Premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Sergio Castellitto‘s Twice Born.  Based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Mazzantini, the film stars Penelope Cruz as a single mother who returns with her teen son to present-day Sarajevo where her son’s father (Emile Hirsch) died during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.  As she tries to repair the relationship with her son, new revelations force her to rethink everything.  The film also stars Mira Fulran and Jane Birkin and you can watch the first trailer here.

Before the world premiere, I landed an extended video interview with Castellitto.  We talked about premiering at TIFF, the challenges of making Twice Born, the use of melodrama and how he approaches film as an actor even when he’s directing, why he shot on the ARRI ALEXA, the rehearsal process, and a lot more.  In addition, Castellitto revealed his first cut was four and a half hours (the final release is a little over two hours), and how he hopes to eventually show his longer version.  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the many films to premier at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Neil Jordan‘s vampire movie Byzantium.  Starring Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, Caleb Landry Jones and Jonny Lee Miller, the film’s about the tension between mother and daughter vampires over their code of secrecy.  Here’s the full synopsis and the first clip.

Shortly before the premiere, I was able to speak with Neil Jordan.  We talked about TIFF, how Byzantium came together, did the film change during production, the current popularity of the vampire genre, his opinion of the first Twilight movie, his love of the ARRI ALEXA digital camera, deleted scenes, extended cuts, The Borgias, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Hollywood is in the middle of a digital revolution.  Over the past few years, the titans of the industry have switched to digital cameras, and it seems like the days of shooting on film are drawing to a close.  Of course there will always be holdouts (Christopher Nolan), but as digital cameras get more and more advanced, you have to wonder how long it will be before everyone has converted.  These are the main issues explored in Keanu Reeves and Chris Kenneally‘s great documentary Side by Side.  The two filmmakers sat down with people like James Cameron, David Fincher, George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Stephen Soderbergh, and Andy and Lana Wachowski to talk about the evolving landscape of filmmaking.   If you’re a film nerd, it’s a must see movie.  For more on Side by Side, here’s some outtakes and a trailer.

Last week, I landed an exclusive interview with Keanu Reeves.  Besides thanking him for getting the Wachowskis on camera, we talked about what surprised him about the digital revolution, how digital cameras and digital projection have advanced in the past few years, IMAX, whether it was tough to land the interviews, and so much more.  In addition, with Reeves having directed his first feature, Man of Tai Chi, we talked about when people will see it, the film’s rating (PG-13), and why he used the ARRI Alexa.  Finally, we also talked about 47 Ronin, how he’d like to direct a film called Life and Art, the status of Bill and Ted 3, and Point Break Live (which is a lot of fun).  Hit the jump to watch or to read the transcript.