Let the buzz begin We asked 28 experts to give us their three top picks
for the titles to look out for at the film festival
PETER
HOWELL MOVIE CRITIC
That
buzzing sound you hear isn't a hovering West Nile mosquito.
It's something far more insistent and welcome. Right
now it's being heard by only the most privileged of ears on
the streets, in the cafs and in darkened rooms where film
fanatics congregate.
Starting Thursday, it will be humming away at the 28th
edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, which this
year screens 336 films (252 features, 84 shorts) from 55
countries.
You know what the buzz is. It's the insider's tip, the
programmer's pick, the backroom boy's (and girl's) secret
devotion.
It's your master key to the festival, and it's right
here, baby. For our annual Chasing The Buzz survey, we tracked
the noise to its hive, talking to 28 festival programmers and
other movie industry players, to seek their wisdom as to which
flicks are not to be missed.
We asked each to name three films they are keen to see,
and why. There was one catch: Programmers couldn't recommend a
film they had personally selected for the festival.
Last year, our buzz team picked Niki Caro's Whale
Rider as their most-anticipated film at the fest. It went
on to win the audience award. Two other films named in Chasing
The Buzz also received kudos: Peter Mullan's The Magdalene
Sisters won the Volkswagen Discovery Award, and Russian
director Alexandr Sokurov's Russian Ark won the $20,000
IFC Visions Award.
We've got a front-running candidate for glory this
year: Tsai Ming-liang's Good Bye, Dragon Inn, a movie
about the magic of going to movies from the Taiwanese master
of such artful gems as What Time Is It There? It
received seven votes, the most for a single picture in the
three years of Chasing The Buzz.
Other notable films, with three votes each, are Denys
Arcand's gala presentation The Barbarian Invasions,
which opens the festival Thursday night, and Mario Van
Peebles' familial remembrance How To Get The Man's Foot
Outta Your Ass!, which opens Planet Africa on Sept.7.
Garnering two votes each are Errol Morris' The Fog
Of War, Samira Makhmalbaf's At Five In The
Afternoon, James Spooner's Afropunk: "The Rock 'n' Roll
Nigger" Experience, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's
Distant, Peter O'Brian's Hollywood North,
Achero Maas' November, Thom Anderson's Los Angeles
Plays Itself, Thomas de Thier's Des Plumes dans la
tte, Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me, Yann
Samuell's Jeux d'enfants, Bruno Dumont's Twentynine
Palms,Carlos Diegues' God Is Brazilian
andKim Bartley's and Donnacha O'Briain's The
Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
Consider them all good bets. Here's the full list, plus
what our buzz-makers had to say:
Liisa
Allicock-North, film buff:
God Is Brazilian, Carlos Diegues: "This
Brazilian film will carry passion, fun and an extraordinary
journey."
My Life Without Me, Isabel Coixet: "An endearing
story on someone's life that is just left to their wish list."
The Magical Life Of Long Tack Sam, Ann Marie
Fleming: "Her documentary about her great grandfather sounds
like an exciting look in the entertainment world on a life
that no one knows about."
Kay
Armatage, International and Canadian Retrospective
programmer:Osama, Siddiq Barmak: "The plight of young
girls under the Taliban in Afghanistan. Done in hand-held
semi-doc realist style. Punchy and good."
My Life Without Me, Isabel Coixet: "Sarah Polley
in a perfect role, her matter-of-fact and rather cold style
perfectly suited to the role of a woman in her early 20s who's
been married since 17, has two kids, lives in a trailer and
finds out she's going to die ... Really strong and not
melodramatic."
How To Get The Man's Foot Outta Your Ass, Mario
Van Peebles: "I'm sure it's strong."
Dusty
Cohl, festival co-founder:
The Barbarian Invasions, Denys Arcand: "Finally,
an opening-night gala that will dazzle."
The Fog Of War, Errol Morris: "My spies (usually
reliable) tell me not to miss it."
Out Of Time, Carl Franklin: "Franklin's
directorial debut One False Move impressed the Floating
Film Festival audience. It obviously also impressed Denzel
Washington, as Out Of Time is the second Franklin film
he has chosen to star in."
Liz
Czach, Perspective Canada programmer:Good Bye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang:
"Because I love Tsai Ming-liang's work. What Time Is It
There? was woefully under-appreciated."
The Yes Men, Chris Smith and Sarah Price: "I'm a
fan of Smith's American Movie and Price's Caesar's
Park, so I'm looking forward to their directorial
collaboration."
Silence Between Two Thoughts, Babak Payami: "The
little film that could. A testament to the perseverance of the
filmmaker."
Nicholas Davies, managing editor, festival program guide:
Evil, Mikael Hafstrm: "Sounds like an updated
Swedish version of Rebel Without A Cause. A delinquent
youth has to navigate the homoerotic abuse that abounds in a
boys' boarding school. Might as well live vicariously.
Good Bye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang: "His
films are always a thrill. This one turns on the decay of
cinema, portraying the goings-on, sexual and otherwise, in a
Taipei movie house while King Hu's 1966 masterpiece Dragon
Inn plays on the screen. Further evidence of Tsai's
ineffable genius."
Christmas, Gregory King: "A family gets together
for yuletide. One daughter is a martyr, the other a pregnant
recluse. The youngest son is a queer stoner. I can't wait for
the exquisite awfulness when the prodigal son comes home."
Stacey Donen, Perspective Canada programmer:
Young Adam, David Mackenzie: "I've heard great
buzz about Ewan McGregor's incredibly strong performance as a
drifter in this erotic Scottish thriller."
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Kim
Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain: "A film about the 2002 military
coup that temporarily deposed Venezuelan president Hugo
Chvez. Includes some jaw-dropping footage that's going to
have everyone talking."
One From The Heart, Francis Ford Coppola:
"There's a great opportunity to re-evaluate Coppola's visually
brilliant One From The Heart, as the master
filmmaker hits the town to present and speak about the newly
restored print of his unfairly maligned 1982 film for the
Dialogues series."
Dimitri Eipides, International programmer: Zatoichi, Takeshi Kitano: "Will probably be
another example of highly sophisticated filmmaking. For us who
have followed Kitano's previous work this will most likely
hold a promise of sure enjoyment."
Good Bye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang: "Seems to
be a follow-up in his quest for a very contemporary kind of
filmmaking. Personal, idiosyncratic but not private. It
communicates a vision that makes cinema a really high art."
Dream Cuisine, Li Ying: "Stands pretty high
amongst the documentaries. Having seen his two previous ones,
I think this one goes a step further touching on age-long
themes of traditional culture versus modernization, recording
a story that focuses on old solid values."
Sean
Farnel, Real To Reel and Dialogues programmer:Dying At Grace, Allan King: "Dying is a
brave subject for a filmmaker to take on, and I expect that
Allan King truly a master will give us as honest and real
a depiction of death as we've seen on film."
The Corporation, Mark Achbar and Jennifer
Abbott: "The promise of this film is that it will synthesize
and articulate the discussion around the culture of the
corporation the way No Logo mapped out the impact of
branding."
Afropunk: "The Rock 'n' Roll Nigger" Experience,
James Spooner: "Finally, a corrective to the plethora of
baggy-panted white rappers: black punk rockers. Maybe I'll
finally get Fishbone."
Sylvia Frank, director, Film Reference Library:At Five In The Afternoon, Samira
Makhmalbaf: "I was so impressed by Blackboards, it was
so engaging and visually arresting, that I want to see more of
Makhmalbaf's work.
The Singing Detective, Keith Gordon: "Robert
Downey Jr. is always a joy to watch."
God Is Brazilian, Carlos Diegues: "The
plot sounds irresistible. God and his guide are on the road in
Brazil looking for a replacement for God while he goes on
vacation."
Gabrielle Free, festival media and public relations
director:Des Plumes dans la tte,
Thomas de Thier: "It's an absolutely astonishing, tender film
about grief by a first-time Belgian filmmaker."
The Tesseract, Oxide Pang: "This film is
directed by one half of the brother duo that won the Fipresci
Award here in 2000 for Bangkok Dangerous.
Madness And Genius, Ryan Eslinger:
"Directed by a 21-year-old kid who has been working on it
since he was 13. It's generating a lot of buzz."
Alex
Fung, Film buff and Webmaster, Alex Fung's Film Page:
Time Of The Wolf, Michael Haneke:
"Austrian director Haneke's provocative previous films
(Code Unknown, Funny Games, The Piano
Teacher) make this re-teaming with Piano Teacher
star Isabelle Huppert a must-see."
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Kim
Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain: "In the wake of the Iraq war,
the flagrant complicity of mass media (especially TV) as a
tool for government propaganda and assuaging of the masses
seems especially relevant."
Love Actually, Richard Curtis: "The feature film
directorial debut of Richard Curtis, known for writing
U.K.-set romantic comedies Four Weddings And A Funeral,
Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary, The Tall
Guy and so forth, a veritable Who's Who of mainstream Brit
actors. Could be promising frothy fun."
Colin Geddes, Midnight Madness Programmer:
Memories Of Murder, Bong Joon-ho: "A great
Korean thriller based on a true murder case that was never
solved, starring the great Song Kang-ho from The Foul King
and JSA."
Afropunk: "The Rock 'n' Roll Nigger" Experience,
James Spooner: "A blunt doc chronicling the lifestyles and
hardships of being black in the hardcore punk scene."
Los Angeles Plays Itself, Thom Andersen: "An
astounding and ambitious doc that can be enjoyed on so many
different levels, from sprawling doc on L.A. architecture, how
a city serves as a prop in film and as a brisk flip through
the highs and lows of cinema."
Gaylene Gould, Planet Africa programmer:
The Passion Of Mara Elena, Mercedes Moncada
Rodrguez: "In a `globalized' world which still operates under
the completely biased `whoever shouts loudest rule,' this
documentary reveals the enduring passion and strong moral
codes that bind the silent indigenous people of Mexico.
Completely inspiring."
Stormy Weather, Slveig Anspach: "The poignant
tale of two women bound together by an illness, I picked this
as one of the most interesting new works by a woman filmmaker
that appears in the festival."
Love, Sex And Eating The Bones, Sudz Sutherland:
"A new Canadian black feature film not directed by the
wonderfully ubiquitous Clement Virgo? How can I not support
this! Plus it's racy, human, hilarious and has a great cast."
Steve
Gravestock, festival programming manager and Dialogues
programmer:
How To Get The Man's Foot Outta Your Ass, Mario
van Peebles: "Van Peebles recounts his father's experiences
while he was working on the seminal indie film Sweet
Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song, a turning point not only for
African-American cinema but American independent cinema in
general."
Good Bye, Dragon Inn: "A tribute to King Hu from
one of the most intriguing directors working today."
November, Achero Maas: "The exuberant story of
an experimental street-theatre troop in Spain."
Piers
Handling, festival director:
Good Bye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang: "Any new
film by Taiwanese master Tsai Ming-liang is cause for
celebration and this homage to filmmaker King Hu, set in an
abandoned cinema, is also a reverie about film."
Good Morning, Night, Marco Bellocchio: "Italian
great Bellocchio examines both sides of the terrorist equation
victim and protagonist with amazing subtlety and insight
in this dramatization of the Aldo Moro kidnapping of 1978."
Rhinoceros Eyes, Aaron Woodley: "Being David
Cronenberg's nephew doesn't hurt but this first feature,
centring on a youth who works in a prop shop and which mixes
fantasy and horror, sounds more than intriguing."
Cam
Haynes, festival Film Circuit director:
Hollywood North, Peter O'Brian: "Peter O'Brian
is a Canadian icon. He has produced some of the finest films
ever made in Canada including The Grey Fox, My
American Cousin and One Magic Christmas.... I can't
wait."Dogville, Lars von Trier: "I can't wait to
see what he does with three of the finest actresses in film
today Patricia Clarkson, Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall."
Mayor Of The Sunset Strip, George Hickenlooper:
"I caught the first 20 minutes of it and now I am dying to see
the rest."
Steven Indrigo, festival press office writer and
researcher:Jeux d'enfants, Yann Samuell: "I've heard it
being compared to Amlie, which I loved."
Maqbool, Vishal Bharadwaj: "Macbeth is
one of my favourite Shakespeare plays; I'm intrigued by this
film's reinterpretation of it; plus, I hear it's prodigiously
bloody."
End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones,
Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields: "The soundtrack to many a
misspent youth, including my own. Oi!"
Brian
D. Johnson, film critic, Maclean's:
Lost In Translation, Sofia Coppola: "Because
it's sublimely directed by Sofia Coppola, it offers a welcome
oasis from plot-driven formula, and it's Bill Murray finally
getting his comic/dramatic yin and yang together."
Fog Of War, Errol Morris: "Because he fuses
history and metaphysics like no one else."
In the Cut, Jane Campion: "Because it's an
erotic thriller by Jane Campion, and I'm trying to imagine
Mark Ruffalo and Meg Ryan together."
Michle Maheux, festival managing director:Twentynine Palms, Bruno Dumont: "Because I
keep hearing how hot this film is and the photo in the book is
amazing!"
Des Plumes dans la tte, Thomas de Thier:
"Because I hear it treats a very emotional and difficult
subject with sensitivity and grace."
Distant, Nuri Bilge Ceylan: "Because it won
awards in Cannes and I cursed myself for missing the last
screening."
The Agronomist, Jonathan Demme: "Because
I love Jonathan Demme's work but this would have been a guilty
pleasure in Cannes."
November, Achero Maas: "Because I've decided I
need to see at least one Spanish film per year after our
phenomenal success last year with The Other Side Of The
Bed."
Elizabeth Muskala, acting director, Program Administration
and Gala Coordinator:
Jeux d'enfants, Yann Samuell: "I have heard
wonderful things from my colleagues about this, a fantastical
love story that develops between Julien and Sophie in
childhood and that lasts several decades as each one tries to
outdo the other."
Touching The Void, Kevin Macdonald: "A
remarkable documentary, based on the book by Joe Simpson,
immortalizes his story of survival when the climbing
expedition in the Peruvian Andes that he is on with Simon
Yates goes horribly wrong."
The Story Of The Weeping Camel, Byambasuren
Davaa and Luigi Falorni: "Poised to bring a great deal of
attention to the young filmmakers who have made this
astounding documentary and I'm looking forward to seeing
this."
Susan
Oxtoby, director of programming, Cinematheque Ontario:The Merry Widow, Erich von Stroheim: "I'm a
huge devotee of silent cinema and it is extremely rare to have
an opportunity to see a film performed with a group of
musicians, so this will be a real treat."
Distant, Nuri Bilge Ceylan: "I'm particularly
interested in seeing the films of Turkish director Nuri Bilge
Ceylan, including his first feature film, The Town
(1997), Clouds Of May (2000) and Distant,
winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes festival this
year. Too often Turkish cinema seems to miss North American
distribution."
Twentynine Palms, Bruno Dumont: "Since this
director's two previous films La Vie de Jsus and
L'Humanit are so impressive in their handling of
thematic and formal qualities."
Mark Peranson, editor, Cinema Scope magazine:
Los Angeles Plays Itself, Thom Andersen:
"Idiosyncratic documentary about how Los Angeles is portrayed
often negatively in the movies is fascinating, insightful,
entertaining, and the single best film I've seen this year. It
may just change the way you look at the movies."
Coffee And Cigarettes, Jim Jarmusch: "I've seen
the first three episodes of Jim Jarmusch's improvised series
of shorts the laconic Somewhere In California,
starring Tom Waits and Iggy Pop, is a modern classic and I'm
looking forward to seeing the newest instalments (featuring
such personalities as the White Stripes, Bill Murray, and
Taylor Mead.)"
Good Bye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang: "Taiwan's
Tsai Ming-liang is always good for a few yuks, but who would
have guessed he'd turn into cinema's pre-eminent director of
silent comedies? His new film has nine lines of dialogue and
wall-to-wall sight gags, yet manages to be a rueful ode to
moviegoing itself. "
Diana
Sanchez, Latin American and Spanish film programmer:
My Town, Marek Lechki: "I think he will be a
director to watch in the future and that this small, sincere
poetic film about love and life will really reach audiences."
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and
Spring, Kim Ki-duk: "An exquisitely beautiful film
about love and redemption told, through a story about two
monks in isolation, by one of Korea's most controversial
filmmakers."
How To Get The Man's Foot Outta Your Ass, Mario
Van Peebles: "This film just has so many layers that I think
it could be interesting for many people. The bizarre moment in
'60s filmmaking in general, the making of a film that
kickstarted a lot of black filmmakers and brought black
audiences to the theatres, and the story about a son's
relationship with his father."
Jane Schoettle, International programmer and
Sprockets director:
Prey For Rock And Roll, Alex Steyermark: "Gina
Gershon starts as the leader of a lesbian rock band,
struggling with the consequences of a lifetime of choices.
Great clothes, great story, so much fun it's almost illegal."
The Green Butchers, Anders Thomas Jensen:
"Very dark, very funny, memorable characters did I mention
hilarious?"
What The Eye Doesn't See, Francisco J. Lombardi:
"An ambitious film about the social/political climate in the
last days of Fujimori's presidency (in Peru). I like directors
tackling broad landscapes and big themes."
Helga
Stephenson, past director, Toronto International Film
Festival:
At Five In The Afternoon, Samira Makhmalbaf: "A
whimsical yet deadly serious film about a girl, her high-heel
shoes and her desire to be president of Afghanistan."
Elephant, Gus Van Sant: "A gorgeous and deadly
day at school with some of the most beautiful camera work ever
seen on film. Simply recording the events as they move to
their finale."
The Barbarian Invasions, Denys Arcand: "You
laugh, you cry and you get pissed off at the hospital system,
which evidently is worse in Quebec than in Ontario. We are
putty in Arcand's hands and he gets to do a searing indictment
of the medical system too."
Michael Thorner, festival project manager, online: Drifters, Wang Xiaoshuai: "I thought his
last film, Beijing Bicycle (2001), was the work of an
assured storyteller, and I can't wait to see his new one."
Good Bye, Dragon Inn, Tsai Ming-liang: "I fell
in love with Tsai's work almost 10 years ago, and I've made a
point of seeing all his feature films ever since. One of the
greats working in contemporary cinema."
Mayor Of The Sunset Strip, George Hickenlooper:
"Any guy who has known and mingled with the likes of Sonny
& Cher, David Bowie and Brian Wilson obviously has a story
to tell."
James
Quandt, senior programmer, Cinematheque Ontario:
My three choices are all by the same director and all
appear on the same program, in the Wavelengths section of the
festival: Early Monthly Segments, The Ground
and The Hedge Theater,by Robert Beavers. I
have seen these films twice already, and cannot wait to see
them again (and often). Beavers' work is anachronistic in its
formal precision, beauty and complexity, in its use of musical
and poetic forms such as refrain, counterpoint, slant rhyming
of images and sounds, associational editing, etc. These three
are among his best work, which is to say among the most
gorgeous and exhilarating films in contemporary cinema."
Wyndham Wise, editor-in-chief, Take One
magazine:The Barbarian Invasions, Denys Arcand: "Only
because it is the follow-up to The Decline Of The American
Empire, which is one of my favourite films."
The Saddest Music In The World, Guy Maddin:
"Because Isabella Rossellini is in it. And because Maddin is
one of the premier auteurs we have, right up there with Egoyan
and Cronenberg."
Hollywood North, Peter O'Brian: "It's a satire
on dreadful Canadian tax-shelter films. I've got a thing for
Peter O'Brian."
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Liisa
Allicock-North, film buff:
God Is Brazilian, Carlos Diegues: "This
Brazilian film will carry passion, fun and an extraordinary
journey."
My Life Without Me, Isabel Coixet: "An endearing
story on someone's life that is just left to their wish list."
The Magical Life Of Long Tack Sam, Ann Marie
Fleming: "Her documentary about her great grandfather sounds
like an exciting look in the entertainment world on a life
that no one knows about."
