click to play one of five trailers for The Saddest Boy in the World

Official Selection, 2006 Toronto International Film Festival Timothy Higgins, picked last for the team, is the saddest boy in the world. Friendlessness, suburban complacency and prescription drugs have conspired against the youngster to make this his worst year yet. Musical Chairs and birthday cake can't save him now—at his ninth birthday party, Timothy prepares for a show-stopping suicide.

13:30 / colour / English / 35mm / Dolby Digital 5.1

News

March 25, 2009

LONDON’S INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS TO HOLD RETROSPECTIVE OF SHORT FILMS BY JAMIE TRAVIS

The ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) will host the first UK retrospective of the works of Canadian filmmaker Jamie Travis. Featuring a post-screening Q&A with Travis, the event will take place at the ICA Cinema at 18:30 on 22 April, 2009.

Jamie Travis’ ironic and hyper-designed comedies—The Saddest Boy in the World, The Patterns Trilogy and Why the Anderson Children Didn’t Come to Dinner —have established him as “one of the most original voices in Canadian cinema” (The Toronto Sun). Recurring themes of childhood frailty and self-conscious suspense—alongside painstakingly designed interiors and soothing songs of sorrow—have engendered a distinct and consistent cinematic universe that straddles the divide between Sad and Funny.

“His shorts combine the macabre subject matter of David Lynch and Todd Solondz with the art direction of Wes Anderson. The end result is something that seems wholly original and much more than pastiche… Passivity isn’t really an option when watching his films as the mise en scène is handled with the meticulousness of a serial killer.” (Ion Magazine, Vancouver)

The event will be held at 18:30 on 22 April, 2009 at the ICA Cinema, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH.

Tickets can be purchased at the ICA site or by calling the ICA box office at 020 7930 3647.

Prices are £7 / £6 concessions / £5 members.

Presented in conjunction with The London Consortium and The Canada Council for the Arts. Curated by Christien Garcia.

FOR PRESS INQUIRIES AND SCREENERS, please contact A.J. Bond at [email protected]

CONTACT CHRISTIEN GARCIA, CURATOR at [email protected] or 077 5778 4495

June 21, 2007

Karlovy Vary marks second major European screening

The Saddest Boy in the World will screen as part of the Forum of Independents at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The screening marks Saddest Boy’s Czech premiere and the second major European screening since its European debut at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Screening details are as follows:

Sunday, July 1 / 10pm / Espace Dorleans Cinema
Tuesday, July 3 / 9am / Grand Hall
Thursday, July 5 / 10pm / Espace Dorleans Cinema

Producer Amy Belling will be in attendance. Please direct all inquiries to [email protected].

May 23, 2007

Toronto, Seattle and New York screenings

The Saddest Boy in the World has now played at over sixty film festivals worldwide. Check back often for upcoming screenings.

Toronto

Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival (May 17 – 27):

Wednesday, May 23
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
Programme—The Young and the Restless
5:15pm

Seattle

The Seattle International Film Festival (May 24 – June 17) will host the American Northwest premiere.

Saturday, May 26
Harvard Exit
807 East Roy St. in Capitol Hill
Programme—Youth Run Amok
4pm

New York City

Saddest Boy will have its queer NYC premiere at NewFest (May 31 – June 10). Jamie Travis will attend.

Thursday, June 7 / 8:15pm / AMC Loews 34th St. Theater 10
Sunday, June 10 / 1:30pm / AMC Loews 34th St. Theater 6

The programme is called Lost Boys. The AMC Loews Theater is located at 312 W. 34th St. at 8th Ave.

April 12, 2007

New York City, Turin, Lisbon, Boston and Kansas City Premieres

The Saddest Boy in the World will have its NYC debut next week at the prestigious Gen Art Film Festival (April 11-17). The closing night short film, Saddest Boy will open for the new Christian Slater film He Was a Quiet Man, directed by Frank Cappello.

The details:

Tuesday, April 17
Screening—7:30pm, Clearview Chelsea West (333 W. 23rd St.)
Party—10pm, Rebel (251 W. 30th St.)

Director Jamie Travis and producer Amy Belling will be in attendance.

The Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (April 19-26) will host the Italian premiere of The Saddest Boy in the World. Check out the official festival website for more details.

The Portugal premiere will be at IndieLisboa (April 19-29) in Lisbon. The Saddest Boy in the World plays in the festival’s Observatory section, alongside Jamie Travis’ Patterns 3. Screening details are as follows:

Thursday, April 19 / 9:45pm / King 2
Saturday, April 21 / 3:30pm / King 2

For more information, please visit the IndieLisboa website.

The Saddest Boy in the World will have its New England premiere at the Independent Film Festival of Boston (April 25-30).

The film will precede Austin director Steve Collins’ Gretchen, the feature film follow-up to his amazing short Gretchen and the Night Danger. Here are the screening details:

Thursday, April 26 / 9:30pm / Somerville 3
Saturday, April 28 / 9:45pm / Somerville 5

Finally, the Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee (April 12-16) will host the Missouri premiere of The Saddest Boy in the World in the form of a retrospective of director Jamie Travis’ short works. Included are Why the Anderson Children Didn’t Come to Dinner and The Patterns Trilogy. Jamie Travis will attend.

The screening:

Sunday, April 15
1:30pm
Tivoli Cinemas

April 7, 2007

Saddest Boy wins big in Bucharest, Special Jury Mention in Quebec City

The Saddest Boy in the World played recently to an enthusiastic crowd at the NexT International Short Film Festival
(March 29-31) in Bucharest, Romania. While director Jamie Travis’ The Patterns Trilogy took home the award for Best Soundtrack, Saddest Boy won the audience favourite award.

The Festival de Cinéma des 3 Amériques (March 28-April 1) in Quebec City just gave The Saddest Boy in the World a special jury mention. The Quebec screening represents the first ever retrospective of Jamie Travis’ works.

March 9, 2007

South by Southwest hosts Texas premiere

Jamie Travis’ The Saddest Boy in the World will have its second major US screening at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Here are the screening details:

Saturday, March 10 / Alamo Lamar 2 / 1:30pm
Monday, March 12 / Alamo Lamar 2 / 1:30pm
Thursday, March 15 / Alamo Lamar 2 / 1:30pm

Other recent screenings include the Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival (Best Short Film award), the Miami International Film Festival, the Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney, the Melbourne Queer Film Festival and the Reel 2 Real Youth Festival in Vancouver.

January 24, 2007

International Film Festival Rotterdam hosts European premiere

Following its stellar US debut at Slamdance, Jamie Travis’ The Saddest Boy in the World is set to screen at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

The screening details are as follows:

Thursday, Jan 25 / 2pm / Lantaren 1
Saturday, Jan 27 / 10pm / Doelen Juriaanse Zaal
Sunday, Jan 28 / 12pm / Cinerama 4
Saturday, Feb 3 / 7pm / Pathe 1

Saddest Boy will precede Dito Montiel’s feature film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, a big winner at the 2006 Sundance and Venice Film Festivals.

For more information, please visit the official site of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Producer/DP Amy Belling will be in attendance. Please direct inquiries to [email protected].

December 13, 2006

Slamdance marks US premiere

The Saddest Boy in the World will have its US premiere at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

“Unequivocally, we have the strongest line-up of short films in our history,” said Sarah Diamond, Director of Programming, at the December 12 press conference. “And dare I say, I believe we have the strongest collection of short films screening anywhere.”

Saddest Boy plays in competition before American Fork, the new feature film from director Chris Bowman and from Jeremy Coon, the producer of Napoleon Dynamite.

Screening times are as follows:

Saturday, Jan 20 / 8:30pm / Treasure Mountain Inn

Wednesday, Jan 24 / 3:30pm / Treasure Mountain Inn

The Treasure Mountain Inn is located at 255 Main Street. Tickets can be purchased at the Slamdance website.

Director Jamie Travis and producer Amy Belling will be in attendance.

November 4, 2006

The Saddest Boy in the World will play as the opening short film at the Image+Nation Montreal International LGBT Film Festival.

The screening will take place on Thursday, November 16 at Montreal’s Imperial Theatre.

Resfest Canada will screen The Saddest Boy in the World in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

The details are as follows:

Vancouver

Sunday, November 19 / 8pm / Vancity Theatre

Montreal

Sunday, November 26 / 10pm / Ex-Centris

Toronto

Sunday, December 3 / 7pm / Theatre D at The Royal Theatre

Check out the Resfest site for more information.

October 9, 2006

We are throwing a party—THE SADDEST PATTERNS IN THE WORLD party—to celebrate the BC premieres of The Saddest Boy in the World, Patterns 2 and Patterns 3 and at the 25th Vancouver International Film Festival.

The details:

Monday, October 9 – 9pm til 1am – THE ALIBI ROOM – 157 Alexander St.

Featured is a live musical performance of all the songs from Patterns 3, featuring vocalists Courtenay Webber and Chad Clark, bassist Jason Schneider and guitarist/composer Alfredo Santa Ana. Show time is 10:15pm.