filmmaker

TIFF suspends screening of film on Russian soldiers after threats

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TIFF suspends screening of film on Russian soldiers after threats

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced it will pause all upcoming screenings of the film Russians at War. The first-person documentary by Russian Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova spurred protest from Ukrainian officials and community groups who say the film amounts to propaganda. The feature was set to have its North American premiere at the Scotiabank Theatre at 2:30 p.m ET Friday. Additional … Read more

TIFF won’t pull controversial documentary about Russian soldiers

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TIFF won’t pull controversial documentary about Russian soldiers

The Toronto International Film Festival says it’s not pulling a controversial documentary about Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine from its schedule, despite outcry from Ukrainian officials and community groups who say the film amounts to propaganda. TIFF’s statement comes a day after Ontario’s public broadcaster TVO, which helped fund Russians at War, announced it was no … Read more

Mike Leigh at Toronto film festival on new movie Hard Truths, his difficulty getting funds

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Mike Leigh at Toronto film festival on new movie Hard Truths, his difficulty getting funds

When the British filmmaker Mike Leigh was six, his father, a doctor who would oppose his son becoming an artist, told him to quit drawing pictures of people. In a way, Leigh never stopped. In his six decades making movies, the 81-year-old has made some of the most humanistic movies in cinema, many of them … Read more

Bumper crop of movies with Manitoba roots hits Toronto International Film Festival

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Bumper crop of movies with Manitoba roots hits Toronto International Film Festival

The province of Manitoba is extraordinarily well represented this month at the Toronto International Film Festival. Officially, the province lays claim to seven films at the festival, which opened Thursday: four features and three shorts, all with Manitoba connections. Never before in the 49-year history of the festival have so many Manitoba-made films been presented. Bear … Read more

Gena Rowlands, known for her emotionally raw portrayals of damaged women, dead at 94

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Gena Rowlands, known for her emotionally raw portrayals of damaged women, dead at 94

Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and later charmed audiences in her son’s tear-jerker The Notebook, has died. She was 94. Rowlands’ death was confirmed Wednesday by representatives for … Read more

‘Real’ story of BlackBerry to be made into film by Mark Wahlberg’s documentary company

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‘Real’ story of BlackBerry to be made into film by Mark Wahlberg’s documentary company

Mark Wahlberg’s documentary production house is ringing up “the real BlackBerry story.” Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas says it is moving ahead with a feature-length documentary centred around the history of the Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone maker. The company says the still-untitled BlackBerry doc will tap into interviews with former executives and staff at the company once known … Read more

Newfoundlanders already love him. Now, a documentary will introduce this psychedelic superhero to the world

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Newfoundlanders already love him. Now, a documentary will introduce this psychedelic superhero to the world

Newfoundland and Labrador documentary filmmaker Jamie Miller is helping bring a unique part of her province’s popular culture to the screen. “In our generation, we grew up turning on our news station in the middle of the night and seeing just bonkers psychedelia content,” she said of her upbringing in St. John’s watching NTV, the local television network … Read more

Celebrated Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison honoured with commemorative stamp

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Celebrated Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison honoured with commemorative stamp

It’s a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and the sounds of Toronto’s torrential downpour blend with live instrumentals from various music scores that accompanied films made by one of Hollywood’s most famed Canadian directors, the late Norman Jewison. These notes and melodies fill the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), a space Jewison founded as a launching point for new generations … Read more

‘‘Henry Odenigbo is not my friend’’ -Yul Edochie

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‘‘Henry Odenigbo is not my friend’’ -Yul Edochie

Like the Actor Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Yul Edochie has distanced himself and clarified his relationship with filmmaker Henry Odenigbo. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Lagos police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin said the kidnappers were killed in a gun duel in Ladipo Mushin after receiving intelligence about their plot to abduct wealthy individuals in the state. … Read more

Elton John, Amy Adams films among first titles announced for TIFF 2024

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Elton John, Amy Adams films among first titles announced for TIFF 2024

A documentary about Elton John and an Amy Adams-led horror comedy about a stay-at-home mom whose life turns surreal will have their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival. Elton John: Never Too Late promises to “pull the back the curtain” on the superstar’s life and is co-directed by R.J Cutler and Toronto’s David Furnish, … Read more