Jacob Tierney photographed in February, 2010, on the set of Good Neighbours in Montreal.The Globe and Mail
A Montreal-set thriller starring Jay Baruchel and Scott Speedman, the sophomore effort by Quebec phenom Xavier Dolan and the return of Fubar's hoser headbangers are among the Canadian movies bound for the Toronto International Film Festival.
Organizers say the slate of homegrown fare includes new films from directors Denis Villeneuve, Bruce McDonald, Jacob Tierney and Louis Belanger, and performances from homegrown stars Molly Parker, Don McKellar, Jill Hennessy, Jason Jones, and the late Tracy Wright.
Organizers are touting a diverse mix of documentaries, dramas, thrillers, comedies "and a record number of dysfunctional families."
They include Dolan's comedy Heartbeats, about two friends who pursue a mutual obsession; the Tierney thriller, Good Neighbours, featuring Baruchel as the resident of a strange apartment building in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood; and Fubar 2, which opens the Midnight Madness section with Terry and Dean searching for wealth and more beer in the oil fields of Alberta.
Previously announced Canadian galas include fest opener, Score: A Hockey Musical, the South African war drama The Bang Bang Club, and the Mordecai Richler adaptation, Barney's Version.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 9-19.
Other Canadian films set to screen include:
- Villeneuve's Incendies, about twins who discover a shocking truth after their mother's death;
- McDonald's rock'n'roll film, Trigger, with Parker and Wright as a dysfunctional rock duo who reunite a decade after their band folded;
- Belanger's Route 132, about a man who loses a loved one and embarks on a journey to rediscover his roots and come to terms with his grief;
- Ed Gass-Donnelly's Small Town Murder Songs, featuring Hennessy and Martha Plimpton about an aging police officer from a small Ontario Mennonite town who hides a violent past
- the documentary Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, billed as a portrait of the passionate environmentalist's legacy.