GLOBAL STORIES, THRILLERS AND EH CLASS COMEDY HEADLINE DIVERSE CANADIAN LINEUP AT TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Toronto International Film Festival® promises to seduce audiences with its Vanguard programme, introducing festival-goers to international works that defy convention and ride on the pulse of cutting-edge cinema. Curated by the Festival’s Midnight Madness expert Colin Geddes, this lineup taps into a bold and dangerous world where genre meets art house cinema.
“From Tijuana caves to the dawn of the Spanish civil war, this programme takes genre junkies to the extreme depths of storytelling that push the boundaries of filmmaking,” said Geddes, TIFF Programmer. “I like to think of Vanguard as Midnight Madness’s older, more mature sister with a darker, confrontational and transgressive core.”
The Vanguard roster features works from director Soi Cheang (Accident), musician Ben Drew, Canadian singer-songwriter Peaches, Hong Kong’s Johnnie To and Ben Wheatley (Kill List).
Eva Sørhaug, Norway
World Premiere
Director Eva Sørhaug (Cold
Lunch) reveals the rage and violence lurking beneath seemingly tranquil
domesticity in her bold and uncompromising sophomore feature. 
Zhang Yuan, China
World Premiere
Beneath Beijing's dazzling
economic boom exists the downtrodden and the forgotten “little” people who bear
the weight of life's trials and injustices. 
Peter
Strickland, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Set in 1976: Gilderoy is hired
to orchestrate the sound mix for the latest film by Italian horror maestro,
Santini. As time and realities shift, Gilderoy is lost in a spiral of sonic and
personal mayhem, and has to confront his own demons in order to stay afloat. 
Jesper Ganslandt, Sweden
North American Premiere
Three sisters, all adrift and
in crisis, reunite at their childhood home as their domineering mother arranges
a big birthday. But as the festivities come to an end, repressed conflicts rise
to the surface. Old wounds are opened and a new family is born.
Adrian Garcia
Bogliano, Mexico/Argentina
World Premiere
On a family vacation, a
couple’s son and daughter disappear while exploring a cave-riddled
mountainside. The children eventually return home seemingly unharmed, but are
withdrawn and devoid of emotion. The parents fear they have fallen prey to
something inhuman — and that this dark evil has come home with them.
Jason
Lapeyre and Robert Wilson, Canada
World Premiere
A group of friends play an
innocent game of capture the flag in the neighbourhood woods, arming themselves
with nothing more than sticks, their imagination and a simple set of rules. One
afternoon, the game takes on a more serious tone and the quest for victory
pushes the boundaries of friendship, giving the would-be warriors a glimpse of
the darker side of human nature. 
Ben Drew, United Kingdom
International Premiere
iLL Manors is the highly anticipated directorial debut by
pioneering British music artist Ben Drew (a.k.a. Plan B). A unique crime
thriller set on the unforgiving streets of London, iLL Manors follows
six disparate lives, all struggling to survive the circles of violence that
engulf them. Narratively linked through original music from Plan B, the film is
a visually stunning and emotionally impactful experience laced with street-wise
humour. The film’s soundtrack just topped the U.K.’s album chart.
Soi Cheang, Hong Kong
North
American Premiere
A cocky young cop on the city's
top-secret, high-speed pursuit squad must learn the tricks of the trade from a
grizzled veteran (Hong Kong action star Anthony Wong) as he prepares to take
down a getaway driver in this super-charged, high-octane thriller from Hong
Kong action auteur Soi Cheang (Accident) and legendary producer Johnnie
To.
Juan Carlos Medina, Spain/France/Portugal
World
Premiere
At the dawn of the Spanish
civil war, a group of children insensitive to pain is locked in a sanatorium in
the heart of the Pyrénées. In the present day, brilliant neurosurgeon David
Martel discovers that he has a tumor and starts searching for his biological
parents, in order to get the bone marrow transplant necessary for his survival.
During his quest, he will exhume terrifying secrets about his origins,
reanimate ghosts of his country and confront Berkano, the only fateful survivor
of the insensitive children. From the writer of [Rec]. 
Peaches, Germany
World Premiere
On the advice of a 65-year-old
stripper, Peaches makes music that is sexually forthright. Her popularity grows
and she becomes what her fans expect her to be: transsexual. She falls in love
with a beautiful she-male, but Peaches gets her heart broken and has to realize
who she really is. Described as an anti-jukebox musical. Peaches writes, directs
and plays the role of Peaches herself.
Luis Prieto, United Kingdom
North American
Premiere
As edgy and explosive as
Nicolas Winding Refn’s (Drive) 1996 cult classic, this English language
remake tells the story of a week in the life of Frank, a big time drug pusher
in London. Frank’s life is a fun-filled rollercoaster ride that spins out of
control. Friendships start to vanish, there is no longer room for love within
his life, and violence takes over. Danger and chaos ensue, and eventually Frank
is left with no one to turn to and nowhere to go. 
Rodney Ascher, USA
Canadian Premiere
Room 237 fuses fact and fiction through interviews with ardent
fans convinced they have decoded Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining’s secret
messages regarding genocide, government conspiracy, and the nightmare that we
call history. Ideas of five devotees of the film are braided together in a
kaleidoscopic deconstruction of the horror classic. 
Ben Wheatley, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Chris (Steve Oram) wants to
show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way: on a journey
through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford caravan. Erotic
odyssey... Killing spree... Caravanning holiday... The trip taken by Tina and
Chris in Sightseers is all these things and more.
Aleksander Nordaas, Norway
Canadian Premiere
Two crime-scene cleaners
discover a mythical, tailed female creature in a concealed cellar. She never
utters a word, unable to tell her story, but the pieces of the puzzle soon come
together: she's been held captive for decades for reasons soon to surface. 
Michel Gondry, USA
North American
Premiere
It’s the last day of the year
at a high school in the Bronx, and students pile on to the usual bus home. The
raucous bunch of aggressive and superficial teens — the bullies and the bullied
— develops and is transformed as the bus empties. Relationships become closer
and more personal between students with absolutely nothing in common. Purchase Festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET at 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433, or visit the box office in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The 37th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 6 to 16, 2012.
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