The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, founded in 1976 and taking place each September. It is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Bell Lightbox cultural centre, located in Downtown Toronto.
Set It Off is a 1996 American heist crime action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Kate Lanier and Takashi Bufford. The film stars Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise. It follows four close friends in Los Angeles, California, who plan to execute a bank robbery—each doing so for different reasons—to achieve better for themselves and their families.
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker Index recognized Negreanu as the best poker player of the previous decade.
Humberto Brenes is a Costa Rican professional poker player. Brenes currently resides in Miami Lakes, Florida with his wife (Patricia) and three children.
Get Shorty is a 1995 American gangster comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Scott Frank, based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name. The film stars John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Dennis Farina, and Danny DeVito. It follows Chili Palmer (Travolta), a Miami mobster and loan shark who inadvertently gets involved in Hollywood feature film production.
Jeff Vespa is an American photographer, known as a co-founder of WireImage and the editor-at-large of LIFE.com.
Richard J. Castucci Sr. was an American member of the Patriarca crime family who owned several strip clubs and was involved in illegal gambling. Castucci eventually became a government informant.
Rob Stewart was a Canadian photographer, filmmaker and conservationist. He was best known for making and directing the documentary films Sharkwater and Revolution. He drowned at the age of 37 while scuba diving in Florida, filming Sharkwater Extinction.
David Joseph Phillips is a Canadian actor and producer best known for starring in numerous theatrical performances in Toronto and at the Stratford Festival, hosting Video & Arcade Top 10 and The Miss Canada Pageant. He is also known for acting in the films Poker Night,Shark City, Green Guys and Re-Generator, and then producing and acting in Life Happens , Moments of Clarity, Amateur Night, Mission Park, The Maestro and Eat Wheaties!.
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation. The Young Victoria, based on the early years of Queen Victoria, closed the festival on September 19.
The Music of Chance is a 1993 American drama film directed by Philip Haas. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. It is based on the 1990 book of the same name.
Norberto's Deadline is a 2010 opera prima and tells the story of Norberto. Fired from his job, Norberto tries his luck as a real estate agent, putting off telling his wife. His new boss recommends that he attend a personal assertiveness course to overcome his timidity and he starts studying acting at a beginners’ workshop. While preparing the 3-monthly show, while he fails in his endeavours to behave credibly towards his clients and his wife, what he does discover is a tremendous ability to lie to himself.
Take Shelter is a 2011 American psychological thriller film, written and directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The plot follows a young husband and father (Shannon) who is plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, and questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself and his increasing worries over having paranoid schizophrenia.
The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best is a 2011 American independent comedy film written and directed by Ryan O'Nan and starring Ryan O'Nan, Michael Weston and Arielle Kebbel. The story focuses on a failing musician named Alex, who joins an eccentric musician and a beautiful con artist on a tour across the United States. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011.
Why Don't You Play in Hell? is a 2013 Japanese film directed, written and scored by Sion Sono.
Revolution is a Canadian 2012 documentary film by Rob Stewart. It follows the filmmaker as he follows up on his earlier film, Sharkwater, and examines both looming environmental collapse and what people, especially young people, are doing to avert it. The film's world premiere was at the Toronto International Film Festival in the TIFF Docs section.
Avenged is a 2013 South African action film written and directed by Donovan Marsh. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
Samantha Gail Weinstein was a Canadian actress.
Molly's Game is a 2017 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by Molly Bloom. It stars Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Joe Keery, Brian D'Arcy James, and Bill Camp.
Molly Bloom is an American entrepreneur, speaker, and author of the 2014 memoir Molly's Game. She had trained for years to become an Olympic skier, but was injured while trying to qualify for the Olympics.
