TORONTO – Montreal director Xavier Dolan‘s Cannes prize winner “It’s Only the End of the World” is headed to the Toronto International Film Festival, along with titles from Canadian filmmakers including Deepa Mehta and Bruce McDonald.
Festival organizers unveiled the Canuck lineup Wednesday and it includes the North American premiere of Dolan’s drama, which won the prestigious Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Vincent Cassel and Marion Cotillard star in the story of a dying author.
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Another homegrown Cannes debut making its North American premiere in Toronto is the North Pole drama “Two Lovers and a Bear” by Montreal’s Kim Nguyen, starring Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan.
Making its world premiere is Mehta’s “Anatomy of Violence,” based on the true story of a young woman who was gang-raped by six men inside a moving bus in New Delhi. The film is a fictional dramatization of the lives of the rapists.
In McDonald’s “Weirdos,” also a world premiere, a 15-year-old hitchhikes through the Maritimes with his girlfriend in 1976. The cast includes Dylan Authors, Julia Sarah Stone, Molly Parker, and Allan Hawco.
Teen lovers on the run are also the focus of the coming-of-age thriller “Mean Dreams” by Toronto’s Nathan Morlando, which was also at Cannes and stars Josh Wiggins and Sophie Nelisse, who is one of this year’s TIFF Rising Stars (the others are Jared Abrahamson, Grace Glowicki, and Mylene Mackay).
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Documentaries on the docket include “The River of My Dreams” by Academy Award winner Brigitte Berman, which profiles the life of actor-writer-director Gordon Pinsent.
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Esteemed First Nations documentary maker Alanis Obomsawin will premiere “We Can’t Make the Same Mistake,” about a landmark discrimination complaint against Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
There’s also an animated film in the Canuck lineup: “Window Horses” by Ann Marie Fleming, a story of a poet featuring the voices of Sandra Oh and Don McKellar.
“We are proud to shine a spotlight on both veteran filmmakers and emerging talent in this year’s slate,” Magali Simard, film programs manager at TIFF, said in a statement.
“Canadians continue to forge their own path on a global scale with their own distinct perspectives and methods of storytelling.”
The fest runs Sept. 8 to 18.
Other world premieres include:
— Chloe Robichaud’s “Boundaries,” starring Emily VanCamp in a story of three women whose paths cross in a small isolated island.
— “Nelly” by Anne Emond, which is inspired by the life and work of late writer Nelly Arcan.
— “Below Her Mouth” by April Mullen, about a passionate weekend affair between two women — one a roofer, the other a fashion editor.
— “ARQ,” by “Orphan Black” writer Tony Elliott, stars Robbie Amell and Rachael Taylor in a futuristic story of a global energy battle.
— “Hello Destroyer” by Kevan Funk, about a young junior hockey player caught up in an act of violence.
— “Nirvanna The Band The Show” by Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, about a fledgling musical act.
Other docs include:
—”Mostly Sunny” by Dilip Mehta, about former adult film star Sunny Leone, who grew up in Sarnia, Ont., with strict Sikh parents.
— The basketball story “Giants of Africa” by Hubert Davis, featuring Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri.
— “All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and The Spirit of I.F. Stone” by journalist Fred Peabody.
— And Nicholas de Pencier’s “Black Code,” which looks at government control over the Internet.
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