:00:00. > 3:59:59those stories on the BBC sport website. We will have more for you
:00:00. > :00:26.throughout the afternoon. Hello and welcome to the Toronto
:00:27. > :00:28.International Film Festival. In today's programme we look back
:00:29. > :00:32.at some of the highlights of this The government knows that we have
:00:33. > :00:38.these documents now! Movies based on real
:00:39. > :00:41.stories and real people - plenty of those at Toronto this
:00:42. > :00:44.year. As well as pictures touching on
:00:45. > :00:50.racism and the havoc it can reach. Plus a report on Nigerian cinema
:00:51. > :00:53.that is quite different And a personal documentary looking
:00:54. > :00:59.back at the eavesdropping days And an animation from Canada
:01:00. > :01:06.in which a young girl travels to Iran to uncover
:01:07. > :01:09.much about her father. Plus, the pictures coming out
:01:10. > :01:12.of Toronto that have the potential All that and more in this Toronto
:01:13. > :01:30.edition of Talking Movies. Nearly 400 films are shown
:01:31. > :01:33.at Toronto and the general view was that there were indeed some
:01:34. > :01:37.quite fine movies to be seen. But, alas, there wasn't active
:01:38. > :01:40.love for the festival's opening-night feature -
:01:41. > :01:42.a remake of the classic 1950 western We will let that picture kick
:01:43. > :01:52.off our overview of the festival. The Magnificent Seven premiere
:01:53. > :01:55.brought out the stars eager to promote their new film inspired
:01:56. > :02:03.by the 1950 John Sturgess to promote their new film inspired
:02:04. > :02:05.by the 1960 John Sturgess western of the same name,
:02:06. > :02:08.which was itself a remake Directed by Antoine Fuqua,
:02:09. > :02:15.the cast of the new film includes Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke,
:02:16. > :02:18.Chris Pratt and Peter Saarsgaard - the villain in the story who plays
:02:19. > :02:20.a greedy industrialist, I actually see my character more
:02:21. > :02:27.as the idea of fear. How people will fall
:02:28. > :02:31.in line behind fear, how people will just
:02:32. > :02:33.abandon their own world beliefs The only reason he has got any kind
:02:34. > :02:39.of people following him Some critics liked The Magnificent
:02:40. > :02:48.Seven, others found it uninspired and questioned
:02:49. > :02:50.the need for a remake. A lot of factors govern
:02:51. > :02:52.the choice of any festival's It is not always to showcase
:02:53. > :02:55.fresh, innovative cinema. Often it is a picture that will just
:02:56. > :02:59.put stars on the red carpet I think you're looking for something
:03:00. > :03:03.that is going to appeal to a mass audience, something that is big,
:03:04. > :03:06.something that is going to fill the screen, something
:03:07. > :03:08.that is entertainment but also smart at the same time and I think that
:03:09. > :03:11.all of those qualities It has taken the original
:03:12. > :03:15.and twisted it a little way in terms of its casting,
:03:16. > :03:18.but at the end of the day, it is one of my favourite
:03:19. > :03:19.genres, the western. And I think it says a lot
:03:20. > :03:22.about America, that genre, and here is someone reworking it,
:03:23. > :03:24.an African-American Whether it was a film retelling
:03:25. > :03:31.the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico,
:03:32. > :03:34.or a sympathetic portrayal of the former NSA intelligence
:03:35. > :03:35.leaker Edward Snowden, films based on real stories
:03:36. > :03:38.were in plentiful supply in Toronto. Snowdon was directed
:03:39. > :03:40.by Oliver Stone, who co-wrote the screenplay
:03:41. > :03:49.inspired by two books. Joseph Gorgon-Levitt gives an expert
:03:50. > :03:50.depiction of Snowdon. He maintains the film brings
:03:51. > :03:52.audiences an impression of Snowdon more complete
:03:53. > :03:55.than existing media accounts. One thing a lot of people don't know
:03:56. > :03:58.about Edward Snowden is that in 2004 He wanted to go fight
:03:59. > :04:03.in the Iraq war. To see a man change from that,
:04:04. > :04:07."I want to go fight He broke both of his legs in basic
:04:08. > :04:13.training so he couldn't go fight so, he was always good computers,
:04:14. > :04:16.so he joined the CIA and the NSA and the things that he
:04:17. > :04:19.saw changed his mind. You say it is a drama,
:04:20. > :04:24.but is it a balanced drama? Because there are a lot of people
:04:25. > :04:27.who do view Edward Snowden as being a traitor, but not much
:04:28. > :04:30.weight is given to that viewpoint I am not sure there is a lot
:04:31. > :04:37.of weight to that point of view I actually have not really heard any
:04:38. > :04:43.specific ways in which something The government knows that we have
:04:44. > :04:53.these documents now. That is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's point
:04:54. > :04:56.of view, one no doubt endorsed He thinks this Toronto launch film
:04:57. > :04:59.could help his client I don't think the government's
:05:00. > :05:03.claims about harm to national So one of these days
:05:04. > :05:09.we are going to see Edward Snowden return home and be broadly accepted
:05:10. > :05:13.as the whistle-blower that he is. I do think that this film
:05:14. > :05:20.will help hasten that day. Snowdon had definite fans
:05:21. > :05:22.in Toronto, but many would agree it just didn't match any of Stone's
:05:23. > :05:26.more celebrated films like Platoon or Born On The Fourth
:05:27. > :05:31.Of July from years ago. I say to you quite tastelessly that
:05:32. > :05:34.more women died on the back-seat of Senator Edward Kennedy's car
:05:35. > :05:37.at Chappaquiddick than ever died Another Toronto film based
:05:38. > :05:43.on real events was Denial. It was inspired by the trial that
:05:44. > :05:46.emerged after author David Irving sued an American academic
:05:47. > :05:49.Deborah Lipstadt for libel on the grounds that she had referred
:05:50. > :05:53.to him as a Holocaust denier. A formidable portrait came
:05:54. > :05:56.from Britain's Timothy Spall, David Irving is an incredibly
:05:57. > :06:02.polarising figure and I wonder to what extent you having your own
:06:03. > :06:06.views about him affected your No, in the end, your job when you're
:06:07. > :06:16.playing someone is not to play the consequences of their actions
:06:17. > :06:19.or take your objective view of it. Your job is just to jettison
:06:20. > :06:21.all that and try and That is your job as an actor,
:06:22. > :06:26.for good or bad, whatever I have got $1000 to give anyone
:06:27. > :06:31.who can show me a document that Do you think the film does touch
:06:32. > :06:36.on something that is quite prevalent in the culture,
:06:37. > :06:39.that these people making assertions We made it because it is a fully
:06:40. > :06:46.democratic idea to say that everybody's opinion
:06:47. > :06:50.is equally valid. Obviously, that is
:06:51. > :06:54.the internet's idea. But not everybody's opinion
:06:55. > :06:57.is equally valid. You have the right to say anything
:06:58. > :07:01.but you have to produce facts We have come to thank
:07:02. > :07:05.you for your word and your will. Another Toronto film
:07:06. > :07:13.rooted in the real world was the Birth Of A Nation,
:07:14. > :07:16.which was greeted with a standing It was inspired by a slave uprising
:07:17. > :07:20.in 1831 lead by a man Nate Parker, the film maker
:07:21. > :07:24.who co-wrote and did an stars in the picture about the find
:07:25. > :07:35.the story personally This thing, this snap Turner journey
:07:36. > :07:41.is so important. Just seeing the separation, I think this country is
:07:42. > :07:46.more segregated than it has been in moments in the past. To see a film
:07:47. > :07:47.speaking to that and progressing the conversation, it is inspiring and
:07:48. > :07:57.encouraging. Hey, the owner, how used your life.
:07:58. > :08:06.Then there were pictures trying to portray real African stories without
:08:07. > :08:12.resorting to stereotypes. Queen of Katwe was one of these. Do you see
:08:13. > :08:17.the film representing progress in the sense that it is American backed
:08:18. > :08:22.but it was made in Africa without white but agonists and relying on
:08:23. > :08:27.African people? Absolutely. There is such a paucity. You never see the
:08:28. > :08:32.Africa that I live in, the everyday dignity and power and joy of life in
:08:33. > :08:38.act come Palace Street, or any street, forget about the Hollywood
:08:39. > :08:42.screen. I immediately loved making Queen of Katwe because it is not
:08:43. > :08:47.about a White saviour coming in and teaching us how to build a well or
:08:48. > :08:56.have water in our taps. It is about real people who have real issues.
:08:57. > :08:59.Toronto was much more than reality -based mass audience cinema. Part of
:09:00. > :09:04.the festival was far from the mainstream. Our flourishing section
:09:05. > :09:08.of the programme is wavelengths, focusing on experimental cinema with
:09:09. > :09:13.a broad range of offerings. We have four short grams and a selection of
:09:14. > :09:18.feature films, including documentaries. Those documentaries
:09:19. > :09:22.that really push boundaries, are very as a stick. We are looking for
:09:23. > :09:32.films with personal subjectivity, that take risks, narratively, that
:09:33. > :09:36.challenge, are provocative. Toronto was full of films that held great
:09:37. > :09:40.promise for the forthcoming Oscars race. The festival has long been
:09:41. > :09:47.seen as a starting point in the mad scramble. The leader of the pack was
:09:48. > :09:51.Lala land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. It is seen as a tribute
:09:52. > :10:02.to the golden age of the US physical, set in present-day Los
:10:03. > :10:08.Angeles. Moonlight, a coming-of-age tale of a young African-American
:10:09. > :10:10.from Miami, has a story that smashed stereotypes and demonstrated the
:10:11. > :10:17.importance of intimacy in people's lives. Then there was a rifle, an
:10:18. > :10:22.alien invasion movie starring Amy Adams -- Amy Adams, which many
:10:23. > :10:27.thought and masterpiece and a strong awards contender, especially with
:10:28. > :10:38.the performance of Amy Adams. What happens now? They arrive.
:10:39. > :10:46.This year, Toronto but the focus on one of the world's most prolific
:10:47. > :10:54.movie hubs, temp one in Nigeria. Lagos was a subject of the
:10:55. > :10:58.festival's city programme. If you are looking for hidden gems
:10:59. > :11:03.at the Toronto International film Festival, one of the best ways is to
:11:04. > :11:05.bind them is in the city to city programme. Every year the festival
:11:06. > :11:11.highlights a different global city with a thriving film industry. This
:11:12. > :11:16.year it focuses on Lagos, Nigeria. We need to make a movie. Green white
:11:17. > :11:20.green tells a funny high-energy story about a group of young artists
:11:21. > :11:24.trying to make a film about the country's obligated culture and this
:11:25. > :11:29.post-modern approach to cinema is a big step forward for a film culture
:11:30. > :11:37.that is only a few decades old. We are at the beginning of RM assaults
:11:38. > :11:44.right now. Production quality is getting better. Style of
:11:45. > :11:49.storytelling is not your typical. 90% of Nollywood films are usually
:11:50. > :11:54.drama but here I am making satire. Yes, there is kind of a revolution
:11:55. > :11:59.going on right now. It is a small percentage, but definitely we are
:12:00. > :12:03.here at the Toronto film Festival, so it signify something big to come.
:12:04. > :12:08.Abbott have of the films produced in Nollywood never get a theatrical
:12:09. > :12:12.release. Instead they go straight to DVD. They have lower budget and your
:12:13. > :12:16.ambitions than most of the film screening here in Toronto. As the
:12:17. > :12:20.industry grows, so does the artistry and will only be a matter of time
:12:21. > :12:28.before a film-maker from Lagos five success of the global stage.
:12:29. > :12:32.Adventures, or the matrix? And intriguing aspect of Nigerian film
:12:33. > :12:35.culture is how deeply it is influenced by American movies. The
:12:36. > :12:39.characters in green white green name check the avengers and the matrix
:12:40. > :12:42.and were they don't yet have the skills of the budgets to match the
:12:43. > :12:45.achievements of those films, the fascination with Hollywood culture
:12:46. > :12:50.adds another ingredient to the already complex Nigerian character.
:12:51. > :12:55.No, I will try to convince him and show that I can do something. The
:12:56. > :12:59.film-makers that emits an Lagos, they travelled, they are completely
:13:00. > :13:03.fluent in the culture and the pop culture especially of the UK and
:13:04. > :13:09.North America and in some cases Asia as well. They are watching Bollywood
:13:10. > :13:12.movies, Nollywood movies, European arthouse films. That is a part of
:13:13. > :13:17.what they bring to making Nigerian films. That mixes really what we're
:13:18. > :13:22.showing in the city to city Spotlight. If the Toronto
:13:23. > :13:26.International film Festival prompt an interest in Nigerian films
:13:27. > :13:30.worldwide, it would be a boon for the country's film industry and the
:13:31. > :13:34.economy as a whole and movies like we might green, which paint a unique
:13:35. > :13:36.portrait of its country's culture could help viewers understand
:13:37. > :13:58.today's Nigeria a little better. Toronto had many engaging
:13:59. > :14:01.documentaries, one of them was a rather story of a woman
:14:02. > :14:05.investigating whether or not her father was a member of the Stasi,
:14:06. > :14:14.the Ministry for State Security in the former East Germany. The Stasi
:14:15. > :14:24.is everywhere, hidden in the crowd. The cameras trained on enemies and
:14:25. > :14:28.agitators. The documentary: city shows that 27 years after the fall
:14:29. > :14:31.of the Berlin Wall, many of those who were then living in east Germany
:14:32. > :14:37.still find it hard to grapple with what life was like under communism.
:14:38. > :14:39.The Stasi, the secret police of the Soviet aligned government,
:14:40. > :14:47.orchestrated the most comprehensive surveillance state in history. After
:14:48. > :14:50.the Edward Snowden revelations, the film-maker, who grew up in East
:14:51. > :14:55.Germany, felt compelled to investigate what the Stasi had done.
:14:56. > :14:59.The NSA operates in a democratic society where I can walk on the
:15:00. > :15:04.street and I am not going to be arrested because I criticise them,
:15:05. > :15:07.but the Stasi was a tool in an oppressive system were bad things
:15:08. > :15:14.would have happened to me if I would have said anything against them. The
:15:15. > :15:18.film: city, named after her East German hometown, now restored to its
:15:19. > :15:22.original name, seeks to reconstruct what life was like under the threat
:15:23. > :15:27.of constant surveillance. But it is not just political, it is personal
:15:28. > :15:32.for her because she always have the suspicion that her father, who
:15:33. > :15:35.committed suicide in 1999, may have been a Stasi informant himself.
:15:36. > :15:41.Through her documentary, she hoped to find a definitive answer. If I
:15:42. > :15:45.would have known that he had tried to commit suicide, I mean, surely I
:15:46. > :15:49.would have asked some questions. One thing that is clear about it is at
:15:50. > :15:53.this past has been very much arrears, it has gone and her
:15:54. > :15:58.father's labels also like that. He made a real effort to destroy
:15:59. > :16:06.everything in his life, to banish it and I think to see the past, to see
:16:07. > :16:13.the world we have to really reduce it to its bare elements, just like
:16:14. > :16:18.the architecture. One inside that emerges from: city is that the act
:16:19. > :16:22.of observing also inevitably involves a search for meaning. If
:16:23. > :16:26.you watch someone closely enough you will find yourself speculating on
:16:27. > :16:31.their motivations. Motivation to its often can come across as sinister.
:16:32. > :16:35.That is actually the creepy thing about surveillance, pre-emptive
:16:36. > :16:38.surveillance, you can find anything about someone. You can make stuff
:16:39. > :16:43.up. You just collect all of this material and you can go back later
:16:44. > :16:47.and interpreted in so many ways so anybody can become the enemy
:16:48. > :16:51.instantaneously. The one thing that most of the documentaries at the
:16:52. > :16:59.Toronto International film Festival have in common, contemporary
:17:00. > :17:02.relevance. Commerce City is no exception, because of the
:17:03. > :17:06.proliferation of social media. I am amazed how easily people are willing
:17:07. > :17:11.to give up their privacy without even having to do so. We were
:17:12. > :17:16.thinking about what would the Stasi do if they would have had this book?
:17:17. > :17:20.It were just all be available and it wouldn't even have to go wide and
:17:21. > :17:23.collective, which is amazing. Of course, they could use basically all
:17:24. > :17:31.information against you in any context. Many from former East
:17:32. > :17:35.Germany would rather move on and forget about their lives under
:17:36. > :17:38.surveillance, but: city suggest that not only are we doomed to repeat
:17:39. > :17:43.history if we forget it, we have the tools that at our disposal to repeat
:17:44. > :17:55.that history of surveillance and much more easily.
:17:56. > :18:02.One animation that made of an impact at Toronto this year came from a
:18:03. > :18:06.film-maker who has been to the festival before. Essentially it is a
:18:07. > :18:14.coming-of-age story involving a young Canadian girl who travels to
:18:15. > :18:19.Iran. Anne-Marie Fleming is a veteran Canadian animator within
:18:20. > :18:23.youth film at Toronto this year that follows the adventures of a young
:18:24. > :18:32.poet. I have been invited to a poetry Festival in Iran. In around?
:18:33. > :18:36.She is invited to her poetry Festival in Iran but she finds out
:18:37. > :18:39.the many stories about the father who she thought the band and her
:18:40. > :18:43.when she was a small child. Why choose to set the story during a
:18:44. > :18:48.poetry Festival? Rosie is a young poet, she doesn't know much about
:18:49. > :18:52.anything, not about poetry, history, herself. She is surrounded by people
:18:53. > :18:57.who are immersed in poetry and history and culture and they all
:18:58. > :19:00.want teacher something. Our heroine goes on a journey and she meets all
:19:01. > :19:05.of these people and the all have a little message for her and a lot of
:19:06. > :19:09.these messages through poetry. My father abandoned me when I was
:19:10. > :19:14.seven. But you are looking for his story, yes? So you will find that
:19:15. > :19:18.everywhere. Rosie meets many people who know her father and variable to
:19:19. > :19:22.filling the gaps in her knowledge of family history and introduced her to
:19:23. > :19:27.Iranian culture, which it is not familiar with even though it is part
:19:28. > :19:31.of our heritage. Cultural authenticity was heavily on the
:19:32. > :19:39.film-maker's mind. I do a lot of research. I have consultants on
:19:40. > :19:44.this. I wrote it, I showed it to people, I got everybody's input
:19:45. > :19:49.because I am not aware of the nuances of things and they just
:19:50. > :19:54.needed to have the seal of approval of all of the Iranian people
:19:55. > :19:59.involved in the film. That is a very important audience for me. Not only
:20:00. > :20:08.am I not Iranian, I have never been to Iran. The audience learns about
:20:09. > :20:13.Iran through the eyes of Rosie. Her imagination is Sean and animations
:20:14. > :20:19.created by several different artists that the director collaborated with.
:20:20. > :20:23.In one scene Rosie learns about an ancient Iranian port that you can
:20:24. > :20:27.emphasise with because like her, he also lost a parent at a fragile
:20:28. > :20:30.moment in his life. Anne-Marie was especially excited when she
:20:31. > :20:43.collaborated with an animator who was also connected to the story. I
:20:44. > :20:51.approached this Iranian film-maker now based in Vancouver. He knows
:20:52. > :20:56.this story so intimately. We had some many discussions about what
:20:57. > :21:02.could be sure, what shouldn't be sure, and he was able to take this
:21:03. > :21:06.paper cuts out technique that he had experimented with is a visual artist
:21:07. > :21:13.and bring it into the world of animation. You had some very
:21:14. > :21:19.traditional Persian artistic stylings in a form that you would
:21:20. > :21:23.not expect, which is both paper and animation. Iran is often demonised
:21:24. > :21:30.in the media. This your from paint a different picture? I think my film
:21:31. > :21:35.paints a picture of around as a rich culture where poetry is important,
:21:36. > :21:38.were family is important. I wanted to go right into that and make a
:21:39. > :21:43.film that was completely not political and just talk about that
:21:44. > :21:50.incredible rich culture and talk about people.
:21:51. > :21:56.Well, that brings this special edition of the programme to a close.
:21:57. > :22:02.We hope you have enjoyed the programme. Please remember he can
:22:03. > :22:07.always reach us online and you can find us on Facebook, too. From the,
:22:08. > :22:12.Tom Brook and the rest of the production team here in Toronto, it
:22:13. > :22:14.is goodbye and we leave you with a clip from Lala land, a film that was
:22:15. > :23:13.a big hit here in Toronto. Good afternoon. We have lost those
:23:14. > :23:19.severe storms that brought a deluge for some yesterday and replaced it
:23:20. > :23:20.with some sunshine. The best of the sunshine today in