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Film Fests & Special Screenings Movies & TV

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival goes big here’s what to see

RENDEZVOUS WITH MADNESS FILM FESTIVAL from Friday (November 4) to November 12 at various locations. rendezvouswithmadness.ca.

The Rendezvous With Madness film festival launches its 24th edition in Toronto this weekend with a new program director Toronto author and critic Geoff Pevere charged with fulfilling the festivals long-standing mandate to explore and discuss mental illness and addiction.

RWM has always been a solid festival theres never a shortfall of films tackling our inner landscapes, and the Q&As or panel discussions that follow every screening are invariably enlightening but this year seems especially ambitious, with screenings in multiple venues around town, including the Revue Cinema and the AGOs Jackman Hall as well as the Workman Theatre in the Workman Arts centre.

It all kicks off Friday (November 4) at the Revue with a gala screening of Joey Kleins The Other Half, an intense romance starring real-life couple Tom Cullen and Tatiana Maslany as a haunted man and a bipolar woman who find refuge in one another.

Set unapologetically in Toronto (Queen West, to be specific), its an impressionistic, experiential drama with two very intense performances writer/director Klein gives Cullen and Maslany the space to burrow deeply into their tormented characters and connect without much dialogue, and the trust they have in one another as performers is remarkable.

You will definitely be hearing more about The Other Half when it opens theatrically next month its Maslanys Gena Rowlands moment, and I mean that in the best possible way. Klein will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.

Other notable titles in the festival include Simon Fitzmaurices My Name Is Emily (Monday November 7, 6 pm, AGO), about a misfit teenager who seeks out her institutionalized father to put her own life in perspective.

Its a decent little drama that benefits immensely by having Evanna Lynch and Michael Smiley as its leads. Lynch is still best known as Harry Potters Luna Lovegood, but her talent goes much deeper than that, and Smiley a veteran character actor whos turned up in dozens of UK TV shows and movies including Luther, The Worlds End and Free Fire makes the most of a rare leading role.

Among the documentary offerings, I was fascinated by The Battle With Satan (November 10, 9 pm, AGO), a profoundly unsettling examination of the return of the Catholic exorcism ritual as a treatment for young women deemed to be overly rebellious or troubled. With a remarkable level of access, director Konrad Szolajski presents a disquieting portrait of a nation that seems bent on returning itself to the dark ages, at a terrible cost to its people.

One drama sure to be discussed long after the screening is Nicolette Krebitzs Wild (November 11, 6 pm, AGO), a nervy study of an alienated young German (Lilith Stangenberg, who had a brief but crucial role in the recent The People Vs. Fritz Bauer) who finds herself pushing back against any number of social conventions after she encounters a wolf in a public park.

That description makes Wild sound like a horror movie or at least an exploration of themes most often found in that genre but Krebitz has plotted out a different path, and its fascinating to watch her and Stangenberg navigate through it. I have no idea whether this will ever screen in town again, so catch it while you can.

The festival also brings back a couple of strong films from the festival circuit. Trey Edward Shultss Krisha (Saturday November 5, 7 pm, Workman Theatre), an intense American indie about a woman (Krisha Fairchild) forced to confront her family, screened in town earlier this year as an MDFF premiere, and RWMs closing night gala, Wizard Mode (November 12, 7 pm, Workman Theatre), played at Hot Docs this spring. Theyre both worthy choices. Like I said, its a really strong year.

normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner

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