Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Contemporary World Cinema
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Contemporary World Cinema
Contemporary World Cinema
AVANT QUE J’OUBLIE Jacques Nolot, France
In the final film of Jacques Nolot’s trilogy on aspects of gay life, 58-year-old Pierre (Nolot), who is HIV-positive, finds himself increasingly unable to cope with loneliness and the outside world.
THE BAND’S VISIT Eran Kolirin, Israel/France
A small Egyptian police band is left stranded at the airport in a desolate Israeli town.
BARCELONA (A MAP) Ventura Pons, Spain
Incest, homosexuality and adultery are intertwined in the lives of six characters who come together in an old apartment in the heart of Barcelona.
BATTLE FOR HADITHA Nick Broomfield, UK
Iraqi insurgents bomb a convoy of U.S. Marines, resulting in the death of their most popular officer. Enraged by this loss, the young Marines carry out a brutal retaliation.
BRICK LANE Sarah Gavron, UK
Set against a background of escalating racial tension, Gavron’s debut feature sees Nazneen leave her Bangladeshi village for London’s East End after an arranged marriage to an older man. Despite feeling homesick and unhappy, Nazneen tries to make the best of her current situation. But ignoring her discontentment proves problematic as a hot-headed local man bursts into her life.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ (ENDLESS) Cristian Nemescu, Romania
The first and final feature from late filmmaker Cristian Nemescu focuses on a small Romanian village during the war in Kosovo, where the local railway chief – moonlighting as a gangster – seeks to gain from the stopping of a NATO train carrying military equipment.
CHOP SHOP Ramin Bahrani, USA
In a chaotic world of adults, young street orphan Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister.
THE COUNTERFEITERS Stefan Ruzowitzky, Austria/Germany
Berlin, 1936. King of counterfeiters, Sorowitsch gets all the money he needs by printing it himself. But when someone blows the whistle on him, he finds himself in a concentration camp, forced to produce fake foreign currency in hopes of saving his own life.
DANS LA VIE Philippe Faucon, France
Esther, an elderly Jewish woman with a sturdy ill-temper, runs through nursing assistants like nobody’s business. But when Sélima, a Muslim woman, comes on board as a possible candidate, the two form a strong and intimate friendship despite their differences.
DAYS AND CLOUDS Silvio Soldini, Italy/Switzerland
Finally primed to fulfill her dream of going back to school, Elsa is floored when she discovers that her husband, Michele, was fired from his job two months ago. As Elsa faces the situation head on, Michele loses control, challenging their already fragile marriage.
EMPTIES Jan Sverák, Czech Republic
This film is the last in a trilogy from Jan Sverák (KOLYA) and his father, screenwriter/actor Zdenek Sverák. Literature teacher Josef (Zdenek Sverák) uncovers the root of his unhappiness when, after retiring against his will, he takes up a part-time job in a supermarket.
L’ENNEMI INTIME Florent Siri, France
Algeria, 1959. After a young, idealistic lieutenant (Benoît Magimel) takes command of an isolated French army outpost, he meets a disillusioned sergeant (Albert Dupontel), with whom he will be tested by the harsh realities of the Algerian War.
ERIK NIETZSCHE THE EARLY YEARS Jacob Thuesen, Denmark
Written by Lars von Trier under the nom-de-plume Erik Nietzsche, this semi-autobiographical film follows an intelligent, inexperienced and shy young man who, convinced that he wants to be a film director, enrols in the Danish National Film School.
FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE Antonin Svoboda, Austria
After an accident somewhere in the mountains, three men find themselves trapped in their car. Injured, wedged and without any possible escape in sight, they await their rescue. But the sound of sirens may not bring quite the relief they had hoped for.
GARAGE Lenny Abrahamson, Ireland
Josie has spent all his adult life as the caretaker of a crumbling petrol station on the outskirts of an Irish small town. GARAGE is the story of Josie’s hapless search for intimacy over the course of a summer which sees his life changed forever.
A GENTLE BREEZE IN THE VILLAGE Nobuhiro Yamashita, Japan
Soyo is one of six students in a combined primary and junior high school – the only student in the second year of junior high. When hip transfer student Osawa arrives at the school from Tokyo, a love slowly begins to blossom between Soyo and this new big-city boy.
GONE WITH THE WOMAN Petter Næss, Norway
The latest work by filmmaker Petter Næss (ELLING). Without fully grasping how it comes about, He, a man who does not even have a name, finds his life invaded by a woman. Struggling to tackle the situation, He passes from falling in love to being left behind. But just as He starts to forget her, she abruptly returns.
HAPPINESS Hur Jin-ho, South Korea
A stint in a country hospital finds city boy Young-su living on a farmhouse with a female patient. But when his friends show up for a visit, Young-su begins to wonder if he should abandon his rural surroundings and reclaim his urban lifestyle.
JAR CITY Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland/Germany
An elderly man is found murdered in his basement flat. When the inspector on the case finds a photo of a young girl’s grave, he reopens a very old case, following a trail of unusual forensic evidence to uncover secrets knit into the bloodline of the entire country.
JELLYFISH Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, Israel/France
A woman breaks her leg at her own wedding reception and is forced to cancel her honeymoon. Another woman is followed by a strange little girl who has come out of the sea. A portrait of a messy world in which everyone scrapes by as best they can, JELLYFISH is the winner of Cannes’ Camera d’Or for 2007.
JUST LIKE HOME Lone Scherfig, Denmark
When the residents of a small Danish town learn that a man was seen running naked through their streets, depression spreads like wildfire. Convinced that all of Danish society is collapsing around them, they launch a telephone hotline to help combat the situation.
KING OF CALIFORNIA Mike Cahill, USA
A father (Michael Douglas) fresh out of a mental institution, alongside his emancipated teenage daughter (Evan Rachel Wood, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE), heads out on a quest to uncover an ancient Spanish treasure buried beneath the local Costco.
KINGS Tom Collins, Ireland/UK
In the mid-1970s, six young men left their homes in the West of Ireland and sailed across the sea to England. Thirty years later, the death of one reunites the group, forcing them to face up to the alienation they feel as a result of having no real place to call home.
MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD Daniele Luchetti, Italy/France
Fifteen years of Italian history pass by amidst the small-town adventures of Accio (Elio Germano) and Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio), two passionate brothers in a constant battle over politics and the same woman throughout the 60s and 70s.
NEW YORK CITY SERENADE Frank Whaley, USA
From actor-filmmaker Frank Whaley comes the comedic story – set in the mid-90s – of two friends and the series of events that lead to their final farewell. When aspiring filmmaker Owen is invited to a two-bit film festival, he brings along his childhood friend Ray, a drummer in a rock and roll band. Starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Chris Klein.
ON THE WINGS OF DREAMS Golam Rabbany Biplob, Bangladesh
After Fazlu returns home from a day of canvassing in the village market, his wife finds some foreign currency notes in a pair of trousers Fazlu picked up for their son. Thinking these notes to be of great value yet unsure of what to do with them, Fazlu, increasingly allured by greed and high ambitions, sets off with his childhood friend Siraj in hopes of making a profitable exchange.
L’ORA DI PUNTA Vincenzo Marra, Italy
Vincenzo Marra (VENTO DI TERRA, THE SESSION IS OPEN) returns to the Festival with a film about Fillipo, a young man whose new job as a civil servant sees him confidently navigating the shoals of Roman society, rubbing elbows with the high-and-mighty.
PHILIPPINE SCIENCE Auraeus Solito, Philippines
Eight Philippine Science High School students come of age during the politically volatile 80s, a time filled with excitement and fraught with anxiety.
THE POPE’S TOILET Enrique Fernandes and César Charlone, Uruguay
In 1988, the people of Melo are bustling with the news that Pope John Paul II plans to visit their small town, with tens of thousands of visitors expected to follow in his wake. While many make plans to profit off the event, petty smuggler Beto is certain he’s found the best business idea of all, a place where the multitude of pilgrims can find relief: "The Pope’s Toilet."
RUN, FAT BOY, RUN David Schwimmer, UK
After Dennis (Simon Pegg) discovers that his ex-fiancée has hooked up with high-flying go-getter Whit (Hank Azaria), he enters a marathon in hopes of winning her back, quickly discovering just how much sweat, strain and tears it takes to train for the run. The first feature by actor David Schwimmer, RUN, FAT BOY, RUN is written by Michael Ian Black (THE PLEASURE OF YOUR COMPANY).
THE SECRETS Avi Nesher, Israel/France
While attending a Jewish seminary for women in the ancient town of Safed – the birthplace of Kabbalah – two devout religious girls find themselves in the midst of an evolving rebellion against the suffocating patriarchy.
SLINGSHOT Brillante Mendoza, Philippines
An intimate glimpse into the lives of small time crooks in Manila during a simultaneous election period and Holy Week.
SON OF RAMBOW Garth Jennings, France/UK
In this inventive valentine to the 1980s, Will has his mind and world blown wide open when schoolmate Carter (Will Poulter) exposes him to the Rambo film FIRST BLOOD. The budding filmmaking duo grows popular at school but the arrival of a French exchange student pushes their unique friendship and precious film to the breaking point.
STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING Andrew Wagner, USA
An ambitious graduate student convinces a writer that her thesis can resurrect his career. Starring Frank Langelia, Lili Taylor and Lauren Ambrose, STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING is based on the novel by Brian Morton.
TO LOVE SOMEONE Åke Sandgren, Sweden
Alf, a fish dealer with his own shop, lives happily with his partner Lena. But their relationship is put to the test when Lena’s exhusband suddenly reappears.
THE TRAP Srdan Golubovic, Serbia/Germany/Hungary
Amidst clashes of wealth and corruption in modern day Belgrade, Mladen struggles to pay for his son’s life-saving heart operation. When a man offers to cover the cost in full, Mladen discovers that, in return, he must kill the man’s business rival.
UNFINISHED SKY Peter Duncan, Australia
When Tahmeena, an illegal refugee, stumbles onto John’s isolated farm, he has no choice but to take her in. As they begin to grow closer despite language barriers, a group of men show up in hopes of taking Tahmeena away for good.
UNE VIEILLE MAÎTRESSE Catherine Breillat, France
A future wedding is on everyone’s lips. The young and dissolute Ryno de Marigny is betrothed to marry Hermangarde, a virtuous gem of the French aristocracy. But those who wish to prevent the union, despite the young couples’ mutual love, whisper that the young man will never break off his passionate love affair with Vellini (Asia Argento, THE MOTHER OF TEARS), which has been going on for years.
UNFINISHED STORIES Pourya Azarbayjani, Iran
Having nowhere else to go, three different women are forced to roam the streets of Tehran after being abandoned by the men in their lives.
WOLFSBERGEN Nanouk Leopold, Netherlands
At the age of 83, Konraad informs his relatives that he wants to die. While his only child, Maria, refuses to address the issue, her husband Ernst takes it upon himself to help Konraad fulfill his dying wish.
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Gala Screenings, Masters, Special Presentations
Toronto Film Festival 2007 Real to Reel Documentary Line-Up
Toronto Film Festival 2007 – Visions and Vanguard Sidebars
San Sebastian Film Festival 2007 – Zabaltegi (New Directors) Sidebar
Monsters, Creeps, Ghouls, Faceless Fiends, Alien Pods, and Their Buds at the American Cinematheque
Montreal World Film Festival 2007 – First Films World Competition
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