FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2004
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
VARSITY 8
55 BLOOR STREET WEST

Digital has transformed how we tell stories and reach our audiences. Hear experts cut through the cyber-babble and explain how new digital advances are giving creative control to filmmakers and opening new financing models to the industry. This exclusive three-part workshop demonstrates the state of the digital art.

1. DALSA currently manufactures the world’s highest resolution digital motion picture camera, the Origin®. For the first time ever, not only will high-definition (4K) digital imaging be presented, but it will be compared with 35mm image capture through a remarkable presentation of the short THE GLOVE by Kim Nguyen, which was shot simultaneously in both formats.

2. How far can you push digital technology? Adventurer, cinematographer and photographer Pat Morrow knows; see him demonstrate how low-end digital can still achieve high-quality images, even in the most extreme conditions.

3. Using a low-budget combination of stop-motion animation and digital photography, “What It’s Like Being Alone” has made history with its unique production model. Fred Fuchs and Brad Peyton, the team behind the highly anticipated CBC animated series, discuss how digital technology has completely transformed not only their production techniques but their financial model as well.

MODERATED BY:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2004
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
SUTTON PLACE HOTEL, WELLESLEY ROOM
955 BAY STREET

Sydney Pollack is a force to be reckoned with: one of the most acclaimed and popular directors of our time, his nineteen films have received forty-six Academy Award® nominations, including two for Best Picture. His classic 1985 film OUT OF AFRICA won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Among his many other honours are the New York Film Critics’ Award for his 1982 film TOOTSIE, the David di Donatello Award for THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (75), two Golden Globes for Best Director, the National Society of Film Critics’ Award, the N.A.T.O. Director of the Year Award and prizes from the Brussels, Belgrade, San Sebastian, Moscow and Taormina film festivals. Pollack served as President of the Jury at the Festival de Cannes, was honoured by the French government with the Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres and, in 2000, he was awarded the Directors Guild of America’s John Huston Award for Artists Rights. Pollack is also a founding member of the Sundance Institute, Chairman Emeritus of the American Cinematheque, a sustaining founder of the Film Foundation of the Directors Guild of America and sits on the Board of Directors for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation.

Pollack’s career is packed with memorable, powerful, Zeitgeist-capturing films. He is known for his skill at eliciting particularly b performances from his actors, who have included, over the years, Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford. Among the many films he has directed are his breakout film THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (69), the era-defining THE WAY WE WERE (73), the adaptation of John Grisham’s THE FIRM (93) and the eternally romantic SABRINA (95). Pollack just completed principal photography on THE INTERPRETER, a political thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn currently scheduled for a February 2005 release. 

Pollack is also an acclaimed actor and prolific producer. He has performed in Woody Allen’s HUSBANDS AND WIVES (92), Robert Altman’s THE PLAYER (92) and Stanley Kubrick’s EYES WIDE SHUT (99), among several other roles. In 1985 he formed Mirage Productions, under the banner of which he has produced the films THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (89), PRESUMED INNOCENT (90), DEAD AGAIN (91), SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (95), THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (99) and COLD MOUNTAIN (03).

Born and raised in Indiana, Pollack studied at the Neighbourhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York. He worked extensively in television, directing such shows as “The Fugitive,” “Naked City,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “Ben Casey,” before making his feature directorial debut in 1965 with THE SLENDER THREAD.

INTERVIEWED BY:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2004
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
SUTTON PLACE HOTEL, WELLESLEY ROOM
955 BAY STREET

This session is dedicated to exploring the growing interest in and expanding market for a new breed of fearless filmmaking by female directors. Their work has found success in the indie realm but it has yet to explode into the mainstream. Why? International women directors share their experiences, stories and goals for these projects, and their perspectives about the state of the women’s film movement. What exactly does “women’s film” mean today? Acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta will moderate what is sure to be an animated discussion.

MODERATED BY:

ANNA REEVES
WRITER/DIRECTOR, OYSTER FARMER (04)
Anna Reeves graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and is currently based in London, where she is writing several scripts. She has directed the short films LA VIE EN ROSE (94), which won the best drama award and the audience award at the New Zealand Short Film Festival, THE IMPLODING SELF (95) and WARBLING MATILDA (01). OYSTER FARMER, presented in the Discovery programme, is her feature debut.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2004
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
SUTTON PLACE HOTEL, WELLESLEY ROOM
955 BAY STREET

Charles Dalfen, Chairman of the CRTC discusses the role of the Commission in the maintenance and enhancement of national identity and cultural sovereignty.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
SUTTON PLACE HOTEL, WELLESLEY ROOM
955 BAY STREET

What are the real costs and advantages of shooting your film on film stock? Between 16mm, S16mm and 35mm, numerous advances have been made to ensure image quality and a new range of aesthetic possibilities. But with all of the claims out there for cost-effective filmmaking, which are true? And what are the hidden costs? Referring to medium and low-budget work, our panel of successful filmmakers will illustrate the practical and artistic opportunities only film can afford and the techniques they use to achieve them.

MODERATED BY:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2004
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
SUTTON PLACE HOTEL, WELLESLEY ROOM
955 BAY STREET

Danny Glover is one of the most acclaimed actors of our time. In his twenty-five year screen career he has performed in over seventy films and TV series. He made his debut as a prison inmate in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (79) and went on to play such legendary figures as Nelson Mandela in MANDELA (87). He is the man behind such memorable roles as Albert in THE COLOR PURPLE (85), Sgt. Roger Murtaugh in the LETHAL WEAPON series, Walter Lee Younger in A RAISIN IN THE SUN (89), Harry Mention in TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (90), for which he earned an Independent Spirit Award, Micah Mangena in BOPAH! (93), Paul D. Garner in BELOVED (98), and Henry Sherman in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (01). Glover appears as police detective Tapp in the Midnight Madness presentation SAW (04), directed by James Wan. He is also co-presenting, along with Ousmane Sembene, Sembene’s seminal first feature LA NOIRE DE… (66) as part of the Festival’s Dialogues programme.

Glover has received many accolades in his lifetime. He has won five Image Awards, presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for his roles in LETHAL WEAPON, BELOVED, MANDELA, “Freedom Song” and “Queen.” Glover has twice been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Emmy, for his roles in the television mini-series “Lonesome Dove” and “Freedom Song.” He is widely known as a political activist and spokesperson for progressive causes both in the United States and internationally. As someone who is passionate about his community and his philanthropic efforts, Glover is deeply involved with the Vanguard Public Foundation based in San Francisco. He was appointed the first Global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme in 1998. He also received the Amnesty International USA Lifetime Achievement Award and in recognition of his lifetime dedication to public service, Glover was honoured with the 2003 N.A.A.C.P. Chairman’s Award.

Glover was born in San Francisco. He studied economics at San Francisco State University (which awarded him an Honourary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree in 1997) and later trained at the Black Actors’ Workshop of the American Conservatory. Glover’s performance in the New York production of Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold and the Boys” first brought the actor national recognition. His film credits include PLACES IN THE HEART (84), WITNESS (85), SILVERADO (85), THE SAINT OF FORT WASHINGTON (93), ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD (94), BOESMAN AND LENA (00) and GOOD FENCES (03). Glover also works as an executive producer for film and television.

INTERVIEWED BY: