In the spotlight: Dusty Mancinelli showcases ‘Pathways’ at the Toronto film fest

TORONTO – Earning a spot at the Toronto International Film Festival is a big coup for a director. Still, with a gaggle of Hollywood A-listers in town, it can be tough to grab a slice of the spotlight. Each day during the festival, The Canadian Press will profile a notable Canuck movie-maker. Today, we look at Dusty Mancinelli, who is at the fest with his second short film, “Pathways.”

Hometown: Toronto

In a nutshell: A spindly Italian boy named Marco (Vince Barrese) is walking home through the woods after being bullied at school when he comes across an unconscious man (Graham Gauthier) with a gun and briefcase. When the boy tries to get a peek inside the briefcase, the ensuing action changes his life forever.

Backstory: Mancinelli works for filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s Hamilton-Mehta Productions, doing stills photography and second-unit directing on several of her acclaimed features. He also has a small production company, Inflo Films, with producer and corporate lawyer Harry Cherniak. Through Inflo, they developed “Pathways” as well as the 2009 short film “Soap,” which was also at TIFF. Mancinelli says he shares a lot of similarities with the young boy in “Pathways,” which he wrote and directed.

In the director’s words: “This film for me is a coming-of-age story. I try to ask the question: ‘Does violence beget violence and does everyone have a breaking point?’ My last short film looked at a similar question. … So that was the impetus for the project, but it is a personal story to me. It’s not based on a true story but I was bullied as a kid and not by classmates or people at school but by my brother in a looking-back-on-it, brotherly-love kind of way.

“I realized while making the film and in post-production how much I connected with Marco and his story, being somebody who grew up as a runt in the family and … knowing what that fear is like and to be surrounded by people (with whom) you don’t necessarily feel comfortable expressing how you feel.”