35th Toronto International Film Festival Coverage: Day Three
Clive Owen at the Trust press conference
Another busy day as day three of the Festival unfolded.
From Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner at The Town premiere to Robert Redford and Justin Long at red carpet for The Conspirator, fans at Roy Thompson Hall had something to scream about.
Hilary Swank’s outfit at the Conviction premiere was so hot it may have explained why the fire alarm went off at the Elgin, while Carey Mulligan and Zach Galifianakis greeted filmgoers at the Ryerson Theatre.
At the press conference for David Schwimmer’s Trust, actor Clive Owen explained what drew him to the story of a 14-year-old girl who meets a sexual predator online.
“It was particularly relevant and resonated with me. We’ve got two girls that are hitting the kind of Facebook age, really it’s the time where they’re beginning all of that and I’ve got concerns like every parent.” Schwimmer gave the chilling statistic that 89% of children in chat rooms are solicited sexually.
The fire alarms may have gone off at the Elgin Theatre during the premiere of Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction, but that didn’t stop Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver and Sam Rockwell from talking to reporters on the red carpet.
In the film, based on a true story, Swank plays Betty Anne Waters, who enlisted the help of Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project to help exonerate her wrongfully convicted brother. During this ordeal, the single mother of two who didn’t even have her high school diploma yet, eventually earned a law degree. Swank, who has often talked about her struggles growing up, said she identified with her characters starting from nothing drive and determination.
Hollywood legend Robert Redford was in town to promote The Conspirator. Though we’d cover the premiere later in the day, we first attended the press conference. The founder of Sundance, nurturer of the indie film scene, had a real indie flick on his hands. His film, which follows the story of the rush to judgment that caught people up following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, came to TIFF in search of a distributor. Speaking on the anniversary of 9/11, Redford could see some of the parallels his story had to recent history. “History is a series of loops. We keep repeating ourselves. Now we’re living in a condition of confusion and anxiety and fear and that was the same thing 150 years ago.”
From that press conference we headed to the premiere of Never Let Me Go from director Mark Romanek. Based on the 2005 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the film, which stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, tells the story of three English boarding school friends who not only become entangled in a love triangle but also discover the truth behind the scientific experiments they were raised to be a part of. Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan raised the star presence of the red carpet, literally, by wearing a dress with a bold galactic star map on it.
Ryerson University also played host to the premiere of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story, where stars Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis and Emma Roberts walked the carpet. Based on Ned Vizzini’s 2006 novel, the film follows Gilchrist’s character, a suicidal teenager, as he builds relationships and comes out of depression during his time in a psychiatric hospital.
Day Three of the Festival concluded as Ben Affleck and the cast of The Town took to the red carpet at Roy Thompson Hall for their premiere of their film.