Workman Arts, celebrating its 25th Anniversary, is proud to present the 20th annual Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival (RWMFF) set for November 9 – 17. The nine-day festival showcases over 20 programs of feature and short films, as well as industry and artist talks, multi-media installations, live performances and visual arts exhibitions. Programs include a thematic, moderated post-screening panel discussion with filmmakers, people living with the experience of the issue explored, a health care professional and a special interest person. The festival opens and screens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West and continues with additional programming at Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin Street, Shopper’s Drug Mart, 1033 Queen Street West and T.A.N. Coffee, 992 Queen Street West.
“This year marks our 20th Anniversary in presenting thought provoking films and discussions on mental illness. Since the advent of film, much of our understanding of what mental illness is and is not has been shaped by images we see on-screen. The influence of film has both helped and hindered the portrayal of those with mental illness and RWMFF is a definite reflection of that understanding,” states Lisa Brown, Rendezvous with Madness Founder and Workman Arts Executive Artistic Director.
In its tone, the 2012 line-up promises to be one of the most diverse programs in the festival’s 20-year history. “I donít think we’ve ever seen a range of programming like this. We are exploring some of the most poignant, controversial and lighthearted work we have ever presented,” says Matthew Hogue, Program Manager of RWMFF. “As mental illness pushes into the mainstream and breaks down old barriers, new conflicts inevitably arise. Really, our 20th Anniversary program is about finding solutions to these new conflicts and the breadth of our programming reflects a number of different approaches.”
Workman Arts’ visual arts exhibitions are a part of Rendezvous with Madness, either on display at various venues or presented on screen prior to films. “Our goal in showcasing our exhibitions and the works of our visual artists as part of Rendezvous with Madness is to enrich our festival programming by offering a broad range of viewpoints and perspectives to engage with and reflect upon,” shares Chris Mitchell, Visual Arts Manager, Workman Arts. Full schedule follows the film listings.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9: Opening Night Gala, TIFF Bell Lightbox
5:15 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Pre-Gala Reception
Join us at the TIFF Lounge for a wine a cheese reception to kick of the 20th Annual Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival. Cash bar and complimentary hors díoeuvres.
6:45 p.m. Welcome
7 p.m.
Little Bird (Kauwboy)
Boudewijn Koole
Netherlands, 2012, Dutch with English subtitles, 81 minutes, Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
Jojo is an imaginative, playful and lonely young boy. Abandoned to his alcohol-addicted father’s questionable care, with his mother a distant phone call away, he’s often left to his own devices. Desperate for a nurturing relationship, itís no surprise that when he stumbles upon an abandoned baby jackdaw, he begins to raise the bird himself. As Jojo bonds with ‘Jack’, he innocently believes he’s made a friend for life, but at home, the tension rises once his father discovers his secret, prohibited pet. As his idyllic sanctuary unravels, Jojo starts lashing out at anyone in his path. And after staging a malicious confrontation with his father, a shocking twist reveals the truth behind Jojo’s grief.
Director: Boudewijn Koole’s award winning direction commands a nuanced performance from her young lead as Rick Lens effortlessly captures the tumultuous experiences of a sensitive young boy living in denial of the past and in fear of an unstable future. Critically acclaimed as the Netherlands Best Foreign Film submission to the 2013 Academy Awards Little Bird is beautiful and uplifting story of love and loss that resonates with audiences all over the world.
Second screening: November 17, 11 a.m. at Workman Hall
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10
7 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
King Curling
Ole Endresen
Norway, 2011, Swedish with English subtitles, 90 minutes, Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
Ole Endresen’s playful and irreverent King Curling could be one of the funniest films ever made about curling. It’s definitely one of the funniest films ever screened at Rendezvous with Madness. Atle Antonsen is endearing as Truls Paulsen, a curling champion driven past his breaking point by the pressures of national competition. Reluctantly released into his wife’s care ten years after his obsessive-compulsive breakdown he’s forced to live by a set of simple rules; take his meds, give the dog a real kiss goodbye, and absolutely no curling. But when his coach and mentor Gordon (Ingar Helge Gimle) needs a lung transplant there’s only one way to save his life – winning the national curling championship.
If you mixed The Big Lebowski with Rocky and liberally sprinkled it with absurdity you’d almost capture Truls’ quest to reunite his team of misfits. Harald Eia, Bård Tufte Johansen, and Kåre Conradi are perfect as the curmudgeon, shy, and perverse teammates and the laughs continue steadily as Endresen builds towards the climatic showdown. By making an ordinary world as bizarre and outrageous as any delusion Endressen has very creatively normalized mental illness. We’re laughing at everything and suddenly everything seems normal.
Director: Ole Endresen has been an integral part of a new wave of Norwegian television comedy, as a writer, producer, and director. He has directed sketch-based comedy shows like Out in Our Garden, Team Antonsen, and God kveld Dagfinn. His debut as a director of more-dramatic fiction came with the TV series Etaten in 2006. King Curling is Endresen’s feature film debut.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
The Changing World of Documenting Madness, Rated R
Madness has always fascinated filmmakers. This symposium explores the changing attitudes, politics, and perspectives surrounding mental illness as portrayed in documentary films from Titicut Follies through to recent digital docs being filmed in the 21st Century.
Titicut Follies
Frederick Wiseman
USA, 1967, English, 84 minutes, Documentary Feature
*With Frederick Wiseman via Internet
“Titicut Follies is a documentary film that tells you more than you could possibly want to know – but no more than you should know – about life behind the walls of one of those institutions where we file and forget the criminal insane… A societyís treatment of the least of its citizens – and surely these are the least of ours – is perhaps the best measure of its civilization. The repulsive reality revealed in TITICUT FOLLIES forces us to contemplate our capacity for callousness.”
–Richard Schickel, Life
“After a showing of Titicut Follies the mind does not dwell on the hospital’s ancient and even laughable physical plant, or its pitiable social atmosphere. What sticks, what really hurts is the sight of human life made cheap and betrayed. We see men needlessly stripped bare, insulted, herded about callously, mocked, taunted. We see them ignored or locked interminably in cells. We hear the craziness in the air, the sudden outbursts, the quieter but stronger undertow of irrational noise that any doctor who has worked under such circumstances can only take for so long. But much more significantly, we see the ‘professionals’, the doctors and workers who hold the fort in the Bridgewaters of this nation, and they are all over…TITICUT FOLLIES is a brilliant work of art…”
–Robert Coles, The New Republic
“Titicut Follies is a great work, a near-masterpiece not just of the documentary form, but of moviemaking in any category. It’s a film that transcends the time and place of its manufacture, and it should be seen not just by documentarians and film students but by anyone interested in the movies as a medium capable of powerfully presenting the human condition.”
–Ray Greene, Village View
Director: Frederick Wiseman has made 37 documentaries and two fiction films. Among his documentaries are Titicut Follies, Welfare, Public Housing, Near Death, La Comédie Française ou l’Amour Joué, and La Danse-Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris. His documentaries are dramatic, narrative films that seek to portray the joy, sadness, comedy and tragedy of ordinary experience. He has won numerous awards including four Emmys, a MacArthur Prize Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His films have played in theatres and been broadcast on television in many countries. He is also a theatre director and has directed “The Last Letter,” based on a chapter of Vasily Grossman’s novel Life and Fate, and Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days” at the Comédie Française. He is an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Completely Cuckoo/Asylum
Charles Kiselyak
USA, 1997, English, 47 minutes, Documentary
*With Charles Kiselyak
From an outsider’s perspective, gaining true insight into the world of madness is next to impossible. Appreciation for the blurred lines between reality and imagination can be only of speculation. RWM attempts to bridge this gap by providing audiences with a chance to escape into the lived experience. That is why we are so pleased to relive both the 1962 novel by Ken Kinsey and the adapted Oscar-winning film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) through this screening of the iconic Completely Cuckoo (1997).
Revealing all the ups and downs from initial inception to public reception, this behind-the-scenes documentary sheds light on how the film gripped the attention of mass audiences and presented an unforgettable depiction of mental health. Most interestingly, Completely Cuckoo highlights the unique strategy to mend the world of real patients of the mental institution with that of the Hollywood actors during filming to allow for a more authentic portrayal. Paying tribute to the historic story, Completely Cuckoo reveals the strong inspiration, collaboration and dedication of the close, diverse production team.
Director: Charles Kiselyak is most credited for his longstanding experience in writing, producing and directing documentaries for video and television series’. By piecing together an interesting behind-the-scenes perspective of each of his productions, Kiselyak provides an education on the trials and tribulations of feature film production. Through his work on such iconic projects as Jacob’s Ladder, Easy Rider, and The Sixth Sense, he has perfected the documentary formula and continues to invite audiences onto the sets of acclaimed motion pictures.
In Completely Cuckoo, Kiselyak brilliantly organizes insightful interviews with the creators, actors, and crew that intensifies respect for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Through Kiselak’s work, audiences become privy to the challenges and struggles met with making an Oscar-winning film.
Here at Home (Chez Soi)
Mental Health Commission of Canada and the National Film Board of Canada
The prevalence of mental illness among people who are homeless across Canada is of urgent concern. Efforts to address homelessness have traditionally relied on treating mental illness before tackling housing. However, in 2008, the Mental Health Commission of Canada was given a $110 million government grant for the At Home study to prove the contrary: that housing must precede treatment for best results and even cost-effectiveness. As the largest experiment of its kind in the world, this radical pilot project has impressive reach, recruiting more than 2,200 homeless participants with mental illness from five Canadian cities. For comparative purposes, half of the participants were offered housing in neighbourhoods of choice using a housing subsidy approach and were also provided with outreach based services and supports, while the other half carried on as usual. When At Home comes to a close in March 2013, the evidence of the ‘Housing First’ experiment will be published and the real cost of homelessness will be revealed. Already, recently released one year findings provide strong evidence supporting this approach to addressing homelessness among people with mental illness.
Over the course of the study, the National Film Board is producing 50 short documentary films that provide a glimpse into the world of participants, service providers, researchers and community members. These intense, individual stories form chapters of the Here at Home web documentary, an interactive window on the study that includes supplementary data and a dynamic blog. A selection of these short films will be screened at RWM.
7 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
In Pieces
Paule Baillargeon
Canada, 2011, English, 81 minutes, Documentary Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
*In conversation with Paule Baillargeon
Paule Baillargeon is 37 years old, 11 years old, 65 years old. . . In this film composed of fragments, she tells her story: the story of a woman, a filmmaker, a mother, a feminist, an artist. Of an actress, too, who delivers a powerful narrative that is both soothing and unsettling. The many engaging and intimate moments captured in In Pieces invite audiences to truly know Paule’s life story. These potent images, her images–filmed, painted, photographed, drawn, animated–merge into the portrait of a life that has been wild, rebellious and gentle. The tableaux are not so much autobiography as an authentic tale, as unpredictable and unique as any life.
Director: Paule Baillargeon received the Prix Albert-Tessier in 2009 and was awarded a two-year stint as filmmaker-in-residence at the NFB the same year. Known for her socially engaged approach, Baillargeon also began to gain recognition in directing and scriptwriting in the 1970s, creating gripping dramas and documentaries. Since then, she has directed such renowned films as La cuisine rouge (1979) and The Sex of the Stars (1993). After her residency at the NFB, she created the feature-length film Trente tableaux (In Pieces) (2011) that combines drawings, animation, archival images and sequences shot over the past two years in locations from Montreal to Val-d’Or.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 12
6:30 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Beer is Cheaper Than Therapy
Simone de Vries
The Netherlands, 2011, English, 93 minutes, Documentary Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
“I’m 22 and Iíve killed at least 30 people. I was decorated for this in Iraq; here at home Iíd be a serial killer. Itís difficult to think about these things at night, when it gets dark.”
Fort Hood is the largest and proudest military base in America. In the surrounding community of Killeen, Texas, supportive messages to the troops are ever present on banners, bumper stickers and in store windows. But despite the apparent support, a dark cloud hangs over the veterans who must fight yet another battle after returning to a familiar place as unfamiliar people. As they try to heal and make sense of their old lives and strained relationships, many suffer a host of mental illnesses ranging from depression; post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.
Beer is Cheaper than Therapy responds to the rising incidence of suicide amongst veterans and invites audiences to delve deeper into the often closeted emotional struggles they face. An intertwined series of portraits reveals the deep cracks in veteran care as soldiers cope with mental illness, heavy medication and their feelings of isolation and abandonment. As each reflects on painful memories of deployment, the recurring themes of patriotism, camaraderie, and tribute tattoos seemingly provide reassuring reminders helping soldiers to move forward. Through this saddening exploration of military life and loss, we are provoked to consider the true cost of heroism.
Director: Born in the Netherlands, Simone de Vries has extensive experience in writing, producing and directing thought-provoking films. Though specializing mainly in documentary filmmaking, de Vries captures sensitive subjects across the board from religion, to the arts, to addiction. Her talent was recognized through both the Golden Calf award for Best Documentary – Short and the Picture and Sound Award in 2008 for Best Cultural Programme for the film Touch Me Someplace I Can Feel.
In Beer is Cheaper than Therapy, de Vries takes an investigative approach to better understand what it means to be an American war hero and how those conceptions impact the mental health of traumatized veterans. Through the symbolic depiction of a topical and pressing social issue, de Vries importantly exposes viewers to societal truths and controversial opinions.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
9:30 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Canadian Retrospective
Leolo
Jean-Claude Lauzon
Canada, 1992, French with English subtitles, 107 minutes, Feature, Rated R
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
“An imaginative boy in a bizarrely dysfunctional family becomes convinced he is the offspring of a sperm-laden tomato… With disarming humor, tenderness and lucidity, he opens a bag of memories, dreams and nightmares, from weekly visits to psychiatric ward to Bianca, a teenage Sicilian neighbour, his first sexual impulse, his first love. And the white light radiating from the closet, opening onto sunny infinity.”
-1992 Cannes Film Festival Program
Nominated Palm díOr 1992
As part of Rendezvous with Madnessí 20th anniversary celebration we look back at Jean-Claude Lauzon’s critically acclaimed Canadian film Leolo. Since his tragic death in 1997, Leolo has been named to TIME Magazine’s All-Time 100 Movies, and in his weird and wonderful approach, Lauzon reflected the best of the irreverence, humour, and imagination that came to define Canadian film. In truth, those same qualities can be seen in the best films we’ve screened over the last twenty years at Rendezvous, and we couldn’t think of a more appropriate film to celebrate our commitment to Canadian cinema.
Director: Born to a humble family in Montreal, 1953, Jean Claude Lauzon studied cinema at the University of Quebec in Montreal, in the late 70s. He made a series of award winning short films, before moving into features. His award winning feature films Un Zoo la Nuit and Leolo quickly established him as one of the most important Canadian directors of his age. He was preparing his third film when he died, with his girlfriend, Marie-Soleil Tougas, in a plane crash.
- With notes from IMDB.com and Wikipedia
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13
6 p.m. – 7 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Panel Talk: “Mad Money: Funding Mental Health Films in the Twenty First Century”
Producers, filmmakers and industry experts discuss the changing digital marketplace and potential funding opportunities for film projects in the twenty-first century, with a particular emphasis on emerging filmmakers and the documentary format. Filmmakers will share their successes with crowd funding campaigns and other creative funding strategies
8:30 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
William Kurelek’s The Maze
Nick Young and Zack Young
USA, 2011, English, 64 minutes, Feature, Rated 14A
*With Zack Young
William Kurelek’s The Maze is dramatically told through his paintings and his on-camera revelations. The film takes an intimate look into the life of one of the 20th century’s most fascinating artists, his struggles with attempted suicide and a self professed “spiritual crisis.” Kurelek describes The Maze as “a painting of the inside of my skull which I painted while in England as a patient in Maudsley and Netherne psychiatric hospitals.”
William Kurelek’s The Maze is a timeless film about an artist, his creations, his inner demons and the external influences – both good and bad – that shaped his work.
Director: William Kurelek’s The Maze is multigenerational project with a remarkably compelling final product. In 1969, the project was first imagined through the eyes of filmmaker Robert Young who wanted to reveal the close relationship between art and the mind by investigating the emotional life of William Kurelek. Interestingly, the thirty-minute version was screened as an educational short film for the study of psychology.
Though enough footage was available for a feature version, it was never incorporated until Nick and Zack Young felt compelled to carry on their father’s work forty years later. The brothers retrieved the old footage and added original Ukrainian music and animation with the help of modern technology and provided a whole new perspective to Kurelek’s story. The Maze is now a beautiful historical piece that is featured in three museums and multiple art galleries across Canada.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
7 p.m. – Workman Hall
Moving Up
Loghman Khaledia
Iran, 2011, Farsi with English subtitles, 58 minutes, Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated PG
An aspiring Iranian writer reveals that his “suffering has no end.” As a discontented garbage collector, he desperately longs for an escape and becomes fixated on joining the ranks of the infamous literary idols posted on his wall as the next best author. But after what seems as an obsession with the written word, his family, friends and co-workers urge him to give it a rest to protect him from mockery and embarrassment. But as a stubborn poet, lyricist and novelist, he ignores the advice from those who know him best and continues to live in denial about his future as a writer. Feeling abandoned and alone, he sinks into an even deeper depression and refuses to let go of his dream. As he grows increasingly out of touch with reality, his characters become his friends and his somber stories begin to reflect his own struggles.
Moving Up tells a gripping story of an ambitious man whose reality is clouded by mental illness. Through this transparent depiction of daily defeat in the real world, we empathize with the complicated life of a solitary man that has unrealistic hopes and dreams. But in addition to shedding light on the lived experience, Moving Up also reveals the frustrations and hardships of close social networks that try to help but can’t seem to make an impact. Moving Up will speak to anyone who has known a family member or friend with mental illness.
Director: Since 2001, Loghman Khaledi has written, directed and edited ten Farsi films, many of which screened at international festivals. His most recent, Moving Up, is Khaledi’s first feature length documentary and led to his first ever award for Best Film at the Marseille International Film Festival. Moving Up is now screened at film festivals all over the world.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14
6:30 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Passion Flower
Shelagh Carter
Canada, 2011, English, 90 minutes, Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
Sarah, a creative young Canadian girl, is starved for attention in the midst of her chaotic family life. With a distracted, hardworking father and a seemingly unstable mother, Sarah’s loneliness leads her to make a new friend at school. But after meeting his seemingly perfect mother, her own mother’s shortcomings become harder to ignore. From the erotic seduction of dinner guests to the bouts of tortured distress in the middle of the night, Sarah grows increasingly concerned and confused with her mother’s erratic behavior. As the situation dramatically worsens following an emotional visit to her mentally ill grandmother, Sarah becomes painfully aware of the extent of her mother’s own illness.
Set in the 1960s, Passion Flower conveys the real impact of bipolar disorder on the dynamic of an average family. A distinct historical element presents audiences with an important exposure to the experience of mental illness in a different time. Through differing gendered pressures and coping mechanisms, the diverse perspectives within the family add an interesting dimension to the plot. In Passion Flower, we follow a dysfunctional family on their path towards healing.
Director: Shelagh Carter is a filmmaker who lives and works in Winnipeg, New York, and Los Angeles. She is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio as an Actress and Director, a Professor of Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg and a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors Lab in Toronto. Early in her film career, Shelagh founded Casting in Stone Inc. to provide Casting Director services in film and television. As a director, Shelagh has created work for ten years. Night Travelers, her third short film, was a National Screen Institute Drama Prize winner in 2007. Shalegh’s 35 mm short, One Night has screened at several international film festivals, most recently winning Best Manitoba Short at the Gimli Film Festival in July, 2011. She is a recent recipient of the award, Women In the Director’s Chair Career Advancement Module 2010, in collaboration with Women in Film Festival Vancouver.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
9:30 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
She’s Not Crying, She’s Singing (Elle Ne Pleure Pas, Elle Chante)
Philippe de Pierpont
France, 2011, French with English subtitles, 78 minutes, Feature
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 18A
Quiet and hauntingly real, She’s Not Crying, She’s Singing, Philippe de Pierpont’s portrait of dysfunctional families, trauma, and recovery reflects a documentarian’s fascination with ordinary drama. An outstanding lead performance by Erika Sainte gives Pierpont the time to explore a controversial subject with confidence and consideration, and his artful direction manages to lift his characters above the weight of the material.
After a car accident leaves her father comatose, estranged daughter Laura (Sainte) returns to the family carrying the burden of his past abuse. Taking advantage of his condition, Laura’s hospital visits begin as one-sided confrontations, celebrating the reversal of power. But as Laura unburdens herself, her fragile armor begins to crack as memories begin flooding back. When he takes a turn for the worse, and the truth comes out, the conflict with her family may be more than she can bear.
Director: Philippe de Pierpont was born in 1955 in Brussels. After training as an art historian, his professional moved in diverse directions: theater, cinema and comics. He has produced a dozen documentary films (The Invisible City and Life is a Game of Cards), which have screen in festivals worldwide. After being second assistant director on “The Promise” by the Dardenne brothers, he directed “The Heir” and “She’s Not Crying, She Sings”. Biography and images courtesy of INSOMNIA World Sales.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 15
6:15 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Wolf
YaíKe Smith
USA, 2012, English, 86 minutes, Feature
CANADIAN PREMIERE, Rated 18A
Belief in a higher power can provide relief in the darkest of circumstance. Whether through grief, guilt or shame, strong faith can instill hope for a better future. Revered religious figures are supposed to set an example of a higher moral and ethical code to guide their devout followers. But when these figures fail to measure up, the sacred reputation is faltered and blind trust is forever lost.
As a social outcast with an absentee father, Carl is a lonely young man who turns to his Bishop looking for a father figure. But what begins as an innocent relationship slowly evolves into something more powerful and sinister. After the abuse comes to an abrupt end, Carl sinks into a deep self-mutilating depression as he struggles to come to terms with the end of what happened. With no one to confide in, he creates a video confession on his phone expressing his anguish right before a tragic attempt at suicide. Upon waking up in a hospital bed, the video is found and the truth is revealed.
Despite the dark tone, Wolf is a beautifully shot film that sheds light on the damage of a corrupt Church on both personal faith and mental stability. Through this heartfelt, believable depiction of a familiar controversy, Wolf pays tribute to the moral dilemmas that surround religious life.
Director: Yaíke Smith realized his passion for film at the young age of 15 years. Now, his collection of films has been screened at eighty festivals around the world, most notably the Cannes International Film Festival. He is widely regarded as a talented emerging director, with numerous accomplishments such as the Student Film Award at the Directors Guild of America and won the HBO Short Film Award at the American Black Film Festival in 2007.
With beautiful cinematography and a powerful storyline, Wolf is the latest of Smith’s successes. The film has already been awarded the Grand Jury Price for Best Texas Feature at the Dallas International Film Festival, the Producerís Award at the Marthaís Vineyard African American Film Festival, and the Audience Choice Award at the Little Rock and Sidewalk Film Festivals.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
9 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Dead End: Alive!
James Buffin
Canada, 2012, English, 90 minutes, Performance, Music, Spoken Word, Film
TORONTO PREMIERE, Program Unrated
This brazen one-person multimedia/music presentation uses fiction to make the implausible plausible and documentary to show how reality can be totally misunderstood, highlighting one of the central challenges faced by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse: what to believe.
Dead End: Alive! is a hero’s journey, where a young boy’s head is colonized by aliens who, while fighting each other, create damage and run interference on his healthy development. Unaware of the true source of his alienation, the boy receives spiritual messages through music, but is unable to respond due to the chaos inside his head.
Alone and afraid, our hero sets out on an epic journey around the world, mistaking the problems of other people for his own. Eventually overwhelmed at the scale of the problems encountered, our hero is brought to his knees. As a last resort, a powerful prayer results in the revelation of the real source of his problems, leaving our hero with the defining choice of a lifetime.
A common expression used by recovering adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse is that their experience of life has been like the living dead. They also widely report that once their own truth is accepted, that shame is shed, and their feeling shifts to one of being vividly alive. Dead End: Alive! is living proof.
*Immediately following the film there will be a Q and A session.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16
7 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
A Sister’s Call
Kyle Tekiela, Rebecca Schaper
USA, 2012, English, 76 minutes, Feature
CANADIAN PREMIERE, Rated 14A
In 1977, Call Richmond went missing. Twenty years later, homeless and suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, he appeared on his sister Rebecca’s doorstep. Filmed over fourteen years, A Sister’s Call captures Rebecca’s brave journey of “bringing her brother back.” While celebrating his healing, the family is finally forced to reconcile the dark traumas and painful memories of their past. Call becomes the unlikely catalyst in this raw depiction of personal and familial recovery.
In A Sister’s Call, Rebecca Schaper’s struggle to help her brother will be familiar to anyone who has tried to help a loved one who has been diagnosed with a mental health problem. However, the film’s greatest strengths lie in the less sensational but more shocking explorations of healing that take place amongst the family. Told with poignancy, depth and love A Sister’s Call is one of those incredible documentary films that successfully balances the thematic needs of the film against a respect for its subjects. With unrivaled access, Tekiela and Schaper draw audiences into the Schaper family and we canít help but walk away from the film haunted by their struggle, but uplifted by their successes, their love, and their redemption.
Director: Rebecca Schaper, Director & Executive Producer, is a world traveler and longtime nature photographer. A Sister’s Call is her first endeavor into the world of film. In 1997, Rebecca bought a video camera and started filming the struggles of her mentally ill brother Call. Now after fourteen years, she is bringing that incredible journey to the world.
Kyle Tekiela, Director & Editor, is a young visionary who believes in the strength of the story. At age 19 he became a producer for the highly decorated PBS Documentary program alt.news 26:46 – writing, shooting and editing creative short form documentaries on everything from Bed Bugs to Muscular Dystrophy. In 2007, Kyle took home 5 regional Emmys and a Hugo Award for his work as Executive Producer, Editor and Graphic Designer. Since then, Kyle has produced and edited commercials and promos for national TV networks and companies including CNN, TNT, TBS, Nationwide Insurance, Carlsberg Beer and the United States Marine Corps.
A Sister’s Call is Tekiela’s first Feature length documentary.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
9:30 p.m. – TIFF Bell Lightbox
Unconditional
Bryn Higgins
UK, 2012, English, 92 minutes, Feature
CANADIAN PREMIERE, Rated 18A
In Unconditional, director Bryn Higgins crafts a compelling and cautionary love story that transcends easy definitions of relationships and sexual identity. Owen and Kristen live a safe and sheltered life caring for their disabled mother, but everything changes the day they meet Liam. A suave, attractive young loan broker Liam’s effortless cool breathes the promise of excitement into the twins’ ordinary lives. Kristen is immediately smitten, but Liam seems more interested in hanging out with her brother. Like a moth to a flame, Owen can’t seem to resist Liam’s complimentary charm, but what starts as a beer soon takes an unexpected turn. Unsure and inexperienced, Owen is quickly drawn into Liamís fantasy world; a world that offers everything he ever wanted, on one condition — he become his sister.
Liam sweeps “Kristen” off her feet, and at first everything seems perfect, but in Liam’s fantasy world things really arenít what they seem. And as Owen tries to reassert his own identity, Liam’s love turns to menace, threatening to overwhelm them completely.
Director: Unconditional marks the feature film directorial debut of Bryn Higgins who also produced the film with executive producer Clare Duggan of Stone City Films. Bryn’s most recent drama, Garrow’s Law, is a major hit in the UK having been nominated for BAFTA and Royal Television Society awards.
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17
11 a.m. – Workman Hall
Little Bird (Kauwboy)
Boudewijn Koole
Netherlands, 2012, Dutch with English subtitles, 81 minutes, Feature, Rated 14A
Jojo is an imaginative, playful and lonely young boy. Abandoned to his alcohol addicted father’s questionable care, with his mother a distant phone call away, he’s often left to his own devices. Desperate for a nurturing relationship, it’s no surprise that when he stumbles upon an abandoned baby jackdaw, he begins to raise the bird himself. As Jojo bonds with ‘Jack’, he innocently believes he’s made a friend for life, but at home, the tension rises once his father discovers his secret, prohibited pet. As his idyllic sanctuary unravels, Jojo starts lashing out at anyone in his path. And after staging a malicious confrontation with his father, a shocking twist reveals the truth behind Jojo’s grief.
Director: Boudewijn Koole’s award winning direction commands a nuanced performance from her young lead as Rick Lens effortlessly captures the tumultuous experiences of a sensitive young boy living in denial of the past and in fear of an unstable future. Critically acclaimed as the Netherlands Best Foreign Film submission to the 2013 Academy Awards Little Bird is beautiful and uplifting story of love and loss that resonates with audiences all over the world.
Gala screening: November 9 at 7 p.m., TIFF Bell Lightbox
*Immediately following the film there will be a panel discussion.
1 p.m. – Workman Hall
Workman Arts Shorts: Portrayals of Extraordinary Minds
Short documentary films from emerging artists at Workman Arts
4 p.m. – Workman Hall
North of Normal: A Collection of Canadian Shorts
Joe
Rich Williamson
Canada, 2012, English, 5 minutes
WORLD PREMIERE, Rated PG
An aspiring musician must overcome his debilitating anxiety before he can pick up the guitar again, confidently perform on stage, and make up for lost time free of regret.
Director: Rich Williamson is a filmmaker based out of Toronto, Canada. His award winning short films The Sugar Bowl (2011) and Unsinkable (2012) have screened at such festivals as Hot Docs, Atlanta and LA Shorts. He is currently shooting a short comedy ‘The Caterpillar Event’, and editing a feature documentary Hill 677 with Block-4, a Toronto-based production company.
Welcome to Reality
Casey Malvern
Canada, 2012, English, 3 minutes
THEATRICAL PREMIERE, Rated 14A
The captivating confession of a young girl healing from a lifelong battle with depression, addiction and purging; determined to help others with mental illness by sharing her three-step process for self-recovery.
Director: At the tender age of 16, Casey Malvern has struggled with multiple mental illnesses and the pain which accompanies them. However, instead of simply submitting to despair, Casey has emerged as a tireless leader who is determined to change Canada’s mental health
perceptions and policies for the better.
In 2012, Casey was selected as one of the 5 founding community correspondent volunteers for Partners for Mental Health and has played a key role in spreading awareness about mental health through social media, blogging, personal campaigns and filmmaking. Her films are accurate, courageous and powerful examples of her energy, creativity and dedication to the cause of raising awareness about mental health in Canada, and engaging others to come out of the shadows and pledge to take action, end the stigma…and transform mental health as we know it.
3 (Three, Tres, Trois)
Mariana Osuna Perez
Canada, 2012, English and Spanish with English subtitles, 8 minutes
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE, Rated PG
Mariana submerges beneath the waves to escape her immobilizing agoraphobia, and in the calm depths reveals a complicated family history through intimate conversations with her mother.
Director: Mariana Osuna Perez, (1981,Mexico) has always been inclined to tell stories. Since a very young age she started working as a radio host, eventually moving to T.V, radio and Film while in University. She moved to Canada in 2006 to pursue a career in Film and her first short film Solids & Stripes was part of the Official Selection at the Short Film Corner, Cannes Film Festival 2010. Mariana currently lives in Canada
And works as a freelancer in Toronto and Mexico.
The Vegetable Game
Stephen Hosier
Canada, 2012, English, 8 minutes
CANADIAN PREMIERE, Rated PG
Marty, is convinced that he has a moral obligation to walk backwards for 60 minutes a day to miraculously help the hungry and cold inhabitants of downtown Toronto.
Director: Stephen Hosier is a Lindsay, Ontario native who is currently studying Film at Ryerson University while competing as the schoolís solo track and cross country athlete. He is entering his 3rd year at Ryerson.
Monsters (Monstres)
Alexandre Carriere
Canada, 2011, French with English subtitles, 12 minutes
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
Through haunting imagery and intimate narration, the tragic story of a murderous father driven to madness by betrayal and jealousy is unraveled.
Director: Alexandre Carriere studied film at the Vancouver Film School and has since produced and directed a wide range of documentaries. Carrierre won Best Foreign Film at the L.A. Sports Film Festival for Mind Over Matter in 2009 and the Cinementalís Jury Award for Best Short Film for Monstres in 2011.
I am, Period (Je suis, Pointe)
Alexandre Dostie
Canada, 2011, French with English subtitles, 12 minutes
TORONTO PREMIERE, Rated 14A
Alexandre subverts her crippling anxiety by creating works of art symbolizing her struggle and the peace she has found with her mental illness.
Director: Claudia Gama is a Brazilian-Canadian emergent filmmaker. Compelled by a strong desire to express her creativity and opinions through images, she ventured on to documentary filmmaking in 2008. She carries on small projects, two of which received awards in amateur video contests in Montréal. In 2011, she received one of the disputed seats in the professional training center INIS in Montréal on documentary direction, where she received two excellence awards. She was also selected to take part of a school exchange program with the University of Television and Film in Munich, where she directed her last short film, a portrait of a resilient old woman confined to bed. Underlying all her work is a focus on the individual, his engagement and dilemmas in a complex society.
Marko’s Mania
Peter Evanchuck
Canada, 2012, English, 30 minutes
WORLD PREMIERE, Rated 14A
Through lighthearted self-reflection, Marko paints a picture of what it’s like to live under the label of bipolar depression and how his passion for photography has seen him through the damaging stigma and heavy prescription medication.
*Immediately following the films there will be a panel discussion.
Director: Peter Evanchuck has had a lifetime of curiosity and activity as a professor, educator, chef, traveller, moviemaker, photographer, writer, editor and publisher. Evanchuck continues to create documentary films with the generous and talented assistance of his partner, Helene Lacelle and the mentoring of the amazing, award winning editor, MC Sarda.
7 p.m. – Workman Hall
Closing Night Feature
Fat Kid Rules the World
Matthew Lillard
USA, 2012, English, 98 minutes, Rated PG
In this humourous and endearing award winning film, Troy Billings is seventeen, overweight, and suicidal. Just as he’s about to jump in front of a bus, he’s saved by Marcus, a charming high school dropout/street musician. The two begin an uneasy friendship when Marcus enlists the musically challenged Troy to become the drummer in a new punk rock band. As Troy’s relationship with Marcus grows, Troy’s father becomes increasingly concerned about his son’s new friendship.
Director: Matthew Lillard, a veteran of both stage and screen, is well known for his performances in over 50 films and television shows over the last 19 years. With titles like Scream, Without a Paddle, Thir13ten Ghosts and Scooby Doo 1 & 2, Lillard is associated with a number of Hollywood Box Office hits totaling over $700 million dollars in revenue worldwide. He received critical success with independent titles SLC Punk! and Ed Burn’s The Groomsmen and debuted three films at the acclaimed Sundance Film Festival. He starred with George Clooney in Alexander Payne’s The Descendants which received the Golden Globe for best picture and five academy award nominations.
A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and New York’s prestigious Circle in the Square, the award winning actor has been the Artistic Director of theatre companies in both Los Angeles and New York City.
Fat Kid Rules the World is Lillard’s first foray into directing. He has produced three other movies in the past.
9 p.m. – 11 p.m. – Closing Night Gala, Workman Hall
A gala party to close the 20th Annual Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival will follow Fat Kid Rules the World. Join us for a rocking night of live music featuring All Dressed and Simply Divas! Cash bar and complimentary snacks. (All ages)
RWM EXHIBITIONS:
Being Scene – 12th Annual Juried Art Exhibition
Group Exhibition
Workman Arts/Workman Hall
651 Dufferin Street
This annual juried exhibition showcases the work of artists that have lived experience with mental illness and addiction and presents a cross-cultural portrait of the healing power of art. This year Being Scene celebrates its 12th anniversary. Being Scene 2012 opened for public viewing at Hart House at the University of Toronto from May 30th through July 29th and next moved to the Gladstone Hotel on Queen
Street West from August 2nd through October 28th. Receptions and free daily public access at these two prestigious cultural venues have generated considerable exposure and sales for thirty-eight participating artists. Being Scene will be on display prior to film screenings in the Workman Arts Theatre at 651 Dufferin during our 20th Annual Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival.
Beneath the Surface
Group Exhibition
Workman Arts/Workman Hall – 651 Dufferin Street
TIFF Bell Lightbox – Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto
The exhibition originally ran from October 6 – 14.
Beneath the Surface is a digital media project originally presented on the Onestop TTC screens for World Mental Health Day. The project played once every ten minutes, all day long in the network of Pattison Onestop’s TTC subway platform screens throughout Toronto October 6 – October 14, reaching an audience of 1.3 million daily commuters.
With an aim to change the publicís perceptions of mental health each participating artist has created a series of eight or nine sequential images that tell a particular story, or express their personal interpretation of the projectís theme. Beneath the Surface reveals real and imagined moods, states of mind, obsessions, fears, and joys lying beneath the surface of our individual and collective urban experience.
An unearthly cartoon character, surreal digital landscapes, delicate illustrations, a photo-story, still-life paintings and a powerful collage depict themes of trauma, memory and ideas, the relationship between order and chaos, isolation and connectedness.
Projects and Artists: Subspace by Saraƒin, The Red Shoes by Catherine Jones, Moving Still Life by Michael Morbach, Dream Town by Annette Seip, Brainwashed by Sheri STRanger and Taking Birth by Jace Tracz
Cinemanic: A Different Kind of Picture Show
T.A.N. Coffee
992 Queen Street West
November 1 – December 4
Opening Reception: Saturday November 10, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Cinemanic: A Different Kind of Picture Show is a group exhibition showcasing the works of eleven artists who participated in a training program led by Workman Arts member Joey DAMMIT! During an eight week training program participants were introduced to the concepts and techniques of mixed media/collage. Artists created new works responding to the theme Rendezvous with Madness.
Participating Artists: Charles Boyes, Lynette Campbell, Anabela de Castro, Joey DAMMIT!, Faeghan Williams, Roz Lawrence, Lorette Luzajic, Nicole Minerve, Paul Rennie, Julie Scrivener and Cindy Yip.
Mark Belvedere
Solo Exhibition
From the Series: Excuse Me I Think Iíve Got a Heartache
Workman Arts Window Gallery Project at Shoppers Drug Mart
1033 Queen Street West at Lower Ossington Street
The exhibition runs through November 29.
“The series “Excuse me (I think I’ve Got a Heartache)” is titled after the 1960 Buck Owens and Harlan Howard song and examines the process and journey we undergo when coming to terms with loss. Specifically, the image of the same title relates the process of grieving and coming to terms with my own mortality that followed the loss of my father in 2011. The series titled “I Saw Him Go to Pieces” (bearing the text “I wasn’t ready to see you go”) was produced the week of his death and documents my initial reaction to the suddenness of his passing. More generally, the vinyl banner titled SLOW DOWN illustrates the risks and complexities involved in working through any loss or depressive period.”
Mark Belvedere is a New York-born, Toronto-based artist working in photography and mixed media. His work centres primarily on topics of spiritual, psychological and political identity, both individual and collective. Recurring themes are power and vulnerability, confidence and hesitancy, isolation and belonging, and the sway between them. Alongside his fine art practice, Mark has worked as an editorial and commercial photographer since 1999. His work has been exhibited at Gallery 44, Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, Red Head Gallery, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche and CONTACT Photography Festival.
