Best of Cinéfest (that we saw)

It's been a busy week since coming back from Cinéfest but we didn't want to sign off on that before sharing with you some of our favourites that we saw there!

First of all, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the filmgoers at Sudbury Cinéfest are hardcore cinephiles who see upwards of 30+ films in the eight-day span of the festival. We saw maybe half of that number but were fortunate with the ones we did see. We gave a brief review of two others of o ur favourites, RED ARMY and MOMMY earlier. So without further adieu, in no particular order, our favourite films of Cinéfest Sudbury 2014:

WHIPLASH
Fantastic music, mesmerizing performances from J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller, and hands down one of the most thrilling final acts of a film I've seen in a long time. As Jon said, "We just saw a classic."



'71



Outstanding thriller. Taut, tense, with moments of tragic humour. Jack O'Connell stars as a soldier caught behind enemy lines during The Troubles in Ireland. It's hard to know which side is which - and I think that's partly the point of the film. O'Connell has maybe 20 lines in the whole movie but carries it powerfully.

CAMP X-RAY



Our friend Peter Sattler (Jonathan's classmate from North Carolina School of the Arts) wrote and directed this slow-burn of a psychological thriller starring Kristen Stewart as a fresh army recruit at Guantanamo Bay and Peyman Moaadi as a detainee who tries to befriend her. More from a favourable review from The Hollywood Reporter:
[It] balances a powerfully internalized performance from Kristen Stewart, delivering perhaps her best screen work to date as an inexperienced military guard, against an equally compelling characterization from Peyman Moaadi as the long-term detainee who pierces her shell. Its psychological complexity and rich emotional rewards should ensure this expertly crafted if overlong film a significant audience.


CAST NO SHADOW


CAST NO SHADOW - Festival Trailer from The Screen Asylum on Vimeo.
This film cleaned up at Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, scoring trophies including those for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. Shot entirely on the wild shores of Newfoundland, this film is dark and beautiful. Definitely one of Canada's best films this year. I ran into producers Chris Agoston, Allison White, and Chris Hatcher at one of the galas and they were super supportive of THE VOLUNTEER - it gave us inspiration to see what the next step looks like!


GOD HELP THE GIRL


This film was of particular interest to us as our ridiculously talented camera operator on THE VOLUNTEER, Ben Barber, had worked with Olly Alexander and Emily Brown on Alexander's music video for his band Years and Years. This film is an absolute joy to watch as both Brown and Alexander are mesmerizing from beginning to end - check it out!

Cinéfest Sudbury Dispatch #4: WOW, MOVIES ARE AMAZING.

Man, Cinéfest is really going out with guns blazing. We watched three movies this afternoon and two of them were among the best we've seen all year! You know it's been a full afternoon when you skip out on MAPS TO THE STARS, Cronenberg's latest film and probably the biggest draw in this year's circuit.

So, first: RED ARMY by Gabriel Polsky.

I don't know why it is that two of my favourite documentaries of the past couple years have been sports docs (the other being WINNING TIME about the infuriating, entertaining, legendary Reggie Miller), but so be it.

Most good documentary films will engage the viewer whether or not you care particularly about the subject matter, in this case, hockey. But RED ARMY is not just about hockey - it's about a clash of cultures that was heating up during the Cold War and most intriguing of all, the story is told from the perspective of the Soviet Union and their world-dominating players, led by Slava Fetisov, the protagonist of this film. Entertaining, enlightening, funny, and poignant, this film is a must-see for anybody interested in history, cross-culturalism, or hockey. The hockey is really good.

Secondly: MOMMY by Xaviar Dolan.

DAMN. First of all, Montreal native Dolan already as FIVE feature films under his belt and he's only 25 years old. They've all won prizes and been lauded at places like Cannes, but what do they know. What the heck.

This is the first of his films I've seen and oh my word. MOMMY is a gripping, tragic, and oddly inspiring work of art that left me both invigorated and exhausted. I'm deliberately not posting the trailer as we went into this without having seen it and I think our experience was better for it. The performances by Anne Dorval as a single mother struggling to make a life with her violent teenaged son played by the explosive yet tender Antoine-Olivier Pilon are disturbingly powerful. Suzanne Clemént is equally magnetic as the conflicted neighbour who tries to help the volatile family.

If you see these come to a theatre near you - be the first in line to check them out!

Cinéfest Sudbury Dispatch #3: THE VOLUNTEER World Premiere!!

Finally!! The premiere of THE VOLUNTEER! It's hard to believe that two years after shooting and three years after writing the story, we finally unveiled it to our first public audience!

It was weird standing outside the theatre and hearing the ushers directing customers - "You're here for The Volunteer? Number Four to your right."

It was like, "Really? But... you don't even know us!"

The experience was nerve-wracking but rewarding and my mind went back to this horrific experience by now-revered director, Wes Anderson, on the first screening of his first movie, BOTTLE ROCKET (1996). Unlike poor Wes, most of our audience stuck around to the end and gave us a nice hand.

Managing Director Patrick O'Hearn was, once again, wonderful in facilitating a great Q&A where everybody got to get up in front and say some words about their role and experience rehearsing and shooting. Amazingly, nobody said the words, "It turned me off filmmaking forever." A few key cast members were missing - Theodore Bouloukos and Cheryl Lee - we missed you!

Finally, we leave you with the kind words of a woman who raised her hand during the Q&A:

"I don't really have a question; I just wanted to say you guys knocked it out of the park! It was beautiful and wonderful and I want to watch everything you make."

UPDATE:
Andrew Cherry, Dave Walpole, and I went to the gala that evening (there's a gala every evening, free booze and food! Live music! What's not to like?) and there we got the real heart of the Cinéfest experience. We were recognized and people were coming up to us, to take pictures with us, telling us they loved our movie! It was fantastic and weird!

The demographic at Cinéfest skews 60yrs+ and many of them had been dedicated Cinéfest-goers for 26 years, since the beginning. A number of people told us they watch easily 30 or more films over the nine-day festival. One woman told me, "We're a town of workers, and we really appreciate the work you guys do to make films." There's a reason why Cinéfest bills itself "the people's festival". The folks here are hard-core cinephiles who not only appreciate the art, but the enormous amount of WORK that goes into making that art.

Cinéfest Sudbury Dispatch #2: The Shout Out

Somebody we know who works for TIFF and travels widely to attend festivals said to us, "Enjoy Cinéfest, it's one of the best festivals in Canada, no BS."

Yesterday afternoon, we found out one more reason why.

We were sitting in the half-dark theatre a couple rows back, waiting for PRIMARY to start, when a suited gentleman came up to us and said,

"Excuse me, are you guys from THE VOLUNTEER?".

Uh. YES. HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?

It was Patrick O'Hearn, Managing Director of Cinéfest!! He had recognized me from our poster and our screener! He thanked us for coming and assured us we would connect over the next couple days to talk about our premiere and Q&A to follow. Seconds later, he was in the spotlight at the front of the theatre, introducing the film and at the end he pointed us out and told everybody to go see our film on Thursday. We got a nice round of applause.

The point is this - how cool is it that the Managing Director of a major film festival would recognize a couple of no-name indie filmmakers in a dark theatre full of people and give them a shout out?

Cinéfest for the win!

Cinéfest Sudbury Dispatch #1

We have safely arrived in Sudbury after only one missed exit and one speeding ticket courtesy of a hyper-vigilant OPP officer. Thank you for keeping our roads safe!

The first screening we watched was Nightcrawler, directed by Dan Gilroy and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, and (new to me) Riz Ahmed. It was a packed house and the only seats available were in the second row with the gigantic Silver City screen looming above us. We sat beside a friendly older gentleman who turned out to be the former mayor of Sudbury! A very amicable man, he told us, among other things, a story about his friend whose racing horse had recently won him half a million bucks.


Despite the nauseating closeness of the screen, we thoroughly enjoyed this film - the best thriller I'd seen in a long time, in fact. Gyllenhaal is perfectly creepy as a cheerful, calculating sociopath who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Great characters, solid writing, and a fantastic story that just keeps building. Highly recommended.

And you know what's cool?? Our film is playing at the same festival!! NIGHTCRAWLER is a big fish, THE VOLUNTEER is a small fish.... but we're swimming in the same pond for a week! Pretty cool.

Casting Call - Short film, PIT.

Not one to rest on our so-called laurels, we are prepping for a short film shoot whilst pumping our feature film premiere at Cinéfest Sudbury 2014!

Get ready for a weird role in a sweet little love story!

1 woman - 50s or older, any ethnicity

CHIEF EXAMINER - stern, "Nurse Ratched" presence, she holds a stop watch and a clip board and makes sure everything is running smoothly.

1 woman - 30s or 40s, any ethnicity

WANDA - an EXAMINER just trying to do her job as the man she is examining tries to win her over.

3 men - in  40s or older, any ethnicity.

Looking for fearless male actors for a non-speaking role of MALE SPECIMEN.

Must be comfortable with your shirt off and standing on your feet for extended periods. This film is set in the 80s so moustaches and thick glasses are an asset.

3 women - in 30s or older, any ethnicity.

You must be even more fearless than the men (see image below for an idea of the scene) for non-speaking role of EXAMINER.  You are researchers examining the men for reasons unknown in a cold, clinical, sterile environment.  Must be comfortable being up close with (possibly smelly) shirtless men.

Send us a headshot and/or full body shot to: casting@roscofilms.com 

We are looking to shoot in early/mid November, 2 days.

See images below for the inspiration for this strange, sweet, love story!

THE VOLUNTEER Official Trailer!

As we were about to post this on our facebook page, we had a little moment:

"Holy crap. This is actually the very first time people are actually seeing what we've spent two years crafting. I am scared."

Not scared so much as suddenly nervous! It's all good to show beautiful screen caps and behind the scenes photos, but to show everything put together?? And this is just the trailer!

Anyway, we hope you enjoy this - so many people put so much work into this over the past two years that it's rewarding just to have finished it and to say "WE MADE A REAL MOVIE."