2019 TIFF Canadian film wrapup

#TIFF19 @canadagoose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film 🥇: ANTIGONE (dir. Sophie Deraspe) ⚖️ https://t.co/fz7ypK1bvm pic.twitter.com/267eu3nm4r

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 15, 2019

The 2019 Toronto International Film Festival ended without a formal awards ceremony and released the award winners announcements via social media.

Antigone from Sophie Deraspe won Best Canadian Feature Film. The film is a modern adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy set in the immigrant experience in contemporary Montréal.

Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still) and co-director Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers won honourable mention for The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open in this category.

The Twentieth Century from Matthew Rankin won the Best Canadian First Feature Film award. The film takes on an imagining of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's formative years.

Jeff Barnaby's second film Blood Quantum finished as the second runner-up of the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award.

The film has an intriguing premise of a zombie film where those with Indigenous blood are immune. I got a chance recently to see Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Barnaby's debut film. Brandon Oakes and Devery Jacobs are in both films. Let's say I'm more intriguing about Blood Quantum after seeing Barnaby's first film.

American films are often shot in Canada but those producers don't often use local talent, specifically directors, editors and designers.

The Directors Guild of Canada utilized the platform that is TIFF to draw attention to Hollywood executives that there is tremendous Canadian talent behind such hit shows as The Handmaid's Tale and Orphan Black. Canadians Paul Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau won Best Production Design for The Shape of Water at the 2019 Academy Awards.

The dedicated microsite offers a list of such talent with their credentials. The campaign ran in Toronto and Los Angeles during the run of the festival.

Speaking of the DGC, they sponsored DGC Ontario's Meet the Makers: Visionaries seminars at TIFF help filmgoers get an inner sense of the films they are enjoying. The seminars were free to the public.

Day 10 of our #tomneedsgrinder campaign. #TomHanks just tweeted about us. WOW how amazing is that, #BFF . Joelle says while the phone call was great, next time dinner and drinks, ok ? #ThankYou #love #wedidit #herocks https://t.co/CTNijuUBKr

— GrinderCoffeeGerrard (@GrinderCoffeeTO) September 9, 2019

The fun of TIFF is the joy outside the theatres, the interaction of fans with film stars. Grinder Coffee in Leslieville campaigned for fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling to stop by the coffee shop during TIFF 2018. Gosling took them up on the offer and left there with a "lovely feeling."

This year, Grinder Coffee targeted Tom Hanks, including a life-sized cardboard cutout of Hanks. Hanks took the place up on their offer but actually arrived after the cafe was closed. The visit worked out and now the cafe is 2-for-2 in celebrity luring.

CFL fans remember that Hanks was the guest of Martin Short and they watched the 2013 Grey Cup rooting for Hamilton in Regina. Hanks' character Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood first developed the TV show at the CBC in Toronto.

How Mister Rogers got his start on camera in Canada on the CBC

Canadian rock and roll documentary makes Independent Lens debut on PBS

Since you likely missed the opening gala presentation of Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band at TIFF 2019, the film will air on Bell Media's Crave in Canada. Co-executive producer Ron Howard announced just before the screening that “Magnolia is going to distribute the movie theatrically around the world."

So here's a curious #TIFF19 observation: Cineplex and Netflix do not get along. There are 9 Netflix films playing TIFF (including leading awards contenders MARRIAGE STORY, THE LAUNDROMAT, THE TWO POPES). Not *one* is screening in Cineplex's Scotiabank theatre, a major fest hub 🤔

— Barry Hertz (@HertzBarry) September 6, 2019

Streaming is pretty much a dirty word for the theatre industry as well as film festivals. Films from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are looked at through a different lens because of their distribution origins.

This year, Cineplex-owned Scotiabank Theatre, a major source of TIFF films, is refusing to show any film from a major streaming service during the run of the festival. Those films are being shown at the Bell Lightbox.

First credit for noticing goes to Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail for his astute observation. Hertz points out that Crave films did run at the Scotiabank Theatre.

Theatres want a 90-day theatrical window before movies go to streaming services. Netflix and Amazon Prime want shorter windows.

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Felicity Huffman is in a TIFF 2019 film Tammy's Always Dying with Anastasia Phillips from American actress turned Canadian-based director Amy Jo Johnson.

Huffman would be forgiven if the film wasn't primary in her thoughts these days. Huffman was sentenced Friday to 14 days in jail, a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service, and 1 year of supervised release for her role in the college admissions cheating scandal. Prosecutors wanted 30 days in prison, a $20,000 fine, and 1 year of supervised release.

Tammy, Huffman's character is described as "an alcoholic who's the life of the party when she's in her cups, but a sharp-tongued, vicious monster when sober."

Here are a bunch of Canadian films that pass the Bechdel test

A Canadian film idea to showcase female Canadian acting talent

Women Make Film from Mark Cousins is 14 hours long. Yes, that has to be said. The length is proof that women in film have made an impact, even if that isn’t enough.

The film played the Toronto International Film Festival. Women Make Film covers some 183 female directors around the globe.

"Most films have been directed by men. Most of the recognized so-called movie classics were directed by men. But for 13 decades and on all six filmmaking continents, thousands of women have been directing films, too. Some of the best films."

Tilda Swinton (also a producer) narrates those words at the beginning of the film. Jane Fonda, Adjoa Andoh, Thandie Newton, Kerry Fox, Sharmila Tagore, and Debra Winger also serve as narrators.

Women Make Film shows that women are making films just not the top films from a box office standpoint.

Cohen Media will release the film in theatres; Criterion Collection will stream the film; and Turner Classic Movies gets television rights. Kanopy will show the film in schools and public libraries.

2019 TIFF preview

2019 TIFF Canadian film preview

2019 TIFF Rising Stars

TIFF Rising Stars

We profiled the 2019 class of TIFF Rising Stars here. Here is the list from all the years.

2011 Sarah Allen, Katie Boland, Sarah Gadon, Keon Mohajeri

2012 Tatiana Maslany, Connor Jessup, Charlotte Sullivan, Charlie Carrick

2013 Megan Park, Johnathan Sousa, Evelyne Brochu, Cara Gee

2014 Shannon Kook, Sophie Desmarais, Alexandre Landry, Julia Sarah Stone

2015 Deragh Campbell, Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider, Karelle Tremblay

2016 Jared Abrahamson, Grace Glowicki, Mylène Mackay, Sophie Nélisse

2017 Daniel Doheny, Mary Galloway, Théodore Pellerin, Ellen Wong

2018 Devery Jacobs, Lamar Johnson, Michaela Kurimsky, Jess Salgueiro

2019 Kacey Rohl, Mikhail Ahooja, Nahéma Ricci, Shamier Anderson

Best Canadian Feature Film

I have added Roadkill, When Jews Were Funny, and Manufactured Landscapes to the films I've seen from this list.

Best Canadian Feature Film
Year	Film	Director
2019	Antigone	Sophie Deraspe
2018	The Fireflies Are Gone	Sebastien Pilote
2017	Les Affamés	Robin Aubert
2016	Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves	Mathieu Denis, Simon Lavoie
2015	Closet Monster	Stephen Dunn
2014	Felix and Meira	Maxime Giroux
2013	When Jews Were Funny	Alan Zweig
2012	Laurence Anyways	Xavier Dolan
2011	Monsieur Lazhar	Philippe Falardeau
2010	Incendies	Denis Villeneuve
2009	Cairo Time	Ruba Nadda
2008	Lost Song	Rodrigue Jean
2007	My Winnipeg	Guy Maddin
2006	Manufactured Landscapes	Jennifer Baichwal
2005	C.R.A.Z.Y.	Jean-Marc Vallée
2004	It's All Gone Pete Tong	Michael Dowse
2003	Les Invasions Barbares	Denys Arcand
2002	Spider	David Cronenberg
2001	Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)	Zacharias Kunuk
2000	Waydowntown	Gary Burns
1999	The Five Senses	Jeremy Podeswa
1998	Nô	Robert Lepage
1997	The Sweet Hereafter	Atom Egoyan
	The Hanging Garden	Thom Fitzgerald
1996	Long's Day Journey Into The Night	David Wellington
1995	Live Bait	Bruce Sweeney
1994	Exotica	Atom Egoyan
1993	Kanehsatake: 270 Years Of Resistance	Alanis Obomsawin
1992	Requiem Pour Un Beau Sans-Coeur	Robert Morin
1991	The Adjuster	Atom Egoyan
1990	H	Darrell Wasyk
1989	Roadkill	Bruce McDonald
1988	The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick	Allan Goldstein
1987	Family Viewing	Atom Egoyan
1986	Le Déclin De L'empire Américain	Denys Arcand
1985	Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga Of Hal C. Banks	Donald Brittain
1984	La Femme De L'hôtel	Léa Pool
Best Canadian Feature Film (1991-present); Excellence in Canadian Production (1984-1990).

 

Best Canadian First Feature Film

Haven't seen too many of these films: exceptions being Sleeping Giant, Marion Bridge, and Last Night. Finally saw Old Stone. Did see last year's entry Roads in February. Some of those titles are quite enticing.

Best Canadian First Feature Film
Year	Film	Director
2019	The Twentieth Century	Matthew Rankin
2018	Roads in February	Katherine Jerkovic
2017	Luk' Luk'l	Wayne Wapeemukwa
2016	Old Stone	Johnny Ma
2015	Sleeping Giant	Andrew Cividino
2014	Bang Bang Baby	Jeffrey St. Jules
2013	Asphalt Watches	Shayne Ehman, Seth Scriver
2012	Antiviral	Brandon Cronenberg
	Blackbird	Jason Buxton
2011	Edwin Boyd	Nathan Morlando
2010	The High Cost of Living	Deborah Chow
2009	The Wild Hunt	Alexandre Franchi
2008	Before Tomorrow	Marie-Hélène Cousineau
		Madeline Piujuq Ivalu
2007	Un Film Sans Fusil Continental	Stéphane Lafleur
2006	Sur La Trace D'igor Rizzi	Nöel Mitrani
2005	The Life And Hard Times Of Guy Terrifico	Louise Archambault, Michael Mabbott
2004	La Peau Blanche	Daniel Roby
2003	Love, Sex and Eating The Bones	Sudz Sutherland
2002	Marion Bridge	Wiebke Von Carolsfeld
2001	Inertia	Sean Garrity
2000	La Moitié Gauche Du Frigo	Philippe Falardeau
1999	Just Watch Me:	Catherine Annau
	Trudeau and The 70's Generation
1998	Last Night	Don McKellar
1997	Cube	Vincenzo Natali
As determined by the Toronto International Film Festival.

 

You can check out all the award winners. The 45th Toronto International Film Festival will be held September 10-20, 2020.

Twitter captures: @TIFF_net; @GrinderCoffeeTO; @HertzBarry
photo credit: Directors Guild of Canada