#TFCA: “DRIVE MY CAR” NAMED BEST FILM OF 2021 BY TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

The Toronto Film Critics Association have announced their 2021 Award Winners today. Winning top honours of Best Film is DRIVE MY CAR, a Japanese Drama written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The Film is Japan’s official entry at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Runners-up were LICORICE PIZZA and THE POWER OF THE DOG.

The Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will award one winner $100,000 from Rogers Communications Inc., with two runners-up each receiving $5,000. Finalists in this category are Beans, directed by Tracey Deer; Night Raiders, directed by Danis Goulet; Scarborough, directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson. The winner will be announced at their upcoming (date TBD) Awards Gala.

List of winners below:

Best Film

DRIVE MY CAR

Runners-up: LICORICE PIZZA

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Director

Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Runners-up: Hamaguchi Ryusuke (DRIVE MY CAR)

Denis Villeneuve (DUNE)

Best Actress

Olivia Colman (THE LOST DAUGHTER)

Runners-up: Penelope Cruz (PARALLEL MOTHERS)

Kristen Stewart (SPENCER)

Best Actor

Denzel Washington (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)

Runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Andrew Garfield (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)

Best Supporting Actress

Jessie Buckley (THE LOST DAUGHTER)

Runners-up: Kirsten Dunst (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Ruth Negga (PASSING)

Best Supporting Actor

Bradley Cooper (LICORICE PIZZA)

Runners-up: Ciaran Hinds (BELFAST)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Best Screenplay

DRIVE MY CAR

Runners-up: LICORICE PIZZA

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Animated Feature

FLEE

Runners-up: ENCANTO

THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES

Best Documentary

SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)

Runners-up: FLEE

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

Best Foreign Language Film

DRIVE MY CAR

Runners-up: PETITE MAMAN

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Best First Feature

THE LOST DAUGHTER

Runners-up: PASSING

PIG

SHIVA BABY

More to come here.

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A RUN-OF-ENGAGEMENT PASS TO SEE “FLEE” IN TORONTO

Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win a Run-of-Engagement Pass to see critically-acclaimed FLEE at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. Details here.

Synopsis:

Recounted mostly through animation, Amin opens up about his past for the first time of his journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan. He begins to look back over his life as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon-to-be husband.

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK.

Rules and regulations here.

Note: Winners will only be contacted from our official Facebook account. Please do not accept friend requests from other accounts asking you to give out your personal information.

Elevation Pictures release FLEE now playing at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

#TIFF21: “FLEE” REVIEW

Review by David Baldwin

FLEE is one of the most celebrated and talked about films of the year. It won the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Documentary at Sundance this past January and has been on the tip of nearly every Oscar Blogger’s tongue ever since. The Film is a mostly animated tale telling the “true story” of Amin, who fled Afghanistan with his family during the 1980s in search of a better life and ended up being separated from just about everyone.

To say that FLEE is extraordinary is an understatement. What Writer/Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen has committed to film is a vital and emotionally eviscerating exploration of the refugee experience, told in an unbelievably compelling fashion. Rather than stitch together narration over a series of real life news clips, Rasmussen and his team have concocted a script that tackles a huge, sprawling timeline that feels wonderfully suited for the material covered. The animation style is mostly hand drawn, though it differs in terms of crudeness at certain intervals. By factoring in the constant narration from Amin and his discussions with high school friend Rasmussen, FLEE bypasses the trappings and melodramatic recreations of other documentaries of its ilk and instead creates a uniquely animated experience that will no doubt influence a generation of Documentary Filmmakers to come.

For me, FLEE is a masterwork that needs to be seen to be believed. Full stop. Yet I found myself at odds with the narration of the piece, which alternates between being incredibly somber and intensely distressing. There is no real inflection given to anything said aloud here (though to be fair, I did not expect there to be much), and the tone sounds the exact same no matter the context. I found myself being lulled to sleep more than once, despite how invested I was in this incredibly relevant story. This is original and bold work worthy of the praise it is has received – and I wish the narration better reflected that.

FLEE screens at TIFF ’21:

Tue, Sep 14 Ontario Place Cinesphere 4:00 PM

Tue, Sep 14 digital TIFF Bell Lightbox 9:00 PM

Fri, Sep 17 digital TIFF Bell Lightbox 3:00 PM

#SUNDANCE: “FLEE”

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

This engrossing Documentary tells the story of an Afghan refugees, known as the pseudonym Amin, journey from Kabul to Copenhagen.

Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen creates filmmaking ingenuity by mixing animation and archive footage. The animation is used, along with pseudonyms, to keep the identity of Amin protected. Additionally, the animation puts audiences into the experience of being an adolescent fleeing multiple countries in search of safety. The archive footage amplifies the risks Amin and his family encountered staying in Kabul and on their multiple passages.

Rasmussen’s personal relationship to Amin aids this Documentary. Amin opens up about his family, his frightening journey, his identity and more. Through one man’s honest and heartbreaking story we learn about the sacrifices refugees make in the search for a safer home. Further, it explores the PTSD refugees experience decades following their harrowing passages. Such as the psychological impact of how one loves and trusts within their relationships.

Flee screens at Sundance:

Live Premiere: January 28 at 10 PM (EST)

On-Demand (available for 24 hours): January 30 at 10 AM (EST)