It's TIFF time!

This is a time of year that brings the same type of excitement for cinephiles that Christmas may have for some as a child. With 300 titles to choose from, and only 11 days to squeeze as many as possible in, the task can seem daunting. So, I've skimmed through all the programs and tried to pull a variety of films from different genres that are on my "must see" list (in no particular order).

• Lapland Odyssey: Described as a Finnish version of Harold and Kumar with a dose of Fubar (the sequel of which, incidentally, is playing at Midnight Madness)...no need to hear anymore, I'm sold.
• Casino Jack: Director George Hickenlooper does a great job at painting a full picture of lobbyist Jack Abramoff (played by Oscar winner and actor extraordinaire Kevin Spacey), who was involved in one of Washington's largest scandals (and considering the corruption of politics, that says a lot).
• Three: A love triangle done with a Tom Tykwer twist that can be done only by he, the director of Run Lola Run (one of my favourite films), Heaven, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and The International.
• Even the Rain: Female filmmaker Icíar Bollaín directs Gael Garcia Bernal as a filmmaker who arrives in Cochabamba, Bolivia ready to make a movie about Spanish conquest of America at a tense time in history; the government privatized the water company hiking the price up 300%.
• Bunraku: Described by Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes as an amalgam of samurai film,spaghetti western and chop socky and using a stylish blend of neo-noir,German expressionism and Russian futurism. This film stars Woody Harrelson, Josh Hartnett, Ron Perlman, Kevin McKidd, and Japanese pop star GACKT, and was one of the first to make my must-see list.
• Cave of Forgotten Dream: Director Werner Herzog's 3D documentary that gives viewers a rare look inside the Chauvet caves of southern France, where it's said to have the world's oldest known pictures. Not only is the subject matter interesting, as is the idea of Herzog doing 3D, but this is also one ofthe films being screened at the new Bell Lightbox.
• 13 Assassins: Director Takashi Miike has a multitude of movies under his belt (including Sukiyaki Western Django, which caught the attention of Quentin Tarantino). I simply love samurai films and this is said to be a good ol' fashion samurai film with no wire or comedy, just action and blood.
• Super: James Gunn (who wrote Dawn of the Dead remake and directed Slither), created a dark comedic super hero film starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, and Liv Tyler. Looks hilarious, and who doesn't love superheroes?
• West is West: A follow up to 1999's East is East (another on my fave film list), my revisit the Khan family who are still struggle to find a cultural balance between their English and Pakistani roots. This marks the feature directorial debut for Andy de Emmony, who won a BAFTA for directing the hilarious Irish sitcom Father Ted.
• Biutiful: This is the fourth feature from Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, whose prior work has been much garnered at film festivals and awards. Biutiful stars the incredible Javier Bardem as aman in freef all, who senses the danger of death, and has a connection to the afterlife.
• Chico y Rita: This animated love story - created by Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba and designer Javier Mariscal - looks vibrant and fun. A great choice for music lovers, it has been described as a tribute to the music, culture and people of Cuba.
• I Am Slave: This thriller depicts a woman's fight for freedom from London's slave trade, and was created by the award winning team behind Death of a President and The Last King of Scotland.
• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale: A not-so-classic fairy tale taking place in the very northern region of Finland where Santa lives....but this Santa may be more like Bad Santa than the jolly man we might think.
• Aftershock: Based on a novel by Chinese Canadian author Zhang Ling, Aftershock has become the most successful Chinese movie of all time.
• Monsters: Two people must work their way through an alien-infested Infected Zone to make their way to the States. This looks like a wonderful and inspirational example of just how much you can do with limited budget and resources. Visual effects guru Gareth Edwards makes his directorial debut, but also wears the hat of screenwriter, cinematographer, and special effects supervisor. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
• Little Sister: I heard filmmaker Richard Bowen was in China where he came across what was the oldest version of the fairy tale Cinderella. From this he created a beautiful rendition in what is his feature directorial debut.
• My Only Sunshine: The spotlight is on Istanbul this year in the City to City programme. My Only Sunshine is by Reha Erdem, who is touted as one of the city's top filmmakers.
• Jucy: This was described by the programmer Jane Schoettle as one of the best girl friend films of all time, placing it up there with Thelma and Louise.
• You Are Here: This feature film by Canadian Daniel Cockburn is described as having the cerebral surrealism of Charlie Kaufman, the cool absurdism of Samuel Beckett and the playfulness of Dr. Seuss. Sounds like a great combo to me.
• Armour Fou: This doc merges my love of film with my love of fashion and profiles talented late designer Yves Saint Laurent.

There are of course tons more excellent films to be seen, what I tried to do for the most part was avoid movies that would almost certain get distribution, if they haven't already. Festivals to me are all about the smaller gems you may not have another opportunity to see.

For show times and further info go to the official TIFF site. Hope this list helped. Happy TIFF-ing!

Emer Schlosser
		About the author:
		Always a fan of words in various glorious forms – novels, dialogue, lyrics, etc – Emer translated her passion into a writing career in 2005. She has since supplied gossip on celebrities to Canadian Press, interviewed individuals from the arts for Inside Entertainment, expressed her fondness for food for Cheese Boutique’s blog, & co-founded, edited and contributed to iheartthemusic.com. At the moment she’s taking the mystery out of Green Living and providing some great tips on Home Renovation, Decorating & Design and Curb Appeal to the members of casaGURU.com. casaGURU, “the homeowner’s home online”, is a free web community that connects homeowners and local house experts.
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