The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) lineup at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival includes premieres of three new feature films by acclaimed Toronto directors, showcasing the NFB’s role in unique and innovative Canadian cinema.
One of those 3 films is a title we've had on our radar since first alerting you to it last fall – Sudz Sutherland's Home Again, which stars Tatyana Ali.
This will be the film's world premiere!
As a recap… the film will center on…
… three adults raised as outsiders from childhood and deported from Canada, the U.S. and London, England, to Jamaica, where they were born. The three deportees find they have to fight for survival in a Jamaica where family support, friends and shelter is elusive, but where ultimately hope and the human spirit emerges.
The Canadian-produced feature, Sudz's second, was shot on location in Trinidad, Jamaica and Canada, earlier this year, and I'm actually surprised to see it already in showcase form at TIFF. I guess I figured they'd maybe still be in post production right about now.
Some other noteworthy items about the film…
First, it's being described as "a searing drama in the vein of City of God" (major comparison there).
Second – a longer description of the film reads:
Home Again tells the story of three young people deported home to Jamaica after being raised abroad since infancy. Once landed in Kingston and without a compass of any kind, each of the characters embarks on a journey that pushes their endurance beyond measure and forces them to discover who they truly are. On the most fundamental level, Home Again asks the question, How would you survive?
A story based in fact, the script was inspired by international government practice of deporting incarcerated landed immigrants to rid itself of unwanted population. The issue is a particularly difficult problem in Jamaica where the deportee population outnumbers the prison population by three times, where there are little to no resources to help deportees establish new lives, and where the deportees are largely blamed for the serious violence. Jamaica has the third highest per capita murder rate in the world that rocks the country.
Third – in addition to Tatyana Ali, Home Again also stars Lyriq Bent, Stephan James, Richard Chevolleau, C.C.H. Pounder, and Fefe Dobson.
Fourth – producers say it's a passion project for director Sudz, that the material is "really tough," and that the actors had to delve "into incredibly difficult emotional terrain."
And lastly – Entertainment One has distribution rights to the film, with co-production partners The National Film Board and with the participation of Telefilm Canada, and the Harold Greenberg Fund.
No trailer, or any official stills yet; but I did find the below poster, which I'd guess probably isn't the final release poster for the film. But check it out below:
