The Toronto International FiLm Festival (TIFF, September 8-18) has unveiled its Discovery, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths strands.
Midnight Madness returns to its 10-film format and will screen at new venue the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The section opens with Eric Appel’s US biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story featuring Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.
The section presents Finecut’s Project Wolf Hunting (South Korea) by Kim Hongsun, whose genre oeuvre includes Metamorphosis and The Chase. Finland has been stepping up its festival presence of late and Jalmari Helander will premiere Sisu (formerly Immortal), about a man with loot fighting Nazis in the Lapland wilderness.
Tim Story, director of the Fantastic Four and Ride Along franchises, makes the cut with trapped-in-a-cabin US horror comedy The Blackening, and Filipino Martika Ramirez Escobar debuts Midnight Madness closing night selection Leonor Will Never Die from the Philippines, about a retired filmmaker in a coma who becomes the action hero of her unfinished screenplay. V/H/S 99 brings the latest instalment in the horror anthology franchise and Ti West’s Pearl gets its North American premiere.
Discovery will open with Elegance Bratton’s US drama The Inspection from A24 and Gamechanger Films starring Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union and based on the filmmaker’s experiences as a gay man in US Marine Corps.
Selections include The Black Swan choreographer and former New York City Ballet principal Benjamin Millepied’s reimagining of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, and Malou Reymann’s Danish drama Unruly from TrustNordisk, about a 1930s government sterilisation programme that resonates with the ongoing assault on women’s rights in the US and around the world.
Discovery contains two debut features from trans filmmakers: Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe (US) by Aitch Alberto is produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Limelight and stars Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales, with Eugenio Derbez and Eva Longoria, while Luis De Filippis debuts Something You Said Last Night (Can-Switz).
Wavelengths brings Berlin Talents alumnus Antoine Bourges’s Canadian drama Concrete Valley. As always, the section includes features and shorts, as well as an exhibition.
“For TIFF audiences in the know, the Discovery, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths programmes are where you’re rewarded for taking risks and being adventurous,” said TIFF chief programming officer Anita Lee. “Whether it’s the discovery of an audacious new auteur, a brilliant visionary work that reimagines storytelling or the most wicked cinematic experience you will ever have, this is where you will find it.”
Discovery
Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe (US)
Dir. Aitch Alberto
Baby Ruby (US)
Dir. Bess Wohl
Carmen (Australia-Fr)
Dir. Benjamin Millepied
Daughter Of Rage (Nicaragua)
Dir. Laura Baumeister
A Gaza Weekend (UK-Pal)
Dir. Basil Khalil
I Like Movies (Can)
Dir. Chandler Levack
The Inspection (US) – opening night film
Dir. Elegance Bratton
A Long Break (Georgia)
Dir. Davit Pirtskhalava
Pussy (Can)
Dir. Joseph Amenta
Return To Seoul (S Kor-Fr-Ger-Belg) – international premiere
Dir. Davy Chou
Rosie (Can)
Dir. Gail Maurice
Runner (US-Fr-Ger)
Dir. Marian Mathias
Shimoni (Kenya)
Dir. Angela Wanjiku Wamai
Snow And The Bear (Turkey-Ger-Ser)
Dir. Selcen Ergun
Something You Said Last Night (Can-Switz)
Dir. Luis De Filippis
Susie Searches (US)
Dir. Sophie Kargman
Sweet As (Australia) – international premiere
Dir. Jub Clerc
The Taste Of Apples Is Red (Isr-Ger)
Dir. Ehab Tarabieh
This Place (Can)
Dir. V.T. Nayani
Unruly (Den)
Dir. Malou Reymann
Until Branches Bend (Can)
Dir. Sophie Jarvis
When Morning Comes (Can)
Dir. Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
The Young Arsonists (Can)
Dir. Sheila Pye
Midnight Madness
The Blackening (US)
Dir. Tim Story
Leonor Will Never Die (Phil) – Canadian premiere; closing night film
Dir. Martika Ramirez Escobar
Pearl (US) – North American premiere
Dir. Ti West
The People’s Joker (US)
Dir. Vera Drew
Project Wolf Hunting (S Kor)
Dir. Kim Hongsun
Sick (US)
Dir. John Hyams
Sisu (Fin)
Dir. Jalmari Helander
Venus (Sp)
Dir. Jaume Balagueró
V/H/S 99 (US)
Dirs. Flying Lotus, Johannes Roberts, Maggie Levin, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (US) – opening night film
Dir. Eric Appel
Wavelengths
FEATURES
Concrete Valley (Can)
Dir. Antoine Bourges
De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Fr-Switz)
Dirs. Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
North American premiere
Dry Ground Burning (Por-Braz) – North American premiere
Dirs. Joana Pimenta, Adirley Queirós
Horse Opera (US)
Dir. Moyra Davey
Pacifiction (Fr-Sp-Ger-Por) – North American premiere
Dir. Albert Serra
Queens Of The Qing Dynasty (Can) – North American premiere
Dir. Ashley McKenzie
Unrest (Switz) – North American premiere
Dir. Cyril Schäublin
Will-o’-the-Wisp (Por-Fr) – North American premiere
Dir. João Pedro Rodrigues
SHORTS
After Work (UK)
Dirs. Céline Condorelli, Ben Rivers
Bigger on the Inside (US)
Dir. Angelo Madsen Minax
Eventide (US)
Dir. Sharon Lockhart
F1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now (Mesa Grande Reservation-US)
Dir. Fox Maxy
Festival premiere
Fata Morgana (UK-US)
Dir. Tacita Dean
Hors-titre (Fr)
Dir. Wiame Haddad
I Thought The World Of You (Can)
Dir. Kurt Walker
Moonrise (US-Can)
Dir. Vincent Grenier
The Newest Olds (Arg-Can)
Dir. Pablo Mazzolo
Puerta a Puerta (Mex-US)
Dirs. Jessica Sarah Rinland, Luis Arnías
The Time That Separates Us (Can-Jor-Pal)
Dir. Parastoo Anoushahpour
What Rules The Invisible (US)
Dir. Tiffany Sia
EXHIBITION
Meriem Bennani: Life On The CAPS (2022) and 2 Lizards (2020)
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, September 9–18
Free Admission
Presented in partnership with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and The Vega Foundation.
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