TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Daytime Drinking" Director Young-seok Noh

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Young-seok Noh's "Daytime Drinking" is having its North American Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. The South Korean production follows Hyuk-jin, who after a drunken attempt to heal a broken heart, decides to take a trip with his friends to small town of Jeongseon in the Gangwon province. But, as TIFF describes, "as the only one to actually make it on the bus, Hyuk-jin embarks on a strange journey that finds him in the middle of a snowy highway without his mobile phone, wallet or pants." indieWIRE spoke to "Drinking"'s director about the film and its screening in Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Hooked" Director Adrian Sitaru

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Adrian Sitaru's "Hooked" is having its North American Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. The Romania-France co-production is described by TIFF: "A Sunday picnic seemed like the best way for Mihai and Sweetie to spend some quality time together and take their relationship to a new level. But a series of odd and unexpected events quickly turn this idyllic weekend getaway into the strangest day of their lives." indieWIRE talked to Sitaru about the film and its screening in Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Vacation" Director Hajime Kadoi

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Hajime Kadoi's "Vacation" is having its International Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows Hirai, a middle-aged prison guard, who follows an alienated work routine attending to Kaneda, a death row inmate. When Kaneda's execution is ordered, Hirai has an opportunity for a vacation. But as TIFF describes, "there is a price to pay for this well-deserved break, as Hirai must assist Kaneda during his final moments." indieWIRE talked to Kadoi about the film and its screening in Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Cold Lunch" Director Eva Sorhaug

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Having its International Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival, Eva Sorhaug's "Cold Lunch" follows the paths of five characters who intersect in the Oslo district of Majorstua. TIFF describes that after one character, Christer, "disconnects a main fuse in his building in an attempt to save the rent money he mistakenly placed into the laundry, he sets off a chain reaction of consequential events that will change the lives of a caretaker and his daughter, and a new mother and her child." Sorhaug spoke to indieWIRE about "Cold Lunch," and her hopes for Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Rain" Director Maria Govan

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Bahamian director Maria Govan's "Rain" will be having its World Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows the titular character as she leaves her rural, sheltered life in search of the mother that abandoned her. Heading to Nassau, her dream is "quickly shattered," as TIFF describes, "when she meets Glory, a scarred, angry woman who bears no resemblance to the mother she had hoped for." Govan talked to indieWIRE about "Rain," and her aspirations for Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Zift" Director Javor Gardev

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Javor Gardev's "Zift" will be having its World Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows "The Moth" (Zahary Baharov), a man freed on parole after spending time in a prison on a wrongful murder conviction. TIFF describes his first night out of jail as one in which he "draws the map of a diabolical city full of decaying neighbourhoods, gloomy streets and a bizarre parade of characters." indieWIRE spoke to Gardev about the film and its screening at Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "The Stoning of Soraya M" Director Cyrus Nowrasteh

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Cyrus Nowrasteh's "The Stoning of Soraya M." will be having its World Premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Shohreh Aghdashloo, the film follows a woman falsely accused of adultery in a remote Iranian village. Based on the book by Freidoune Sahebjam, TIFF describes "Stoning" as about "voiceless women, armed with only their innocence and dignity, [who] are no match for the overwhelming primal forces that overrun their town." Nowrasteh talked to indieWIRE about the film and his hopes for Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Lymelife" Director Derick Martini

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Set in late 1970s Long Island, Derick Martini's "Lymelife" is having its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy, Timothy Hutton, Kieran Culkin, Emma Roberts and Cynthia Nixon, the film is described by TIFF as "an examination of first love, family dynamics and the American Dream," as seen as seen through the innocent eyes of a 15-year-old." Martini talked to indieWIRE about the film and his hopes for Toronto.
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TORONTO '08 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW | "Medicine For Melancholy" Director Barry Jenkins

EDITORS NOTE: For the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Barry Jenkins' "Medicine For Melancholy" is having its Canadian premiere in the Discovery section of the 2008 Toronto International Film Film Festival. The film, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year, is about two African-American twentysomethings who wake up in bed together with no recollection of how they got there. They proceed to wander the streets of San Francisco, discussing issues of race, class, identity and gentrification, exploring sights of the city. Jenkins talked to indieWIRE about the film and his hopes for Toronto.
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indieWIRE INTERVIEW | Toronto Co-Director Cameron Bailey

With his first slate of programming as co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival announced this morning, Cameron Bailey can take a quick breather before the 33rd edition of the festival begins two weeks from Thursday. "Now that we actually have the selection done and out there in public its just a huge, huge feeling of gratification," Bailey said in an interview with indieWIRE this afternoon. A longtime international programmer for the festival, Bailey was appointed co-director last December when his predecessor Noah Cowan was named Artistic Director of Bell Lightbox, the multi-million dollar festival center now under construction in downtown Toronto. Bailey talked with indieWIRE about his new position, the festival's programming, and what it might suggest about overall trends in the industry.
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TORONTO '07 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Peter Carstairs: "Cinema is ultimately becoming more international."

Throughout the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Fourteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Peter Carstairs is at Toronto with his feature film, "September," which TIFF describes as revealing "the tumultuous human emotions beneath a sinister inequity in Australia's past."
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TORONTO '07 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Mark Heller: "I hope people are entertained and I want to find the movie a great home."

Throughout the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Fourteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Mark Heller is at Toronto with his feature film, "The Passage," which TIFF describes as a "provocative first feature not for the faint of heart" that channels Alfred Hitchcock's Morocco-set "The Man Who Knew Too Much."
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TORONTO '07 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Paprika Steen: "I believe all desperate actions come from the loneliness inside you. "

Throughout the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Fourteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Paprika Steen is at Toronto with her feature film, "With Your Permission," which is about a is about a opera-obsessed hero who works as a cafeteria manager on a Copenhagen ferry. TIFF describes the film as pushing "every button it gets near" and "propelled by its characters' complete inability to face obvious truths and by our extreme discomfort."
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TORONTO '07 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Teona Strigar Mitevska: "We filmmakers must be braver and bolder in the films we make."

Throughout the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Fourteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Teona Strugar Mitevska is at Toronto with her feature film, "I Am From Titov Veles," which TIFF describes as offering "rare insights into the experiences of Balkan women who want something better than the lives they've been given."
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TORONTO '07 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: David Ross: "I think what really piqued my interest was the idea of people trying to separate intimacy from sex. "

Throughout the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Fourteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director David Ross is at Toronto with his feature film, "The Babysitters," which TIFF describes as "a lurid romance between a suburban dad and a neighbor's sixteen-year old daughter" that "ends up being a delicious dark comedy about a prostitution ring of neighborhood babysitters."
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TORONTO '07 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Shamim Sarif: "I think movie making is a bit like childbirth - when you see the end result, you begin to forget the pain."

Throughout the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers from contemporary international cinema. Fourteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Shamim Sarif is at Toronto with her feature film, "The World Unseen," which is about a rebellious young woman who lives in "a tightly knit community of South Asians in South Africa. Living in limbo between the stark racial poles of apartheid, they have carved out a delicate peace."
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TORONTO '06 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Joachim Trier: "We wanted to make a film that combined drama and comedy in an original way."

Every day through the end of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as "provocative feature films by new and emerging directors." Nineteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Joachim Trier is at Toronto with his feature film, "Reprise," which follows two best friends who struggle with their early success and unrecognized potential as young artists.
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TORONTO '06 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Ozer Kiziltan: "Unfortunately, war and violence affected me more than other filmmakers or films."

Every day through the end of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as "provocative feature films by new and emerging directors." Nineteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Ozer Kiziltan is at Toronto with his feature film, "Takva - A Man's Fear of God" is about a single middle-aged Turkish man who has a crisis of faith.
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TORONTO '06 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Paul Andrew Williams: "I came to see 'Borat.'"

Every day through the end of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as "provocative feature films by new and emerging directors." Nineteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Paul Andrew Williams is at Toronto with his feature film, "London To Brighton," a subversive addition to the British gangster-film genre featuring two women on the run.
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TORONTO '06 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Rajnesh Domalpalli: "Independent film hasn't really taken root as an alternative here."

Every day through the end of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as "provocative feature films by new and emerging directors." Nineteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Rajnesh Domalpalli is at Toronto with his feature film, "Vanaja," a tale of a young woman's sexual awakening that examines caste, gender and sexuality in India.
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