Indonesian Action Film Kick Boxes Butt In Toronto

THE RAID, an Indonesian action movie that opened the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival, has been one of the most successful titles here, proving yet again that the Festival’s genre program is not only an audience favorite but one that clicks with international buyers. The film tells the story of a SWAT team that becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster, armed with two highly violent martial arts killers and an army of machete-swinging, machine gun-toting dealers and thugs. The movie, which had its first screening on the Festival’s opening day, set the tone and bar for this year’s Midnight Madness sidebar, generating buzz due to its inventive action sequences and the little Indonesian fighting form called silat. The film’s director Gareth Huw Evans wrote and directed the movie and is now being chased by Hollywood agencies and managers. The film, produced by PT. Merantau Films and XYZ Films, was represented by Celluloid Nightmare, the genre division of French sales company Celluloid Dreams. Most countries have been sold by the end of the Festival, with Sony Pictures Worldwide on board in many territories.

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