Michael Dowse and those crazy Calgarian’s who love to Giv’R are going to open the Midnight Program at TIFF this year with (I am guessing from the above picture) their adventures in the Alberta Tar Sands. If you missed the original Canadian cult-classic faux documentary, Fubar, do yourself a favour and seek it out on DVD or Netflix.

Fubar 2, according to the filmmakers blog, is getting some sort of limited Canadian release in October if you miss it in Toronto with 1300 crazy film nuts in Hogtown in September.

Lots more Canadian releases including new films from Denis Villeneuve, Bruce McDonald, Xavier Dolan, Sturla Gunnarsson, Carl Bessai and a host of other fresh and veteran canadian filmmakers were also announced this morning. The press releases are tucked under the seat.

GALAS

A Beginners Guide to Endings Jonathan Sobol, Canada
World Premiere
Raucous, charming and very funny, Jonathan Sobol’s comedy A Beginners Guide to Endings follows three sons as they deal with their gambler father’s somewhat complicated legacy. Featuring the legendary Harvey Keitel, the film also stars Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, and J.K. Simmons.

Previously announced Canadian Galas include: The Bang Bang Club, Steven Silver; Barney’s Version, Richard J. Lewis; Casino Jack, George Hickenlooper; Score: A Hockey Musical, Mike McGowan.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie Sturla Gunnarsson, Canada
World Premiere
At 75 years old, David Suzuki shows no signs of slowing down. In this captivating documentary portrait, the passionate environmentalist’s legacy lecture is entwined with candid interviews in which he reflects on his life and shares deeply personal stories, revealing a side previously unseen.

Good Neighbours Jacob Tierney, Canada
World Premiere
Director Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky) returns with an innovative and unsettling thriller about some very strange people living in the same apartment building in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. The film stars Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire and Jay Baruchel.

Incendies Denis Villeneuve, Canada
North American Premiere
After their mother Nawal’s death, twins Simon and Jeanne embark on a journey to the Middle East that shines a disturbing light on their mother’s past and culminates in a shocking revelation. Based on the acclaimed play by Wajdi Mouawad and directed by Genie and Jutra award-winner Denis Villeneuve (Polytechnique).

Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) Xavier Dolan, Canada
English Canadian Premiere
Wunderkind filmmaker Xavier Dolan returns with his second feature – a sophisticated comedy about close friends, Francis and Marie, who pursue their mutual obsession with a young man. As they face off in competition, cracks in their friendship begin to appear with both comic and tragic results.

Repeaters Carl Bessai, Canada
World Premiere
Veteran director Carl Bessai returns with a tense thriller that follows three young addicts in a rehabilitation centre. Each day they live the same events over and over – a situation each responds to in radically different ways.

Trigger Bruce McDonald, Canada
World Premiere
Molly Parker and the late Tracy Wright form a highly dysfunctional yet endearing rock duo reuniting a decade after their band called it quits. Directed by Bruce McDonald (Pontypool, The Tracey Fragments, Hard Core Logo, Highway 61), and written by Daniel MacIvor, the film features Sarah Polley, Don McKellar and Callum Keith Rennie.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA

À l’origine d’un cri Robin Aubert, Canada
World Premiere
Three generations of men from the same family drunkenly careen across the Québécois countryside in an emotionally powerful journey through the past from one of Québec’s most intriguing young filmmakers.

MODRA Ingrid Veninger, Canada
World Premiere
In this authentic portrait of teenaged self-discovery, recently-dumped seventeen-year-old Lina and free spirit Leco travel to visit Lina’s extended family in the quirky town of Modra, Slovakia.

A Night for Dying Tigers Terry Miles, Canada
World Premiere
The night before Jack goes to prison for five years, his family gets together at their ancestral home for a farewell dinner. What begins as a civil, if not joyful, reunion quickly devolves into a morally questionable whirlwind of regret, reversals, and revelations. The film stars Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Kathleen Roberston, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyon and John Pyper-Ferguson.

Route 132 Louis Bélanger, Canada
English Canadian Premiere
A powerful drama directed by acclaimed veteran Louis Bélanger, Route 132 focuses on a man who loses a loved one and embarks on a journey in an attempt to rediscover his roots and come to terms with his grief.

Small Town Murder Songs Ed Gass-Donnelly, Canada
World Premiere
Ed Gass-Donnelly’s (This Beautiful City) Small Town Murder Songs mixes sexuality, religion and tradition in a Greek tragedy about repression and mistrust. The film stars Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Aaron Poole and Martha Plimpton.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

Midnight Madness Opening Night
Fubar II Michael Dowse, Canada
World Premiere
In the sequel to the 2002 cult comedy Fubar, hoser headbangers Terry and Dean are back and hit the road to find wealth, happiness and more beer in the oil fields of Alberta. Special appearance by Tron.

CANADA FIRST!

Daydream Nation Mike Goldbach, BC
World Premiere
In this striking and slyly funny debut by filmmaker Mike Goldbach, a young woman (Kat Dennings) is uprooted to a small town where her classmates seem permanently stoned, an industrial fire burns ceaselessly in the background and a killer preys on the unsuspecting populace. The film also stars Andie MacDowell, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson and Rachel Blanchard.

Amazon Falls Katrin Bowen, BC
World Premiere
Characters reveal hidden depths as Katrin Bowen’s first feature tells the tale of a struggling actress named Jana. Delving into the high-stakes world of keeping up appearances for which Los Angeles is infamous, Amazon Falls crafts an intense look at dream-chasers living on the margins of Hollywood.

High Cost of Living Deborah Chow, QC
World Premiere
Deborah Chow’s dark drama centres on the burgeoning relationship between an unlikely pair. Nathalie (Isabelle Blais) is expecting her first child and Henry (Zach Braff) is on his way to his next drug deal. Their paths fatefully collide one night in an event that will irrevocably change their lives.

Jaloux Patrick Demers, QC
North American Premiere
In this psychological thriller that was improvised during its 16-day shoot, a couple trying to mend their relationship set off for a weekend in the country. When they encounter a friendly neighbour, they are too absorbed in their marital woes to see that he is not who he appears to be.

Oliver Sherman Ryan Redford, ON
World Premiere
Tensions arise when Sherman visits the home of Franklin, a fellow soldier who saved his life back in the war. Franklin has long since moved on – to a wife, two children and a reliable job, but the stability he has worked so hard to establish is soon threatened by Sherman’s presence. The film stars Donal Logue, Molly Parker and Garret Dillahunt.

You Are Here Daniel Cockburn, ON
North American Premiere
You Are Here is a smartly-crafted commentary on our modern day existence. Comprised of interconnected mini-narratives, the film’s characters find themselves trapped in bizarre social experiments of their own making. The film features Tracy Wright and Nadia Litz.