EVOLUTION Premieres Tonight!

I like to think that Evolution exists in the same world as Peter Strickland's The Duke of Burgundy. It has the same gorgeous cinematography, a similar focus on the natural world. But where The Duke of Burgundy presented a world of female scholars and scientists, in which the only male voice was that of a mole cricket singing on a recording, in Evolution, there are no adult men. There are only boys. The film takes place on an island populated only by young boys and female care providers performing mysterious experiments on them.

We have a teaser now, and it looks gorgeous.

Perhaps, if we are lucky, there will be a mole cricket here and there.

Meanwhile, on another part of the island, mole crickets and lepidoptery lectures.

EVOLUTION Screening Times:
Mon., Sept. 14, 9:30pm at RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 16, 4:30pm at BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Sun., Sept. 20,  8:30pm at TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX

Listen to THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY Director Peter Strickland's "The Len Continuum"

"Darling, I'm off to the Lepidoptery lecture." "I think I'll stay home and listen to 'The Len Continuum.'"

Did you enjoy Peter Strickland's The Duke of Burgundy at Vanguard last year? Or maybe his tribute to giallo and sound design, Berberian Sound Studio, which premiered at Vanguard? Do you wish you could enjoy more dramas by Peter Strickland? Well you're in luck--Strickland has a radio drama "The Len Continuum" airing on BBC Radio 4. It features Toby Jones (Berberian Sound Studio) and it sounds plenty promising.

The debut for radio by the critically acclaimed British filmmaker Peter Strickland, writer and director of cult films Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy.

Sometime in the early eighties, struggling actor Len is increasingly overshadowed by his wife Alice's successful career in local radio. As his bitterness grows, he comes by a chance to finally prove himself.

Surreal soundscapes and black humour with Toby Jones and Belinda Stewart-Wilson.

Will there be mole crickets singing? Listen to find out.  You can listen to it on the Radio 4 site for another three weeks.

Hope you enjoy the show, everyone!

Farewell for Now, Beloved Vanguard Blog Readers...

Welp, we thought if we just pretended like TIFF never ended we could keep living the Vanguard dream forever. Except it did. Two weeks ago. Wait, or is it three? You’re telling us it’s OCTOBER tomorrow?

Well, dang.

In any case, this was one of our best Vanguard years ever but we have a tendency to say that every year so it would be best to just start mentally preparing yourself for 2015 right now. We know we are.

All of our beautiful Vanguard babies have gone off in the world to other festivals and/or acquiring distribution and we could be more proud. Spring will be delighting even more audiences thanks to Drafthouse and Raven Banner. Shrew's Nest, Waste Land and Over Your Dead Body also played The Fantastic Fest. The Voices won two well deserved awards at l'Etrange Festival. Hyena will be distributed in North America by Tribeca Films. IFC Films scooped up Duke of Burgundy. Third World will be releasing The World of Kanako in 2015. Radius/The Weinstein Company will be bringing the terrifying children of Goodnight, Mommy to North America. Music Box picked up Alleluia for distribution and Media Luna will be distributing Luna (no relation).

So if you didn’t see these amazing films at TIFF (ugh, what a jabroni) you have a chance to redeem yourself during their theatrical releases. Just don’t mess it up this time, alright?

Until next year, beloved Vanguard Blog readers. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have something in our eyes. 

Fashions of Vanguard '14

We really need to get Evan from Spring some new clothes. 

We really need to get you some  new clothes.

Evan from Spring has just the one outfit and he wants to look nice for his new cthonically ancient special lady. We have some advice for him--and for you, if you want to look good red carping and at the Preëms, as the fanciest of festival-goers say. Fortunately, we have a variety of looks from the Vanguard programme films this year... and even a few from the Midnight Madness movies!

Ryan Reynolds suggests this inspirational shirt.

(Ryan Reynolds? Ryan Reynolds, man.)

There's always the elusive beauty of the semi-imaginary moth boy.

Pro tip: Wooden fingers are so hot this year!

  

Mesh tank tops and leather pants are back! (Not that they ever really went away…)

The fashionable lepidopterist always wears stocking and heels and sometimes hats, gloves, and capes, when the weather calls for it.

The gloves and capes make for a classic look. Of course, sometimes you might want something more classically mad science. Consider a long gown and bandages.

Or perhaps just a mask. Masks are very on trend this year.

The mud and touches of moss really bring the look together.

Or if you want your face to show, you can do a bold eye liner and a bold lip with a bearskin.

You can even try mixing a message t-shirt with an animal mask, bringing 3 looks together.

But with a full stag head, you might want to balance it with the vulnerability of nudity.

Speaking of balancing revealing skin with tantalizingly covering it up, Cal keeps his excellent penis sheathed in what appears to be a paisley thong.

But before you go full Seventies, just ask yourself, Does this mustache really express me?

It’s important for vampires to always look their best, even when vacuuming the flat.

And always be prepared for fashion mishaps. Uh oh, looks like Viago got blood on his dandy suit. Some soda water and paper towels should get those stains out.



Or you could simply change into this embroidered distressed denim jacket while your clothes are in the wash.

There are a few Fashion Don'ts however...

Creepy ex-boyfriends who give you sexually transmitted hauntings are a definite fashion no no.

When wearing blood, it’s important to blend and remember to never overdo it, Montse. Why not borrow some club soda and paper towels from Viago and tone it down a bit.

Best to make sure that dressmaker’s dummy you’re using isn’t one of Montse’s victims.

An Indiana Jones hat and double tiaras are great accessories for any discerning film fan, but only if you have Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead with you at all times.

Of course we know who the real fashion Peeps Choi Award Winner is...

He might not have won Vanguard Blog Mascot, but he won our hearts with his adorable boxing gloves.

We hope this helps, and remember to use fashion responsibly because fashion is danger. We've seen a lot of decapitations this year, and we don't want to see any more.

(Hell yeah, there's a mix of Vanguard and Midnight Madness films in this because we're Vanguarders and we do what we want. Also, we love the Midnighteers and Maniacs over at the Midnight Madness blog. Films included: Spring; The Voices; Luna; The Editor; What We Do In The Shadows; The Duke of Burgundy; Goodnight, Mommy; Cub; They Have Escaped; Tusk; It Follows; and Shrew's Nest. Special thanks to the Tusk fans and Peter Kuplowsky for being good sports).

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY: Some Thoughts

I don't have quite a review, more some thoughts about The Duke of Burgundy. I loved it from the opening credits, which are as gorgeous as Berberian Sound Studio's. Where Berberian Sound Studio (2012) explored and played with the conventions of giallo, The Duke of Burgundy is grounded in the forms and conventions of European erotica from the late Sixties and Seventies. It is gorgeous, as both Berberian Sound Studio and Strickland's first film, Katalin Varga (2009) are. The soundtrack is an intriguing mix of scoring by Cat's Eyes and field recordings of insects, including the mole cricket (which has become quite popular here at Vanguard). There are beautiful shots of insect and butterfly specimens and diagrams. One segment is an almost kaleidoscopic display of butterfly wings as seen through a microscope. And just as beautifully composed shots of orthopterist Cynthia (Sidse Babette Knudsen) dressing and applying her make-up, composing herself for amateur lepidopterist Evelyn (Chiara D'Anna).

U think that The Duke of Burgundy subverts its genre in its quiet way. There are no men present in the film, no male gaze or point of view to relate with, and the only evident male presence is the male mole cricket recording Cynthia listens to. And it isn't even a pointed male absence. It is, as Jordan Hoffman points out in his review, just the world of the movie. "The movie exists in a world without men, or automobiles or vocations/activities other than delivering or attending lepidoptera lectures."

"Off to another lepidoptera lecture at the institute!"

That world of riding bicycles and attending lepidoptera lectures on endless golden autumn days is tremendously appealing. And god knows, I am looking for a Queer cinema with scientists in love--and hopefully some Danger: Diabolik-style Queer lady cat burglars. But with The Duke of Burgundy, the setting, the lectures and the cycling becomes so much more present for me than the kink, which becomes almost mundane as we see it from different perspectives and in changing contexts.  The kink portrayed is a way of exploring not just their relationship, but the way that fantasy is negotiated in relationships and how relationships, like D/s scenes and films, have their scripts. It's also kind of fascinating to me that a film with such concern with structure and form, not only in Cynthia and Evelyn's relationship, but in the presentation of the narrative and in film's visual and aural structures can be so intimate and compassionate.

But where I think The Duke of Burgundy is truly subversive is in its presentation of Queer women, Lesbians and Lesbian relationships. I have seen a lot of Lesbian films, films about Lesbian relationships and films with Lesbians in them intended for a straight audience. The Duke of Burgundy is one of the few that I think people will watch in the future not as a historical curiosity about how women's relationships with women were portrayed, but as a film exploring the give and take of making your partner happy without making yourself miserable and balancing happiness and fulfillment in a relationship. But with kink, specially designed furniture, lectures about butterflies and mole crickets.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY screening times:

Monday, Sept 8th 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 12

DUKE OF BURGUNDY Twitter Buzz!

There's only one more screening of The Duke Of Burgundy. We've shared an interview with director Peter Strickland. We've shown you the beautiful poster. We've shared some reviews. And we've discussed mole crickets at some length. But if you're still not sure if it's a movie for you, maybe you'd like to read what some other people who saw it think.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY Final Screening:

Monday, Sept 8th 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 12

Vanguard Blog Mascot Contender #3: The Mole Cricket!

Pew! Pew! Fireworks! Confetti!

Just when it seemed like it was all settled. Just when the helicopters had been deployed to retrieve Spring's Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead and relocate them to the mysterious island on which they will battle for Vanguard Mascot Supremacy, everything's changed.

There's a new contender in town and he brings the regards of The Duke Of Burgundy...

Name: Mole Cricket

Also known as: Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa; "Aaaaah!"; and "What the hell is that?!"

Description: Brownish with a lighter underside; heavily plated head, forelimbs and prothoroax; mole-like digging claws.

 Strengths: Digging; Singing; Flight; Biting.

Weaknesses: Not a strong jumper; Winter; Curry.

Signature moves: Digging; Long Whirring Call; Stealth Attacks; Mole Cricket Fist

Finishing moves: Creeping people out; "Mole Cricket Exits The Cave" Stance.

Why the Mole Cricket would make a good replacement Vanguard Blog mascot for Joe Swanberg:

The Mole Cricket looks cute in boxing gloves. He is the contender most likely to be able to defeat the Midnight Madness Isopod mascot, if it came to a thrown down. The ability to enrage golfers alone is enough reason for the Mole Cricket to become the Official Mascot. Mole Crickets are also bound to become an indie film sensation just like Joe Swanberg.

DUKE OF BURGUNDY Press Round-Up!

"Should we go into town to see a film?"

 There's one more screening of The Duke Of Burgundy and maybe you haven't quite decided if it is for you. Here's a little round-up of reviews to help. We like to help.

At Little White Lies, David Ehrlich has a nice review of The Duke of Burgundy, writing, "Peter Strickland's sapphic giallo dream is a tied-up and twisted masterpiece."

And adding:

A few minutes into Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy, the matron of a gorgeous European estate pulls her maid into a bathroom and pisses into her mouth. That’s the exact moment when it becomes clear that these two women are deeply in love with each other.

Perhaps the major discovery of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, The Duke of Burgundy is a Certified Copy riff for the S&M crowd, Strickland’s third feature cementing his status as a world talent while also assimilating shades of early Fassbinder and a diffuse (but palpable) giallo atmosphere into its cheeky exploration of relationships and their performative nature

At Screen Daily, Allan Hunter writes, "The Duke Of Burgundy is a complex, melancholy romance in which love is sustained by negotiating the limits of desire and understanding the expectations of your partner. It is an odd, original and beguiling work."

 Robbie Collin writes at The Telegraph:

In the same way Strickland’s last film, Berberian Sound Studio, invoked the black gloves and curdled screams of giallo horror without actually making a home for itself in that genre, The Duke of Burgundy draws on the sexually charged European chillers of the late 1970s, by directors like Jess Franco and Joe D’Amato – it operates at the same kind of sex-dazed remove as Vampyros Lesbos or Lorna the Exorcist, although here, that forbidden creaminess comes spiced with very British humour.

 Jordan Hoffman writes at The Guardian:

The Duke of Burgundy will have its detractors. But this is not just a filthy movie. It's a considerable work of art, and one that touches on a rarely discussed side of human sexuality completely free of judgement. You may be surprised to find shades of your own life in Evelyn and Cynthia's fragile relationship.

Meanwhile, Culture Addicts looks at the soundtrack by Cat's Eyes:

Cat’s Eyes have created a compelling atmosphere which beautifully showcases [Rachel] Zeffira’s classical leanings and [Faris] Badwan’s darker side, while drawing previously invisible arcs between Verdian Requiems, Phil Spector pop, and Paul Giovanni’s Wicker Man.

 Unfortunately, I can find no reviews of Peter Strickland's mole cricket 7".

Sorry, little guy.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY Final Screening:

Monday, Sept 8th 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 12

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY: Our Friend The Mole Cricket

Hi, everybody!

When we interviewed Peter Strickland, director for The Duke of Burgundy, he revealed that his favorite insect was the mole cricket and his favorite insect sound is the mole cricket's call. And it became clear to me that the heart of The Duke Of Burgundy is not European Erotic Cinema or even the complex negotiations of human relationships. It's mole crickets.

Things to know about mole crickets:

Mole crickets are in the same order (Orthoptera) as crickets, grasshoppers and leafhoppers of various kinds, but their family (Gryllotalpidae) have developed specialized--and kinda adorable if you look at them a long time--claws for digging. Their rear legs are adapted for helping them push through the ground.

They are nocturnal, omnivorous and hibernate deep beneath the ground in the winter.

Mole crickets might not be strong jumpers, but they can fly, making them a terrestrial, aerial and subterranean triple threat.

As adults, mole crickets are classified as "big-ass"--growing up to an inch and a half or 3-5 cm.

"I am at the heart of cinema itself."

According to Peter Strickland, golfers and golf course grounds keepers despise mole crickets. My own internet research bears this out.

Male mole crickets create swank dens for female mole crickets to lay their eggs in. The dens act as a resonating chamber for the male's call.

via Listen To This Noise as is the video below.

And mole crickets make this sound:


Learn more about mole crickets--and love--and loving mole crickets tonight with The Duke Of Burgundy. And make sure to pick up one of Strickland's recordings of mole cricket song if you get the chance!

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY screening times:

Saturday, Sept 6th 10:00 PM TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 1
Monday, Sept 8th 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 12

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY: Premieres Tonight!

Peter Strickland's The Duke of Burgundy is the third Vanguard film premiering today. The premiere will take place at TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 1 at 10:00 PM. Head over to our previous posts to see the poster and an interview with director Peter Strickland.

Tickets can be purchased:

• ONLINE: TIFF.net's Ticket Product List Page
• BY PHONE: 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433 (Toll-free) 
• IN PERSON
• Festival Box Office; 225 King St. West
• TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. West

Further information about The Duke of Burgundy can be found on the Festival website and the film's official website.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY screening times:
Sat., Sept. 6th, 10:00 PM, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 1
Mon., Sept. 8th, 3:15 PM, SCOTIABANK 12

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY: 5 Question Interview with Director Peter Strickland

After astounding audiences with his tribute to giallo and foleying two years ago in Berberian Sound Studio, Peter Strickland returns to Vanguard this year with The Duke Of Burgundy, a film about the relationship between two women with conflicting desires and a shared interest in lepidoptery and entomology. Strickland was kind enough to answer a few questions. In this short interview, he talks about sound, the pressure to put on a persona, pheromonal perfume and mole crickets. ~ Carol Borden

Sound design played an integral role in Berberian Sound Studio and plays one again in The Duke Of Burgundy. What interests you about sound design and soundtracks in film, and how did you come to use insect sounds for The Duke Of Burgundy? 

There was a conscious effort to do something rigorous and defined for the sound design in Berberian Sound Studio. That approach would've felt frivolous had we done it for The Duke of Burgundy. Martin Pavey stripped a lot back for the sound mix. We probably put more time and thought into taking sounds away than in constructing anything. We tried to offer something sparse with air to breathe and most importantly, we didn't wish to draw attention to ourselves since sound was not the subject as it was with the previous film. But taking that into account, Martin is a highly inventive one-man show of a sound designer. He does the job of five people on any other film. We don't want to wow people with sound but we want to evoke a strong sense of place and feeling. Carefully looking for original field recordings to mix in with Rob Entwistle's work certainly helped. Certain animals were not available or on cue during the shoot, so we had to hunt down recordings of roe deer and scops owls during post production. I was very happy to include the wing sounds of Bombyx mori by Michael Prime (a member of Organum, one of my favourite bands).

I can't really explain my interest in sound and soundtracks. It's just something I naturally key into, though I greatly admire directors who resist soundtracks. It's all ultimately down to what most suitably serves the mood and subject of a film, whether that means no music or something incredibly lush. I came to use mole cricket sounds for The Duke of Burgundy because I put out a record of these in 2003 and couldn't sell any. I got tired of those boxes taking up so much space under my bed, thinking that if this film does well, I can finally sell those records. I'm kind of desperate to be honest and I'll be bringing a box with me to Toronto.

The Duke of Burgundy feels quite a bit like a lot of Lesbian literature, pulp melodrama and historical material from the 1930s and 1940s, while portraying a very emotionally believable relationship between two people. I was wondering what, if any, research you did and how it informed the film and your portrayal of Cynthia, Evelyn and their relationship. 

I didn't do much research. It's a completely artificial world which I wanted to exist on its own terms. In terms of the emotional resonance, that comes from somewhere or other. Just being a human, that side takes care of itself when writing. I didn't want to make a judgement either for or against BDSM nor did I want to send it up, but the practicalities of enacting any fantasy can be as ridiculous as the practicalities of doing foley work for a horror film. What I wanted to do was push the audience to a far point in terms of being able to relate to a sexual desire and almost lose them. But once the surprise at the lengths Evelyn will go to for her sexual kicks has gone, one can hopefully see what is at the crux of the film: how can compromise be reached between two lovers who have different intimate needs?

But research aside, I'm very fond of a lot of those euro sleaze films from the '70s, especially anything with Joe Dallesandro. My first meeting with Andy Starke was to do with remaking Jess Franco's Lorna the Exorcist. We ditched that idea but wanted to wade into that fantastical realm that Franco was notorious for. In some way, taking some core cues from Franco's films was a starting point for the script, but then with the process of writing it changed naturally into something else, though staying true to the sadomasochistic pulse of the majority of his work. The first proper job I ever had in the film industry was as an assistant on Bruce LaBruce's Skin Flick in 1998, so maybe something stuck.

Berberian Sound Studio explored the artifice of film, while showing the blurry line between reality and fantasy in people's lives. The Duke of Burgundy reveals the artifice necessary to make fantasy reality in the context of BDSM and, possibly, love. Is the relationship between people's inner and outer lives something you find particularly interesting? 

That's something I can only consider in hindsight. I wasn't really conscious of that when writing either script. What I found interesting from the films I had seen which explored different desires was that they rarely exposed the reality behind the fantasy. The dominant male or female is inherently so in these films. It seemed both more fun and truthful to peel off the ice queen mask and reveal an altogether different person - a reluctant dominatrix, which Sidse portrayed so vividly.  The ritualistic/repetitive aspect of the sexual role play is fascinating and you can manipulate that in a film as a means of altering one's perception of power, meaning and even time. The same words are repeated but with the accrued knowledge the audience have of the characters and their dynamic, the meaning is totally different. But ultimately, the most universal connection the film has is the pressure of putting on a persona. That's something that's always a demand on us in almost all aspects of our lives. 

Mole cricket via Listen To This Noise

The film is incredibly sensuous, not just visually and aurally, but appealing to senses less easily accessed by film. There are strong tactile elements, but I also noticed a perfume credited in the opening titles. Was it a scent worn by one of the actors? What role does it play in the film? 

That's a new perfume--je suis Gizella. She's an erstwhile javelin champion who had to take early retirement due to an in-growing toenail. The perfume is allegedly made from some clandestine serum but she won't divulge too much. It's quite pheromonal and was making a couple of the crew members too horny, which meant I had to confiscate the bottles.

Do you have a favorite insect or insect sound? 

It has to be the mole cricket. They're hated by golfers which gives them an instant thumbs up from me. I find them staggeringly beautiful even though they're probably the most elusive of insects. Also, the sound they make can be harsher than a Whitehouse record.

Thanks to Peter Strickland for taking time to answer my questions. And make sure you get a copy of his collection of mole cricket sounds! 

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY screening times:

Saturday, Sept 6th 10:00 PM TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 1
Monday, Sept 8th 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 12

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY First Look and Poster!

We're pretty sure we could just type PETER STRICKLAND over and over again in caps and that would be enough to entice you to want to see The Duke of Burgundy. Because we all still remember the amazingness that was Berberian Sound Studio from the 2012 Festival, right? Right. Well Strickland is back and all we can say is, "Finally!"

This time, we're taken to new erotic heights with the story of a wealthy amateur lepidopterist (read: studier of butterflies and moths) whose sadomasochistic streak is slowly revealed to her new housekeeper as the two become lovers. (You know how it goes with housekeepers.) The Duke of Burgundy, like Berberian Sound Studio, promises to plunge the audience in a startling, surreal sensory experience through dark, lush cinematography and music.

Totally normal relationship for a housekeeper and employer, yup.

Production company Rook Films released a poster by amazing artist Jay Shaw. After ogling this work, you should head over to his website and ogle the rest. (We want them all, obviously.)

Poster perfection? We think so. 

The Duke of Burgundy is screening at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Vanguard Programme. Check out the rest of the Vanguard films on the official Festival website.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY screening times:

Saturday, Sept 6th 10:00 PM TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 1
Monday, Sept 8th 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 12

Vanguard's 2014 Programme Seduces and Thrills

Vanguarders and Vanguardians, the time is here at last--Vanguard has returned!

The Toronto International Film Festival's Vanguard programme seduces audiences with a sensory experience full of mystery and boundary--busting madness, with bold international films that walk the razor’s edge. International programmer Colin Geddes brings together the work of some of the most audacious auteurs in the world to present a cinematic adventure that takes audiences to the dark, dangerous places that both unnerve yet intrigue them.

“The Vanguard programme presents the intersection between genre and arthouse to showcase intrepid works that fearlessly defy convention,” said Geddes. “Daring audiences who have grown to love the extreme cinema of Midnight Madness will definitely be seduced by the subversive sophistication of Vanguard.”

The 2014 roster includes master of extreme cinema Takashi Miike (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, 13 Assassins), fantastical image manipulator Dave McKean (MirrorMask) , French fear jockey Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire, Vinyan), the cleverly unsettling Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio), and the wickedly charming duo of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Kern).

Alleluia
Fabrice Du Welz, France/Belgium. North American Premiere

When Gloria and Michel meet on a dating site, nothing suggests the destructiv and murderous passion that will be born of their crazy love. Alleluia is inspired by a 1947 article about nurse Martha Beck and swindler Raymond Fernandez, who became involved in a deadly, tragic affair.

The Duke of Burgundy
Peter Strickland, United Kingdom. World Premiere.

Peter Strickland’s eagerly anticipated follow up to Berberian Sound Studio, screened in the 2012 Vanguard programme, and Katalin Varga is a gorgeously dark melodrama following two women who test the limits of their unsettlingly intense relationship. Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) and Chiara d’Anna.

Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh, Ich seh) 
Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Austria. North American Premiere

 In the heat of the summer in an isolated house in the countryside between woods and corn fields, 10-year-old twins wait for their mother. When she returns with her head wrapped in bandages after surgery, nothing is as it was before. Stern and distant now, she shuts the family off from the outside world. Starting to doubt that this woman is actually their mother, the boys are determined to find the truth by any means.

Hyena
Gerard Johnson, United Kingdom. International Premiere

Michael Logan is an anti-hero for our times: a natural predator, a high-functioning addict , and corrupt police officer. But his dark world is evolving : a recent influx of ruthless Albanian gangsters is threatening to change London’s criminal landscape. Michael’s razor sharp instincts have always kept him one step ahead, but now his increasingly self-destructive behavior and the sheer brutality of the new gang lords send Michael spiraling into a descent of fear and self-doubt.

Luna
Dave McKean, United Kingdom. World Premiere

Renowned artist and filmmaker Dave McKean (MirrorMask) brings his distinctive blend of live action and gorgeously wrought animation to this dreamlike reverie about four people--Grant, Christine, Dean and Freya--whose long weekend in an isolated house by the sea brings up old resentments and the life of a dead child is revisited in a series of strange dreams.

Over Your Dead Body
Takashi Miike, Japan. International Premiere

A star, Miyuki Goto (Ko Shibasaki) plays Oiwa, the protagonist in a new play based on the ghost story, Yotsuya Kaidan. She pulls some strings to get her lover, Kosuke Hasegawa (Ebizo Ichikawa) cast in the play , even though he 's a relatively unknown actor. Other performers Rio Asahina (Miho Nakanishi) and Jun Suzuki (Hideaki Ito) lust after Miyuki. Off stage the cast's possessive love and obsessions exist as reality. Trapped between the play and reality, the cast's feelings for each other are amplified. When it becomes clear that love is not meant to be both on and off stage, love turns in to a grudge and crosses the blurred line between reality and fantasy.

Shrew’s Nest (Musarañas)
Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel, Spain. World Premiere

Spain, 1950s. Monste’s agoraphobia keeps her locked in a sinister apartment in Madrid and her only link to reality is the lit tle sister she sacrificed her youth to raise . But one day, a reckless young neighbour, Carlos, falls down the stairwell and drags himself to their door. Someone has entered the shrew’s nest... and perhaps he’ll never leave.

Spring 
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, USA. World Premiere

A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a girl harbouring a dark, primordial secret in this edgy, romantic drama with a supernatural twist.

They Have Escaped 
JP Valkeapää, Finland. North American Premiere

A boy and a girl meet at a custody center for youth with difficulties . The boy has come to serve his obligatory civil service. The girl is one of the youths in custody, and she is constantly in trouble, with a fire inside her and a lust for life t hat can't be quashed or controlled. The boy becomes infatuated with the girl. He is a quiet one; a stutterer. But there is a fire inside him as well. Rules, laws, punishment; the shackles of the hostile environment with no understanding around them can be broken. They steal a car a nd flee together. Thus begins a journey with endless escapes.

Waste Land
Pieter Van Hees, Belgium. World Premiere

Leo Woeste is a homicide investigator living with his girlfriend Kathleen and her five-year-old son, Jack. Kathleen gets pregnant unexpectedly just as Leo must solve his most bizarre case to date: the ritual murder of a young Congolese man, which may or may not involve Leo’s hedonistic new colleague, Johnny Rimbaud. As the case’s complexity mounts by the minute, Leo is pulled away from Kathleen and his role as a father, and heads deeper and deeper into the Waste Land.

The World of Kanako (Kawaki)
Tetsuya Nakashima, Japan International Premiere

When beautiful straight-A high school student Kanako goes missing, her mother asks ex-husband Akikazu—a drifting, irresponsible former cop—to find their daughter. He embarks on a desperate search in the hope of reuniting his family by any means necessary. But as his investigation progresses, Akikazu starts to discover the darkness that lies behind his daughter’s impeccable façade. Clue by clue, revelation by revelation, he starts his descent into the hellish underworld of Kanako’s secret life...

Purchase Festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET daily at 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.843

Or visit the Gupta Box Office in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET daily at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West until August 20 (while quantities last).

The 39th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 4 to 14, 2014.

Social Media:
@TIFF_NET
#Vanguard #TIFF14
Facebook.com/TIFF
and, of course, right here at the Official Vanguard Programme Blog.