Zweig, Obomsawin docs to screen at TIFF13

The Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday announced the lineups for its documentary, City to City, Cinematheque and Vanguard programs, and on Monday at midnight, revealed its Midnight Madness lineup.

Here’s the rundown:

TIFF docs

Canadian doc filmmakers Alan Zweig, Alanis Obomsawin, Jody Shapiro, and Barry Avrich will screen world premieres of their films at this year’s festival. Zweig’s When Jews Were Funny explores cultural heritage and 20th century humour has he tracks the heyday of Jewish comedians on stage and screen from the 1930s to 1970s. Obomsawin’s Hi-Ho Mistahey! follows a campaign started by Shannen Koostachin to build a school for the children in the Cree community of Attawapiskat in 2008. In 2010, Koostachin was killed in a car accident, but supporters continued and grew the campaign into a national movement. Keyhole producer Shapiro directs Burt’s Buzz, while Avrich follows last year’s fallen-movie-mogul doc about Garth Drabinsky with Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story, about the rise and fall of the Penthouse magnate. Also screening in the program are John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s Finding Vivian Maier, Sarah McCarthy’s The Dark Matter of Love and Errol Morris’ The Unknown Known. The full doc lineup is as follows:

  • A Story of Children and Film Mark Cousins, United Kingdom North American Premiere
  • Ain’t Misbehavin’, Marcel Ophüls, France North American Premiere
  • At Berkeley, Frederick Wiseman, USA North American Premiere
  • Beyond the Edge, Leanne Pooley, New Zealand World Premiere
  • Burt’s Buzz, Jody Shapiro, Canada World Premiere
  • The Dark Matter of Love, Sarah McCarthy, UK North American Premiere
  • The Dog, Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, USA World Premiere
  • Faith Connections, Pan Nalin, France/India World Premiere
  • Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story, Barry Avrich, Canada World Premiere
  • Finding Vivian Maier, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, USA World Premiere
  • Hi-Ho Mistahey!, Alanis Obomsawin, Canada World Premiere
  • Ignasi, M. Ventura Pons, Spain World Premiere
  • Jodorowsky’s Dune, Frank Pavich, USA North American Premiere
  • The Last of the Unjust, Claude Lanzmann, France/Austria North American Premiere
  • The Mayor, Emiliano Altuna Fistolera, Mexico Canadian Premiere
  • Midway, Chris Jordan, USA World Premiere
  • Mission Congo, David Turner and Lara Zizic, USA World Premiere
  • The Square (Al Midan), Jehane Noujaim, Egypt/USA World Premiere
  • Tim’s Vermeer, Teller, USA World Premiere
  • The Unknown Known, Errol Morris, USA North American Premiere
  • Unstable Elements, Madeleine Sackler, USA World Premiere
  • When Jews Were Funny, Alan Zweig, Canada World Premiere

Cinematheque

In the Cinematheque program, which features a mix of works by acclaimed directors, classic films and avant-garde cinema, David Cronenberg’s Shiver will screen alongside films including Yasujiro Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon, Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City and Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme’s The Lovely Month of May. The full lineup is as follows:

  • An Autumn Afternoon, Yasujiro Ozu, Japan
  • Gun Crazy, Joseph H. Lewis, USA
  • Hiroshima mon amour, Alain Resnais, France/Japan
  • The Lovely Month of May (Le Joli Mai), Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme, France
  • Manila in the Claws of Light (Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag), Lino Brocka, Philippines
  • Rome, Open City (Roma, città aperta), Roberto Rossellini, Italy
  • Shivers, David Cronenberg, Canada

City to City

Ten films will screen in the City to City program, which is focused this year on Athens. International programmer Dimitri Eipides said in May that he would look to recent films from emerging Greek filmmakers, who he said are contributing to the resurgence of Greek cinema into the forefront. This year’s lineup includes the world premiere of director Yorgos Servetas second feature, Standing Aside, Watching, which is the program’s opening film, and the world premiere of Yannis Sakaridis’ Wild Duck. The full lineup is as follows:

  • The Daughter (I Kori), Thanos Anastopoulos, Greece North American Premiere
  • The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas (I aionia epistrofi tou Antoni Paraskeua), Elina Psykou, Greece North American Premiere
  • J.A.C.E. – Just Another Confused Elephant, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Greece/FYROM/Portugal/Turkey North American Premiere
  • Miss Violence, Alexandros Avranas, Greece North American Premiere
  • September Penny, Panayotopoulou, Germany/Greece North American Premiere
  • Standing Aside, Watching (Na Kathese ke na Kitas), Yorgos Servetas, Greece World Premiere
  • To the Wolf (Sto Lyko), Aran Hughes and Christina Koutsospyrou, Greece/United Kingdom North American Premiere
  • Unfair World (Adikos Kosmos), Filippos Tsitos, Greece/Germany
  • Wasted Youth, Argyris Papadimitropoulos and Jan Vogel, Greece
  • Wild Duck, Yannis Sakaridis, Greece World Premiere

Vanguard

This year’s Vanguard selection includes Zack Parker’s suspense thriller Proxy, Yeon Sang-ho’s sophomore feature, animated thriller The Fake, Juan Cavestany’s People in Places, Alexandre Aja’s Horns, and Chung Mong-Hong’s creepy and gruesome Soul. The full lineup is as follows:

  • Blue Ruin Jeremy Saulnier, USA North American Premiere
  • Borgman Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands/Belgium/Denmark North American Premiere
  • Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari Alexey Fedorchenko, Russia Canadian Premiere
  • The Fake Yeon Sang-ho World Premiere
  • People In Places (Gente En Sitios) Juan Cavestany, Spain World Premiere
  • Horns Alexandre Aja, USA World Premiere
  • Proxy Zack Parker, USA World Premiere
  • The Sacrament Ti West, USA North American Premiere
  • Sapi Brillante Mendoza, Philippines World Premiere
  • Sex, Drugs & Taxation (Spies & Glistrup) Christoffer Boe, Denmark International Premiere
  • Soul Chung Mong-Hong, Taiwan International Premiere
  • The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, Belgium/France/Luxembourg North American Premiere
  • Thou Gild’st the Even Onur Ünlü, Turkey North American Premiere
  • We Gotta Get Out of This Place Simon Hawkins and Zeke Hawkins, USA World Premiere

25 Years of Midnight Madness

“Since its 1988 launch, the Midnight Madness program emerged as a touchstone of cinematic shock, satiating the adventurous palate of bloodthirsty cinephiles from all over the world,” said programmer Colin Geddes in a statement.  “When the witching hour strikes and the human brain starts slipping into dream mode, the Ryerson Theatre will once again serve up a feast of phantasmagorical characters and jaw-dropping scenes, playing host to bizarre biological monstrosities, ruthless dominatrix gangs, paranormal mirrors, and the hijinks of supernatural cheerleaders.”

The program, which was announced Monday at, fittingly, midnight, will open with the world premiere of Lucky McKee and Chris Silverton’s All Cheerleaders Die, about cheerleaders who come up against the dark arts. Director Eli Roth, a staple in the Midnight Madness program (last year, he was present to premiere Aftershock), brings The Green Inferno to the 2013 festival. The lineup also features R100 from Japanese director Hitoshi Matsumoto and Juno Mak’s debut feature Rigor Mortis. The full lineup is as follows:

  • Afflicted Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, Canada/USA World Premiere
  • All Cheerleaders Die Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson, USA World Premiere
  • Almost Human Joe Begos, USA World Premiere
  • The Green Inferno Eli Roth, USA World Premiere
  • Oculus Mike Flanagan, USA World Premiere
  • R100 Hitoshi Matsumoto, Japan World Premiere
  • Rigor Mortis Juno Mak, Hong Kong North American Premiere
  • The Station (Blutgletscher) Marvin Kren, Austria World Premiere
  • Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (Jigoku de Naze Warui) Sion Sono, Japan North American Premiere

The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 5 to 15, 2013.