This past Tuesday, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced their picks for the top 10 Canadian Films of 2011. And besides Hobo With a Shotgun making the cut and the excellent documentary Beauty Day not, not much was a big surprise.
Along with Shotgun the top 10 feature films include Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de flore, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, the gangster biopic Edwin Boyd, Guy Maddin’s Keyhole, Sarah Polly’s Take this Waltz, the French-Canadian dramas Marécages and Le Vendeur, Ken Scott’s Starbuck, starring Patrick Huard, and Canada’s official entry to the Academy Awards this year, Monsieur Lazhar.
“TIFF is dedicated to supporting Canadian talent and for over a decade has been celebrating the country’s cinematic successes with Canada’s Top Ten,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF.
All the films selected will screen at the TIFF Bell Lightbox between January 5 and 15, 2012 with filmmakers doing Q&A sessions when available. Select films will play at speciality theatres across Canada, including Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque, Edmonton’s Metro Cinema, and Ottawa’s ByTowne Cinema. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit tiff.net.
About the Top 10 Selection:
Canada’s Top 10 lists are chosen from features, shorts, documentaries, animation and experimental films. Each film must have premiered at a major film festival or obtained a commercial theatrical release in Canada in 2011. The filmmaker must be a Canadian citizen or resident and have a history of working in Canada or on Canadian-financed films.
Full list of features and shorts selected below.
Canada’s Top 10 Feature Films of 2011:
Café de flore — Jean-Marc Vallée
A Dangerous Method — David Cronenberg
Edwin Boyd — Nathan Morlando
Hobo With a Shotgun — Jason Eisener
Keyhole — Guy Maddin
Marécages — Guy Édoin
Monsieur Lazhar — Philippe Falardeau
Starbuck — Ken Scott
Take This Waltz — Sarah Polley
Le Vendeur — Sébastien Pilote
Canada’s Top 10 Short Films of 2011:
Choke — Michelle Latimer
Doubles With Slight Pepper — Ian Harnarine
The Fuse: Or How I Burned Simon Bolivar — Igor Drljaca
Hope — Pedro Pires (Phi Group)
No Words Came Down — Ryan Flowers and Lisa Pham
Ora — Philippe Baylaucq
Rhonda’s Party — Ashley McKenzie
La Ronde — Sophie Goyette
Trotteur — Arnaud Brisebois and Francis Leclerc
We Ate the Children Last — Andrew Cividino
Top image: A scene from Take This Waltz. Courtesy Mongrel Media.
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