Christopher Guest Getting The Gala Treatment At TIFF!

WORLD PREMIERE OF CHRISTOPHER GUEST’S FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION A GALA PRESENTATION    

Toronto - FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, the latest film by acclaimed writer/director/actor Christopher Guest, receives its world premiere as a Gala Presentat ion at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival.  Christopher Guest brings together his stellar ensemble cast in this hilarious look at the trials and tribulations of acting in the film industry. The film stars Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachael Harris, Jane Lynch, Jim Piddock, Parker Posey, John Michael Higgins and Ricky Gervais.

After short-lived notoriety in the late 80s for her role as a tawdry vixen, actress Marilyn Hack (Catherine O’Hara) has been struggling for recognition. She lands a role in the small indie melodrama Home For Purim, as Esther, the ailing matriarch of a Jewish family in the Deep South during the 40s.  “Misunderstood” stand-up comic and performance artist Callie Webb (Parker Posey) is cast as Esther’s prodigal daughter. Fellow actor Victor Allen Miller (Harry Shearer), best known as Irv the Foot Long Weiner, is cast as Esther’s husband.

None of them would have imagined that this little film would have the capacity to change their lives. But when Marilyn hears of Internet rumors that her performance could garner an Oscar® nomination, the buzz of awards season is set in motion. It is not long before Callie and Victor get tagged with Oscar-fever too, and the race toward nominations begins.  The eccentricity of the stars of Home For Purim and all who surround them is delightfully baffling. From the oblivious producer, to the clueless publicist, from the poster designers to the offbeat director, from the outrageous gossip show hosts to the screenplay’s quirky writers, FOR YOUR CONSID ERATION is funny from its first line to its last.

Written and directed by Christopher Guest, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION is also co-written by Eugene Levy.  Produced by Karen Murphy, the film is a presentation of Castle Rock Entertainment and Shangri-La Entertainment, and distributed by Warner Independent Pictures.

WORLD PREMIERE OF CHRISTOPHER N ROWLEY’S BONNEVILLE A GALA PRESENTATION          

Toronto -  BONNEVILLE, the feature directorial debut from Christopher N Rowley, receives its world premiere as a Gala Presentation at the 31st Toronto Interna tional Film Festival.  Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen unite in this uplifting story of three strong women who spontaneously embark on a cross country road trip and discover the best of what life has to offer along the way.

Arvilla (Lange) has just lost her husband. Unsteadied by her loss and a dispute with her stepdaughter over her husband’s burial, Arvilla finds herself at an emotional crossroads. Convinced that she has no choice but to give in to her stepdaughter’s funeral plans, Arvilla hijacks her two best friends Carol (Allen) and Margene (Bates) and sets off from Pocatello Idaho in a vintage 1966 Bonneville convertible. As they serenely cruise past the airport, what is supposed to be a quick trip to catch a flight to California ends up being the ride of their lives. 

As they journey across the great American west together, the three women encounter stunning landscapes, failed transportation, and a friendly trucker turned unlikely suitor (played by Tom Skerritt). 

BONNEVILLE seamlessly delights in the idea that life should be lived to the fullest, without a single day taken for granted.  Christopher N Rowley brings together a formidable cast to highlight the beauty of great love and true friendships.

Directed by Christopher N Rowley, BONNEVILLE is written by Daniel D. Davis.  Produced by Robert May and John Kilker, the film is a SenArt Films Production in association with Drop of Water Productions. 

 

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF EMILIO ESTEVEZ’S BOBBY A GALA PRESENTATION    

Toronto -  Written, directed by and starring Emilio Estevez, BOBBY receives its North American premiere as a Gala Presentation at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival.  Set against the tragic backdrop of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, BOBBY examines that fateful day at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel through the eyes of its guests whose lives are forever changed.  The film will screen as a work-in-progress.

Emilio Estevez has assembled an outstanding cast that includes Harry Belafonte, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodriguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, and Elijah Wood.
BOBBY deftly surveys a historic night infuse d with the politics of a nation struggling with cultural issues - those which continue to define it today. Revisiting June 4, 1968, the night RFK was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel, BOBBY follows 22 individuals who are all at the hotel for different purposes.  Each shares a common thread of anticipating Kennedy’s arrival at the primary election night party.  These fictionalized characters represent a cross-section of America - a hotel manager advocating for social justice, a fading nightclub star battling alcoholism, campaign workers high on the promise of a visionary politician, a doorman nostalgic for his retired post, a young woman marrying her boyfriend’s brother so he can avoid going to Vietnam, and a kitchen staff of minorities working through racism and exploitation.
With tremendous scope, BOBBY pairs archival footage with a fictional slate of character s revealing unlikely sources of inspiration in the face of a moment of terrible violence. The film weaves together a vast slate of stories to embrace society’s dream for a better future and celebrate the spirit of America at the time.

BOBBY is written and directed by Emilio Estevez, and produced by Edward Bass, Michel Litvak, and Holly Wiersma. The film is a Weinstein Company presentation of a Bold Films production, which will be distributed by Alliance Atlantis* Motion Picture Distribution LP in Canada and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) in the United States.

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF PEDRO ALMODÓVAR’S VOLVER A GALA PRESENTATION                              

Toronto - Pedro Almodóvar’s VOLVER receives its North American premiere as a Gala Presentation at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival.  In VOLVER, the Academy Aw ard©-winning director (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER) weaves together fantasy and reality in a compelling story of one family and the overwhelming power of motherhood that binds its three generations of women together.  The film stars Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, and Chus Lampreave in a sensational ensemble cast performance, which won them the Best Actress Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Penélope Cruz gives a revelatory performance as Raimunda, reminiscent of the heroines of Italian Neorealist Cinema such as Anna Magnani.  She is a hardworking mother with a teenage daughter (Yohana Cobo) and a deadbeat husband.  Raimunda is struggling to keep her family afloat, working several jobs, when a devastating incident throws their lives into turmoil, forcing her and her daughter to keep a terrible secret which awakens painful memories, and makes it that much harder for them to get by.

With Raimunda entrenched in her own problems, her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) reluctantly travels alone to the family village for their Aunt Paula’s (Chus Lampreave) wake.  Their hometown is a place where the high rate of insanity is attributed to the east wind, which ignited the fire that took their parents’ lives.  There, Sole learns that their mother’s ghost (Carmen Maura, in her first collaboration with Almodóvar in 17 years) was living with Paula and taking care of her in her last days. The neighbours talk quite naturally about it.  With Paula gone, the ghost insists on taking up residence with Sole in Madrid, and before long she is helping out with her hairdressing business, pretending to be a Russian immigrant and hiding under the bed whenever someone calls.

Sole is terrified to tell her sister about their mother’s ghost, but Raimunda is too preoccupied with working to notice anyway.  She has taken over a friend’s restaurant, where a film crew brings new business and a joyous sense of vitality, a serendipitous occasion that finally allows her an opportunity to find herself.

The sisters’ routine lies, however, are inescapable, and beget situations that are tense, melodramatic, comic and very emotional. That the sisters regularly choose to resolve these situations with audacity and more lies, is not surprising - it’s the family way.  With whimsical humor and beauty, VOLVER forces the family skeletons to the forefront and delicately brings the lives of these women together with sensitivity and passion.  It is a story of survival, family and above all else, the remarkable bond between mothers and daughters.

Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, VOLVER is produced by Esther García.  An El Deseo production, the film is distributed in North America by Sony Pictures Classics.