Printable Schedule

As the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival approaches, we wanted to say how excited we are to be returning to that city. We will never forget how our friends there supported us two years ago, and to be visiting them again in full force, in the wake of their own annus horribilus, seems not only appropriate but somehow very right. And now that some of us are on the Atkins our multiple trips to Barberian's Steak House will be completely guilt-free. We look forward to seeing you there.

We love to book interviews in advance, so please ring us at 212-595-6161, or email jeremy@jeremywalker.com if anything here strikes your fancy. Please keep in mind, these screening times are preliminary but should be close to accurate; it's best to check the schedule the day before. Additionally, talent availability and dates are estimated. Films are listed here in order of their first screening.


A World Premiere in Discovery

Jean-Pierre (Laurent Lucas) is a troubled hit man who is starting to realize that he has too much conscience to kill. Having recently rekindled his relationship with his childhood soul mate Michelle (the luminous star Irène Jacob), he sees their love as a way out. But reality soon grips him when he learns that she has stolen a mysterious briefcase, forcing Jean-Pierre to walk a fine line between protecting the woman he loves and falling back into the world of crime he just left… an impossible task that soon unravels in ways that he can neither imagine nor control. AUTOMNE (AUTUMN) is an insightful journey into altered lives, an exploration of memory, choice and regret. A quintessentially French film in language, tone, mood, locations, design and not least casting, AUTOMNE (AUTUMN) is written and directed by Ra'up McGee, who is…not French at all, rather an American film school graduate who was determined to make his debut in the French idiom.
JW+A is looking after the US and Canada on this title.

Screenings:

Friday, September 10th

2:30 pm

Paramount 2

Wednesday, September 15th

12:30 pm

Varsity 4 (Press/Industry)

Thursday, September 16th

7:00 pm
Paramount 4

Talent Available:

Writer / Director Ra’up McGee will be in Toronto and available September 10th – 17th.




A World Premiere in Discovery

ON THE OUTS is a remarkable drama based on the real stories of real girls who struggle with all the highs and lows of teenage life in the inner-city, girls who lent their voices and unique stories to the filmmakers. The film follows three central characters from the same neighborhood: Oz (Judy Marte), 17, is a tough drug dealer with her own corner and the street's respect, who struggles to keep her family intact; Suzette (Anny Mariano) is a sheltered 15 year old, whose first teenage crush has life changing repercussions; and Marisol (Paola Mendoza), 17, a single mother who fights both her own demons and the uncompromising world of foster care to keep her child. Fans of the acclaimed "Raising Victor Vargas" will recognize actress Judy Marte in ON THE OUTS, in which she plays a very different kind of character with equal charm. Actress Paola Mendoza is also a youth educator, with whom filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik visited the Jersey City detention center twice a week for three months, getting to know the inmates, learning about their lives, and encouraging them to find productive means of self-expression. These relationships grew deeper, and the stories the three partners heard became the foundation for the narrative of ON THE OUTS.
JW+A is looking after the US and Canada on this title.

Screenings:

Saturday, September 11th

2:30 pm
Varsity 8

Sunday, September 12th

4:00 pm
Cumberland 3 (Press/Industry)

Monday, September 13th

7:00 pm

Royal Ontario Museum

Talent Available:

Filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik, actors Judy Marte, Paola Mendoza and Anny Mariano will be in Toronto from Saturday, Sept. 11th through Tuesday, Sept. 14th.




Contemporary World Cinema, Palm Pictures, Opens Spring 2005

"One Hour with the Truth" is broadcast nightly from Miami across Latin America, carrying the hardest sensationalistic stories it can find. Star anchorman Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo) has flown down to a small town in Ecuador with producer Marisa (Leonor Watling) and cameraman Ivan (Jose Maria Yazpik) on the trail of a child serial killer and rapist, "The Monster of Babahoyo". The accidental death of a young boy brings the town to the verge of lynching Vinicio Cepeda (Damian Alcazar), a humble traveling salesman. Manolo's intervention saves the man's life, and makes a great story for his show. Vinicio is put in jail for involuntary manslaughter and he offers Manolo information about the "The Monster of Babahoyo" in exchange for a news story on TV about his wrongful imprisonment. Manolo accepts the deal and is powerfully drawn to the dark side he senses in Vinicio. He begins to break the rules, determined to be the hero who single-handedly stops the killer. CRONICAS is a classic noir for an era in which media saturation and TV infotainment stars have seeped deeply into the global culture.
JW+A is looking after the US and Canada.

Like THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON (see below), CRONICAS is produced by Alfonso Cuarón and Jorge Vergara's Anhelo Productions.

Screenings:

Sunday, September 12th,

2:30 pm

Cumberland 4 (Press/Industry)

Monday, September 13th

6:00 pm

Paramount 2

Wednesday, September 15th

2:00 pm
Cumberland 1

Talent Available:

Director Sebastian Cordero, Actor John Leguizamo,
Monday, September 13th - Wednesday, September 15th.




A World Premiere in Discovery

SAVING FACE is a sexy, bittersweet, cross-cultural and cross-generational tale set in New York's Mandarin-speaking immigrant Chinese community. Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a Chinese-American surgeon in her late 20s, finds her life turned upside down when her single mother "Ma" (Joan Chen) arrives on her doorstep, suitcase in hand and pregnant. Ma's been banished from the Chinese immigrant community by her irate father and is refusing to reveal who the baby's father might be. Wil must take her mother in and play matchmaker in an attempt to find Ma a husband so she can return to her Chinese friends and family. It is the very pressure her mother feels that forces Wil to keep her unorthodox romantic life a secret. Ultimately, both mother and daughter embrace the truth and open themselves up to the prospects of love. Featuring outstanding performances by the surprisingly funny Joan Chen and two young breakout stars Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen, SAVING FACE speaks to the unpredictability of modern life and the enduring value of family ties. Written and directed by Alice Wu, who makes her debut with SAVING FACE, the film is produced by Overbrook Entertainment's Teddy Zee, James Lassiter and Will Smith, with Robin O'Hara and Scott Macaulay serving as executive producers.
US and Canada.

Screenings:

Sunday, September 12th,

10:00 pm

Paramount 4

Monday, September 13th

3:15 pm

Cumberland 1 (Press/Industry)

Wednesday, September 15th

10:00 am
Paramount 4

Talent Available:
Writer / director Alice Wu and actors Joan Chen, Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen will be in Toronto from late September 10th through Tuesday, September 15th.




Special Presentation, THINKFilm, Opens Dec. 29th

Based on a true story, THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON focuses on Sam Bicke (Sean Penn), a desperate "everyman" who, in 1974, was driven to attempt to assassinate the President. Sam is determined to receive his share of the American Dream, but in a society worn out by political corruption and the Vietnam War, there is not much room left for dreamers. Sam's world unravels as the Watergate scandal exposes culpability at the highest levels, as images of Nixon flood the airwaves. In the meantime, the finality of Bicke's separation from his wife (Naomi Watts) and their two young children becomes inescapable. Penn delivers a quietly explosive, awards-caliber performance in THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON. Though set in a divided America of twenty years ago the film, and particularly its shattering dénouement, achieves an eerie resonance in our equally conflicted, post-9/11 era.

JW+A, along with MRC in LA, is looking after US press on this title.

Like CRONICAS (see above), THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON is produced by Alfonso Cuarón and Jorge Vergara's Anhelo Productions.

Screenings:

Monday, September 13th

9:30 am

Varsity 8 (Press/Industry)

Monday, September 13th

6:45 pm

Ryerson

Tuesday, September 14th

3:00 pm

5:00pm, Cumberland 1

Press Conference:

Tuesday, September 14th

11:00 am

Four Seasons

Talent Available:

Director / co-writer Niels Mueller, actor Sean Penn and producers Alfonso Cuaron and Jorge Veraga, 9/12-9/16