We present our highlights from the press conference of Jordan Roberts’ Burn your Maps from the 2016 Toronto Film Festival (TIFF16).
The film stars Vera Farmiga, Jacob Tremblay, Marton Csokas, Suraj Sharma, and Virginia Madsen.
A family in emotional turmoil is taken by surprise in this quirky adventure where an eccentric 8-year-old American boy, Wes, has an existential epiphany – He believes that he is in fact a Mongolian goat herder.
It’s been quite a ride for the cast, and here they talk about filming up in Calgary, watching Jacob fighting storms, playing with goats and riding a horse. It’s been quite a ride for the young star.
Vera Farmiga went on to talk about working with Jacob, the chemistry between them and how the young actor is open, mischievous and very savvy. She also talks about she was inspired by the relationship between the actor and his mother, which she used in their time on screen.
It was an easy choice for Farmiga to make, here she talks about reading the story and how the love and hope inherent in the script and the connection she made with her own life at the time.
Moving on to the director Jordan Roberts, and here he talks about casting the ‘little squirt’, and how he first encountered Jacob Tremblay from an audition tape. He talks of the honesty that the actor displayed, and how they came to cast him.
Tremblay himself talked about playing the character of Wes, and why the strange story connected with him.
He also talked about learning riding a horse, how to feed a goat, though they smell, and the general experience. And a note from the young actor – riding a horse without a saddle is painful…
With his role in Room blowing the roof off, so to speak, the young actor’s career. Here he talks about getting the role, and how the director and he worked on creating the character once he was cast.
The director expressed his surprise at how perfect Calgary doubled for Mongolia, and how easily it matched the environment.
Having filmed the movie in Canada it made sense for the director to be invited back for the Toronto Film Festival. He talks about how important Canada was to him personally and the film, particularly the kindness of the people.
