Toronto announces four more Filmstiftung-backed films for the festival programme
- „The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez“ by Wim Wenders in Masters of Cinema
- „The Dreamed Path“ („Der traumhafte Weg“) by Angela Schanelec in Wavelengths
- „Apprentice“ by Boo Junfeng and „Clair Obscur“ by Yeşim Ustaoğlu in Contemporary World Cinema
- Already announced: „Toni Erdmann“ in Special Presentations, „Nocturama“ in the competitive section Platform and „Mali Blues“ in TIFF Docs
- A total of seven Filmstiftung-backed films so far at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival from 8 – 18 September
The Toronto International Film Festival, North America’s largest and most important festival, has announced the titles of more films for this year’s 41st edition. The programme will now include another four films which were backed by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW: Wim Wenders‘ new film „The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez“ was invited to screen in the Masters of Cinema sidebar, „The Dreamed Path“ by Angela Schanelec will be shown in Wavelengths, and the sidebar of Contemporary World Cinema will be presenting „Apprentice“ by Boo Junfeng as well as Yeşim Ustaoğlu's „Clair Obscur“, which will also be celebrating its world premiere.
It was previously announced that Toronto will be hosting „Toni Erdmann“ by Maren Ade (Special Presentations), „Nocturama“ by Bertrand Bonello (the Platform competitive section) and „Mali Blues“ by Lutz Gregor (TIFF Docs). Thus, a total of seven Filmstiftung-backed productions have been invited so far to screen in Toronto’s festival programme. The festival will be announcing the titles for other sidebars in the days to come.
„We are pleased that another four films with NRW backing will be in Toronto – including Wim Wenders’ and Angela Schanelec’s latest works and two international co-productions – that’s fantastic news“, says Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. „We are delighted that NRW will have a stronge presence again this year – and, above all, with such diversity. We want to congratulate the film teams on being invited to the festival and look forward to seeing how the productions feted in Europe are received by the festival’s audience.“
About the films:
Masters of Cinema: „The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez“
„The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez“ is based on Peter Handke’s eponymous stage play. The cast under Wim Wenders' direction includes Sophie Semin, Reda Kateb and Jens Harzer, with Nick Cave playing himself. The film is a co-production of Neue Road Movies and Alfama Films Production (F). The Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the FFA backed the film together with the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. NFP marketing & distribution will be releasing the film in German cinemas on 24 November, 2016, and international sales are being handled by Alfama Films Production. The film will have its world premiere at the beginning of September at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and is the fifth collaboration between Handke and Wenders following „3 American LPs“ (1969), „The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick“ (1971), „Wrong Move“ (1975) and „Wings of Desire“ (1987).
Wavelengths: „The Dreamed Path“
„Der traumhafte Weg“ (Competition)
Greece in 1984. Kenneth, A young Englishman and Theres, a German woman, are singing in the street to finance their holidays. They are in love, When Kenneth gets the news that his mother has had an accident, he rushes off back home, leaving Theres behind. He later realises how much he needs her, but he fails in his attempt to win her back. 30 years later, in Berlin. Ariane, a 40-year-old TV actress, has separated from her husband, a successful anthropologist, after a crisis. He moves into an apartment at the main station. Looking out of his window, he sees a homeless man. It’s Kenneth, who doesn’t know that Theres is now living in Berlin as well.
The leads in „The Dreamlike Path“ by Angela Schanelec, which was produced by Filmgalerie 451 in association with the broadcasters WDR and Arte, are played by Miriam Jakob, Thorbjörn Björnsson, Maren Eggert, Philip Hayes and Anaïa Zapp. Large parts of the film were shot in Menden and Schwerte. 150,000 Euros came from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, other backers were Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, BKM, FFA and DFFF. The drama celebrated its world premiere in the Competition of this year’s 69th Festival del Film Locarno.
Contemporary World Cinema: „Apprentice“, „Clair Obscur“
„Apprentice“, Boo Junfeng’s second feature film, centres on the 28-year-old prison officer Aiman, who has been transferred to the most important prison in Singapore. He strikes up a friendship with Rahim there. He turns out to be the prison’s executioner, one of the busiest worldwide. Can Aiman forget his past and square it with his conscience in order to become the executioner’s apprentice? The film was produced by Akanga Films Asia, Peanut Pictures and Zhao Wei Films (SG) in co-production with Cinéma Defacto (F), Making Film Productions (HKG) and Cologne-based augenschein Filmproduktion. The Filmstiftung NRW backed the film with 45,000 Euros, with additional funding come from MDA Development Fund, MDA Production Fund, MDA Reference Money, Asian Cinema Fund, CNC Cinéma du monde, IDF Aide après réalisation and the Doha Film Institute. International sales are handled by Luxbox. „Apprentice“ celebrated its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard sidebar of this year’s Festival de Cannes.
„Clair Obscur” is the name of the new work by the Turkish director Yeşim Ustaoğlu. The film describes the psychological dance of two women who are deprived of and distanced from their natural right to mature and discover themselves, to love and be loved, and to sustain a real relationship of their choosing. The reprecussions of these psychological wounds reverberates from micro to macro levels throughout Turkish society – a society that is rotting it from within. Ustaoğlu Film (TR), Slot Machine (F) and Cologne’s unafilm were involved in the production, with Aeroplan Film (PL) as co-producer and in association with ZDF/Arte. The leads in the drama are played by Funda Eryigit, Mehmet Kurtulus, Ecem Uzun Okan Yalabik and Sema Poyraz. The Filmstiftung backed the film with 200,000 Euros, with additional funding come from the Turkish Ministry of Culture, CNC/Institut Francais, the Polish Film Institute and Eurimages. International sales are being handled by Beta Cinema, with Cologne-based Real Fiction Verleih releasing the film theatrically.
Already announced:
Special Presentation: „Toni Erdmann“
The first German film for eight years to have its world premiere in the Competition of the Cannes Film Festival in May, „Toni Erdmann“ was a hit with the audience, critics and industry in equal measure. The film won the prestigious International Film Critics Prize FIPRESCI. Since the world premiere in Cannes, the Cologne-based sales agent The Match Factory has sold the comedy to almost 100 countries, including all of North and South America, Russia, China or the European key territories like France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the UK. In Germany, „Toni Erdmann“ had already been seen by more than 300,000 cinema-goers in the first three weeks of its theatrical run. The lead roles were taken by Sandra Hüller and Peter Simonischek. „Toni Erdmann“ is a production of Komplizen Film in co-production with coop99Filmproduktion and Missing Link Films. SWR, WDR and ARTE participated in the production as broadcasters. Part of the film was shot in Aachen, and Bucharest was another location. The Film- und Medienstiftung is the main funder with 785,000 Euros, with additional support coming from MBB, FFHSH, FFF, DFFF, FFA, BKM, ÖFI, Filmstandort Austria, MEDIA and Eurimages.
Platform: „Nocturama“
One morning in Paris, a handful of adolescents from different social backgrounds individually begin a strange dance through the labyrinth of the metro and the streets of the capital. They all seem to be following a plan. Their gestures are almost dangerous in their precision,. They come together in the same place, a department store, shortly before closing time. The attack runs its course.. „Nocturama“ by Bertrand Bonello was produced by Rectangle Production (FR), My New Picture (FR) and Scope Pictures (BE) in co-production with Pandora Film Produktion and participation by the broadcasters Arte G.E.I.E. and WDR. The cast includes Finnegan Oldfield, Vincent Rottiers, Hamza Meziani, Manal Issa, Martin Guyot, Jamil McCraven, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laure Valentinelli, with Adèle Haenel in a guest role. The Filmstiftung NRW backed the film with 200,000 Euros, with additional support coming from the German-French Funding Committee and Eurimages. International sales and theatrical distribution are being handled by Wild Bunch.
Tiff Docs: „Mali Blues“
„Mali Blues“sees Lutz Gregor tracing the music of Mali which is regarded as being part of the musical world heritage and the roots of blues and jazz. In the film, we embark on a musical journey into Mali’s disturbed heart with stars of Global Pop like Fatoumata Diawara, Bassekou Kouyaté, Master Soumy und Ahmed Ag Kaedi. Can their music contribute to reconciliation? The film is a production of Cologne’s Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion in co-production with ZDF and in collaboration with Arte. The Filmstiftung had already supported the lavish documentary in the preparatory phase and later for the production with a total of 153,000 Euros. Cologne-based distributor Real Fiction will open the film in German cinemas on 29 September, 2016.
Founded in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival is one of the world’s most popular film festivals and is considered to be a barometer for each forthcoming Oscar awards. Last year saw the festival celebrate its 40th anniversary.
More information about the festival: www.tiff.net
For more information: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Tanja Güß, Tel.: 0211-93050-24,