08/08/2024 - The former section includes nine world premieres of European titles, whilst the festival’s documentary strand has four

Bar some extra additions in the coming days, the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) line-up is starting to look pretty sewn up. This week, the festival announced its Centrepiece and TIFF Docs sections – the former is a platform for international cinema old and new, from newcomers to masters; the latter is the festival’s dedicated strand for docs, as the name suggests, although they pop up in other, more prominent sections as well. The 49th edition of TIFF will take place from 5-15 September.

Forty-three titles feature in Centrepiece, with nine of the 18 world premieres being full or part-European productions. Some standouts include Under the Volcano [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile], Polish director Damian Kocur’s follow-up to the much-awarded Bread and Salt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile]. This film takes place on the Canary Islands, where a Ukrainian family of four become refugees overnight once Russia fully invades their home country. Seven Days [+see also:
film review
film profile] from German-based Iranian filmmaker Ali Samadi Ahadi (who previously specialised in family films and comedies) boasts a co-screenwriting credit from Mohammad Rasoulof, whose own awards-tipped The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Directors Talks @ European …
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile] is also showing in the section. Canadian filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz has seen her work gain attention in the Berlinale Forum and FIDMarseille; Centrepiece will host the world premiere of Measures for a Funeral, again following Deragh Campbell in the role of Audrey Benac, in an ambitious-sounding tale of music recitals and family ties.

TIFF Docs is composed of 21 titles, with 13 world premieres, four of which have European involvement. We can’t deny the eye-catching title and premise of a US one, Eddie Huang’s Vice Is Broke, which uncovers the once-cutting-edge media company’s fall from grace. Elsewhere, Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc’s Tata [+see also:
film review
interview: Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
film profile] – co-produced by Romania, Germany and the Netherlands – follows the former, a journalist, reuniting with her estranged father after he’s subject to work exploitation. With immense relevance to the ongoing war in Gaza, the omnibus film From Ground Zero [+see also:
film review
film profile] sees its North American premiere at the festival. In it, 22 filmmakers, all listed below, contribute a look at the territory beyond the brutal livestreams.

The two line-ups are as follows:

Centrepiece

Front Row [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Merzak Allouache (Algeria/Saudi Arabia/France)
Pimpinero: Blood and Oil - Andrés Baiz (Colombia)
Measures for a Funeral - Sofia Bohdanowicz (Canada)
Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara - Erin Lee Carr (USA)
Happy Holidays [+see also:
film review
interview: Scandar Copti
film profile] - Scandar Copti (Palestine/Italy)
Don’t Cry, Butterfly - Dương Diệu Linh (Vietnam/Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia)
Beloved Tropic - Ana Endara (Panama/Colombia)
To a Land Unknown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mahdi Fleifel
film profile] - Mahdi Fleifel (UK/France/Germany/Greece/Netherlands/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Palestine)
Los Tortuga [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Belén Funes (Spain/Chile)
The Village Next to Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Mo Harawe (Austria/France/Germany/Somalia)
By the Stream - Hong Sangsoo (South Korea)
The Mountain - Rachel House (New Zealand)
Sunshine - Antoinette Jadaone (Philippines)
Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle Without End - Michael Jonathan (New Zealand)
The Swedish Torpedo [+see also:
film review
interview: Frida Kempff
film profile] - Frida Kempff (Sweden)
Under the Volcano [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile] - Damian Kocur (Poland)
April [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile] - Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia/France/Italy)
Cloud - Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)
The Story of Souleymane [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Boris Lojkine
film profile] - Boris Lojkine (France)
An Unfinished Film [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Lou Ye (Singapore/Germany)
Addition - Marcelle Lunam (Australia)
The Mother and the Bear - Johnny Ma (Canada/Chile)
Sweet Angel Baby - Melanie Oates (Canada)
My Sunshine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hiroshi Okuyama
film profile] - Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan/France)
Kill the Jockey [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luis Ortega
film profile] - Luis Ortega (Argentina/Mexico/Spain/Denmark/USA)
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Laura Piani (France)
Matt and Mara - Kazik Radwanski (Canada)
Universal Language - Matthew Rankin (Canada)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Directors Talks @ European …
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile] - Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran/Germany/France)
When the Light Breaks [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elín Hall
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile] - Rúnar Rúnarsson (Iceland/Netherlands/Croatia/France)
Seven Days [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Ali Samadi Ahadi (Germany)
A Missing Part [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Senez
film profile] - Guillaume Senez (Belgium/France)
Presence - Steven Soderbergh (USA)
Happyend - Neo Sora (Japan/USA)
Edge of Night [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Türker Süer (Germany/Turkey)
Santosh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandhya Suri
film profile] - Sandhya Suri (UK/Germany/France/India)
Crocodile Tears [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Tumpal Tampubolon (Indonesia/France/Singapore/Germany)
Anywhere Anytime [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milad Tangshir
film profile] - Milad Tangshir (Italy)
The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos [+see also:
film review
interview: Akinmuyiwa Bisola, Okechukw…
film profile] - Agbajowo Collective (Nigeria/Germany/South Africa/USA)
Little Jaffna [+see also:
film review
interview: Lawrence Valin
film profile] - Lawrence Valin (France)
Julie Keeps Quiet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leonardo van Dijl
film profile] - Leonardo van Dijl (Belgium/Sweden)
Bound in Heaven - Xin Huo (China)
Flow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gints Zilbalodis
interview: Red Carpet @ European Film …
film profile] - Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia/France/Belgium)

TIFF Docs

No Other Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile] - Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor (Palestine/Norway)
A Sisters’ Tale [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Leila Amini (Switzerland/France/Iran)
Temporary Shelter - Anastasiia Bortuali (Iceland)
So Surreal: Behind the Mask - Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson (Canada)
Living Together - Halima Elkhatabi (Canada)
The Freedom of Fierro - Santiago Esteinou (Mexico/Canada/Greece)
Men of War - Jen Gatien, Billy Corben (USA/Canada)
Vice Is Broke - Eddie Huang (USA)
Wishing on a Star [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Kerekes
film profile] - Peter Kerekes (Italy/Slovakia/Czech Republic)
The Last of the Sea Women - Sue Kim (USA)
Mistress Dispeller - Elizabeth Lo (China/USA)
Sudan, Remember Us [+see also:
interview: Hind Meddeb
film profile] - Hind Meddeb (France/Tunisia/Qatar)
From Ground Zero [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Wissam Moussa, Nidal Damo, Ahmed Hassouna, Alaa Ayoub, Karim Satoum, Bashar Al Babisi, Khamis Masharawi, Nida’A Abu Hasna, Tamer Nijim, Ahmed Al Danaf, Rima Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Basil El Maqousi, Mustafa Al Nabih, Rabab Khamis, Mustafa Kulab, Alaa Damo, Hana Eleiwa, Mahdi Kreirah, Aws Al Banna, Islam Al Zeriei, Etimad Washah (Palestine/France/Qatar/Jordan)
Blue Road - The Edna O’Brien Story - Sinéad O’Shea (Ireland/UK)
Patrice: The Movie - Ted Passon (USA)
Ernest Cole, Lost and Found [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Raoul Peck (France/USA)
The Last Republican - Steve Pink (USA)
Space Cowboy - Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt (USA)
Russians at War - Anastasia Trofimova (Canada/France)
Tata [+see also:
film review
interview: Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
film profile] - Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc (Romania/Germany/Netherlands)
Your Tomorrow - Ali Weinstein (Canada)