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Daily Read: Ads in Recession, Toronto Film Fest, Google

The Toronto International Film Festival is starting to post its line-up. The press release is on the jump.

The NYT's David Carr visits the source of the Evil Google Empire.

Don't believe all the conventional wisdom about advertising in a recession.

THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL BRINGS HOME THE BEST OF THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT

 

Toronto – The Toronto International Film Festival announces 24 international selections to screen this September. Programmers have brought back some of the finest titles from Cannes, Berlin and beyond, to screen as part of the 34th edition of the Festival runningSeptember 10-19, 2009The official website for the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, tiff.net/thefestival, will go live on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. Ticket packages for the Festival will be available for purchase by Visa cardholders as of 10 a.m. on Monday, July 6, and by cash, debit or Visa as of 10 a.m. on Monday, July 13. Purchase online attiff.net/thefestival, by phone at 416-968-FILM or 1-877-968-FILM (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed weekends and holidays) or in person at the Festival Box Office at Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West, located in the white tent on the west side of the square). Box Office hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.

 

Masters

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl Manoel de Oliveira, France/Portugal/Spain                                       

North American Premiere

Famed filmmaker Oliveira, who celebrates his 101st birthday this year, tells the tale of Macario's obsession with the enticing blond he spies from his window. Little does he know that she will end up stealing much more than his heart.

 

Les Herbes Folles  Alain Resnais, France                                                                                                                

North American Premiere

From modernist master Alain Resnais comes a romantic adventure based around the simple act of losing a wallet.

 

Air Doll  Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan                                                                                                                                

North American Premiere

This compelling tale of a blow-up doll that becomes a real person and abandons her status of mere sex object comes to life with the superb performance of Korean actress Bae Doo-na.

 

Visions

Face Tsai Ming-liang, France/Taiwan/The Netherlands/Belgium                                                                                       

North American Premiere

tableau vivant adorned with Tsai Ming-Liang’s signature aesthetic portrays a special homage to the Nouvelle Vague and the Louvre, which co-produced the film and hosted its shooting. 

 

Independencia Raya Martin, Philippines/France/Germany/The Netherlands                                                                                                                          

North American Premiere

Mimicking early silent films, Independencia creates a lush metaphor that plays with cinematic illusions and the cultural and mythical history of the Philippines.

 

Irène Alain Cavalier, France                                                                                                                                            

North American Premiere

Filmmaker Alain Cavalier turns his personal grief of becoming a widower into a first-person subjective documentary that focuses on his diary entries.

 

 Karaoke Chris Chong Chan Fui, Malaysia                                                                                                                  

North American Premiere

Poetic, observant and allegorical, Karaoke juxtaposes a young man’s idealism with the reality of a changing Malaysia through karaoke videos.

 

Nymph Pen-Ek Ratanaruang,Thailand                                                                                                                       

North American Premiere

A haunting supernatural love affair set in a mysterious forest between a nymph and a couple who have drifted apart.

 

To Die Like a Man João Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal/France                                                                                   

North American Premiere

In order to forgive and be forgiven for the slights endured over a long life as a transsexual club performer, Tonia devolves her body back into a male form and seeks reconciliation with her estranged son.

Vanguard 

Fish Tank Andrea Arnold, United Kingdom                                                                                                                 

North American Premiere

Andrea Arnold's assured follow-up to Red Road is a taboo-breaking love story about a violent teenaged girl transformed by desire for her mother's new boyfriend.

 

Discovery 

Gigante Adrian Biniez, Uruguay/Germany/Argentina/The Netherlands                                                                 

North American Premiere

Security guard Jara falls in love as he supervises staff through the closed-circuit cameras at a supermarket. First voyeur, then guardian angel, he protects and pursues the cleaning woman who has unknowingly captured his heart.

 

The Happiest Girl in the World Radu Jude, Romania/The Netherlands                                                           

North American Premiere

Family conflict produces comedy in this story of a young girl who wins a car in a lottery and her scheming parents who insist on selling it.

 

Kelin Ermek Tursunov, Kazakhstan                                                                                                                                              

North American Premiere

A love story among the ragged steppes of ancient Kazakhstan is told in beautiful and poetic images, as a young love struggles to survive in the face of uncontrollable external factors.

 

La Pivellina Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Austria/Italy                                                                                        

North American Premiere

A small abandoned girl is sheltered by a circus woman in this tale of courage, loss and togetherness.

 

Samson and Delilah Warwick Thornton, Australia                                                                                                  

North American Premiere

Teenagers Samson and Delilah live in an isolated Aboriginal community in the Central Australian desert. Their outsider status draws them closer together and they come to depend on each other when tragedy strikes.

 

Should I Really Do It Ismail Necmi, Turkey                                                                                                                               

North American Premiere

The concepts of real life and fiction, documentary and drama, are explored in this real-life feature which follows the unbelievable life of Petra, a German woman living in Turkey.

  

Contemporary World Cinema

Eyes Wide Open Haim Tabakman, Israel                                                                                                                 

North American Premiere

A gay love story set in the heart of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, where the belief that love conquers all results in societal pressures and threats of violence.

 

Huacho  Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, Chile                                                                                                         

North American Premiere

A warm family saga which follows 24 hours in the life of a poverty-stricken provincial family in central Chile.

 

Like You Know It All Hong Sang-soo, Republic of Korea                                                                                      

North American Premiere

Delightfully comic exploration of the emotional and social geography of an art-house film director, directed by Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo.

 

Lourdes Jessica Hausner, Austria/France/Germany                                                                                                

North American Premiere

In order to escape her isolation, wheelchair-bound Christine makes a life-changing journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains.

 

Men on the Bridge Asli Özge, Germany/Turkey/The Netherlands                                                                        

North American Premiere

he stories of three men working at the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul are told by the original characters, in this mosaic depicting real persons exposing their lives and aspirations.

 

Police, Adjective Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania                                                                                                     

North American Premiere

A witty portrait of life in the small town of Vaslui, the sophisticated Police, Adjective builds on the promise of Porumboiu’s debut 12:08, East of Bucharest.

 

The Time that Remains Elia Suleiman, France/Belgium/Italy                                                                                               

North American Premiere

This semi-biographic film, divided into four historical episodes, portrays the daily life of Palestinians in 1948 who were considered a minority, even in their homeland.

 

The Wind Journeys Ciro Guerra, Colombia                                                                                                                             

North American Premiere

Ignacio, a former traveling musician, makes one final trip across the country following his wife’s death. He is joined by a teenaged fan, and together they explore the possibilities that life has in store for them.

 

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Variety blogger Anne Thompson is your trusted source for film industry news. She tracks Hollywood, Indiewood, awards season and film festivals for this daily blog.
Member: Alliance of Women Film Journalists


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