News,TIFF 2009
Natalie Portman protests Tel Aviv protest
September 17, 2009During a roundtable interview yesterday for her film Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, which had its gala screening at Roy Thomson Hall last night, Golden Globe-winning actress Natalie Portman explained why she signed a letter to support Tel Aviv's inclusion in TIFF's City to City program. Last week, several artists signed a letter of protest [...]
Galas and freebies today at TIFF
September 17, 2009At noon, Yonge-Dundas Square is offering a free screening of the concert film U2: Rattle & Hum, to coincide with U2 being in Toronto for two live concerts at the Rogers Centre. At 3 p.m. as part of TIFF's Silent Film Series, the 1927 romantic comedy It, starring Clara Bow will be screened. Then at [...]
Producer's script and cash stolen at TIFF
September 16, 2009A suitcase belonging to an Italian film producer who was attending the Toronto International Film Festival was stolen from the lobby of the Four Seasons hotel on Bloor street, according to Toronto police. The producer, whom police would not name, saying only that he's "apparently well-known in Italy," briefly set down the suitcase, containing 7,000 [...]
Jane Fonda apologizes for TIFF protest
September 16, 2009In a complete about face, Jane Fonda is now apologizing for having taken any part in the protest of the Tel Aviv spotlight at the Toronto International Film Festival. In an official statement posted on the Huffington Post late Monday, she wrote: "I signed the letter without reading it carefully enough, without asking myself if [...]
What's cooking today at TIFF
September 16, 2009Don McKellar, Lisa Ray and director Dilip Mehta will be walking the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall for the gala presentation of Cooking with Stella at 6:30 p.m. Afterwards, they'll be attending the Cooking with Stella after party at Mildred's Temple Kitchen at 85 Hanna Avenue, Suite 104. Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow can [...]
TIFF: Good Hair
September 15, 2009The wisecracks in Good Hair, Chris Rock’s new documentary about the multi-million-dollar industry and culture of straightening the follicles of black America, aren’t the headliners this time out. The 44-year-old actor-comedian looks in and takes a step back, letting such figureheads as Rev. Al Sharpton, rapper-actor Ice-T, actress Nia Long, poet-playwright Dr. Maya Angelou and [...]
Today, Jonathan Demme is all about The Neiler
September 15, 2009Oscar winner for the now-legendary terror show of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and critically acclaimed for his premiere of Rachel Getting Married – which earned actress Anne Hathaway an Oscar nomination – at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, 65-year-old director Jonathan Demme is back in Toronto with only one person on his [...]
TIFF films slow to get distribution deals
September 15, 2009When TIFF began last Thursday, there were more films that had not yet gotten American distributors than in previous years. As of today, the sixth day of the festival, no big deals have emerged, despite the attendance of all the major studios. Films attracting most of the coverage so far have been The Men Who [...]
