by Jeremy Kay
Ontario Creates’ International Financing Forum (IFF) will feature 40 projects from Canadian and international teams bringing new work from Malcolm McDowell, Clement Virgo, and Rafael Kapelinski, director of 2017 Berlin Crystal Bear winner Butterfly Kisses.
The forum, now in its 19th year, runs September 8-9 in Toronto in association with Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It brings together jury-selected producers looking to find co-producers and secure financing for upcoming projects.
Canadian projects include The Benefactor starring McDowell from A Clockwork Orange and Mozart In The Jungle in the story of a widower who believes his house is haunted.
Ontario’s Byron A. Martin (The Chronicles Of Riddick, Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D) of Byron A. Martin Productions is producing, and the UK’s David Parfitt (The Father, Shakespeare In Love) is co-producing.
Virgo, the director behind films like Brother and Poor Boy’s Game, will direct Half-Blood Blues. Virgo’s partner at Ontario-based Conquering Lion Pictures, Damon D’Oliveira, is producing with Caitlin Grabham.
Based on Esi Edugyan’s Man Booker finalist, Half-Blood Blues follows the plight of Black jazz musicians in Nazi Germany who attempt to flee the country.