Metis Filmmaker Shane Belcourt Makes Feature Film Debut with Tkaronto Opening in Toronto at The Royal on August 15th for a Week Long Run

“Smart and sexy and arresting, and the performances (especially from Melanie McLaren as Jolene) are terrific.. This is a worthwhile indie feature attracting a lot of deserved buzz, so catch it while you can” – Liz Braun, Ottawa Sun

“One of the year’s most appealing local indie features.” – Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly

(Toronto – August 11, 2008) The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and KinoSmith distribution are pleased to announce the theatrical release of writer-director Shane Belcourt’s feature length film, TKARONTO. This provocative and romantic debut feature will be opening in Toronto at the Royal Cinema (608 College Street) on August 15, 2008 and runs until August 21, 2008.imagineNATIVE has programmed a different award-winning “Best of the Fest” shorts to preceed Tkaronto each night of the week-long run. imagineNATIVE is also hosting a special panel to explore the fascinating and complex issues raised in the film following the screening on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 4:15pm, moderated by Toronto International Film Festival/imagineNATIVE programmer and CBC radio film critic Jesse Wente.

The Toronto showtimes for TKARONTO are:

Friday August 15, 7PM, 9:30PM. Screens with Meskanahk (My Path), director Kevin Burton’s personal reflection on identity. Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award for Emerging Talent, imagineNATIVE 2005.

Saturday, August 16, 9:15PM. Screens with Kent Monkman’s Shooting Geronimo,
which tells the tale of two buff young Cree men in the old west who derail the contrivances of 19th-century filmmaker Frederick Curtis. Berlin International Film Festival 2008, Best Short Drama, imagineNATIVE 2007.

Sunday, August 17, 4:15PM, 9:15PM. Screens with Gail Maurice’s Smudge, a film that explores the negotiation of cultural practice and urban reality. Sundance Film Festival 2006.

Followed by a special panel presentation Changing Landscapes: New Terrains in Indigenous Cinema with Jesse Wente in conversation with Indigenous filmmakers including Writer/Director Shane Belcourt, Producer/Actor Jennifer Podemski and Director/Actor Gail Maurice. The panel will address the new generation of Indigenous filmmakers who are charting new territories in cinema and media from their perspectives and the future of this movement.

Monday August 18, 9:15pm. Screens with The Vanishing Trace, a beautifully-crafted short by Keesic Douglas that challenges our notions of identity. Best Short Documentary, imagineNATIVE 2007.

Tuesday August 19, 9:15pm. Screens with Kevin Burton’s stunning and groundbreaking short film Nikamowin that transforms a Cree narrative into a linguistic soundscape. Best Experimental and Best Indigenous Language Production, imagineNATIVE 2007, Sundance Film Festival 2008.

Wednesday August 20, 7pm. Screens with Thunderstorm, Adam Garnet Jones’s poignant and poetic film about a young boy’s inner strength, and Tomorrow by Michelle Latimer about urban isolation through the eyes of a young woman, winner imagineNATIVE and LIFT commissioning prize 2007.

Thursday, August 21, 7pm. Screens with Joseph Dega Lazare’s By the Rapids, a hilarious animation that has been developed into a TV series by Toronto’s Big Soul Productions and Clear Cut, a deeply personal reflection on the experience of discovering a mixed race identity. Winner, Video of the Month, Isuma.tv

TKARONTO was one of the highlights of the 2007 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, where over 100 people were turned away from the sold-out closing night gala screening. Kerry Swanson, the Executive Director of the festival in 2007 called it “the most successful closing night screening in the festival’s eight-year history.” TKARONTO explores writer/director Shane Belcourt’s Métis heritage in this “smart and sexy and arresting…Aboriginal version of Before Sunrise.” Liz Braun

TKARONTO stars an all Aboriginal cast, led by Duane Murray (An American in Canada) as the funny and self-deprecating Ray and Melanie McLaren (starred in 2007 Cannes film festival short film The Gardner) in a breakout performance as the conflicted Jolene. The cast also includes award-winning Lorne Cardinal (police officer ‘Davis Quinton’ in Corner Gas) as the discerning Elder Max Cardinal and multi-talented Cheri Maracle as his culturally-grounded wife Linda.

Ray (Duane Murray) and Jolene (Melanie McLaren) discover an unexpected connection when their paths’ cross in Tkaronto (the original Mohawk word for “Toronto”). Ray, a Métis writer, has come to Toronto to pitch his TV series, Indian Jones, which is promising to be the big break Ray needs, especially with a pregnant girlfriend back home. Jolene, a Los Angeles-based Anishnabe painter, is passing through Toronto to conduct an interview with a prominent Elder Max (Lorne Cardinal) and is suddenly taken aback when Max presents her with an eagle feather, an honour that she feels unworthy of.

As Ray faces his ambivalence about impending fatherhood and the prospect of selling his material to ignorant TV Execs, Jolene grapples with self-doubt and struggles to finish her interviews with Max. An attraction between them develops as both are drawn together by a mutual search for meaning in their urban existence.

For Jolene and Ray home feels very far away. But through their chance meeting they reveal their hopes, dreams, fears and failures and realize their common struggle: to stake claim to their urban aboriginal identity.

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TKARONTO is a Breath Films production. The executive producer is Michael Corbière and the production designer is David Hannan. The film was made with the help of The ACTRA TIP Fund. For more information go to www.tkaronto.net http://www.tkaronto.net.

KinoSmith has recently released a collection of award-winning films including Yang Chang’s UP THE YANGTZE, the British thriller LONDON TO BRIGHTON, Giuseppe Tornatore’s THE UNKNOWN WOMAN and Chico Teixeira’s ALICE’S HOUSE. KinoSmith also plans to release the Canadian comedy-horror hit JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER this summer as well as the fall releases: John Boorman’s A TIGER’S TAIL, the Berlin Golden Bear award winning TUYA’S MARRIAGE, Peter Raymont’s TRIAGE: DR.JAMES ORBINSKI’S HUMANITARIAN DILEMNA, the environmental festival fave by Mark Leiren-Young’s THE GREEN CHAIN, Spencer Rice’s comedy CONFESSIONS OF A PORN ADDICT and Pietra Brettkelly’s provocative and critically acclaimed documentary THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS.

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is an international festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples on the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, new media and installation art. Each fall, the festival presents a selection of the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from around the globe. The festival’s screenings, parties, panel discussions, and cultural events attract and connect filmmakers, media artists, programmers, buyers, and industry professionals. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world’s Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of our art and culture in contemporary media. For more information, visit http://www.imaginenative.org

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*Interviews Available with Director and all Cast Members*

To book an interview, receive a screener for review and for further information, please contact: Stephanie Keating at 416-966-3796 or email skeating@interlog.com

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DVD clips – on request basis only

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