MADDIE'S SECRET_Still 1

Source: Courtesy Dogma 3000 Photo: Max Lakner

‘Maddie’s Secret’

Twenty-three world premieres representing more than 30 countries have been selected for the Discovery programme at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, September 4-14), among them the directing debut of US alternative comedian John Early and three films from the UK. 

Discovery showcases the first or second features by directors from around the world, with past participants having included Alfonso Cuarón, Julie Dash, Jean-Marc Vallée, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos and Barry Jenkins. 

Early’s satire about content culture, Maddie’s Secret, is the opening night film in this year’s Discovery section, and one of only two US titles in the line-up. 

Other notable projects in the programme include Cato Kusters’ Julian, from Belgium and the Netherlands, produced by Michiel and Lukas Dhont and starring recent Cesar winner Nina Meurisse; The Man In My Basement, a UK-US horror thriller from Nadia Latif, one of Screen International’s 2019 Stars of Tomorrow; and Zamo Mkhwanazi’s Laundry, a rare South Africa-Switzerland co-production set during South Africa’s apartheid regime. 

UK films in addition to Latif’s are Ted Evans’ thriller Retreat, one of two entries in the section set in the deaf community, and Stroma Cairns’ BBC Film production The Son And The Sea. 

The section’s five Canadian films include Nika & Madison, from Eva Thomas, whose Aberdeen screened at TIFF last year.

Discovery programme films in alphabetical order: 

100 Sunset (Can)
Dir. Kunsang Kyirong
World Premiere  

Amoeba (Sing-Neth-Fra-Sp-S Kor)
Dir. Siyou Tan
World Premiere  

As We Breathe (Turk-Den)
Dir. Şeyhmus Altun
World Premiere  

Babystar (Ger)
Dir. Joscha Bongard
World Premiere  

Bayaan (India)
Dir. Bikas Ranjan Mishra
World Premiere  

Dinner With Friends (Can)
Dir. Sasha Leigh Henry
World Premiere  

Egghead Republic (Swe)
Dirs. Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja
World Premiere  

Forastera (Sp-It-Swe)
Dir. Lucía Aleñar Iglesias
World Premiere  

Ghost School (Pak)
Dir. Seemab Gul
World Premiere  

Julian (Belg-Neth)
Dir. Cato Kusters
World Premiere  

Laundry (Switz-S Af)
Dir. Zamo Mkhwanazi
World Premiere  

Little Lorraine (Can)
Dir. Andy Hines
World Premiere  

Maddie’s Secret (US)
Dir. John Early
World Premiere  

Mārama (NZ)
Dir. Taratoa Stappard
World Premiere  

Nika & Madison (Can)
Dir. Eva Thomas
World Premiere  

Noviembre (Col-Mex-Bra-Nor)
Dir. Tomás Corredor
World Premiere  

Oca (Mex-Arg)
Dir. Karla Badillo
World Premiere  

Our Father (Serb-It-Cro-N Mac-Mont-Bos and Herz)
Dir. Goran Stankovic
World Premiere  

Out Standing (Can)
Dir. Mélanie Charbonneau
World Premiere  

Retreat (UK)
Dir. Ted Evans
World Premiere  

Sink (Jor-S Arabia-Qat-Fr)
Dir. Zain Duraie
World Premiere  

The Man in My Basement (UK-US)
Dir. Nadia Latif
World Premiere  

The Son And The Sea (UK)
Dir. Stroma Cairns
World Premiere  

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