Eric Lavallée

Have you ever wondered what are the films that inspire the next generation of visionary filmmakers? As part of our monthly IONCINEPHILE profile (June 2011), we ask the filmmaker the incredibly arduous task of identifying their top ten list of all-time favorite films. This month we asked Anthony Burns, the filmmaker behind the Sundance selected Skateland to share his list with us. Enjoy!

A handful of 80's pictures including Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and American Graffiti were used for reference but the overall 'look' and 'feel' is very contemporary. Our story is universal in time and place and the aesthetics of the film do dilute that.

It'll be perfectly timed for miserable weather season of this upcoming winter, Nietzsche fans will be able to take the plunge into Bela Tarr's bleak treatment, and worth mentioning that this is historically a hypothetical one, into the celeb philosopher's ultimate demise. After weather-related production problems pushed the film past a 2010 Cannes due date, The Turin Horse, the winner of the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear in Berlin has found a home with The Cinema Guild folks.

We complete our look at the key players in the Cannes market with the sales agent that has the most number of highly anticipated film projects. Wild Bunch came to the fest with popular items such as Polisse, The Artist and The Kid With a Bike, and it looks like they might outfit Venice and TIFF with some premium titles with Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmasters being one of the most sought after titles this coming August/September.

If I hadn't of missed out on the slate unveiling during the festival, I would have been extremely curious about what the Weinstein Co. had to show for for Jim Field Smith's Butter. With the distribution rights pick-up of The Iron Lady and The Artist, the Weinsteins are now more focused then ever in sticking to what they know best. The distribution and Prod co. had several items that have already been released and are selling, but in the titles that are getting ready for the fall, we look forward the most to Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn starring Emma Watson (see above) and Michelle Williams (aka Harvey's new Paltrow) as Monroe.