PICTURE TREE INTERNATIONAL Boards Canadian ‘TIFF Discovery’
…..’ Entry THIS PLACE by V. T. NAYANI and Premieres Trailer
Berlin-based Picture Tree International added THIS PLACE by Canadian debut Director V.T. Nayani to its TIFF Line-up. Produced by Stephanie Sonny Hooker, starring award-winning actor Devery Jacobs, who also starred in Reservation Dogs co-created and co-written by Taika Waititi as well as the upcoming Marvel Studio Production Echo, and newcomer Priya Guns. The Screenplay was co-written by V.T. Nayani, Devery Jacobs and Golshan Abdmoulaie.
THIS PLACE, produced by Hometeam Films and Mutuals Pictures, with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada, CBC Films, CFC/Netflix Calling Card Accelerator, Inside Out, station 369 and Aspeth Inc.
The deal was brokered by Brigitte Hubmann and Jennifer Price (Film Associates Intl.) on behalf of the Production.
THIS PLACE to have its World Premiere at TIFF on September 9th.
THIS PLACE tells the story of two young women falling in love for the first time and being jointly challenged by their own family histories, which bear the legacies of loss, migration and displacement. Kawenniióhstha (Devery Jacobs); is half-Iranian, half-Mohawk and has just moved to Toronto from Kahnawà:ke Mohawk territory, where she was raised by her single mother. Malai (Priya Guns) is of Tamil origin and lives with her elder brother following their estrangement from widowed father. Through both young women and their unlikely love story, THIS PLACE intimately explores the liminal space between cultures, displaced both at home and abroad.
About V.T. Nayani
V. T. Nayani is a director, producer, and writer for the screen. She is an alumna of the CFC Directors’ Lab, CBC’s Workshop for Diverse Creators, Hot Docs’ Doc Accelerator Lab, and Reelworld Film Festival’s Emerging 20 Program. She participated in the 2021/22 Canadian Academy Directors Program for Women. THIS PLACE is her debut as a feature film director.
Also on PTI’s TIFF slate are contemporary Iranian NoirThriller WITHOUT HER (Bi Roya) by Arian Vazirdaftari which will premiere in Venice (Orrizonti Extra) and is also selected for the TIFF Industry Selects as well as the best selling novel adaptation A WHOLE LIFE (Ein Ganzes Leben), which is published in 40plus countries and directed by Hans Steinbichler (‘The Diary of Anne Frank – 2016), which is currently in early post-production and planned for a domestic release by Co-Producer/Distributor TOBIS FILM in summer/autumn 2023.
