Award-winning writer and director Nicolás Pereda returns to TIFF with North American premiere of Copper
York-trained auteur offers interviews around the premiere of his latest feature, a surreal docu-fiction tracing a Mexican miner’s quiet unravelling following a haunting discovery
York University proudly celebrates the North American premiere of Copper (Cobre), the latest feature by esteemed director, screenwriter and alum Nicolás Pereda (BFA ’05, MFA ’07). Screening in the Wavelengths programme at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Cooper is “the latest subtly brilliant work of Pereda’s magical realist world,” according to In Review Online.
A Canadian-Mexican co-production, the film follows Lázaro, played by Lázaro G. Rodríguez, a long-suffering mine worker whose years of deteriorating health compel him to seek an oxygen tank. His life takes an unnerving turn when he discovers a corpse by the side of a road, setting off a surreal chain of suspicion, rumour and desire . This quietly unsettling film employs Pereda’s signature blend of narrative and documentary elements, underscored by formal restraint, humour and wit.
Having earned both his BFA and MFA in film from York University, Pereda relocated from Mexico City at age 19 to study film in Toronto, culminating in his thesis project and first feature Where Are Their Stories? Over the next two decades, he built a rich oeuvre that has earned him over 30 retrospectives, including presentations by the Anthology Film Archives, Pacific Film Archives and the Harvard Film Archive. His films — Perpetuum Mobile, Summer of Goliath, Greatest Hits, Killing Strangers, The Absent, Minotaur, My Skin, Luminous, Fauna, Lázaro at Night — have premiered at international festivals including TIFF, Venice, Berlinale, Rotterdam, and more.
Pereda is available for interviews to discuss Cooper, as well as his consistent, inventive and deeply empathetic body of work.
Showtimes
Friday, Sept. 12 at 2:15 p.m.
TIFF Lightbox
Saturday, Sept. 13 at 12:30 p.m.
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Sunday, Sept. 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Runtime: 78 minutes
Programme: Wavelengths, Unhidden Gems presented by Redbreast
The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) at York University is a dynamic hub for creative experimentation and expression. With a commitment to cultivating artistic excellence, new ideas and entrepreneurial skills, AMPD students learn by doing with industry-leading professionals in career-focused activities. The Department of Cinema & Media Arts at AMPD offers exceptional hands-on and theoretical training across the evolving spectrum of cinema and media with access to top-tier facilities, including the York Motion Media Studio at Cinespace Studios Toronto. From idea to screenplay, camera to screen, screen to critical inquiry, AMPD students learn to think and create in the language of the moving image across all media, guided by faculty who are experts in their field.
