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CFC Alumni Bolster CanCon at TIFF 2017

More than 70 alumni attached to 29 projects will participate in the 42nd edition of the festival

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Toronto, August 23, 2017 – The (CFC) celebrates another year of exceptional Canadian creative talent and impressive alumni presence at the 2017 International Film Festival® (TIFF), where CFC alumni projects enrich TIFF’s Canadian slate in the Gala, Special Presentations, Discovery, Contemporary World Cinema, Primetime, Cinematheque, TIFF Docs, Short Cuts and TIFF Kids programmes, as well as TIFF Industry Conference.

The following features with numerous alumni in key creative roles make their World Premieres in the Discovery programme, including Mary Goes Round and Never Steady, Never Still, which were developed at the CFC through the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program Writers’ Lab:

• Writer/director Molly McGlynn’s first feature, Mary Goes Round, produced by Matt Code, executive-produced by Aeschylus Poulos, edited by Christine Armstrong and Bryan Atkinson, featuring music by Dillon Baldassero and Casey Manierka-Quaile, as well as two original songs by Lisa Conway, and an appearance by Bruce Novakowski

• Family drama Never Steady, Never Still, the first feature from writer/director Kathleen Hepburn, is associate-produced by Evan Crowe, executive-produced by Lori Lozinski, edited by Simone Smith, with music by Ben Fox, production design by Liz Cairns, and starring 2017 TIFF Rising Stars Mary Galloway and Théodore Pellerin

• Political satire Black Cop, the first feature written and directed by Cory Bowles, starring Sophia Walker and featuring music by Dillon Baldassero

• Micro-budget thriller Cardinals, starring alumna Grace Glowicki (2016 TIFF Rising Star), produced by Matt Code, executive-produced by Chris Bennett, with music by Todor Kobakov

• Indian Horse, an adaptation of Richard Wagamese’s award-winning novel of the same name, produced by Paula Devonshire and Trish Dolman

Seven hotly anticipated films featuring the work of CFC alumni and/or mentors will make their World Premieres or North American Premieres in the Contemporary World Cinema programme, including Don’t Talk to Irene and PUBLIC SCHOOLED, which were developed through CFC’s Telefilm Feature Comedy Exchange:

• Don’t Talk to Irene, the second comedy feature from writer/director Pat Mills, produced by

Alyson Richards and Michael MacMillan, line-produced by Brendan Brady, edited by Tiffany Beaudin, with music by Erica Procunier

• Previously announced CFC Features’ comedy PUBLIC SCHOOLED, from writer/director Kyle Rideout and writer/producer Josh Epstein, featuring original songs by The Slaight Family Music Lab alumnae Adaline and Allie X, and starring TIFF Rising Star Daniel Doheny

• Bittersweet comedy Meditation Park, written, directed and produced by Mina Shum, produced by Raymond Massey and Stephen Hegyes, featuring Don McKellar

• Coming-of-age film Porcupine Lake, the sixth feature-length project from veteran Toronto-based writer, director and producer , edited by Chris Mutton

• Occult horror Pyewacket, edited by Maureen Grant

• April’s Daughter (Las Hijas de Abril), co-edited by Jorge Weisz

• Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle, produced by Don Carmody, Producer Chair of CFC’s Film Programs

Festivalgoers can see the work of the following CFC alumni in the 2017 Special Presentations:

• Road-trip drama Kodachrome, executive- and line-produced by Mary Anne Waterhouse, featuring Paolo Mancini and current Actors Conservatory resident Humberly Gonzalez

• Aaron Sorkin’s latest, Molly’s Game, which was shot in Toronto, features Actors Conservatory alumna Natalie Krill

• Hand-drawn animated feature The Breadwinner, co-written by Anita Doron, produced by Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, featuring music by CFC’s former Composer Chair of The Slaight Family Music Lab, Mychael Danna (also part of the TIFF Kids lineup)

The festival’s Canadian short film slate also includes a number of CFC alumni talent:

• The Argument (with annotations), from director

• Bickford Park, directed by Linsey Stewart and Dane Clark, written by Dane Clark, produced by Lauren Corber and Matt Code, edited by Jonathan Eagan

• An Imagined Conversation: Kanye West & Stephen Hawking, sound and music composed by Lodewijk Vos and Joseph Murray of Menalon

• We Forgot to Break Up, directed and co-written by Chandler Levack, produced by Nicole Hilliard-Forde, line-produced by Kat Hidalgo, edited by Bryan Atkinson, featuring Grace Glowicki

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• Rupture, written, directed, executive-produced and co-edited by Yassmina Karajah, with assistant art direction by Liz Cairns • The Drop In, edited by Christine Armstrong

Additionally, the much-anticipated series Alias Grace, based on the award-winning novel by , is written and produced by alumna Sarah Polley and features music by Mychael Danna. Alias Grace will see its World Premiere in the Primetime programme. The emotionally charged Tragically Hip documentary, Long Time Running, from co-writer and co-director Nicholas de Pencier is also set to World Premiere at TIFF as one of the 2017 Galas, and Alan Zweig’s There is a House, edited by Robert Swartz, will World Premiere as part of TIFF’s documentary lineup.

As previously announced, CFC Features’ groundbreaking 1995 drama RUDE, written and directed by CFC alumnus Clement Virgo and produced by fellow alumni Damon D’Oliveira and Karen King, will receive an encore screening at TIFF as part of the Cinematheque programme, alongside ’s film Picture of Light (1994), which was produced by alumna Ingrid Veninger.

Alumni participation and projects extend to the 2017 TIFF Industry Conference:

• Three of the teams named finalists of the 2017 Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! competition include CFC alumni; Adam Goldhammer with his feature-film idea Imposter, based off of the 2016 CFC short film of the same name; Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith and Dylan Reibling with their film project We Will Not Be Defeated; and alumna Jennifer Mesich with her project 12 Days

• Yassmina Karajah (Rupture) is set to participate in the Short Cuts Dialogues focusing on excellence in directing performance

• Pat Mills and Tiffany Beaudin (Don’t Talk to Irene) will take part in the Foundations programme lineup, which explores cinematography, editing, story development, music licensing, US/Canadian legal co-ventures and collaborative teams

Moreover, two current residents of the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program Directors’ Lab, Connor Gaston and Thyrone Tommy, have been selected to participate in this year’s TIFF Talent Lab, and Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo of Conquering Lion Pictures have been selected to participate in the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s annual International Financing Forum (IFF) at TIFF with their feature Seventeen Days.

CFC supports the next generation of Canadian content creators through its multi-disciplinary programs and initiatives in film, television, music, screen acting and digital media, and is proud to have provided support for the scores in Black Cop, Never Steady, Never Still and Mary Goes Round through the CFC/Slaight Family Canadian Music Fund and to have nominated Mary Goes Round for the 2016 Telefilm Canada Micro-Budget Production Program.

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CFC extends congratulations to all of its alumni with projects at TIFF ‘17 and looks forward to celebrating their achievements at the invite only CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser on September 10, 2017 from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m. on the CFC grounds. CFC Founder and Chair Emeritus Norman Jewison and CFC CEO Slawko Klymkiw will host select Canadian and international onscreen talent as well as film, TV and digital media industry professionals. The fundraiser supports the development of Canada’s content creators and entrepreneurial talent in the screen-based entertainment industries.

If you are a CFC alumnus/alumna involved in a project at TIFF 2017 that was not included in this release, please email the CFC at: [email protected].

Social Media

Twitter: @cfccreates Facebook: Facebook.com/cfccreates Instagram: @cfccreates

About CFC The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization whose mission is to invest in and inspire the next generation of world-class Canadian content creators and entrepreneurs in the screen-based entertainment industry. A significant economic and cultural driver in Canada and beyond, CFC delivers a range of multi-disciplinary programs and initiatives in film, television, music, screen acting, and digital media, which provides industry collaborations, strategic partnerships, and business and marketplace opportunities for talent and participants. For more information, visit cfccreates.com.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Cory Angeletti-Szasz Manager, Communications, CFC 416.445.1446 x 463 [email protected]

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