Friday, September 10th Films

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Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (SP) (1:48)
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Country: Hong Kong
Year: 2010
Language: Mandarin
Producer: Andrew Lau, Gordon Chan
Executive Producer: John Chong, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Guoli
Screenplay: Cheung Chi Sing, Gordon Chan, Lui Koon Nam, Frankie Tam
Runtime: 106
Programmes:

In 1920s Shanghai, hero Chen Zhen single-handedly avenges his mentor’s death by killing all the Japanese at a dojo in Hongkou, only to be showered with bullets while making his legendary flying kick. Now, years later, Chen Zhen, who is believed dead, returns in disguise to infiltrate a criminal empire and to dismantle the evil collusion that plagues the country.

China, Action, History

screening times

Thursday September 9 9:30:00 PM VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)
Friday September 10 12:00:00 PM RYERSON
Saturday September 18 9:00:00 AM VARSITY 8 Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description
Chen Zhen, first brought to life by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury, is not only a cultural hero and symbol of Chinese strength and pride, but a character who redefined Chinese martial arts cinema, propelling it to its Golden Age. Donnie Yen, one of the finest martial artists of his generation, first portrayed Chen in a 1995 television series and now returns to the role under the assured guidance of Andrew Lau. By uniting history, suspense and dazzling action sequences, Lau reinvents the well-known tale of one man’s stand to defend a nation’s dignity, transforming it into a highly entertaining action epic.

Presumed dead after single-handedly defeating all the Japanese fighters at the Hongkou Dojo to avenge his master, Chen Zhen joins the Labour Corps during the First World War. Deciding to return home to defend his country, he arrives in Shanghai disguised as a wealthy businessman named Qi. He quickly befriends the notorious mafia boss Mr. Liu (Anthony Wong), owner of the nightclub Casablanca, and Kiki (Shu Qi), the club’s star hostess. With the rapid expansion of Japanese influence in China, the military releases a death list, sending Shanghai into complete panic. As assassinations become rampant in the city, Chen disguises himself as the Masked Warrior to protect those who have been targeted.

Yen’s magnificent Chen is no longer the boastful youth that Lee immortalized, but a man filled with regret and responsibility. Lau, who draws memorable performances from the supporting cast, expertly handles the complex relationship between camaraderie, trust and love. The grandeur of Shanghai is recreated with sets that are nothing less than breathtaking.

While this latest adaptation of Chen Zhen is grand in scale and ambition, it is still anchored to its legendary hero, whose passion for his homeland is at the heart of the film.

Giovanna Fulvi
director bio
Andrew Lau was born in Hong Kong. He joined Shaw Brothers Studios after graduating from high school and has served as cinematographer on dozens of films, including City on Fire (87) and Wong-kar Wai’s As Tears Go By (88) and Chung King Express (co-cinematographer, 94). He made his directorial debut with Against All (90) and was nominated for numerous Hong Kong Film Awards before gaining international recognition with the award-winning Infernal Affairs (co-director, 02) – which was remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed (06) – and its two sequels. His other films as director include The Stormriders (98), The Duel (00), Initial D (05), Daisy (06), The Flock (07) and Legend of the Fist – The Return of Chen Zhen (10).



full credits
Principal Cast: Donnie Yen, Shu Qi, Anthony Wong, Huang Bo
Producer: Andrew Lau, Gordon Chan
Executive Producer: John Chong, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Guoli
Cinematographer: Andrew Lau
Editor: Azrael Chung
Sound: Kinson Tsang
Music: Chan Kwong Wing
Production Designer: Eric Lam

Canadian Distributor: Well Go USA, Inc.
International Sales Agent: Media Asia Distribution Ltd.
Production Company: Basic Pictures c/o Media Asia Films Ltd. Basic Pictures c/o Media Asia Films Ltd. Basic Pictures c/o Media Asia Films Ltd.

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3:00pm 091015RY Cirkus Columbia (SP) (1:53)
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Country: Bosnia & Herzegovina
Year: 2010
Language: Bosnian
Producer: Cedomir Kolar, Marc Baschet, Amra Bakšic Camo, Mirsad Purivatra

Screenplay: Danis Tanovic
Runtime: 113
Programmes:

After twenty years of exile, a husband returns to his hometown in Herzegovina to settle some scores with his ex-wife, armed with a new Mercedes, a sexy new girlfriend and a mangy black cat.



screening times

Friday September 10 3:00:00 PM RYERSON
Sunday September 12 9:30:00 AM AMC 6
Friday September 17 8:00:00 PM SCOTIABANK THEATRE 2 Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description
With this sharp comic drama set on the eve of war, director Danis Tanovic makes a triumphant return to his homeland following his Academy Award®-winning film No Man’s Land.

After years of communist rule, things seem to have settled down in the small town in southern Herzegovina where Lucija and her son Martin live a quiet life. That is until Divko, Lucija’s estranged husband of twenty years, rolls into town with a slick Mercedes, a sexy young girlfriend, loads of cash and a mangy, black cat named Bonny. Having once fled to Germany, Divko is back and looking to settle some scores in this satirical battle of the sexes.

His first order of business is to pay the local police to throw his ex-wife and teenaged son out of their home. Never one to back down, Lucija proceeds to dump buckets of scalding water onto the heads of the bumbling policemen and with that, a whole new conflict in the Balkans is unleashed. Although Divko’s tactic of throwing money at every problem seems to succeed at first, his luck soon takes a turn for the worse when his beloved Bonny goes missing, his girlfriend’s eyes start to wander and rumblings of war reach the small town. Divko, Lucija and Martin must decide what matters most: pride or survival.

Adapting the debut novel by Croatian journalist Ivica Ðikic, Tanovic draws on a superb local cast, reuniting two of the finest actors of the former Yugoslavia – Miki Manojlovic as Divko and Mira Furlan as Lucija – who previously starred alongside each other in Emir Kusturica’s 1985 Palme d’Or winning When Father Was Away on Business.

Examining the end of a marriage and the beginning of a new era in the Balkans, Cirkus Columbia charts the rise of nationalism and fascism, and the emergence of love and forgiveness with beautiful pathos and masterful sensitivity.

Michèle Maheux

director bio
Danis Tanovic was born in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and studied music, engineering and film there before war broke out in 1992. He left Sarajevo to study directing at L’Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion (INSAS) in Brussels. His documentary shorts include Portraits d’artistes pendant la guerre (94), L’Aube (96) and Ça ira (98). No Man’s Land (01), his first feature, screened as a Gala presentation at the Festival and won the Academy Award®­ for best foreign language film in 2002. His other films include a segment in the omnibus film 11’09’01 (02) and the features L’Enfer (05), Triage (09) and Cirkus Columbia (10).

full credits
Principal Cast: Miki Manojlovic, Boris Ler, Mira Furlan, Jelena Stupljanin, Mario Knezovic, Milan Strljic
Producer: Cedomir Kolar, Marc Baschet, Amra Bakšic Camo, Mirsad Purivatra
Cinematographer: Walther van den Ende
Editor: Petar Marcovic
Sound: Dirk Bombay
Production Designer: Dusko Milavec, Sanda Popovac

International Sales Agent: Match Factory
Production Company: A.S.A.P Films, 2006 d.o.o.

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5:30pm 0910??A3 How I Ended This Summer (CWC) (2:04)
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Kak ya provel etim letom
Alexei Popogrebsky

Country: Russia
Year: 2010
Language: Russian
Producer: Roman Borisevich, Alexander Kushaev

Screenplay: Alexei Popogrebsky
Runtime: 124
Programmes:

Two meteorologists are isolated on an artic island. When the two-way radio transmits some bad news that requires a middleman, it’s up to the young intern to inform his veteran colleague. Only problem is, he never seems to find the right time.

Crime & Thriller Environment Russia

screening times

Friday September 10 5:30:00 PM AMC 3
Sunday September 12 2:45:00 PM VARSITY 7
Saturday September 18 9:30:00 AM SCOTIABANK THEATRE 11 Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description
At times feeling more like a natural phenomenon than a man-made movie, How I Ended This Summer is ruled by the changeable weather. An exploration of human fragility in the frigid north, director Alexei Popogrebsky’s latest feature shows us that natural elements may not be the biggest threat to human life in the frozen tundra of northeastern Siberia. This blustery, suspenseful film evokes all the majesty and danger of an unreliable landscape with a fascinating history.

Everything is quiet on the arctic island of Chukotka until the arrival of a mysterious message. Meteorological technician Sergei (Sergei Puskepalis) is busy taking his usual radioactive readings, when inexperienced intern Pavel receives shocking news on his two-way radio. They had hoped to hear from the rescue ship intended to take Sergei home and enable Pavel, who longs for a break from notating the bleak winter sky, to embark on some semblance of a real adventure. But now the temperature is the last thing on Pavel’s mind.

It rests on his shoulders to pass the contents of this message on to Sergei, but for one reason or another – not the least of which is his own bewilderment and denial – the right opportunity never presents itself. Now Pavel no longer has trouble occupying his time. His days are spent devising tricks to keep Sergei from knowing the truth.

Popogrebsky was inspired to write the film by the diaries of N.V. Pinegin, who accompanied Russian explorer Georgio J. Sedov on his ill-fated attempt to reach the North Pole in 1912. The diaries provided a window into the mind of a man trapped in a world of ice. With the help of Pavel Kostomarov’s artfully textured cinematography, the frozen wasteland takes on a life of its own, threatening to swallow Pavel’s sanity unless the rescue mission gets there first. Too bad their scheduled salvation is postponed for another year.

Dimitri Eipides

director bio
AlexeiPopogrebsky was born in Moscow and graduated with a degree in psychology fromMoscow University. He made his first short, TrickyFrog, a documentary co-directed with Boris Khlebnikov, in 1997. The pair wenton to co-direct the feature Koktebel(03), which screened at the Festival. Since then, Popogrebsky has directed thefeatures Simple Things (07) and HowI Ended This Summer (10).


full credits
Principal Cast: Grigory Dobrygin, Sergei Puskepalis
Producer: Roman Borisevich, Alexander Kushaev
Cinematographer: Pavel Kostomarov
Editor: Ivan Lebedev
Sound: Vladimir Golovnitski
Music: Dmitry Katkhanov
Production Designer: Gennady Popov

Canadian Distributor: Film Movement
International Sales Agent: Bavaria Film International
Production Company: KOKTEBEL Film Company

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8:00pm 091020A0 What I Most Want (DI) (1:16)
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Country: Argentina
Year: 2010
Language: Spanish
Producer: Santiago Castagnino, Delfina Castagnino
Executive Producer: Ivan Eibuszyc
Screenplay: Delfina Castagnino
Runtime: 76
Programmes:

Maria's four-year relationship is coming to an end while Pilar's father has recently passed away. Though their losses are of a very different nature, the two friends find comfort in each other’s company. Maria stays with Pilar in the Argentine Patagonia and the two women share wine and lake visits as the confront their future.

First Time Feature, Latin America, Women, Friendship

screening times

Friday September 10 8:00:00 PM AMC 10
Saturday September 11 2:15:00 PM AMC 10
Saturday September 18 1:00:00 PM AMC 9 Note: indicates Premium Screening.

What I Most Want, Delfina Castagnino’s stunning feature film debut, is a heartfelt and sincere portrayal of two young women experiencing profound bereavement. Shot in Bariloche, in the Argentine Patagonia, the film is embedded in the natural world, providing the necessary physical space for the characters to contemplate their present and future.

Maria (Maria Villar) visits her friend Pilar (Pilar Gamboa) who has recently lost her father and lives alone in Bariloche. While Pilar is coming to terms with her loss, Maria too is mourning the loss of love she once had with her boyfriend. Escaping the trap of Buenos Aires, she finds the trip south providing the necessary change to realize that her relationship is coming to an end. And there’s a local boy, Diego (Esteban Lamothe), who offers Maria a wonderful distraction from her problems.

As Maria and Pilar spend their days visiting markets and lakes, cooking dinners and drinking wine, they struggle to accept the changes that their new circumstances demand. Drawing closer together more through shared experience than direct conversation, their companionship brings them both strength and comfort. The film observes key moments in their time together, each captured with beauty and simplicity.

The Argentine Patagonia is a present character in the film, provoking strikingly different responses from the urban Maria and from Pilar, more at ease in the natural world. Expertly shot and wholly original, What I Most Want signals the emergence of yet another unique voice from Argentina.

Diana Sanchez

director bio
Delfina Castagnino was born in Buenos Aires. She received a master’s degree in cinematographic direction from the Buenos Aires Cinema Foundation, where she worked in the editorial department and later became a professor. As an editor, she has worked on Lisandro Alonso’s The Dead (04) and Phantom (06), as well as Carola Gliksberg’s Later On (08) and Matías Piñeiro’s They All Lie (09). What I Most Want (10) is her first feature film.



full credits
Principal Cast: Pilar Gamboa, María Villar, Esteban Lamothe, Leonardo Castañeda
Producer: Santiago Castagnino, Delfina Castagnino
Executive Producer: Ivan Eibuszyc
Cinematographer: Soledad Rodríguez
Editor: Delfina Castagnino
Sound: Rodrigo Sánchez Mariño, Andrés P. Estrada
Music: Maxi Trusso
Production Designer: Iván Eibuszyc

Production Company: CASTAGNINOS