Toronto: The Toronto film festival, the largest in North America, kicked off in earnest Thursday with Ben Stiller’s family movie “Nutcrackers” as a handful of pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the opening night screening.
The four demonstrators chanted slogans in the Princess of Wales Theatre against the Royal Bank of Canada, a festival sponsor that has faced criticism over its investment in firms with links to Israel, as the war in Gaza drags on.
Other audience members booed and festival CEO Cameron Bailey continued his introduction before security escorted the protesters out and the screening of the film, Stiller’s first in seven years, proceeded.
The brief protest provided a political jolt at the start of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), a 10-day extravaganza of Oscar bait movies and A-list glamor.
This year marks a return to normal for the event, after twin strikes by actors and writers kept top talent from promoting their work here last year. Though the 2023 lineup of films was starry, the red carpets were not, in line with union protocols.
This time around, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman are just some of the boldfaced names expected in Canada’s biggest city to unveil new projects.
“Toronto is known for its audience excitement, and that excitement reaches a fever pitch when the biggest stars in the world are here,” Bailey told AFP.
“We’re glad that we are having a festival without some of the constraints of last year, although I do think we were able to do the very best we could given the circumstances.”
Moviegoers warmly greeted Stiller, who introduced “Nutcrackers” alongside director David Gordon Green.
The holiday-set comedy tells the story of a Chicago real estate developer who must care for his four orphaned nephews after the death of his sister and her husband.
The boys, who are brothers in real life, prove to be quite a handful for the city slicker, who must navigate awkward home schooling sessions, wild animals in the house and other quirks of farm life as he finds his nephews a forever home.
“When I read the script, which was so heartfelt and not cynical... I was like, I’m identifying with this guy and this guy is on a journey where he gets in touch with stuff and connects with his family,” Stiller said on the red carpet at the gala screening.
“I think that’s an important message, especially right now.”
Also on the festival’s packed schedule of world premieres is Ron Howard’s super-secret “Eden,” a survival film set in the Galapagos islands, and “The Wild Robot,” the latest from DreamWorks Animation.
Fresh off the Venice success of her portrayal of opera legend Maria Callas in “Maria,” Jolie comes to Toronto with her latest directorial effort — “Without Blood,” a tale of early 20th-century family and revenge starring Hayek.
In all, there are a whopping 278 films on the slate.
John and Springsteen will be in town with new documentaries about their epic careers — and they are just some of the recording industry royalty expected to hit the red carpet.
Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams, Paul Anka, and singer, producer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams are also due to appear at screenings of new films about their personal and professional lives.
And there is a crop of inspirational true-story sports dramas on the schedule, including “Unstoppable,” about a college wrestler (Jharrel Jerome) without a right leg who dreamed of going pro. Lopez co-stars as the boy’s mother.
TIFF — where screenings are open to ordinary moviegoers, not just media and industry insiders — is part of a fall flurry of film festivals, along with Venice and Telluride, that preview some of the movies expected to vie for Oscars glory.
The event runs from Thursday through September 15.
On the final day, the People’s Choice Award — voted for by audiences — is handed out. It has become something of an early Oscars bellwether, predicting eventual Academy Award best picture winners such as “Nomadland” and “Green Book.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt opening of Toronto film fest
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Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt opening of Toronto film fest
- The brief protest provided a political jolt at the start of the Toronto International Film Festival
German minister says ‘historic opportunity’ to support new Syria
- Schulze announced that Berlin was expanding an international hospital partnerships program to include facilities in Syria
“After over 50 years of dictatorship and 14 years of civil war, Syria now has the chance of peaceful and stable development,” Schulze said in a statement.
Her visit comes a little over a month after Islamist-led forces toppled longtime president Bashar Assad.
Schulze is due to meet with the new leadership as well as aid organizations “to identify how Germany can support the development of a peaceful, stable and inclusive Syria,” the minister’s statement said.
“It would be wrong of us not to use this historic window of opportunity to support Syria in embarking on a peaceful new beginning,” she said.
“Germany can do a lot to support the new beginning for... Syrian society.”
Germany is home to Europe’s largest Syrian diaspora community, having taken in nearly a million people from the war-ravaged country.
A German study last month said that if they returned home, Germany could face labor shortages, particularly in the health care industry.
Schulze announced that Berlin was expanding an international hospital partnerships program to include facilities in Syria.
The expansion is part of reconstruction efforts but also aims at retaining “vital” medical professionals in Germany, according to the statement.
Schulze said that while “Syria’s new rulers are keen to regain the skilled workers and professionals who fled the country” during the civil war since 2011, “Germany also has an interest in retaining them.”
Under the expanded program, “doctors from Germany can visit Syria to conduct medical training courses or to train their Syrian colleagues in using new equipment,” the minister said.
“And Syrian doctors can come to Germany for training on both medical and organizational issues.”
Syria has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity since Assad’s fall on December 8, with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also traveling to Damascus earlier this month.
Mozambique inaugurates new president amid deadly unrest
MAPUTO: Mozambique kicked off an inauguration ceremony Wednesday where President-elect Daniel Chapo will be sworn into office after weeks of deadly political unrest, but the main opposition leader has vowed to “paralyze” the country with fresh protests against the fiercely disputed election result.
Venancio Mondlane had already called for a national strike in the days leading up to the inauguration and threatened on Tuesday to curtail the new government with daily demonstrations.
Mondlane, 50, who is popular with the youth, maintains the October 9 polls were rigged in favor of Chapo’s Frelimo party, which has governed the gas-rich African country since independence from Portugal in 1975.
“This regime does not want peace,” Mondlane said in an address on Facebook Tuesday, adding that his communications team was met with bullets on the streets this week.
“We’ll protest every single day. If it means paralysing the country for the entire term, we will paralyze it for the entire term.”
Chapo, 48, called for stability on Monday, telling journalists at the national assembly “we can continue to work and together, united... to develop our country.”
International observers have said the election was marred by irregularities, while the EU mission condemned what it called the “unjustified alteration of election results.”
The swearing in ceremony was expected to be snubbed by foreign heads of state, a move “which sends a strong message,” Maputo-based political and security risk analyst Johann Smith told AFP.
Former colonial ruler Portugal is sending Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel.
“Even from a regional point of view there is a hesitancy to acknowledge or recognize that Chapo won the election,” Smith said.
However, neighboring South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was at the ceremony.
Amid tensions, security forces blocked roads throughout the capital Maputo and around Independence Square, where the swearing-in is being held.
The extent of the unrest from now on “depends on how Chapo will tackle the crisis,” analyst Borges Nhamirre told AFP.
The inauguration of parliamentary lawmakers Monday was held amid relative calm.
The streets were deserted, with most shops closed either in protest against the ceremony or out of fear of violence, while military police surrounded the parliament building and police blocked main roads.
Still, at least six people were killed in the Inhambane and Zambezia regions north of the capital, according to local civil society group Plataforma Decide.
Unrest since the election has claimed 300 lives, according to the group’s tally, with security forces accused of using excessive force against demonstrators. Police officers have also died, according to the authorities.
Chapo, who is expected to announce his new government this week, could make concessions by appointing opposition members to ministerial posts to quell the unrest, said Eric Morier-Genoud, an African history professor at Queen’s University Belfast.
There have also been calls for dialogue but Mondlane has been excluded from talks that Chapo and outgoing President Filipe Nyusi have opened with the leaders of the main political parties.
Chapo has repeatedly said however that he would include Mondlane in talks.
Mondlane, who returned to Mozambique last week after going into hiding abroad following the October 19 assassination of his lawyer, has said he was ready for talks.
“I’m here in the flesh to say that if you want to negotiate... I’m here,” he said.
According to official results, Chapo won 65 percent of the presidential vote, compared to 24 percent for Mondlane.
But the opposition leader claims that he won 53 percent and that Mozambique’s election institutions manipulated the results.
Frelimo parliamentarians also dominate the 250-seat national assembly with 171 seats compared to the Podemos party’s 43.
Russia fires over 40 missiles at Ukraine’s energy sector: Zelensky
KYIV: Russia launched more than 40 missiles and over 70 attack drones in an overnight barrage that targeted Ukraine’s energy sector, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.
“More than 40 missiles were involved in this strike, including ballistic missiles. At least 30 were destroyed. There were also more than 70 Russian attack drones overnight,” Zelensky said in a statement on social media.
Preventive power cuts introduced in Ukraine following a massive Russian missile attack
- Ukraine’s air force detected multiple missile groups launched by Russia during a nationwide air-raid alert
KYIV: Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine on Wednesday, forcing the country to introduce preventive power cuts, the Ukrainian energy minister said.
“The enemy continues to terrorize Ukrainians,” Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook, urging residents to stay in shelters during the ongoing threat and follow official updates.
The state energy company Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kirovohrad regions.
Russian forces launched missile strikes targeting energy infrastructure in the western Lviv region early Wednesday, said the city’s mayor, Andrii Sadovyi.
“During the morning attack, enemy cruise missiles were recorded in the region,” he said.
No casualties or damage were reported.
Ukraine’s air force detected multiple missile groups launched by Russia during a nationwide air-raid alert, though initial reports indicated no damage.
Wednesday’s attack has further exacerbated the strain on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which has been a frequent target during the nearly three-year-old war.
Suspected outbreak of Marburg virus kills eight in Tanzania, WHO says
- The viral hemorrhagic fever has a fatality rate as high as 88 percent, and is from the same virus family as the one responsible for Ebola
NAIROBI: A suspected outbreak of the Marburg virus in northwest Tanzania has infected nine people, killing eight of them, the World Health Organization has said, weeks after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in neighboring Rwanda.
The viral hemorrhagic fever has a fatality rate as high as 88 percent, and is from the same virus family as the one responsible for Ebola, which is transmitted to people from fruit bats which are endemic to that part of East Africa.
The WHO said it received reliable reports of suspected cases in the Kagera region of Tanzania on Jan. 10, with symptoms of headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, vomiting blood, muscle weakness and finally external bleeding.
Samples from two patients were awaiting testing at Tanzania’s national laboratory for confirmation of the outbreak, WHO said in a statement on Tuesday.
The patients’ contacts, including health care workers, have been identified and were being followed up, WHO reported.
The outbreak in Rwanda, which shares a border with Tanzania’s Kagera region, infected 66 people and killed 15 before it was declared over on December 20.
Marburg virus can spread between people through direct contact or via blood and other bodily fluids of infected people, including contaminated bedding or clothing.
An outbreak in the Kagera region in March 2023 killed six people and lasted for nearly two months.
