Henry Norman Bethune was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of socialized medicine, and member of the Communist Party of Canada. Bethune came to international prominence first for his service as a frontline trauma surgeon supporting the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, and later supporting the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Bethune helped bring modern medicine to rural China, treating both sick villagers and wounded soldiers.
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, Forbes named her the world's richest actress with an estimated net worth of $400 million.
Donald McNichol Sutherland is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films Citizen X (1995) and Path to War (2002); the former also earned him a Primetime Emmy Award. An inductee of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canadian Walk of Fame, he also received a Canadian Academy Award for the drama film Threshold (1981). Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited him as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. In 2017, he received an Academy Honorary Award for his contributions to cinema. In 2021, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries for his work in the HBO miniseries The Undoing (2020).
Kiefer William Sutherland is a British-Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards.
Irwin Lawrence "Paul" Mazursky was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Known for his dramatic comedies that often dealt with modern social issues, he was nominated for five Academy Awards: three times for Best Original Screenplay, once for Best Adapted Screenplay, and once for Best Picture for An Unmarried Woman (1978). His other films include Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Blume in Love (1973), Harry and Tonto (1974), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986).
The John Drainie Award was an award given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to broadcasting in Canada. Although meant to be presented annually there have been years where it was not presented.
Noel Black was an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer.
Alex in Wonderland is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written with his partner Larry Tucker, starring Donald Sutherland and Ellen Burstyn. Sutherland plays Alex Morrison, a director agonizing over the choice of follow-up project after the success of his first feature film. The situation is similar to the one Mazursky found himself in following the success of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and he casts himself in a role as a new-style Hollywood producer. His daughter Meg Mazursky appears as Amy, one of Morrison's daughters. Noted teacher of improvisational theater Viola Spolin plays Morrison's mother. The film also features cameo appearances by Federico Fellini and Jeanne Moreau, and seems to be inspired by their work. In particular, Fellini's 8½ (1963), about a film director who's artistically stuck, is referenced. Moreau sings two songs on the soundtrack, "Le Vrai Scandale" and "Le Reve Est La."
The 31st Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a film that "explores the history of the Inuit people [sic] through the eyes of a father and daughter."
The BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay is a British Academy Film Award for the best script. It was awarded from 1968 to 1982. In 1983 it was split into BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay and BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The 31st Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 30 May 1978. The Palme d'Or went to the L'albero degli zoccoli by Ermanno Olmi. This festival saw the introduction of a new non-competitive section, 'Un Certain Regard', which replaces 'Les Yeux Fertiles' (1975-1977), 'L'Air du temps' and 'Le Passé composé'.
Bethune: The Making of a Hero is a 1990 biographical period drama film directed by Phillip Borsos. The film is about the life and death of Norman Bethune, a Canadian physician who served as a combat surgeon during the Chinese Civil War. The cast includes Donald Sutherland as Bethune, Helen Mirren as Frances Penny Bethune, Colm Feore as Chester Rice, and Anouk Aimée as Marie-France Coudaire.
Black and White is a 1999 American film directed by James Toback and starring Robert Downey Jr., Gaby Hoffmann, Allan Houston, Jared Leto, Scott Caan, Claudia Schiffer, Brooke Shields, Bijou Phillips and members of the Wu-Tang Clan and Onyx. The film also features Ben Stiller as a sleazy police detective, as well as Mike Tyson playing himself and Michael B. Jordan in his film debut. It had its first showing at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 1999, followed by a second screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 15, 1999. It had its theatrical release in the United States on April 5, 2000.
Wild is a 2014 American biographical adventure drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and starring Reese Witherspoon, with Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffmann, Kevin Rankin, and W. Earl Brown appearing in supporting roles. The screenplay was adapted by Nick Hornby from Cheryl Strayed's 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, which is about a solo backpacking trip Strayed undertook on the trail in 1995 after numerous personal issues had left her life in shambles.
The 4th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 15, 1979. Due to overcrowding in the prior year, the Gala presentations were moved from the 700-seat Towne Cinema to the 1,600-seat Elgin Theatre. The People's Choice Award was awarded to Best Boy by Ira Wohl, which later won Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
The 7th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 9 and September 18, 1982. The festival paid tribute to Martin Scorsese, who attended along with Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Harvey Keitel. Scorsese also participated in Q&A at the festival, with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
The 14th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 7 and September 16, 1989. In Country by Norman Jewison was selected as the opening film.
The 19th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 8 and September 17, 1994. Whale Music by Richard J. Lewis was selected as the opening film. The festival's name changed from Festival of festivals to Toronto International Film Festival.
Forsaken is a 2015 Canadian revisionist western film directed by Jon Cassar, from a screenplay by Brad Mirman. The film stars Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Michael Wincott, Aaron Poole and Demi Moore. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2015. The film was released on February 19, 2016. One of the executive producers on the film was Doug Falconer.
Picture Windows is an American television miniseries that aired on Showtime in 1995. It consists of six short films, each inspired by a different iconic painting, matched with a story by a renowned author, and directed by a prominent filmmaker such as Norman Jewison, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante, John Boorman, and Bob Rafelson, respectively. With a different cast in each installment, these films included performances by a number of notable actors, including Alan Arkin, George Segal, Sally Kirkland, Robert Loggia, Steve Zahn, Brooke Adams, Dan Hedaya, Michael Lerner, Ron Perlman, and John Hurt. Co-creator David Wesley Wachs also wrote and directed a 20-minute pilot titled The Life of Art based on the painting Hitchhiker by Robert Gwathmey. Dan Halperin directed the pilot episode for the series entitled Rosemary, which was produced by Halperin and Scott JT Frank under their Epiphany Pictures banner.
