海角社区官网filmmaker Chandler Levack鈥檚 鈥淢ile End Kicks鈥 premieres today at this year’s 海角社区官网International Film Festival, but it’s been a decade in the making.
She wrote the screenplay in Montreal in her late 20s; she鈥檇 just ended a relationship and was a magazine writer between jobs when a friend asked her to cat-sit while he was away. 鈥淔or the first time in my entire life, I was going to take that month and write something that was just for me,鈥 Levack said. 鈥淚t was the first time I honoured the fact that I really wanted to make a feature film.鈥
Ten years later, with much further development, that screenplay has become Levack鈥檚 second feature; her first, 鈥淚 Like Movies,鈥 a coming-of-age dramedy about a teenage boy named Lawrence who works in a video store, premiered at the festival in 2022 to critical acclaim.
Starring 鈥淓uphoria鈥 actor Barbie Ferreira, 鈥淢ile End Kicks鈥 is about a young woman who spends a summer in Montreal in the early 2010s, during the “indie sleaze” period, devoting herself to a creative project after a terrible time working at a music magazine in Toronto.
Barbie Ferriera stars in Chandler Levack’s “Mile End Kicks.”
TIFF/The Canadian PressYou win no prizes for guessing that it is profoundly personal for Levack. 鈥淚t does feel very exposing. With 鈥業 Like Movies,鈥 I had this mask with Lawrence because he鈥檚 a young male character. You can almost be more vulnerable because you have the cover of gender,鈥 she said.
鈥淚t was hard to make a film with a young female protagonist who also looks a lot like me, and was sometimes wearing my old clothes from when I was 22. It鈥檚 very trippy to go back. We were filming in locations where some of these things really happened. Sometimes there were moments where I felt lightly retraumatized because I鈥檇 made it look too much the same.鈥
Levack won鈥檛 have long to soak in the glow of the 鈥淢ile End Kicks鈥 premiere 鈥 she鈥檒l head to Los Angeles while is still in full swing to begin post-production on 鈥淩oommates,鈥 a $30-million Netflix ensemble comedy she鈥檚 directed starring Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Sherman and Nick Kroll.
Chandler Levack kicking off TIFF at The Kit Women In Film event at the Omni King Edward Hotel, September 3, 2025.
Richard Lautens/海角社区官网StarStill, Levack will relish her time at the festival, as she has for the past two decades. She attended her first one as an 18-year-old film student, spent years covering the premieres as a critic with an industry pass and worked at the festival itself as a staff writer for two years.
鈥淭IFF is the most exciting time of the year, because it feels like back-to-school and Christmas all at once,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 know it inside out. It really is an institution that has defined my whole life.鈥
Here are some of the moments she鈥檒l never forget.
Actor Andrew Scott, seen at TIFF in 2022, helped Chandler Levack up after she fell at the A24 party.
Richard Lautens/海角社区官网Star file photoMost memorable celebrity encounter
鈥淭his is really embarrassing. The year that 鈥業 Like Movies鈥 premiered, I鈥檇 just gotten signed to (talent agency) WME and they got me into the A24 party. I was really nervous and I went by myself. As soon as I walked in, I fell down the stairs in front of everybody. It was a really embarrassing fall, the kind where three people are like, 鈥楢re you OK? That looked really bad.鈥 And the person who helped me up was Andrew Scott. He was like, 鈥楲et鈥檚 get you sorted out, let鈥檚 get you a drink.鈥 It was such a good metaphor for my career because it鈥檚 like, things are happening, but also I鈥檓 going to fall flat on my face at the party I most want to go to in the entire world.鈥
Earliest TIFF memory
鈥淚 was in my second year of university, studying film at the University of Toronto. All of my professors were like, 鈥榊ou shouldn鈥檛 even be in class this week, you should be at TIFF.鈥 I went to a screening of 鈥楢lice Doesn鈥檛 Live Here Anymore,鈥 and it was introduced by (the film鈥檚 star) Ellen Burstyn and shown on 35 mm. It was the greatest thing ever. I couldn鈥檛 believe this was in my backyard.鈥
Chandler Levack says seeing “Toni Erdmann” at the festival (pictured with star聽Sandra H眉ller)聽“rewired my brain.”
Courtesy of TIFFThe screening that changed her life
鈥淪ome of the most profound experiences that I鈥檝e ever had watching movies have been at TIFF, movies that shaped me as a filmmaker and actively changed my life. In particular, the P&I (press and industry) screening of 鈥楾oni Erdmann鈥 rewired my brain. I didn鈥檛 even know a movie could be that funny and emotional and deep. I almost got kicked out because I was laughing too loudly in astonishment. Other journalists were like, 鈥楽top!鈥 I got so much joy from that movie that it exploded my brain.鈥
Director Mike Leigh photographed in 海角社区官网at the 2010 海角社区官网International Film Festival. Lucas Oleniuk-海角社区官网Star
LUCAS OLENIUK TORONTO STARMost exciting TIFF interview
鈥淚nterviewing Mike Leigh was really special. It was for 鈥楳r. Turner.鈥 I鈥檓 such a big fan of his work. Not only did I get to interview him, but I got to interview the actors about working with him. The way he makes movies and approaches it is so fascinating to me, and his process. It was a very exciting experience that I鈥檓 really grateful for. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 so amazing about TIFF 鈥 these incredible auteurs come and you get to talk to them even if you鈥檙e writing for, like, BlogTO.鈥
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