It’s time to talk Oscars. It’s ridiculous I know, the award ceremony isn’t for five months, but with the Toronto International Film Festival about to kick off (5th – 15th September) the buzz about films with ‘Oscar-potential’ will begin.
And be in to WIN one of 3 double passes to The Patience Stone...
It’s time to talk Oscars. It’s ridiculous I know, the award ceremony isn’t for five months, but with the Toronto International Film Festival about to kick off (5th – 15th September) the buzz about films with ‘Oscar-potential’ will begin.
Last year for instance, there was plenty of talk at Toronto about a political drama directed by Ben Affleck. Argo went on to do pretty well at the Oscars, Golden Globes, Baftas, and more. Notable films The Hurt Locker, The Kings Speech, and The Artist also began their Oscar campaigns in Toronto. So this is a festival that gives us a good idea about what’s going to hit our screens over the next 12 months, and likes to boast it knows an Oscar winner when it sees one.
So, who and what will get everyone talking this year? Indiewire has described the 38th TIFF lineup as “epic”. A lineup of 200 films have so far been announced, with another 80 to 100 to come. They include new films from Ron Howard, Kelly Reichardt, John Wells, Paul Haggis, Nicole Holofcener, Atom Egoyan, Errol Morris, Xavier Dolan, Jason Reitman, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Haggis, Richard Ayoade, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonathan Glazer, Ti West, Guillaume Canet, Hayao Miyazaki, Johnnie To, Alex Gibney and Kevin Macdonald. If there isn’t ‘Oscar potential’ in that list I’d be very surprised.
Opening the festival is Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate, a dramatic thriller based on the story of WikiLeaks, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange and Daniel Brühl as his colleague and co-founder Daniel Domscheit-Berg. The film also stars David Thewlis, Stanley Tucci, Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie and Dan Stevens.
Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime gets Closing Night honors. Based on the novel The Switch, by Elmore Leonard (who just passed away aged 87), it is set in Detroit in the 1970s and about two criminals who kidnap the wife of a dodgy real estate developer and hold her for ransom. John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey, a.k.a. Mos Def, Tim Robbins, Isla Fisher and Jennifer Aniston make up an eclectic cast.
There are three New Zealand films screening at the Festival; Dana Rotberg’s White Lies, Toa Fraser’s Giselle and Leanne Pooley’s Beyond the Edge 3D.
White Lies is based on the novella Medicine Woman by Witi Ihimaera. Whale Rider won the People’s Choice Award when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2002, this heritage will no doubt help this latest intense drama find an appreciative audience in Toronto.
You don’t have to go to Toronto to enjoy Toa Fraser’s reinterpretation of Giselle, in collaboration with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Giselle premiered at the NZIFF recently and is showing in cinemas now.
Nor do you have to wait too long for Beyond the Edge 3D, the feature film that dramatically recreates the epic true story of Sir Edmund Hillary and his journey to the summit of Mt Everest. It has just been announced Beyond the Edge will release in NZ cinemas on October 24.
Also in cinemas, premiering tonight (Thursday 22 August), The Patience Stone - featured in the Human Rights Series at last year's Toronto Film Festival, this story explores what it means to be a woman in a world ruled by religion and violence.
In the meantime, let's sit back and watch the Oscar buzz begin!
BE IN TO WIN ONE OF 3 DOUBLE PASSES TO THE PATIENCE STONE
All you have to do is tell us in the comments below what films you've got on your list to see at the moment. And we'll announce the winners of the competition in Francesca's blog on Monday.