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Precious touts big fans at TIFF
Katherine Monk
TORONTO - The movie industry could be in store for a windfall: Oprah Winfrey may consider the idea of starting a film club to raise awareness about great movies the same way her book club plucks unknown tomes off the shelf and turns them into bestsellers.
The famed talk show host and femme entrepreneur didn't guarantee any such thing during a Sunday morning press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It was more like she didn't dismiss the suggestion offhand.
"A film club . . . That's a thought," she said in response to a question off the floor.
In any other universe, a casual remark such as that would have negligible impact, let alone merit a written reiteration of the quote.
But the Toronto International Film Festival is a different universe, and Oprah Winfrey and her entourage have a habit of distorting the natural orbit of the spheres.
Proof of the Oprah effect could be seen early Sunday at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Toronto as fans stood outside the breezeway hoping to catch a glimpse of the Chicago broadcaster. The Oprah effect was even more pronounced inside the marbled floors as bleary-eyed media types shuffled into a packed news conference to hear Oprah and an 11-member panel discuss Precious, the Sundance-winning film from Lee Daniels based on the novel Push by Sapphire.
When the movie about a young woman living in the inner city premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, it was a far cry from high-profile, despite featuring an un-made-up Mariah Carey in the role of social worker.
Since January, however, the film has picked up more than international distribution deals. It's picked up high profile producers such as Oprah and Tyler Perry, both of whom trekked for the Toronto shindig early Sunday.
"The film was already done by the time I saw it," Perry said. "They had already put the financing together and done a spectacular job directing the actors. It was a finished product."
Perry took the project to Lions Gate, and from that point on, Precious has been steamrolling up the red carpet, fangs-out for Oscar.
As the story of a young woman dealing with rape, incest, teen pregnancy and HIV, Precious is not your typical feel-good kind of reel, but the sea of humanity that was the press panel was adamant people would relate to the story of Precious because it was universal.
"When I finished watching that movie, first of all, I literally had to breathe," said Winfrey. "And I didn't cry until the card came up saying 'for precious girls everywhere.' And that hit a nerve. I recognized myself in that character and most of all, I have seen the precious girls of the world and they have been invisible to me."
Winfrey added the whole message of Precious is that once you see the movie, those "invisible" people are visible, and remain visible for the rest of your life.
Whether Precious reaps precious metal at the box office remains to be seen. The film is a tough sell as a result of the content, despite the high-profile cheerleading squad it's been able to gather in tow, and the talk of an Oscar nomination for co-star Mo'nique, who plays an abusive and depressive mother.
The audience will have its chance to vote with its collective feet when the film hits theatres in November.
