tiff50 DEAD LOVER Closing Night Midnight Madness Poster Reveal

 

 

Dead Lover is the 2025 Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival closing film. The last midnight madness screening of the year is always a bittersweet night/morning. It is also a celebration of the programme and the filmmakers who premiered their films throughout the ten nights. Tonight Dead Lover directed by Grace Glowicki and co written by Grace and Ben Petrie has a new poster ahead of the closing night screening. 

tiff50 Degrassi: Whatever It Takes World Premiere Trailer

 

 

Degrassi: Whatever It Takes has it's Toronto International Film world premiere today. Here is a trailer that just dropped for the documentary. Check it out!

tiff50 OCA World Premiere Poster & Trailer

 

 

OCA is having it's world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Here is the festival poster and trailer. Oca is written and directed by Karla Badillo.

tiff50 SOLDIER OF CINEMA'S TOP THREE MOST ANTICIPATED MIDNIGHT MADNESS MOVIES

 

                                             Robert Aaron Mitchell aka Soldier of Cinema

There is nothing like Toronto in September. The Toronto International Film Festival arrives and brings such a great energy and vibe to Canada's largest metropolitan area.The energy of the city gets amped up even more than any regular day. The cinematic world descends upon the downtown streets. Red carpets are rolled out. Doors of tinted windows are opened. Actors and filmmakers from Argentina to Tokyo and everywhere else step onto the streets. Crowds gather eager for a glimpse, a selfie or a hastily scrawled signature on a blu-ray or a glossy photo or a restaurant receipt. There is nothing like Toronto in September. Except for me, all of the above is true, except there is nothing like a Midnight Madness premiere in Toronto in September. 

Curator Peter Kuplowsky tirelessly searches for the ten films of cinematic genre note. The Midnight Madness programme has such a storied history. It is a film festival within a film festival. Many have noted the audiences of TIFF. Those audiences by 11:59 p.m. are still up, amped and ready. Beach balls are hit and smacked around the venue. Peter's selected playlist - curated for each of the ten movies - is playing loud. 

As the Royal Alexandria  aka The RAT fills up so to does the din of the buzz of the crowd anticipated what genre delights will soon unfold. Will it be an intense, look at the screen through fingers covering your eyes horror film. An action film where the sound of effects of bone-crunching kicks rattles the ear drums of the over thousand people in attendance, will the movie be a gross out funny genre destroying cinematic opus you may only see once?

I will preface the following with this...I am anticipated all of the 2025 Midnight Madness movies. If I had to pick three these are the three I will pick today...tomorrow, well that maybe a different story. 

                                            NIRVANA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE

I have been following the movies of Matt Johnson and his motley crew of filmmakers since The Dirties (2013) This extremely talented group crosses genres, tones and film making techniques with ease. I cannot wait to see their latest film. 

 

                                                                       KARMADONNA 

Just look at at just one of the publicity stills which was released to the media. I have been covering film festivals since 2007. I cannot recall such in your face publicity photos. This comes as no surprise as the director of Karmadonna Aleksander Radivojevic also directed a film entitled A Serbian Film by many accounts, mine included one of the most intense films ever made, I was at the international premiere of A Serbian Film at SXSW in 2010. That film still haunts me. Good luck Toronto. 

                                                                    THE FURIOUS

I cannot wait to see this movie! Kenji Tanigaki action choreographer SPL, Flash Point and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In helms his own action movie. Get ye to the theater as fast as humanly possible!

 

MEET THE PRODUCERS: Interview with Daniel Yu (From The Archives)

 

 

Originally Appeared 9/15/10 Midnight Madness Blog

Midnight Producers Part 5: Daniel Yu - The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman

This is the fifth in the ongoing series, Meet the Producers of Midnight Madness 2010

Let me introduce you to Daniel Yu, producer of The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman.

Daniel Yu is a well known producer and active member of Hong Kong's film and entertainment industry. In 1990, Daniel co-founded Team Work Productions with renowned actor Andy Lau. The company’s debut film Saviour of The Soul was commercially successful across Asia, and was awarded Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography at the 1992 Hong Kong Film Awards.

From 2004 to 2006, Daniel was Chief Operating Officer for Andy Lau’s Focus Films Limited. There he oversaw all films in which Andy Lau starred, invested and produced. The year 2005 was particularly fruitful for Daniel. He wrote and directed one of the Hong Kong box office’s top 10 of that year: All About Love, starring Andy Lau.

That same year, Daniel spearheaded and produced a series of films which achieved tremendous success at various Asian & International film festivals. Particularly notable was Crazy Stone by chinese director Ning Hao, which was praised as the most creative commercially successful film in China's history. Currently, Daniel holds the position of Senior Vice President for UnionVoole Technology, as well as Chief Executive Officer for Voole Pictures.

How much has the business of funding films in HK/China changed since the handover in 1997?

The climate of funding and financing in HK has changed significantly since the traditional markets for HK films has somewhat been taken over by the growing dominance of local films. After China granted HK films a status of local films that could be released in china outside of the quota system, it presented itself as a new key territory for HK filmmakers to show their films. Now with the increased number of screens and investors in China, China is a key territory not just for HK films but also major Hollywood films. In China, previously, most filmmakers focused on making art house films with the possibilities of winning awards as the exhibition sector was not mature but and the handful of filmmakers making commercial films, collaborated with HK film crews/ cast to make commercially more viable films. Now, filmmakers in china are reaping the success of the china economy by having investments, audience and cast to match those of the rest of the world.

Are films primarily funded by the government or are private investors approached?

In Asia (with the exception of Taiwan and Singapore), films are generally funded by film companies, private investors and commercial sponsors. In China, now city governments are coming on board to support film production but that is an exception and not the norm for most filmmakers. For art house auteur directors, a number of them still work closely with Europe to receive funding grants from European funds.

What were some of the difficulties in getting the film The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman made?

Wuershan being a very successful commercial director was one of the few directors that didn't have a track record yet to investors and distributors. The film he wanted to make is also is kinda fresh in approach and people are not sure if the vision he wanted to create would be achieved within the budget the producers were comfortable would recoup. Yet, though the shoot and budget kinda went beyond what was planned, things worked out well. We are happy to collaborate with a good team of cast and crew and now finally we are collaborating with fox international productions and Doug Liman on the film which is very exciting for all of us in the production to bring the film beyond Chinese audiences.

FIRST LOOK: The Next Film by Award-Winning Filmmaker Robert Aaron Mitchell

 Robert Aaron Mitchell deep in South Texas filming a rattlesnake for his next film. (Do not attempt this at home) 

"I am making something vastly different than The Bobby Diamonds Story) I am an American living during this time in America. I have a lot of rage inside because of the fascism this country has become. As I say this another mass shooting has taken place. This time in Minneapolis. Year after year after year these tragedies occur and nothing positive has been done. Gun laws have gotten more lax as time goes on. This country is entering a period of severe instability. The civil war never truly ended. It has remained as embers of hate all these years later. We are entering another period of civil war. While this film I am currently mired in does not directly address these issues the film is serving as a primal scream and it would be naive to think my environment is not playing a role in my artistic endeavors. At the end of the day during the production and post-production phases on my new work I am striving to make a scary fucking movie." 

 Here is a first look teaser trailer:

THE CROW (1994) Robert Aaron Mitchell in Conversation on the Bratt's Bin Movie Podcast

On the latest episode of the Bratt's Bin movie podcast The Crow (1994) is discussed. Robert Aaron Mitchell joins Jared Bratt and Carl Diamond as the trio conduct a deep-dive conversation about the movie which premiered thirty years ago this year. Entertaining and informative here is the video.