“A completely unique event... a modern urban drive in.

”
-- Globe and Mail

“Absorbing indie art against Toronto's chromatic cityscape couldn't make for a better summer evening.”
-- BlogTO

OPEN ROOF FESTIVAL, TORONTO’S ANNUAL OUTDOOR

FILM AND MUSIC SERIES PROUDLY RETURNS THIS
SUMMER WITH AN EXTENDED PROGRAMME
JUNE 16 TO SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
Toronto, May 25, 2011 – Open Roof Festival (ORF), Toronto’s only outdoor film and music series, is
back for its sophomore season offering local Torontonians and international visitors a 12-week urban
cultural showcase every Thursday night starting June 16 and ending September 1, 2011. Presenting the
best Canadian and international narrative films, documentaries, and musical acts, ORF offers arts
seekers the ultimate in urban summer time fun with weekly screenings and concerts, all taking place en
plein air at the Amsterdam Brewery. Accessible by car, transit and bicycle, the venue opens at 7:30 PM
each evening, with a local band coming on shortly thereafter, and films commencing at sundown.

“Toronto is a film and music lover’s playground,” says festival co-founder Michael MacMillan. “The city
is home to dozens of concert halls, art house movie theatres and big-box cinemas. Open Roof Festival
gives Torontonians an opportunity to watch great movies, listen to live music, and enjoy locally brewed
beer all in one night, and all in one fun and unusual location.”

This year’s extended festival will feature one headlining band and film per evening, as well as nationally
and internationally produced shorts. Single tickets for the 2011 festival are only $15, which means great
value for audiences. Many of the official selections were previously premiered at some of the world’s
leading film festivals including Sundance, Hot Docs and TIFF, and have not been released commercially
in Canada.

“The beauty of the Open Roof Festival is that it brings us into a venue which emphasizes the grassroots
feel of our festival, the city we live in and the bounty of creativity that exists in Toronto – film and music
with a gravel parking lot under our feet and the CN Tower in view – it doesn’t get better,” says co-founder
and co-executive director, Jordan Nahmias.

Voted one of the top 10 Toronto film stories of 2010 by Blog T.O., ORF enjoyed a stellar first season
audience last year, welcoming over 3000 patrons over 7 evenings of programming.
“Much of the festival’s first year success is thanks to our dedicated partners including Toronto’s own Hot
Docs Film Festival and the Amsterdam Brewing Company,” says Sandra Singer, the festival’s co-
founder and co-executive director. “We are pleased to have both partners returning this year, and they
will be joined by additional likeminded partners all dedicated to bringing festival-goers an unforgettable
experience.”

Once again joining ORF’s executive team to create a distinctively authentic grassroots arts experience is
culture maverick Marcello Cabezas, the festival’s producer. Some of Cabezas’ latest projects include
Woody Harrelson’s smash hit play Bullet for Adolf, and Hope Rising, featuring Alicia Keys.

ORF will kick-off on June 16th at 7:30 PM with the Oscar-nominated EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
(US/UK 87 mins), a documentary that had its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The
Banksy directed film follows guerrilla artists in LA and tells the story of Thierry Guetta. Guetta is also
known as the street artist Mr. Brainwash, an imaginative and eccentric French immigrant living in Los
Angeles, with a passion for street art.

The festival’s second weekly Thursday screening will feature the international festival circuit title and
official Sundance selection HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE (US 98 mins), a film written and directed
by actor Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother). Radnor’s film captures a generational moment: young
New Yorkers on the cusp of truly growing up, tiring of their reflexive cynicism, each in their own ways
struggling to connect and define what it means to love and be loved.

Other compelling titles scheduled to show this year include Conan O’Brien’s CAN’T STOP (U.S., 89
mins), the documentary chronicling O'Brien's 32-city vaudevillian tour after he stepped down as the
host of "The Tonight Show;" Bruce McDonald’s TRIGGER (CANADA, 78 mins), starring the late indie
luminary Tracy Wright – a story of two rock n' roll women who once shared a friendship, a band and a
whole lot of chaos; Jay Cheel’s BEAUTY DAY (Canada, 91 mins), a documentary about the life (and
injuries) of stunt-TV pioneer Ralph Zavadil; Matthew Vaughan’s KICK ASS (US, 117 mins ),
a superhero/action-comedy film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John
Romita, Jr.; audience award winner at Sundance and Oscar-nominated WASTE LAND (US/BRAZIL,
98mins ), following film maker and renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in
Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the
outskirts of Rio de Janeiro; and Kevin Coll’s NOWHERE BOY (UK, 98 mins ), a British biopic about John
Lennon's adolescence, the creation of his first band, The Quarrymen, and its evolution into The Beatles. 

ORF is also happy to present a great line-up of indie music acts at this year’s festival including Little
Black Dress, the festival’s opening night band, and Junction, ORF’s closing night musical act on
Thursday September 1. Other musical acts this year include Liam Titcomb, Running Red Lights,
Locomotive 8 and Yuka. ORF is pleased to partner with Universal Music Canada and Slaight Music this
year, bringing a better than ever band line up and production.

A high-profile collection of additional local and international, award-winning and award-nominated,

thought-provoking and revelry-inducing titles will be released in the weeks to come. All festival
announcements including appearing bands, guest hosts, and attending filmmakers will be made available
at www.openroofffestival.com.

- 30 -

Co-founded by Michael MacMillan, Sandra Singer, Jordan Nahmias, and Burzin Contractor in 2010, Open
Roof Festival is Toronto’s summer outdoor film and music festival. Running every Thursday night for 12
weeks from June 16 to September 1, the 2011 season of ORF offers urbanites an al fresco take on top
cinema and music from Canada and across the globe, set on the grounds of Toronto’s landmark
community brewery, the Amsterdam Brewing Company. For more information, visit openrooffilms.com,
facebook.com/openrooffestival, and follow @openrooffest.

The Open Roof Festival is proud to include the Amsterdam Brewing Company, PUMA,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Universal Music Canada, Slaight Music, and Hot Docs Film Festival as some of
its presenting partners.

Other partnerships and happenings to be announced in subsequent releases.

Media Contact:

Alina Goldstein Duviner, Publicity

ALINA PUBLICITY
Alina@AlinaPublicity.com | 416.574.1098