Jonna's Body, Please Hold is a comedic tour de force of outlandish visuals, snappy dialogue and draw-dropping sets. Wildly imaginative and playful, it’s hilarious and deeply moving portrait of one young woman's battle against breast cancer. Taking place entirely on location within Jonna Tamases body, the film follows sassy receptionist (and Jonna’s brain) Pearl, as she fields calls from a parade of competing body parts including Sgt. Coif leading a head full of unruly troops; Upper Back, frantically knotted and uptight; and Uta and Ula, begging to be released from their brassiere imprisonment. It's business as usual until two nasty intruders move in, killers who will stop at nothing to take over. Suddenly the off-beat citizens of Jonna's body are thrown together into their greatest battle ever, the fight to save Jonna's life.
In addition to screenings, the festival hosts a Breast Fest Speaker Series. Guests speakers include Michael Partain, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and is the subject of the award-winning documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful that will screen as part of Breast Fest. Partain will participate in What’s In My Backyard: Potential Links to Breast Cancer in our Local Environment panel discussion alongside Shelley Harris, Ph.D. University of Toronto; Bruce Lourie, President, Ivey Foundation; and Heather Marshall, Toxics Campaigner & Good Neighbour Coordinator. The panel is moderated by Adria Vasil, author and columnist for NOW Magazine.
All screenings will take place at The Bloor HOT DOCS Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Opening night tickets are $20 and tickets for all other screenings are $10 per. Tickets for Tits N’ Sass: An Evening of Comedy Benefitting Rethink Breast Cancer are $50 ($25 tax receipt issued with every ticket).
http://www.breastfestfilmfest.com/
FILM PROGRAMMING
Pink Ribbons Inc. – Léa Pool (Canada)
A feature documentary from the National Film Board of Canada, Pink Ribbons, Inc. shows how the devastating reality of breast cancer, which marketing experts have labeled a “dream cause,” has become obfuscated by a shiny, pink story of success.
Producer Ravida Din will be in attendance. Saturday, November 3 at 1pm.
Cléo de 5 à 7 (Cléo from 5 to 7) – Agnès Varda (France)
Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer (Corinne Marchand) set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo de 5 à 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina. Cléo de 5 à 7 was selected as one of TIFF’s 100 Essential Cinema.
Saturday, November 3 at 4pm
Semper Fi: Always Faithful – Rachel Libert (USA)
When Marine Corps drill instructor Jerry Ensminger’s young daughter dies from a rare type of leukemia, he wants to know why. His search for answers leads him to a shocking discovery: a Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in US history. This dramatic, heart-breaking documentary is both a searing look at the military’s betrayal of its own and an emotional story of one man’s transformation into the activist he never imagined he’d become.
Mike Partain a 39-year-old male breast cancer survivor featured in the film will be in attendance. Sunday, November 4 at 10:30 am
One From Afar – Noa Osheroff (Israel)
Dana waits with her mother for a double mastectomy. With an elephant of that size in the room, sometimes it’s the conversations that you aren’t having that mean more than the ones that you are. Sunday, November 4 at 1:30pm
Mondays at Racine – Cynthia Wade (USA)
By Academy Award winning director Cynthia Wade, Mondays at Racine follows two bold and brassy sisters who every third Monday of the month open the doors of their Long Island hair salon to women diagnosed with cancer. As locks of hair fall to the floor, women gossip, giggle, weep, face their fears, and discover unexpected beauty.
Winner of the audience award at the Independent Film Festival Boston
Honourable Mention at Silver Docs
Sunday, November 4 at 1:30 pm
Pink Skies – Gulcin Gilbert (USA)
Pink Skies is an inspirational documentary about the empowerment of women. It’s about overcoming obstacles as athletes & as human beings. This award–winning film follows Ruth, a breast cancer survivor as she hopes to join an incredible team of nearly 200 women from 31 countries to create a World Record all Women’s Skydiving Formation. The team also has a goal to raise nearly 1 million dollars for breast cancer research and prevention.
Director Gulcin Gilbert and some of the athletes featured in the film in attendance. Sunday, November 4 at 4pm
SPEAKER SERIES
50 Shades of Pink: A nuanced discussion about breast cancer fundraising
Breast Cancer fundraising has been in the hot seat this year with the Komen Foundation Planned Parenthood scandal in the States and the release of Lea Pool’s hard-hitting documentary Pink Ribbons Inc. Much of the fundraising controversy centers around “pink products” and whether the millions raised each year actually benefits women or simply the bottom lines of companies selling pink. Meanwhile, many advances have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer due to the large amounts of funding and awareness. The questions remain, is the devastating reality of breast cancer being sugar-coated a frosty pink? Or are we all part of a powerful and positive “pink movement”?
Breast Fest brings all sides to the table to debate and discuss this important question that impacts the future of the breast cancer movement. Join Rethink Breast Cancer’s VP Alison Gordon as she discusses this complex, combustible subject with Ravida Din, producer of Pink Ribbons Inc. and Mark Hierlihy, a leading expert in the world of “cause marketing.”
Panelists:
Ravida Din, Producer, Pink Ribbons Inc.
Mark Hierlihy, CFRE, Vice-President, Cause Marketing & Consumer Strategy at C’volution
Moderator: Alison Gordon, VP Strategy, Marketing and Communications, Rethink Breast Cancer
What's in My Backyard?: A discussion of the local environmental links to cancer
If the Marine Corps can cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history, what is or isn’t hiding in our own backyard? Reports may list carcinogens in products that we are to avoid in our daily lives - but what are we to do when our water and air are at stake? Join us for a candid conversation with the game changers in the world of cancer-related environmental activism & academia to illuminate the actual state of local affairs, and let us know what we can do to reduce our risk from potential environmental contaminants.
Panelists:
Dr. Shelley Harris, University of Toronto
Bruce Lourie, author of Slow Death By Rubber Duck
Mike Partain, cancer survivor featured in Semper Fi: Always Faithful
Heather Marshall, Toxics Campaigner & Good Neighbour Coordinator, Toronto Environmental Alliance
Caring for Cancer
A discussion on the changing relationship of cancer patient and caregiver.
Panel members to be announced
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