Canada represent at South By Southwest TV & Film! One of the most thrilling things about covering SxSW is finding movies from my own country all the way down in Austin, Texas in the hopes I find something great to talk about back home. The Toronto-based Indie BOXCUTTER is no exception!
About: Aspiring rapper Rome has all the talent and vision, but his crippling insecurity prevents him from sharing his music without a celebrity co-sign. When he learns that megastar producer Richie Hill will be making an appearance in Toronto’s Queen Street West neighbourhood, Rome devises a plan to get his album into Richie’s hands. However, disaster strikes when Rome’s apartment is burgled, and his only copy of the album is stolen. With the help of his activist-artist friend Jenaya, Rome sets out on a mission to track down his four producers and reassemble the album in time for the event that could change his life. (From the SxSW program)
Jason’s Reaction: What I thought would be a simple premise instead turns out to be one of the very best experiences I have had at SxSW. BOXCUTTER plays very real and is a “road trip” movie of sorts that takes us all through the city experience of Toronto and the surrounding areas as a young aspiring artist tries to find his backup tapes for a big event that he knows will take him on the next step in his career. Throughout, it’s a road-trip of sorts that has our lead meet a LOT of colourful characters along with his personal connection with friend Jenaya where they share a unique bond.
Filmmaker Reza Dahya (previously a radio host and also coming from a background in short films) is an absolute genius in showing many sides of Toronto, from how the characters use transit (ANY shots of the subway system to me is a good one, and there’s enough shots of the local streetcars to also keep locals happy), and how much I absolutely loved how Rome and Jenaya’s relationship became deeper as the movie goes on. I oddly felt “relaxed” watching the movie and feel like I just want to see the movie again just to hang out with the characters. This movie is distributed by Game Theory Films in Canada and very curious what the release will be like both in my home country and in the US.
This is one of the many movies playing in this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival. For more information on the festival, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!