Industry participants at TIFF 2017. Source: TIFF
The whirlwind of TIFF’19 begins!
by Juhi Dhingra
With less than one week to go until the 44th Toronto International Film Festival, FCC is working around the clock to make the most of the 11-day film festival. With multiple events running in parallel almost at every point, a priority schedule for conferences, screenings, networking events, etc., is absolutely imperative.
This year is more special than ever for us as, for the very first time, FCC will be presenting a handpicked selection of feature film projects to potential producers, festival programmers, distributors, and sales agents during the industry conference from September 6 to 10, 2019. More on this later.
In one of our recent blog posts, we discussed how this year’s lineup at TIFF serves a new low for Farsi films. However, we’re going to screenings of whatever limited number of such movies with full enthusiasm.
Here’s a list of screenings you’ll find us at:
SCREENINGS
1. Son-Mother (link)
Director:
Mahnaz Mohammadi (Iranian filmmaker)
Premiere:
3:15 PM, Saturday, September 7, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Additional Screenings:
12:15 PM, Monday, September 9, at Jackman Hall (in the AGO)
3:00 PM, Sunday, September 15, at Scotiabank Theatre
Press & Industry Screenings:
11:00 AM, Monday, September 9, at Scotiabank Theatre
2:15 PM, Thursday, September 12, at Scotiabank Theatre
2. Exam(link)
Director:
Sonia Hadad (Iranian filmmaker)
First screening:
9:30 PM, Sunday, September 8, at Scotiabank Theatre
Additional Screening:
9:30 PM, Saturday, September 14, at Scotiabank Theatre
Press & Industry Screening:
11:45 AM, Monday, September 9, at Scotiabank Theatre
3. Our Lady of the Nile (link)
Director:
Atiq Rahimi (French-Afghan Director)
Premiere:
6:45 PM, Thursday, September 5, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Additional Screening:
12:15 PM, Friday, September 6, at Jackman Hall (at the AGO)
8:30 PM, Saturday, September 14, at Scotiabank Theatre
Press & Industry Screening:
11:45 AM, Saturday, September 7, at Scotiabank Theatre
12:30 PM, Friday, September 13, at Scotiabank Theatre
5. Radioactive (link)
Director:
Marjane Satrapi (Iranian-born French director)
Premiere:
6:30 PM, Saturday, September 14, at Princess of Wales Theater
Additional Screenings:
8:00 PM, Saturday, September 14, at Roy Thomson Hall
9:00 AM, Sunday, September 15, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Press & Industry Screening:
9:00 AM, Friday, September 6, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
11:45 AM, Wednesday, September 11, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
6. Arab Blues (link)
Director:
Manele Labidi
North American Premiere:
8:45 PM, Tuesday, September 10, at Scotiabank Theatre
Additional Screenings:
5:15 PM, Thursday, September 12, at Scotiabank Theatre
Press & Industry Screening:
9:30 AM, Sunday, September 8, at Scotiabank Theatre
9:45 AM, Wednesday, September 11, at Scotiabank Theatre
CONFERENCES
Our ‘high priority’ conference schedule (along with summary provided by TIFF) is as follows:
- CMPA: Indiescreen Awards(3:30 PM, September 5 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
Annual award ceremony that honours outstanding Canadian producers—both emerging and established. - DIALOGUES Film Festivals: New Leadership, New Horizons (11:00 AM, September 6 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
A discussion on how festivals are impacting the evolving business of film and media while maintaining curatorial and artistic excellence and elevating filmmakers. - FOUNDATIONS A Guide to International Funding Partnerships (4:30 PM, September 6 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
Executives from international screen and funding agencies coming together to explore co-production offerings and initiatives against the larger co-production financing landscape. - DIALOGUES Diaspora: Untold Stories, Hidden Cities (11:00 AM, September 7 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
Conversation around authentic storytelling that spotlights the experiences of diaspora communities and the larger societal burdens they face. - FOUNDATIONS Authentic Casting: The Real World On Screen (3:00 PM, September 7 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
A look at how new narratives can be introduced to create richer characters and further social equality, with focus on inclusive and representative casting. - DIALOGUES Redefining Quality for Gender Equality (2:00 PM, September 8 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
A provocative conversation with filmmakers and advocates to examine the ways in which unconscious bias around ‘quality’ has been used as a tool for discrimination — and what we risk overlooking because of that bias. - DIALOGUES Olsberg·SPI presents: TIFF Impact Report (3:45 PM, September 8 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
A presentation of key findings on how people are using the festival and the organization’s impact on the Canadian and Ontario production sectors. - DOC CONFERENCE Industry Talks: Funding Under-represented Doc-Makers(2:15 PM, September 9 @ Canadian Broadcasting Center)
Discussion centered on structural and cultural barriers that prevent doc-makers from under-represented communities from accessing the funding they need to bring their perspectives to the screen.
Apart from these, we’ll be attending other conferences geared toward diversity and inclusion in global cinemas, as well as sustainability practices and upcoming trends.
Still from Halves (Ali Mosaffa) in post-production.
Back to our big news. Three outstanding debut feature films in development and two strong auteur feature films in post-production are the mainstay of FCC’s catalog for TIFF. These five titles are co-productions from Iran, Canada, the Czech Republic, Norway, Poland, France, and Slovakia. In addition, the catalog will include 23 completed documentary and fiction features from Iran, Afghanistan, Germany, and Armenia for sales and distribution in Europe and North America.
Stay tuned to know more about this whirlwind of a festival.
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