News

In the social distancing era of Covid-19, Fantasia International Film Festival is coming online with a virtual edition taking place August 20th–September 2nd, and the first wave of programming has been revealed, including Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning, Brea Grant's 12 Hour Shift, Lars Damoiseaux's Yummy, and Tezuka's Barbara from Makoto Tezuka.

The recent Chattanooga Film Festival was a very well-received online experience, and we're excited to see what Fantasia has in store for attendees enjoying the fest from home.

It's important to note that screenings will only be viewable to those who live in Canada, and you can learn more by visiting The Hollywood Reporter and Fantasia's website.

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more coverage of Fantasia 2020, and check out the full first wave announcement below:

Press Release: Tuesday June 9, 2020 // Montreal, Quebec -- The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 24th edition...

Samuel Goldwyn Films holds Us rights.

Toronto-based Raven Banner’s specialty label Northern Banner has acquired Canadian rights to Cory Bowles’ political satire psychodrama Black Cop.

The film received its world debut at the Toronto International Film Festival and has won multiple awards across Canada, including best film and best director at the 2017 Atlantic Film Festival, and best Canadian feature at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Ronnie Rowe Jr. and Sophia Walker star in the story of an officer struggling between duty and moral obligation who gets profiled by his colleagues off-duty, pushing him over the edge.

Armed with the power of his badge,...

Late spring theatrical release for Toronto Discovery selection.

Toronto-based Raven Banner’s specialty label Northern Banner has acquired Canadian rights to Wayne Wapeemukwa’s Luk’Luk’I that premiered in Toronto’s Discovery section.

Luk’Luk’I follows five people living on the fringes of society during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Angel Gates, Joe Buffalo, Ken Harrower, Eric Buurman and Angela Dawson star.

Wapeemukwa’s film won Best Canadian First Feature Film in Toronto 2017 and Best British Columbian Feature at the Vancouver International Film Festival and was also selected as part of Canada’s Top Ten.

Matt Drake, Spencer Hahn,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Carol (Todd Haynes)

From the first note of Carter Burwell‘s magnificent score and opening shot of Edward Lachman’s ravishing cinematography — introducing a Brief Encounter-esque opening bookend — Todd Haynes transports one to an intoxicating world of first love and its requisite heartbreak. Carol excels at being many things: a romantic drama; a coming-of-age story; an exploration of family dynamics and social constructs of the time; an acting...

CAA has hired Danielle Shebby as an agent in the motion picture talent department, reuniting her with former colleague Dana Harris, who moved from Wme to CAA in April. Shebby began her career at Wme in 2010 and was promoted to agent in 2013. At Wme, she had a client list including “Hidden Figures” and “Moonlight” star Janelle Monáe, “Boardwalk Empire’s” Steve Buscemi, “It’s” Bill Skarsgård, “Lady Macbeth’s” Florence Pugh, “Asassination Nation’s” Odessa Young, “Power Rangers'” Naomi Scott, “Apostle’s” Kristine Froseth, “It Comes at Night’s” Kelvin Harrison Jr., “Hello Destroyer’s” Jared Abrahamson, “Iron Fist’s” Jessica Henwick,...

Oh, Canada, our beloved upstairs neighbors. 2017 marks two essential anniversaries integral to the celebration of Canadian culture: the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation (when British influence receded from Canadian lines allowing all colonies to unite as one nation) and the 50th anniversary of Canada’s Telefilm.

Read More: Tiff and Telefilm Canada Partner to Bring Best New Canadian Films to U.S.

Telefilm Canada is an appendage of the Canadian government that supplies monetary means and financial sponsoring of Canadian cinema. The platform as to which Telefilm functions is through the promotion of Canadian audiovisual talent of today and tomorrow. This year hales the second annual Canada Now film series which will be hosted at the IFC Center from April 6 – 9. Canada Now will screen Canada’s best films from the past year.

On the docket for this year’s screenings are Sundance award-winning “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World,...

Distinguished Canadian features from the last year to screen in New York from April 6-9 at IFC Center

Sundance selection Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World (pictured) will kick off the Canada Now: Best New Films From Canada 2017 series.

The second tour of Canadian excellence is presented in partnership with the Consulate General of Canada in New York.

The series includes Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End Of The World, Kevan Funk’s Hello Destroyer, and Bruce McDonald’s Weirdos.

Rounding out the selection are Maliglutit (Searchers) from Zacharias Kunuk, Nettie Wild’s Koneline: Our Land Beautiful, Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany Of Rosie Ming) by Anne Marie Fleming, and Anne Émond’s Nelly.

“Celebrating in 2017 the 150th anniversary of Confederation across Canada, as well as Telefilm Canada’s 50th, is an opportunity to spotlight what makes Canada, and its cinema, so special—its rich diversity,” Carolle Brabant...

It's Only the End of the World and Operation Avalanche recognized among the 2017 Canadian Screen Award NominationsIt's Only the End of the World and Operation Avalanche recognized among the 2017 Canadian Screen Award NominationsAdriana Floridia1/17/2017 2:50:00 Pm

This morning the Canadian Screen Awards announced their 2017 nominations, recognizing the best of last year's Canadian films.

The awards are given out by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. This year's nominees boast a diverse line up of films that tell stories not just in English and French, but also Mandarin, Atikamekw and Inuktiut.

The most high-profile of the bunch would have to be Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World, which is a likely contender at the Oscars this year in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It made the shortlist of nine films that will be considered at the Oscars, which also includes Germany's Toni Erdmann and Chile's Neruda.

The “Canadian Oscars” feature innovative nominees in both film and television.

On Tuesday morning, actors Maxim Roy, Amanda Brugel, and Simu Liu announced the nominees for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s 2017 Canadian Screen Awards. The awards honor outstanding works in film, television, and digital media productions. Both the film and television categories include innovative works made by young talent, and it is refreshing to see the unique work being done in the Canadian media industry.

French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s film, It’s Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) leads the nominations in the film categories, scoring nine nods including Best Motion Picture. Dolan’s film won the Grand Prix at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and has been submitted as Canada’s entry for the 2017 Academy Awards. Dolan did an incredible job adapting Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play of the same name, which was beautifully brought to life by stars...

The Weinstein Company has moved up the qualifying run of its Michael Keaton starrer.

The Founder opened in Los Angeles on December 7 for one week ahead of nationwide roll-out on January 20.

John Lee Hancock directed the story of McDonald’s entrepreneur Ray Kroc and will take part with the cast in a week-long series of Q&A’s as Harvey Weinstein pushes for awards.

The film also stars Laura Dern as Kroc’s first wife Ethel; Linda Cardellini as his second wife Joan Smith; John Carroll Lynch as Mac McDonald and Nick Offerman as Dick McDonald.

The 16th annual Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival will run from January 13-26 at Tiff Bell Lightbox in Toronto before touring select cities. The line-up showcases the best Canadian features, shorts and student shorts in 2016 selected by a panel of seven filmmakers and industry professionals. Zacharias Kunuk’s Maliglutit (Searchers) opens the programme, which includes...

Last year the The Globe & Mail released an article entitled "What is Wrong with the Canadian Film Industry?" that outlined the problems facing our country’s cinema: low box-office numbers, a crisis of English-Canadian identity, an inability to compete with Hollywood entertainments etc., etc. Focused entirely on the industry, the piece fails to mention the resurgence that had been taking root for quite some time. 2015 was an important year for Canadian cinema, but while Room, Hyena Road and Wet Bum ate up the article’s word count, three of the year’s great Canadian films by emerging directors went unnoticed: Isiah Medina’s 88:88, Kurt Walker’s Hit 2 Pass, and Kazik Radwanski’s How Heavy This Hammer. Equating cinema with ‘content,’ a product to be bought and sold, the article is as much a reflection of the problems with Canadian cinema as an exposition of it. But this insidious...

Below you will find our favorite films of the 41st Toronto International Film Festival, as well as an index of our coverage.Top Picksfernando F. Crocei.Toni Erdmann, A Quiet Passion, Elle, (re)Assignment, Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee KidsII.Voyage of Time, Moonlight, I, Daniel Blake; Austerrlitz, J: Beyond FlamencoIII.Salt and Fire, Hello Destroyer, Land of the GodsDANIEL Kasmani.As Without So Within, Certain Women, NocturamaII.Cilaos, Yourself and Yours, Incantati, Children of Lir, Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee KidsIII.Into the Inferno, Untitled, Daguerrotype, Venus Delta, Safari, The HedonistsIV.The Dreamed Path, Manchester by the Sea, 350 Mya, Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait, Kékszakállú, Foyer, The Dreamed OnesV.Ember, Salt and Fire, (re)AssignmentMICHAEL Sicinskii.SingularityII.Aquarius, AusterlitzIII.025 Red Sunset, Cilaos, Indefinite Pitch, Luna e Santur, Mimosas, Nocturama, SieranevadaBLAKE Williamsi.Nocturama, As Without So Withinii.The Dreamed Path, Yourself and Yours, Burning mountains that spew flame,...

The strains of “O Canada” faintly emanate from a television set towards the end Hello Destroyer, Kevan Funk's bold, and boldly Canadian, feature debut, which recently premiered in Toronto and will play in the BC Spotlight program of the Vancouver International Film Festival. That it takes place in the world of (junior) hockey makes it recognizably, unmistakably Canadian; that it puts that hallowed institution under an unsparing microscope is what makes makes it daring. Red background—white lettering. Hello Destroyer—hello, Canada. From its opening frames—an intense on-ice scuffle, shot in tight, almost abstract closeups—the film is steeped in the hyper-masculine milieu of professional hockey that Funk first explored in his 2013 short, Destroyer (which shares the same setting, but charts a standalone narrative). But it would be inaccurate to call the feature (or the short film, for that matter) a “hockey movie,” much less a “sports movie.

Hello Destroyer played to a sold out crowd at Tiff the other night. We have that stunning poster for you to look at and a clip from the film. Both you will find further down.  Hello Destroyer stars Tiff Rising Star Jared Abrahamson as a shy enforcer on a hockey team whose life is shattered by an act of violence during a game. As he struggles with the impact he learns more about the brutal world of competitive sports. About the clip. Yeah, some will argue for and against hazing. For, if you've been hazed and you've never had the chance to return the favor to the next string of rookies to come through your locker room. For, if you're a sick bastard who thinks that...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Voyage of TimeDear Danny,Tiff is indeed an ocean, vast and churning, and we all have lighthouse films—titles around which we build schedules, and that help us situate ourselves amid the bustle. One such lighthouse film for me was Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time, a long-gestating IMAX documentary being shown here in two versions, one running 90 minutes and another 45 minutes. The longer cut, subtitled Life’s Journey, was the one I caught, and it’s a rapturous work of telescopes and microscopes. The scope is cosmic as well as infinitesimal, as befits a film that ruminates on the very formation of life and nature, beginning with semi-abstract orbs that could be shimmering stars or inflamed ova. Blending natural footage with computer-rendered effects, Malick envisions the shape-shifting universe as a most lavish planetarium light-show. Darkness yields to fire, erupting lava hardens and cools underwater, beguilingly bulbous critters swim and crawl past the camera.

Raven Banner’s specialty label has acquired Canadian rights to two Toronto-bound Cannes triumphs: Un Certain Regard winner The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki and Critics Week winner Mimosas.

The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki marks the feature debut of Finland’s Juho Kuosmanen and tells of the eponymous Finnish boxer’s bid to win the world featherweight title in 1962. It gets its first screening in Discovery on September 8.

Mimosas is the second feature from Spain’s Oliver Laxe and centres on a mysterious caravan carrying a dying sheikh to his resting place in the Moroccan desert. The film first screens in Wavelengths on September 10.

Northern Banner plans a theatrical 2017 release for both titles and negotiated The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki with Les Films du Losange and Mimosas with Paris-based Luxbox.

“It’s a huge honour to be working with such bold and innovative new filmmakers as Kuosmanen...

Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.

Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.

A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.

Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.

Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).

Festival Street

For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.

“Festival Street brings great value...

Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.

Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.

A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.

Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.

Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).

Festival Street

For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.

“Festival Street brings great value...

Next month’s Toronto International Film Festival has nearly completed its lineup announcements, and each one is more impressive than the last. Today’s Tiff picks feature a number of slate additions for sections as varied as the forward-focused Discovery, their burgeoning Pop Vr section and even a handful of last minute additions to the Tiff Docs list. New titles of note that have just been announced include the Cannes hit “The Red Turtle,” Wayne Roberts’ “Katie Says Goodbye” and the well-regarded “Sand Storm,” all of which will screen as part of Discovery.

Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program

Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”

Additionally, the festival has...

The Raven Banner specialty label has acquired Canadian rights to Kevan Funk’s film ahead of its world premiere in Toronto’s Discovery section next month.

Hello Destroyer stars Tiff Rising Star Jared Abrahamson as a shy enforcer on a hockey team whose life is shattered by an act of violence during a game.

As he struggles with the repercussions he learns more about the brutal world of his locker room compadres.

Toronto-based Northern Banner plans an early 2017 theatrical release.

Kurt Max Runte, Paul McGillion, Ian Tracey, Sara Canning, Ben Cotton, Maxwell Haynes and newcomer talent Joe Dion Buffalo round out the key cast.

Haydn Wazelle of Tabula Dada and Daniel Domachowski of Type One produced Hello Destroyer and Christine Haebler and Trish Dolman served as executive producers. Telefilm Canada participated in the development and financing.

“Like the vast majority of my short film work that I have made leading up to this, the film is...

A selection of films from the 2016 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has been unveiled, with films by Jim Jarmusch, Maren Ade, Tom Ford, Paul Verhoeven, Damien Chazelle, and many more.Opening NIGHTThe Magnificent Seven (Antoine Fuqua)GALASDeepwater HorizonArrival (Denis Villeneuve)Deepwater Horizon (Peter Berg)The Headhunter's Calling (Mark Williams)The Journey Is the Destination (Bronwen Hughes)Jt + The Tennessee Kids (Jonathan Demme)Lbj (Rob Reiner)Lion (Garth Davis)Loving (Jeff Nichols)A Monster Calls (J.A. Bayona)Planetarium (Rebecca Zlotowski)Queen of Katwe (Mira Nair)The Rolling Stones of Olé Olé Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America (Paul Dugdale)The Secret Scripture (Jim Sheridan)Snowden (Oliver Stone)Strange Weather (Katherine Dieckmann)Their Finest (Lone Scherfig)A United Kingdom (Amma Astante)Special PRESENTATIONSLa La LandThe Age of Shadows (Kim Jee-woon)All I See Is You (Marc Forster)American Honey (Andrea Arnold)American Pastoral (Ewan McGregor)Asura: The City of...

After a promising initial line-up, the Toronto International Film Festival has delivered more titles with their full Canadian slate. Among the line-up is Xavier Dolan‘s It’s Only the End of the World, Bruce MacDonald‘s new feature Weirdos, Deepa Mehta‘s Anatomy of Violence, as well as Two Lovers and a Bear, starring Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan, which we have the first trailer for today.

We said in our review from Cannes, “Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers and a Bear is a film that suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. Like an indie playlist stuck on constant shuffle, unapologetically reveling in a sort of manic unclassifiable genre. This isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, but, for some reason, Nguyen’s scattershot tonal shifts — which hop between a romance on the rocks; a self-serious study of grieving; and a surreal buddy comedy — can prove quite jarring.

A heavyweight roster of world premieres from the leading lights of Canada’s film industry will grace the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

New work from Deepa Mehta, Bruce McDonald and Chloé Robichaud are among the Canadian features set to receive their world premieres, while Xavier Dolan and Kim Nguyen earn North American premieres for their latest films following their Cannes debuts.

Wednesday’s announcement included the slate of Canadian short films, the festival’s four Rising Stars, and participants in the Talent Lab and Telefilm Canada Pitch This! programmes.

Talent Lab alumnus Andrew Cividino is named the 2016 Len Blum Resident. The film-maker will take up residency at the Festival Tower for three months later this year and receive one-on-one script consultations with screenwriter Blum, mentoring from Tiff’s industry and programming teams, and support from Tiff partners.

Cividino will work on his screenplay, We Ate the Children Last, a feature...

A heavyweight roster of world premieres from the leading lights of Canada’s film industry will grace the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

New work from Deepa Mehta, Bruce McDonald and Chloé Robichaud are among the Canadian features set to receive their world premieres, while Xavier Dolan and Kim Nguyen earn North American premieres for their latest films following their Cannes debuts.

Wednesday’s announcement included the slate of Canadian short films, the festival’s four Rising Stars, and participants in the Talent Lab and Telefilm Canada Pitch This! programmes.

Talent Lab alumnus Andrew Cividino is named the 2016 Len Blum Resident. The film-maker will take up residency at the Festival Tower for three months later this year and receive one-on-one script consultations with screenwriter Blum, mentoring from Tiff’s industry and programming teams, and support from Tiff partners.

Cividino will work on his screenplay, We Ate the Children Last, a feature...

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced an additional selection of feature picks — all falling under the banner of Canadian-made films, appropriately enough — along with their Tiff Rising Stars group, the recipient of the Len Blum Residency and a selection of Canadian shorts. Major programming standouts including Xavier Dolan’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “It’s Only the End of the World” and Nathan Morlando’s Cannes debut “Mean Dreams.” Other films of note include April Mullen’s “Below Her Mouth” and Kim Nguyen’s Dane DeHaan-starring “Two Lovers and a Bear.”

This year’s Tiff Rising Stars — four Canadian actors who will take part in a series of specialized programming organized by Tiff’s Industry team — include Jared Abrahamson, Grace Glowicki, Mylène Mackay and Sophie Nélisse. Additional international Rising Stars will be announced in the coming weeks.

Screenwriter and filmmaker Andrew Cividino is the 2016 Len Blum Resident. Cividino,...

Up-and-coming actor Jared Abrahamson (AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead”) is set to star in Kevan Funk’s first feature-length film “Hello Destroyer,” TheWrap has learned. Abrahamson will play a young hockey player whose life is shattered by an in-game act of violence. As he struggles with the repercussions of the event, his personal journey illuminates troubling systemic issues around violence. The indie film co-stars Joe Buffalo, Sara Canning, Ben Cotton, Max Haynes, Darren Mann, Paul McGillion, Phil Prajoux, Kurt Max Runte, Ian Tracey and newcomer Shane Leydon. Also Read: Jared Abrahamson Joins Tye Sheridan, Bel Powley in Indie Thriller...