ICFF film festival back at the Distillery

 I attended the #ICFF2024 - Italian Contemporary Film Festival Press Conference today at the Distillery District.  It returns to the Distillery from June 27 to July 22nd.

Returning for the 2nd year is the Dark Side program with more horror films and even some never seen films.

There are many international films from over 22 countries.

One of Toronto's favourite filmmakers Guillermo Del Toro will have his Shape of Water screen at the festival.

This year they will have a Norman Jewison tribute program called Jewison's Compass, with some of his films including Moonstruck, In the Heat of the Night and The Thomas Crown Affair.

There is a focus on Sustainability this year and there's a documentary called Green over Grey,  which includes a panel discussion.  There is also a Wine tasting, doc film and panel.

And with a nod to Classic Italian film there is a Fellini exhibition this year.

They are bringing back the free music concerts in the afternoons.

The films come in packages that include food tastings,  popcorn and drinks. 

The tastings are from booths around the distillery.

One of the things I would like to attend is the Cinematic Tour. $21 on a Sunday afternoon you can tour the distillery and find out where some of the Worlds greatest films were shot and there's also a scavenger hunt. Sounds fun.

And there's a haunted walk.  Since the Distillery goes way back I am sure there are lots of stories there.

I love the Italian Comedies, they are really broad comedies.

One of the films I saw at Tiff was Next Goal Wins by Taika Watiti and it will screen a couple of times.

A new Hollywood film is Space Cadet with Emma Roberts.

Another highly talked about TIFF film from Atom Egoyen is Seven Veils. 

The best part of the festival is watching it outdoors sitting on blow up couches under the twinkle lights and the stars.  Having it outdoors does come with challenges but if the day is nice it's glorious.

#ICFF2024

For more information: Schedule - ICFF - Lavazza IncluCity

For tickets:   AudienceView Professional (ovationtix.com)

Michel Gondry-Do it yourself- (Hot docs)

 

• Director: François Nemeta
• Writer: Stéphane Davet, François Nemeta
• Stars: Björk, Jack Black, Jim Carrey
• Genre: Documentary
• Time: 1hr and 20 min.
• Release Date: 2023-09-04

I watched the documentary Michel Gondry-Do it Yourself during the Hot Docs Film Festival but finally getting to the review of it now because I am behind in my reviews.

It was a very artsy documentary.  I had heard of Michel Gondry but didn't know anything about him so I was very surprised to find out about how many artist and projects that I knew that were his projects or collaborations.

Michel Gondry is definitely an original artist who has his own vision that is outside of the convention of the film and video world.

 

Some of the artists he has worked with include:

• Bjork
• Beck
• Kylie Minogue
• Daft Punk
• The Chemical Brothers
• Jack Black
• Jack White

What they have in common are artists that originate not copy and do things no one else would think of.

His film projects include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Considered mind-bending at the time.

This documentary is more of an art house type of film but you find out so many things about a man that is more well known to indie artist than to the public.

I found it fascinating to see how he works and where the ideas come from.

His work is like broken mirrors and abstract art.  It's messy, wonky, mad, fragmented, and crazy.

The film is worth a look especially if you grew up in the 80's because it will feel like a flashback.

I don't know where it will be shown yet but I am pretty sure this film will be one of those cult classic films that you will find at film festivals and streaming somewhere.

Beethoven's Nine: Ode to Humanity (Hot Docs review)

 BEETHOVEN’S NINE: ODE TO HUMANITY (Hot Docs)

When the story becomes personal

A Film by Larry Weinstein

World Premiere 

Country: Canada

2023

Languages: English

Director Larry Weinstein

Produced by Liam Romalis, Jason Charters, Riddle Films Inc.

Executive Producer Sarah Polley

Runtime:  83 minutes

Trailer: Hot Docs 2024 Trailer: BEETHOVEN'S NINE (youtube.com)

Website: Home - riddlefilms.com

This film's synopsis doesn't do it justice. The film veers way beyond the concept of Beethoven's music and war to connections to art, and psychology and then it becomes personal for the director.

I was captivated by this film and originally thinking it was just going to be a history lesson about Beethoven and his career. It was that and so much more. Told through some archival footage and interviews with psychologists, music historians, and people connected to art and culture. There are links to the music and war and it starts off with references to Hitler and the Germans. This film was in progress during the Russia/Ukraine conflict so it references that war as well. The film was also filmed in the middle of the October 7, 2023 attack on the Israelis by Gaza. The connection to that conflict became extremely personal to the director as his sister was one of the people who was shot in a field with her husband and they didn't know if they were alive or not. The director was then forced to connect his personal story to the original story in the film making this a richer layered and sad connection to the film.

The other notable connections to Beethoven were the cartoon strips created by Charles Schulz. You will never look at that comic strip the same way after seeing the connection. Conductor Leonard Bernstein's last performances are portrayed in the film and the connection is made to his life.

The making of Beethoven's last compositions was extraordinary because he was deaf and the making of this film became equally as extraordinary because of the real-life situations that were parallel to the making of the film.

There are many themes including, equality, power, wealth, art, suffering, freedom, and many other emotions that are brought to the surface.

I don't have a release date. The doc had 3 screenings at the Hotdocs.ca film festival.

If it gets released soon please make sure you put it on your watchlist. It's a very important film.

Luther: Never Too Much (Hot Docs)

LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH 

Directed by Dawn Porter 2024 | English | Documentary | USA | 101 minutes 

Luther Vandross was an Icon in the Music Industry, known for his smooth and sexy voice.  He was a multi-Grammy Award-winning artist who sold over 50 million albums. Some of his biggest hits included Dance with My Father, Endless Love, and Ain't No Stopping Us Now.   

 This documentary is a look at his illustrious career.  It's a celebration of all the great music he made and the people he worked with and influenced throughout his career.  He was a singer, songwriter, and producer and helped many people with their music.  I was surprised to learn that he worked with David Bowie on his Young Americans song.  Another unlikely connection was his collaboration with Richard Marx.  Luther's music seemed to flow easily but his life and health not as much.  Luther always struggled with his weight and was striving to look like the artist he thought he should look like.  He was categorized as an R&B singer but he wanted to do so much more.  He sacrificed everything in his life for music.

In 2003 he suffered a stroke just before what turned out to be his final album.  Although his whole career was about singing songs of love, sadly he did not have that one love in his life or any children but he was surrounded by the love of his friends, collaborators, and fans.  He exuded love and joy throughout his life even though it wasn't easy.

Luther Vandross (born April 20, 1951, New York, New York, U.S.—died July 1, 2005, Edison, New Jersey) 

INTERVIEWS 

In total, 20 interviews conducted were included in the film including the following participants (listed in order of appearance): 

The Outpost- one man's dream of saving the Amazon with a Rock concert

 

The OUTPOST at the  (Hot Docs Film Festival)

A documentary by Edoardo Morabito Italy, Brazil | 84min | Color | 5.1 & Stereo | 1.78:1 | Italian, English, Portuguese 

Screening at the hotdocs.ca film festival

Christopher Clark a Scottish man living in the Amazon wants to save the world by raising money to save the Rainforest in Brazil.

A chain smoker with a big dream to get Pink Floyd or at least David Gilmour to put on a massive concert in the rainforest to raise the money to build back paradise in the Amazon.  

His journey attracts the filmmaker to follow his dream in hopes of success in his endeavors.

Chris, with his Scottish, working-class values,  tries to move the earth in the Amazon, but corruption and apathy become his roadblocks.

He journeys to London to try and connect with past contacts who can reach out to other celebrities and well-connected contacts to see if he can get money to move forward.  Lots of talk but nothing pans out from that attempt.

He returns to the Amazon and then tries to develop an outpost but the government has other plans.

He holds on to his dream and tries everything he can to make it happen and things don't go as planned.

He watches the forest burn in the fires and things fall apart.  

Chris believes he will die in the forest but once again his plan changed as he developed cancer and moved back to Scotland to live with his sister.  Unfortunately, he died in a hospital in Edinborough so he was never able to see his dream come true but just before he died he found out they guaranteed a reserve of the Rainforest so at least some of it would be protected.

This is a story of a dream, persistence, blind faith, and idealism.  

This film is visually stunning with the contrast of the destruction of the Amazon and the beauty that still exists.  

It's a cautionary tale of Climate Change, greed, and the lack of caring to protect the ecology for the future.

It's a very sad look at where we are going as a people.

www.hotdocs.ca

Born Hungry-life can change course at any time.

 BORN HUNGRY

at www.hotdocs.ca

Sash Simpson

Directed and Written by Barry Avrich
Executive Producers: Jay Hennick, Mark Selby, 
Cinematographer: Ken Ng 
Cast: Sash Simpson, Shipra Khanna, Thomas Zacharias, Sandra Simpson 
Year: 2024 
Run Time: 77 minutes 
Countries: Canada Language: English 

This film is a beautiful journey from a street kid in India to a celebrated Chef in Canada.  

How did he get there? 

Sash Simpson as he is known now was given his name when he moved to Canada to be adopted by caring Philanthrophists  Sandra and Lloyd Simpson.  Sandra a saint set up an orphanage that saved Sash's life at 5 years old.  From 5 years old he somehow survived on the streets of India until Sandra and an Indian woman found him sitting on a bench and they took him to their Canadian foundation orphanage where he would finally have a bed, clothing, and most importantly food.  This changed the trajectory of his life.  A determined boy, he constantly tugged on Sandra to bring him to Canada and, as a Christmas gift to her he was finally brought to live with her in Canada along with many other orphaned kids who came and went, estimated at about 31.  The family had 4 biological children as well who all accepted these other kids as normal for their family.

Because of this large family it became the children's task of cooking at least one night a week and Sash's specialty was his favourite spaghetti.  When you have to cook for that many people it becomes easy to work in a professional kitchen because you can handle the stress.

I have never met Sash but have been aware of him for a long time because he was on a TV show about catering events that his boss and mentor Mark McEwan (North 44 and Bymark) was the subject of.

I have met and eaten McEwan's food many times so Sash may have cooked some of it.

I have a couple other connections to this film.  I used to work at the director's former company for a year in a not-very-exciting role.  And one of the other producers was on my TIFF team for a couple of festivals.  So not only was this film sort of about food and a chef but there were so many other reasons to see it.

I loved this film because Sash returned to India to find out about his past and search for his family but what he found was the flavours, the culture, and the feelings he had when he was a boy trying to survive.  It was a full circle moment when he was serving food to the boys at the Orphanage where he lived.

He explored the markets,  all I can say about that is, goat brains.

In 2019 Sash finally opened his own Restaurant,  of course, it is called  Sash but of course, he also had to pivot during Covid so that's when they started working on this film and a trip to India.

His adopted father has passed away but his mother was able to see his restaurant open and he attributed it all to her.  Unfortunately, she has since passed on so his journey to find his biological family continues.

The film flows back and forth from India to Canada with family interviews and archival footage along with his search in India.  It's beautiful and heartwarming to see how far a determined and strong boy can go.

President of Hot Docs Marie Nelson, Director Barry Avrich, Producer Mark Selby, Cast: Sash Simpson

The last Hot Docs screening is:

Sunday, May 5, 2024 - 2:15 PM - TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema

To support the Orphanage Families For Children, visit FamiliesForChildren.ca

A photographic memory- a stunning portrait of a woman

 A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY       

      

           

International Premiere

Feature documentary Screening at www.hotdocs.ca   Hot Docs International Documentary Festival

RUN TIME: 87 minutes 

RELEASE: 2024

DIRECTOR/WRITER: Rachel Elizabeth Seed 

Writer/Director Rachel Seed declares that she has been surrounded by cameras her whole life so it made perfect sense for her to make a documentary that examines her Journalist mother's illustrious career 30 years after her passing.  Rachel's mother Sheila Turner-Seed was a world-renowned Journalist who broke the mold of what Journalists were.  Sheila passed away from a brain aneurysm when Rachel was 18 months old.  Rachel doesn't have memories of her mother and having only grown up with her father raising her she began the arduous task of going through her mother's extensive archives to find out who her mother was.  She looked through her photographs, read her articles, and found videotapes of the many interviews she did with acclaimed photographers.  

The video archives allowed Rachel to see her mother's movements and hear her voice, something she had no memory of because of the loss at such a young age.   

Rachel got to spend time with her mother's friends, colleagues, and mentors and really got a sense of what she accomplished and her personality.

I don't think Rachel expected to learn about herself in the process.   She found footage of her mother with her as a baby and toddler that brought her to tears.

She also found out some secrets. Did she really see everything her mother, was or just the illusion that was projected on film.  

A very heartfelt, visual, and historical film are all encompassed in this documentary.

It flows like a dream that glimmers and fades.

I connected to this film because of my lifelong love of photography and documenting all kinds of things in life.

There's one more screening at Hot Docs on May 5th, 2024 if you have a chance to see it.

www.hotdocs.ca

Is a Deck of cards the key to a Murder Mystery of a King?- Lost in the Shuffle

 HOT Docs Review

Lost in the Shuffle

Directed and written by: Jon Ornoy

Country: Canada  Time: 100 min.

Starring: Richard Turner, Shawn Farquhar, Alexandra Duvivier, Juan Tamariz, Michael Vincent

Production Company: Animal Mother Films

Can you make a documentary about a deck of playing cards interesting?  Yes, you can!

Here's my take on Lost in the Shuffle the documentary screening at the 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival.

I don't know anything about magic but I was thoroughly entertained watching the journey of Canadian Magician Shawn Farquhar as he traveled around the world meeting up with fellow Magicians and Historians trying to uncover the hidden secrets of the evolution of a deck of playing cards.

He seeks to uncover a murder mystery of a King in England as depicted in over 400 years of playing cards a tool of the trade for most Magicians.  Farquhar made an interesting discovery that led him on a windy, plot-twisting journey.

Highly entertaining characters and a well-told story that is also visually appealing.  

You will say "huh" when hidden secrets are revealed.

Lost in the Shuffle had 2 screenings at the www.hotdocs.ca    look out for it if it gets picked up for wide release soon.   If you are a budding magician you will be extra chuffed.

I couldn't find distribution details but I am fairly certain this will be available to see in a theatre or streaming soon.

www.hotdocs.ca