TIFF Bell Lighthouse Guests

TORONTO – TIFF welcomes 14 internationally renowned filmmakers, scholars and special guests who will introduce and discuss films on the Essential 100 list from September 23 to November 15. Confirmed guests to date include Canadian masters David Cronenberg and Michael Snow; actor, director and icon Isabella Rossellini; noted writer, scholar and film critic Molly Haskell; Academy Award®-winning film editor and sound designer Walter Murch; and acclaimed director, author and raconteur Peter Bogdanovich.

In collaboration with the International Festival of Authors, TIFF presents award-winning author and creator of Dexter, Jeff Lindsay, and author, actor, photographer and filmmaker John Waters to discuss Casablanca and Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, respectively.

“We are honoured to have such an incredible lineup of guests join us in our new home,” said Jesse Wente, Head of Film Programmes, TIFF Bell Lightbox. “Each special guest will enhance the movie-going experience by providing audiences with unique access to
thought-provoking conversations and fascinating behind-the-scenes stories.”

ESSENTIAL CINEMA IN-PERSON EVENTS
David Cronenberg introduces Videodrome
Canadian master David Cronenberg will be the first special guest at TIFF Bell Lightbox this fall. He will introduce Videodrome (1983), film # 89 on the Essential 100 list, his prescient vision of human physiology fusing with an out-of-control mediascape.
Thursday, September 23 at 9:15 p.m. and Friday, September 24 at 9:30 p.m.

Molly Haskell on À nos amours
Best-known for her classic book From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies, noted writer, scholar and film critic Molly Haskell has reshaped the way we understand the portrayal of women on screen. Haskell will introduce Maurice Pialat’s À nos amours (1983), film # 95 on the list, and will discuss Sandrine Bonnaire’s star-making performance as a guiltlessly promiscuous
teenager seeking love in a string of casual encounters.

Friday, October 1 at 7:15 p.m.
Michael Snow, Annette Michelson and P. Adams Sitney on Wavelength
A special presentation of a beautiful, newly struck print of Michael Snow’s landmark film Wavelength (1967), film # 73 on the list, followed by an on-stage conversation between Snow and two other luminaries of the avant-garde, Professors Annette Michelson and
P. Adams Sitney, who will discuss the vital contribution that this canonical film made to experimental cinema.

Monday, October 4 at 6:30 p.m.
Isabella Rossellini on Voyage in Italy
Actor, director and icon Isabella Rossellini introduces her father Roberto Rossellini’s classic Voyage in Italy (1953), film # 27 on the list, starring her mother Ingrid Bergman. Preceding her parents’ classic collaboration, Rossellini will screen her tribute to her father, the Guy Maddin-directed My Dad is 100 Years Old (2005), and will return later in the evening to present a segment from her fantastic Green Porno (2008/2009) series, followed by her remarkable performance in David Lynch’s surrealist mystery masterpiece Blue Velvet (1986), film # 92 on the list.

Tuesday, October 12 at 6:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
The Globe and Mail Presents . . . Taxi Driver with Liam Lacey
TIFF is proud to partner with The Globe and Mail discussions of films from the Essential 100 with Globe and Mail writers and critics. On October 13th, TIFF kicks off an exclusive engagement of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), film # 45 on the list, in the company of longtime Globe film critic Liam Lacey.

Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Jeff Lindsay on Casablanca
Jeff Lindsay, award-winning author, playwright and screenwriter whose best-selling Dexter novels serve as the basis for the hit
Showtime series, shifts into a softer mood to discuss Casablanca (1942), film # 8 on the list, one of Hollywood’s greatest romantic
classics. Lindsay appears this evening in co-operation with the International Festival of Authors.

Thursday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m.
John Waters on Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
“The Pope of Trash” meets the most shocking film ever made when author, actor, photographer and filmmaker John Waters discusses Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), film # 47 on the list. John Waters appears this evening in co-operation with the International Festival of Authors.

Saturday, October 23 at 8:30 p.m.
Jacqueline Stewart on Gone With the Wind
Following the screening of David O. Selznick’s Civil War epic, Gone with the Wind (1939), film # 24 on the list, noted film scholar Jacqueline Stewart will discuss African American stardom and Black film culture in the United States prior to World War II. Stewart is Associate Professor of Radio/Television/Film and African American Studies at Northwestern University, where her research focuses on African American film, literature and culture.

Thursday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Peter Bogdanovich on Citizen Kane and The Searchers
Acclaimed director, author and raconteur Peter Bogdanovich, whose pioneering books on Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and John Ford helped secure the artistic legacy of the classic Hollywood cinema, will introduce Welles’ Citizen Kane, (1941), film # 2 on the list, and Ford’s The Searchers (1956), film # 41 on the list, and will reflect on his time spent with these two legendary directors.

The Searchers on Friday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Citizen Kane on Saturday, October 30 at 3:00 p.m.
A Night in Nashville with Michael Murphy and Jacob Tierney
Michael Murphy, one of the screen’s most respected character actors and a long-serving member of Robert Altman’s unofficial stock
company, will be present for a Q & A session after the screening of Nashville (1975), film # 71 on the list, the maverick filmmaker’s
kaleidoscopic vision of American show business, politics and music, interviewed by Canadian director Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky).
Friday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Walter Murch presents “The State of Cinema”
TIFF is privileged to welcome one of American cinema’s greatest film editors, film theorists and film artists, the legendary Walter Murch, who will appear for two special events in October. On October 9, Murch will present a screening of Apocalypse Now Redux (1979/2001), film # 46 on the list, to discuss his collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola and the remaking of their milestone war epic into its newly expanded form. On October 10, Murch presents a special address on “The State of Cinema,” mapping out his intriguing speculations on wh at would have happened had the cinema been invented in 1789, a hundred years prior to its birth. Focusing on three key figures—Beethoven, Flaubert and Edison—he will use soundscapes and still and moving images to illustrate the cultural conditions necessary for the birth of the medium at the end of the 19th century, and will consider whether the beginning of the 21st century constitutes a comparable era of cultural and technological change.

Apocalypse Now Redux on Saturday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m.
The State of Cinema on Sunday, October 10 at 6:30 p.m.
TIFF and the Goethe-Institut Toronto present:
Behind the Curtain with The Lives of Others The Academy Award®-winning The Lives of Others (2006), film # 76 on the list, offers a vivid glimpse of East Germany’s surveillance, intimidation and persecution of its own citizens at the hands of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). This special event will take audiences inside the workings of the most feared of all Communist security services.

Monday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now. Visit tiff.net or call 416-968-FILM for showtimes, ticket prices, box office hours and location.
TIFF Membership

The opening of TIFF Bell Lightbox has inspired TIFF to create a new membership programme that offers audiences exciting opportunities to experience year-round programming in unique and special ways. TIFF members will enjoy discounts on select
screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox, priority access to programming, free entry to the exhibitions in the galleries, regular TIFF insider updates, invitations to exclusive members-only events, and more. To learn about all the benefits of being a TIFF member, please visit tiff.net/membership.

About TIFF
TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world through film. Its vision is to lead the world in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image. TIFF generates an annual economic impact of $170 million CAD and currently employs more than 100 full-time staff and 500 part-time and seasonal staff, and counts upon the largesse of over 2,000 volunteers year-round.

About TIFF Bell Lightbox
Currently under construction, TIFF Bell Lightbox, a breathtaking five-storey complex located in downtown Toronto, will provide a permanent home for film lovers to celebrate cinema from around the world and will propel TIFF forward as an international leader in film culture. Designed by innovative architecture firm KPMB, TIFF Bell Lightbox’s fluid structure encourages exploration, movement and play. The campaign to build TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by lead sponsor Bell, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the King and John Festival Corporation – consisting of the Reitman family and the Daniels Corporation – RBC as major sponsor and official bank, major sponsor BlackBerry, Visa†, the Copyright Collective of Canada, the Slaight Family Foundation, The Daniels Corporation, NBC Universal Canada, the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, the Harbinger Foundation, Mackenzie Financial, CIBC and BMO. The Board of Directors, staff and many generous individuals and corporations have also contributed to the campaign. For more information on the TIFF Bell Lightbox campaign, visit tiff.net/tiffbelllightbox

TIFF is generously supported by lead sponsor Bell, Major Sponsors RBC and Blackberry, the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto.

The Essential Cinema is generously supported by presenting sponsor RBC, presenting partner the Ontario Culture Attraction Fund. With Special Thanks to the official media sponsor The Globe and Mail and the Hal Jackman Foundation
for supporting Essential Cinema.