TORONTO—With the opening gala presentation of “Score: A Hockey Musical” on Sept. 9 at the Toronto International Film Festival, Canadian film director Michael McGowan showed off what being Canadian is all about.
“Poutine, maple syrup, saying sorry, these are some of the things that define us as Canadians,” said Cameron Bailey, co-director of TIFF at the opening of Score on Thursday at the Elgin Theatre.
“One filmmaker who has brought those things to life—that’s Michael McGowan,” Bailey said.
Score takes the form of a light-hearted love story and stars Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald, and Walter Gretzky, father of the “The Great One.”
The musical portrays known Canadian characteristics like worldliness, humility, and kindness around a theme most sensitive north of the border—hockey. The movie is apt to inspire Canadians to relive the day when Canada won gold in hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Bailey said.
“We have so few opportunities as Canadians to embrace and celebrate what makes us, I think, the greatest country in the world,” said McGowan.
The latest Canadian film McGowan produced was the box office hit “One Week” that he showcased at TIFF in 2008 before it released in theatres the following year.
Affleck’s ‘The Town’
At a press briefing, actor turned director Ben Affleck spoke with confidence of his film “The Town” which premiered at TIFF.
It didn’t take Affleck much effort to assemble a team of dedicated talent that included Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner, who was nominated for his lead role in “The Hurt Locker” at the Academy Awards.
“If casting is directing, then today I can feel proud of my directing,” Affleck said.
“The Town” smartly intertwines the genres of romance and thriller into a story about a team of professionals dealing with organized crime. Shot in Boston, the movie portrays the complex lives of diverse characters as they battle through their interpersonal as well as intrapersonal conflicts.
Renner said it was his first time in Boston, and working there was difficult, “I had to overcome my ignorance to the location.”
Affleck said he enjoyed the crowd at TIFF and that there were many movies that he personally would have liked to watch. Viewers attending this year’s festival are fortunate, he said, because it’s better to be watching the movies than showcasing them and spending the rest of the time in a hotel room.
“This is a festival that has got ten times as much stuff going on in terms of the films and the attendance,” he said, comparing TIFF with the Venice Film Festival.
Affleck added that films presented at TIFF will be exposed to more of the American public, while those in Venice are geared toward the European film market.
“I just came here because I like my movie and I would like for people to see it, and I like the Toronto Film Festival,” he said.
‘127 Hours’
Academy award-winning director Danny Boyle set a challenge for the crew of “127 Hours,” his picture that premiered at TIFF on Sunday.
Based on a true story, “127 Hours” tells the true tale of young American explorer, Aron Ralston, played by James Franco, who goes out into the desert in Moab, Utah, and gets his arm jammed under a boulder.
“I really liked the idea of this challenge, and I’m open to new experiences as an actor... I don’t know if this chance will ever come up again, so I was very eager to do it,” said Franco during his red carpet appearance on Sunday evening.
Amber Tamblyn, best known for her role in the “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” said she very much enjoyed working with the team even in such an extreme environment. The crew had to fly all the equipment out into the desert where they had built “a big town.”
“It was insane, so much fun though,” Tamblyn told The Epoch Times.
Boyle does an extraordinary job putting together a movie about a man stuck in one location and makes it interesting and engaging for the audience.
“I wanted to keep it various, and yet represent bold similarity with the hallucinations,” he said about the use of the triptych effect—the combination of three different scenes combined into panels on one screen.
The audience at the public screening was amazed at the special appearance of Ralston, the real hero of the story, who was left with an artificial right hand after the incident in the desert in 2003.
Other Canadian celebrations
There was certainly an air of generosity at the presentation of the fifth annual Canadian Media Production Association Awards on Thursday evening as the CMPA gave away $10,000 to the most outstanding Canadian producer of the year.
Out of the 29 contestants, Denise Robert, Québécois film director of the recent French feature movie “Route 132,” accepted the prize and awarded it to a colleague, filmmaker Louis Bélanger.
“[Denise] has been instrumental in bringing to the screen stories that resonate with Canadians,” said TIFF director and CEO Piers Handling.
Robert and Bélanger collaborated on directing “Route 132” which revolves around a protagonist who loses someone close and embarks on a journey of self discovery.
“I’m deeply touched by this terrific honour. It’s probably the best award I’ve ever had because it is given by one’s peers,” said Robert.
Robert is the first woman to receive the prize that made her feel like “one of the boys,” which she accepted as a compliment.
“I’ve always dreamt of what it would be like to take money like this ... and give it to somebody I admire and say, ‘There, you go and write,’ without any strings attached,” she said.
