LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BRIAN MULRONEY to Premiere at TIFF Midnight Madness
The NFB production draws on archival footage to trace the political rise of Brian Mulroney.
A new National Film Board of Canada documentary from director Matthew Rankin, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BRIAN MULRONEY, is set to have its world premiere as part of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film draws on archival material to trace the political rise of Brian Mulroney, Canada's 18th prime minister, blending politics, propaganda and pop culture into what the release describes as a genre-bending collage of Canadiana.
In a genre-bending collage of Canadiana, Rankin remixes a wealth of archival material into a fever dream of politics, propaganda and pop culture as he charts the ascent of Canada's 18th prime minister, Brian Mulroney, the 'Boy from Baie-Comeau.'
TIFF's showcase of some of the most bizarre and boundary-pushing works in contemporary cinema, Midnight Madness is a fitting home for the Montreal-based Winnipeg filmmaker, whose visionary works—including the features THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE—have won acclaim from audiences and critics around the world.
About Matthew Rankin's LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BRIAN MULRONEY
(105 min)
Producer: Pierre-Mathieu Fortin | Executive producer: Nathalie Cloutier
Haunted by visions of the future. Vilified by the political establishment. Charming beyond belief. Behold the dazzling ascent of Brian Mulroney, the 'Boy from Baie-Comeau' who built a brand-new Canada.
In 1976, Brian Mulroney launched a charm offensive the likes of which Canada had never seen, dismantling the political establishment one dad joke at a time.
In this psychedelic doomscroll through the mind of a master politician, filmmaker Matthew Rankin charts the flamboyant rise of Canada's 18th prime minister. From the backwoods of Baie-Comeau to the backrooms of power, Mulroney plots his ascent, trouncing his enemies with a smile and preparing Canada for the unlimited prosperity and permanent unity we live in today.
In this genre-bending collage of VHS-ravaged Canadiana, Rankin remixes and reimagines 80,000 pieces of archive, chronicling Mulroney's crash course with destiny as he clobbers Joe Clark and ushers in a new kind of conservatism for the 1980s.
About the filmmaker
Matthew Rankin was born in Winnipeg and studied Quebec history at McGill University and Université Laval. His work has been presented at TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, Annecy, the Berlinale, Cannes Critics' Week and the Directors' Fortnight, as well as on the Criterion Channel. His first feature, THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival and his second feature, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, was awarded the 2024 Chantal Akerman audience award at Cannes and the 2024 Best Canadian Discovery Award at TIFF. His previous NFB work includes the multi-award-winning 2017 experimental animated short THE TESLA WORLD LIGHT.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BRIAN MULRONEY is one of three National Film Board of Canada world premieres at this year's festival, alongside Carol Nguyen's documentary STILL NIGHT, BURNING HOUSE. Rankin, based in Montreal and originally from Winnipeg, has previously directed the features THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE.
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