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Actress Ally Maki has demonstrated her comedy chops on TV’s Hacks, 10 Things I Hate About You, Wrecked, and as the voice of “Giggle McDimples” in the Pixar film Toy Story 4. But lately, her work has taken a dramatic turn – in the serio-comic Apple TV+ show The Big Door Prize, and especially in her new film, Seagrass.

The feature, now playing in theaters in the U.S. and Canada, stars Maki as Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman whose sense of certainty about her life begins to crumble after the death of her mother. A fraying connection to her husband Steve (Luke Roberts), a handsome but emotionally constricted white guy, prompts the couple to head to a resort in British Columbia with their two young daughters – Stephanie (Nyha Breitkreuz) and Emmy (Remy Marthaller). While the kids keep busy with other children on the beach, Judith and Steve participate in group couples’ therapy,...

There is a certain type of movie that will either make you want to call your dad or strangle him. Precise in detail when it comes to both character and theme, writer-director Meredith Hama-Brown’s Seagrass is one such film. This may sound harsh, but it is the best descriptor of what is an emotionally painful yet revealing journey for a family that goes on a retreat hoping for healing. It is a gentle ghost story of sorts about the loss that comes not only from death, but the potential end of a marriage. While there are plenty of great films that have been about this subject, Seagrass is one that takes familiar elements and infuses them with something often closer to horror. It doesn’t fully leap into it as much as it falls into its oddly haunting beauty. The result is a film that leaves a distinct impression,...

A Japanese-Canadian woman grapples with the death of her mother as she brings her family to a remote British Colombian island in Meredith Hama-Brown's Seagrass. This distressed, lonely key art, with its almost letterhead typography and design at the top makes wonderful use of the negative space that shadows cast inside an open cave. The orifice in the bottom corner, with a lone figure, facing away from the camera, in the diffuse, foggy light evokes the loneliness of both the land and the sea. The grainy distress of the designs further underlines its personal isolation in a big, rocky, world we live.  Might I have wanted to see this film based on a quick synopsis in the TIFF catalogue last year? Perhaps. Had I seen this...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"Listen to me... ghosts don't exist, okay?" Game Theory Films has revealed an official trailer for an unique indie drama titled Seagrass, from filmmaker Meredith Hama-Brown making her feature directorial debut. This Canadian production originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and will open in both Canadian and US art house cinemas later this month. The film was the TIFF Fipresci prize winner, and a TIFF Top Ten pick. Set a decade or so in the past, Seagrass follows a Japanese-Canadian woman grappling with the death of her mother as she brings her family to a retreat. When her relationship with her husband begins to affect the children's emotional security, the family is forever changed. The film stars Ally Maki as Judith, Luke Roberts, Chris Pang, Sarah Gadon, Nyha Huang Breitkreuz, and Remy Marthaller. This film has some really strong, grainy cinematography in it - with some shots better than others.

Meredith Hama-Brown’s feature debut “Seagrass,” starring Ally Maki, will debut in U.S. theaters on Feb. 22, beginning with special screenings with the cast and director.

Q&a’s will be held at New York’s Roxy Cinema and Los Angeles’ Laemmle Royal on Feb. 22 and Las Vegas’ Regal Theatre on Feb. 23. Maki will be in Los Angeles, Hama-Brown and cinematographer Norm Li will be in New York, and actor Chris Pang will be in Las Vegas. The film will also have its U.S. festival premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, screening on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13.

The synopsis for “Seagrass” reads, “Set in the mid 1990’s, a Japanese Canadian woman (Maki) grappling with the recent death of her mother brings her family to a self-development retreat. When her distressed relationship with her husband begins to affect the children’s emotional security, the family is forever changed.”

In addition to Maki and Pang,...

Everything you need to know about Judith (Ally Maki) and Steve’s (Luke Roberts) marriage arrives during their first “share” at the summer retreat where they’ve brought their daughters (Nyha Huang Breitkreuz’s Stephanie and Remy Marthaller’s Emmy) to play while repairing whatever has broken between them. After Steve passes the buck by saying she wanted them to come, Judith attempts to honestly organize her thoughts around her mother’s recent passing. Before she can finish, however, he forcefully interjects: “Five months ago.

What a simple yet telling interaction––one writer-director Meredith Hama-Brown must be intimately familiar with to so poignantly and effortlessly depict. Is that not recent enough? Is there a guidebook to how long you’re allowed to mourn? Or how long you’re expected to wait for sex without ever truly seeming engaged enough to help guide your spouse through the emotional minefield making her numb?...

’Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make Believe’ wins doc award, ’Dicks: The Musical’ wins Midnight Madness.

The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.

‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review

Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut for Amazon/MGM stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.

American Fiction follows last year’s recipient...

’Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make Believe’ wins doc award, ’Dicks: The Musical’ wins Midnight Madness.

The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.

‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review

Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut from Orion and MRC stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.

MGM distributes American Fiction in the...

’Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make Believe’ wins doc award, ’Dicks: The Musical’ wins Midnight Madness.

The satire American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright has won the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) 2023 People’s Choice Award, boosting the crowd-pleaser’s Oscar credentials heading into awards season.

‘American Fiction’: Toronto Review

Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut from Orion and MRC stars Wright as a frustrated Black author whose deliberately dumbed-down novel about cliched Black characters becomes a hit. There are multiple screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox today (September 17) from 2:30pm-9:30pm Et.

MGM distributes American Fiction in the...

Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction picked up the top People’s Choice honor Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival, which wrapped up a 48th edition with little Hollywood star wattage amid the uncertainty of dual Hollywood strikes.

Jefferson’s feature directorial debut, an adaptation for Orion of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, had its world premiere in Toronto at the Princess Alexandra Theatre on Sept. 8. MRC is the film’s studio and financier.

The American drama about U.S. racial dynamics portrays a Black academic, played by Jeffrey Wright, who grows frustrated that the only “Black books” that seem to find a wide (and white) audience are those that tread on stereotypes.

“My gratitude towards everyone who watched American Fiction [and] discussed it afterwards among friends and colleagues is endless. The film is now in your hands, and I’m so grateful that it was embraced in this way,” Jefferson said in a statement Sunday morning.

“American Fiction” has won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced at an awards brunch on Sunday.

The Orion/MGM film by first-time director Cord Jefferson is a barbed satire that stars Jeffrey Wright as a writer who, to his dismay, achieves enormous success after as a joke writing a book filled with what he feels are the worst and most pandering cliches of Black representation. In its review, TheWrap called the film “an outlandishly assured directorial debut, a beautifully modulated film that takes a great actor, Jeffrey Wright, and gives him a spectacular showcase.”

While the film did not come into the festival as one of its highest profile selections, it was an immediate sensation after its Friday night premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre, drawing some of TIFF’s most positive reviews. It currently stands at 86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes...

The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 2023 Toronto Film Festival has gone to Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction. First Runner-Up is Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. Second Runner-Up is Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron. The Documentary Award goes to Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, and the Midnight Madness winner is Dicks: The Musical.

Orion and MRC’s American Fiction stars Jeffrey Wright and comes from writer-director Jefferson. It is a scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers, one whose name is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) bestseller We Lives in Da Ghetto. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in November.

Voted by audience members since 1978 and...

After a two week run that included a slew of buzzy world premieres and screenings of previous favorites from the international festival circuit, the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close. Toronto is often considered the unofficial kickoff to Oscar season (along with the Venice and Telluride film festivals), so the films that take home the coveted People’s Choice Awards often get an early boost for their award campaigns.

The top prize went to “American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson’s publishing industry satire that stars Jeffrey Wright as a novelist who finds massive success after writing a deliberately stupid novel about Black life. Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” and Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” were honored as the first and second runners up, respectively.

The MRC title could have a bright future at the Academy Awards, as 11 of the last 14 People’s Choice Award winners...

by Cláudio Alves

Down the Pacific coast, there’s a place that looks like heaven but is no safe haven. You reach it by boat, sailing over turquoise waves, the wind carrying hopes of healing and promises of solutions to problems that have none. First-time feature director Meredith Hama-Brown and cinematographer Norm Li capture the environment’s full spectrum of color in their new 1990s-set film Seagrass, rendering bleak material beautiful. Skin tones are sun-kissed, while the deepest shadows are cobalt blue. It’s like we’re seeing the shoreline through a painter’s eyes. We’re not.

Rather than the artist’s gaze, we experience a family’s troubled perspective. They’re two girls and their parents, bound to a couple’s retreat where they hope their marriage will find salvation…...

Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi, 2023).The lineup is being unveiled for the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, starting with 60 selections from the Gala and Special Presentations programs. The festival takes place from September 7–17, 2023.Gala PRESENTATIONSConcrete Utopia (Um Tae-Hwa)Dumb Money (Craig Gillespie)Fair Play (Chloe Domont)Flora and Son (John Carney)Hate to Love: Nickelback (Leigh Brooks)Lee (Ellen Kuras)Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi)Nyad (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin)Punjab ’95 (Honey Trehan)Solo (Sophie Dupuis)The End We Start From (Mahalia Belo)The Movie Emperor (Ning Hao)The New Boy (Warwick Thornton) The Royal Hotel (Kitty Green)The Holdovers.Special Presentationsa Difficult Year (Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache)A Normal Family (Hur Jin-ho)American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)Close to You (Dominic Savage)Days of Happiness (Chloé Robichaud)The Rescue (Daniela Goggi)Ezra (Tony Goldwyn)Fingernails (Christos Nikou)Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania...

Toronto — The Toronto International Film Festival® is thrilled to announce the 2023 selections for the Discovery and Midnight Madness programmes. The infamous Midnight Madness lineup features 10 titles, 7 of which are World Premieres. The Discovery lineup, which primarily boasts World and International Premieres, includes 26 titles. Notably, 13 female filmmakers representing 50% of the total programme are featured in this year’s Discovery programme.

Midnight Madness and Discovery provide a cornucopia of original and unexpected work. Midnight Madness is a fan favourite, iconoclastic programme highlighting the weird and the wicked, while the Discovery programme offers a window to contemporary international cinema and introduces the public to first and second feature films from gifted new filmmakers.

“We’re excited to be showcasing new voices, audacious vision, and genre-bending cinema,” said Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer. “TIFF’s Discovery and Midnight Madness programmes for 2023 will once again prove to be the ultimate destination for tastemakers and experience seekers.

This year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is set to take place from September 7th through the 17th, and yesterday they invited film fans to guess which ten movies they’ll be screening in their Midnight Madness lineup this year. The hints were the titles of ten movies that could be compared to the films in the lineup in some way. They were Trey Parker’s Orgazmo, Geoff Murphy’s Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Jimmy Wang Yu’s Fantasy Mission Force, Charles Martin Smith’s Trick or Treat, Stan Brakhage’s Dog Star Man, Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead, Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar, Ingmar Bergman’s Hour of the Wolf, and Theodore J. Flicker’s Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang. Now TIFF has announced the full lineup for both their Midnight Madness and Discovery programmes, and...

The Toronto International Film Festival lineup keeps rolling in, with Midnight Madness, Discovery, and Platform programs being unveiled this week. Leading the pack is the North American premiere of Harmony Korine’s infrared action feature Aggro DR1FT, while new films from Tarsem, Larry Charles, Patricia Arquette, Molly Manning Walker, and more were also added.

“Sides will be split — both figuratively and literally (on screen) — as Midnight Madness returns to the Royal Alexandra Theatre with another stimulating concoction of unpredictable shock and ‘y’arr!’ cinema,” said Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International Programmer, Midnight Madness. “Featuring two timely satiric provocations from Saudi Arabia (Naga) and Serbia (Working Class Goes to Hell) — nations that are making their section debut — this year’s madness infectiously ignites with 11 o’clock numbers that go all the way to midnight courtesy of Larry Charles’ bonkers and bawdy Dicks: The Musical. A menagerie of tastes will be sated, so bottoms up!

Patricia Arquette’s Gonzo Girl and Larry Charles’ Dicks: The Musical open the sections.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled the titles in its Discovery and Midnight Madness programmes, with the line-ups including Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft, Patricia Arquette’s Gonzo Girl and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.

The Discovery line-up, designed to open a window on contemporary international cinema with first and second features from new filmmakers, comprises 26 titles from 25 countries, most of them world or international premieres.

As well as Arquette’s directing debut Gonzo Girl, with the actor also starring alongside Willem Dafoe,...

The Toronto International Film Festival announced the 2023 selections for the Discovery and Midnight Madness program this morning. The Midnight Madness lineup features 10 titles, seven of which are World Premieres. The Discovery lineup, which primarily boasts World and International Premieres, includes 26 titles. Notably, 13 female filmmakers representing 50% of the total are featured in this year’s Discovery program.

Midnight Madness and Discovery provide a cornucopia of original and unexpected work. Midnight Madness is a fan favorite, iconoclastic program highlighting the weird and the wicked, while the Discovery program offers a window to contemporary international cinema and introduces the public to first and second feature films from gifted new filmmakers.

“We’re excited to be showcasing new voices, audacious vision, and genre-bending cinema,” said Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer. “TIFF’s Discovery and Midnight Madness program for 2023 will once again prove to be the ultimate destination for tastemakers and experience seekers.”

Midnight...

New films from Patricia Arquette, Larry Charles, Harmony Korine and Finn Wolfhard will screen in the Midnight Madness and Discovery sections of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.

Korine’s “Aggro DR1FT” and Charles’ “Dicks: The Musical” will screen in the Midnight Madness section, along with eight other films that also include Jason Yu’s “Sleep” and Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s “Hell of a Summer.”

“Dicks: The Musical,” which TIFF Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky called “bonkers and bawdy” in the press release announcing the lineups, will open the Midnight Madness section, while Weston Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire” will be the closing-night attraction.

The Discovery section will showcase 26 films from up-and-coming directors around the world. It will open with Arquette’s “Gonzo Girl,” which stars Willem Dafoe and Camilla Morrone (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) and is one of many TIFF titles from actors who have turned to directing.

The Toronto International Film Festival has today announced the lineup for two of its more unpredictable and interesting sections: Discovery and Midnight Madness. Billed as “the infamous,” this year’s Midnight Madness lineup features 10 titles, seven of which are world premieres. The Discovery lineup, which primarily includes world and international premieres, includes 26 titles.

Per TIFF, both “Midnight Madness and Discovery provide a cornucopia of original and unexpected work. Midnight Madness is a fan favorite, iconoclastic program highlighting the weird and the wicked, while the Discovery program offers a window to contemporary international cinema and introduces the public to first and second feature films from gifted new filmmakers.” The festival’s announcement also notes that 13 female filmmakers, representing 50 percent of the total program, are featured in this year’s Discovery lineup.

Those films include new offerings from Harmony Korine and Larry Charles, plus — as Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International Programmer, Midnight Madness,...

The Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness sidebar will open with Borat director Larry Charles’ latest movie Dicks: The Musical getting a world premiere.

Charles’ latest film, from A24 and in theaters from Sept. 29, stars Megan Mullally, Megan Thee Stallion, Bowen Yang as God and Nathan Lane, as the comedy duo of Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp (who also wrote the film’s script) play self-obsessed businessmen who discover they’re long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric and divorced parents.

“This year’s madness infectiously ignites with 11 o’clock numbers that go all the way to midnight courtesy of Larry Charles’ bonkers and bawdy Dicks: The Musical. A menagerie of tastes will be sated, so bottoms up!” Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International programmer of Midnight Madness, said in a statement on Thursday.

The latest additions to the Toronto Film Festival also include the lineup...

Marking her third Dn appearance, Director Meredith Hama-Brown finds parallels between grief and otherworldly encounters in her latest music video for Loscil’s Sol. Hama-Brown reflects the rhythmic pulse of Loscil’s song with a combination of powerful, lucid 35mm cinematography and warm, retro-looking VFX as she weaves together the story of a woman (played by Mari Yamamoto) who in the wake of losing her partner has a mysterious alien encounter in her backyard. By combining these two profound and transformative experiences, she is able to draw an astute philosophical observation on what it means to face the mysteries of life. Dn caught up with Hama-Brown for the premiere of Sol and to talk over its creation, how she embraced light and lasers to construct a version of a UFO that hadn’t been seen on screen before, and the practicality of incorporating Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle’s signature visual effect.

Virtual meetings, panels and networking to take place September 12-13.

New projects from producers and production companies behind The Father, Born To Be Blue, Mustang and I’m No Longer Here are among the roster at the virtual 16th Ontario Creates International Financing Forum (iff) set to run from September 12-13.

The two-day co-financing and co-production market, which will run online due to the pandemic, serves international and Canadian producers developing mostly English-language projects and takes place in association with Toronto International Film Festival.

Sessions encompass one-on-one producer and executive meetings with 42 executives in attendance including new companies like Voltage Pictures,...

The complete list of short films screening at Fantastic Fest has been announced. Unfortunatly as with most short films, there isn’t too much known about many of these. I know Infernal Nuns recieved a lot of praise from various blogs after it screened at Fantasia and Cop Hard is based on the popular web series, but apart from that, I’m pretty much in the dark. What I do know is that sometimes the short films are more rewarding than some features. Remember folks, some of these directors may go on to do some very big things in the near future, so try and check them out. Here is the press release.

Austin, TX-Wednesday, August 24th, 2011- Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the short film lineup for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas. Fantastic Fest loves its short films – they provide a...

Anybody can tell a good tale, spin a quality yarn so to speak, if given an hour and a half. But to accomplish that same feat in 15 minutes or so, now that's doing something. And Fantastic Fest has announced the lineup of 50 films doing just that for this year's program.

The Fantastic Fest shorts will be presented during the festival, which runs September 22-29 in Austin, Texas. With running times as long as thirty minutes and a short as two, and coming from over a dozen countries, the films look as diverse as they will be entertaining. Take a gander at the huge list complied below, and for those of you lucky enough to be in the great state of Texas during the fest, we envy you.

Fantastic Fest 2011 Shorts

All Men Are Called Robert (2011)

U.S. Premiere

Director: Marc-Henri Boulier, France, 6 minutes

A naked, terribly bruised man is running through the woods.

After dismally noticing that there are no women directors with features at this year's Fantastic Fest film festival in Austin, Texas in September, the new shorts lineup gives me hope...

The animated Bedtime for Timmy is co-directed by Thomas Nicol and Becky Griesheimer. Night falls, shadows creep out, and the time has come for little Timmy to go to bed. But can he brave the ominous gaze of his closet door?

Black Doll by Sofia Carrillo is from Mexico, and we've been enamoured of her filmmaking since her first short, Fuera de Control, which blew us away. Her work is reminiscent of Christiane Cegavske's - animated artwork: Two sisters share their life imprisoned in a strange place. The mundane routine, along with their curiosity, will cause them to break their boundaries.

I adore the films of Viscera 2011 filmmaker Emily Carmichael, so I'm stoked to see her fantasy film The...