The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) begins today with a long stellar line up of films to entice any film goer.
In this list, I am suggesting films that sound interesting because they deal with interesting topics, whose director or cast I may be a fan of, may not have distribution yet – meaning we don’t know when and if they’ll be released – and thus, should be explored.
7 Boxes (7 Cajas)
Dirs. Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori
Country: Paraguay
Screening Times: Fri, Sept 7, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 3 at 9:00 PM
Sun, Sept 9, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 8 at 7:00 PM
Sat, Sept 15, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 6 at 1:00 PM
Synopis: A teenage delivery boy working in a popular Paraguayan market must dodge thieves, rival gangs and the omnipresent police when he undertakes a dangerous contract to transport a load of mysterious — and highly sought-after — crates to the edge of town.
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners
Dir. Shola Lynch
Countries: USA/France
Screening Times: Sun, Sept 9, Roy Thompson Hall at 1:30 PM
Mon, Sept 10, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema at 3:00 PM
Sat, Sept 15, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema at 12:00 PM
Synopsis: Built around new interviews with Angela Davis, the film recounts her Alabama upbringing, her studies in the U.S. and Europe, and the start of her academic career in the philosophy department at UCLA, where she quickly drew fire for her membership in the Communist Party. Davis speaks for the first time about her 1970s imprisonment as a terrorist and conspirator, which became a flashpoint in the black liberation struggle and turned her into a revolutionary icon.
Everyobody Has A Plan (Todos Tenemos Un Plan)
Dir. Ana Piterbarg
Countries: Argentina / Spain / Germany
Screening Times: Sat, Sept 8, Winter Garden Theatre at 4:30 PM
Mon, Sept 10, Scotiabank 1 at 4:00 PM
Sat, Sept 15, Scotiabank 2 at 6:15 PM
Synopsis: Second chances are hard-won at the best of times, but in Everybody Has a Plan, the lengths taken to achieve them are as incomparable as they are chilling. The premise of the film is grounded in this potent archetypal conflict. In his third foray into Spanish-language film, Viggo Mortensen plays twin brothers whose deadly pact plunges them into the sordid depths of the Argentine underworld.
The Central Park Five
Dirs. Ken Burns, David McMahon, Sarah Burns
Country: USA
Screening Times: Sun, Sept 9, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 at 11:45AM
Thr, Sept 13, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas at 9:30 PM
Sat, Sept 15, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 at 9:15 AM
Synopsis: This is a devastating new documentary about the infamous “Central Park Jogger” case details how a rush to judgment by police, media and an outraged public led to five black and Latino teenagers being convicted for a heinous crime that they did not commit. The film asks, “how did such a miscarriage of justice take place under so much press and public scrutiny?”
Krivina
Dir. Igor Drljaca
Countries: Canada / Bosnia / Herzegovina
Screening Times: Sun, Sept 9, Jackman Hall (AGO) at 915 PM
Tues, Sept 11, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 at 3:00 PM
Synopsis: A Bosnian immigrant who fled to Toronto after the civil war returns to his homeland in search of a missing friend who has been implicated in war crimes, in this quietly chilling and finely surreal meditation on confronting traumas of the past. But just as the serene Bosnian landscape belies its violent past, looks may be deceiving, and you can never be sure of your footing in Krivina. Drljaca continually challenges the audience and asks us to question our assumptions of what is and isn’t real.
Painless (Insensibles)
Dir. Juan Carlos Medina
Countries: Spain / France / Portugal
Screening Times: Sat, Sept 8, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema at 6:00PM
Sun, Sept 9, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 6 at 9:00 PM
Sat, Sept 15, Scotiabank 3 at 2:45 PM
Synopsis: In this fascinating allegorical horror-thriller, a brilliant young neurosurgeon emerges miraculously unharmed from a devastating car crash — only to discover a dark secret about his origins that stretches back to a series of bizarre experiments conducted at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War.
NOTE: This film contains some graphic scenes, viewer discretion is certainly advised.
Tai Chi 0
Dir. Stephen Fung
Country: China
Screening Times: Sat, Sept 8, Scotiabank 1 at 9:45PM
Tues, Sept 11, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 at 1:00 PM
Sat, Sept 15, Scotiabank 11 at 6:30 PM
Synopsis: Set during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), when China’s once mighty empire was temporarily overshadowed by the scientific and technological innovations of the West, Tai Chi 0 is a funky, steampunk-infused chronicle of the origins of Tai Chi. Reinventing the martial arts genre with a style influenced by the dazzling colours and dynamism of Japanese animation and videogame graphics, actor-turned-director Stephen Fung gathers an all-star cast (including Shu Qi and Tony Leung Kar-fai) to tell the tale of Yang Luchuan, the master who developed the “Yang style” form of tai chi.
Peddlers
Dir. Vasan Bala
Country: India
Screening Times: Wed, Sept 12, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 at 9:00PM
Thr, Sept 13, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 3 at 9:00 PM
Sun, Sept 16, Scotiabank 11 at 3:15 PM
Synopsis: The lives of a rookie cop, a streetwise orphan and a beautiful young ex-teacher collide explosively in the drug underworld of Mumbai in this edgy, powerhouse thriller that exemplifies the verve and excitement of India’s new independent cinema.
This are but a few suggestions. TIFF runs from September 6 -16; ten days filled with films from all over the world. For full listings, box office information and ticket prices visit tiff.net.