TORONTO – Astral Media announced today that 21 of the Canadian feature and short films that it has supported through its networks The Movie Network and Super Ecran and its production fund Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund/Le Fonds Harold Greenberg, have been selected for the 30th annual Toronto International Film Festival.
Astral also confirmed 15 out of 16 Canadian English-language feature films selected for this year’s festival were supported by The Movie Network, while Super Ecran supported five out of six French-language Canadian feature films selected for the festival.
"As the largest private supporters of and investors in Canadian feature film through our pay-TV networks and production fund, we are committed to the development and production of homegrown films and are very proud to have contributed more than $60 million toward Canadian original series, feature films, variety shows and documentaries in the past year,” said John Riley, president, Astral Television Networks and Astral Télé Réseaux, in a release.
The Canadian films supported by Astral Media, through script development, pre-licencing, equity investments, exhibition and promotion, include the Festival’s Opening Night World Premiere Gala Presentation of Deepa Mehta’s Water and the North American Gala Presentation for Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies.
Water, the final film in Mehta’s trilogy, follows the story of an eight- year old child bride in India. The film represents an equity investment and pre-buy for The Movie Network and Super Ecran and has Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund as an equity investor. Starring Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas and John Abraham, Water is a David Hamilton Production.
Where the Truth Lies, based on the novel by Rupert Holmes, follows a former comedy duo who offer an ambitious writer different versions of an unsolved murder. The Movie Network and Super Ecran are a major equity investor and pre-licensor of this film. Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund supported Where the Truth Lies through script development and equity investment. Starring Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman and Rachel Blanchard, the film is produced by Robert Lantos and Serendipity Point Films.
Additional Astral Media-supported films selected for the 30th Toronto International Film Festival(R) include:
Feature Films
– Beowulf and Grendel – Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
– C.R.A.Z.Y. – Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
– Eve & The Firehorse – Directed by Julia Kwan
– Familia – Directed by Louise Archambault
– Fetching Cody – Directed by David Ray
– The French Guy – Directed by Ann Marie Fleming
– Horloge Biologique – Directed by Ricardo Trogi
– Lie with Me – Directed by Clement Virgo
– The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico – Directed by Michael Mabbott
– Lucid – Directed by Sean Garrity
– La Neauvaine – Directed by Bernard Emond
– Saint-Martyrs-Damnés – Directed by Robin Aubert
– A Simple Curve – Directed by Aubrey Nealon
– Six Figures – Directed by David Christensen
– These Girls – Directed by John Hazlett
– Three Needles – Directed by Thom Fitzgerald
– Tideland – Directed by Terry Gilliam
– Whole New Thing – Directed by Amnon Buchbinder
Short Films
Big Girl – Directed by Renuka Jeyapalan
The Festival’s Canadian films were announced on Tuesday, August 2 at the Toronto International Film Festival’s press conference in Toronto.
