Toronto film fest ‘is home’ for Quebec’s Xavier Dolan, director of Laurence Anyways.
Is at home at the film festival, while Slutsky and Chang court distributors with tasty treats
T“TIFF is
ORONTO — home,” said Xavier Dolan, of the Toronto International Film Festival, where his third feature Laurence Anyways screened Thursday night as a Special Presentation at the Elgin Theatre.
It’s quite the statement coming f rom Quebec cinema’s boy wonder, whose work is so utterly Québécois — steeped in dialect rife with our province’s unconventional curse words, Québécois accents on full display.
The decade-spanning tale of a man who undergoes a sex change while maintaining a relationship with his female partner, Laurence Anyways premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May — not in official competition, much to Dolan’s outspoken chagrin, but in the Un certain regard section (where Suzanne Clément won best actress) — and was released in Quebec immediately after.
But until Thursday night, the film had not yet been seen in the rest of Canada. To hear Dolan speak so enthusiastically about Toronto and the ROC in these politically charged times is surprising, but not out of character for a filmmaker who has always looked beyond Quebec’s borders for fulfilment. In Toronto, he is very much chez lui.
“The people at the festival made sure we would feel so,” Dolan said. “Not in the sense of taking for granted that Canadian films are shoo-ins — which isn’t the case, obviously. But in the sense that we are proud this event takes place here, in our country.
“It features the annual catalogue of films screened all around the world, while it also reveals the works from the upcoming harvest; which makes it the perfect opportunity to see what we’ve missed and what’s next.”
To ensure he didn’t miss a thing, Dolan arrived in Toronto Saturday, a full five days before his film’s first public screening, tweeting: “On a train to TIFF #bestride.”
On Sunday, he attended both Telefilm Canada and SODEC cocktails, where he chatted up a storm with Inch’Allah actor Evelyne Brochu. For the rest of the week, he had a more serious matter to attend to:
“Finding an American distributor for Laurence Anyways,” he said. “We’ve sold the film in more than 30 countries, but not in the U.S.A.”
In between, there were cocktails to be drunk, hands to be shaken and interviews to be given.
“Media attention from the anglophone papers is more likely to occur at TIFF,” he said. “Movies reviewed in Cannes or other festivals can get a second chance, for better or for worse.”
If Cannes has been the springboard for each of his three features, offering artistic credibility and international recognition, TIFF has provided tangible benefits of its own.
“It gave all my films the exposure they needed in order for me to bond with distributors, producers, actors, directors and the Canadian audience,” Dolan said.
On a lighter note, he summed up the festival’s appeal like this:
“It’s a gargantuan film buffet attended by (almost) every film star alive. And that is fun.”
The Fruit Hunters: Mark Slutsky had rolled up his sleeves and was chopping exotic fruit Monday afternoon at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre, while Yung Chang introduced the 25-minute teaser for his new film The Fruit Hunters, due in theatres on Nov. 13.
Co-written by Slutsky and Chang, the EyeSteelFilm and NFB co-produced documentary is based on the book by Montrealer Adam Gollner, a fascinating survey of the history, mythology and global business of fruit.
If Monday’s preview is anything to go by, it’s going to be a visually vivid, entertaining affair. Chang is known for his probing docs Up the Yangtze and China Heavyweight. He shows a lighter touch with The Fruit Hunters, pulling viewers in from the playful opening credit sequence onward.
“I love that it’s sort of humorous, and that there’s this sensual idea behind fruit,” Chang said. “It’s a nice kickoff to start with that arousal, the seduction of fruit.”
Travelling f rom Miami, Fla., to Bali, Hawaii and Honduras, he tracks down rare fruits and the people who covet them, including American actor and fruit enthusiast Bill Pullman. He also takes time to talk about his own fascination with fruit, in voiceover, and explore the seductiveness of fruit via the lush imagery of cinematographer Mark Ellam.
“By the end of (the production), I was obsessed and didn’t know when to stop,” Chang said. “Even a couple of weeks ago, I was talking about going to do another shoot in Africa, looking for the xigua fruit. It never stops. You get taken up with the passion of searching for these flavours, these unique little (varieties) of fruit. They’re so interesting and beautiful. I love them.”
Chang answered questions after Monday’s screening, before ceding the floor to Slutsky as the crowd swarmed the fruit table, clamouring for a taste of durian, miracle fruit, star fruit and other rarities from faraway lands. It was an intoxicating finish to a high-stakes afternoon.
“The only answer would be nerve-racking,” Chang answered, when asked about the screening. “You’re analyzing every pin-drop, every silence. I think it went well, in the end. People enjoyed the fruit experience.
“(I like) the idea of being part of a great festival, being able to share something but not have to put it all on the line. It’s always a bit of a concern, using Toronto as a launch pad for a very independent film — sometimes it can go unnoticed. We’re waiting for another festival, perhaps, down the line (to show the finished product).”
Like Dolan, Chang’s goal for TIFF includes finding a U.S. distributor for his film. There were a few on hand Monday.
If they were lucky enough to sample the miracle fruit (a red berry that makes everything sour taste sweet), it could be an easy sell.
“I think it was a nice way to get a little hype going,” Chang said of the event, “a little exposure for the movie, to gauge audience reaction and share it with some distributors.
“Hopefully, there will be some followup. We had Zeitgeist, Magnolia and some other distributors from America there. I know they’ve wanted to see it for a while; hopefully we’ve satiated their desires.”
The Fruit Hunters opens in
theatres Nov. 13.