2022 marks the tenth anniversary of Kazik Radwanski’s acclaimed feature debut Tower — a microbudget psychodrama that established his and Dan Montgomery’s production company Medium Density Fibreboard Films (MDFF) and kick-started the Toronto New New Wave. For this special screening, Kaz will be joined by film critic Adam Nayman—who teaches a course on Toronto cinema at Innis College— for a discussion of Tower‘s impact and legacy, as well as an audience Q and A.
Kazik Radwanski is currently the Universal Screenwriter in Residence and is teaching CIN369H1Y – Screenwriting. Born in 1985 in Toronto, Kazik Radwanski co-founded the production company MDFF in 2008. His short films screened at the Berlinale Shorts Competition for three consecutive years between 2009-2011. In 2012, Radwanski directed his first feature film Tower which had its world premiere at the 65th Locarno International Film Festival. The film went on to screen at numerous festivals including TIFF, The Viennale, and New Directors/ New Films presented by MoMA. His second feature How Heavy This Hammer premiered at TIFF 2015 and had its international premiere at The 66th Berlin International Film Festival. His short film Scaffold screened at over 30 international festivals including Locarno, TIFF and the New York Film Festival. Anne at 13,000 ft is his most recent feature and it premiered at TIFF 2019 in the Platform section where it was awarded an honourable mention. The film went on to have its international premiere at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival and was awarded the $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.
Adam Nayman is a film critic, lecturer and author based in Toronto. He teaches cinema studies at the University of Toronto, including a course on Toronto film history and analysis. He has written on film for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Sight and Sound and The Ringer and is a contributing editor to Cinema Scope. He has written several books, including critical studies of Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, and the Coen brothers and a monograph on SHOWGIRLS.
