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The Informer

From the Print Edition

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Superhero: How a Toronto paramedic made Time’s 100 most influential list

(Image: Courtesy of Globalmedic)

When the earthquake hit Port-au-Prince last January, Rahul Singh took GlobalMedic, his relief organization, to the centre of the destruction. They set up field hospitals, distributed 2.4 million gallons of water and provided medical assistance to more than 7,000 people. For the remarkable effort, Time named him one of the world’s most influential people.

You founded GlobalMedic in 1998. How did you get the idea? My first wife dumped me in the ’90s, so I went backpacking and ended up in Nepal. After a series of landslides wiped out a village, I ran a disaster response team. Most of the funding seemed to get lost in administration before it got to the people who needed it, and I wanted to change that.

So how is your group different? We get paramedics, police officers and firefighters to volunteer their time. We also work partnerships with airlines so we can fly for free, and we don’t stay in five-star hotels. We camp or bunk in hospitals or schools.

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The Goods

Telling Tales

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Queen Elizabeth II didn’t buy new clothes for Toronto state dinner

Note the jewel-encrusted maple leaves (Image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)

We’d expect that the Queen of England wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the same thing twice, but during her visit to Canada, Her Majesty sported several pre-loved outfits. For a state dinner with Stephen Harper last night at the Royal York, QEII wore a white tulle and Swarovski crystal gown that had been slightly altered since she wore it to an event in Trinidad and Tobago last autumn.

The original design featured the country’s national birds—the scarlet ibis and the cocrico—which were removed and replaced with crystal maple leaves for the Toronto gala. For a dinner in Halifax last week, Lizzy showed off an outfit she wore at a garden party the previous week, and even prior to that. Obviously, the Queen has yet to see Clueless.

Queen wears ‘recycled’ dress to banquet in Toronto [Telegraph]
The Queen’s hats: classic, yet fashion-forward [Globe and Mail]

The Goods

Telling Tales

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Oscar de la Renta event raises $750,000 despite Canada being the “smallest fashion market in the world”

“Canada is a small market—probably the smallest fashion market in the world.” That’s Canadian fashion booster Robin Kay telling CTV why most big-name designers don’t travel here. Smallest fashion market in the world? Uh, OK. “We’re not big consumers of fashion and certainly not high fashion,” continued the head of the FDCC, whose job we thought it was to promote the fashion scene in Canada. “We’re just not part of the purchasing landscape.” Explain, then, the success of Suzanne Rogers’s fundraiser for SickKids on Tuesday night, which featured a fashion show from guest of honour Oscar de la Renta. The gala sold out 10 weeks in advance and raised $750,000; according to the Star, late ticket buyers were clamouring for the remaining $25,000 tables. Sounds like a pretty devoted fashion market to us—or at least devoted status seekers.

Bringing glamour back [Toronto Star]
De la Renta a rare treat in Canadian fashion scene [CTV]

The Hype

To-Do List

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The Weekender: Grease, Buy Design’s spring social and six other things to do this weekend

Grease is playing at the Canon for 11 days (Image: Joan Marcus)

1. FARM TO HOME FAIR 2010
This annual food fair is a locavore’s dream: meet and greets with farmers, info sessions on community-shared agriculture and treats (locally sourced, naturally) prepared by the Gladstone’s chef, Marc Breton, are all on offer. April 10. 1–4. $10. Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., slowfood.to/837/events/farm-to-home-fair-2010.

2. TORONTO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL
A brand new addition to the city’s film festival lineup, this celebration of silent movies is a flashback to the era when Fairbanks and Pickford were the boldface names. This Sunday, check out A Thousand Laughs, the festival’s short comedy program, which shines a light on the less-recognized kings of (silent) comedy; Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are nowhere to be found. Instead, see (Fatty) Arbuckle in Love, Lloyd Hamilton in Breezing Along and Stan Laurel (preLaurel and Hardy) in The Pest. April 6 to 15. $7–$15. Various locations, 416-461-9287, ebk-ink.com/tsff.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Don McKellar talks about lovelorn phone calls, TIFF’s good ol’ days, and inviting strange women to his hotel room

Don McKellar misses Bette Midler

Don McKellar misses Bette Midler (Photo by Karon Liu)

Don McKellar is out to find romance on a modern day cellphone—and if that means being shady in a hotel room, so be it. This is the basic concept of Imaginary Lovers, an art installation consisting of four monitors showing films that McKellar has directed as part of TIFF’s Future Projections series. McKellar also kicked off the festival as a governor for the Talent Lab, had a role in Leslie, My Name Is Evil (the trippy Christian murder film) and starred in Dilip Mehta’s gala premiere, Cooking With Stella. Really, Don, next year you need to step it up.

Considering McKellar’s schedule is so barren, we thought we’d sit down with him and discuss loneliness and love—the themes that intertwine in his voyeuristic videos, most of which feature women of the world professing their love via grainy cellphones.

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The Goods Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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PHOTO GALLERY: 31 TIFF red carpet looks

Jennifer Garner on the red carpet for the premiere of The Invention of Lying at the Visa Screening Room during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.Jennifer Garner and Julianne Moore opted for green and strapless, Amanda Seyfried chose sequins and Louboutins, and Drew Barrymore and Demi Moore did yellow in two very different ways. See the red carpet outfits these stars (and 26 others) chose for their TIFF galas in the slide show below.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Precious wins People’s Choice Award, screens free tonight

Oprah Winfrey at the premiere of Precious (Photo by Karon Liu)

Oprah Winfrey at the premiere of Precious (Photo by Karon Liu)

You get a free screening of my movie! You get a free screening of my movie! And YOU get a free screening of my movie!

Yep, the Oprah-produced, clunkily titled Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award this afternoon during a ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel Ballroom. That means that anyone can turn up for a free screening of the film tonight at 9 p.m. at the Visa Screening Room, right after the closing gala, The Young Victoria.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 19, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

Madonna: Truth or Dare free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
What’s Your Raashee? premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 1:30 p.m.
The Young Victoria premiere, Visa Screening Room, 6 p.m. and Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.
Copyright Criminals: This is a Sampling Sport world premiere and free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 7 p.m.
• Festival wrap party, Yonge–Dundas Square, 9 p.m.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 18, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

• Don’t Look Back free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
• Grandma’s Boy free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Roy Thomson Hall, 6 p.m.
• Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound premiere and free public screening with an appearance by Baez, Yonge–Dundas Square, 7 p.m.
• Max Manus premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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A brush with (almost) fame at the Film Italia party

Italians take over MaRS (Photo by Luca Viorel)

Italians take over MaRS (Photo by Luca Viorel)

The Italian Film Commission scouts the best locations for their annual TIFF gala—two years ago, they were the first to take over the cool underground at the Lower Bay subway station, and in 2008, they partied on a tall ship at Harbourfront. And last night, they turned the MaRs building into a blue-lit banquet hall, awaft with the molto delicioso smell of duck-and-mushroom ravioli. And while no big stars attended (Tilda Swinton was on the list, but sadly, not on the floor), there were enough unidentifiable foreigners and Planet Hollywood types to keep us people watching.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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PHOTO GALLERY: Love and Other Impossible Pursuits premiere with Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow

Natalie Portman at the gala of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits at Roy Thomson Hall during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by James Helmer)Last night was the gala premiere of director Don Roos’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits at Roy Thomson Hall. We snapped these red carpet photos of Roos along with stars Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 17, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

U2: Rattle and Hum free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
It free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
Phantom Pain (Phantomschmerz) premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky North American premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky after party, Cheval, 10 p.m.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Keanu Reeves won’t comment on beard, fans dismayed by facial hair

pippalee

Keanu Reeves (is he giving us the stink eye?), director Rebecca Miller and Robin Wright Penn

We’re sure Keanu Reeves’s new film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is great, but we were distracted throughout its press conference yesterday by his long scraggly hair and beard reminiscent of a Queer Eye candidate. Or a homeless person. A homeless person who makes millions of dollars.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 16, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

The Last Waltz free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
Tillie’s Punctured Romance free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
Cooking with Stella premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
• From Venice to MaRs party in celebration of Italian filmmakers (guests include Tilda Swinton), MaRs Discovery District, 8:30 p.m.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done premiere, Visa Screening Room, 9 p.m.
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
Cooking with Stella party (guests include Lisa Ray, Don McKellar and Deepa Mehta), Mildred’s Temple Kitchen

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 15, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

Monterey Pop free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
Robin Hood free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans premiere, Ryerson Theatre, 6 p.m.
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
• Shinan Govani’s book release party, Holt Renfrew
• Free swing-dance lessons and a live concert from Aelita with the Galaxy All-Star Orchestra in support of the Russian musical Hipsters, Yonge–Dundas Square, 7 p.m.
Youth in Revolt premiere, Winter Garden theatre, 8:30 p.m.
J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother) premiere, Isabel Bader Theatre, 9:30 p.m.
Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
InStyle party (possible guests include Naomi Watts, Keanu Reeves and Michael Cera), Windsor Arms
• Cinema Against AIDS Toronto benefit for Amfar (performance by Sarah McLachlin), The Carlu
Bad Lieutenant after party (guests include Nicolas Cage), Ultra

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