TIFF 2010: Canadian Goodness at the Festival

Today we were treated to a whole slew of press releases featuring Canadian features, shorts, jury members and Pitch This participants at this years Toronto International Film Festival. I always look forward to the announcement of Canadian films, one of the primary reasons I ever started writing about film at all was to share the love and spread the word on Canadian film and TIFF is one of the best places to see Canadian, especially films from Quebec which rarely grace out regular theatres here in Toronto.

Included in the lists we have the first title released from the Midnight Madness program, and will open this years Midnight Madness program and that is Fubar II. I can't even imagine the craziness that will ensue at that screening! Films that I'm really looking forward include new works from great Canadian directors including Denis Côté with Curling, Denis Villeneuve with Incendies and Xavier Dolan with Les amours imaginaires / Heartbeats. We also have a fair number of thrillers in the mix with Good Neighbours and Repeaters, documentary goodness with Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie and music to our ears with Bruce McDonald's Trigger.

Let's take a look at the full list of titles, and remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event."

Canada First!

Daydream Nation
Dir: Mike Goldbach
Cast: Kat Dennings, Andie MacDowell, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson, Rachel Blanchard
BC, Canada
World Premiere

Amazon Falls
Dir: Katrin Bowen
BC, Canada
World Premiere

High Cost of Living
Dir: Deborah Chow
Cast: Isabelle Blais, Zach Braff
QC, Canada
World Premiere

Jaloux
Dir: Patrick Demers
QC, Canada
North American Premiere

Oliver Sherman
Dir: Ryan Redford
Cast: Donal Logue, Molly Parker, Garret Dillahunt
ON, Canada
World Premiere

You Are Here
Dir: Daniel Cockburn
Cast: Tracy Wright, Nadia Litz
ON, Canada
North American Premiere

Canadian Open Vault

A Married Couple
Dir: Allan King
Canada, 1969

Contemporary World Cinema

À l’origine d’un cri
Dir: Robin Aubert
Canada
World Premiere

MODRA
Dir: Ingrid Veninger
Canada
World Premiere

A Night for Dying Tigers
Dir: Terry Miles
Cast: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Kathleen Roberston, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyon, John Pyper-Ferguson
Canada
World Premiere

Route 132
Dir: Louis Bélanger
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

Small Town Murder Songs
Dir: Ed Gass-Donnelly (This Beautiful City)
Cast: Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Aaron Poole, Martha Plimpton
Canada
World Premiere

Galas

A Beginners Guide to Endings
Dir: Jonathan Sobol
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, J.K. Simmons
Canada
World Premiere

Midnight Madness

Fubar II **Midnight Madness Opening Night**
Dir: Michael Dowse
Canada
World Premiere

Real to Reel

How to Start Your Own Country
Dir: Jody Shapiro
Canada
World Premiere

The Man of a Thousand Songs
Dir: William D. MacGillivray
Canada
World Premiere

Special Presentations

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Dir: Sturla Gunnarsson
Documentary
Canada
World Premiere

Good Neighbours
Dir: Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky)
Cast: Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire, Jay Baruchel
Canada
World Premiere

Incendies
Dir: Denis Villeneuve (Polytechnique)
Canada
North American Premiere

Les amours imaginaires / Heartbeats
Dir: Xavier Dolan (J'ai tué ma mère / I Killed My Mother)
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

Repeaters
Dir: Carl Bessai (Normal, Unnatural & Accidental)
Canada
World Premiere

Trigger
Dir: Bruce McDonald (Pontypool)
Cast: Tracy Wright, Sarah Polley, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie
Canada
World Premiere

Visions

Curling
Dir: Denis Côté (Nos vies privées / Our Private Lives)
Canada
North American Premiere

Trois temps après la mort d'Anna
Dir: Catherine Martin
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

See recent press releases regarding Canadian titles at TIFF 2010:

• Oh Canada! Festival Announces Impressive Selection Of Canadian Features
• TIFF Celebrates The Freshest Homegrown Talent With Canada First!
• Short Cuts Canada Lineup Celebrates The Best In Short Film
• Festival Announces Canadian Film Awards And 2010 Jury Members
• Toronto International Film Festival Announces Participants For Seventh Annual Talent Lab, Eleventh Annual Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! And Inaugural Producers Lab Toronto