Echo Chamber - 2024 TIFF - Vol 1 (Paying For It)
For the first time ever @EchoChamberFP goes to TIFF!!!
Well, this is essentially a quick drive through of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival, BUT, it's all thanks to Cynthia Amsden!!!
For our opening salvo, we take a look at a new film that exudes Toronto, while looking at the intricacies of relationships and sex work. THEN, we sit down with the director/writer and two of the stars for an incredible confab that will have you clambering to get a ticket for the film!!!
'Paying For It' is directed by Sook-Yin Lee, who co-wrote with Joanne Sarazen. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Chester Brown. When an introverted cartoonist’s girlfriend (Emily Lê) wants to redefine their relationship, he (Dan Beirne) begins sleeping with sex workers (Andrea Werhun, Hannia Cheng, Jamie Whitecrow, Lisa Smolkin, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Dusty Lee, Becky Johnson, Kitoko Mai, Tanya Cheex, Dainty Smith, Becca Willow Moss, Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato) and discovers a new kind of intimacy in the process.
Watch the conversation: HERE!
Today we have:
Paying For It - Poster
Paying For It
Watch Review: Here.
2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Friday 6th September 2024 at 21:30, World Premiere
TIFF Lightbox Cinema 2
Buy Tickets: Here.
Saturday 7th September 2024 at 11:45
TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3
Buy Tickets: Here.
Director: Sook-Yin Lee
Cast: Dan Beirne, Emily Lê, Andrea Werhun, Noah Lamanna, Chris Sandiford, Rebecca Applebaum, Ely Henry, Ehren Kassam, Stephen Thomas Kalyn, Ishan Davé, Sabrina Saudin, Hannia Cheng, Jamie Whitecrow, Lisa Smolkin, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Dusty Lee, Becky Johnson, Kitoko Mai, Tanya Cheex, Dainty Smith, Becca Willow Moss, Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato, Dot Starkey, Lisa Smolkin, Kris Siddiqi, Rubie Magnitude, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Willow Astbury, VYPERS
Credit: Wilding Pictures, Hawkeye Pictures, Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates, Bell Media's Crave, CBC Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Running Time: 85 min
Cert: 15
Website: Here.
Instagram: @payingforitfilm
Watch the conversation: HERE!
Sook-Yin Lee
Sook-Yin Lee
Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematographer, Actress, Broadcaster, Musician, Multimedia Artist, Radio Host, VJ
Sook-Yin Lee is a Toronto-based filmmaker, musician, actor and broadcaster (CBC, BBC, MuchMusic). She starred in Shortbus, the ground-breaking 2SLGBTQ movie directed by John Cameron Mitchell that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Her feature film writer and directorial debut, Year of the Carnivore, starring Cristin Milioti, premiered at TIFF. In 2014, Lee won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by a Lead Dramatic Actress in Jack and went on to write and perform Unsafe for Canadian Stage, which examined questions of censorship and artistic freedom. She won Best Director and Best Picture at the 2018 Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival for Octavio is Dead! --a ghost story starring Sarah Gadon and Rosanna Arquette. Death and Sickness, her feature movie made with Dylan Gamble, streams on CBC Gem. She acts in Darkest Miriam, executive produced by Charlie Kaufman, and is set to release her experimental comedy Rest and Relax. Sook-Yin is a music recording artist and film score composer. She contributed songs to Brandon Cronenberg's horror movies Infinity Pool and Antiviral.
Follow Sook-Yin via:
IMDb: Here.
Linkedin: Here.
Website: Here.
X: @sookyinlee
Facebook: Here.
Instagram: @sookyinleee
YouTube: Here.
Vimeo: Here.
Watch Sook-Yin's films via Apple TV+: Here.
Watch Sook-Yin's films via Prime Video: Here.
Listen to Sook-Yin's via Apple Music: Here.
Listen to Sook-Yin's via Bandcamp: Here.
Listen to Sook-Yin's via Soudcloud: Here.
Listen to Sook-Yin's via Spotify: Here.
Emily Lê
Emily Lê
Actor, Producer, Director, Writer
Emily Lê is a Vietnamese-Canadian bilingual actor based in Montréal. She played Linh in Anthony Shim’s 29-time award-winning feature Riceboy Sleeps and Alisha in Crave’s Pillow Talk. Some other credits include Christopher Yip’s short Fish Boy, CBS’ Ghosts, and Freeform’s The Bold Type. Keep an eye out for Emily in the new Canadian-Norwegian romantic drama mini-series So Long, Marianne coming soon to Crave.
Follow Emily via:
IMDb: Here.
Linkedin: Here.
Instagram: @emilytkle
Watch Emily's films via Apple TV+: Here.
Watch Emily's films via Prime Video: Here.
Andrea Werhun
Andrea Werhun
Writer, Producer, Actress
Andrea Werhun is a writer, performer, and producer based in Toronto. She is the author & co-creator of Modern Whore: A Memoir (2022, Strange Light/Penguin Random House Canada). The book is soon to be a major motion picture, starring Andrea and executive produced by 2024 Palme D’Or winner Sean Baker. In 2023, Andrea co-wrote, produced, and performed in Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie, starring Black non-binary former sex worker Kitoko Mai https://www.kitoko.ca, about their dissociative identity disorder diagnosis. The short film enjoyed its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was selected as one of TIFF Canada’s Top Ten 2023. Andrea is also the subject, performer, and producer of the award-winning short films Modern Whore (SXSW) and the CBC short doc, Last Night at the Strip Club (Hot Docs). She has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian, CBC Radio and is a regular contributor to The Globe & Mail.
Follow Andrea via:
IMDb: Here.
Linkedin: Here.
Website: Here.
X: @weenerwoman
Watch Andrea's films via Apple TV+: Here.
Watch Andrea's films via Prime Video: Here.
Buy 'Modern Whore: A Memoir' via Penguin Random House: Here.
TIFF - Poster
49th The Toronto International Film Festival
5th – 15th September 2024
TIFF is dedicated to presenting the best of international and Canadian cinema and creating transformational experiences for film lovers and creators of all ages and backgrounds.
As Canada's premiere home of cinema, TIFF offers screenings, lectures, discussions, festivals, workshops, events, professional development and opportunities to meet, hear and learn from filmmakers from Canada and around the world.
Information
Website: Here.
Film & Event Info: Here.
Film Schedule: Here.
Buy Tickets: Here.
X: @TIFF_NET
Facebook: Here.
Instagram: @tiff_net
YouTube: Here.
Check out TIFF's Letterboxd: Here.
Pinterest: Here.
Snapchat: Here.
TikTok: @tiff_net
*(Music)
'Give The People' (Instrumental) by EPMD - 2020