Memphis Has Links to Toronto Film Festival — 3 Films Either Shot Here or Have Local People Involved
By John Beifuss
Three films with Memphis connections will screen next month at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It was announced early this week that director Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But the Truth” – a Washington-based political thriller with Kate Beckinsale that was shot in Memphis last fall – will have its world premiere Sept. 8 at the prestigious festival .
Joining that film will be native Memphian Jodie Markell’s “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” and British director Richard Parry’s documentary “Blood Trail,” the story of Robert King, a photojournalist from Memphis who has covered wars in Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq, officials said.
“The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” will have its world premiere Sept. 12 as a “Gala” presentation. “Nothing But the Truth” also is part of the festival’s “Gala” program, which represents a “high- profile showcase of Canadian and international films with major impact.”
“Diamond,” adapted from an unproduced screenplay by Tennessee Williams, marks Markell’s feature film debut as a director.
In 1997, the Lausanne Collegiate School graduate directed the short film “Why I Live at the P.O.,” based on a story by another of the South’s great writers, Eudora Welty.
However, Markell is best known as a successful stage, film and television actress whose credits include Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train,” Todd Haynes’ “Safe” and episodes of “Law & Order” and “Big Love.”
“The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” stars Bryce Dallas Howard as socialite Fisher Willow, a smart young woman in 1923 Memphis who resists the debutante lifestyle expected of the daughter of a plantation owner.
Chris Evans – the Human Torch in the “Fantastic Four” movies – plays the hired hand who becomes romantically involved with Fisher. Ann-Margret plays Fisher’s spinster aunt, and Will Patton is Fisher’s father.
“Blood Trail” screens Sept. 4 as part of the festival’s “Real to Reel” program devoted to “the very best in non-fiction cinema from around the globe.”
The movie took time to develop, with filmmakers trailing King off and on for 15 years, chronicling his growth from a novice with a desire for adventure to an experienced, award-winning photo veteran.
According to Parry: “There is something utterly compelling in seeing someone transform as years are compressed to minutes on film.”
Lurie said he hopes the Toronto premiere of “Nothing But the Truth” will “bring attention to what a film-friendly place Memphis actually is. You can be certain I will be talking it up when we land in Canada. What is really helpful for people to see is that the city can indeed double for the D.C. area, which is very difficult to shoot in.”
The Toronto International Film Festival takes place Sept. 14-13. For more information, visit the Web site tiff08.ca.
– John Beifuss: 529-2394
Originally published by John Beifuss beifuss@commercialappeal.com .
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