What's this? The Toronto International Film Festival has announced their picks for Canada's Top Ten films and it's not just littered with picks from the old guard? Stop the presses: Canada's got some young filmmakers that critics actually like! And they're making movies that people might actually want to watch! Truly, this is a new era in Canadian cinema.
TIFF has been doing these lists -- actually two lists, as they do separate versions for features and shorts -- for nine years now and this is the first time I can remember where the first-timers outnumber the oldsters and also the first time I can remember where the vast majority have a fighting chance of being screened in places where people might actually be able to see them. So without further ado...
TOP TEN SHORT FILMS:
The Armoire - Jamie Travis
The Cave - Helen Haig-Brown
Danse Macabre - Pedro Pires (PhiGroup Inc.)
Five Hole: Tales of Hockey Erotica - Cam Christiansen
Naissances - Anne Émond (Vidéographe)
Out in that Deep Blue Sea - Kazik Radwanski
Runaway - Cordell Barker (NFB)
The Spine - Chris Landreth (NFB)
La Vie commence - Émile Proulx-Cloutier (locomotion)
Vive la rose - Bruce Alcock (NFB)
I can't speak for the titles that I haven't seen, but the ones that I have are certainly deserving of this sort of honor. Pedro Pires' Danse Macabre, in particular, is a breathtaking piece of work. And now the features!
TOP TEN FEATURES:
Cairo Time - Ruba Nadda (Mongrel Media)
Carcasses - Denis Côté (FunFilm Distribution)
Crackie - Sherry White (Kickham East)
Defendor - Peter Stebbings* (Alliance Films, early 2010)
La Donation - Bernard Émond (E1 Entertainment, January 2010)
J'ai tué ma mère - Xavier Dolan (K-Films Amérique, February 2010)
Passenger Side - Matthew Bissonnette (KinoSmith, March 2010)
Polytechnique - Denis Villeneuve (Alliance Films)
The Trotsky - Jacob Tierney (Alliance Films, May 2010)
The Wild Hunt - Alexandre Franchi (TVA Films, Spring 2010)
Now, I'm not about to suggest that there aren't a certain number of films on this list that are the sort of things that critics love but nobody in the real world ever wants to actually pay to see. Because there are. But before brushing off the list as nothing but critical wankery consider that three of these - Carcasses, J'ai tué ma mère and Polytechnique - screened to much love in Cannes with Tué now standing as Canada's submission to the Oscars. Considering that everybody who sees the film walks away raving about it and writer-director Xavier Dolan was still in his teens when he made it... well, I'd say we have the emergence of a major new talent here, one who will be sticking around for a good long time. The surprising thing on this list, though, is how many of these films actually play for the mainstream. Defendor we've already reviewed here and will be getting pushed throughout North America thanks to a deal with Sony while absurd comedy The Trotsky, LARPing thriller The Wild Hunt and buddy comedy Passenger Side all have a shot of cracking the public consciousness. Now if only our damn country could just find some theaters willing to play and promote local films...
And now, because this is a giving season, I leave you with this short film about a prosthetic breast on a killing spree. You're welcome.
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*Editor's note: Congratulations to Peter Stebbings of Showcase's Cra$h & Burn on the win for Defendor!