Last Thursday kicked off the CANADA NOW Festival at the IFC Center in New York City.
The selection of award-winning and critically acclaimed films – celebrating the independent, creative spirit of Canadian cinema launched in February in the U.S. and will travel next to Mexico in March, and then the UK in April.
Premiering at day one of the festival was Atom Egoyan’s latest film, Guest of Honour, which was recently acquired by Kino Lorber Inc. The cast features David Thewlis, Rossif Sutherland, Laysla De Oliveira, Luke Wilson, Alexandre Bourgeois, and Arsinee Khanjian. The film tells the story of a complicated father-daughter relationship that keeps unraveling before our eyes. Jim (David Thewlis), who we follow throughout the entire movie, is a quirky health food inspector trying to control his life through his nit-picky job. His daughter, Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), is a young high school music teacher who later ends up in jail for being accused of abusing one of her students. Only after Jim’s death do we learn more about his solitude and love for his family. The film is also beautifully scored with music composed by Mychael Danna who won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Life of Pi.
A packed theater filled with some of Egoyan’s devoted fans eagerly awaited the film’s debut and later a Q&A panel with the director himself. Egoyan and wife Arsinee Khanjian, who is also in the movie, took the stage for a moderated panel discussion with the audience. After the panel attendees and filmmakers were invited to a reception at Aunt Jake’s where cocktails and Italian cuisine were served.
Guest of Honour will be released by Kino Lorber Inc. later this year.
