Toronto has announced its TIFF Docs line-up, a crop of 22 features at time of writing which includes premieres of new work by Lucy Walker, Errol Morris, and Raoul Peck.
The section opens with the world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, a timely tale about a 1971 international women’s football tournament in Mexico City which drew record crowds and has been largely erased from sports history.
Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa gets its world premiere and profiles a single mother working as a dishwasher at a Connecticut Whole Foods who has another life as record-breaking mountain climber.
Both Copa 71 and Mountain Queen are two of many acquisition titles in the selection which TIFF brass are keen to highlight as they amplify Toronto’s standing as a growing sales market.
Other world premieres include Raoul Peck’s Silver Dollar Road (Amazon) which chronicles how a Black family fights over several decades to save their North Carolina property from land grabbing developers; and Anand Patwardhan’s The World Is Family, which traces the personal history of the filmmaker’s parents and their links to the leaders of India’s independence movement.
Morris’s The Pigeon Tunnel (Apple TV+) gets its international premiere, suggesting a first public screening at Telluride, and is a portrait of the spy novelist David Cornwell aka John Le Carré in what was the author’s final interview.
“We believe documentaries have a unique power to illuminate untold stories, challenge perspectives, and inspire meaningful change,” said Anita Lee, TIFF chief programming officer. “We are committed to celebrating the artistry and impact of documentary filmmaking, and it’s an absolute privilege to provide a platform for these remarkable storytellers.”
TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers added that the selection promised “big emotions that run the gamut over extraordinary accomplishments, quests for justice, and poignant personal journeys. Many of these attention-getting titles will be coming to the Festival looking for buyers”.
Tuesday’s TIFF Docs titles join several documentaries previously announced in the Gala and Special Presentations programmes including Alex Gibney’s In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,, Chelsea McMullan’s Swan Song, and Leigh Brooks’ Hate To Love: Nickelback, and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters.
TIFF Docs:
Boil Alert (Can-USA)
Dirs. Stevie Salas, James Burns
World premiere
Bye Bye Tiberias (Fr-Bel-Qat-Pal)
Dir. Lina Soualem
North American premiere
Sales title
TIFF DOCS OPENING NIGHT FILM
Copa 71 (UK)
Dirs. Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine
World premiere
Sales title
Defiant (Ukr-UK-USA)
Dir. Karim Amer
World premiere
Sales title
Flipside (USA)
Dir. Chris Wilcha
World premiere
Sales title
God Is A Woman (Fr-Switz-Pan)
Dir. Andrés Peyrot
North American premiere
Sales title
Homecoming (Fin-Nor)
Dirs. Suvi West, Anssi Kömi
World premiere
In The Rearview (Pol-Fr-Ukr)
Dir. Maciek Hamela
North American premiere
Sales title
Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros (Fr-USA)
Dir. Frederick Wiseman
North American premiere
Sales title
Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa (USA)
Dir. Lucy Walker
World premiere
Sales title
Mr. Dressup: The Magic Of Make-Believe (Can)
Dir. Robert McCallum
World premiere
Silver Dollar Road (USA)
Dir. Raoul Peck
World premiere
Songs Of Earth (Nor)
Dir. Margreth Olin
North American premiere
Sales title
Sorry/Not Sorry (USA)
Dirs. Caroline Suh, Cara Mones
World premiere
Sales title
Stamped From The Beginning (USA)
Dir. Roger Ross Williams
World premiere
Summer Qamp (Can)
Dir. Jen Markowitz
World premiere
Sales title
The Contestant (UK)
Dir. Clair Titley
World premiere
Sales title
The Mother Of All Lies (Mor-Egy-Saudi-Qat)
Dir. Asmae El Moudir
North American premiere
Sales title
The Pigeon Tunnel (UK-USA-Hun)
Dir. Errol Morris
International premiere
The World Is Family (India)
Dir. Anand Patwardha
World premiere
Sales title
Viva Varda! (Fr)
Dir. Pierre-Henri Gibert
North American premiere
Sales title
Walls (It)
Dir. Kasia Smutniak
World premiere
Sales title.
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