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The Variety and Chanel Female Filmmakers Dinner brought together an A-list lineup of Hollywood stars and creatives including Andrew Garfield, Elizabeth Olsen, “Nightbitch” director Marielle Heller (who attended this event mere moments before her film’s premiere), Danielle Deadwyler, Barry Keoghan and more for a vibrant night amidst the Toronto Film Festival. The vibe was electric, with drinks flowing, delicious food on hand and a spontaneous game of “Two Truths and a Lie” breaking out.

The event, which took place at Soho House Toronto, featured a cocktail hour downstairs before a three-course dinner on the second floor of the social club. Inside, the hotly anticipated “Saturday Night” film cast Cory Michael Smith, Lamorne Morris, Ella Hunt and Dylan O’Brien stopped in before their Tuesday night premiere. The film, a hot title at TIFF, is set within the chaotic 90 minutes before the first episode of “SNL” aired in 1975. The group mingled...

ESPN Films’ sports docuseries “30 for 30” will launch five new docus this summer.

The upcoming slate features docs about topics including gamer brand FaZe Clan, former track and field superstar Butch Reynolds, and comedy and sports YouTube creator company Dude Perfect.

The summer lineup will launch on June 4 with Kathleen Jayme and Asia Youngman’s “I’m Just Here for the Riot.” About the infamous 2011 Vancouver riot following a Canucks loss to the Boston Bruins during the Stanley Cup final, the film chronicles the event and its aftermath while also raising deeper questions about fandom, violence, and the shocking power of an angry crowd.

The remaining four docus on the slate are: Ismail Al-Amin’s “False Positive,” Justin Staple’s “No Scope: The Story of FaZe Clan,” Jay Caspian Kang’s “American Son,” and Oliver Anderson and Louis Burgdorf’s “Dude Perfect: A Very Long Shot.”

“Our upcoming ’30 for...

With Hot Docs’ marquee market event the Forum and its sidebar operations back to live action, and the festival’s 30th anniversary adding a layer of buzzy excitement, docmakers and industry pros from Western Canada are hauling out a bumper crop of adventurous docs for audiences and buyers, and chatting in the real world about new projects with potential Canadian and international partners and funders.

Nine Western Canada-made doc features span Hot Docs’ programs, with stories that go deeper into landscapes and beyond cultural stereotypes.

Kathleen Jayme’s and Asia Youngman’s “I’m Just Here for the Riot” (ESPN 30 for 30), about violence that erupted after the Vancouver Canucks’ loss of the Stanley Cup final in 2011, is one of three titles world-premiering in the Canadian Spectrum competition.

“The riot was a story that no one had ever really talked about,” said Youngman, who’s currently working on a film about...

Exclusive: Canadian post-production outfit Elemental Post has opened a new post-production studio in Vancouver.

The studio is located in Vancouver’s Railtown district and features a 4K theatre with laser projection, three color suites, two sound stages, and extra suites for finishing, titling, and dailies.

The boutique label is headed by Post Supervisor and Sound Designer Matt Drake and Senior Colourist Dave Tomiak. Some of the company’s recent credits include Canadian filmmaker Anthony Shim’s Toronto Film Critic Award-winning feature Riceboy Sleeps and the ESPN 30 for 30 doc I’m Just Here for the Riot from filmmakers Asia Youngman and Kat Jayme, which centers on the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot.

Upcoming projects in post at Elemental include Cocaine Bear writer Jimmy Warden’s directorial debut Borderline, which is being produced by Margot Robbie’s production company LuckyChap Entertainment, and Cold Copy starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Bel Powely, and Jacob Tremblay.

Danish filmmaker Lin Alluna’s “Twice Colonized” will open the 30th anniversary edition of Hot Docs, which unveiled its full slate of 214 films—including 119 features—from 72 countries on Tuesday.

North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market continues its commitment to gender parity with 53% female directors in this year’s official selection. Hot Docs runs April 27 to May 7.

International co-production “Twice Colonized,” which premiered at Sundance and opened Cph:dox, follows Inuk lawyer Aaju Peter, a renowned human-rights defender of the Arctic’s Indigenous peoples, as she works to bring colonizers Canada and Denmark to justice. The film was produced by Emile Hertling Péronard of Greenland-based Ánorâk Film and Canadian producers Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Stacey Aglok MacDonald of Red Marrow Media and EyeSteelFilm’s Bob Moore.

“If there is a theme resonating throughout the festival, it’s this idea of making connections in every sense,” Hot Docs artistic director Shane Smith told Variety,...

TIFF announced its Short Cuts section today comprised of 39 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated short films from directors repping 18 countries.

Further broken down, the section includes 21 World Premieres and 15 North American Premieres presented in 20 different languages from countries such as Portugal, China, Colombia, Mongolia, Kenya, Ukraine, US, UK, and Canada.

“We’re thrilled to be returning with one of our strongest ever selections of short films by directors from all over the world,” says Jason Anderson, International Programmer for Short Cuts. “We’re always amazed by the breadth, depth, and diversity of the talents working in short-form cinema, whether they’re filmmakers who we’ve already had the privilege of presenting at TIFF or emerging storytellers who we can’t wait to introduce to our audiences. And however different these new works may be, what they share is an incredible sense of clarity and economy – these are films that don...

Toronto International Film Festival has revealed its Short Cuts lineup, featuring 39 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts films from 18 countries.

Presented by TikTok, the program represents a blend of returning filmmakers and newcomers. Alice Rohrwacher’s “Le Pupille,” co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón, will make its Canadian premiere at the festival. Honor Swinton Byrne of “The Souvenir,” which screened at TIFF in 2018, stars in Hazel McKibbin’s “She Always Wins.” Actor Kiawentiio of 2020 TIFF awardee “Beans” is back, this time in Asia Youngman’s “N’xaxaitkw.” Other TIFF alum with new shorts in the program are Sarah McCarthy, Mbithi Masya, Matthew Rankin, Carol Nguyen, Karen Chapman, and Sophy Romvari.

Award-winning animated shorts that made the cut include “The Flying Sailor” and “Ice Merchants.” On the documentary side, “Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles” by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, “Anastasia” by Sarah McCarthy of the U.K., and “Quiet Minds Silent Streets” by Toronto...