It’s that time of year again where filmmakers across the world pack their bags for Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival. Starting September 8, the public 11 day celebration of film will be showing a huge variety of films this year, as always, with over 300 films from over 60 different countries. From Indie Sundance fvourites Like Crazy and Martha Marcy May Marlene to rock band documentaries Pearl Jam Twenty and From The Sky Down to films from celebrated Canadian directors Guy Maddin and Sarah Polley to films from renowned filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola, Gus Van Sant and George Clooney, TIFF 2011 has it covered. Here’s a look at a small percentage of films being screened this September.
Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley returns to TIFF with her second film, Take This Waltz, starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby and Sarah Silverman. Margot (Williams) has been happily married to Lou (Rogen) for years, but when she meets her intriguing new neighbour Daniel, she begins to question which kind of love she wants. A funny, bittersweet and moving story of the confusion of love, Polley’s Take This Waltz looks like it will be a big success this September.
Winner of Sundance’s Best Picture Grand Jury Prize and Best Actress Special Jury Prize awards, Drake Domerus’ Like Crazy tells the story of Jacob, played by Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Fright Night) and Anna, played by Felicity Jones (The Tempest), a College couple that must be separated when Anna is banned from the United States after she overstays her visa to be with Jacob. This talked about indie romance will probably go on to be nominated for best picture in the independent film spot like last year’s Winter’s Bone or 2009’s The Hurt Locker.
The fourth film from actor and filmmaker George Clooney, The Ides Of March will be premiering at this year’s festival and stars some of the best actors in Hollywood including Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood and of course, Clooney himself. The political drama about a young presidential campaigner for a fictional governor named Mike Morris looks like this years The King’s Speech, appearing to be the most likely to win this year’s Cadillac People’s Choice Award and possibly go on to win the grand win at the Oscars as well.
Canadian director Michael Dowse brings Goon, a raunchy hockey comedy starring and co-written by Jay Baruchel, to the festival. The film is about Doug, an outcast who attempts to lead a team of losers to semi-pro hockey glory. With fantastic cast that includes Sean William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber and Eugene Levy, Goon may be the first Canadian Hockey comedy to get it right.
Screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt takes her directorial debut Friends With Kids, to Toronto. Starring Westfeldt’s long term boyfriend Jon Hamm from Mad Men, SNL’s Kristen Wiig, Parks and Recreation’s Adam Scott and Megan Fox, the film accounts two couples’ realization that having kids puts a strain on people’s relationships. To solve the issue, they decide to have a kid and date other people. The romantic comedy looks to be hilarious, given the talented cast of comics and the success of Westfeldt’s previous scripts.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen star in Jonathan Levine’s 50/50, a dark comedy about a 27-year-old guy diagnosed with a rare cancer of the spine and his fight to beat the disease. Inspired by screenwriter Will Reiser’s real life experiences, 50/50 is a funny, sweet, and moving film that walks on the line of drama and comedy perfectly. Filled with phenomenal performances from everyone, 50/50 is the perfect film for the Toronto International Film Festival.
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