TIFF spotlight: Stephen Dunn and ‘Closet Monster’

TORONTO – The Toronto International Film Festival is in full swing with hundreds of movies set to unspool through Sept. 20. Here’s a look at a Canadian project trying to break through at the 11-day movie marathon:

Film: “Closet Monster”

Synopsis: A sensitive teenager unsure of his sexuality is desperate to escape dysfunctional parents and harrowing memories of a gay bashing he witnessed as a child. His coping tools: a talking hamster (voiced by Isabella Rossellini) and a vivid imagination.

Director: Stephen Dunn

Hometown: St. John’s, N.L.

Age: 26

Stars: Connor Jessup, Mary Walsh, Aaron Abrams and kid actor Jack Fulton

On incorporating vivid imagery: “This is something that’s very important to me — the presence of magic realism. The presence of internal struggles manifesting into a physical external form is my identity in how I personally end up dealing with trauma. And so it kind of is translated into my work. ‘Closet Monster’ is really a prime example of that.”

On shooting in Newfoundland: “I definitely made a deliberate choice not to have any violins or whatever. I wanted to show the modern side of Newfoundland, what it’s like to grow up as an urban teen in the city. It’s something we haven’t seen —it’s not ‘Republic of Doyle,’ it’s not ‘The Grand Seduction.’ We have so much more diversity than I think a lot of people would assume. I didn’t want to make a tourism ad but I did want to show off the unique landscape and the unique culture without hitting people over the head with it.”