2007 Toronto International Film Festival

The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007.[1][2] The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissions. The selection included 275 mid- to feature-length films, of which 234 were premieres, with 71 by first-time directors.[3] The festival was attended by members of the industry, press and general public. It opened with the world premiere of Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces, a film based on the international bestselling novel by Anne Michaels,[4] and closed with Paolo Barzman's Emotional Arithmetic.[5]

Toronto International Film Festival
Festival poster
Opening filmFugitive Pieces
Closing filmEmotional Arithmetic
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
Hosted byToronto International Film Festival Group
No. of films349
Festival dateSeptember 6, 2007 – September 15, 2007
LanguageInternational
Websitehttp://www.torontointernationalfilmfestival.ca/

Film reception

Critical favourites included No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days which were equally well received at the Cannes Film Festival, plus the Joy Division biopic Control which, along with the eponymously titled documentary on the band, Joy Division, was picked up by The Weinstein Company. Peter Howell of the Toronto Star named Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead a major Oscar contender.[6] The audience favourite, David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, won the top prize at the festival. The New York Times pointed out that two previous winners had gone on to win Best Picture Oscars.[7]

Highly discussed but divisive films among the public and critics include comedies Juno and Margot at the Wedding, the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There and Brian De Palma's Iraq War documentary Redacted. Films expected to stir controversy for their transgressive sexual content, such as Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, Alan Ball's Nothing Is Private and Martin Gero's Young People Fucking, did divide audiences but without fanfare. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Across the Universe both won their share of supporters despite previous reports of shooting delays and director-studio clashes.[6]

Awards

In addition, film director and historian Peter Bogdanovich was awarded the International Federation of Film Archives Award for his contribution towards film preservation. The award was presented at a screening of Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion (1937) which Bogdanovich selected to illustrate the importance of film restoration.[11]

Programmes

Canada First!
Canada First!
AwardsCitytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film
No. of filmsEight
LanguageEnglish
French
Hindi

The Canada First! programme features first or second time Canadian film directors and established Canadian filmmakers who have not previously appeared in the festival. Eight films were selected to appear in the festival.[12] Stéphane Lafleur's directorial debut Continental, a Film Without Guns won the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film and a CDN$15 000 bursary.[10]

Canadian Open Vault
Canadian Open Vault
Directed byFrancis Mankiewicz
LanguageFrench

The Canadian Open Vault programme features a recently restored and iconic Canadian film.[13] Quebec-based filmmaker Francis Mankiewicz's Good Riddance was selected. The film has previously won eight Genie Awards and appeared on every Canada's Ten Best film survey.[14][15]

Canadian Retrospective
Canadian Retrospective
Directed byMichel Brault
No. of filmsNine
LanguageEnglish
French

The Canadian Retrospective programme features a section of films representing an aspect of the history of Canadian cinema. It was the seventh year the festival has held the retrospective.[16] Influential Québécois filmmaker Michel Brault was spotlighted through nine films he directed or shot. He has been credited for his visual style and creating some of the most important films to come from Quebec. In conjunction, the Toronto International Film Festival Group published a book on Brault, Cinema as History: Michel Brault and Modern Quebec by Andre Loiselle.[17]

Contemporary World Cinema
Contemporary World Cinema
No. of films62
LanguageInternational

The Contemporary World Cinema programme features films from around the world. It included premieres and prize-winning films from other festivals. Sixty-two films were selected,[18] including eight from Canada.[19]

Dialogues: Talking With Pictures
Dialogues: Talking With Pictures
No. of filmsEight
LanguageEnglish
French
Swedish

The Dialogues: Talking With Pictures series features a selection of classic films which are chosen and introduced by well-known directors or artists who have found a given film influential or pivotal throughout the course of their own career.[20] Eight films were selected between nine filmmakers and artists.[21]

Discovery
Discovery
AwardsDIESEL Discovery Award
FIPRESCI Prize
No. of films14
LanguageInternational

The Discovery programme features the work of new film directors from around the world. Fourteen films were selected.[22] Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán's feature debut Cochochi won the DIESEL Discovery Award and a CDN$10 000 bursary. The International Federation of Film Critics returned to the festival for the 16th year and awarded Rodrigo Plá's La Zona the FIPRESCI Prize.[10]

Doc Talks
Doc Talks
LanguageEnglish
French

The Doc Talk series features discussions with various documentary filmmakers on topics such as the future of the medium and their work and its subject matter.[23] Clips from their new and upcoming documentaries are screened. The series was opened to the public for the first time. Topics included biography films, Michel Brault, war and democracy.[24]

Future Projections
Future Projections
LanguageInternational

The Future Projections programme features non-theatrical installations in various mediums.[25] This marked the programme's inaugural run. Nine installations were curated by the Toronto International Film Festival Group and other Torontonian cultural institutions. Admission was free for all exhibitions, with the exception of the exhibit at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery which was free only to Festival passholders.[26]

Darfur/Darfur installation outside of the Royal Ontario Museum

Gala Presentations
Gala Presentations
AwardsCadillac People's Choice Award
No. of films20
LanguageArabic
English
French
Mandarin

Gala Presentations spotlights prestige films of Canadian, American and foreign-language origins in equal measure. They are often world or North American premieres and are screened at the Roy Thomson Hall. Twenty films were selected.[27] David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises received the Cadillac People's Choice Award.[10]

Masters
Masters
No. of films20
LanguageInternational

The Masters programme features films by world-renowned filmmakers. Twenty films were selected.[28]

Mavericks
Mavericks
LanguageEnglish
Hindi
Kannada
Larry Charles and Bill Maher discuss Religulous outside of Ryerson

Mavericks features discussions with film industry and other professionals.[29] Four events were held on a variety of socio-political topics. Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter discussed their activist work after his presidential term. Comedians Bill Maher and Larry Charles tackled religion. Mira Nair brought together three other Indian filmmakers who covered HIV/AIDS and screened four new short films on the subject. Finally, the conflict in Sudan was discussed by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and a panel of filmmakers.[30]

Midnight Madness

[31]

Real to Reel
Werner Herzog talking with an audience member as a crowd exits an Encounters at the End of the World screening at the Paramount Theatre

Short Cuts Canada

Special Presentations
Helen Hunt at the Elgin Theatre for her film Then She Found Me

Sprockets Family Zone
  • The Besieged Fortress (La Citadelle assiégée) directed by Philippe Calderon
  • Max & Co directed by Frédéric Guillaume and Samuel Guillaume
  • Mid Road Gang (Ma-Mha-See-Kha-Krub) directed by Pantham Thongsang and Somkiat Vithuranich
  • Nocturna directed by Victor Maldonado and Adriàn García
  • The Substitute (Vikaren) directed by Ole Bornedal

Vanguard
Director Pang Ho-Cheung (left) addresses the audience at a screening of his film The Exodus

Visions

Wavelengths
  • The Acrobat directed by Chris Kennedy
  • All That Rises directed by Daïchi Saïto
  • The Anthem directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • At Sea directed by Peter Hutton
  • The Butterfly in Winter directed by Ute Aurand and Maria Lang
  • Capitalism: Slavery directed by Ken Jacobs
  • Cross Worlds directed by Cécile Fontaine
  • Discoveries on the Forest Floor 1-3 directed by Charlotte Pryce
  • Echo directed by Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof
  • ecp 2D: sun directed by John Price
  • Erzählung directed by Hannes Schüpbach
  • Europa 2005, 27 Octobre directed by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet
  • Evertwo Circumflicksrent...Page 298 directed by Bruce McClure
  • Wrong Moves (Faux Mouvements) directed by Pip Chodorov
  • gone directed by Karoe Goldt
  • Monica directed by Enrico Mandirola
  • Papillon directed by Olivier Fouchard
  • Pool (Kolam) directed by Chris Chong Chan Fui
  • Pour Vos Beaux Yeux directed by Henri Storck
  • Profit motive and the whispering wind directed by John Gianvito
  • Quartet directed by Nicky Hamlyn
  • Schindler's Houses (Photography and Beyond Part 12) directed by Heinz Emigholz
  • Tape Film directed by Chris Kennedy
  • What the Water Said, nos. 4-6 directed by David Gatten

References
  1. "2007 Toronto International Film Festival Annual report" (PDF). Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  2. "Toronto International Film Festival Announces Complete Lineup Of Programming Including 349 Films From 55 Countries". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  3. "Fact Sheet". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  4. "World Premiere Of Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces To Open Festival". Toronto International Film Festival Group. May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  5. "Emotional Arithmetic Announced As Closing Night Film". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  6. Howell, Peter (September 2007). "No hive mentality at this year's TIFF". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  7. Best Picture winners American Beauty and Chariots of Fire had both previously won the People's Choice Award.
    "Honors in Toronto for 'Eastern Promises'". The New York Times. September 2007. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  8. "TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2007". Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  9. "TIFF 2007: THE AWARD-WINNERS". Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  10. "International Titles Top Festival Awards". Toronto International Film Festival Group. September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  11. "Renoir Classic And Filmmaking Legend Bogdanovich Honoured At Special Event". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  12. "Canada First!". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  13. "Canadian Open Vault". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  14. "Canadian Open Vault Presents Les Bons Débarras". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  15. "Canada's Ten Best: 1984, 1993 & 2004 Film Surveys". Film Reference Library. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  16. Loiselle, André (2007). "Canadian Retrospective". Toronto International Film Festival Group. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  17. "Filmmaker Michel Brault Honoured With Retrospective". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  18. "Contemporary World Cinema". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  19. "Canadian Titles In Contemporary World Cinema And Real To Reel". Toronto International Film Festival Group. July 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  20. "Dialogues: Talking With Pictures". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  21. "Von Sydow, Kuwabara, Loach, Burstyn, Lumet, Bogdanovich, Dong, Kwan And Attenborough In Dialogues". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  22. "Discovery". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  23. "Doc Talks". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  24. "Doc Talks Now Open To The Public, Plus Political Personalities And Legendary Music Artists Headline At TIFF". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  25. "Future Projections". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  26. "Film Meets Visual Arts Throughout Toronto With New Programme: Future Projections". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  27. "Gala Presentations". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  28. "Masters". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  29. "Mavericks". Toronto International Film Festival Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  30. "Carter! Moreno-Ocampo! Maher! Pious Comedy And Presidential Activism Come Together Under Politically Charged Mavericks Programme". Toronto International Film Festival Group. August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  31. "History of the Toronto International Film Festival's MIDNIGHT MADNESS Programme". Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
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