York filmmakers get ready to walk the red carpet at TIFF 2013

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York filmmakers will be walking the red carpet at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The festival, which has gained international attention for its commitment to excellence, runs September 5 to 15 at the Bell TIFF Lightbox and select theatres in downtown Toronto. A total of 366 films from 70 different countries are scheduled to be screened, including 146 world premieres.

ourmantehranYFILE As part of the Mavericks series, on Sept. 12, TIFF presents the world premiere of Our Man in Tehran, a documentary co-directed by Larry Weinstein (BFA ’80, LLD [Hon. ’98]) and Drew Taylor, and produced by Rhombus Media. Our Man in Tehran focuses on Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, and his important role in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, which was made popular by Ben Affleck in his Academy Award winning film Argo. Weinstein and Taylor’s documentary presents the full scope of Canada’s role in saving the lives of six Americans who had taken refuge with Taylor during the crisis. Rhombus co-founder and former York student Niv Fichman (LLD [Hon. ’98]) shares producer credits with Weinstein and Taylor. Weinstein has produced many documentaries about musical subjects including The Life and Death of Manuel de Falla (1991), Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin (1997), and Ravel’s Brain (2001). His recent directorial credits include Beethoven’s Hair (2005), Burnt Toast (2005), Mozartballs (2006), and Inside Hana’s Suitcase (2009).

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animalprojectYFILE Another world premiere taking place at TIFF is The Animal Project, a feature film directed by Ingrid Veninger, a contract faculty member in the Film Production Program in York’s Faculty of Fine Arts. Veninger returns to TIFF as part of the Contemporary World Cinema serie and her film screens Sept. 11, 12 and 14. The Animal Project is the story of a group of misfit actors in an ensemble directed by Leo, a frustrated a theatre director. Leo has stalled in his efforts to bring his troupe together, that is until he has them don animal costumes. Veninger co-directed the short films Hotel Vladivostok (2006), Everything is Love and Fear (2006), and the feature Only (2008). Her features as a solo director are Modra (2010), i am a good person/i am a bad person (2011), both screened at TIFF.

empireofdirtYFILE Also premiering in the Contemporary World Cinema series is Empire of Dirt, a film featuring the cinematography of David Greene (BA ’92). In Empire of Dirt, three generations of Native Canadian women discover that family can help them escape their past & provide a second chance. Greene is known for his work as the director of photography for other mainstream feature films, including Defendor (2009) starring Woody Harrelson (LLD [Hons. ’09]), and the documentary Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story (2004).

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gerontophiliaYFILE Bruce LaBruce (BA ’83, MA ’88) is the director of the feature film Gerontophilia. TIFF presents the North American premiere of Gerontophilia as part of the Festival’s Vanguard series Sept 9, 11 & 13. The film tells the story of a May-December courtship involving a teenage nursing home attendant and an elderly resident. In Gerontophilia, LaBruce offers a satiric take on the queer community and the youth obsessed nature of gay and straight culture. Updating and queering Harold & Maude, LaBruce has made sure to make it not just about emotional attachment but also about ardor. Here, the real revolutionaries aren’t just those who write or talk about revolution; they’re the people who are brave enough to follow their desires. LaBruce’s other feature films include No Skin Off My Ass (1991), Super 8 1/2 (1994), Hustler White (1996), Skin Flick (1998), The Raspberry Reich (2004) and L.A. Zombie (2010).

Pepper’s Ghost, a short film directed by Stephen Broomer (BFA ’06, MA ’08), will have its world premiere screening on Sept. 7 as part of TIFF’s Wavelengths program. Broomer not only directs the film but is also in the cast of this short that transforms an office formerly used for observation studies into a tunnel through the creative use of filters, fabrics, sunlight and fluorescent light. In addition to being a filmmaker, Broomer is a film preservationist. He has given public presentations of his film restoration work at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Canadian Film Institute. His films have screened at the Images Festival Toronto, Chicago Underground, and Imagem-Contato in Sao Paulo.

timeisaterriblethingtowasteYFILE York MFA film student Leslie Supnet’s three-minute animated film A Time is a Terrible Thing to Waste, will have its Toronto premiere as part of TIFF’s Short Cuts Canada program. The film will screen Sept. 10 and 11. Supnet collaborated with Winnipeg storyteller Glen Johnson for this contemplative comic fantasy about a time-obsessed squirrel. She has also directed the short films Gains & Losses (2011) and The Idea (2012).

burtsbuzzYFILE Director Jody Shapiro (BFA ’94) journeys to Maine to profile Burt Shavitz, founder of the all-natural skin care line Burt’s Bees in the documentary Burts Buzz, which will have its world premiere as part of the TIFF Docs series, Sept. 8, 9 and 13. Shapiro is the producer and director of photography for My Winnipeg (2007), which won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF. His documentaries as director include Do You Love Me? (1994), the experimental short 10 Seconds of Protest (2002), Ice Breaker (2005), How to Start Your Own Country (2010), which premiered at the festival.

Screening schedules and ticket information are available on each film’s webpage on the TIFF website.

Descriptions, biographies and film photos from http://tiff.net/thefestival