2016 Toronto International Film Festival Announces Canadian Programmes

                                                

 
 
 This year is shaping up as one of the most varied of TIFF’s Canadian Programmes. "Politics and bold storytelling headline Canadian lineup at the Toronto International Film Festival", the festival promises. Features documentaries and shorts by Canadian artists show us the experience of being who we are, through diverse people, places and ideas. Here is a taste of what's to come.

Xavier Dolan, Canada’s internationally admired wunderkind presents his latest, the Cannes sensation it’s Only the End of the World with its stellar cast including Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard, Gaspard Ulliel, Nathalie Baye, and Léa Seydoux. A family’s response to a man’s announcement of his impending death ranges from horror to anger and expressions of love and not love.

　

                                                                  Deepa Mehta

Deepa Mehta tackles gang rape, a notorious problem in India of late, in Anatomy of Violence. Her starting point was the brutal 2012 gang rape in New Delhi that put an international spotlight on the alarming uptick in gang sex assaults.

                                                                    Sunny Leone

Mehta’s brother Dilip presents Mostly Sunny which documents the colourful life of Sunny Leone, a girl born and raised in a strict Sikh home in Sarnia who became a porn star then reinvented herself as a mainstream Bollywood TV and film star. Can't make this stuff up.

　

Gordon Pinsent

Brigitte Berman returns with The River of My Dreams a fond tribute to one of Canada’s greatest actors and personalities Gordon Pinsent. Given his legacy in Canadian arts, his warmth and humour it’s bound to be a great experience.

Alanis Obomsawin

Legendary Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin’s We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice looks at child services on First Nations reserves and finds they are sadly lacking. The Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations filed a discrimination complaint against Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada and this is their story.

　

 Two Lovers and a Bear

Canada’s multitalented Tatiana Maslany stars with Dane DeHaan in Two Lovers and a Bear set in a town near the North Pole where it’s minus 50 degrees weather and strangely vast and white. They fall in love but her need to escape overwhelms her so they flee.

　

All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and The Spirit of I.F. Stone loos at the work of independent investigative journalists Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Matt Taibbi as the reveal and report on corruption inspired by influential American journalist I.F. Stone..

　

Bruce McDonald

Bruce McDonald returns with Weirdos set in Nova Scotia in 1976 on the weekend of the American Bicentennial. Fifteen year old Kit runs away from home, heading to his mother’s hitchhiking with his girlfriend Alice. Dylan Authors, Julia Sarah Stone, Molly Parker and Allan Hawco star.

　

Below Her Mouth

Below Her Mouth takes place during a passionate weekend affair between two women that take a startling and dangerous turn, with Erika Linder, Natalie Krill, and Sebastian Pigott.

　

Window Horses

Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming) from Ann Marie Fleming is the animated story of a poet observing life with vocals by Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, Don McKellar, Nancy Kwan, and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

　

Old Stone

 

Johnny Ma’s Old Stone is a shocking story of a driver who accidentally hits a motorcyclist, who goes to his rescue and finds himself saddled with having to pay for the man’s treatment. The result of his kindness is ruin, as he faces a dismissive infrastructure threatens to ruin him. Chen Gang stars.

Nicholas de Pencier

Black Code Nicholas de Pencier’s Black Code examines the internet as a tool by which he says citizens are manipulated and censored. Who controls cyberspace?


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