Dusty Mancinelli

Dusty Mancinelli is a Canadian independent filmmaker from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mancinelli is primarily a director of short films. Several of his films have been shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and other notable film festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards. Since 2017, he has collaborated with Madeleine Sims-Fewer. Their debut feature film Violation was shown at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

Career

Mancinelli is a graduate of York University in Toronto.[1] After graduating, Mancinelli worked for five years with Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta from 2007–2011.[2] Mancinelli worked on Mehta's Heaven on Earth and Midnight's Children feature films.[3] In 2016, Mehta named Mancinelli as an up and coming Canadian director to watch.[1]

Mancinelli and partner Harry Cherniak founded the film company Inflo Films in Toronto while at York.[1] Their first short Death to Charlie premiered in 2006. In 2007, they produced their second short P.U.R.E., a sci-fi fantasy about "Particularly Uncommon Rain Events" which won several awards and played at several film festivals, including Cinéfest Sudbury, Whistler and the Washington DC Independent Film Festival.[4] In 2009, Mancinelli directed the short film Soap, which was selected for TIFF.[5] Soap, about a cheating spouse's cover-up of the sudden death of her "boy toy" after a slip on a bar of soap, was reviewed as "formulaic" and its 80s setting as only "a gimmick."[6][7] His next short, Pathways. was also shown at TIFF, in 2011.[5] About a boy who has a life-changing experience when he discovers an unconscious man with a gun and briefcase in the forest, Mancinelli revealed in interview, that he identified with the boy, sharing experiences with having been bullied as a child.[8] His next short film, Broken Heart Syndrome, a drama/comedy, was premiered at TIFF in 2012. After a traumatic break-up, a man is diagnosed with the rare and potentially fatal Broken Heart Syndrome and has to find a cure desperately.[9] Its inspiration came after Mancinelli has a breakup and learned about the actual condition.[10] His next short, Winter Hymns, premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival, won the Golden Egg directing award at the 2015 Reykjavik International Film Festival.[11] It was selected by the Slamdance Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award for Narrative Short, qualifying for Academy Award consideration.[12] In 2016, Mancinelli and Cherniak produced The Big Crunch about a youth's existential crisis, partially funded by the BravoFACT film subsidy program.[13] The film, described as a "mixture of music, special effects, voiceover and on-screen performance" made its debut at the 2016 Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, followed by showings at the Edmonton International Film Festival.[14] Mancinelli also wrote the screenplay for Little Kings, produced by Cherniak.[15]

Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer collaborations

In 2015, Mancinelli met Madeleine Sims-Fewer at the 2015 TIFF Talent Lab. Since 2017, the pair has co-directed several short films in their DM Films joint venture. Their films have been shown at TIFF, BFI London Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival, among others. Their first collaboration, Slap Happy, about a tempestuous relationship, was an official selection at the BFI London Film Festival, Vancouver and Slamdance.[16] Reviewer Ben Robins named it one of the best short films at the BFI Festival, describing it as "like a little less touched-up Blue Valentine, with a much more twisted sense of humour."[17] Their second collaboration was Woman in Stall, a "claustrophobic thriller" about an encounter in a public restroom between a man and a woman trapped in a cubicle.[18] It won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance festival.[19] Chubby, their third collaboration, was shown at the 2020 Slamdance festival. A study of a 10-year-old's experience with sexual abuse, it was described as "harrowing" and would "stay with you long after its credits roll".[20]

Violation
Main article: Violation (film)

A teaser of their debut feature Violation was shown at the Cannes Marché du Film Online in June 2020.[21] Violation, which is described as "decidedly dark, potentially dangerous and probably deranged" and "flips the revenge genre on its head", was selected for the "Fantastic 7" genre festival initiative to highlight genre films at seven international film festivals.[22] Violation premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival in the "Midnight Madness" program.[23][24] Critic Mike Crisolago has named it one of 30 films he is already "excited to see.".[25] Now Toronto critic Norman Wilner called it "a major levelling up of their signature combination of rage and intensity".[26] According to Variety reviewer Tomris Laffley, "Despite some heavy-handed choices, Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli pack a profound gut-punch with their debut feature."[27]

Mancinelli received a Canadian Screen Award nomination at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for the John Dunning Best First Feature Award.[28]

Other

Mancinelli is also a faculty member of the Toronto Film School.[3] Mancinelli received his BFA in film production from York University and is an alumnus of the National Screen Institute's Features First program.[15][13]

Filmography
YearFilmGenre
2006Death to Charlienarrative short
2007P.U.R.E.narrative short
2009Soapnarrative short
2011Pathwaysnarrative short
2012Broken Heart Syndromenarrative short
2015Winter Hymnsnarrative short
2016The Big Crunchnarrative short
2017Slap Happynarrative short
2017Detroit Blooddocumentary short
2018Woman in Stallnarrative short
2019Chubbynarrative short
2020Violationhorror feature

Recognition

References
  1. Boland, Jack (October 21, 2016). "Canuck filmmakers to watch". 24 Hours. p. 16.
  2. "Woman In Stall". festivalregard.com. Saguenay International Short Film Festival. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  3. "Film Production faculty". Toronto Film School. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. "INFLO EVENTS & TICKETS". tourlala.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  5. Hatfield, Erin (October 2, 2011). "Second short at TIFF for Beaconsfield director". toronto.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  6. Kumar, Mathew (September 13, 2009). "TIFF 2009: Catastrophe In Comparison". Torontoist.
  7. "TIFF Dailies". Toronto Star. September 9, 2009. p. E2.
  8. Ahearn, Victoria (September 16, 2011). "In the spotlight: Dusty Mancinelli showcases 'Pathways' at the Toronto film fest". Global News. Canadian Press. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  9. "CFR Short Film Pick: Broken Heart Syndrome Interview - Dusty Mancinelli". yahoo.com. Canadian Film Review. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  10. "Broken Heart Syndrome at 2013 Dallas International Festival". yahoo.com. Dallas Film Society. April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  11. "Winter Hymns at Slamdance". Northern Stars. December 9, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  12. Cummins, Julianna (January 29, 2016). "Winter Hymns wins Slamdance prize". Playback.
  13. Friesen, Laura (February 3, 2015). "NSI grads score BravoFACT support". National Screen Institute.
  14. Previl, Sean (September 21, 2015). "ATLANTIC FILM FESTIVAL; The Big Crunch makes world debut". Chronicle-Herald. p. E3.
  15. "NSI Features First Alumni". National Screen Institute. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  16. "Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli". Independent Talent. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  17. Robins, Ben (October 21, 2017). "The Best Short Films from the 61st BFI London Film Festival". FlickeringMyth. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  18. Serapova, Serafima (May 1, 2020). "Woman in Stall". shortoftheweek.com.
  19. "DUSTY MANCINELLI". moscowfilmfestival.ru/. Moscow International Film Festival. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  20. Saveliev, Alex (January 30, 2020). "Chubby". Film Threat.
  21. "Canadian Presence at Cannes 2020". RDV Canada.
  22. Dale, Martin (June 25, 2020). "Fantastic 7 Film Festivals Endorse Potential Upcoming Genre Standouts at Cannes Session". Variety.
  23. "Violation". tiff.net. Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  24. Miska, Brad (July 30, 2020). "TIFF's Midnight Madness is Still Going to Get Crazy!". bloodydisgusting.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  25. Crisolago, Mike (July 30, 2020). "30 Films We're Already Excited to See".
  26. Wilner, Norman (September 14, 2020). "TIFF review: Violation shows us the horrible cost of revenge". Now Toronto. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  27. Laffley, Tomris (September 13, 2020). "'Violation' Review: Disturbing Rape-Revenge Thriller Subverts Genre Trappings". Variety. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  28. Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations". ET Canada, March 30, 2021.
  29. "WINTER HYMNS". plainspeakfilms.com.
  30. Sharf, Zack (January 29, 2016). "Here Are the Winners of the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival". indiewire.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  31. "Slap Happy". dmfilm.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  32. "Woman in Stall". cbc.ca/reflections. CBC. June 3, 2019.
  33. Pederson, Erik (January 19, 2020). "Slamdance: 'Dollhouse' & 'Kifaru' Take Top Prizes – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood.
  34. "Chubby". dmfilm.com. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  35. "Acasă - My Home triunfa en Cracovia". cineuropa.org. June 8, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
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