2018 TIFF Speaker Series Lines Up Emilio Estevez, Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
DEMOCRACY, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURAL HISTORIES ARE AMONG
THIS YEAR’S TOPICS AT THE 2018 TIFF SPEAKER SERIES
A series of talks on Look at Me , The Other Story, Donbass, The Public,
Birds of Passage, and “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” in partnership with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy
Returning for its seventh year at the Toronto International Film Festival, the TIFF Speaker Series, in partnership with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, includes a lineup that will confront cultural histories, political statements, and examine the power of community through the lens of personal storytelling. The program offers audiences the opportunity to interact with filmmakers and scholars in extended discussions following each film’s second public screening. This year’s speakers include Randall Hansen, Janice Stein, Robert Austin, Joseph Wong, and Teresa Kramarz.
The TIFF Speaker Series lineup:
Look at Me
Randall Hansen, Interim Director at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, will join Tunisian actor and director Nejib Belkadhi in a Q&A following the screening of his film Look at Me.
Torn between the life he thought he could leave behind in Tunisia and the life he’s created for himself in Marseille, a man finds himself at a crucial crossroads, in Nejib Belkadhi’s latest film.
The Other Story ( Sipur Acher)
Janice Stein, Founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, will join Avi Nesher in discussing the Israeli film The Other Story.
Two rebellious young women, one fleeing the chaos of secular hedonism for the disciplined comforts of faith, the other desperate to transcend her oppressive religious upbringing for sexual and spiritual freedom, cross paths unexpectedly in Jerusalem — with startling consequences — in this empowering drama from Avi Nesher.
Donbass
Robert Austin, Associate Professor at the Munk’s School Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, will join Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa to examine his film Donbass.
Told through a series of impressively choreographed vignettes, Sergei Loznitsa’s scathing political commentary follows the war that has been raging in Eastern Ukraine for years, wielding both artillery and propaganda as weapons.
The Public
Joseph Wong, Ralph and Roz Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, will take the stage with actor director Emilio Estevez for a Q&A following the screening of The Public.
A sit-in by patrons at a public library escalates into a police standoff and a media sideshow, in Emilio Estevez’s arresting drama that explores issues surrounding homelessness, mental health, and community. Featuring Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Gabrielle Union, Christian Slater, and Michael K. Williams.
Birds of Passage ( Pájaros de verano)
Teresa Kramarz, Director of the Munk One program, will discuss filmmaking duo Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s latest film, Birds of Passage.
Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra ( Embrace of the Serpent) once again team up for this exquisitely detailed story of a Wayuu man’s downward spiral — and its effects on his community — as he becomes increasingly involved in northern Colombia’s drug trade.
“I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” ( Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari)
Radu Jude’s resonant feature chronicles a young theatre director’s efforts to stage an accurate re-enactment of the Odessa Massacre — in which Romanian soldiers slaughtered tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews — despite the municipal government’s attempts to censor her.
Speaker to be confirmed.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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