Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers in Vancouver a chance to win passes to an Advance Screening of TIFF ’23 selection, ORIGIN. Screenings take place as follows:
Synopsis:
Written and directed by Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay, ORIGIN chronicles the tragedy and triumph of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson as she investigates a global phenomenon of epic proportions. Portrayed by Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (“King Richard”), Isabel experiences unfathomable personal loss and love as she crosses continents and cultures to craft one of the defining American books of our time. Inspired by the New York Times best-seller “Caste,” ORIGIN explores the mystery of history, the wonders of romance and a fight for the future of us all. In theatres January 19, 2024.
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(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
Elevation Pictures have announced their upcoming 2024 release slate with multiple titles which recently have done the Festival Circuit.
ORIGIN
Opens in theatres on January 19
Directed by: Ava DuVernay
Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald,
Niecy Nash-Betts, Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood.
I.S.S.
Opens in theatres on January 19
Directed by: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Starring: Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek,
John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, Masha Mashkova
Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling from this, the astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, working with Nick Shafir’s Blacklist script, brings together a stellar cast that includes Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, and Masha Mashkova, in a high-stakes thriller set entirely in the confines of the I.S.S. as astronauts are called to duty in fateful and terrifying ways.
FITTING IN
Opens in theatres on February 2
Directed by: Molly McGlynn
Starring: Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire, Djouliet Amara,
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Ki Griffin
A joyful, comedic drama, from writer/director Molly McGlynn, Fitting In is a coming-of-age story that follows 16-year-old Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) who is unexpectedly diagnosed with a reproductive condition, MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis upends her plans to have sex, her presumptions about womanhood and sexuality, her relationship with her mother, and most importantly, herself.
FLOAT
Opens in theatres on February 9
Directed by: Sherren Lee
Starring: Robbie Amell, Sarah Desjardins, Andrea Bang
A city girl rejected by her parents makes an impulsive decision to spend the summer at a small beach town with her estranged aunt. She nearly drowns and is rescued by the lifeguard next door, who offers to teach her how to swim.
PERFECT DAYS
In theatres on February 16
Directed by: Wim Wenders
Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada,
Yumi Aso, Sayuri Ishikawa, Tomokazu Miura, Min Tanaka
Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho) is a cleaner of public toilets in Tokyo. He lives alone in a small house full of plants, his days going by according to quiet rhythms that never seem to change. His is a neighborhood of tiny cafés frequented by the same people, of bookshops that sell works by Patricia Highsmith or young, contemporary Japanese writers.
Hirayama speaks very little, but he has a great passion for music, books, and the trees he loves to photograph. As he drives to work in his minivan, fully equipped with his cleaning gear, The Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, or Lou Reed ring in ageless, husky hums from a tape player.
FRENCH GIRL
Opens in theatres on February 23
Directed by: James A. Woods & Nicolas Wright
Starring: Zach Braff, Vanessa Hudgens, William Fichtner
Follows Gordon Kinski, a high school teacher from Brooklyn, who goes with his girlfriend and chef Sophie Tremblay to her hometown of Quebec City where she is testing for the Michelin 3-star restaurant of super-chef Ruby Collins.
500 DAYS IN THE WILD
Opens in theatres on March 1
Directed by: Dianne Whelan
Starring: Dianne Whelan
Follows Dianne Whelan that after disappointed with the state of the world did a solo self-recorded journey travelling across Canada.
IRENA’S VOW
Opens in theatres on March 15
Directed by: Louise Archambault
Starring: Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, and Maciek Nawrocki
Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable true story of Irena Gut Opdyke and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy. 19-year old Irena Gut is promoted to housekeeper in the home of a highly respected Nazi officer when she finds out that the Jewish ghetto is about to be liquidated. Determined to help twelve Jewish workers, she decides to shelter them in the safest place she can think of: the basement of the German commandant’s house. Over the next two years, Irena uses her wit, humor, and courage to hide her friends until the end of the German occupation, concealing them in the midst of countless Nazi parties, a blackmail scheme, and even the birth of a child. Her story is one of the most inspiring of our time.
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
By Amanda Gilmore
Ava DuVernay’s poetic and essential Origin is one of the year’s best. The esteemed Director merges Isabel Wilkerson’s life along with her research to create an inspired adaptation of the Author’s New York Times Bestseller Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
DuVernay’s focus on Wilkerson’s private life, specifically her losses and grief the years before she began her research, makes Origin part biopic part historical chronicle. In chronicling her life, the audience has a linear storyline to follow while travelling back and forth in time to witness the atrocities that happened.
We open on the last night of Trayvon Martin’s life. It was that horrific night’s 911 calls that initiated Wilkerson’s research. From there we witness the loss of her husband and mother within a year. As she heals, she throws herself into her research. Travelling to Germany and India in search of connections between caste systems there and America.
With each stop Wilkerson makes she learns the connection between each country both presently and historically. DuVernay’s powerful, unsettling images capture the horrors the caste system creates. She delivers distressing moments of the Holocaust, the inhumanity inflicted on the Dalits in India and lynchings in America. These impactful images will haunt audiences long after viewing and visualising the research Wilkerson wrote about in her novel.
Overall, Origin is a captivatingly beautiful and heartbreakingly necessary film that holds one of the year’s most enrapturing performances from Aunjanue Ellis.
Origin screens at TIFF ’23:
Monday, September 11 at 2 PM at Roy Thompson Hall
Wednesday, September 13 at 2:30 PM at Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
TIFF CEO, Cameron Bailey, is excited to announce that filmmaker Ava DuVernay will return to TIFF with her latest offering, Origin. DuVernay’s film will have a Gala screening at Roy Thomson Hall on Monday, September 11th. DuVernay will be in attendance.
Written, produced, and directed by Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay, Origin chronicles the remarkable life and work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson (played by Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) as she investigates the genesis of injustice and uncovers a hidden truth that affects us all.
Origin stands as a unique account of the intimacy within a writer’s quest for truth. DuVernay creates powerful cinematic images from the stories that Wilkerson brought to light in her non-fiction work Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, as well as the tragic moments of her personal life which framed her writing. It results in a deeply moving portrait of grief and healing — both personally and in the world.
“Ava DuVernay’s Origin is a brilliantly crafted showcase of her talent as a writer, producer, and director. This is audacious filmmaking on a grand, global scale,” said Bailey, “DuVernay deftly weaves Isabel Wilkerson’s big idea about how we live into a beautiful narrative of passion and discovery. I can’t wait for Toronto audiences to feel its power.”
Paul Garnes and DuVernay produced Origin under her ARRAY Filmworks banner, and Thane Watkins serves as co-executive producer.
Along with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Jon Bernthal, Origin stars Niecy Nash-Betts, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood, Connie Nielsen, Emily Yancy, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Isha Blaaker, and Myles Frost. The team of artists behind Origin was led by cinematographer Matthew J. Lloyd, ASC, production designer Ina Mayhew, editor Spencer Averick A.C.E, composer Kris Bowers, costume designer Dominique Dawson, and casting director Aisha Coley.
Tickets for Origin go on sale Monday, September 4 at 10 AM ET. Check tiff.net for more information.
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