Taylor Kitsch Hits the Stage at TIFF's Top Ten Event in L.A. Today

TIFF announced that Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch will be featured in a special "In Conversation With..." event hosted by Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, tonight, July 30 in Los Angeles. This event is part of the international tour of TIFF's Canada's Top Ten Film Festival, and is presented in partnership with Film Independent at LACMA. Established by TIFF in 2001, the Canada's Top Ten Film Festival celebrates and promotes contemporary Canadian cinema and raises awareness of Canadian achievements in film.

From July 30 to August 1, 2015, the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will present A Selection of Canada's Top Ten Films, a showcase of the Top Ten selection along with an onstage conversation with Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch. Feature film screenings include Albert Shin's In Her Place (2014), Maxime Giroux's Félix et Meira (2014), and Zacharias Kunuk's Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), which recently took the number one spot on the 2015 Canada's All-Time Top Ten List, TIFF's national poll of filmmakers, critics, academics and industry members on the best Canadian films.

"TIFF is dedicated to championing Canadians on a global stage," said Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF. "We're thrilled to celebrate Canada's cinematic successes in Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, and we invite local audiences to come and learn more about what defines our national cinema."

"This selection of Canada's Top Ten showcases the great diversity of Canadian filmmaking," said Cameron Bailey. "Canada is a country rich with a variety of perspectives, a myriad of voices and unique talent, which makes our cinema both singular and universal."

"The impact that TIFF has on the world of film can't be underestimated, and we're delighted to begin this relationship with the festival and acknowledge the indelible contributions of Canadian cinema," said Elvis Mitchell, Film Independent Curator.

A Selection of Canada's Top Ten Films runs July 30-August 1, 2015. Tickets for all events are available free of charge at lacma.org/event/canla.

A Selection of Canada's Top Ten Films:

In Conversation With... Taylor Kitsch
Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia and was raised in Vancouver. His big break came when he landed a regular role as troubled football star Tim Riggins on the Emmy-winning weekly drama Friday Night Lights. During hiatus from the show, he shot the major motion picture X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and the true-life drama The Bang Bang Club (2010). After starring in the highly-anticipated action film John Carter (2012), Kitsch powered on, landing roles in other big films like Battleship (2012) based on the popular board game of the same name, Oliver Stone's Savages (2012) and Peter Berg's Lone Survivor (2013). Kitsch went on to star in the acclaimed The Normal Heart (2014) and is currently lighting up the small screen in the acclaimed series True Detective.
Thursday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at LACMA

In Her Place, Albert Shin
A mysterious woman from a big city arrives at a rural farm in South Korea, where she's taken in by an old woman and her odd teenage daughter. The three women remain in isolation and, as they begin to fall into a new rhythm of life together, work to fill a void within their lives. But soon enough, their arrangement becomes more than what they bargained for.
Friday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. at LACMA

Félix et Meira (Felix & Meira), Maxime Giroux
Félix is an eccentric and penniless French Canadian whose wealthy father is dying. Meira is a married Hasidic woman with a family, searching for something new. They were not meant to meet, let alone fall in love. Felix & Meira tells the miraculous love story between two strangers from two distinct communities, who attempt to love each other despite what separates them.
Saturday, August 1 at 1 p.m. at LACMA

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, Zacharias Kunuk
The first feature ever made entirely in the Inuktitut language, winner of the Camera d'Or prize for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival and the defining film of the Indigenous New Wave, Atanarjuat is pure, epic storytelling: this mythically grand and earthily funny film tells an archetypal tale of ambition, jealousy, betrayal and murder on the frozen plains of northern Canada.
Saturday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. at LACMA

TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world, through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film Festival in September; TIFF Bell Lightbox, which features five cinemas, major exhibitions, and learning and entertainment facilities; and innovative national distribution program Film Circuit. The organization generates an annual economic impact of $189 million CAD. TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including Founding Sponsor Bell, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos