The majority of the films that screen at TIFF have yet to be picked up for distribution in North America — or even elsewhere. Directors bring their films to the festival hoping to find an audience and a distributor to bring the film to an even bigger audience. If a film isn’t picked up for distribution, it might never see the light of day — and especially a big screen — again. With that in mind, here’s a look at this year’s must-see films, which you might not get to see otherwise. They’re all so great that we hope buyers will see them and pick them up: these films deserve an audience.
Sergio & Sergei (Cuba, dir. Ernesto Daranas Serrano)
One of this year’s true hidden gems, Sergio & Sergei is a warm comedy about connecting across borders and a critique of totalitarian regimes. Sergio is a Marxist Philosophy Professor in Havana and a ham radio enthusiast. Just as the USSR is dissolving, he unexpectedly makes radio contact with Sergei, the only cosmonaut still on the Russian Space Station MIR, and they become friends. Both suddenly find themselves isolated from the rest of the world: Cuba has lost its closest ally while Sergei finds the borders on the ground have changed in ways that seem arbitrary from outer space. Meanwhile, Cuban government agents are eavesdropping on Sergio’s transmissions when they discover he not only has an American friend (an Apollo conspiracy theorist) but a Russian one — at this time in politics! Hilarity ensues, but director Ernesto Daranas Serrano pays close attention to how political events impact day-to-day lives, focusing on the humanity of his characters and the importance of their relationships. It’s a crowd-pleasing delight. – Alex Heeney
First Reformed (USA, dir. Paul Schrader)
Paul Schrader’s follow up to the crazed and violent comedy Dog Eat Dog is a meditative work on a theme that has fascinated him his entire career: the narcissism of human beings and their struggle to truly care about others. Heavily influenced by his strict Protestant upbringing, Schrader tackles the topic head-on with Toller, a reverend in a small church who struggles with self-hatred. The wonderfully precise filmmaking perpetually teeters between empathy and mockery towards its lead character, as Toller’s depression and his sudden interest in environmental activism could either be born out of genuine concern for the world, or from unjustified self-pity. Ethan Hawke is mesmerising in a role that requires him to be heartbreaking and pathetic in equal measure. Schrader’s ability to be both empathetic and judgemental is humane and moving to an overwhelming degree. – Elena Lazic
Sweet Country (Australia, Warwick Thornton)
Shot and directed by Indigenous Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton, Sweet Country is a suspenseful and heartbreaking Western. Thornton centers the perspective of Indigenous characters, keeping them onscreen as observers for exchanges between colonizers that affect them, and hanging on their reactions to injustices. In an act of self-defense, Sam (Hamilton Morris) kills a local white sergeant (Ewen Leslie), forcing him on the run, even though he’s always staying one step ahead of the group of colonizers on his tail. As we await the final showdown and reckoning, Thornton upends expectations to tell a complex story of trauma, survival, and colonizers’ inability or disinterest in empathizing with those they consider beneath them. Featuring gorgeous vistas of the central Australian landscape, this is a visually impressive film, in which every frame is meticulously composed to reveal power structures. – Alex Heeney
Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (France, Bruno Dumont)
Bruno Dumont is back with a bang with his personal and intensely unique interpretation of the childhood of Joan of Arc. This singular musical gloriously combines gorgeous beachside settings, idiosyncratic non-actors, beautifully low-key singing, and heavy metal for one of the most joyous experiences the festival has to offer. – Elena Lazic
Zama (Argentina, Lucrecia Martel)
Legendary Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel surprises with her long-awaited return, a wild departure from her usual style: it beguiles as it baffles. Adapted from a short Argentine novel, the film follows the misfortunes of Zama, a colonialist in limbo — at the border between Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil — waiting to go home. Martel’s gift for absurd comedy shines, and the film teeters between waking dream/nightmare and the awkward stillness of boredom. The casual cruelty of slavery stands in moving contrast with the beauty of the setting and the gorgeously composed frames. Out of the hypnotic rhythm of the film regularly bursts the harsh violence of colonialism. – Elena Lazic
Angels Wear White (China, Vivian Qu)
The violence and trauma that the women in Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White experience happens offscreen because that’s how the society treats it: invisible, easy to ignore, unimportant. When twelve-year-old Wen is raped in the hotel where Mia works, Mia films the security footage to prove the perpetrator is a threat. But nobody cares about Wen’s trauma, treating her as a trollop rather than a victim, and Mia’s own precarious situation makes her hesitant to come forth and help Wen, even as we suspect Mia has had some kind of similar experience. Qu keeps the camera at the height of her two young female protagonists, effectively creating empathy with these young women whose feelings are too easily ignored by the people around them. – Alex Heeney
Valley of Shadows (Norway, Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen)
Valley of Shadows is a haunting, atmospheric fable about ghosts, grief, and childhood. In rural Norway, one boy ventures into the dark woods to confront the monster savaging sheep – and the shadow hanging over his family. Director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen takes us inside young Aslak’s perspective, imparting both the fears and the unquestioning dream-logic of childhood. Beautifully shot and scored, this deliberately paced mood piece should not be missed. – Mary Angela Rowe
On Chesil Beach (U.K., Dominic Cooke)
Adapting his own novella for the screen, Ian McEwan has crafted an understated script about a newlywed couple in the 1960s who are incapable of talking about sex and intimacy—and the mess that ensues because of it. Legendary British theatre director (his acclaimed Follies just opened at the National Theatre) Dominic Cooke’s feature debut belongs in the canon of British films about repressed sexuality alongside Remains of the Day and The White Countess. Shot to look like films of the period, with long takes and plenty of gorgeously blocked two-shots, Cooke allows his two very talented leads, Saoirse Ronan and newcomer Billy Howle, to really dig into the complex emotions in the material. With strong supporting work from a who’s who of character actors, including Anton Lesser and Anne-Marie Duff, the film proves Cooke is just as much of a talent to watch on screen as on stage. –Alex Heeney
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (U.K., dir. Sophie Fiennes)
Sophie Fiennes’ documentary is a no-frills and no-nonsense look at the daily life of the similarly uncompromising singer and artist, and rarely has a combination of filmmaker and subject been so thrillingly perfect. Fiennes’ low-key observational approach lets Jones’ bigger than life persona shine both on stage, in electric performances specifically set up for the film, and off stage between hotel rooms and in Jones’ native Jamaica. The level of respect and trust between singer and director, their friendship and deep understanding of each other, shows on screen and turns what could have been a reverential myth-building exercise into an earnest, funny, and profoundly inspiring collaboration. – Elena Lazic
The Seen and Unseen (Indonesia, Kamila Andini)
A beguiling journey between the realms of the physical and the imagined, Kamila Andini’s latest feature follows a sister’s efforts to connect with her ill twin brother. The border between dream and reality progressively dissolves as Tantri’s visions about her brother Tantra come to dominate the film in fantastical sequences of a beautiful spontaneity and profound poetry. Tantri’s sense of loss is never explicitly uttered but strongly felt in the increasingly moving and imaginative costumed dances and performances that the grieving young girl imagines. – Elena Lazic
Lean on Pete (U.K., Andrew Haigh)
Andrew Haigh’s first departure from relationship movies and first foray into the American canon is a triumph. Lean on Pete is the tale of Charlie (Charlie Plummer), a solitary teenage boy who has never had a proper home. When his father unexpectedly dies, he sets off on a journey across the country to find his only living relative and his place in the world. Along the way, he meets potential surrogate parents, including horse racer Del (Steve Buscemi), which is how he connects with the down-on-his-luck race horse Lean on Pete, also on the verge of abandonment. The superlative subjective sound design is crucial for creating empathy with Charlie, and it makes this an absolute must on the big screen. With beautiful vistas of Charlie’s journey through the landscape and Haigh’s trademark attention to mise-en-scene and character, the film leaves you almost unexpectedly gutted by the deck Charlie’s been dealt, but inspired by his resilience. -Alex Heeney
I Am Not A Witch (U.K., Rungano Nyoni)
In her confident directorial debut, Rungano Nyoni masters a powerful blend of humour and anger in the story of a young girl accused of witchcraft in Zambia. As she finds herself used by the government and blamed for its failures, the young girl’s despair and hopelessness eventually burst out the seams of the film’s spare and careful filmmaking. – Elena Lazic
Oh Lucy! (Japan, Atsuko Hirayanagi)
Atsuko Hirayanagi’s directorial debut is the darkly comic story of a middle-aged Japanese woman in crisis. Under the guise of her English class alter-ego Lucy, a suddenly liberated Setsuko follows her dreamy American teacher all the way to the US, with disastrous but moving and unexpected consequences. – Elena Lazic
The Judge (Palestine, Erika Cohn)
A remarkably straight-faced documentary about a controversial issue, The Judge centers on Kholoud Al-Faqih, the first woman appointed to a Shari’a court in the Middle East. Following the judge in her everyday life as she works on cases related to domestic and family matters, the film offers a rare insight into the reality of women’s rights in Palestine, dismantling cliches and revealing the real efforts from many to create sexual equality. Director Erika Cohn pragmatically and fairly addresses every side of the issue with inspiring assurance and clarity. -Elena Lazic
Custody (France, Xavier Legrand)
Fresh from its Silver Lion Best Director win for Xavier Legrand at the Venice Film Festival last week, Custody screens in TIFF’s competitive Platform section. Told mostly from the perspective of a helpless young boy caught in his parents’ custody battle, the film is a suspenseful and heartbreaking look at domestic violence and the limitations of the legal system. – Alex Heeney
Waru (New Zealand, Briar Grace-Smith & 7 other women)
The death of a young Maori boy, Waru, at the hands of his neglectful and potentially abusive parents, reverberates across the entire community in these eight vignettes all directed by and about Maori women. Each vignette is a single-take short, shot handheld and following its protagonist’s perspective on the day of Waru’s funeral. Waru’s teacher copes with the confusion about the boy’s disappearance amongst his friends; a Maori newscaster faces racist commentary on the events from her white coworkers; and a desperate single mother nearly becomes abusive toward her own children. Through these women’s stories, we get a sense of the tight-knit community, the lasting effects of colonialism, and how cycles of abuse perpetuate themselves. Though the film’s washed out aesthetic makes it seem somewhat amateurish, and its large cast of Maori actors isn’t always strong, these are important, emotionally impactful stories that are too rarely told.
Beast (U.K., Michael Pearce)
This debut feature from British director Michael Pearce, screening in TIFF’s competitive Platform section, is a compelling psychological thriller. TIFF Rising Star Jessie Buckley stars as Mol, a buttoned-up twentysomething still living with her overprotective parents. When she falls for the mysterious Pascale (Johnny Flynn), who may or may not be responsible for a series of recent murders of young girls in the otherwise idyllic Jersey, she starts to unwind and unleash her suppressed inner demons. The film is a fascinating look at the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves, the parts we play for other people, and the mix of freedom and danger that comes from cutting loose. – Alex Heeney
*Edit: Beast has been picked up for North American distribution by 30WEST.
The Other Side of Everything (Serbia, Mila Turajlic)
For those who even remember the conflicts in ex-Yugoslavia, the lasting image of the various countries involved is one of blind abandon to hatred and separation. The idea that there might have been any resistance to that regime and to this war from within the divided country simply never comes to mind. Mila Turajlic’s documentary starts from the very apartment her mother Srbijanka grew up in and still occupies, a living space that was divided under communism to accommodate multiple families. Ever since, , Srbijanka has never dared open the door and return to the room she last saw as a child in 1945 — even though the people who lived on the other side of the door are now gone. This awkward situation reflects a country and its citizens dealing with complex wounds which cannot be easily healed. Through emotional and sometimes harsh interviews with her own mother, the filmmaker tells the story of a woman whose entire life has been dedicated to working for a fairer Serbia: from the communism of Tito, to the rise and fall of Slobodan Milosevic, and the political mess that followed. It’s a vivid and nuanced portrait of a country too often judged from the outside, still divided by what happened, and conscious of the fact that there can be no easy solutions. – Elena Lazic
Suleiman Mountain (Kyrgyzstan, Elizaveta Stishova)
Set in the picturesque mountains of Kyrgyzstan, Elizaveta Stishova’s debut feature follows a group of people that only barely qualifies as a family. Unexpectedly reunited with a child that may or may not be his long missing son, charismatic yet despicable con artist Karabas embarks on a journey with his two very different wives and this child. Alternately fighting each other and enjoying themselves, the unconventional family stumbles across the land from disappointment to disappointment looking for ways to make the money they need to survive. A film full of unexpected twists and turns, Suleiman Mountain is a roller coaster ride that ends on a moving note of stillness. –Elena Lazic
Meditation Park (Canada, Mina Shum)
Mina Shum’s Meditation Park is an uplifting story of an elderly woman, Maria (Cheng Pei-Pei) who finds her independence and community after learning her husband is having an affair with a younger woman. As a Chinese immigrant living in Vancouver, who never fully learned to speak English despite being in Canada for decades, Maria has been socially isolated and entirely dependent on her husband. Her husband’s infidelity pushes her to find her place in Canadian society. With warmth and humour, Shum subtly addresses the trauma and isolation of the immigration experience, as well as the challenges faced by second generation immigrants because of their parents’ lasting trauma. – Alex Heeney
