After four separate announcements (here, here, here and here), the Toronto International Film Festival has rounded out their official line-up with the final slate. The big films from their Masters line-up includes Cannes favorites Le Havre, The Kid with the Bike, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia and Restless. We also getting the Sundance hit Pariah. Check out the last round of films below and head over here to see the entire schedule.
MASTERS
Almayer’s Folly (La Folie Almayer) Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France
North American Premiere
Somewhere in South-East Asia, in a little lost village on a wide and turbulent river, a European man clings to his pipe dreams out of love for his daughter. Working freely from Joseph Conrad’s debut novel, Akerman tells the story of a trader in 1950s Malaysia whose dreams of a Western life for his Malay daughter slowly lead to destruction. A quest for the absolute, a story of passion and madness.
Faust Alexander Sokurov, Russia
North American Premiere
Freely inspired by Goethe’s story, Alexander Sokurov radically reinterprets the myth. Faust is a thinker, a rebel and a pioneer, but also an anonymous human made of flesh and blood driven by inner impulses, greed and lust. Faust is the last part of Sokurov’s tetralogy.
Le Havre Aki Kaurismäki, Finland
North American Premiere
Marcel Marx, a former author and a well-known Bohemian, has retreated into a voluntary exile in the port city of Le Havre, where he feels he has reached a closer rapport with his people, serving them in the honourable, but not too profitable, occupation of a shoe-shiner. He has buried his dreams of a literary breakthrough and lives happily within the triangle of his favourite bar, his work, and his wife Arletty. When fate suddenly throws in his path an underage immigrant refugee from the darkest Africa and at the same time his wife becomes seriously ill and is bedridden, Marcel once more has to rise against the cold wall of human indifference with his innate optimism and the unwavering solidarity of the people of his quarter as his only weapons.
I Wish (Kiseki) Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Japan
International Premiere
Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in Kagoshima, the southern part of Kyushu region. Separated by their parents’ divorce, his brother Ryunosuke lives with their father in Hakata in northern Kyushu. A new bullet train line in the region will be inaugurated soon, and Koichi starts to believe a “miracle” will happen the first moment these new bullet trains intersect each other from opposite directions with their highest speed; his only wish is for his family to live together once again. With some help from grown-ups around him, Koichi sets out on a journey with a group of friends, each hoping to witness a miracle.
The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo) Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy
North American Premiere
Cyril, almost 12, has only one plan: to find the father who temporarily left him in a children’s home. By chance, he meets Samantha who runs a hairdressing salon and agrees to let him stay with her on weekends. Cyril doesn’t recognize the love Samantha feels for him, a love he desperately needs to calm his rage.
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da) Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/Bosnia & Herzegovina Canadian Premiere
Life in a small town is akin to journeying in the middle of the steppes: the sense that “something new and different” will spring up behind every hill, but always unerringly similar, tapering, vanishing or lingering monotonous roads… As a confessed killer tries to lead the authorities to the place where he buried the body, a series of clues are laid as to what has actually happened.
Outside Satan (Hors Satan) Bruno Dumont, France
North American Premiere
By the Channel, along the Côte d’Opale, near a hamlet with river and marshland lives a strange guy who struggles along, poaches, prays and builds fires. A girl from a local farm takes care of him and feeds him. They spend time together in the wide scenery of dunes and woods, mysteriously engaging in private prayer at the edge of the ponds, where the devil is prowling…
Restless Gus Van Sant, USA
North American Premiere
Restless is a powerful and emotional story of discovery that centres on the relationship of two outsiders brought together by unforeseen circumstances. The story of friendship becomes an engaging and provocative love story.
Snows of Kilimanjaro (Neiges du Kilimandjaro) Robert Guédiguian, France
North American Premiere
Despite losing his job, Michel lives happily with Marie-Claire. They have been in love for over thirty years. Their conscience is as clear as their view of life. This happiness will be shattered by two young men, armed and masked, who beat them, tie them up and snatch their money to go for a trip to Kilimanjaro.
The Turin Horse Béla Tarr, Hungary
North American Premiere
In Turin in 1889, Nietzsche flings his arms around an exhausted carriage horse, then loses consciousness and his mind. This film tells the story of a farmer and his daughter trying to survive in a desolate landscape even though the horse that had always provided their livelihood has already given up on them.
DISCOVERY
Las Acacias Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina/Spain
North American Premiere
A truck driver has been charged with transporting a woman on the long journey from Paraguay’s border to the city of Buenos Aires. He is totally unprepared for the extra passenger that will accompany them, the woman’s infant daughter Jacinta, whose penetrating gaze eventually disarms his gruff exterior. Subtle and poignant, Giorgelli’s 2011 Camera D’Or winner is a movingly beautiful road movie highlighted by stunning performances.
Alois Nebel Tomáš Lunák, Czech Republic/Germany/Slovakia
North American Premiere
Stories from the past and present converge at a small railway in Billy Potok, a tiny village on the Czech-Polish border. The local dispatcher, Alois Nebel, is a loner who prefers old timetables to people and has hallucinations of trains passing through the station from the last 100 years. Ghosts and visions from the dark past of Central Europe – Nazi occupation, transportation of Jews, communists’ revenge on the Germans – ultimately send him on a tumultuous and ominous journey.
Among Us Marco van Geffen, Netherlands
North American Premiere
Split into three segments, each told from a different perspective, this smart thriller focuses on the lives of immigrant workers in Europe. Ewa, a vulnerable and shy girl from Poland, journeys to the Netherlands to work as an au pair. From the onset, the relationship with the young couple she works for is strained as she finds it difficult to live up to their clichéd expectations. When a rape takes place in town, Ewa believes she knows the sexual predator. Having nobody to share this knowledge with further alienates her from the people who surround her.
Avalon Axel Petersén, Sweden
World Premiere
After serving time with an ankle bracelet, Janne, a former party organizer, travels to Båstad to open an exclusive nightclub and get his life back on track. A few days before the club’s launch, Janne causes a catastrophic accident, and his increasingly desperate attempts to deal with the situation drag him into a dark downward spiral.
Back to Stay Milagros Mumenthaler, Argentina/Switzerland/Netherlands
North American Premiere
Three sisters, bound by the loss of their grandmother, are forced to redefine their relationship with one another in their matriarch’s home. Milagros Mumenthaler’s debut explores the many hidden areas of human desire and the dichotomous relationships between family members, where so much and so little is known and shared.
Behold the Lamb John McIlduff, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Eddie, a depressed accountant, accompanies his junkie son’s girlfriend Liz on a mysterious pick up to help save his neck. Between moments of unexpected heroism and sporadic bird watching, Eddie’s dysfunctional humanity connects with Liz’s tortured past and a kind of healing begins.
Breathing Karl Markovics, Austria
North American Premiere
Without a family and seemingly incapable of coping with society, an18-year-old incarcerated boy faces a slim chance of probation. After many failed attempts, he finds a job through the day-release program at the municipal morgue in Vienna. Encountering a dead woman who bears his family name sends him on a quest to find his mother.
The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best Ryan O’Nan, USA
World Premiere
Equipped with an acoustic guitar, a broken heart, and an arsenal of children’s instruments, Alex, a dejected singer-songwriter, and
Jim, a self-appointed music revolutionary, set off on a dubious tour that may be their last shot at achieving their childhood dreams.
Bunohan Dain Said, Malaysia
World Premiere
Three estranged brothers return home, each with their own path and their own fate. Adil, a kickboxer, is on the run from an illegal fight while Ilham, an assassin, hunts for his next prey. But it’s their opportunist brother Bakar who propels them all onto a collision course of deceit, regret and murder.
Cuchera Joseph Israel Laban, Philippines
International Premiere
Based on a true story, Cuchera examines the grim fate of Filipino drug mules, drug couriers and their recruiters. It follows Isabel, a veteran drug mule, in her first attempt at running her own drug shipment operation between Manila and China.
The Good Son Zaida Bergroth, Finland
International Premiere
The Good Son is an unsettling, modern-domestic tragedy about the small gap between childhood and adulthood. After a scandalous premiere, an actress, Leila, escapes to the old family summer house with her two sons. Ilmari, her explosive oldest son, has spent much of his life looking after his mercurial mother who has been constant tabloid fodder. The peaceful vacation is disrupted when Leila invites her artist friends over for a rowdy weekend.
Habibi Susan Youssef, Palestine/USA/Netherlands/United Arab Emirates
North American Premiere
Re-telling Majnun Layla, an epic poem on a forbidden love marks the first fiction feature set in Gaza. Two Gazan students in the West Bank are forced to return home, where their love defies tradition. To woo his lover, Qays scribbles verse across walls all over the refugee camp where they live.
Hanaan Ruslan Pak, South Korea
North American Premiere
Stas is third generation Korean-Uzbek, a people who were deported from the Far East of the Soviet Union under Stalin. He and histhree friends try heroin together, sending them into a downward spiral marked by tragedy. Facing corruption, Stas leaves his job as a police detective and heads to South Korea, where a bright future is guaranteed. Will this be hanaan for him — a land of promise?
Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas Julia Murat, Brazil/Argentina/France
North American Premiere
In Brazil’s Paraiba Valley, dotted with abandoned estates, ghost towns and vestiges of a short-lived coffee boom, lies the fictitious village of Jotuomba. Here, in a town that has been forgotten by the rest of the world, life rolls on at a languid pace for its elderly inhabitants. When young photographer Rita finds the town by following the unused railroad tracks, her presence, and her questioning of the locked cemetery gates, reveals the secret to Jotuomba’s mystery.
The Invader Nicolas Provost, Belgium
North American Premiere
Amadou, a strong and charismatic African man, is washed up on a beach in southern Europe. Fate leads him to Brussels where he tries to make a better life for himself. Exploited by traffickers, his daily life is slowly drained of hope, until he meets Agnès, a beautiful and brilliant businesswoman. She is seduced by his charm and force of character, while he projects all his hope and dreams onto her. The illusion quickly shatters, and Agnès breaks all contact with Amadou, who little by little sinks into destructive violence, struggling with his inner demons.
J’aime regarder les filles Frédéric Louf, France
International Premiere
Set against the backdrop of the 1981 presidential elections, Primo, a middle-class youngster, falls in love with Gabrielle, a Parisian upper class rich girl. They soon learn they have to deal with her condescending friends who look down upon this upstart.
Lost in Paradise Ngoc Dang Vu, Vietnam
World Premiere
Khoa, an innocent man who leaves his poor village for Sai Gon, falls in love with Lam, a male prostitute. Misunderstanding, jealousy and tragedy unfold when Lam’s ex-boyfriend shows up, and Khoa discovers the truth about his career choice.
The Other Side of Sleep Rebecca Daly, Ireland/Hungary/Netherlands
North American Premiere
A sleepwalker. A body. A family. A small community. Arlene is like a ghost in her life. She lives in a small town in the midlands – surrounded by field after field, woodlands and laneways to disappear down and never come back… One morning Arlene wakes in the woods beside the body of a young woman. Someone watches from the trees. The body is soon discovered and suspicion spreads through the community. Increasingly drawn to the girl’s family, her grieving sister and accused boyfriend, Arlene barricades herself in at night, afraid to sleep. Haunted by grief buried and delayed, Arlene’s sleeping and waking realities soon blur. And all this time someone is watching her.
Pariah Dee Rees, USA
International Premiere
Alike, a young African American teenager, juggles family and friendships in search of sexual expression. She yearns to embrace her identity as a lesbian, but pressures from her conservative family leave her conflicted while she strives to move through her adolescence with grace, humour and integrity.
Roman’s Circuit Sebastián Brahm, Chile/Argentina
World Premiere
When a prominent researcher in the field of human memory returns home, he stumbles upon the fact that a man’s past – as he remembers and tells it – is nothing but fiction.
Summer Games Rolando Colla, Italy/Switzerland
International Premiere
A beach holiday in Tuscany draws families and their children together. The youngsters join into a little gang and engage in fun and games in a nearby abandoned shack. The two eldest find themselves attracted to each other despite their family problems.
The Sword Identity Haofeng Xu, China
North American Premiere
Set during the Ming dynasty, when Japanese pirates had long been eliminated from China, a swordsman tries to prove that his weapon was used by the famous General Qi’s regiment to resist Japanese pirates. While attempting to prove the sword’s identity, a top martial arts master finally obtains inner peace. ** Giovanna please confirm accuracy
Twiggy Emmanuelle Millet, France
World Premiere
When a young teenager becomes pregnant, she goes into denial. Too late to have an abortion, she is determined to give the child up for adoption immediately. Struggling with her situation, she keeps the news from her mother and withdraws into herself, while also reaching out to a young man.
Twilight Portrait Angelina Nikonova, Russia
North American Premiere
An upper-crust social worker with a doting husband and an enviable downtown apartment is suddenly transformed into a bizarre twilight version of herself when she is raped by three policemen.
Volcano Rúnar Rúnarsson, Denmark/Iceland
North American Premiere
This coming of age story follows a 67-year-old man who proves that it is never too late to change. Hannes is a bitter old man who finds renewed purpose in life in the wake of a family tragedy. For years, Hannes isolated himself from his wife and his now grown children. Determined to care for his wife for the first time, Hannes slowly discovers sentiments long buried within him.
REAL TO REEL
The Education of Auma Obama Branwen Okpako, Germany
World Premiere
Audiences spend the week leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential elections with Auma Obama at the Obama homestead in Kogelo, Kenya. During this historical moment of transition, Auma shares the powerful and moving story of her family and herself. It is an education.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from Sept. 8th to 18th.