09/08/2019 - 25 non-fiction works and 10 genre-focused titles will feature in the Toronto International Film Festival’s sidebars

The 44^th Toronto International Film Festival (5-15 September) has presented the line-ups for its documentary strand TIFF Docs and its Midnight Madness section.

In the TIFF Docs selection, 25 non-fiction works — 18 of them having their World Premieres at the festival — will be showcased, exploring various themes from stories of key leading figures, sports, global politics, environmentalism, and racism. Thom Powers, serving his 14^th year as TIFF Docs programmer, underlined: “This year’s programme captures characters you’ll never forget: lovers, fighters, dancers, athletes, despots, rebels, hustlers, and heroes.”

The section will open with the world premiere of Feras Fayyad’s The Cave [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], about an underground hospital led by a female doctor in war-torn Syria. Highlights include world premieres of Thomas Balmès’ Sing Me A Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Hind Meddeb’s Paris Stalingrad [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; Patricio Guzmán’s The Cordillera of Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which completes his trilogy about the Chilean landscape; Alex Gibney‘s Citizen K [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Gibney
film profile], a profile of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky; along with Mark Cousins’ recently completed Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, a 14-hour exploration of female directors around the world.

The genre-focused Midnight Madness section will feature 10 film, from established filmmakers and newcomers. As Peter Kuplowsky, lead programmer for Midnight Madness, explained: “This year’s selections challenge the traditional parameters of genre and shock cinema, but — most excitingly — half of the lineup’s wicked provocations are courtesy of filmmakers making their feature-film debut.”

Among the veterans, the line-up includes Takashi Miike’s action-comedy First Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Richard Stanley, who returns to the section after 29 years with H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space, starring Nicolas Cage. Other films include Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s feature debut, the dystopian sci-fi film The Platform [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
film profile]; and Rose Glass’ psychological thriller Saint Maud [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rose Glass
film profile], both in world premieres.

The full list of films selected:

TIFF Docs

The Cave [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Feras Fayyad (Syria/Denmark/Germany/US/Qatar) (opening film)
And We Go Green - Fisher Stevens, Malcolm Venville (US)
The Australian Dream [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Daniel Gordon (Australia/UK)
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator - Eva Orner (US)
The Capote Tapes - Ebs Burnough (UK)
Citizen K [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Gibney
film profile] - Alex Gibney (US/UK)
Colectiv [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Alexander Nanau (Romania/Luxembourg)
Coppers - Alan Zweig (Canada)
The Cordillera of Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Patricio Guzmán (France/Chile)
Cunningham [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Alla Kovgan (Germany/France/US)
Dads - Bryce Dallas Howard (US)
Desert One - Barbara Kopple (US)
I Am Not Alone [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Garin Hovannisian (Armenia/US)
Ibrahim: A Fate to Define [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Lina Al Abed (Lebanon/Palestine/Denmark/Qatar/Slovenia)
The Kingmaker - Lauren Greenfield (US)
Letter to the Editor - Alan Berliner (US)
Love Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Eva Mulvad (Denmark)
My English Cousin [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Karim Sayad
film profile] - Karim Sayad (Switzerland/Qatar)
Paris Stalingrad [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Hind Meddeb (France)
Ready for War - Andrew Renzi (US)
Red Penguins - Gabe Polsky (US/Russia)
Sing Me A Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Thomas Balmès (France/Germany/Switzerland)
There’s Something in the Water - Ellen Page, Ian Daniel (Canada)
This Is Not a Movie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Yung Chang (Canada/Germany)
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema – Mark Cousins (UK)

Midnight Madness

Blood Quantum - Jeff Barnaby (Canada) (opening film)
Color Out of Space - Richard Stanley (US)
First Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Takashi Miike (Japan/UK)
Gundala - Joko Anwar (Indonesia)
The Platform [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
film profile] - Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Spain)
Saint Maud [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rose Glass
film profile] - Rose Glass (UK)
The Twentieth Century - Matthew Rankin (Canada)
The Vast of Night - Andrew Patterson (US)
The Vigil - Keith Thomas (US)
Crazy World - Isaac Nabwana (Uganda) (closing film)