Guy Maddin and Bruce McDonald, two well-respected Canadian directors, will both have projects at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Maddin will present “The Forbidden Room,” which stars Charlotte Rampling and Karine Vanasse, while McDonald is bringing his most recent endeavor, “Hellions,” with Rossif Sutherland. Other Canadian movies being screened include “Turbo Kid” from Montreal writing-directing team Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell, a film that casts Munro Chambers (“Degrassi”) as an orphan in the post-apocalyptic future who faces off against the sadistic Zeus (played by Michael Ironside out of Toronto).
This year Sundance received an unprecedented 12,000 submission entries. “The programming process is very exhilarating,” said Festival Director John Cooper in an official press release. “The films that are being made now are bolder, braver, and sometimes more personal and intense. Whether it’s comedy, romance or documentaries, they’re filled with powerful emotions that make you want to take action or change the way you think. Even in some of this year’s films with darker themes, the filmmakers are very conscious of bringing empathy to those subjects and helping us understand.”
The Sundance Film Festival takes place in Utah and runs from January 22nd to February 1st.
Photo: Bruce McDonald
