The Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF to its friends, is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world. Now in its 46th year, each edition attracts almost 500,000 attendees. Obviously, things are a little different this time round and it will be both in-person and digital. Allowing as many Canadians to take part as possible. The hybrid event takes place between the 9th and 18th September and will feature over a hundred films in the official selection, talks, special events and much more.
We’re scoured the programme to select a few films we feel you may want to add to your list:
All My Puny Sorrows
Based on Miriam Toews’ best-selling novel, All My Puny Sorrows unexpectedly infuses wry humour into this heart-wrenching story of two loving sisters: one a gifted pianist (Sarah Gadon) obsessed with ending her life, the other a struggling writer (Alison Pill) who, in wrestling with this decision, makes profound discoveries about herself.
Titane
Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years. Titane: A metal highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with high tensile strength alloys.
To Kill the Beast
Emilia (Tamara Roca), 17, arrives in a religious town on the border between Argentina and Brazil. She is looking for her long-lost brother, with whom she has obscure, unfinished business.
She stays in the jungle at her weird aunt Inés’s (Ana Brun) hostel where, according to rumours, a dangerous beast appeared a week ago. This beast, people claim, is the spirit of an evil man that takes the shape of different animals.
Between the real and the mythological, the human and the animal, guilt and sexuality, Emilia will seek to confront her past.
Întregalde
Maria, Dan and Ilinca take part in their regular end-of-the-year humanitarian trip, driving an SUV along the mountain dirt roads of the Romanian village of Întregalde. They help a lonely old man reach a sawmill where he supposedly works. But when their car gets stuck in a ditch in the woods, the sawmill proves to be abandoned, and they’re forced to spend the night with the senile old man, their ideas about empathy and helpfulness start to be challenged.
As in Heaven
On a farm in the late 1800s an intense waiting begins when a mother goes into a complicated labour, and 14-year-old Lise must prepare herself for a night that may change her life forever.
Comala
Filmmaker Gian Cassini investigates several generations of men in his family caught up in violence, including his father, who was a hitman in Tijuana.
Bergman Island
Bergman Island follows a couple of American filmmakers, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), who retreat to the mythical Fårö island for the summer. In this wild, breathtaking landscape where Bergman lived and shot his most celebrated pieces, they hope to find inspiration for their upcoming films. As days spent separately pass by, the fascination for the island operates on Chris and souvenirs of her first love resurface. Lines between reality and fiction will then progressively blur and tear our couple even more apart.
Medusa
Today, Brazil. Mariana, 21 years old, belongs to a world where she must do her utmost to keep up the appearance of a perfect woman. In order to resist temptation, she and her girlfriends try their best to control everything and everyone around them. And that includes the town sinners. At night, the girl squad put on masks, hunt and beat up all women who have deviated from the right path. However, the day will come when the urge to scream will be stronger than it ever has been…
The Rescue
The Rescue chronicles the dramatic 2018 rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach, trapped deep inside a flooded cave. Academy Award-winning directors and producers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin reveal the perilous world of cave diving, the bravery of the rescuers, and the dedication of an entire community that made great sacrifices to save these young boys.
Where is Anne Frank?
Kitty, the imaginary girl to whom Anne Frank wrote her famous diary, comes to life in the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Her memories reawakened by reading the diary, believing that if she’s alive, Anne must be alive as well, she sets out on a quest to find Anne. We follow Kitty as she travels across Europe and back to Anne Frank’s time, armed with the precious book, in search of her beloved friend…
Beyond Cousteau
Two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s life, iconic films, inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.
Compartment no.6
As a train weaves its way up to the arctic circle, two strangers share a journey that will change their perspective on life.
There are so many great films in the programme this year. To discover more and purchase passes and tickets visit the TIFF website.
