At Toronto Film Festival, an Emphasis on Justice

TORONTOâ€"Tough issues and hard situations: Screens at the Toronto International Film Festival are jammed with so many, it is impossible to do them justice.

But justice â€" of a vibrant, cinematic kindâ€"is precisely what those who made the movies seek, even when it is not immediately in prospect.

“We’re running a campaign at the moment to use the film to help these children” said the writer-director Sarah McCarthy, as she introduced her documentary, “The Dark Matter of Love,” at a Saturday afternoon premiere here.

Ms. McCarthy was referring to perhaps 300 Russian children who, she said, had already bonded with prospective adoptive parents from the United States, before Russian’s government called a halt to American adoptions.

“A Dark Matter of Love” is not really a political film. Rather, it is a case study in the delicate matter of family bonding, focusing on a Wisconsin family and three Russian orphans whom they adopted when long past infancy. Despite the challenges, the expanded family â€" who joined Ms. McCarthy on stage after the screening â€" appear to be on a path toward a full, love-filled life for all involved.
But Ms. McCarthy and others fret that the Russian ban will block the path for others, unless, rising indignation, perhaps fueled by her film, helps to reverse it.

Sometimes, cinema lovers expect more than their favorite medium can likely deliver. At the festival’s opening night gala on Thursday, Chaz Ebert, the widow of critic Roger Ebert, suggested on stage that world leaders might settle mortal differences, if only they were locked up with a bunch of films.

“Show them some movies, and maybe we’d have peace instead of war,” Ms. Ebert suggested, during a tribute to her husband.

If that’s a bit much to ask, others here nonetheless insisted that film shows a way through tough situations.

As Ms. McCarthy spoke at the Bell Lightbox on Saturday, for instance, Colin Firth and colleagues â€" at a press conference downstairs â€" were explaining the lessons in their movie “The Railway Man.”

It is a real-life drama, based on the experiences of Eddie Lomax, who faced torment as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II. “No matter how bleak life might be, there’s always a way forward, if you’re open to see it,” said Mr. Lomax’s widow, Patti, in summarizing the film’s message.

Those seeking difficult issues, hard situations and inspiration in bleak moments would find them all a few minutes later at the Roy Thomson hall, where “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” about the political struggles of Nelson Mandela, had its world premiere on Saturday.

“This movie is a big deal,” said Cameron Bailey, the festival’s artistic director, as he introduced what might be the most insistent of the many festival offerings that insist on social justice.

“We hope you enjoy the film,” Mr. Bailey added. “We hope you learn from it, and we hope you teach it.”

Michael Cieply covers the film industry from the Los Angeles bureau.

At Toronto Film Festival, an Emphasis on Justice

TORONTOâ€"Tough issues and hard situations: Screens at the Toronto International Film Festival are jammed with so many, it is impossible to do them justice.

But justice â€" of a vibrant, cinematic kindâ€"is precisely what those who made the movies seek, even when it is not immediately in prospect.

“We’re running a campaign at the moment to use the film to help these children” said the writer-director Sarah McCarthy, as she introduced her documentary, “The Dark Matter of Love,” at a Saturday afternoon premiere here.

Ms. McCarthy was referring to perhaps 300 Russian children who, she said, had already bonded with prospective adoptive parents from the United States, before Russian’s government called a halt to American adoptions.

“A Dark Matter of Love” is not really a political film. Rather, it is a case study in the delicate matter of family bonding, focusing on a Wisconsin family and three Russian orphans whom they adopted when long past infancy. Despite the challenges, the expanded family â€" who joined Ms. McCarthy on stage after the screening â€" appear to be on a path toward a full, love-filled life for all involved.
But Ms. McCarthy and others fret that the Russian ban will block the path for others, unless, rising indignation, perhaps fueled by her film, helps to reverse it.

Sometimes, cinema lovers expect more than their favorite medium can likely deliver. At the festival’s opening night gala on Thursday, Chaz Ebert, the widow of critic Roger Ebert, suggested on stage that world leaders might settle mortal differences, if only they were locked up with a bunch of films.

“Show them some movies, and maybe we’d have peace instead of war,” Ms. Ebert suggested, during a tribute to her husband.

If that’s a bit much to ask, others here nonetheless insisted that film shows a way through tough situations.

As Ms. McCarthy spoke at the Bell Lightbox on Saturday, for instance, Colin Firth and colleagues â€" at a press conference downstairs â€" were explaining the lessons in their movie “The Railway Man.”

It is a real-life drama, based on the experiences of Eddie Lomax, who faced torment as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II. “No matter how bleak life might be, there’s always a way forward, if you’re open to see it,” said Mr. Lomax’s widow, Patti, in summarizing the film’s message.

Those seeking difficult issues, hard situations and inspiration in bleak moments would find them all a few minutes later at the Roy Thomson hall, where “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” about the political struggles of Nelson Mandela, had its world premiere on Saturday.

“This movie is a big deal,” said Cameron Bailey, the festival’s artistic director, as he introduced what might be the most insistent of the many festival offerings that insist on social justice.

“We hope you enjoy the film,” Mr. Bailey added. “We hope you learn from it, and we hope you teach it.”

Michael Cieply covers the film industry from the Los Angeles bureau.

Sept. 7: Where the Candidates Are Today

Planned events for the mayoral candidates, according to the campaigns and organizations they are affiliated with. Times are listed as scheduled but frequently change.

Kenan Christiansen and Nicholas Wells contributed reporting.

Event information is listed as provided at the time of publication. Details for many of Ms. Quinn events are not released for publication.Maps of all campaign events since April »

Events by candidate

Albanese

Carrión

Catsimatidis

De Blasio

Lhota

Liu

McDonald

Quinn

Thompson

Weiner

Group event

John A. Catsimatidis
Republican

12 p.m.
Celebrates his birthday, along with volunteers and staff, at the Metropolitan Republican Club on East 83rd Street in Manhattan.

2 p.m.
Tours businesses in southwest Brooklyn, accompanied by Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and the Kings County Republican chairman, Craig Eaton,.along 13th Avenue and 86th Street in Dyker Heights.

Bill de Blasio
Democrat

9:35 a.m.
While introducing the mayoral candidates at the National Action Network’s weekly action rally, the Rev. Al Sharpton mentions promises he’s made to each one. But none draw so much reaction as his wry quip, “I promised Bill de Blasio I would take his son to the barbershop for a haircut.” Speaking third, Mr. de Blasio also draws some of the bigger applause of the morning, starting with his recollections of the night he spent at Mr. Sharpton’s invitation at the city-run Lincoln Houses, which echoed his campaign’s focus. “Social justice without economic justice will not get you far,” he tells the crowd, at the House of Justice in Harlem.

10:15 a.m.
Attends a New Yorkers for de Blasio “Get Out the Vote” rally, at 72nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

1:15 p.m.
Attends another New Yorkers for de Blasio “Get Out the Vote” rally, on Fulton Street in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

3 p.m.
Accepts an endorsement from Councilman Jumaane D. Williams at East 49th Street and Tilden Avenue in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

4 p.m.
Greets voters on Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope.

5:30 p.m.
Meets voters in Bartel-Pritchard Square, by Prospect Park in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.

John C. Liu
Democrat

9 a.m.
Bringing their son, Joey, along to the day’s public events, Mr. Liu and his wife, Jenny, help the New York City Buddhist Association observe its 50th anniversary, at Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens.

10 a.m.
Last among the mayoral candidates to address the crowd at the National Action Network’s weekly rally, Mr. Liu attempts to rouse the audience by repeating the line, “Good morning, House of Justice!” The audience gives a polite sound-off, but little more, and he quits after the second try. “People sometimes call me the Asian Al Sharpton, and I’m happy with that moniker,” he continues, before going on to declare, with his wife and son in the audience, that he hopes to become the “first Black-Asian mayor of New York City.” He proceeds to reflect on his activism, the vast sums he says he has saved the city as comptroller, his willingness to fight relentlessly to abolish the stop-and-frisk policing practice, and his intent to raise the local minimum wage to $11 an hour, before telling the crowd, “I’ve fought the good fight.” If elected, he promises to bring justice to the so-called Central Prk Five by petitioning for a settlement that the current administration is not ready to give, and insists that the federal investigation into his campaign was simply an attempt to sideline him. “No matter how they try to derail me,” he tells the crowd at the House of Justice in Harlem, “I’m proud to be the consistent progressive candidate in this election. I don’t flip-flop. I don’t evolve.”

11 a.m.
With his wife and son in tow, Mr. Liu attends his campaign’s “Get Out the Vote” rally and embarks on a local business tour that starts at 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, in Washington Heights.

12:30 p.m.
Attends the observance, together with his wife and son, of the 15th anniversary of the Million Youth March at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building, in Harlem.

1:30 p.m.
Joins the Bronx Democratic County Committee at its annual community barbecue, accompanied by his wife and son, on Blondell Avenue in Westchester Village, the Bronx. There, he might run into a Democratic rival, William C. Thompson Jr., who arrives shortly before Mr. Liu, or Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Independent candidate, who is expected later.

2:30 p.m.
Attends his campaign’s “Get Out the Vote” rally with his wife and son, at the Golden Imperial Palace in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

3:15 p.m.
Meets with the 200 Decatur Street Block Association, with his wife and son, at the Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

4 p.m.
Participates with his wife, Jenny, and their son, Joey, in the Coney Island Generation Gap Soap Box Derby, at Kaiser Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

4:30 p.m.
Attends his campaign’s “Get Out the Vote” rally on Staten Island, with his wife and son, and follows that up with a tour of local businesses, starting with Western Beef Supermarket on Bay Street.

5 p.m.
Attends the Greek Festival at the Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, with his wife and son, on Richmond Avenue on Staten Island.

6:30 p.m.
Attends his campaign’s “Get Out the Vote” rally for the Bangladeshi community, at Church and McDonald Avenues in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

7:30 p.m.
Attends another of his campaign’s “Get Out the Vote” rallies, this one geared to Muslims, at the North Bronx Jame Masjid, on Perry Avenue in Norwood, the Bronx.

8:15 p.m.
Greets voters at Bay Plaza Shopping Center on Baychester Avenue, in the Co-op City section of the Bronx.

Joseph J. Lhota
Republican

9 a.m.
Greets participants of the 9/11 Flag Football League, in Bloomingdale Park on Staten Island.

7 p.m.
Greets voters at the Greek Festival running at the Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, on Richmond Avenue on Staten Island.

Christine C. Quinn
Democrat

9:15 a.m.
Following William C. Thompson Jr. at the National Action Network’s weekly action rally, she outlines her agenda for job growth, affordable housing, education and crime, and gives examples of how each borough would be affected by her policies. “I want to make sure no neighborhood is left behind,” she tells the crowd at the House of Justice in Harlem.

12 p.m.
Joins former Mayor Edward I. Koch’s decades-old weekly luncheon club â€" including George Arzt, Peter Ashkenazy, John LoCicero, Arnold N. Kriss and Herb Berman â€" for a bite at the archly-named City Hall Restaurant in Tribeca. Her campaign is billing the gathering as an “intimate lunch,” though it is offering a “media availability” for the first 20 minutes of the private event. The last name of George Arzt, a longtime public relations guru, was misspelled in an early advisory.

1 p.m.
Attends the 50th anniversary of the Big Six Towers, a middle-income development in Queens, with Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and U.S. Congressman Joseph Crowley, In Woodside, Queens.

2:15 p.m.
Greets shoppers at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket with her wife, Kim M. Catullo, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Some of Ms. Quinn’s events may not be shown because the campaign declines to release her advance schedule for publication.

William C. Thompson Jr.
Democrat

9:30 a.m.
Tries to make the most of his slot as the first mayoral candidate allowed to address the crowd at the National Action Network’s weekly action rally by kidding his host, the Rev. Al Sharpton, that “We’re doing this in order of the people you’re closest to, right?” Nonetheless, he draws slender applause from the crowd after salting his remarks with mentions of the 50th anniversary march on Washington last month, as a “restart” that has given the civil rights movement “new energy,” the need to find more jobs for African-American and Latino men, and the need to address the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk tactic. The event is held at the House of Justice in Harlem.

10:30 a.m.
Kicks off a local canvassing effort at his campaign office, in Laurelton, Queens.

11:30 a.m.
Kicks off a canvassing effort with the United Federation of Teachers president, Michael Mulgrew, and members of the union at Ben’s Delicatessen, at the Bay Terrace shopping center in Bayside, Queens.

1 p.m.
Joins the Bronx Democratic County Committee for its annual community barbecue, on Blondell Avenue in Westchester Village, the Bronx. If he lingers long enough, he might run into a Democratic rival, John C. Liu, or Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Independent candidate, both expected later.

3 p.m.
Meets voters at the Love Out Loud Youth Empowerment summit, hosted by the Greater Bethel Community Development Corporation, New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie and the NYPD’s 113th Precinct, at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens.

4:30 p.m.
Kicks off another canvassing effort at his campaign office in Jackson Heights, Queens.

5:45 p.m.
Hosts a motivational rally with State Senator José Peralta at the pedestrian plaza on 37th Avenue and 73rd Street, in Jackson Heights, Queens.

7:15 p.m.
Attends the summer barbecue hosted by Elmcor, a community organization that originated in East Elmhurst and Corona but now serves all of Queens, on Northern Boulevard in Corona.

Anthony D. Weiner
Democrat

9:45 a.m.
Mistakenly refers to the Rev. Al Sharpton as “Reverend Jackson” while addressing the crowd at the weekly rally sponsored by the pastor’s organization, National Action Network, at Harlem’s House of Justice. Realizing the gaffe, Mr. Weiner feigns showing himself the exit with a quick closing statement, “Thanks, goodnight ladies and gentleman!” As people laugh, he then recovers his composure and says, “I’ll be running for my third campaign, thinking about that gaffe.” From thereon, Mr. Weiner lays himself bare, saying this campaign was not only about who the candidates were, but who they wanted to become. He talked about forgiveness and New Yorkers’ aspirations for a future where things could become better, including leaders. “They don’t want a perfect person. They want someone who is going to get up everyday and fight like the dickens for them!” Mr. Weiner says. Mr. Sharpton says fterward: “I’m not going to hold that gaffe against him. We all make gaffes, I’m not going to pick on…what’s his name?”

10:30 a.m.
Greets volunteers who are helping his campaign get out the vote, at 5025 Broadway in Manhattan.

10:45 a.m.
Delivers the closing argument of his ongoing Keys to the City Tour, “Making New York City Taxes More Fair,” at Isham Park in Inwood. His proposal would provide tax cuts to caregivers for old people, eliminate city income taxes for the lowest earners and require billionaire oligarchs to pay more for their multimillion-dollar properties.

12:45 p.m.
Joins supporters and other canvassers who are helping his campaign get out the vote, at 130th Avenue and 224th Street in Queens.

2 p.m.
Meets voters at the Love Out Loud Youth Empowerment Summit, hosted by the Greater Bethel Community Development Corporation, Councilman Leroy Comrie and the Police Department’s 113th Precinct, at the Roy Wilkins Recreation Center, in Jamaica, Queens.

3 p.m.
While Joseph J. Lhota devoted part of his morning to flag football players on Staten Island, Mr. Weiner makes an appearance at the Guyana Inter-County Cricket Games, at Baisley Pond Park in Jamaica, Queens.

4 p.m.
Greets voters at the Family Day at Mayor William O’Dwyer Gardens, on Surf Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

8 p.m.
Hosts an hourlong town hall-style meeting over the telephone with Staten Island residents, open to registered Democrats.

Sal F. Albanese
Democrat

10:30 a.m.
Devoting the public portion of his day to Brooklyn, he starts by greeting shoppers and passers-by on Third Avenue, in Bay Ridge.

11:30 a.m.
Spends time at the St. Nicholas Home, an independent living community, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

12:15 p.m.
Greets shoppers on Fifth Avenue, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

1:45 p.m.
Wraps up by introducing himself to shoppers on 13th Avenue, in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.

Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Independent

1 p.m.
Attends the second annual Bronx Back to School Literacy and Health Fair, sponsored by the borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr., in Mount Eden, the Bronx.

2:30 p.m.
Heads over to the Bronx Democratic County Committee annual community barbecue for food and games, on Blondell Avenue in Westchester Village, the Bronx, an outing that his mayoral rivals, John C. Liu and William C. Thompson Jr., also had their sights on today.

George T. McDonald
Republican

1 p.m.
Attends the Neiman Art Center’s open house, on Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem.

A Portrait of Evil in ’12 years a Slave’

TORONTO â€" Halfway through the Friday night screening of “12 Years a Slave” at the Toronto International Film Festival, a woman roughly 15 rows back in the auditorium finally had to cut loose.

“Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” she kept saying, as the enslaved Solomon Northup, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, gave a thrashing to an especially wicked master played by Paul Dano.

No ambiguity here.

While “The Fifth Estate,” another Toronto film, cultivates a studied ambivalence toward its subject, Julian Assange, “12 Years a Slave” knows exactly where it stands.

Slavery is evil â€" and the film hammers that home with its portrayal of horrifying plantation moments. Beatings, rape, murder, it’s all there, in vivid tableaux constructed by the film’s director, Steve McQueen.

At the Princess of Wales theater here on Friday, those scenes â€" written by John Ridley, with help from the film’s historical consultant, Henry Louis Gates Jr. â€" provoked considerable response from the audience. People groaned at the floggings; laughed bitterly at the ranting of a plantation mistress; and clapped in time to a gospel tune that played over the credits at the end.

The screening carried echoes of a revival meeting, and the prevailing sentiment, as the movie ended, was “Amen!”

“If I never get to participate in a film after it, this is it for me,” Brad Pitt, who appears in the movie, said afterward. He was underscoring the sense of importance that comes with what is, after all, a very rare portrayal of slavery in early 19th-century America.

The amen spirit will be an enormous plus as “12 Years a Slave,” which will be released by Fox Searchlight on Oct. 18, mounts its drive for the Oscars.

“So I hear we’re about to see the best picture winner,” said one young woman as she eased into her seat for the Friday screening â€" though the Academy Awards are six months away, and very few contenders have been seen yet by Oscar voters.

But there’s a bit of risk in the sense of moral certainty that comes with “12 Years a Slave.”
Much as “The Fifth Estate” will have to sustain its pose of ambiguity for the next half-year, “12 Years” will have to sustain its outrage. To do either is a challenge.