowed himself to think of his targets as human, becomes implicated in the life of one of them. An intelligence officer, who has never contemplated killing, becomes the engine of a plot to kill. A legendary Mujahideen warrior, who had put war behind him, is now deeply involved. Three different men, three different worlds, three different conflicts, yet all stand at the intersection of modern warfare.
"Remember" (Atom Egoyan, Canada)
Atom Egoyan returns with a completely original take on the darkest chapter of horror in the last century. Christopher Plummer plays a man who's looking for the person who might be responsible for wiping out his family, as he strains to seize the evanescent memories of long-ago brutality. The all-star cast includes Henry Czerny, Martin Landau and Bruno Ganz. Benjamin August's screenplay will keep you guessing until the very end.
- 9/6/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.