Jacob Tierney Premieres New Thriller at TIFF

Montreal Jewish filmmaker Jacob Tierney is debuting his thriller Good Neighbours as part of the Special Presentations program at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Directed and written by Tierney (whose most recent film was The Trotsky), Good Neighbours takes place in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood in the winter of 1995, the year of the second referendum on the separation of Quebec. A serial killer is on the loose and the tenants of an apartment building must figure out who they can trust.

The film stars Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire, Xavier Dolan, and fellow Canadian Jew, Jay Baruchel. Baruchel, whose career has successfully straddled both the Hollywood and Canadian film markets, also starred in The Trotsky.

Screenwriter Mike Goldbach (Childstar)makes his directing debut with Daydream Nation, starring Kat Dennings. The Canadian First! entry tells the story of a girl who moves to a small town where her classmates seem permanently stoned, an industrial fire burns continually and a killer is on the loose.

Zach Braff stars in the Canada First! world premiere of High Cost of Living. Directed by Deborah Chow, Braff plays a drug dealer who crosses paths one night with a woman expecting her first child.

More than 20 Canadian film premieres were announced this week.

“It’s a testament to the creative minds and incredible talent in this country that we have such a diverse and exciting offering of Canadian films across all programmes in this year’s Festival,” said Steve Gravestock, TIFF programmer, in a statement. “It’s an exciting time for Canadian cinema and we’re proud to bring audiences this line-up of films.”

For Canadian film lovers, TIFF presents The Canadian Pack this year, an $80 ticket package comprising five new Canadian films selected by TIFF programmers.

The 35^thannual Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 9-19, 2010. For more information, visit www.tiff.net.