Executive Director of the Canadian Film Fest (CFF), Bern Euler, has announced the lineup for 2015 CFF, which will open and close with the Toronto premieres of two Toronto-shot films – Murray Foster’s THE COCKSURE LADS MOVIE and Matt Sadowski’s PRETEND WE’RE KISSING. This year’s festival will present eight feature films and 16 short films over its four-day run.
“The CFF has expanded from three to four days, and this year’s lineup is a testament to the wealth of diversity present in the Canadian film industry,” said Bern Euler, Executive Director, Canadian Film Fest. “We’re very proud to celebrate the talent that is present and emerging in our own backyard.”
The Canadian Film Fest’s main purpose is to showcase fresh voices in Canadian independent filmmaking to Torontonians. In addition to film screenings over the course of the four days, the CFF has an expanded Industry Series for filmmakers including a VFX Master Class with Alex Boothby (FIGHT CLUB, BLACK SWAN) and Mike Sevigny (THE MASKED SAINT, TV’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), and industry panels including screenwriting and distribution.
The CFF has also partnered with the Harold Greenberg Fund to create the CFF’s Harold Greenberg Screenwriting Competition – a unique opportunity for Canadian screenwriters to win $10,000 in financial support for their written feature-length screenplays. The deadline for submissions is March 4, 2015.
The CFF will take place at The Royal in Toronto from March 25-28. For more information, complete film synopses, and details about the Harold Greenberg Screenwriting Competition, visit www.canfilmfest.ca.
Opening Night Film
THE COCKSURE LADS MOVIE
This hilarious musical comedy is about an English band on the cusp of stardom that arrives in Toronto for their first-ever North American tour only to break up ten minutes later. Director: Murray Foster. Cast: Alan Doyle, Lyndon Ogbourne, Luke Marty, Edward Hillier, Adam McNab, Chelsea Leaman, Peter Higginson, Sophia Fabilli, Laura Vincent, Laura Tremblay, Marc Hallworth, Brandon James Sim, John Fray, Willard Gillard. (Toronto Premiere)
Closing Night Film
PRETEND WE’RE KISSING
Benny needs to get out his of head and stop over thinking everything. It’s holding him back from growing up and finding love. When, by chance, he meets and falls for Jordan, a somewhat dorky girl obsessed with the notion of fate and hell-bent on finding a magical kind of love, he realizes that he might be able to actually move forward in life…if he can only get out of his own way. Director: Matt Sadowski. Cast: Dov Tiefenbach, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Zoë Kravitz. (Toronto Premiere)
Feature Film Lineup
BARN WEDDING
Fashion blogger Emma is gearing up for her picturesque summer wedding to longtime boyfriend Colin, when she finds out they have to move the wedding up six months so Colin can take a new job out of town. With her best friend, Emma is determined to have her rustic “Pinterest” worthy wedding in the middle of winter. Director: Shaun Benson. Cast: Emily Coutts, Kelly McCormack, Brett Donahue, Shaun Benson, Kate Corbett, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Kaleb Alexander, Christopher Hayes. (World Premiere)
BEN’S AT HOME
Newly 30 and single Ben is heartbroken and cynical. He makes the unusual decision never to leave his house again, which reveals the struggles that follow the extent to which social media shapes our personal lives. Director: Mars Horodyski. Cast: Dan Abramovici, Jess Embro, Jim Annan, Inessa Frantowski, Craig Brown, David Reale, Rob Baker, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Emma Fleury, Ruth Goodwin, Sarah Booth. (Toronto Premiere)
LATE NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE
During a late night taping of “Dr. Nasty’s Cavalcade of Horror”, bloody chaos takes place during the screening of two features (“Dinner for Monsters” and “Slit”). Samantha/Nurse Nasty is frustrated by how the show is being run by its womanizing director and its drunk and crazy host Dr. Nasty. “Dinner for Monsters” tells the story a down and out chef who is hired to cook a special meal for a rich and powerful couple for a midnight dinner party. In “Slit”, Brad has an underground freelance business of cutting people for relief and profit. Directors: Navin Ramaswaran, Zach Ramelan, Torin Langen. Cast: Jamie Elizabeth Sampson, Nick Smyth, Jeff Sinasac, Colin Price, Caleigh Le Grand, Sandra Da Costa, Brian Carleton. (Canadian Premiere)
NOCTURNE
NOCTURNE is an offbeat urban fairy tale about an insomniac who falls in love with a sleepwalker. Haunted by her past, and dogged by her present, Cindy can’t sleep, and sketches to relieve her growing anxiety. A fellow worker, Armen, constructs origami – but acts oddly. Lost in her own world, Cindy chooses to follow Armen through his, and slowly and improbably, their relationship blossoms. Director: Saul Pincus. Cast: Mary Krohnert, Knickoy Robinson, Ian Downie, Marcia Bennett. (Canadian Premiere)
RELATIVE HAPPINESS
Plus–sized and 30 years old, Lexie Ivy is a feisty Bed & Breakfast owner who desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. In small town Nova Scotia, that’s no easy task, especially when the most eligible bachelor is Joss, the rough handyman fixing her roof. But, after a series of hilarious mishaps and reality checks, Lexie opens her heart and eyes to see that love may be a lot closer than she thought. Director: Deanne Foley. Cast: Melissa Bergland, Aaron Poole, Johnathan Sousa, Susan Kent, Joel Hynes, Molly Dunsworth, Rob Wells. (Toronto Premiere)
SHOOTING THE MUSICAL
SHOOTING THE MUSICAL (previously titled AFTER FILM SCHOOL) is a dark, comedic mockumentary about a group of young film school graduates attempting to create the most offensive film of all time: ‘High School Shooting the Musical’. Director: Joel Ashton McCarthy. Cast: Bruce Novakowski, Chris Walters, Rebecca Strom, Lisa Ovies, Rory W. Tucker, Casey Margolis, & Gigi Saul Guerrero. (Toronto Premiere)
Short Film Lineup
ASTRAEA
On a cold ghostly autumn night, a mothers will to save her child’s life is put to test.
Director: Rouzbeh Heydari. Cast: Ann Pirvu, Jen Pogue, Mckenzie Ball, Ted Jefferies.
BURN THE TAPES
Joe records his dreams. He has for as far back as he can remember. When his new wife Naomi listens to the tapes she learns something about her husband that she’d rather not know. Directors: Nick Kewin and Brit Kewin. Cast: Martin Malinski, Jaqueline Vogl, Darleen Degrieck, Shaena Patton.
FINALITAS
Spring is just beginning. Maude suddenly decides to leave her boyfriend. The first thing she does: write to Antonin, a man she has never seen, who has sent her evocative love letters. Director: Sebastien Rioux. Cast: Maryse Deraiche, Pierro Varga, Benoit Malette, Sebastien Rioux.
GAYBASHER
A young man emerges from a violent encounter in the back alleys of the gay ghetto to become an avenging angel. Forged by the cruelty of bigotry, he takes back the name of the aggressors to become an urban vigilante called GAYBASHER! Director: Ron Leach. Cast: Zion Forest Lee, Hardee Lineham, John Tench, Joshua Teixeira, Michael James Regan.
IRIS
Devoted teenage boyfriend Marshall worries that his girlfriend Iris, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, might be losing her grip on reality when she tells him she sees another world. Directors: Simone Stock. Cast: Bea Santos, Atticus Dean Mitchell, Allegra Fulton.
JOB INTERVIEW
A regular job interview turns into a reminder of Dan’s dark past. Directors: Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll and Tim Moore. Cast: Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Dan Beirne, Gwynne Phillips.
LUNCHBOX LOSER
Aspiring stand-up sensation Natasha Marakova would rather practice her comedy routine alone in the bathroom than try to deal with school politics. When the hall monitor busts her sanctuary hideout, Natasha is forced to eat in the lunchroom for the first time. Director: Virginia Abramovich. Cast: Sarah Davis, Ella Ballentine, Zane Davis, Adrianna Di Lielo, Elijha Hammill, Brian Hooper, Masha Nadtotchii, Arcadia Kendal, Chloe Lederman, Sammy Jo Higgins, Makayla Mantley.
NIGHT LIFE
Somewhere in the shadows of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, a young woman spends her nights alone, lurking in Internet chat rooms and meticulously constructing a ‘vision board’ of an ideal future, while her real life crumbles around her. Director: Erica Genereux Smith. Cast: Katherine Folk-Sullivan, Bradley Anderson.
SHE SINGS FOR ME
A modern day fairy tale about Jacob, a self-acclaimed post-modern cobbler, and Holly, his quirky neighbor, reveals that love and relationships are delicate and imperfect. Director: Rebecca Davey. Cast: Marie-Claire Marcotte, Jean-Michel Le Gal, Elsie Alfred.
SIC.
A lifelong friendship is set ablaze when two friends confront their past unveiling a provocative secret. Director: Joshua Hinkson. Cast: Joshua Hinkson, Steven Roberts.
SOME THINGS WON’T SLEEP
A woman does the most horrific thing possible to save her marriage. Unfortunately, some secrets won’t stay buried for very long. Director: Leah Johnston. Cast: Alexis Milligan, David Christoffel, Alyssa Cross, Jordan Poole.
SPEAK NOW
In a visceral exploration of love and the silences that bind us, Mallory and Grayson spend a summer night together in a hotel room where they must choose between reticence and revealing a secret that could change their lives forever. Director: Raj Ramnauth. Cast: Jenna Scott, Roger Doche.
THE DAY SANTA DIDN’T COME
In the final days before Christmas, young Curtis is concerned about his status on Santa’s list. Despite his good intentions, his evil older brother and delinquent father rope him into questionable acts. Director: Ryan Keller. Cast: Gabriel Hogan, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Jack Fulton, Richard Fitzpatrick.
THE TIME TRAVELER
A man suffering from amnesia after a traumatic experience rebuilds his life. His newfound peace is interrupted when fate brings his former student back into the picture. Director: RT! Cast: Huse Madhavji, Emmanuel Kabongo.
THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU HAD PLANNED
While waiting for his movie to start, Hank works up the nerve to speak to Hathaway, the attractive woman seated behind him. In an upscale apartment across town, Jack welcomes Sarah over for a bottle of wine. As these two scenarios unfold, they begin to intertwine with one another, slowly revealing hidden truths and connections. Director: Christopher Warre Smets. Cast: Kristian Bruun, Natalie Lisinska, Elizabeth Whitmere, Jefferson Brown.
WHEN FISH FLY
A young girl grieves the loss of her mother, and is gifted a pet fish in an attempt to brighten her spirits. But when the fish dies, too, the little girl embarks on an adventure in letting go. Director: Lisa Rose Snow. Cast: Alyssa Cross, Josh MacDonald.
http://canfilmfest.ca/
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