WHAT THE FILM FESTIVAL 2019: A Weekend of Eccentric Cinema
608 College St, Toronto, ON M6G 1B4, Canada
43.65520770000001
-79.4144814
Description
UPDATE: UNIVERSE HAS BEEN HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES AND HAS BEEN UNABLE TO PROCESS ONLINE ORDERS AT THE MOMENT. WE ARE TRYING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE, BUT PLEASE BE ASSURED WE DO HAVE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE BOX OFFICE FOR ALL OUR FILMS ON SUNDAY MARCH 3rd!
The What The Film Festival (March 1st to 3rd) fills a gap in Toronto’s dense film festival landscape, showcasing outlier and outsider films that intersect definitions of both genre and avant-garde cinema and operate outside the traditional parameters of taste and convention. Produced by The Laser Blast Film Society, a monthly film series at The Royal Cinema, this year’s festival is made possible in part by the funding support from home video label Vinegar Syndrome and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
The full lineup of feature films are listed below, as are the festival’s special events. For more details on each film, please visit www.wtfilmfest.com after February 7th.
Individual tickets are $10 (plus service fees) in advance and $14 at the door, with the exception of A BREAD FACTORY which is a double-bill ticket of $20 (plus service fees) in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets for individual films apart from A Bread Factory will go on sale February 7th.
A limited amount of ALL-ACCESS passes are also available for $45. Pass-holders receive admission to all festival screenings and special events, a limited print of the festival poster & a two-issue subscription to BROKEN PENCIL magazine.
FRIDAY, MARCH 1ST
7:00 PM - A BREAD FACTORY, PARTS 1 & 2
Director: Patrick Wang / Cast: Tyne Daly, Elisabeth Henry-Macari, James Marsters, & Janeane Garofalo / 242 minutes (with a 30 minute intermission) / USA / 2018 / TORONTO PREMIERE!
Writer/Director Patrick Wang will be in attendance! / Co-Presented with BROKEN PENCIL
“The most original filmgoing experience of the year… as thorough and thoughtful a statement on art and life as any American filmmaker has given us.” - Matt Zoller-Seitz, RogerEbert.com
“Wang is a singular artist, but he taps into a rich tradition… the expansive comedies of Robert Altman...the documentaries of Frederick Wiseman...the work of Jacques Rivette.” - Bilge Ebiri, The New York Times
An epic, yet intimate two-part portrait of an idiosyncratic community and the struggle of its indelible artists. Hailed by critics as among “the best films of 2018!” (The AV CLUB). Both Part 1 & 2 are included with a single admission ticket of $20 + service fees.
SATURDAY, MARCH 2ND
12:00 PM - ALL YOU CAN EAT CEREAL PARTY WITH COWBOY WHO?
On the Ottawa airwaves from 1990 - 1994 there existed the strangest children's show ever conceived: COWBOY WHO? It begins as another show entirely, COWBOY PAT, an innocuous riff on the HOWDY-DOODY SHOW, only to gradually transform in to satirical deconstruction of all forms of entertainment as if Douglas Adams, Mark Frost and The Kids and The Hall were remaking HILARIOUS HOUSE of FRIGHTENSTEIN with the resources of the first season of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Perhaps the greatest piece of four seasons of television our country has ever produced. Experience the most memorable episodes of the series while eating as much cereal as you can, and then meet series creators Jeff Green and Mike Cormier afterwards.
2:30 PM - INTERSTELLAR BROADCASTING: MEET THE CREATORS OF COWBOY WHO?
Festival director Peter Kuplowsky interviews Jeff Green and Mike Cormier about the making of COWBOY WHO? Learn how and why such an innovative and bizarre show ever made it on to television, and meet some of the series' most memorable puppets live and in person!
Both "COWBOY WHO?" events are included on the "COWBOY WHO? MARATHON" ticket ($10 + service fees.)
5:00 PM - STRIKE DEAR MISTRESS, AND CURE HIS HEART
Director: Mickey Reece / Cast: Mary Buss, Audrey Lecrone and Jacob Snovel / 71 min / USA / 2018 / CANADIAN PREMIERE! / Writer/Director Mickey Reece will be in attendance!
"A bewildering, intoxicating and precious delight." - Alexandra Heller-Nichola, The Blue Lenses.com
"Whatever the hell Mickey Reese was doing there extremely worked for me. Oklahoma Gothic melodrama/nightmare/comedy. Loved it." Macon Blair, director of I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
Inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s AUTUMN SONATA and conjured by an obscure auteur who’s been averaging two feature films a year since 2008, this offbeat discovery depicts the uncanny psychological duress endured by the newlywed proprietors of an ancient hotel following the arrival of an estranged matriarch.
7:30 PM - SURFER: TEEN CONFRONTS FEAR
Director: Douglas Burke / Cast: Douglas Burke, Sage Burke / 98 min / USA / 2018 / CANADIAN PREMIERE!
"Rich with idiosyncratic intent and utterly bankrupt in self-awareness. It's amazing." Andrew Todd, SlashFilm.com
Shot over 11 years by a physics professor at the University of Southern California, this bizarre tale about a teenager overcoming his fear of surfing has been steadily accruing a reputation at international Midnight screenings as the cult film successor to Tommy Wiseau's THE ROOM and Neil Breen's FATEFUL FINDINGS. Catch the wave and melt your cerebrum at this screening.
9:00 PM - WHAT THE FILM BAZAAR + PARTY AT THE SUPER WONDER GALLERY (584 College St.)
Have a drink, move to some music, peruse the wares of unique video vendors + indie artists and discover 100 of the strangest and rarest VHS cassettes in a pop-up video store gallery. Plus a live-musical performance from DINOSAUR ISLAND and delectable brews courtesy of Collective Arts Brewing, this is a night guaranteed to live in infamy. $5 cover, or free entry to ALL-ACCESS PASS and FESTIVAL TICKET HOLDERS.
SUNDAY, MARCH 3RD
4:30 PM - BATTLE FOR THE LOST PLANET
Director: Brett Piper / 91 min / USA / 1986 / CANADIAN PREMIERE OF NEW RESTORATION! Co-Presented by Vinegar Syndrome!
The incredible preservationists of cult video label Vinegar Syndrome present a brand new restoration of cult FX artist Brett Piper's most infamous sci-fi epic, which catapults a man into a post-apocalyptic Earth full of mutants and stop-motion monsters.
7:00 PM - MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE
Director: Sarah Jacobson / Cast: Lisa Gerstein, Greg Cruikshank, Chris Enright, Beth Allen / 98 min / USA / 1996 / TORONTO PREMIERE OF NEW RESTORATION! Co-Presented by cléo journal + TIFF NEXT WAVE.
“Utterly charming and relentlessly honest. Jacobson was a revolutionary.” - Max Sparber, MINN POST
“There’s an alternate world where this blew up instead of CLERKS.” Matt Lynch, Scarecrow Video
Sarah Jacobson's punk-spirited DIY feature about the sexual awakening of a high-school girl as she spends her senior year working at an independent movie cinema. Preceded by her acclaimed feminist B-movie tribute I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER.
9:30 PM - NIGHT PULSE aka FATAL PULSE aka UNTITLED 90s YUPPIE THRILLER
Director: Damon Packard / Cast: Mike Hickey, Marika Jett Hickey, John Bekolay and Steve Cattani as William Friedkin / 115 min / USA / 2018 / CANADIAN PREMIERE!
"When it comes to exploring the past, Packard is ahead of his time." - Joseph Dwyer, Diabolique Magazine
"Packard rises to the top of his game here with his best film to date." Chuck Foster, Film Threat
From the creator of the underground cult classic REFLECTIONS OF EVIL comes a deranged satire where a composite of 90s-James-Spader-characters schemes the manipulation of Western culture through mass media, all the while trying to kick his deadbeat brother-in-law off the couch.
This listing has no upcoming events
Start:
2019-03-01T19:00:00-05:00
End:
2019-03-03T23:30:00-05:00
Category
Film
Tickets
March 2nd - 12:00 PM - COWBOY WHO? Marathon
11.09
CAD
300
March 2nd - 5:00 PM - STRIKE DEAR MISTRESS, AND CURE HIS HEART
11.09
CAD
300
March 2nd - 7:30 PM - SURFER: TEEN CONFRONTS FEAR
11.09
CAD
300
March 3rd - 4:30 PM - BATTLE FOR THE LOST PLANET
11.09
CAD
300
March 3rd - 7:00 PM - MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE
11.09
CAD
300
March 3rd - 9:30 PM - NIGHT PULSE aka FATAL PULSE aka UNTITLED 90s YUPPIE THRILLER
11.09
CAD
300
