Whole New Thing, a coming-of-age drama co-written and directed by York film Professor Amnon Buchbinder (below), has come full circle. Following its worldwide sweep of festivals, the production is slated for theatrical release in Toronto tomorrow at the Carlton Cinema.
Right: A scene from Whole New Thing with Daniel MacIvor, left, and Aaron Webber
Buchbinder's film, about a 13-year old boy who develops a crush on his homosexual teacher, created a lot of excitement at its world premiere at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and continues to rack up awards, plaudits and screenings.
Early audiences and critics swooned over the film's "mixture of penetrating thoughtfulness and emotional warmth, captivating performances, visual elegance, provocative subject matter and sense of humour."
Whole New Thing is Buchbinder's second feature film. His critically-acclaimed, Genie Award-winning first feature, The Fishing Trip (1998), was based on a screenplay written by one of his York students. His short films have been shown at festivals around the world.
Buchbinder has been teaching screenwriting at York since 1995. He has a busy practice story-editing feature films and has taught professional screenwriting workshops across Canada. His book, The Way of Screenwriter, published last fall by House of Anansi Press, has been enthusiastically received by film directors, other screenwriters and book reviewers in the national press.
This article was submitted to YFile by Mary-Lou Schagena in the Faculty of Fine Arts.