By Nivedita Balu
TORONTO (Reuters) – Comedian Ben Stiller said he was thrilled that his latest drama-comedy “Nutcrackers” was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival, with the film also making its debut at the ten day film event.
“We made this little film independently… it was such a labor of love. I was so thrilled that Toronto saw it and wanted to open the festival with it,” said Stiller as he walked the red carpet with director David Gordon Green and other cast members.
“Nutcrackers” tells the heartwarming story of hotshot Chicago real estate developer Michael who is forced to care for his orphaned nephews in a small Ohio town after his sister and her husband have a terrible accident.
Michael then discovers the boys – played by brothers Homer, Ulysses, Arlo and Atlas Janson – are trained in ballet, and the film follows their antics in their farm, where Stiller’s character chases hogs and chickens.
Unlike a traditional movie release, “Nutcrackers” made its debut at TIFF, without launching teasers or previews.
“This is the first audience,” Stiller said. “I never really imagined it when we were making the movie because we made it in this little farmhouse, very small budget, just us and the kids and the animals and hoping that we would figure out a place that people would see it.
“This is it. We’re going to show it and we’ll see who likes it, which is fun,” he added.
The film, which also stars Linda Cardellini, is yet to land a distributor deal.
The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday with Hollywood stars making a comeback on the red carpet after last year’s screen writer’s strike.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Omar Younis in Toronto; editing by Miral Fahmy)