The Toronto International Film Festival has once again expanded their line-up, premiering virtually every forthcoming film one could think of. Today they’ve added to their Galas and Special Presentations, as well as announcing their Masters and Wavelengths line-ups.
Among the highly anticipated titles are Terrence Malick‘s Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey (the 90-minute, Cate Blanchett-narrated version), The Promise starring Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale, along with acclaimed festival films such as Certain Women, Personal Shopper, Julieta, Graduation, I, Daniel Blake, After the Storm, A Quiet Passion, and much more.
Check out the new additions below, with images where available, and return for our coverage.
GALAS
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer Joseph Cedar, USA/Israel International Premiere
Norman lives a lonely life in the shadow of power and money. Determined to make an impression, he uses any angle to make a connection. He finally bets on the right horse, buying a pair of expensive shoes for Micha Eshel. When Micha becomes Israel’s Prime Minister, Norman finds himself in the center of a geopolitical drama beyond anything he could have imagined and the fallout could destroy the reputation he spent his life building. Starring Richard Gere, Steve Buscemi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Michael Sheen.
The Promise Terry George, USA/Spain World Premiere Michael
A humble Armenian apothecary, leaves his village to study medicine in cosmopolitan Constantinople. Chris, an American photojournalist who has come to the country to partly cover the geopolitics, is in a relationship with the talented Ana, a Pariseducated, Armenian artist. When Michael meets Ana, their shared heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between the two men. After the Turks join the war on the German side, the Ottoman Empire turns violently against its own ethnic minorities. Despite their conflicts, everyone must find a way to survive — even as monumental events envelope their lives. Starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, and Christian Bale.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
(Re)Assignment Walter Hill, Canada World Premiere
A revenge tale about an ace assassin who is double-crossed by gangsters and a rogue plastic surgeon operating on the fringes of society. The story becomes a trail of self-discovery and redemption against a criminal mastermind opponent. Starring Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, and Tony Shalhoub.
150 Milligrams (La Fille de Brest) Emmanuelle Bercot, France World Premiere
Based on the real life story of Irène Frachon, a pulmonologist who discovered a direct link between the drug ‘Mediator’ — that had been marketed for over 30 years — and a number of suspicious deaths in France. Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen and Benoît Magimel.
The Bleeder Philippe Falardeau, USA North American Premiere
The true story of Chuck Wepner, the man who inspired the billion-dollar film series Rocky — a liquor salesman from New Jersey who went 15 rounds with the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali. In his 10 years in the ring, Wepner endured two knockouts, eight broken noses, and 313 stitches. But his toughest fights were outside the ring: an epic life of drugs, booze, wild women, incredible highs, and extraordinary lows. Starring Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, and Elisabeth Moss.
Brain on Fire Gerard Barrett, Ireland/Canada World Premiere
Brain on Fire follows Susannah Cahalan, a rising journalist at the New York Post who mysteriously starts having seizures and hearing voices. As weeks go by and Susannah rapidly descends into insanity, she moves inexplicably from violence to catatonia. Following a series of outbursts, misdiagnoses, and a prolonged hospital stay, a lucky, last-minute intervention by one doctor finally gives her a diagnosis and hope to rebuild her life. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Thomas Mann, Richard Armitage, Tyler Perry, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Burn Your Maps Jordan Roberts, USA/Mongolia World Premiere
After his family suffers an unimaginable tragedy, an eight-year-old boy becomes convinced that he is actually a Mongolian goat herder. With the help of an aspiring filmmaker, he tries to convince his reluctant parents to take the long journey back to the village in Mongolia where he says he belongs. Burn Your Maps is a poignant story about family, loss, and faith. Starring Vera Farmiga, Jacob Tremblay, Virginia Madsen, Marton Csokas, and Suraj Sharma.
Christine Antonio Campos, USA Canadian Premiere
Always the smartest person in the room at her news station, Christine feels destined for bigger things and relentlessly pursues a promotion to a higher profile market. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine’s diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker initiates a friendship, which ultimately becomes yet another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn. Starring Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, and Tracy Letts.
The Duelist Alexey Mizgirev, Russia World Premiere
Returning to Saint Petersburg after a long exile, the dashing Yakovlev, a retired army officer, makes a comfortable living by winning other people’s duels. Unbeatable, he leaves a trail of dead bodies behind him as he swirls through polite society, frequently called upon to wield a pistol as a surrogate in dawn duels. When Yakovlev meets the young, beautiful Princess Martha, the two fall in love. What transpires uncovers a series of answers about his dark past. Starring Petr Fedorov, Vladimir Mashkov, Martin Wuttke, Yuri Kolokolnikov, and Franziska Petri.
The Exception David Leveaux, United Kingdom World Premiere
May, 1940. The last German Kaiser has been living in exile in the Dutch countryside for 25 years. When the Nazis invade Holland, they send a young German officer to stop the old man from defecting to England. But the British have already installed a spy in his household. And then Himmler announces he is coming to dinner. The threads of history conspire with the recklessness of the heart to dumbfound them. Starring Lily James, Christopher Plummer, Jai Courtney, Janet McTeer, Ben Daniels, and Eddie Marsan.
I, Daniel Blake Ken Loach, United Kingdom/France/Belgium North American Premiere
British master Ken Loach brings this timely drama about an aged, ailing handyman’s battle to survive after being denied his government health allowance. Starring Dave Johns and Hayley Squires.
In Dubious Battle James Franco, USA North American Premiere
In the California apple country, 900 migratory workers rise up against the landowners after getting paid a fraction of the wages they were promised. The group takes on a life of its own — stronger than its individual members and more frightening. Led by the doomed Jim Nolan, the strike is founded on his tragic idealism — on the “courage never to submit or yield.” Based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Starring James Franco, Vincent D’Onofrio, Selena Gomez, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Robert Duvall, and Bryan Cranston.
The Long Excuse (Nagai Iiwake) Miwa Nishikawa, Japan World Premiere
A recently widowed writer whose wife died in a bus crash impulsively offers to care for the children of a working man who lost his wife in the same accident, in this gently humorous drama from Japanese writer-director Miwa Nishikawa. Starring Masahiro Motoki, Sousuke Ikematsu, and Eri Fukatsu.
Rage Sang-il Lee, Japan World Premiere
A grisly unsolved murder links three seemingly unrelated stories in three different Japanese cities, in this arresting ensemble thriller from director Sang-il Lee. Starring Ken Watanabe and Aoi Miyazaki.
Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey Terrence Malick, Germany North American Premiere
An exploration into our planetary past and a search for humanity’s place in the future. The universe unfolds before the audience’s eyes, melding innovative effects with awe-inspiring footage in this experience for the senses, mind, and soul. Working with scientific advisors and VFX artists, Terrence Malick shows an array of never-witnessed natural phenomena — macroscopic and microscopic — immersing audiences into a poetic journey full of open questions. Narrated by Cate Blanchett.
Wakefield Robin Swicord, USA International Premiere
Howard Wakefield’s nervous breakdown leads him to hide from his life, and his family, in his garage attic. While his prolonged absence allows him to ponder the deeper questions around his life, he comes to realize that it may not be simple to cross the driveway and go home again. Starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner.
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
A Decent Woman (Los Decentes) Lukas Valenta Rinner, Austria/South Korea/Argentina North American Premiere
A housemaid, working in an exclusive gated community in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina embarks on a journey of sexual and mental liberation in a nudist colony.
After Love (L’économie du couple) Joachim Lafosse, France/Belgium North American Premiere
After 15 years together, Marie and Boris decide to get a divorce. Marie bought the house in which they live with their two daughters, while Boris completely renovated it. When Boris cannot afford to find another place to live, they must continue to share it, and soon find that neither is willing to give up.
The Animal’s Wife (La Mujer del Animal) Víctor Gaviria, Colombia International Premiere
Amparo lands in a marginal neighborhood in Medellín, Colombia where her cousin Libardo forces her to live under his roof with his family. When she becomes his wife, Amparo cannot escape bearing his child. Will she, through love and temperance, survive and save her daughter? Teresa Kramarz, Assistant Professor and Research Associate at the Munk School of Global Affairs, is an expert in the politics of accountability. She will speak about The Animal’s Wife in an extended Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.
Apprentice Boo Junfeng, Singapore/Germany/France/Hong Kong/Qatar North American Premiere
This slow-burning drama set in a Singaporean prison explores the charged issue of the death penalty from the point of view of an aspiring executioner who becomes morbidly fascinated with his new trade.
Aquarius Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil/France North American Premiere
Clara, a 65-year-old widow and retired music critic, is the last resident of Aquarius, an apartment building in a rapidly changing seaside neighbourhood in Recife, Brazil, whose other apartments have been bought by a company with plans for redevelopment. Pressures to move surround Clara from all sides, but she has pledged to leave only upon death. From Brazil’s great chronicler of its present moment, Kleber Mendonça Filho (Neighboring Sounds). Starring Sônia Braga.
Ayiti Mon Amour Guetty Felin, Haiti/USA International Premiere
A grieving teenager discovers he has a superpower, an old fisherman thinks the cure for his ailing wife can be found in the sea, and a muse struggles to exit the story her author is penning, in this magical neorealist fable set in Haiti five years after a devastating earthquake.
Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces (Al Ma’ wal Khodra wal Wajh al Hassan) Yousry Nasrallah, Egypt North American Premiere
A family of caterers in a small Egyptian village prepare for a big wedding feast while balancing sibling rivalry, romantic entanglements, and culinary ambitions in this charming comedy.
Clair Obscur (Tereddüt) Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Turkey/Germany/Poland/France World Premiere
Elmas and Chenaz are two Turkish women from very different walks of life; one seems oppressed by sexist traditions and one seems liberated by modern mores, but they may have more in common than it would seem.
Death in Sarajevo (Smrt u Sarajevu) Danis Tanović, Bosnia and Herzegovina/France North American Premiere
An aging hotel becomes an ideological powder keg during centennial commemorations for the outbreak of the First World War.
Ember (Kor) Zeki Demirkubuz, Turkey/Germany International Premiere
In this slow-burning psychological drama, an Istanbul seamstress struggling with the debts left behind by her vanished husband rekindles an old friendship that escalates into an affair.
The Fixer (Fixeur) Adrian Sitaru, Romania/France World Premiere
Radu is a simple trainee journalist, but an international scandal involving an underage prostitute seems to be the chance to prove his value. He is ready to overcome each obstacle and deliver a good story. However, the task turns out to be trickier than expected and the more he approaches his goal, the closer he gets to some moral limits.
Handsome Devil John Butler, Ireland World Premiere
Ned and Conor are forced to share a bedroom at their boarding school. The loner and the star athlete at this rugby-mad school form an unlikely friendship until it’s tested by the authorities.
Heaven Will Wait (Le ciel attendra) Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, France North American Premiere
Heaven Will Wait examines how French teenagers from all socio-cultural backgrounds can be brainwashed to the point of attempting to leave for Syria, and the challenges that face those who try to turn them around before it’s too late.
In Between (Bar Bahr) Maysaloun Hamoud, Israel/France World Premiere
In Between is a portrait of three Arab Israeli women, living and loving in Tel Aviv. It captures their complex daily duality, caught between hometown tradition and big city abandon, and the challenges they must face for a lifestyle that seems obvious to many. Janice Stein, founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and member of the Order of Canada, is a renowned expert in international conflict management, foreign policy decision-making, and negotiation theory. She will speak about In Between in an extended Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.
Indivisible (Indivisibili) Edoardo de Angelis, Italy International Premiere
Daisy and Viola are conjoined twin sisters blessed with beautiful voices. Their father keeps them isolated from the rest of the world and exploits their performances at religious ceremonies to make money. Their lives turn upside-down when Viola falls in love and they discover they can be separated.
Marie Curie, The Courage of Knowledge Marie Noëlle, Germany/France/Poland World Premiere
In 1905, Marie and Pierre Curie received the Nobel Prize for their discovery of radioactivity. After a tragic accident, Pierre dies suddenly and leaves Marie alone with two young daughters. Facing her duties as a mother and a scientist, she continues her work on the “Curietherapy” against cancer. But science is primarily a man’s world and Marie’s audacity is not well received. Following a passionate and scandalous love affair, her second Nobel Prize seems in danger.
Mister Universo Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Austria/Italy North American Premiere
Young lion tamer Tairo lives a modest and happy life until he loses his lucky charm. Intent on gaining his fortune back, he embarks on a journey across Italy looking for Arthur Robin, a former Mr. Universe, who gave it to him a long time ago.
Past Life Avi Nesher, Israel World Premiere Based on a true story, Past Life tracks the daring late 1970s odyssey of two sisters — an introverted aspiring classical musician and a rambunctious scandal sheet journalist — as they try to unravel a shocking wartime mystery that has cast a dark shadow on their entire lives. Ron Levi, Deputy Director and Director of Academic Programs at the Munk School of Global Affairs, is an expert on how people respond to crime and violence in a global context. He will speak about Past Life in an extended Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.
The Patriarch (Mahana) Lee Tamahori, New Zealand North American Premiere
On the east coast of New Zealand in the 1960s, two Māori sheep-shearing families — the Mahanas and the Poatas — are sworn enemies and commercial rivals. Fourteen-year-old Simeon Mahana, the youngest son, seeks allies against his traditionalist grandfather. As Simeon unravels the truth behind the longstanding family vendetta, he risks not just his own future prospects but the cohesion of the entire tight-knit society. Ritu Birla, the Richard Charles Lee Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs, is recognized for bringing the study of Indian economy to current questions in social and political theory. She will speak about The Patriarch in an extended Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.
Pyromaniac (Pyromanen) Erik Skjoldbjærg, Norway International Premiere
A pyromaniac ignites his first fire in a peaceful village. In the weeks to come it is followed by a series of fires, spreading fear in the small community. An inferno lurks under the surface as a local policeman uncovers the unthinkable truth — the pyromaniac is one of the local firemen, and the son of the fire brigade’s chief. The film is an intimate portrait of the pyromaniac and the fireman, as they dual for control of the young boy’s mind.
The Rehearsal Alison Maclean, New Zealand North American Premiere
Stanley, a naïve first year drama student, seeks to impress his charismatic tutor, Hannah. When Stanley falls upon a sex scandal involving the family of his young girlfriend as material for their end-of-year show, he finds himself in morally tricky territory.
The Road to Mandalay Midi Z, Taiwan/Myanmar/France/Germany North American Premiere The people-traffickers have a well-established route. From Burma into Thailand across the Mekong River, passing bribed police checkpoints; illegal migrants are on their own. Lianqing is one of five illegal immigrants who travels this route, and when Guo, a fellow migrant is kind to her, their fates become entwined.
Santa & Andres (Santa y Andrés) Carlos Lechuga, Cuba/Colombia/France World Premiere
It is 1983 in a rural mountain region of Oriente, in eastern Cuba. Andres, a noncompliant gay writer in his 50s, has been blacklisted by the government for having “ideological problems.” When a big event happens, Santa, a local girl is appointed to watch over him. Santa and Andres are opposites, but what they cannot imagine is that they have more in common than they expected.
Soul on a String Zhang Yang, China International Premiere
Zhang Yang adapts two novels by Tibetan writer Tashi Dawa for this stunning mystical epic about a killer on the run who is entrusted with a sacred mission.
Tamara and the Ladybug (Tamara y la Catarina) Lucía Carreras, Mexico/Spain World Premiere
Tamara and the Ladybug traces the journey of two women who have become faded in their loneliness and invisibility. They will have to become closer than they expected, finding in each other a space where rather than being outcasts they feel needed. Despite their misfortunes and circumstance, their shared encounter will help to lighten each other’s burden.
Tramps Adam Leon, USA World Premiere
Ellie and Danny are an unlikely pair of would-be criminals thrown together over two summer days. Their misadventures through the streets, outer boroughs, and idyllic suburbs of New York City include a heist, a stolen briefcase, mistaken identity — and the prospect of an unforeseen romance. Starring Callum Turner and Grace Van Patten.
Vaya Akin Omotoso, South Africa World Premiere
Based on true stories, Vaya is set in the underbelly of Johannesburg and Soweto. The film weaves three separate plots that intersect in a gripping and moving story about coming to the city and struggling to survive. Nhlanhla, a rural man is promised a job by his big city cousin, Nkulu is coming to recall his father’s body, and Zanele is bringing her aunt’s child to live with her mother for the first time. One event will change their lives forever.
We Are Never Alone (Nikdy nejsme sami) Petr Vaclav, Czech Republic/France North American Premiere
The unhappy lives of a shop clerk, a bouncer, a stripper, and a prison guard intersect in Petr Vaclav’s eulogy to human companionship set in an isolated central European town.
The Wedding Ring (Zin’naariyâ!) Rahmatou Keïta, Niger/Burkina Faso/France
World Premiere Recently returned to her home in the Sultanate of Damagaram in Niger after completing her degree abroad, a young woman suffering from the pain of a lost love finds renewal while awaiting the mystical promise of a new moon.
White Sun (Seto Surya) Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal/USA/Qatar/Netherlands North American Premiere
Young Pooja lives with her mother in a village in Nepal. Though saddened by the death of her grandfather, she is secretly thrilled at the prospect of meeting the man she hopes may be her father — Chandra, a former Maoist guerrilla who is returning home after a decadelong civil conflict.
The Women’s Balcony (Ismach Hatani) Emil Ben Shimon, Israel World Premiere
In a small neighborhood in Jerusalem, a group of women struggle to reunite their community and preserve their traditions in the face of a charismatic rabbi who enters their lives.
Zaćma: Blindness Ryszard Bugajski, Poland World Premiere
Zaćma: Blindness is an obscure episode in the life of Julia Brystiger, a Stalinist criminal, and colonel of the Office of Public Security in Poland. She was nicknamed Bloody Luna because she tortured prisoners with extreme cruelty during interrogations. At the beginning of the 1960s she met with the Primate of Poland, Stefan Wyszyński, and rejected the communist ideology while asking for her crimes to be forgiven. Stephen J. Toope is the Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, and is an expert on international law, human rights, and global affairs. He will speak about Zaćma: Blindness in an extended Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.
Zoology (Zoologiya) Ivan I. Tverdovsky, Russia/France/Germany North American Premiere
A lonely middle-aged zoo worker redefines her life after discovering she has grown a tail, in a film that is part social satire, and part tender love story.
Previously announced Canadian titles in the Contemporary World Cinema programme include Chloé Robichaud’s Boundaries and Juan Andrés Arango’s X Quinientos.
MASTERS
After the Storm Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan North American Premiere
During a long restless night as they wait out a typhoon, a divorced man struggles to regain his estranged family’s trust, in the latest film from celebrated Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda.
Afterimage (Powidoki) Andrzej Wajda, Poland World Premiere
Nonagenarian director Andrzej Wajda returns with a passionate biopic about the Polish avant-garde artist Władysław Strzemiński, who battled Stalinist orthodoxy and his own physical impairments to advance his progressive ideas about art. Starring Boguslaw Linda.
The Bait (Tope) Buddhadeb Dasgupta, India World Premiere
Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s latest work is woven from three stories about a nomadic girl who is a street circus performer, a cranky postman who decides to live in a tree, and a royal descendant thriving on his long lost glories, in this exploration of how people are used as bait.
The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez (Les Beaux Jours d’Aranjuez) Wim Wenders, France/Germany North American Premiere
Wim Wenders adapts long-time collaborator Peter Handke’s play for this engrossing two-handed (and 3D) conversation piece, in which the dialogue between a man and a woman elicits a reverie on love, freedom, and beauty.
Certain Women Kelly Reichardt, USA Canadian Premiere
The lives of three women intersect in small town America. Laura is a lawyer summoned to reason with her client during a hostage situation. Gina is building her family a home where she is eager to claim a bit of history. And Jamie suddenly longs for more than her simple life when Beth passes through town. Starring Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, James LeGros, Jared Harris, Lily Gladstone, and Rene Auberjonois.
Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare) Gianfranco Rosi, Italy/France Canadian Premiere
Twelve-year-old Samuele lives on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. But Lampedusa is not an idyllic island setting. It is the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern refugees hoping to make a new life in Europe. Glimpse into the daily lives of the island’s inhabitants as Samuele explores the land and attempts to master the sea.
Graduation (Bacalaureat) Cristian Mungiu, Romania Canadian Premiere
On the day before her final exams, Eliza is assaulted in an attack that could jeopardize her entire future. Now her father, Romeo, has to make a decision. There are ways of solving the situation, but none of them using the principles he, as a father, has taught his daughter.
Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France/Chad North American Premiere
When former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré was arrested in Senegal in 2013, it marked the end of a long fight for the survivors of his regime. Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, meets the survivors of the tragedy who still bear the horrific scars on their bodies and in their souls. Through their courage and determination, the victims accomplish an unprecedented feat in the history of Africa — bringing a head of state to trial.
J: Beyond Flamenco (JOTA) Carlos Saura, Spain World Premiere
Experience the joy and strength of the Spanish dance and music called la Jota. As with flamenco, tango, and fados, Jota has evolved from traditional folkdance to new artistic dimensions. With his own personal style, director Carlos Saura continues to distill the magic and explore the boundaries of art in its purest state.
Julieta Pedro Almodóvar, Spain North American Premiere
Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar adapts three stories from Canadian Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro for this time-tripping tale about the relationship and eventual rupture between a Madrid teacher and her beloved daughter. As the mother struggles to survive uncertainty, the film explores fate, guilt complexes, and the unfathomable mysteries that lead us to abandon the people we love, erasing them from our lives as if they had never meant anything, as if they had never existed.
Land of the Gods (Dev Bhoomi) Goran Paskaljević, India/Serbia World Premiere
After a long exile, Rahul returns to his village in the Himalayas. It causes commotion amongst the villagers, who have never forgiven him for his sins in the past. He must face the isolated world full of old prejudices, gender inequalities, and caste-based injustices.
Ma’ Rosa Brillante Ma Mendoza, Philippines North American Premiere
To make ends meet for her family, Ma’ Rosa sells drugs as a side business from the small convenience store she owns with her husband in a poor Manila neighborhood. When the couple is arrested, Ma’ Rosa and her four children are ready to do anything to secure their freedom from the corrupt police. Starring Jaclyn Jose, winner of the Best Actress Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Net (Geumul) Kim Ki-duk, South Korea North American
Premiere In the new film from provocative Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk, a poor North Korean fisherman finds himself an accidental defector, and is groomed to be a spy by an ambitious South Korean military officer.
Never Ever (À jamais) Benoît Jacquot, France/Portugal North American Premiere
A prolific filmmaker and a much younger woman meet, fall instantly in love, and hastily marry. Months later, he dies in a motorcycle accident and his wife is left alone in a big secluded house by the sea to experience the manifestations of grief and mourning. Starring Mathieu Amalric, Julia Roy, Jeanne Balibar, and Victoria Guerra.
Once Again (Pinneyum) Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India International Premiere
In his first feature film in eight years, director Adoor Gopalakrishnan explores love and relationships as an extended family gets drawn into the vortex of a crime, not realizing how it will change their lives forever.
Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas, France North American Premiere
Kristen Stewart reunites with director Olivier Assayas for this artful ghost story about a young woman trying to reconnect with the spirit of her departed brother.
A Quiet Passion Terence Davies, United Kingdom/Belgium North American Premiere
Cynthia Nixon stars as the legendary poet Emily Dickinson in this luminous biopic.
Safari Ulrich Seidl, Austria American Premiere Documentary filmmaker
Ulrich Seidl explores the world of trophy hunting in the wild expanses of Africa, where bushbucks, impalas, zebras, gnus and other creatures graze by the thousands. German and Austrian tourists drive through the bush and lie in wait, to stalk their prey. A vacation movie about killing and human nature.
Sieranevada Cristi Puiu, Romania North American Premiere
Somewhere in Bucharest, a 40-year-old doctor attends his father’s wake, which turns into a full-on family brawl. Forced to face his fears and his past, and obliged to reconsider his place in the family, the man is left with no choice but to tell his version of the truth.
Sweet Dreams (Fai bei sogni) Marco Bellocchio, Italy North American Premiere
Italian master Marco Bellocchio adapts the popular biographical novel by Massimo Gramellini, about an accomplished journalist haunted by the memory of his mother who died mysteriously during his childhood.
The Unknown Girl (La Fille inconnue) Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium/France North American Premiere
Jenny, a young GP, feels responsible for not having answered the door of her practice to a young girl who is found dead shortly afterwards. From the moment she learns from the police that they have no way of identifying her, Jenny has only one goal: to discover the name of the young girl so that she will not be buried anonymously — so that she will not disappear as if she had never lived.
Yourself and Yours (Dangsinjasingwa dangsinui geot) Hong Sang-soo, South Korea World Premiere
Painter Youngsoo and his girlfriend Minjung navigate the twists and turns of a modern romance with arguing, hearsay, mistaken identity, and infidelity in Hong Sang-soo’s latest work.
Previously announced Canadian titles in the Masters programme include Deepa Mehta’s Anatomy of Violence and Alanis Obomsawin’s We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice.
WAVELENGTHS
SHORT FILM PROGRAMMES
Wavelengths 1: The Fire Within Bookended by two seminal films from the extraordinary multidisciplinary artist Ana Mendieta, this programme excavates political and personal histories as it reinvigorates the surreal potential of landscape.
Silueta Sangrienta Ana Mendieta, USA
Há Terra! Ana Vaz, France/Brazil
Venus Delta Antoinette Zwirchmayr, Austria
025 Sunset Red Laida Lertxundi, USA/Spain
Untitled, 1925 Madi Piller, Canada
Children of Lir Katherin McInnis, USA
Burning mountains that spew flame Helena Girón and Samuel M. Delgado, Spain
Anima, Silueta de Cohetes (Firework Piece) Ana Mendieta, Mexico
Wavelengths 2: Incantati A recently rediscovered Straub-Huillet fragment lends its name to the title of this programme that oscillates between adversity and emancipation, between holding on and letting go.
Incantati Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, France
Cilaos Camilo Restrepo, France
An Aviation Field Joana Pimenta, Portugal/USA/Brazil
Strange Vision of Seeing Things Ryan Ferko, Canada/Serbia
Ears, Nose and Throat Kevin Jerome Everson, USA
Ten Mornings Ten Evenings and One Horizon Tomonari Nishikawa, Japan
Luna e Santur Joshua Gen Solondz, USA
Wavelengths 3: Post-performance In this programme, the idea of “performance” adopts many shapes and guises, and recasts the present through a prism of encounters.
Untitled Björn Kämmerer, Austria
What’s New Nina Könnemann, Germany
Foyer Ismaïl Bahri, France/Tunisia
350 MYA Terra Long, Morocco/Canada
I’ll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You’ll Become Sky Hopinka, USA
Dark Adaptation Chris Gehman, Canada
The Watershow Extravaganza Sophie Michael, United Kingdom
Wavelengths 4: Indefinite Flush with shifting, indefinite and highly suggestive interpretations, this programme presents works which investigate and slyly circumvent prescriptive formulas of cinematic image-making.
Flowers of the Sky Janie Geiser, USA
Ayhan and me belit sağ, Netherlands
AS WITHOUT SO WITHIN Manuela De Laborde, Mexico/USA/United Kingdom
Indefinite Pitch James N. Kienitz Wilkins,
USA FEATURES
Austerlitz Sergei Loznitsa, Germany North American Premiere
The new film from Sergei Loznitsa (Maїdan, The Event) is a stark yet rich and complex portrait of tourists visiting the grounds of former Nazi extermination camps, and a sometimes sardonic study of the relationship (or the clash) between contemporary culture and the sanctity of the site.
By the Time it Gets Dark (Dao Khanong) North American Premiere Anocha Suwichakornpong, Thailand/Netherlands/France/Qatar
The delicately poetic second feature by Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong weaves together multiple stories and characters to create a portrait of a beautiful country haunted by its troubled history.
The Death of Louis XIV (La Mort de Louis XIV) Albert Serra, France/Portugal/Spain North American Premiere
French cinema legend Jean-Pierre Léaud takes the title role as the expiring French monarch in the stylistically rigorous and strangely transcendent new film from visionary Spanish auteur Albert Serra (Story of My Death).
The Dreamed Ones (Die Geträumten) Ruth Beckermann, Austria Canadian Premiere
Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann recreates the amorous correspondence between poets Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan through the voices and bodies of two winsome young actors creating an audio recording of the letters in Vienna’s venerable Funkhaus.
The Dreamed Path (Der traumhafte Weg) Angela Schanelec, Germany North American Premiere
Two couples suffer the failure of their relationships 30 years apart. In Greece, in 1984, Theres and Kenneth are young lovers on vacation whose relationship collapses under life’s strain and circumstances; in the present day, Berlin-based actress Ariane leaves her anthropologist husband David after a marital crisis. Director Angela Schanelec’s bisected and elliptical narrative is a quietly beautiful meditation on love, loneliness, and happiness just out of reach.
General Report II. The New Abduction of Europe Pere Portabella, Spain North American Premiere (Informe General II. El Nuevo Rapto de Europa)
Pere Portabella follows his masterful 1976 documentary General Report — an epic survey of the Spanish social and political landscape in the wake of Franco — with a sequel that examines contemporary Spain as a microcosm of the economic, political, social, and ecological crises currently affecting Europe.
Hermia & Helena Matías Piñeiro, USA/Argentina North American Premiere
Camila, a young Argentine theater director, travels from Buenos Aires to New York to attend an artistic residency to develop her new project: a Spanish translation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Upon her arrival, she begins to receive a series of mysterious postcards, which send her down a winding path through her past and towards her future.
The Human Surge (El auge del humano) Eduardo Williams, Argentina/Brazil/Portugal North American Premiere
Winner of this year’s Filmmakers of the Present competition at the Locarno film festival, this ingeniously shape-shifting debut, which follows the lives of mostly young men in disparate parts of the world who are bored by (or released from) their jobs and seeking fulfillment elsewhere.
I Had Nowhere to Go Douglas Gordon, Germany North American Premiere
Internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Douglas Gordon (24 Hour Psycho, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait) returns to the Festival with this intimate and moving portrait of avant-garde cinema legend Jonas Mekas.
Kékszakállú Gastón Solnicki, Argentina North American Premiere
A portrait of several young women at the threshold of adulthood, feeling their way through various crises born of the insular comforts of class privilege. Obliquely inspired by Béla Bartόk’s sole opera Bluebeard’s Castle, this film is radically transposed within the alternating milieu of work and repose in Buenos Aires and Punta del Este.
Mimosas Oliver Laxe, Spain/Morocco/France/Qatar North American Premiere
Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique, French filmmaker Oliver Laxe’s mesmerizing, minimalist “Eastern western” follows a caravan transporting the body of a sheik to his remote resting place in the perilous wilderness of the Moroccan desert.
The Ornithologist (O Ornitólogo) João Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal/France/Brazil North American Premiere
Stranded along a sublime river fjord in northern Portugal, a hunky ornithologist is subjected to a series of brutal and erotic Stations-ofthe-Cross-style tests, in the daring new film from provocative Portuguese auteur João Pedro Rodrigues.
Ta’ang Wang Bing, Hong Kong/France North American Premiere
The urgent new documentary from acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing (West of the Tracks, Three Sisters) takes us into the refugee camps on the Chinese border populated by those fleeing the ongoing civil war in Myanmar.
The Woman Who Left (Ang Babaeng Humayo) Lav Diaz, Philippines North American Premiere
After spending the last 30 years in prison, Horacia is immediately released when someone else confesses to the crime. Still overwhelmed by her new freedom, she comes to the painful realization that her aristocratic former lover had set her up. As kidnappings targeting the wealthy begin to proliferate, Horacia sees the opportunity to plot her revenge. Set in 1990s Philippines, Lav Diaz’s latest work is an incisive study of the distance between rich and poor, past and present.
FREE INSTALLATIONS AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Ana Mendieta: Siluetas Ana Mendieta International Premiere
Presented in partnership with CONTACT Gallery, this rare exhibition of film and photographic work by the late, Cuban-born multidisciplinary artist Ana Mendieta (1948-85), includes six restored films and two related suites of photographs that attest to the artist’s radical and influential practice and her inquiry into themes of the female body, violence, primal energy and displacement.
Nightlife Cyprien Gaillard North American Premiere
Presented in a free special screening at TIFF Bell Lightbox (Cinema 2), this immersive, psychedelic work, whose sculptural properties are enhanced by 3D, summons a hallucinatory rebellion of urban botany as it forges mysterious yet suggestive links of resistance and resolve across time and space. Free tickets will be available at TIFF Bell Lightbox two hours prior to the start of the screening.
Rudzienko Sharon Lockhart International Premiere
Presented in partnership with Gallery TPW, this major new film installation by American artist and filmmaker Sharon Lockhart is a deeply affecting and formally inventive collaborative work made with a group of adolescent girls living at the Youth Center for SocioTherapy in Rudzienko, Poland.
Singularity Albert Serra North American Premiere
Commissioned for “Catalonia in Venice” at last year’s Venice Biennale by curator Chus Martínez, Albert Serra’s monumental fivescreen film installation conjures a baroque, era-spanning epic about an exploitative, technology-dependent society where individual desires, everyday habits and general corruption work against the very idea of a “renaissance”. Presented at 99 Sudbury.