Sacha Mardou and the Art of THE MISSING GIRL

A.D. Calvo's The Missing Girl features some really nice art by the St. Louis-based comic artist, Sacha Mardou.  Mardou not only designed the poster, but her art is featured between scenes in the film and serves as the art created by Ellen, the young comic creator in the film.

Here's a lovely collage Mardou created for the back of Ellen's sketchbook.

I need to step up my notebook game.

Mardou's Ignatz-nominated graphic novel The Sky In Stereo is about a young woman who's about to turn 18.

Her life is all complicated and involves music (of course) and boys and figuring things out.

I also like this cover for volume one.

She's also done a minicomic about the life of Anais Nin called, Anais In Paris.

I just like this man on Mardou's tumblr. 

See more of Mardou's work at her Tumblr. And see more of Mardou's doings at her website. And there is an interview with her at The Believer.

THE MISSING GIRL Final Screening:

Sun. Sept. 20th 2:30 PM SCOTIABANK 4

Toronto is a Comic Book Town!!

This year, Vanguard features not just one, but TWO comic book-related films, Zoom and The Missing Girl!  As much as Toronto is known as a film-loving town, it has a ton of love for the graphic arts as well. So, on your way to your next screening, stop into some of Toronto’s best places for all your comic book related needs!

If you’re headed up Yonge Street from the Ryerson, the Elgin Visa Screening Room, Winter Garden:
Yonge Street has so much to offer! At Silver Snail, you can grab some coffee at the Black Canary Espresso Bar in the store while looking for your latest issue. Or up the street, you can shop comics, games, and more at One Million Comix and Next Move Games. Keep an eye open for Matt Hansen, the writer of Zoom, who stops in for his weekly fix!

• One Million Comix and Next Move Games: 531 Yonge St, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1Z2
• Silver Snail and Black Canary Espresso Bar: 329 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M5B 1R7

If you’re near The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema or Isabel Bader:
The Annex is really where it’s at in the way of comic book finds! First up is Labyrinth Comics is a collector’s friend with a wide variety of comic books, related items, cards, and much more. Though not necessarily a comic book store, I’d be negligent if I failed to mention the amazing used comics collection available at the Bloor Street BMV—sure, look at all the other books, but scour the thousands of back issues in their upstairs section!

• Labyrinth Comics: 86 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X4
• BMV: 471 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X9

And now we come to The Beguiling. Don’t be afraid if you get lost in this store that is overflowing with the best collection of comic book art books around—you won’t be the first to lose time submerged in their stacks, and you won’t be the last! Stop in on the other side of the block at their little sister store, Little Island Comics, and pick something up for the kids in your life—or, go ahead and just get something for yourself at the first store in North America to cater exclusively to the young comic book enthusiast. And, if at all possible, plan on coming back to town for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May—organized by Beguiling’s staff and the help of the Toronto Public Library system, TCAF has made a name for itself in a few short years as one of the best independent comic arts festivals and attached librarian and educators conference all in the name of promoting visual literacy and comic book culture. If you can’t make, at the very least, you should check out their year-round shop on the main floor of the Toronto Reference Library, Page & Panel.

• The Beguiling: 601 Markham St, Toronto, ON M6G 2L7
• Little Island Comics: 742 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON M5S 2R6
• Page & Panel: 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 2G8
• Toronto Comic Arts Festival 

If you are looking to get away from the festival frenzy:
The above are just a small taste of what Toronto has to offer in the way of comics. If you need to get away from the hustle and bustle for a bit, check out the following places and explore a little more of the this comics-and-film-loving town! One of my first stops when I get to Toronto is the amazing Comic Book Lounge + Gallery.

• Comic Book Lounge + Gallery: 484 Oriole Parkway, Toronto, ON M5P 2H8
• Red Nails II: 1700 Wilson Ave, North York, ON M3L 1B2 and 18 Jane St, York, ON M6S 3Y2, Canada
• Atomic Age Comics: 497 Pape Av, Toronto, ON M4K 3R1
• Paradise Comics: 3278 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4N 2L6
• Excalibur Comics: 3030 Bloor St W, Etobicoke, ON M8X 1C4

But whatever you do, be sure to make your way to the screenings of Zoom and The Missing Girl!

Zoom screens:
Tues, Sept 15, 10:15 PM SCOTIABANK
Wed, Sept 16, 9:45 PM SCOTIABANK

The Missing Girl screens:
Sun, Sept 13, 10:00 PM SCOTIABANK
Tues, Sept 15, 4:15 PM SCOTIABANK
Sun, Sept 20, 2:30 PM SCOTIABANK

THE MISSING GIRL and ZOOM: Comic Books on Film and Films on Comic Books

The cinematic and sequential arts have grown up together over the past century, so it is no wonder that movies and comic books make quite the team! Superhero blockbusters and graphic novel cinematic adaptations seem to be everywhere these days!

But not all movies about comic books feature the characters and stories from the books. Comic book culture and all the people who make, sell, and appreciate comic books have also found their way in to film. This year, Vanguard features two films that touch on the other side of comics: Zoom and The Missing Girl. As an added bonus, these films use the format of comics—drawings, frames, speech bubbles—to tell their story.

There aren’t many films who fit this unique concept, so if Zoom and The Missing Girl pique your interest, here’s a few other films “about comic books, but that aren’t based on them” for you to check out:

Unbreakable: In M. Night Shyamalan’s directorial follow-up to The Sixth Sense, we see David Dunn (Bruce Willis) as a man who, with the help of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), comes to the realization that he is a kind of real-life superhero. Price, who runs a high-end comic art gallery, expounds on the ideals and tropes of comic book characters, noting that for every strong man superhero, there is a villain willing to put him to the test.

Chasing Amy: A part of Kevin Smith’s View Askew Universe—a comic book concept in itself—Chasing Amy is the story of Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are the artist and inker (aka “tracer”) of the Bluntman and Chronic comic book series. While at a convention, Holden meets and falls for Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams) another comic creator. The characters learn about one another and about themselves…all of which winds up as the story of Holden’s final book, Chasing Amy—a meta moment tripled in this year’s Zoom!

Cool World: Directed by comic book artist Ralph Bakshi, Cool World is the sees the comic book reality flip inside out as comic strip beauty, Holli Would (Kim Basinger), seduces her creator (Gabriel Byrne), who literally falls head first into the drawn world of his own creation.  Inspired by this comic book noir film, The Missing Girl features a cameo of some of Bakshi’s original artwork.

Artists and Models: Speaking of inspiration, in the 1955 Lewis and Martin classic comedy, Eugene Fullstack (Jerry Lewis) loves comic books but is haunted by the nightmares they inspire. His roommate Rick Todd (Dean Martin), a struggling artist uses the dreams as inspiration for comic books! With Eva Gabor and Shirley MacLaine as the artist models and love interests, this is definitely one to check out!

The Missing Girl screens:
Sun, Sept 13, 10:00 PM SCOTIABANK
Tues, Sept 15, 4:15 PM SCOTIABANK
Sun, Sept 20, 2:30 PM SCOTIABANK

Zoom screens:
Tues, Sept 15, 10:15 PM SCOTIABANK
Wed, Sept 16, 9:45 PM SCOTIABANK


THE MISSING GIRL: Cast Profile

Writer-director A.D. Calvo's film The Missing Girl follows Mort, a comic book store owner who fills the void with rare pieces of pop culture paraphernalia and daydreaming about his beautiful employee Ellen. When Ellen misses work one day, Mort becomes consumed with fear that she is in danger, because of something similar that happened to him earlier in life, which is completely exacerbated when his former classmate Skippy returns to town.

Mort is played by Robert Longstreet, who has worked on several aspects of the filmmaking process and been in dozens of roles in his time, acting in films such as Take Shelter, Ain't Them Bodies Saints and This is Martin Bonner. Longstreet has been decorated with the Sidewalk Film Festival Jury award for his work in both What Happens When Robert Leaves the Room (2012) and Cork's Cattlebaron (2011), and has been nominated for multiple awards for his work.

Alongside Mort is the beautiful Ellen, played by Alexia Rasmusssen, who is perhaps best known for her role as Esther Woodhouse in Proxy, a young pregnant woman who is brutally attacked on her way home, in one of the most disturbing scenes in horror movie history. (Incidentally, Proxy premiered at Vanguard, too). Rasmussen has also worked behind the camera for the short film Silo, which follows Silo, a drunk white man who can't find his missile. She was also nominated for her work in Listen to your Heart in 2010 at the Action on Film International Film Festival for Best Actress.

And last but not least, the former high school classmate Skippy is played by Eric Ladin, who most will recognize as the ritzy brother of January Jones' character on AMC's Mad Men. Ladin is perhaps more known among avid TV watchers, as he is also a part of Big Love, Bones, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, and several more.


THE MISSING GIRL screens:
Sun, Sept 13, 10:00 PM SCOTIABANK
Tue, Sept 15, 4:15 PM SCOTIABANK
Sun, Sept 20, 2:30 PM SCOTIABANK

LUNA: 5 Question Interview with Director Dave McKean

Dave McKean works in many mediums--comics (most famously his covers for The Sandman); illustration; painting; collage, music, photography and film. Aside from his previous feature film, MirrorMask (2005), McKean has directed two shorts, N[eon] (2002) and The Week Before (1998). He directed the film adaptation of the National Theatre Wales' The Gospel Of Us (2012). He's done design for Harry Potter And The Wizard Of Azkaban (2004) and the titles for Neverwhere (1996). Now he brings Luna to TIFF.  McKean was kind enough to answer a few questions. ~ Carol Borden

Where some of your other films are quite stylized and, in the case of The Week Before, almost expressionist, Luna combines fantastic, expressionist and animated elements with more naturalistic ones. What are some of the challenges in blending the fantastic with the naturalistic?

I think it's easier to sustain a very stylized form of storytelling for a short film. I like stories that exist both in the naturalistic world and in our imaginative lives, films are so immersive in that sense, we can explore how our characters think and dream, as well as how they exist in the real world. I think it's very easy to just go down the rabbit hole, or through the door to Narnia or Oz. I'm interested in the parallel narrative of our fantasy lives, or as Dean puts in it Luna, our imaginative lives. How the moment of 'now' that is palpably real, is surrounded by our memories, our dreams and hopes, the stories and connections that our brains make as we navigate the world--a universe of fantasy, or unreality, or surreality. I'm keen to explore this very human experience, how our minds create our own realities--a blend of fact and interpretation of fact.

What do you think fantasy, surrealism and magical realism's strengths are in reflecting and understanding people's lives?

They function like a lens I think. They allow us to see our everyday joys, fears, dramas, tragedies, triumphs in terms or story, or even poetry. Our brains tend to join the dots, make connections. We create dramatic arcs by seeing the relationship between things, but this is our brains creating stories. So these associative images magnify and intensify our experience of the world. They create meaning.

As someone who's worked with illustration, painting, collage and photography, what are some of the differences for you in working with a moving medium rather than a static one?

In some ways they are very similar. I'm always thinking about story, and the development of ideas or images, so with all of these media, I'm simply trying to communicate the feelings and ideas in the story or characters in the most appropriate and effective way. Film gives me live actors, editing, music, sound, a huge and powerful toolbox to play with. If there is a problem for me, it is that film gives me too much. There is less room for the audience to add their side of the conversation. The reason I love comics is that they DON'T move, and there is NO sound. As a creator I have to evoke those elements in the drawings and writing, and the reader has to create those elements in their own minds. Reading a good comic is a creative act. Watching a film is often a more passive experience, and since I'm interested in engaging that conversational aspect of creativity, I'm trying to find ways of achieving that in my films.

McKean working on the set of Luna

Does your illustration, collage and painting inform your filmmaking, and, if so, could you share how it does?

They all talk to each other. Sometimes the things I learn making paintings or drawings--composition, colour, expressionism, texture--can directly influence the making of a film. Sometimes it's great that they are different, and simply taking a break from one medium to spend time with another, recharges the batteries and I feel refreshed.

Who are some of your favorite filmmakers and how have they influenced you?

So many--there are so many extraordinarily creative and brilliant technicians and actors working in the field. The filmmakers I really love are the ones that let me look through their eyes for a while. they have an aesthetic and social point of view. And there have been so many of these. I love the silent era because you can see the rules being written, the grammar of film being created. Murnau, Dreyer and Sjöström I love, as well as many of the Ufa films created in the 20's. Most of my films (all of them?) are in some way love letters to the silent era. I love directors and animators who take complete control of their film world; Svankmajer, Trnka, the Quays, Maddin, Lynch, Fellini. I love the great masters of time and landscape--Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos, Sokurov, Lopushansky. I remain a huge Woody Allen fan, despite the rough years. I love the group of truly modern filmmakers who have really got to grips with the digital realm; Jonze, Gondry, Glazer, Taymor. And I love Lars von Trier--he is, and I never use this word, a genius. I could go on for hours. Oh, and Bob Fosse--my favourite film is All That Jazz. Oh, and Michael Powell.

Okay, that will do.

LUNA screening times:

Sat., Sept. 6, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema 6:30 PM
Mon., Sept. 8, AGO Jackman Hall 9:00 AM
Sun., Sept. 14, Scotiabank 9 8:45 PM