A Sudbury shot film — Indian Horse — fills one of the gala film slots at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, which is coming up Sept. 16-24.
Based on Canadian author Richard Wagamese's novel, the film is about seven-year-old Saul Indian Horse — played by Sladen Peltier of Wikwemikong — who is sent to residential school, but finds salvation in hockey.
With a burgeoning film sector in the area, Cinéfest managing director Pat O'Hearn said the film festival has been able to give many films shot in Northern Ontario a gala slot in recent years.
“It's so easy because there's so many wonderful films being shot throughout Northern Ontario,” said O'Hearn, speaking to Sudbury.com after an Aug. 23 press conference where the balance of the film festival's lineup was released.
A few Cinéfest superfans were mixed in among the press and industry players at the press conference.
Patti Hay said she watches between 29 and 35 Cinéfest films every year. Her favourites — the comedies.
“It looks very exciting this year,” she said.
“Last year and the last few years there hasn't been enough comedies. Everybody likes comedies and likes to laugh, and it looks like maybe this year we'll get to see some more. That'll be great.”
For the full Cinéfest lineup of roughly 125 films, visit the festival's website.
Cinéfest 2017 gala films
Opening Night Gala (Sept. 16) - Long Time Running - For the first time, Cinéfest opens with a documentary. This film profiles the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip during their Man Machine Poem Tour of 2016, which followed the band's announcement that lead singer Gord Downie had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Sunday Night Gala (Sept. 17) – Stronger – Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, it's the true story of Jeff Bauman, who loses his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing and must adjust to his new life.
Monday Night Gala (Sept. 18) - Call Me by Your Name - This English-language, internationally co-produced, coming-of-age drama has Oscar buzz. A 17-year-old named Elio, living in Italy during the 1980s, meets Oliver, a 24-year-old academic who has come to stay at his parents' villa, and a passionate relationship develops between them.
Tuesday Night Gala (Sept. 19) – Ce qui nous lie (Back to Burgundy) - Jean returns to Burgundy at the request of his dying father, after ten years living and working in Australia. His arrival is greeted with tension and recriminations for his long, silent absence. When the father dies, Jean and his siblings, an angry brother, Jérémie and sister, Juliette, who share Jean’s talent for winemaking, are faced with the prospect of having to sell their vineyards. The only alternative is for the three to come together, use their respective skills, and make great wines.
Wednesday Night Gala (Sept. 20) – Breathe - Robin Cavendish, who after being given only three months to live after being paralysed from the neck down by polio at age 28, becomes a pioneering advocate for the disabled. He and his devoted wife, Diana, travel the world with the hopes of transforming the lives of others like him.
Thursday Night Gala (Sept. 21) – Borg/McEnroe - A film about one of the world's greatest icons, Björn Borg, and his biggest rival, the young and talented John McEnroe, and their legendary duel during a 1980s Wimbledon tournament. It's a story about two men who changed the face of tennis and who became legends and the price they had to pay.
Friday Night Gala (Sept. 22) – Indian Horse - Saul Indian Horse was torn from his family as a young boy and sent to one of Canada’s notorious residential schools. There, amidst the horror of abuse, psychological torture and despair, Saul finds salvation in the unlikeliest of places and favourite Canadian past-times—hockey.
Saturday Night Gala (Sept. 23) – Don't Talk to Irene - Irene is 16, fat, friendless and tired of being a loser. She’s determined that this year is going to be different—Irene is going to become a cheerleader. But when a cruel prank results in her getting suspended on her first day back at school, Irene, along with her cruelest bullies, Robbie and Sarah, must endure two weeks of community service at the local retirement home. Instead of letting her bullies get the best of her, she assembles a misfit group of seniors and hatches a brilliant plan. If she can’t be a cheerleader, she’ll be the next best thing: a choreographer.
Closing Night Gala (Sept. 24) – Mary Shelley - Passionate and rebellious teenager Mary Wollstonecraft (played by Elle Fanning) finds a kindred spirit in poet Percy Shelley. Their whirlwind love affair scandalizes polite society, as the young couple gorge on literature and a bohemian life. When tragedy strikes and the couple lose their baby daughter, Mary strikes back, finding the courage and bravery to transform her pain into the world’s first science fiction novel, Frankenstein — all by the age of 18.
