Your Questions: Ask CBC

Where do I go to see the stars on the red carpet?

Jesse Wente: For the red carpet action the best locations are at Roy Thomson Hall and at the Visa Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre. Those are the venues for the bigger galas. But with so many celebrities in town, you can pretty much star gaze at any of the festival theatres, and along Bloor Street and in Yorkville. If you’re hungry, I’ve often had my best close encounters with stars in the restaurants and bars surrounding the festival venues. There will also be major parties by CTV and others, and those also draw a constellation.

Re: Press Conferences

I used to enjoy watching the press conferences (on Rogers I believe)to hear the film director's and cast's discussions of their work, but to my knowledge they weren't televised last year.

Will the 2008 press conferences be televised?

Thanks, much appreciated.

Jesse Wente: The press conferences are still broadcast and you can find them on Bell Expressvu, channels 835 (that’s the hi-def one) and 307. If you can make it, the filmmakers are also in attendance at screenings and you can asks questions there as well.

Question:
What movies are must sees for environmental and social justice issues?

Jesse Wente: TIFF has always been loaded with those sorts of movies, which I think is quite reflective of both local and national interests and taste in cinema. Lots to choose from once again.

On the social justice side:

The Stoning of Soraya M. — based on a true story about a stoning in Iran in the mid ‘80s — excellent performances by Jim Caviezael and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

The Secret Life of Bees — this is the movie based on the best selling book.

Heaven on Earth — the latest from Canadian Deepa Mehta might be her best — a young immigrant woman retreats into the magical stories her mother told her after having difficulty adapting to her new home in Brampton, Ontario — intense, powerful filmmaking.

Hunger — an awesome movie about the final six weeks in the life Bobby Sands, the Irish hunger striker — this could be one of the big breakout movies of the fest, astonishing central performance by Michael Fassbender.

Kabuli Kid — a movie about modern Afghanistan and made in Afghanistan.

Kyuka (Vacation) — a movie about the death penalty in Japan.

Yes Madam, Sir — a documentary about Kiran Bedi, the Indian revolutionary, and first woman to join the Indian Police Service.

Witch Hunt — doc about wrongful convictions for child molestation in California during the ‘80s.

On the Environment:

At the Edge of the World — gripping doc about environmentalist who wage battles with Japanese whaling ships.

Food Inc — a doc about what we eat — very timely.

Upstream Battle — documentary about the loss of the salmon run on the Klamath River.

Under Rich Earth —gripping doc about a Canadian mining companies activities in Ecuador, and the violent confrontation that ensued — all caught on film.

RR — this is something completely different — a movie about trains — and that’s what you watch, trains moving through the American landscape — it’s actually transfixing, and while not exactly about the environment, I think it actually says a lot of about humanities impact on our surroundings.

What in your opinion is the hottest ticket at the TIFF that people _don't_ know about? I'm talking about a 'next-big-thing' break-out type movie that's still flying below the radar, but could be huge once word gets around. Any potential sleeper hits to watch for?

Jesse Wente:
I mentioned “Hunger” above, the movie about Bobby Sands. I’d certainly look for that one. Also look for major buzz about “The Wrestler”, the latest from director Darren Aronofsky (“Requiem for a Dream”, “The Fountain”) which features an Oscar caliber, and career defining performance by Mickey Rourke as a washed up pro-wrestler. While that last sentence may be among the most unlikely I’ve ever authored, it’s all quite true, and this is one movie that must be seen — it also has great work by Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei.

Another one to watch for is “The Hurt Locker,” the new movie by director Kathryn Bigelow (“Near Dark,” “Point Break,” “Strange Days”) which is about guys who have to defuse bombs in Iraq — totally intense thriller, and maybe the best movie about Iraq so far.

“Me and Orson Welles,” the latest from Richard Linklater (“School of Rock,” “Waking Life”), which is about a young actor's (Zac Efron) encounters with a young Welles. And finally “Cooper’s Camera,” a Canadian comedy starring Jason Jones and Samantha Bee of “The Daily Show” about one remarkably dysfunctional family’s Christmas in 1985.

hi - each year there seems to be a film or two from TIFF that winds up as one of the big Oscar movies. What movies from this year's fest do you predict will show up at the Academy Awards?

thx!

Jesse Wente: Well, TIFF has shown the best Foreign Language Oscar winner every year for the past decade — so that film is at the fest this year, the key is which one it is. To that end I might go with “A Year Ago in Winter” from Caroline Link, who won the Oscar a few years ago for “Nowhere to Africa” &151; an immaculately made family drama.

One could easily point to the new Coen Borthers as sure Oscar bait — it’s called “Burn After Reading” and is a return to the duo's comic caper films of old, or “The Duchess,” the period drama about Georgiana Spencer starring Keira Knightly.

And finally how about “Appaloosa,” the new western from Ed Harris which also stars Viggo Mortensen and Renée Zellweger.

I read that you help select the Canadian films in the festival. What factors do you consider to help you decide if a movie makes it in or doesn't?

What happens if programmers disagree on whether a movie should be accepted?

Jesse Wente: The Canadian films at the festival are selected by a committee comprised of myself, Steve Gravestock and Matthew Hays. There are any number of factors we consider when selecting a movie, but it largely hinges on whether or not we like it and if we think an audience will like it.

Disagreements are common and expected — our programming process is essentially one prolonged argument that lasts for months. We try to reach consensus on every movie, and for the most part that’s what happens. We watched in excess of 200 Canadian features this year for 23 slots, so it’s a tough choice every year, and this year was no different.

It seems like there are so many film festivals these days. Why should we care about Toronto? What's the difference if they are showing movies that already debuted somewhere else (like in Cannes)?

Jesse Wente: The thing that I’ve always loved about TIFF, as a journalist, as someone who programs there now, and as a life-long movie lover who has attended the fest for the past 16 years, along with a host of other festival across the country, is that TIFF is a public festival.

Yes, some of the movies there have been shown at festivals like Cannes, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been seen by an actual audience — critics and industry types may have seen it, but not a real audience. TIFF is where you really get the first honest audience reaction to a film — its why filmmakers love to come here — they get a chance to see a real audience watch their movie for the first time, and then interact with that audience in a way that is, frankly, impossible at other festivals.

The audience is what has always separated TIFF, and has allowed it to become a place where movies are launched. There are more than 100 world premieres at TIFF this year ,and that’s what has made TIFF the most prominent festival in North America — it’s the people in the seats as much as it is the ones on the stage and screen.

Dear Jesse,
I am a grade 11 student with limited funds and I was wondering if you thought it would be worthwhile to try to collect all of the Nintendo 64 games released in N America? Would you consider this game system to be a classic and a worthy long-term investment? (My parents think I am crazy and wasting my money).
Thanks,
Todd

Jesse... I was looking for an place where I can ask a general question. There is a question that cannot be answered on the net... What ever happened to the crucifixion scene from the original MASH movie?

I saw the original about 7 times when it came out and I'm not dreaming up this scene. It seems to have been obliterated from existence... What is the expanation?

Have you reviewed "9" yet? I'd love to hear your comments before I go see...

Can you post or do you have a website to list your top all time movies? And your top movies for 2007, 2008, and 2009? I don't want to miss anything you would recommend. Thanks!