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TORONTO 2023 Centrepiece

Toronto unveils the rich line-up of its Centrepiece programme

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- European (co-)productions abound in the section which used to be called Contemporary World Cinema

Toronto unveils the rich line-up of its Centrepiece programme
The Reeds by Cemil Ağacıkoğlu

Formerly known as Contemporary World Cinema, the Centrepiece Programme of the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (taking place from 7-17 September 2023) showcases 47 titles from filmmakers representing 45 countries. Of these, seven are European (co-)productions having their world premiere at the festival. 

Norwegian director Hisham Zaman will be back in Toronto with his third feature, A Happy Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, centred on three teenage boys at a remote centre for young asylum seekers in Norway planning their escape. 

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In Holiday [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edoardo Gabbriellini
film profile
]
, by Italian director Edoardo Gabbriellini, a young woman is found innocent of a brutal double murder after a long trial, in what is described as a subtle cat-and-mouse game. 

A co-production between Canada and Poland, Louise Archambault’s Irena’s Vow centres on a former nurse who shelters a dozen Jewish men and women during WWII in occupied Poland.

Canadian director Henri Pardo’s Kanaval [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, a co-production between Canada and Luxembourg, tells the story of a young boy and his mother who settle in Quebec after leaving their small port town on the coast of Haiti in 1975. 

The Reeds [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the fifth feature from Turkish director Cemil Ağacıkoğlu, is set in an Anatolian village where a man finds himself engaged in a battle between good and evil when livelihood is threatened by local gangs.

Gangs are also central to the plot of Toll [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, from São Paulo-based director Carolina Markowicz. Co-produced with Portugal, the film centres on a Brazilian mother who falls in with some thieves in order to raise money to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop. 

Completing the European world-premieres in the Centrepiece Programme is Woodland [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
from Austrian director Elisabeth Scharang. Inspired by Wald, a 2015 novel by the bestselling author Doris Knechtentred, the film centres on a traumatised woman who finds refuge in a secluded house in the woods. 

Several films which had their world premiere in Cannes are also present in the Centrepiece Programme, among them Wim WendersPerfect Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Best Actress winner About Dry Grasses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile
]
, Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes Competition contender Banel & Adama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramata-Toulaye Sy
film profile
]
, Aki Kaurismäki’s Jury Prize winner Fallen Leaves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Víctor Erice’s Cannes Premiere title Close Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Amjad Al Rasheed’s Critics’ Week entry Inshallah A Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, and ​​Pablo Berger’s Special Screening Robot Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
. Three films from Un Certain Regard are also in the selection: Rodrigo Moreno’s The Delinquents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Moreno
film profile
]
, Monia Chokri’s The Nature of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Monia Chokri
film profile
]
, and Felipe Gálvez Haberle’s The Settlers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile
]
.

Fresh from Venice will be Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
from the Competition, and from Orizzonti, City of Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Mongolian director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, and Upon Open Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Mariana and Santiago Arriaga. Sira [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Apolline Traoré
film profile
]
, from Burkinabé director Apolline Traoré, won the Panorama Audience Award for Best Feature in Berlin, while Ilker Çatak’s The Teacher’s Lounge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: İlker Çatak
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile
]
was awarded in the same section. 

Je’vida [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Finnish director Katja Gauriloff premiered at Tribeca, while They Shot the Piano Player [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal will be premiering at San Sebastián. Amsterdam-based Bosnian filmmaker Ena Sendijarević will be presenting Sweet Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ena Sendijarević
film profile
]
, which has just premiered at Locarno. Also in the selection are Janis Pugh’s Chuck Chuck Baby [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which premiered in Edinburgh, and The Monk and the Gun from Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji (Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom).

The full selection:

100 Yards - Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng (China)
About Dry Grasses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile
]
- Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey/France/Germany/Sweden)
A Happy Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Hisham Zaman (Norway/Denmark)
A Ravaging Wind - Paula Hernández (Argentina/Uruguay)
A Road to A Village - Nabin Subba (Nepal)
Banel & Adama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramata-Toulaye Sy
film profile
]
- Ramata-Toulaye Sy (France/Senegal/Mali)
Chuck Chuck Baby [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Janis Pugh (UK)
City of Wind [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France/Mongolia/Portugal/Netherlands/Qatar/Germany)
Close Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Víctor Erice (Spain/Argentina)
Death of a Whistleblower - Ian Gabriel (South Africa)
Fallen Leaves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Aki Kaurismäki (Finland/Germany)
Fitting In - Molly McGlynn (Canada)
Green Border [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Agnieszka Holland (Poland/Czech Republic/France/Belgium)
Hey, Viktor! - Cody Lightning (Canada)
Holiday [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edoardo Gabbriellini
film profile
]
- Edoardo Gabbriellini (Italy)
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person - Ariane Louis-Seize (Canada)
I Do Not Come To You By Chance - Ishaya Bako (Nigeria)
In Flames - Zarrar Kahn (Canada/Pakistan)
Inshallah a Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan/France/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/Egypt)
Irena’s Vow - Louise Archambault (Canada/Poland)
Je’vida [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Katja Gauriloff (Finland)
Kanaval [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
- Henri Pardo (Canada/Luxembourg)
Limbo - Ivan Sen (Australia)
Lost Ladies - Kiran Rao (India)
Mountains - Monica Sorelle (USA)
National Anthem - Luke Gilford (USA)
Perfect Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Wim Wenders (Japan/Germany)
Robot Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Pablo Berger (Spain/France)
Shadow of Fire - Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
Shayda - Noora Niasari (Australia)
Sira [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Apolline Traoré
film profile
]
- Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso/Senegal/France/Germany)
Snow Leopard - Pema Tseden (China)
Sweet Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ena Sendijarević
film profile
]
- Ena Sendijarević (Netherlands/Sweden/Indonesia/France)
The Breaking Ice - Anthony Chen (China)
The Delinquents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Moreno
film profile
]
- Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina/Brazil/Luxembourg/Chile)
The Feeling That the Time for Something Has Passed - Joanna Arnow (USA)
The Monk and the Gun - Pawo Choyning Dorji (Bhutan/France/USA/Taiwan)
The Nature of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Monia Chokri
film profile
]
- Monia Chokri (Canada/France)
The Reeds [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Cemil Ağacıkoğlu (Turkey/Bulgaria)
The Settlers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile
]
- Felipe Gálvez Haberle (Chile/Argentina/France/Denmark/UK/Taiwan/Sweden/Germany)
The Teachers’ Lounge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: İlker Çatak
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile
]
- Ilker Çatak (Germany)
They Shot the Piano Player [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal (Spain/France)
Toll [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Carolina Markowicz (Brazil/Portugal)
Upon Open Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga (Mexico/Spain)
We Grown Now - Minhal Baig (USA)
Woodland [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
- Elisabeth Scharang (Austria)
Your Mother’s Son - Jun Robles Lana (Philippines)

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