As speculated, TIFF will take it back to the street (or block traffic depending on your commute, I suppose) from Sept. 10 to 13 between Peter St. and University Ave. along King. In spite of some inevitable gripes about a road closure, Festival Street was a pleasant addition to the festival last year and made things feel more entwined than years previous.
There are some new additions including a walking tour quiz where passers-through can guess at past festival films from throughout the 40 years they have been running this thing, as well as live game show "Canada’s Got Game" and a number of installations including what purports to be a “micro” cinema.
There are a number of musical and entertainment acts this year, as well, including the winner of the second season of "Arab Idol" Mohammad Assaf, Bruce Peninsula with their soundtrack for the film Sleeping Giant and a ballet based on Frederick Wiseman classic 1967 doc Titicut Follies which, as you may remember, detailed systemic abuse inside a mental hospital. Perfect fodder for dance.
“This year we wanted to incorporate more cinematic elements into the programming for Festival Street,” said Festival Street’s programmer Nobu Adilman in a press release. “From our on-stage presentations and interactive installations to our family zone, visitors can sit back and observe or they can jump in and be active participants.”
Screening Roundup
The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival is designed to give a platform for the filmmaking talent of the Caribbean diaspora. It starts September 9 at The Royal with an Opening Gala screening of Pan! Our Musical Odyssey, a production from Trinidad and Tobago (and France) directed by Jerome Guiot & Thierry Teston starting at 8:10 p.m. Ticket packs range from $99 to $159 here.
This Film Should be Played Loud at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema puts the focus on great concert films of years gone by. This week, at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 5, is the Leon Russell doc A Poem Is a Naked Person directed by Les Blank. The film has a cult following and was never officially released in theatres back in 1974. It is now being distributed by Janus after Russell and Blank’s son agreed to put it “on tour” after Les Blank’s death in 2013.
One of the great music docs of this year is of course Asif Kapadia's Amy and it’s getting an encore at Bloor Hot Docs starting Friday Sept. 4 at 3:00 p.m.
And lastly, starting Sept. 8 is In Love with the Stars at the TIFF Reference Library on the fourth floor of the Lightbox. It’s a photo exhibit that focuses on stars of the silver screen culled from TIFF’s Reference Library as well as fan-art from scrapbooker Edith Nadajewski and the work of amateur photographer Jack Pashkovsky, who shot the stars of the golden age of the silver screen on studio backlots back in the 1930s and 40s.
Toronto Screengrab of the Week
Last week was the 2000 Dennis Quaid vehicle Frequency which featured Bloor West Village playing an idylic neighbourhood in the days of yore. Today we will go with a slight tribute to the late Wes Craven as his intellectual property was (mis)used to middling effect in this 2003 horror face-off.
