Every week, I get several press releases, screening invitations and other notifications from a handful of studio contacts. While I won’t be sharing any information regarding my screening invites, some of the press releases might be of interest to my readers, so I thought I’d start sharing them in toto with all of you. These could include new image galleries for various films or important updates to upcoming releases from various smaller studios and art house production companies.

• Press Release: 42 West Announces Toronto Representation
• Press Release: Martin Scorsese’s Press Statement Regarding Cecchi Gori Allegations

Press Release: 42 West Announces Toronto Representation

ARTIFACT

Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins

World Premiere (Acquisition title: CAA)

Documentary – Featuring Jared Leto, Shannon Leto and Tomo Milicevic

If you want to understand the modern music industry, Artifact makes for essential viewing. The film follows the band Thirty Seconds to Mars as they fight a brutal lawsuit with their record label EMI, write songs to follow their hit album “A Beautiful Lie,” and struggle with big questions over art, money and integrity. Jared Leto, the band’s lead singer and an accomplished actor (Requiem for a Dream; Lord of War), embraced the idea for this documentary as a producer and opened his life to the camera during months of excruciating pressures. We watch Jared,working in makeshift home studios, collaborate with his brother Shannon along with Tomo Milicevic and the superstar producer Flood, to create the album “This is War.” Between recording sessions, they meet with lawyers to negotiate for the band’s survival.

The troubles started in 2008 when Thirty Seconds to Mars tried to exit their contract with EMI. Despite a platinum record, the band hadn’t received any royalties. The label turned around and sued the band for

$30 million. Many industry watchers viewed the suit as a punitive harassment meant to scare other musicians. Compounding the problem, EMI had recently been bought by the UK equity company Terra Firma for an inflated price of $4.2 billion. Former EMI executives give candid interviews in Artifact describing how the sale resulted in massive upheaval and staff cuts. Once esteemed for its catalogue ranging from the Beatles to Coldplay, EMI appeared to be headed off a cliff.

Leto and his band unexpectedly find themselves poised as a test case for the future of music business. Should they fight the corporation or is it a battle they can’t win? In the film, we live through the band’s decision-making against the backdrop of the 2008 economic meltdown. After years in the making, this documentary is a true artifact of our times.

Screenings:
Public & Industry Screening 1 – Friday, September 7, 2012, 4:15pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Press & Industry Screening 2 – Thursday, September 13, 2012, 11:15am – Scotiabank, Theater 1
Public Screening 1 – Friday, September 14, 2012, 9:00pm – Ryerson
Public Screening 2 – Saturday, September 15, 2012, 3:00pm – The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Public Screening 3 – Sunday, September 16, 2012, 3:30pm – The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

END OF WATCH

Directed by David Ayer

Special Presentation – U.S. Release via Open Road Films on September 21, 2012

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera

END OF WATCH is a powerful story of family, friendship, love, honor and courage starring Academy Award® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as young Los Angeles police officers Taylor and Zavala as they patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles. Giving the story a gripping, first-person immediacy, the action unfolds entirely through footage from the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, and citizens caught in the line of fire to create a riveting portrait of the city’s most dangerous corners, the cops who risk their lives there every day, and the price they and their families are forced to pay. Rated R.

Screenings:
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 3:00pm – Scotiabank, Theater 2
Public Screening 1 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 9:45pm – Princess of Wales Theater
Public Screening 2 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 3:00pm – Ryerson

FREE ANGELA

Directed by Shola Lynch

Gala – World Premiere – (Acquisition title: Elle Driver)

Documentary – Featuring Angela Davis

FREE ANGELA tells the dramatic story of how a young philosophy professor’s social justice activism implicates her in a botched kidnapping attempt of a judge that ends with a bloody shootout, four dead, and a nation wondering, as Newsweek magazine asks: what would prompt Angela Davis, “the daughter of the black bourgeoisie, to take a desperate turn to terrorism?”

For the 40th anniversary of her acquittal on charges of murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy, Angela Davis and all the main characters recount the politics and actions that branded her a terrorist and simultaneously spurred a worldwide movement for her freedom as a political prisoner. At its core, the story wrestles with the meaning of political freedom in a democracy negotiated between the people and its government. The sixties and seventies were all about citizens challenging authority, or as the slogan went — “Power to the People! Strong, attractive and engaging, Angela Davis is one such person who becomes a symbol at the center of this still relevant power struggle.

Screenings:
Public Screening 1 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 1:30pm – Roy Thomson Hall
Press & Industry Screening 1 – September 10, 2012, 2:00pm – Scotiabank, Theater 3
Public Screening 2 – September 10, 2012, 3:00pm – The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Press & Industry Screening 2 – September 12, 2012, 9:30am – TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 3
Public Screening 3 – September 15, 2012, 12:00pm – The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

GINGER & ROSA

Directed by Sally Potter

Special Presentation – World Premiere (Acquisition title: Cinetic Media)

Starring Elle Fanning, Alessandro Nivola, Christina Hendricks, Timothy Spall, Oliver Platt, Jodhi May and Annette Bening and introducing Alice Englert

London, 1962. Two teenage girls – GINGER & ROSA – are inseparable. They skip school together, talk about love, religion and politics and dream of lives bigger than their mothers’ domesticity. But the growing threat of nuclear war casts a shadow over their lives. Ginger (Elle Fanning) is drawn to poetry and protest, while Rosa (Alice Englert) shows Ginger how to smoke cigarettes, kiss boys and pray. Both rebel against their mothers: Rosa’s single mum, Anoushka (Jodhi May), and Ginger’s frustrated painter mother, Natalie (Christina Hendricks). Meanwhile, Ginger’s pacifist father, Roland (Alessandro Nivola) seems a romantic, bohemian figure to the girls. He encourages Ginger’s ‘Ban-the-Bomb’ activism, while Rosa starts to take a very different interest in him. As Ginger’s parents fight and fall apart, Ginger finds emotional sanctuary with a gay couple, both named Mark (Timothy Spall and Oliver Platt), and their American friend, the poet Bella (Annette Bening). As the Cuban Missile Crisis escalates – and it seems the world itself may come to an end – the lifelong friendship of the two girls is shattered. Ginger clutches at one hope; if she can help save the world from extinction, perhaps she too will survive this moment of personal devastation.

Screenings:
Public Screening 1 – Friday, September 7, 2012, 9:00pm – Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 9:15am – Scotiabank, Theater 3
Public Screening 2 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 12:00pm – Cineplex Odean Yonge & Dundas 6
Press & Industry Screening 2 – Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 4:00pm – Scotiabank, Theater 2
Public Screening 3 – Friday, September 14, 2012, 9:45pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1

IMOGENE

Directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman

Special Presentation – World Premiere (Acquisition title: UTA)

Starring Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon, Christopher Fitzgerald and Darren Criss

Kristen Wiig stars as Imogene, once a promising young New York playwright whose promise has fizzled, thanks to a crippling crisis of confidence. Heavily in denial about being dumped by her society boyfriend, Imogene uses her skill for drama to stage an elaborate fake suicide as an appeal for his sympathy. But her attempt backfires when she’s put into the custody of Zelda, her estranged gambling addict mother (Annette Bening), and must return home with her to the Jersey shore. Desperate to get back to her Manhattan circle of so- called friends, Imogene must finally deal with her family, including her unique brother (Christopher Fitzgerald), Zelda’s new boyfriend The Bousche (Matt Dillon), plus a cute young lodger (Darren Criss),who together help Imogene sort out her place in the world.

Screenings:
Public Screening 1 – Friday, September 7, 2012, 3:00pm – Ryerson
Public Screening 2 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 3:00pm – The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 12:30pm – Scotiabank, Theater 1
Press & Industry Screening 2 – Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 4:30pm – Scotiabank, Theater 3
Public Screening 3 – Sunday, September 16, 2012, 11:30am – Ryerson

THE IMPOSSIBLE

Directed by J.A. Bayona

Special Presentation – U.S. Release via Summit Entertainment on December 21, 2012

Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland

A powerful story based on one family’s survival of the 2004 tsunami, THE IMPOSSIBLE stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor and is directed by J.A. Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE).

Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her.

Based on a true story, THE IMPOSSIBLE is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, THE IMPOSSIBLE is a journey to the core of the human heart.

Rated PG-13. Limited U.S. release December 21, 2012.

Screenings:
Public Screening 1 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 7:00pm – Princess of Wales Theatre
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Monday, September 10, 2012, 1:30pm – Scotiabank, Theater 1
Public Screening 2 – Monday, September 10, 2012, 3:00pm – Princess of Wales Theatre

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Directed by Stephen Chbosky

Special Presentation – U.S. Release via Summit Entertainment on September 21, 2012

Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Nina Dobrev and Dylan McDermott

Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER is a modern classic that captures the dizzying highs and crushing lows of growing up. Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller, THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER is a moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope—and the unforgettable friends that help us through life. Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky, based on his book. Directed by Stephen Chbosky.

Rated PG-13. Limited U.S. release September 21, 2012.

Screenings:
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Friday, September 7, 2012, 12:45pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 1
Public Screening 1 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 6:15pm – Ryerson
Public Screening 2 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 3:30pm – Cineplex Odeon Yonge & Dundas, #7

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST

Directed by Mira Nair

Gala – (Acquisition title: Cinetic Media)

Starring Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland and Kate Hudson

From Award-winning director Mira Nair, and based on the acclaimed novel by Moshin Hamid, comes the explosive new film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. In 2010, as student demonstrations rage in Lahore, a young Pakistani professor Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed) is interviewed by American journalist Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber). Princeton-educated Changez tells Lincoln of his past as a brilliant business analyst on Wall Street. He talks of the glittering future that lay before him, his mentor, Jim Cross (Kiefer Sutherland), and the beautiful and sophisticated Erica (Kate Hudson), with whom he was set to share that future.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the alienation and suspicion he is suddenly met with leads him back to his homeland, and the family to whom he is very close. Charisma and intelligence catapult him to become a leader both in the eyes of the Pakistani students that adore him, and the American government that suspects him.

The collegial pretense of the meeting in a Lahore tea house, between Lincoln and Changez, slowly gives way to why the unlikely pair is meeting on a summer day—a foreign professor has been kidnapped by extremists, and the clock is ticking toward the deadline for his execution. Changez’s family is being harassed and is in real danger. Bobby listens carefully, but with an agenda of his own. Leading us through the culturally rich and beguiling worlds of New York, Lahore and Istanbul, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an exploration of bias and the phenomenon of globalization that is both brilliant and unsettling.

Screenings:
Public Screening 1 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 9:30pm – Roy Thompson Hall
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Sunday, September 9, 2012,9:30am – Scotiabank, Theater 1
Public Screening 2 – Sunday, September 9, 2012, 11:45am – The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Press & Industry Screening 2 – Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 1:15pm – Scotiabank, Theater 2
Public Screening 3 – Sunday, September 16, 2012, 2:30am – Ryerson

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

Directed by Martin McDonagh

Midnight Madness – World Premiere – U.S. Release via CBS Films on October 12, 2012

Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, Olga Kurylenko

Written and Directed by Oscar®-winner Martin McDonagh, the comedy Seven Psychopaths follows a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko and Zeljko Ivanek.

Screenings:
Public Screening 1 – Friday, September 7, 2012, 11:59pm – Ryerson
Public Screening 2 – Saturday, September 8, 2012, 3:30pm – Scotiabank, Theater 1
Press & Industry Screening 1 – Monday, September 10, 2012, 7:00pm – Scotiabank, Theater 11

Press Release: Martin Scorsese’s Press Statement Regarding Cecchi Gori Allegations

“It is shocking to us that the lawyers for Cecchi Gori Pictures would file a suit pursuing such absurd claims considering the amicable working relationship existing between Martin Scorsese and the principals of Cecchi Gori Pictures.The claims asserted are completely contradicted by, inconsistent with, and contrary to the express terms of an agreement entered into by the parties last year.

The lawsuit filing on the eve of Mr. Scorsese starting another picture has all the earmarks of a media stunt.

Mr. Scorsese is confident that he will prevail in court should Cecchi Gori Pictures actually pursue this meritless action.”