TIFF adds Special Events, Conversations (and Drake)

Following the announcement of its full film lineup, the Toronto International Film Festival has added several special events and In Conversation With events to its programming. In the Special Events stream, the fest will premiere Reinaldo Marcus Green’s feature debut Monsters and Men, about a black man who is killed by the police and the repercussions of that event in his community, with an introduction by Toronto’s very own Drake. The film was produced by Josh Penn, Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Luca Borghese, and Elizabeth Lodge Stepp. Executive producers are Leonid Lebedev, Oren Moverman, Chiara Bernasconi, Charles Miller and Drake. It is distributed by NEON.

Also added to the program is Jason Reitman’s fourth-annual live read. This year, yet-to-be-named performers will re-enact the screenplay for John Hughes’ classic The Breakfast Club. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World director Dean DeBlois and producer Brad Lewis will also bring a sneak preview and behind-the-scenes-footage of the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film to TIFF. Lastly, Damien Chazelle will give a sneak-peek IMAX screening of his astronaut adventure First Man at the Ontario Place Cinesphere. Meanwhile, the In Conversation With lineup will feature onstage conversations with actors Hilary Swank (What They Had), Mahershala Ali (Green Book) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Kindergarten Teacher).

CRTC renews Canal Évasion until Aug. 31, 2023

The CRTC has renewed the broadcast licence for Groupe Serdy and Groupe TVA’s French-language specialty channel, Canal Évasion, until Aug. 31, 2023. In a broadcast decision released on Aug. 22, the Commission granted the travel and adventure specialty a reduction in its CPE requirement bringing it down from 46% to at least 40%. In Canal Évasion’s initial application to the CRTC, the specialty channel requested that its CPE requirement be reduced from 46% to 32% of its broadcast revenues from the previous year. One of the channel’s main arguments for the CPE reduction noted that upon its renewal it would lose its Category A status leading to a decrease in the number of its subscribers (which account for approximately 80% of its revenue). In its decision, the regulator said that 40% requirement aims to meet a balance between the needs of the French-language market, an appropriate level of Canadian production programming and the service’s previous expenditures. Finally, the Commission said Canal Évasion must not spend more than 45% of its annual budget on acquiring the rights to original Canadian programming from programs produced by company shareholders or affiliated companies.

Corus sets Stitched premiere

Stitched (12 x 60 minutes), a fashion competition series produced by Forte Entertainment in association with Corus Studio, is set to make its premiere on Slice on Sept. 9 at 9 p.m. Greenlit in March, Stitched follows four designers who face off against one another in three themed challenges and who are all vying to win a $10,000 cash prize. The competition series is hosted by Canadian fashion model and actress Kim Cloutier Joe Zee and ELLE Canada’s editor-in-chief Vanessa Craft serving as judges. Guest judges for the show’s first season include Hayley Elsaesser, Kirk Pickersgill, Stephen Wong, Eran Elfassy, Elisa Dahan and Ania B. Following the show’s premiere on Slice, Stitched will also air on W Network on Thursdays at 10 p.m. starting on Sept. 13.

Anthropocene exhibit open at the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada’s (NGC) has opened a companion exhibit to environmental doc Anthropocene, from directors Nicholas de Pencier, Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky. Part of a larger project based on research from the Anthropocene Working Group, the exhibit examines if the Earth has entered a new geological epoch. The exhibit is comprised of two augmented reality installations, 31 large-scale photographs, three wall-sized murals with film extensions and 12 film installations. As part of the NGC’s exhibit, the film will make its Ottawa premiere on Sept. 27 at the gallery. Following the screening, the NGC will host a conversation with the filmmakers. This exhibition is one of two companion pieces for the doc, which will world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.These exhibits were organized by the NGC’s Canadian Photography Institute, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and Italy’s Fondazione MAST. A parallel exhibit will also be on display at the AGO at the same time as the show at the NGC. The NGC’s exhibit runs for free from Sept. 28 to Feb. 24.