TIFF BELL Lightbox Feb 3 - Feb 17

PROGRAMMING AT TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX
February 3, 2011 – February 17, 2011

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS AND FILM SERIES
Back to the ’80s: February 5 to April 2, 2011

Both reviled and revered, the 1980s saw the birth of a new kind of American movie: kid-focused, special effects-packed spectacles that drew the disdain of critics and the devotion of an entire generation. This spotlight, programmed by Twitch blogger Todd Brown relives these ’80s classics on the big screen from February 5 to April 2.

The Goonies Richard Donner

A kiddie spin on Indiana Jones that follows a team of intrepid young adventurers as they hunt for a long-lost stash of pirate treasure hidden in the secret caves beneath their hometown.

Saturday, February 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Time Bandits Terry Gilliam

Visionary director Terry Gilliam’s most light-hearted and playful film, Time Bandits follows a young boy as he travels through a space-time rift in his closet, and meets such figures as Robin Hood (John Cleese) and King Agamemnon (Sean Connery).

Saturday, February 12 at 2:00 p.m.

Books on Film Club: February 7 to June 27, 2011

TIFF Bell Lightbox introduces the Books on Film Club, presented in association with Random House of Canada. Hosted by CBC’s Eleanor Wachtel and featuring filmmakers, authors, experts and other special guests, this series of screenings and conversations celebrates the art of adaptation, examining exceptional films that began as outstanding novels.  Highlights include Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient and Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient, with special guest Michael Ondaatje; Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with The New Yorker columnist Judith Thurman; Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita and Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita, with The New Biographical Dictionary of Film author David Thomson; and Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park and Patricia Rozema’s Mansfield Park, with special guest Patricia Rozema.

Books on Film Club is available as a series. The first 100 people to purchase subscriptions for the series will receive a complimentary copy of each featured book, courtesy of Random House of Canada.

Adaptation Charlie Kaufman

Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief and Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation. With Linda Hutcheon, author of The Politics of Postmodernism and A Theory of Adaptation.

Monday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m.

In Conversation With… Paul Haggis: February 9, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

On February 9, Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis joins us onstage at TIFF Bell Lightbox to discuss his extraordinary career, which has taken him from television shows such as The Facts of Life and Due South to his acclaimed screenplays for Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers. Haggis’s own acclaimed work as a director includes such films as the Iraq War drama In the Valley of Elah, the recent thriller The Next Three Days, and the Academy Award Best Picture winner Crash.

TIFF CINEMATHEQUE

Filmmaker Retrospectives
Ousmane Sembène: In The Face of History: February 5 - February 13, 2011

This retrospective of the prominent African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène kicks off February 5 with his first short film, Borom Sarret (1964) and his feature debut, La Noire de… (1966), which captured worldwide attention when it won France’s prestigious Prix Jean Vigo and which was voted to TIFF’s Essential 100 list. Aboubakar Sanogo, Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University, introduces the double-screening with a special lecture on Sembène’s work and influence. This programme runs until February 13.

Jack Cardiff: Cameraman: February 13 – February 21, 2011

The Toronto premiere of Craig McCall’s new documentary Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) kick-starts a diverse programme of Cardiff’s greatest accomplishments, many in new restorations, presented from February 13 to 21. Told largely in Cardiff’s own words, the film features testimony from over 20 noted actors, directors and technicians, including Martin Scorsese, Charlton Heston and Lauren Bacall. As one of the first trainees for the new Technicolor process in 1936, Cardiff’s career spanned eight decades.

Hollywood Classics
This season, TIFF Cinematheque debuts a deluxe year-round series of American films, both canonical and cult, celebrated or unjustly obscure, largely presented in new, restored or rare prints. Hollywood Classics runs from February 5 to April 6.

Out of the Past Jacques Tourneur
Sunday, February 6 at 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Anatomy of a Murder Otto Preminger
Sunday, February 13 at 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 15 at 6:30 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENTS

Every week, TIFF will launch exclusive engagements, giving audiences multiple opportunities to watch the best of international and Canadian cinema’s past and present on the big screen. Regular $12.00/Students $9.50/Seniors $9.50

Release Date: Fri. Feb. 4, 2011
The Time That Remains
Elia Suleiman, 2009, UK/Italy/Belgium/France, eOne
A semi-autobiographical film of the director’s family, from the fateful year of 1948 – when the Suleimans stayed behind in what became the state of Israel – to the present. Inspired by his father’s private diaries, and by his mother’s letters to family who were forced to leave the country, Suleiman employs vignettes to narrate intimate memories of them. The film strives to portray the daily life of those Palestinians who remained, living in their newly colonized homeland. Using deadpan comedy to depict a painful reality, this wry family chronicle explores the difficulties of trying to live an ordinary life in extraordinary times.

Birdwatchers
Marco Bechis, 2009, Italy/Brazil, Mongrel Media

As a tourist boat glides along the river, a tribe of Guarani Indians brandish spears and bows and arrows, along with peroxide hair. These modern Guarani are play-acting for the tourists, just part of their modern existence contained on a small reservation. When one of the tribe’s leaders, Nadio (Ambrosio Vilhalva), decides to reclaim part of their ancestral land from a local farmer, tensions mount and a confrontation is inevitable.

Release Date: Thurs. Feb. 10, 2011
Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project

Barry Avrich, 2010, Canada, Melbar Entertainment Group. World Premiere

Barry Avrich tackles another notorious Tinseltown power broker in the world premiere of this portrait of Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein. Starting out as concert promoter on the streets of Buffalo, Weinstein and his brother Bob turned their scrappy independent distribution company into a major Hollywood player, defining the North American art-house marketplace with risk-taking hits. Along with Weinstein’s success came a generous helping of controversy fuelled by his curse-filled rants, his reshaping of the annual awards season with his hard-sell campaigning, and his wholesale suppression of films he acquired from major filmmakers. Featuring interviews with numerous industry insiders and members of the Hollywood creative community – including Martin Scorsese, director James Ivory, Variety editor Peter Bart and TIFF’s own Piers Handling – Unauthorized is a fascinating and uncensored look at a modern mogul. Director Barry Avrich makes an in-person appearance on February 11 to discuss the film.

EXHIBITIONS

Tim Burton – November 26, 2010 to April 17, 2011

A major exhibition, organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, explores Burton’s creative vision and his artistic development from early significant drawings he made as a teenager to sophisticated renderings used to create characters for his most treasured recent films. Tim Burton runs until April 17, 2011 at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. 

FREE! Drop-In Activities

Family Activities and Workshops

Every Saturday and Sunday (excluding February 19, 20, 21), from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm, parents and children can drop in

to participate in the following free activities. Ages recommendation 8 and up

Crafty Characters*

Create your own Burton-inspired creatures from our bins of quirky parts, pieces and craft supplies.

Animation Station

Take a favourite toy or a creature of your own design and bring it to life through the magic of stop-motion animation.

Be in the Scene

Through the magic of green screen technology, immerse yourself in the stunning sets of Tim Burton’s films.

* This activity will also run every day the week of March 14-18.

Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star - January 13 to July 3, 2011

The inaugural exhibition in TIFF’s new Canadian Film Gallery, Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star chronicles the life and career of one of the first and greatest stars of the silent cinema. Amassed over a 30-year period by private collector Rob Brooks, this exhibition draws on his extraordinary collection of 1,900 items including photographs, posters, memorabilia, postcards, and products endorsed by Pickford. The exhibition is curated by Sylvia Frank, Director of TIFF’s Film Reference Library and Special Collections.