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TIFF List 2010: The Complete Toronto Film Festival
Lineup
by Peter Knegt (Updated 2 hours, 54 minutes ago)
The Toronto skyline. Photo by Peter Knegt.
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the entire slate of its 35th edition. Two hundred and forty-six titles across
a variety of programs have officially been set (as well as 6 programs in the avant-garde Wavelengths section), as well as . This
year’s TIFF takes place September 9 - 19.
The list includes new works from a intensely impressive array of filmmakers: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Werner Herzog,
Kelly Reichardt, Gregg Araki, Tom Tykwer, Danny Boyle, Clint Eastwood, Xavier Dolan, John Sayles, Robert Redford, Michael
Winterbottom, Errol Morris, Guillaume Canet, John Cameron Mitchell, Catheirne Breillat, Denis Villeneuve, Manoel de
Oliveira, Ondi Timoner, Kiran Rao, Mike Mills, Susanne Bier, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Xavier Beauvois, Milcho
Manchevski, Takeshi Miike, Ben Affleck, Francois Ozon, Andrucha Waddington, Bruce LaBruce, John Carpenter, Álex de la
Iglesia, Darren Aronofsky, Bruce MacDonald, Amos Gitai, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Corneau, Kim Longinotto,
Stephen Frears, Jacob Tierney, Frederick Wiseman, Carl Bessai, Woody Allen, Casey Affleck, Dustin Lance Black, Sylvain
Chomet, Charles Ferguson, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Tran Anh Hung, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mike Leigh, Julian Schnabel
and Im Sang-Soo.
Check back with indieWIRE for updates as the list adds links to respective film pages for each film screening at the festival.
Those pages will be begin to include coverage and criticWIRE grades once the festival commences. Film descriptions provided
by the Toronto International Film Festival.
Canada First!
Daydream Nation (film page)
Mike Goldbach, BC World Premiere
In this striking and slyly funny debut by filmmaker Mike Goldbach, a young woman (Kat Dennings) is uprooted to a small town
where her classmates seem permanently stoned, an industrial fire burns ceaselessly in the background and a killer preys on the
unsuspecting populace. The film also stars Andie MacDowell, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson and Rachel Blanchard.
Amazon Falls
Katrin Bowen, BC World Premiere
Characters reveal hidden depths as Katrin Bowen’s first feature tells the tale of a struggling actress named Jana. Delving into the
high- stakes world of keeping up appearances for which Los Angeles is infamous, Amazon Falls crafts an intense look at dreamchasers living on the margins of Hollywood.
High Cost of Living
Deborah Chow, QC World Premiere
Deborah Chow’s dark drama centres on the burgeoning relationship between an unlikely pair. Nathalie (Isabelle Blais) is
expecting her first child and Henry (Zach Braff) is on his way to his next drug deal. Their paths fatefully collide one night in an
event that will irrevocably change their lives.
Jaloux
Patrick Demers, QC North American Premiere
In this psychological thriller that was improvised during its 16-day shoot, a couple trying to mend their relationship set off for a
weekend in the country. When they encounter a friendly neighbour, they are too absorbed in their marital woes to see that he is
not who he appears to be.
Oliver Sherman
Ryan Redford, ON World Premiere
Tensions arise when Sherman visits the home of Franklin, a fellow soldier who saved his life back in the war. Franklin has long
since moved on – to a wife, two children and a reliable job, but the stability he has worked so hard to establish is soon threatened
by Sherman’s presence. The film stars Donal Logue, Molly Parker and Garret Dillahunt.
You Are Here (film page)
Daniel Cockburn, ON North American Premiere
You Are Here is a smartly-crafted commentary on our modern day existence. Comprised of interconnected mini-narratives, the
film’s characters find themselves trapped in bizarre social experiments of their own making. The film features Tracy Wright and
Nadia Litz.
A scene from Ingrid Veninge’s “MODRA.”
Canadian Open Vault
A Married Couple
Allan King, Canada
A restruck and restored version of master filmmaker Allan King’s classic cinema-verité film, one of the most influential and
celebrated Canadian films ever made, A Married Couple records the collapse of a middle class couple’s marriage. The film is
being restruck in conjunction with Zoe Druick’s monograph on the film, co-published by the University of Toronto Press and
TIFF.
City To City
10 to 11
Pelin Esmer, Turkey/France/Germany
An elderly man clashes with his neighbours as they try to remove him – and his elaborate collections of ephemera—from his
apartment.
40
Emre Sahin, Turkey International Premiere
Capturing the dazzling intensity of Istanbul’s 12 million souls, Sahin’s groundbreaking feature crisscrosses the lives of a petty
crook, an ambitious nurse and an African migrant as they seek money, luck or just a way out.
Block-C
Zeki Demirkubuz, Turkey Canadian Premiere
Zeki Demirkubuz’s career-launching debut feature dissects the melancholy and repression inherent in bourgeois life in dreary
apartment blocks.
Dark Cloud
Theron Patterson, Turkey North American Premiere
A black comedy in the style of a lucid dream, Dark Cloud looks at a middle-aged man who can’t move on from the death of his
wife, and the teenaged son who needs him to wake up.
Distant
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey
Distant maps Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s signature exploration of existential heartache onto the wintry shores of Istanbul.
Hair
Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, Turkey North American Premiere
An ailing Istanbul wig-maker becomes obsessed with a woman who enters his shop one day.
The Majority
Seren Yüce, Turkey North American Premiere
A young middle-class man rebels against his father’s brutish authority and seeks a rough romance with a woman of ethnic
minority. Yüce’s moral tale draws from the example of today’s Turkish youth and the timeless shadow of fathers over sons.
My Only Sunshine
Reha Erdem, Turkey/Greece/Bulgaria Toronto Premiere
In this potent, widescreen portrait of an Istanbul wild child, Hayat lives in a shack beside the Bosphorus sea with her criminal
father and wheezing grandfather. Life is harsh, but Hayat watches and learns.
September 12
Özlem Sulak, Turkey/Germany North American Premiere
In this meditative and monumental examination of the legacy of Turkey’s 1980 military coup, individual narrations of the
tumultuous event are juxtaposed with quotidian routines, 30 years on.
Somersault in a Coffin
Dervis Zaim, Turkey
A thief with bizarre compulsions – and possibly good reasons – tries to get by in this essential Istanbul film
Contemporary World Cinema
22nd of May
Koen Mortier, Belgium World Premiere
The director of Ex-Drummer returns with an artful meditation on political violence. A security guard fails to prevent a horrific
explosion in a shopping mall, then lives through the aftermath as a series of overlapping what-ifs.
À l’origine d’un cri
Robin Aubert, Canada
Three generations of men from the same family drunkenly careen across the Québécois countryside in an emotionally powerful
journey through the past from one of Québec’s most intriguing young filmmakers.
Africa United
Debs Gardner-Paterson, United Kingdom World Premiere
Africa United tells the extraordinary story of three Rwandan children and their bid to achieve their lifelong dream – to take part
in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Football World Cup in Johannesburg.
Aftershock
Feng Xiaogang, China North American Premiere
The most successful Chinese movie of all time, Aftershock is based on the novel of the same name by Chinese Canadian author
Zhang Ling. An intimate epic, the film sweeps across three crucial decades in recent Chinese history and explores the resilience
of a family devastated by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake.
All About Love
Ann Hui , Hong Kong, China International Premiere
All About Love takes a rare look at not only the lives of queer women, but also the challenges of creating a family. Ann Hui
expertly balances the serious themes of motherhood, sexuality and discrimination, rarely addressed in Hong Kong films, with wit,
humour and compassion.
Anything You Want
Achero Mañas, Spain International Premiere
Four year-old Dafne’s life is unhinged when her mother Alicia suddenly dies. Her father Leo tries to be both father and mother to
her, but Dafne really just wants her mom. Leo strives to be just that, and in the process, nearly loses his own identity.
Bad Faith
Kristian Petri, Sweden International Premiere
On her way home from work Mona finds the victim of a serial killer. She is shocked but the experience triggers something within
and her fascination becomes obsession. She decides to find the killer on her own. Her hunt leads to violent confrontation, not
only with the killer but also with herself.
Behind Blue Skies
Hannes Holm, Sweden World Premiere
In Hannes Holm’s beautifully crafted Behind Blue Skies, Bill Skarsgård stars as a young man on the cusp of manhood who
escapes his troubled home to work at a summer resort, but somehow finds himself embroiled in one of the most scandalous
criminal cases in 1970s Sweden in this affectionately mounted period piece based on actual events.
Black Ocean
Marion Hänsel, Belgium/France/Germany North American Premiere
Three young boys aboard a French naval vessel in 1972 take part in nuclear tests in Mururoa, in the Pacific. Black Ocean
explores about the relationships of the men on board who are confronted with discipline, violence, solitude and occasionally,
friendship.
Blessed Events
Isabelle Stever, Germany World Premiere
Thirty-seven-year-old Simone decides to go out alone on New Year’s Eve. The next morning, she wakes up next to a stranger,
and a few weeks later discovers that she’s pregnant. When she runs into the stranger again she is surprised by his reaction.
Break Up Club
Barbara Wong, Hong Kong International Premiere
Barbara Wong captures the mood of Hong Kong’s young generation and delivers an ultra-modern romantic comedy about the
end of one’s innocence and the understanding that love is ultimately about the sacrifices one must make.
Carancho
Pablo Trapero, Argentina/South Korea/France/Chile North American Premiere
Sosa (Ricardo Darin) is a lawyer who haunts hospital waiting rooms hoping to represent the victims of traffic accidents in
insurance claims. When he falls in love with ambulance medic Lujan, he tries to leave this dark business but the shady law firm
that he works for won’t let him off that easily.
Chico & Rita
Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando, Spain/United Kingdom North American Premiere
Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba teams up with famed designer Javier Mariscal and co-director Tono Errando to create
an epic animated love story that occurs around the time of the Cuban Revolution. Highlighting a pivotal moment in the evolution
of jazz and travelling from Havana to New York, Chico & Rita is a tribute to the music, culture and people of Cuba.
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Tsui Hark, China North American Premiere
Based on the iconic figure of Di Renjie, a legendary minister of state in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD) who was known for his
ability to solve the most complicated cases, Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee (Andy Lau) is a uniquely appealing counterpart to his
modern western equivalent, Sherlock Holmes.
A scene from Kelly Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff.”
The Edge
Alexey Uchitel, Russia World Premiere
The arrival of a decorated war hero takes a Siberian labour camp by storm. After assuming control of the region’s only steam
engine, he sets out to find a ghost engine on a nearby island populated by an undead girl with a railway obsession.
Even the Rain
Icíar Bollaín Spain/France/Mexico World Premiere
Filmmaker Sebastian (Gael García Bernal) travels to Bolivia to shoot a film about the Spanish conquest of America. He and his
crew arrive during the tense time of the Cochabamba water crisis. The lines between past and present, and fiction and film,
become increasingly blurred in Iciar Bollain’s latest feature, Even the Rain.
The First Grader
Justin Chadwick, United Kingdom World Premiere
In a remote Kenyan primary school hundreds of children are jostling for a chance for the free education newly promised by the
Kenyan government. One new applicant causes astonishment when he knocks on the door of the school: Maruge, a Mau Mau
veteran in his eighties who is desperate to learn to read.
The Fourth Portrait
Chung Mong-Hong, Taiwan North American Premiere
The Fourth Portrait casts a sobering look at the troubling issues of domestic violence, and the difficult family dynamics that are
born of marriages of convenience.
Home for Christmas
Bent Hamer, Norway/Germany/Sweden World Premiere
Norwegian veteran Bent Hamer (Kitchen Stories) returns with this look at fractured families at Christmas time. The film shuttles
between serious drama and the gently absurdist comedy for which Hamer is well-known.
How I Ended This Summer
Alexei Popogrebsky, Russia Canadian Premiere
Two meteorologists are isolated on an Arctic island. When the two-way radio transmits some bad news that requires a
middleman, it’s up to the young intern to inform his veteran colleague. The problem is that he never seems to find the right time.
The Human Resources Manager
Eran Riklis, Israel/Germany/France/Romania North American Premiere
A tragi-comedy centers on the HR manager of Israel’s largest industrial bakery as he sets out to save the reputation of his
business and prevent the publication of a defamatory article – the catch is that he has to take a coffin 1000 kilometres into rural
Romania to do it.
The Hunter
Rafi Pitts, Iran North American Premiere
Recently released from prison, Ali makes the most of his reunion with his wife and young daughter, amidst much talk of the
upcoming elections and promises of change. When tragedy strikes, Ali takes matters into his own hands and the line between
hunter and hunted becomes difficult to define.
I Am Slave
Gabriel Range, United Kingdom International Premiere
From the award winning team behind Death of a President and The Last King of Scotland, and inspired by real life events, I Am
Slave is a controversial thriller about London’s shocking slave trade, and one woman’s fight for freedom.
Jucy
Louise Alston, Australia World Premiere
Jackie and Lucy are best friends who spend all their time together, but not everyone approves of their “womance.” Accused of
being weird and codependent, they set out to prove their maturity. Jackie gets the guy and Lucy gets the job, but can their
friendship survive their newfound independence?
Lapland Odyssey
Dome Karukoski, Finland World Premiere
Three unemployed young men set off on a desperate journey to locate a digital conversion box in the north of Finland. Wildly
funny, Dome Karukoski’s Lapland Odyssey is a Finnish cousin to Harold and Kumar and Fubar.
Late Autumn
Kim Tae-Yong, South Korea World Premiere
Anna (Tang Wei) is on her way to Seattle to attend her mother’s funeral while on a special weekend release from prison. On the
bus, she meets Hoon (Hyun Bin), a “companion for hire” for lonely, older women. Both are running away but both find
something in each other while spending a day together.
Leap Year
Michael Rowe, Mexico North American Premiere
In this transgressive erotic drama, Laura Lopez lives a lonely existence in her Mexico City apartment. On her calendar, the 29th
of February is ominously circled, its significance becoming more apparent as the leap year approaches.
Life, Above All
Oliver Schmitz, South Africa/Germany North American Premiere
After the death of her newborn sister, 12-year-old Chanda learns of a rumour that spreads like wildfire through her small, dustridden village near Johannesburg. When it destroys her family and forces her mother to flee, Chandra leaves home and school in
search of her mother and the truth.
The Light Thief
Aktan Arym Kubat, Kyrgyzstan/Germany/France/Netherlands North American Premiere
A funny and touching portrait of small-town politics in a rapidly globalizing world that follows Svet-ake, an electrician in a small
Kyrgyz village who has been stealing electricity to help the impoverished local residents. When a wealthy land developer arrives
to buy up the land, Svet-ake shares with him his dream to populate the valley with modern windmills – but soon realizes not
everyone has the village’s best interests at heart.
Mamma Gógó
Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Iceland International Premiere
Icelandic master Fridrik Thor Fridriksson returns with this disarmingly honest, semi-autobiographical portrait of a filmmaker’s
relationship with his ailing mother. Simultaneously poignant and funny, Mamma Gógó is fuelled by compassion for those who
brought us into this world and also pays tribute to the director’s artistic influences.
Matariki
Michael Bennett, New Zealand World Premiere
A violent tragedy has a harrowing impact on eight different lives in a diverse South Auckland community.
The Matchmaker
Avi Nesher, Israel International Premiere
In 1968 Haifa, a teenage boy gets a summer job with a Holocaust survivor who makes ends meet by brokering marriages and
smuggling goods. Throughout the summer, the boy discovers the intriguing underbelly of Haifa and its community of Holocaust
survivors.
Meek’s Cutoff
Kelly Reichardt, USA North American Premiere
It’s 1845 and a wagon team of three families have hired a guide to take them on the Oregon Trail and over the Cascade
Mountains. They become lost and while suffering from hunger, thirst and fear, they encounter a Native American who forces
them to reassess everything.
MODRA
Ingrid Veninger, Canada World Premiere
In this authentic portrait of teenaged self-discovery, recently-dumped seventeen-year-old Lina and free spirit Leco travel to visit
Lina’s extended family in the quirky town of Modra, Slovakia.
My Joy
Sergei Loznitsa, Germany/Ukraine/The Netherlands North American Premiere
Truck driver Georgy sets out on a provincial Russian motorway for a routine delivery but a series of chance encounters see his
journey spiral out of control. A roadside police check, a war veteran and a young prostitute lead him to a village from which there
appears to be no way out.
A scene from Peter Mullan’s “Neds”
Neds
Peter Mullan, United Kingdom/France/Italy World Premiere
Set in 1970s Glasgow, this film tells the story of a shy and intelligent young boy who, through a series of circumstances, turns
into a NED – a non-educated delinquent. Attending a new school, he becomes increasingly violent and aggressive, all the while
searching for a way out.
A Night for Dying Tigers
Terry Miles, Canada World Premiere
The night before Jack goes to prison for five years, his family gets together at their ancestral home for a farewell dinner. What
begins as a civil, if not joyful, reunion quickly devolves into a morally questionable whirlwind of regret, reversals, and
revelations. The film stars Jennifer Beals, Gil
Bellows, Kathleen Roberston, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyon and John Pyper-Ferguson.
Of Gods and Men
Xavier Beauvois, France North American Premiere
Based on a true incident where a group of Christian monks were killed in Algeria in 1995, Of Gods and Men follows the spiritual
lifestyle of the monks, their interaction with the locals and the events that lead up to the confrontation with a group of Islamic
fundamentalist insurgents.
Oki’s Movie
Hong Sangsoo, South Korea North American Premiere
Oki’s Movie is comprised of four short films featuring three main characters with different but overlapping roles. The final short,
Oki’s Movie, is a story of a film student, Oki, who makes a film about two men she has dated. In her film, she makes a
cinematographic construction of her experiences of coming to Acha Mountain with each man a year apart.
Outbound
Bogdan George Apetri, Romania North American Premiere
Matilda, a feisty woman-child with a sordid past, is out on prison leave. Are 24 hours enough to make up for her mistakes and
skip out of the country in time for a brand new life?
Route132
Louis Bélanger,Canada English Canadian Premiere
A powerful drama directed by acclaimed veteran Louis Bélanger, Route 132 focuses on a man who loses a loved one and
embarks on a journey in an attempt to rediscover his roots and come to terms with his grief.
Sensation
Tom Hall, Ireland International Premiere
Sensation details the relationship between Tipperary farmer Donal Duggan and a veteran Kiwi escort. They begin as client and
call girl, evolve into something like lovers, then business partners and finally co-defendants.
Silent Souls
Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia North American Premiere
When Miron’s beloved wife Tanya passes away, he asks his best friend Aist to help him say goodbye according to the rituals of
the Merya culture, an ancient Finno-Ugric tribe from Lake Nero. The two men set out on a road trip thousands of miles across the
boundless lands.
Small Town Murder Songs
Ed Gass-Donnelly, Canada World Premiere
Ed Gass-Donnelly’s (This Beautiful City) Small Town Murder Songs mixes sexuality, religion and tradition in a Greek tragedy
about repression and mistrust. The film stars Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Aaron Poole and Martha Plimpton.
The Solitude Of Prime Numbers
Saverio Constanzo, Italy North American Premiere
Two youngsters discover that they are doomed to live parallel lives, always linked but never joined. One has to deal with the
effects of a serious accident while the other must come to grips with negligence that led to a death. As they grow into adults, they
discover that their singularity results in solitude.
State of Violence
Khalo Matabane, South Africa/France International Premiere
In his follow-up to Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon, Matabane delivers a potent drama about a South African corporate
leader whose past as a violent revolutionary comes back to threaten him.
Tender Son – The Frankenstein Project
Kornél Mundruczó Hungary/Germany/Austria North American Premiere
Long ago, a young man fathered a child without ever knowing what became of him. Now 17, his son Rudi returns home hoping
to reunite with his family after years spent in an institution. A terrible event soon changes everything and the father has no choice
but to accompany his son on his inevitable brutal path and their common search for redemption.
Tracker
Ian Sharp, United Kingdom/New Zealand World Premiere
A former Boer War guerrilla in New Zealand is sent to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier.
Three
Tom Tykwer, Germany North American Premiere
Returning to the rule-breaking freedom of early films like Run Lola Run, Tykwer introduces a sophisticated Berlin couple who
both start affairs with the same man, putting them on a collision course.
White Irish Drinkers
John Gray, USA World Premiere
In this coming of age story set in 1975 working-class Brooklyn, two teenage brothers living with their abusive father and their
well-meaning but ineffective mother are caught up in a life of petty crime.
Womb
Benedek Fliegauf, Germany/Hungary/France North American Premiere Rebecca has waited 12 long years to be reunited with her
childhood sweetheart, only to lose him again in a fatal accident. The only difference is, now she can bring him back from the
dead.
Discovery
As If I Am Not There
Juanita Wilson, Ireland/Macedonia/Sweden World Premiere
As If I Am Not There explores one woman’s experience of the horrors that took place at the beginning of the Bosnian War.
Disturbing and powerful, the film is an important testament to the survivors of the atrocities in the former Yugoslavia.
ATTENBERG
Athina Rachel Tsangiri, Greece North American Premiere
A dying architect and his emotionally stunted daughter inhabit a once booming industrial community in the middle of nowhere,
now populated by the precious few who didn’t have the heart to leave it behind.
Autumn
Aamir Bashir, India World Premiere
Shot in striking, widescreen images in India’s Kashmir
region, Bashir’s debut tells the story of Rafiq, a young man struggling to come to terms with the loss of his older brother, who
has disappeared in the ongoing border conflict.
Beautiful Boy
Shawn Ku, USA World Premiere
A married couple on the verge of separation are leveled by the news that their 18-year-old son has committed a mass shooting at
his college, then taken his own life. Stars Michael Sheen and Maria Bello.
Blame
Michael Henry, Australia International Premiere
A group of young vigilantes seeking revenge for a sexual betrayal fall far from grace. When the truth is out, they find themselves
on the dark side of justice.
The Call
Stefano Pasetto, Italy/Argentina World Premiere
Two women, one a married middle-aged airline stewardess, and the other a free-wheeling factory worker, meet and decide to
change their lives. Moving to Patagonia and leaving their men behind, they find that escape carries with it a different set of
responsibilities.
Ceremony
Max Winkler, USA World Premiere
Along with his unwitting best friend, a young guy looks to crash the wedding of an older woman with whom he’s infatuated.
Stars Uma Thurman.
Dirty Girl
Abe Sylvia, USA World Premiere
Danielle is the dirty girl of Norman High School. When her misbehaviour gets her banished to a remedial class, she teams up
with an innocent closet-case and they head out on a road trip to discover themselves. Stars Juno Temple, Dwight Yoakam, Milla
Jovovich and William H. Macy.
Girlfriend
Justin Lerner, USA World Premiere
When an unexpected financial windfall affords a young man with Down syndrome some freedom, he decides to pursue the object
of his high school crush, Candy. The decision brings him into conflict with her volatile ex-boyfriend, and the three find
themselves involved in a complex, unpredictable triangle of love, aspiration and dreams. Stars Evan Sneider and Jackson
Rathbone.
Griff the Invisible
Leon Ford, Australia World Premiere
Griff, office worker by day, superhero by night, has his world turned upside down when he meets Melody, a beautiful young
scientist who shares his passion for the impossible. Stars Ryan Kwanten.
Half of Oscar
Manuel Martin Cuenca, Spain/Cuba World Premiere
Oscar and Maria are reunited by the imminent death of their grandfather. Maria has not been heard from in over two years, and
now arrives pregnant and with a boyfriend.
Inside America
Barbara Eder, Austria North American Premiere
Drawing on her memories as an exchange student in a nowhere town on the US-Mexico border, Barbara Eder explores the dark
side of the American Dream.
Look, Stranger
Arielle Javitch, USA World Premiere
Look, Stranger is an elegant, spare and powerful telling of one young woman’s journey through a war-torn landscape in an effort
to get back home. Stars Annamaria Marinca.
Mandoo
Ebrahim Saeedi, Iraq North American Premiere
After the death of Saddam, Shaho, an Iranian Kurd, is determined to take his ailing father back to his village so he can live out his
final days in familiar surroundings. The only thing that stands in his way is a wide-eyed young woman.
Marimbas From Hell
Julio Hernández Cordón, Guatemala/France/Mexico World Premiere
Don Alfonso loses his job playing the marimba, an indigenous, traditional Guatemalan instrument, at a hotel in Guatemala City.
He approaches musician Blacko and proposes that they fuse the sound of the marimba with heavy metal.
Norberto’s Deadline
Daniel Hendler, Uruguay/Argentina North American Premiere
Award-winning actor Daniel Hendler offers a hilarious account of a man trying to combat his shyness. After being fired from his
job, Norberto tries his hand at real estate and his new boss suggests he take some personal affirmation courses. Instead he
discovers the theatre and his love and unknown talent for acting.
October
Diego Vega, Daniel Vega, Peru/Venezuela/Spain North American Premiere
Money-lender Clemente only knows how to relate to others through transactions. His life is turned upside down when someone
leaves him a baby in a basket. When a client, Sofia, steps in to help tend to the baby, Clemente is faced with new possibilities
during Lima’s October celebration of the Lord of Miracles.
The Piano in a Factory
Zhang Meng, China World Premiere
To fight for custody of his daughter who loves playing the piano, a steel factory worker decides to forge a piano from scratch. An
offbeat ballad of friendship and devotion, The Piano in a Factory is an endearing portrait of China in the early 1990s when the
certainty of state-run industry begins to falter.
Pinoy Sunday
Wi Ding Ho, Taiwan North American Premiere
Pinoy Sunday is the story of Manuel and Dado, two Filipino migrant workers, who discover a discarded sofa. This transforms
their normal Sunday routine into a tale of adventure, perseverance and self-discovery.
The Place in Between
Sarah Bouyain, France/Burkino Faso North American Premiere
Bouyain’s sensitive debut is a portrait of women caught between Africa and Europe. A biracial woman travels from France to
Burkina Faso in search of her mother. In France, a white woman seeks to learn an African language for reasons unknown.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Jalmari Helander, Finland/Norway/France/Sweden North American Premiere
Santa Claus is somewhat less than jolly – in fact, he’s the stuff nightmares are made of – in Jalmari Helander’s atmospheric and
witty re-working of a cherished folk tale.
Sandcastle
Boo Junfeng, Singapore North American Premiere
A gentle and affectionate study of the themes of identity, history and memory, Boo Junfeng’s debut feature Sandcastle is a loving
portrait of a young man coming to terms with the lives of his parents and his grandparents, while trying to make sense of
Singapore’s troubled history.
Soul of Sand
Sidharth Srinivasan, India World Premiere
Bhanu Kumar, a lower caste watchman, stands fierce guard over his feudal master’s disused, barren mine. One night, a runaway
couple in desperate search of refuge, come to Bhanu seeking shelter. The rusted gate of the Royal Silica Mine opens, exposing a
bloody world of lust, fear and violence in the name of caste, ownership and honour.
Viva Riva!
Djo Tunda Wa Munga, Democratic Republic of Congo/France/Belgium/South Africa World Premiere
Riva returns home to Kinshasa flush with cash. The town is literally out of gas, and he is sitting on a truckload of it. His first
night home, Riva falls in love with a beautiful woman and is emboldened when he learns that a local gangster is keeping her on a
short leash. Meanwhile, the gang Riva left behind in Angola arrive in hot pursuit of the gas he stole from them.
Wasted On the Young
Ben C. Lucas, Australia International Premiere
Wasted on the Young is set in the socially conscious and disaffected society of an elite high school where two step brothers
occupy opposite ends of the school hierarchy. When a high school party goes dangerously off the rails, they find that revenge is
just a computer click away.
What I Most Want
Delfina Castagnino, Argentina International Premiere
María’s four-year relationship is coming to an end while Pilar’s father has recently passed away. Though their losses are of a very
different nature, the two friends find comfort in each other’s company. María stays with Pilar in the Argentine Patagonia and the
two women share wine and lake visits as they confront their future.
Zephyr
Belma Bas, Turkey World Premiere
This shadowy and atmospheric coming-of-age story follows 11-year-old Zephyr. Left in the care of her stoic grandparents, she
roams a rural paradise looking for action, trying to figure out who she is and refusing to grow up.
Galas
The Bang Bang Club (film page)
Steven Silver, Canada/South Africa World Premiere
The Bang Bang Club was the name given to four young photographers, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and
Joao Silva, whose photographs captured the final bloody days of white rule in South Africa and the final demise of apartheid. The
film tells the remarkable and sometimes harrowing story of these young men – and the extraordinary extremes they went to in
order to capture their pictures. The film stars Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman, Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld and Frank
Rautenbach.
Barney’s Version (film page)
Richard J. Lewis, Canada/Italy North American Premiere
From producer Robert Lantos, “Barney’s Versio”n is a film based on Mordecai Richler’s prize-winning comic novel. Barney
Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) is a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. Barney’s candid confessional spans four
decades and two continents, and includes three wives (Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver and Rachelle Lefevre), one outrageous
father (Dustin Hoffman) and a charmingly dissolute best friend (Scott Speedman).
A Beginners Guide to Endings (film page)
Jonathan Sobol, Canada
Raucous, charming and very funny, Jonathan Sobol’s comedy A Beginners Guide to Endings follows three sons as they deal with
their gambler father’s somewhat complicated legacy. Featuring the legendary Harvey Keitel, the film also stars Scott Caan, Paolo
Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, and J.K. Simmons.
Black Swan (film page)
Darren Aronofsky, USA North American Premiere
A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, “Black Swan” stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer
who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company. “Black Swan” takes a thrilling and at
times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be
a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect. Black Swan also stars Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and
Winona Ryder.
Casino Jack (film page)
George Hickenlooper, Canada World Premiere
Based on a true story, Kevin Spacey stars as Jack Abramoff, the former high-powered lobbyist whose bribery schemes and
fraudulent dealings with Indian casinos ultimately landed him in prison, and stunned the world. It remains the biggest scandal to
hit Washington, D.C. since Watergate. The film also stars Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Rachelle Lefevre and Jon Lovitz.
The Conspirator (film page)
Robert Redford, USA World Premiere
While an angry nation seeks vengeance, a young union war hero must defend a mother accused of aiding her son in the
assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Directed by Robert Redford, the film stars James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin
Kline, Evan Rachel Wood and Tom Wilkinson.
The Debt (film page)
John Madden, USA North American Premiere
Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain and Sam Worthington star in this thriller about three Israeli Mossad agents on a 1965 mission to
capture a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, secrets about the case emerge.
The Housemaid (film page)
Im Sang-Soo, South Korea North American Premiere
In this erotic thriller, the housemaid of an upper-class family becomes entangled in a dangerous tryst. A satirical look at class
structure, reminiscent of the work of Claude Chabrol, this sexy soap opera is a story of revenge and retribution.
Janie Jones (film page)
David M. Rosenthal, USA World Premiere
Aspiring recording artist Ethan Brand gets a stunning surprise on the opening night of a tour – a strung out former groupie
appears unexpectedly, pleading with him to care for their daughter while she pulls herself together. Enter Janie Jones.
The King’s Speech (film page)
Tom Hooper, United Kingdom/Australia North American Premiere
“The King’s Speech” tells the story of the man who would become King George VI, the father of the current Queen, Elizabeth II.
After his brother abdicates, George “Bertie” VI (Colin Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded nervous
stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue
(Geoffrey Rush). Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice
and boldly lead the country into war.
A scene from Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech.”
Last Night (film page)
Massy Tadjedin, USA/France
A married couple are apart for a night when the husband takes a business trip with a colleague to whom he’s attracted. While he’s
away, his wife encounters her past love. The film stars Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes.
Little White Lies (film page)
Guillaume Canet, France World Premiere
Despite a traumatic event, a group of friends decides to go ahead with their annual beach vacation. Their relationships,
convictions, sense of guilt and friendship are sorely tested. They are finally forced to own up to the little white lies they have
been telling each other. Directed by Guillaume Canet and starring: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles
Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton and Pascale Arbillot.
Peep World (film page)
Barry Blaustein, USA World Premiere
On the day of their father’s 70th birthday party, four siblings come to terms with the publication of a novel written by the
youngest sibling that exposes the family’s most intimate secrets.
Potiche (film page)
François Ozon, France North American Premiere
A bourgeois housewife (Catherine Deneuve) takes on a rough union leader (Gerard Depardieu) in François Ozon’s sparkling
comic war between the sexes, and the classes.
The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (film page)
Thom Zimny, USA World Premiere
“The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town” takes us into the studio with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street
Band for the recording of their fourth album. Grammy and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny has collaborated with
Springsteen on this documentary, gaining access to never before seen footage shot between 1976-1978, capturing home
rehearsals and recording sessions that allow us to see Springsteen’s creative process at work.
Sarah’s Key
Gilles Paquet Brenner, France World Premiere
Based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s best-selling novel, Sarah’s Key tells the story of an American journalist on the brink of making big
life decisions regarding her marriage and her unborn child. What starts off as research for an article about the Vel’d’Hiv Roundup
in 1942 in France ends up as a journey towards self discovery as she stumbles upon a terrible secret. The film stars Kristin Scott
Thomas, Mélusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Frédéric Pierrot, Michel Duchaussoy and Aidan Quinn.
Score: A Hockey Musical (film page)
Michael McGowan, Canada World Premiere
“Score” centers on seventeen-year old Farley who has led a sheltered life. Much to his parents’ chagrin (Newton-John, Jordan),
Farley loves to play shinny with the local rink rats. To their even greater dismay, Farley is signed to a hockey league, where he
achieves instant stardom, throwing him into a world of hype. Farley soon finds that hockey fame comes with a price.
The Town (film page)
Ben Affleck, USA North American Premiere
“The Town” is a dramatic thriller about robbers and cops, friendship and betrayal, love and hope, and escaping a past that has no
future. In the Boston neighbourhood of Charlestown, Doug MacCray is the leader of a crew of ruthless bank robbers. But
everything changed on the gang’s last job when they took bank manager Claire Keesey hostage. Questioning what she saw, Doug
seeks out Claire. As their relationship deepens, Doug wants out of this life and the town, but now he must choose whether to
betray his friends or lose the woman he loves.
The Way (film page)
Emilio Estevez, USA World Premiere
Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France, to collect the remains of his adult son,
killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago. Driven by his profound sadness and desire to
understand his son better, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage. Along the way he learns what it means to be a
citizen of the world again and discovers the difference between “The life we live and the life we choose.”
West is West (film page)
Andy De Emmony, United Kingdom World Premiere
Manchester, Northern England, 1976. The now much-diminished, but still claustrophobic and dysfunctional, Khan family
continues to struggle for survival. Sajid, the youngest Khan, is under heavy assault both from his father’s tyrannical insistence on
Pakistani tradition, and from the fierce bullies in the schoolyard. His father decides to pack him off to Mrs. Khan No. 1 and
family in the Punjab, the wife and daughters he had abandoned 30 years earlier. The sequel to “East is East,” “West is West” is
the coming of age story of both 15-year-old Sajid and of his father, 60-year- old George Khan.
A scene from Guy Moshe’s “Bunraku.” Image courtesy of TIFF.
Masters
13 Assassins
Takashi Miike, Japan
Cult director Takeshi Miike delivers a period action film set at the end of Japan’s feudal era in which a group of unemployed
samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a
wartorn future.
Erotic Man
Jørgen Leth, Denmark
Danish master Jørgen Leth travels the globe in this sensual, provocative and sometimes autobiographical essay film about a man
struggling to come to terms with his past choices and his decision to leave a lover.
Essential Killing
Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Norway/Ireland/Hungary North American Premiere
A Taliban fighter is captured, interrogated, tortured and then transported to an unnamed snowy destination in Europe. He
manages to escape and must use his wits to evade his pursuers whilst battling bitter winter cold and lack of food.
Film Socialism (film page)
Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland North American Premiere
Godard’s latest film, a “symphony in three movements,” grapples with trying to make sense of a world that appears to be beyond
comprehension and meaning.
I Wish I Knew (film page)
Jia Zhang-ke, China/The Netherlands North American Premiere
Commissioned to commemorate the 2010 World Expo, this documentary on Shanghai portrays a chapter of modern Chinese
history through interviews and scenic views of a city in continuous evolution. I Wish I Knew is directed by one of the youngest
masters of cinema, Jia Zhang-ke.
Mysteries of Lisbon
Raul Ruiz, Portugal/France
Based on a famous nineteenth-century Portuguese novel, Raul Ruiz’s “Mysteries of Lisbon” follows a jealous countess, a
wealthy businessman and a young orphaned boy across Portugal, France, Italy and Brazil where they connect with a variety of
mysterious individuals.
Nostalgia for the Light
Patricio Guzmán, France/Germany/Chile North American Premiere, World Premiere
In Chile’s Atacama Desert, astronomers peer deep into the cosmos in search for answers concerning the origins of life. Nearby, a
group of women sift through the sand searching for body parts of loved ones, dumped unceremoniously by Pinochet’s regime.
Master filmmaker Patricio Guzmán contemplates the paradox of their quests.
Poetry (film page)
Lee Chang-dong, South Korea North American Premiere
Rhyme and crime intertwine in Poetry, the moving portrait of an elegant old lady in the initial stages of Alzheimer’s, as well as a
lyrical take on creative discovery and an upsetting look at juvenile violence, by Korean master Lee Chang-dong.
Roses à Crédit
Amos Gitai, France World Premiere
A young couple marry in France in the 1940s and the film follows the arc of their marriage over the next decade. As France
recovers from the trauma of the war, the wife finds herself increasingly caught up in acquiring material possessions while the
husband prefers a more traditional lifestyle.
Route Irish (film page)
Ken Loach, United Kingdom/France/Belgium/Italy/Spain North American Premiere
A British solider who worked with a security firm in Iraq attends the funeral of his best friend, who was killed on the notorious
Baghdad highway Route Irish. After receiving an envelope containing his friend’s cell phone with a video recording of a
massacre of Iraqi civilians, he sets out to avenge his friend’s memory.
The Sleeping Beauty
Catheirne Breillat, France North American Premiere
An epic fantasia of a young girl’s coming-of-age, featuring Catherine Breillat’s signature take on gender relations and
breathtaking cinematography.
The Strange Case of Angelica Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/Spain/France/Brazil North American Premiere Manoel de Oliveira, a
101-year-old filmmaker, returns to the Douro River, the site of his first short, Douro Faina Fluvial, to create a surprising tale
about a metaphysical love that defies reason. Photographer Isaac becomes smitten when he is called to take the last picture of the
beautiful Angelica. Although she is dead, when he looks at her through his viewfinder she becomes animated and lively.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (film page)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, U.K./Thailand/France/Germany/Spain North American Premiere
Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul takes viewers on a subliminal journey through a
cinematic border zone where magic, transmigration of souls and generations of memory cohabit in a highly original masterpiece.
Midnight Madness
Bunraku
Guy Moshe, USA World Premiere
In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett), a young samurai and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) plot revenge
against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman) and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. This visually
stunning film is filled with uniquely choreographed action sequences of a new style that melds east with west and old school with
new. The film also stars Demi Moore.
The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman
Wuershan, Hong Kong, China/USA World Premiere
A group of misfits become mixed up in the struggle to own a deadly kitchen cleaver made from the top five swords of the martial
arts world in this wild and brash action comedy that is sure to have audiences running to Chinatown after the film for a late night
snack.
Fire of Conscience
Dante Lam, Hong Kong, China North American Premiere
Dante Lam proves himself to be a talent to look out for in this slam bang action film where robbers and gunrunners battle with
cops on the busy urban streets of Hong Kong. Starring Leon Lai, Fire of Conscience is easily one of loudest action films from
Hong Kong in recent memory, with an orchestra of exploding grenades and machine gun rounds.
Fubar II
Michael Dowse, Canada World Premiere
In the sequel to the 2002 cult comedy Fubar, hoser headbangers Terry and Dean are back and hit the road to find wealth,
happiness and more beer in the oil fields of Alberta. Special appearance by Tron.
Insidious
James Wan, USA World Premiere
When proud parents take possession of an old house, an accident results in one of their sons falling into a coma. The tragedy
doesn’t stop there when they are beset by vengeful spirits from another realm in this new chiller by the director and writer of Saw
and by the producers of Paranormal Activity. The film stars Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey and Patrick Wilson.
Red Nights
Julien Carbon, Laurent Courtiaud, Hong Kong, China/France World Premiere
This shocking debut by director duo Carbon and Courtiaud is a seductive cat-and-mouse thriller set in Hong Kong, about a
woman’s obsessive desire to own a rare object that hides a deadly and perverse secret.
Stake Land
Jim Mickle, USA World Premiere
In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic, a teen is taken in by a grizzled vampire hunter on a road trip through a post-apocalyptic
America, battling both the bloodsuckers and a fundamentalist militia that interprets the plague as the Lord’s work.
SUPER
James Gunn, USA World Premiere
After his wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), a frustrated husband (Rainn Wilson) decides he will win
her back as Crimson Bolt, a costumed vigilante armed with a monkey wrench. His actions bring him an admirer, an overeager
comic store clerk (Ellen Page) who wants to be his sidekick.
Vanishing on 7th Street
Brad Anderson, USA World Premiere
When a massive power blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish, a small handful of survivors (Hayden Christensen,
Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo) band together inside a desolate tavern, struggling to survive as the darkness hones in on them.
From director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian) comes an apocalyptic thriller with a terrifying vision of our world’s
end and a story that wrestles with the nature of existence itself.
The Ward
John Carpenter, USA World Premiere
Acclaimed director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) makes his long-awaited return to the screen with a thriller about a
young woman (Amber Heard) in a 1960s mental institution who becomes terrorized by malevolent unseen forces.
Real to Reel
ANPO
Linda Hoaglund, Japan/USA World Premiere
ANPO depicts resistance to U.S. military bases in Japan through an electrifying collage of paintings and photographs, as well as
animated, narrative and documentary films by Japan’s foremost contemporary artists.
Armadillo
Janus Metz, Denmark North American Premiere
Winner of Cannes Critics Week, “Armadillo” is a harrowing portrayal of the current conflict in Afghanistan. The film follows a
contingent of Danish troops into the chaos of combat in a way that stirs debate over the rules of engagement.
Boxing Gym
Frederick Wiseman, USA North American Premiere
Documentary master Frederick Wiseman explores the world of a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, dwelling on the discipline of
training as people from all walks of life aspire to reach their personal best.
A scene from Kim Longinotto’s “Pink Saris.” Image courtesy of TIFF.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Werner Herzog, USA World Premiere
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial
creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting. He puts 3-D technology to a profound use, taking us back in time over
30,000 years.
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Alex Gibney, USA World Premiere
Investigating the sex scandal that forced New York’s Governor to resign, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney gains revelatory
interviews from Spitzer, his most frequent escort and his Wall Street enemies that bring new perspective on his downfall.
Cool It
Ondi Timoner, USA World Premiere
Award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner trains her camera on Bjorn Lomborg, the controversial author of “The Skeptical
Environmentalist,” who takes on the issue of climate change, challenging the status quo, and pointing toward new science and
technology that might hold the solutions for our future.
The Game of Death
Christophe Nick & Thomas Bornot, France North American Premiere
This documentary examines the idea of the limits of obedience and punishment. Based on an experiment conducted in the ‘60s,
the setting is a modern television game show where we see how far people will go to inflict pain on a contestant who stands to
win one million dollars.
Genpin
Naomi Kawase, Japan World Premiere
A serene observation of women giving birth at the clinic of Dr. Tadashi Yoshimura, who has spent 40 years on the path of natural
childbirth, “Genpin” is Naomi Kawase’s special meditation on life and on the unshakable bond between mother and child.
Guest
Jose Luis Guerin, Spain North American Premiere
Filmmaker Jose Luis Guerin documents his experience during a year of traveling as a guest of film festivals to present his
previous film. What emerges is a wonderfully humane and sincere portrayal of the people that he meets when he goes off the
beaten track in some of the world’s major cities.
How to Start Your Own Country
Jody Shapiro, Canada
Shapiro’s documentary about micro-nations, tiny countries seldom recognized by the outside world, mixes comedy and
compassion with a serious analysis of the concept of statehood and citizenship.
Inside Job
Charles Ferguson, USA North American Premiere
An in-depth exploration of what caused the financial crisis from the Oscar-nominated director of “No End in Sight,” highlighting
failures in business, government and academia.
Machete Maidens Unleashed!
Mark Hartley, Australia International Premiere
From cult cinema documentary director Mark Hartley (“Not Quite Hollywood”) comes this account of the wild and unruly world
of genre filmmaking in the Philippines when the country was a back-lot for a bevy of B-movie mavericks and cinema visionaries.
The Man of a Thousand Songs
William D. MacGillivray, Canada World Premiere
Veteran East Coast filmmaker William MacGillivray returns to the Festival with this emotional, intimate and tender documentary
about the life of fabled Atlantic songwriter Ron Hynes.
Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon
Paul Clarke, Australia International Premiere
Witness to New York’s infamous punk scene, Lillian Roxon chronicled the movement during the 1960s and ‘70s. Roxon mingled
with the likes of John and Yoko, the Velvet Underground and Janis Joplin and was one of the first on the scene to champion the
work of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors.
Pink Saris
Kim Longinotto, UK World Premiere
Acclaimed director Kim Longinotto is often drawn to tough women. Now she follows Sampat Pal Devi, the leader of the “Pink
Gang,” who brings her own brand of justice to the streets of Uttar Pradesh, India, combating violence against women.
The Pipe
Risteard Ó Domhnaill, Ireland International Premiere
Irish farmers and fisherman rise up in protest when Shell tries to build a pipeline for natural gas through their county. The local
confrontation reflects an international concern for how energy companies affect the environment and communities.
Precious Life
Shlomi Eldar, Israel International Premiere
With the help of a prominent Israeli journalist, “Precious Life” chronicles the struggle of an Israeli pediatrician and a Palestinian
mother to get treatment for her baby, who suffers from an incurable genetic disease. Each must face their most profound biases as
they inch towards a possible friendship in an impossible reality.
The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical
Sarah McCarthy, United Kingdom North American Premiere
For one emotional night, a group of children living in a slum in Mumbai, India, get a chance to experience a different world as
they perform “The Sound of Music” with a classical orchestra, fostering hopes that it could change their lives.
A scene from Errol Morris’s “Tabloid.” Image courtesy of TIFF.
Tabloid
Errol Morris, USA World Premiere
The director of “The Thin Blue Line” and “The Fog of War” tells the story of a former Miss Wyoming whose quest for one true
love led her across the globe and onto the pages of tabloid newspapers.
Tears of Gaza
Vibeke Løkkegerg, Norway World Premiere
A powerful and emotionally devastating record of the impact the 2008-2009 bombings of Gaza had on the civilian population.
When My Child is Born
Guo Jing & Ke Dingding, China World Premiere
When a child is born, nothing is ever going to be the same. A journey into the everyday life of young university teachers and
researchers up against an unexpected pregnancy, as well as a brilliant document on the challenges of being an academic
suspended between modernization and tradition, love, career and family ties in ever-mutating contemporary China.
Windfall
Laura Israel, USA International Premiere
After wind turbines are proposed for installation in upstate New York, the community’s excitement turns to suspicion over what
the project entails. This eye-opening story exposes the dark side of wind energy development and the potential for financial
scams.
!Women Art Revolution – A Secret History
Lynn Hershman Leeson, USA World Premiere
Filmed over four decades, this inspiring cultural history tracks the struggles and breakthroughs of women artists from Judy
Chicago to Guerilla Girls to Miranda July and more, packed with rare archival footage and overflowing with bold art.
Special Presentations
127 Hours
Danny Boyle, USA World Premiere
127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a
fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life
and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary.
The film also stars Clémence Poésy, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara.
AMIGO
John Sayles, USA World Premiere
At the beginning of the 20th Century, during the Philippine-American War, a garrison under the command of US Lieutenant
Compton is left to ‘protect’ San Isidro, a remote region located in the Philippines. Compton can only communicate with Rafael,
the Head of the barrio, through the friar Hidalgo who bears a deep resentment towards Rafael. Neither side can understand or
trust the other, but are forced to live together, trying to survive in the middle of a war. When the American occupation policy gets
tougher, Rafael has to answer to both the Americans and the Filipino patriots.
Another Year
Mike Leigh, United Kingdom
A happily married, middle-aged couple are visited by a number of unhappy and lonely friends who use them as confidantes.
When an unmarried friend falls for their young son, they watch as events unfold. The film stars Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville,
Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez and Martin Savage.
Beginners
Mike Mills, USA World Premiere
When his 71-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) comes out of the closet, Oliver (Ewan McGregor) must explore the honesty
of his own relationships. From the director of Thumbsucker.
The Big Picture
Eric Lartigau, France World Premiere
Paul Exben is a success story. He has a great job, a glamorous wife and two wonderful sons, except that this is not the life he has
been dreaming of. A moment of madness is going to change his life, forcing him to assume a new identity that will enable him to
live his life fully. “The Big Picture,” an adaptation of the novel by Douglas Kennedy, is directed by Eric Lartigau and stars
Romain Duris, Marina Foïs, Niels Arestrup and Catherine Deneuve. It is produced by Pierre-Ange Le Pogam.
Biutiful
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Spain/Mexico North American Premiere
This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a
tragic hero and father of two who’s sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against
him in order to forgive, for love, and forever. The film stars Javier Bardem.
Blue Valentine
Derek Cianfrance, USA Canadian Premiere
“Blue Valentine” is the story of love found and love lost, told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic
memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Ryan Gosling and Michelle
Williams star in this honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks.
Brighton Rock
Rowan Joffe, United Kingdom World Premiere
Based on Graham Greene’s 1938 novel, we follow the odd relationship between a young thug on the rise in the British
underground and a tea room waitress who witnesses a crime he has committed.
Buried
Rodrigo Cortés, Spain/USA Canadian Premiere
When Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) wakes up six feet underground with no idea who put him there or why, life for the truck
driver and family man instantly becomes a hellish struggle for survival. Buried with only a cell phone and a lighter, poor
reception, a rapidly draining battery and a dwindling oxygen supply become his worst enemies in a tightly confined race against
time.
Conviction
Tony Goldwyn, USA World Premiere
Conviction is the inspirational true story of a sister’s unwavering devotion to her brother. When Betty Anne Waters’ (two-time
Academy Award winner Hilary Swank) older brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983,
Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction.
Cirkus Columbia
Danis Tanovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina International Premiere
After 20 years of exile, a husband returns to his hometown in Herzegovina to settle some scores with his ex-wife, armed with a
new Mercedes, a sexy new girlfriend and a mangy black cat.
Deep in the Woods
Benoit Jacquot France/Germany
France, 1865. A young vagabond, Timothée, arrives in a village and is given food and lodging by Doctor Hughes and his
daughter Joséphine. Joséphine runs after him, leaving her home and father, driven by an uncontrollable force. Distraught, she
follows this young man for whom she seems to feel only fear and disgust. Their pilgrimage will reveal another truth.
Dhobi Ghat
Kiran Rao, India World Premiere
In the teeming metropolis of Mumbai, four people separated by class and language are drawn together in compelling
relationships. Shai, an affluent investment banker on a sabbatical, strikes up an unusual friendship with Munna, a young and
beautiful laundry boy with ambitions of being a Bollywood actor, and has a brief dalliance with Arun, a gifted painter. As they
slip away from familiar moorings and drift closer together, the city finds its way into the crevices of their inner worlds.
Easy A
Will Gluck, USA World Premiere
After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean-cut high school girl (Emma Stone) sees her life paralleling
Hester Prynne’s in “The Scarlet Letter,” which she is currently studying in school – until she decides to use the rumor mill to
advance her social and financial standing.
Everything Must Go
Dan Rush, USA
After 16 years devising motivational speeches that promise certain success, Nick Porter (Will Ferrell) is abruptly fired. He returns
home to discover his wife has left him, changed the locks on their home and dumped all his possessions on the front yard. Nick
puts it all on the line – or, more properly, on the lawn – with an absurdly escalating garage sale that becomes a unique strategy
for survival. Nick comes face-to-face with a life turned inside out and discovers in total exposure an unexpected path to renewal.
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Sturla Gunnarsson, Canada World Premiere
At 75 years old, David Suzuki shows no signs of slowing down. In this captivating documentary portrait, the passionate
environmentalist’s legacy lecture is entwined with candid interviews in which he reflects on his life and shares deeply personal
stories, revealing a side previously unseen.
Gorbaciòf - The Cashier who Liked Gambling
Stefano Incerti, Italy North American Premiere
A compulsive gambler who works in the petty-cash office of the Poggioreale prison falls in love with Lily, an illegal immigrant,
and tries to free both of them from their dead-end lives. The film stars Toni Servillo, Mi Yang and Nello Masci
Good Neighbours
Jacob Tierney, Canada World Premiere
Director Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky) returns with an innovative and unsettling thriller about some very strange people living in
the same apartment building in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. The film stars Scott Speedman, Emily
Hampshire and Jay Baruchel.
Henry’s Crime
Malcolm Venville, USA World Premiere
After serving three years in prison for a bank robbery he did not commit, an amiable but aimless man decides to rob the bank for
real. His plan involves infiltrating a local theatre company, but his scheme gets complicated when he falls for the company’s lead
actress. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan, Fisher Stevens, Peter Stormare, Danny Hoch and Bill Duke.
Hereafter
Clint Eastwood, UK World Premiere
The story of three people haunted by mortality in different ways, Hereafter stars Matt Damon as a blue-collar American who has
a special connection to the afterlife. On the other side of the world, a French journalist (Cécile De France), has a near-death
experience that shakes her reality. And when London schoolboy Marcus (Frankie/George McLaren) loses the person closest to
him, he needs answers. Each in search of the truth, their lives will intersect, forever changed by what might – or must – exist in
the hereafter. The film also stars Jay Mohr, Bryce Dallas Howard, Marthe Keller, Thierry Neuvic and Derek Jacobi.
The House by the Medlar Tree
Pasquale Scimeca, Italy International Premiere
The Malavoglia are a family of fishermen: Grandfather Padron ‘Ntoni, his son Bastianazzo and wife Maruzza, and their children
‘Ntoni, Mena, Alessi and Lia. One night Bastianazzo dies in a boating accident, leaving the family on the verge of a break down.
The Illusionist
Sylvain Chomet, United Kingdom North American Premiere
From the director of “The Triplets Of Belleville” comes a film of grace and unique beauty. Working from a never-produced
script written by Jacques Tati for his daughter, Chomet tells the story of a magician who was pushed aside by rock and roll, yet
finds one young girl who appreciates his magic. The film stars Jean-Claude Donda and Eilidh Rankin.
I’m Still Here
Casey Affleck, USA
The directorial debut of Oscar-nominated actor Casey Affleck, I’m Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of
internationally acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, I’m Still Here follows the Oscar-nominee as he
announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician.
The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads. Defying expectations, it deftly explores notions of courage and creative
reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.
Incendies
Denis Villeneuve, Canada North American Premiere
After their mother Nawal’s death, twins Simon and Jeanne embark on a journey to the Middle East that shines a disturbing light
on their mother’s past and culminates in a shocking revelation. Based on the acclaimed play by Wajdi Mouawad and directed by
Genie and Jutra award-winner Denis Villeneuve (Polytechnique).
In A Better World
Susanne Bier, Denmark/Sweden International Premiere
The story traces elements from a refugee camp in Africa to the gray humdrum of everyday life in a Danish provincial town. The
lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty
and sorrow lie in wait. Soon, friendship transforms into a dangerous alliance and a breathtaking pursuit in which life is at stake.
A scene from Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go.”
I Saw the Devil
Kim Jee-woon, South Korea North American Premiere
A hard-boiled thriller from Korean master Kim Jee-woon, “I Saw the Devil” is a tale of bloody vengeance against a dangerous
psychopath who has committed a gruesome series of murders.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, USA World Premiere
Stressed-out teenager Craig checks himself into a mental health clinic – where he finds himself in the adult ward. Sustained by
friendships on both the inside and the outside, Craig learns more about life, love and the pressures of growing up. The comedydrama stars Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts and Zach Galifianakis.
Jack Goes Boating
Philip Seymour Hoffman, USA International Premiere
Adapted from Bob Glaudini’s acclaimed Off Broadway play, Jack Goes Boating is a tale of love, betrayal, friendship and grace
centered around two working-class New York City couples. The film stars John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin- Vega, Amy Ryan and
Philip Seymour Hoffman, with Hoffman making his feature directorial debut.
Julia’s Eyes
Guillem Morales, Spain World Premiere
Julia, a woman suffering from a degenerative eye disease, finds her blind twin sister Sara hanged in the basement of her house.
Julia decides to investigate what she feels is a murder case, entering a dark world that seems to hide a mysterious presence. As
Julia begins to uncover the terrifying truth about her sister’s death, her sight deteriorates further, until a series of unexplained
deaths and disappearances cross her path. The film stars Belén Rueda and Lluis Homar.
L’Amour Fou
Pierre Thoretton, France World Premiere
Yves Saint Laurent built one of fashion’s most celebrated empires. This moving documentary chronicles his rise, his lifelong
partnership with Pierre Bergé and their decision to auction off a lifetime of precious art and objects.
The Last Circus
Álex de la Iglesia, Spain/France North American Premiere
Álex de la Iglesia’s genius for dark humour is at its most eloquent in his latest parody about the Spanish Civil War. Two clowns
attack and disfigure one another in jealous rages over a beautiful dancer. In the name of love, they destroy the very object of their
affection.
The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Andrew Lau, Hong Kong North American Premiere
In 1920s Shanghai, hero Chen Zhen single-handedly avenges his mentor’s death by killing all the Japanese at a dojo in Hongkou,
only to be showered with bullets while making his legendary flying kick. Now, years later, Chen Zhen, who is believed dead,
returns in disguise to infiltrate a criminal empire and to dismantle the evil collusion that plagues the country.
Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats)
Xavier Dolan, Canada English Canadian Premiere
Wunderkind filmmaker Xavier Dolan returns with his second feature – a sophisticated comedy about close friends, Francis and
Marie, who pursue their mutual obsession with a young man. As they face off in competition, cracks in their friendship begin to
appear with both comic and tragic results.
Let Me In
Matt Reeves, UK/USA World Premiere
Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) stars as Abby, a mysterious 12-year-old girl, who moves next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The
Road), a social outcast who is viciously bullied at school. As a string of grisly murders occupy the town, Owen has to confront
the reality that this seemingly innocent girl is really a savage vampire. Let Me In is based on the best-selling Swedish novel Lat
den Ratte Komma (Let The Right One In), and the highly-acclaimed film of the same name.
Lope
Andrucha Waddington, Brazil/Spain World Premiere
Andrucha Waddington brings famed Spanish playwright Lope de Vega’s passionate life to the screen. The young poet returns to
Madrid from war and gets his foot in the door of Madrid’s most important theatre troupe – quickly charming his boss’s daughter.
His childhood friend, Isabel de Urbina, also falls under the spell of his poems. So much seduction eventually brings misfortune
and he must flee Madrid.
Love Crime
Alain Corneau, France International Premiere
“Dangerous Liaisons” meets “Working Girl” in this deliciously caustic tale of office politics. Starring Kristin Scott Thomas and
Ludivine Sagnier as mentor and ingénue, “Love Crime” is a remorseless clash of two competing egos.
Made in Dagenham
Nigel Cole, United Kingdom World Premiere
Sally Hawkins stars as Rita O’Grady, the catalyst for the 1968 Ford Dagenham strike by 187 sewing machinists which led to the
advent of the Equal Party Act. Working in extremely impoverished conditions for long, arduous hours, the women at the Ford
Dagenham plant finally lose their patience when they are reclassified as “unskilled.” With humor, common sense and courage,
they take on their corporate paymasters, an increasingly belligerent local community, and finally the government itself. The film
also stars Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James and Rosamund Pike.
Miral
Julian Schnabel, United Kingdom/Israel/France North American Premiere
From the director of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Before Night Falls” and “Basquiat,” comes “Miral,” the visceral, firstperson diary of a young girl growing up in East Jerusalem as she confronts the effects of occupation and war in every corner of
her life. Schnabel pieces together momentary fragments of Miral’s world – how she was formed, who influenced her, all that she
experiences in her tumultuous early years – to create a raw, moving, poetic portrait of a woman whose small, personal story is
inextricably woven into the bigger history unfolding all around her.
Mothers
Milcho Manchevski, Macedonia/France/Bulgaria
A child’s friend is accosted by a flasher so she decides to go to the police herself; a film crew sets out to find the old traditions
and discovers a grandmother living alone in an abandoned village; retired cleaning women are found raped and strangled in a
small town. The innovative structure of Mothers highlights the delicate nature of truth and fiction, of drama and documentary.
An image from John Cameron Mitchell’s “The Rabbit Hole.”
Never Let Me Go
Mark Romanek, United Kingdom World Premiere
Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) spent their childhood at a seemingly idyllic
boarding school. When they leave the shelter of the school, the terrible truth of their fate is revealed and they must confront the
deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.
Norwegian Wood
Tran Anh Hung, Japan North American Premiere
Adapted from Haruki Murakami’s bestselling novel. Watanabe, a quiet and serious college student, becomes deeply devoted to
Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman with whom he shares the tragedy of their best friend s death. When Naoko
suddenly disappears, Midori, an outgoing, vivacious and supremely self-confident girl marches into Watanabe’s life. The film
stars Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi and Kiko Mizuhara.
Outside the Law
Rachid Bouchareb, France/Algeria/Tunisia/Italy/Belgium North American Premiere
Bouchareb’s follow-up to “Days of Glory” is an epic French gangster movie in the tradition of Once Upon a Time in America.
The film follows three brothers from childhood in Algeria through turbulent years in Paris, as their paths diverge towards radical
politics and violent crime.
Passion
John Turturro, Italy North American Premiere
Passion journeys through Napoli, one of the biggest jukeboxes in the world with a treasure chest of songs from the 1200s to
present day. Each song conjures distant stories and myths that speak of love, sex, jealousy, crime, poverty, irony, superstition,
and social protest.
Passion Play
Mitch Glazer, USA World Premiere
Set in the desert and laced with the deep elements of a modern fable, Passion Play tells the tale of Nate (Mickey Rourke), a
down-on-his-luck jazz trumpet player who forms a bond with Lily (Megan Fox), a woman born with wings who has wound up as
a carnival sideshow attraction. Together these two damaged souls undertake a turbulent romantic journey while trying to avoid
the witty and menacing Happy (Bill Murray), a local gangster.
The Poll Diaries
Chris Kraus, Germany/Austria/Estonia World Premiere
On the eve of World War I, a 14-year-old German girl returns to her home on the Baltic coast, a place uneasily shared by
Germans, Russians and Estonians. While her morbid scientist father controls the family with a cruel hand, the passionate young
girl secretly nurses a wounded Estonian anarchist back to health – an act of curiosity and then of defiance that could set off an
uncontrollable chain reaction.
Rabbit Hole
John Cameron Mitchell, USA World Premiere
A family navigates the deepest form of loss in John Cameron Mitchell’s screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by
David Lindsay-Abaire. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart deliver captivating performances as a husband and wife who fight to
save their marriage in the life that begins again after tragedy.
Repeaters
Carl Bessai, Canada World Premiere Veteran director Carl Bessai returns with a tense thriller that follows three young addicts in
a rehabilitation centre. Each day they live the same events over and over – a situation each responds to in radically different
ways.
Rio Sex Comedy
Jonathan Nossiter, France/Brazil World Premiere
Rio Sex Comedy charts the misadventures of expatriates in Rio in their search for both personal pleasures and social justice.
Charlotte Rampling is an English plastic surgeon determined to subvert anyone from going near the knife. Irène Jacob is a French
anthropologist whose political correctness is upstaged by more carnal ambitions. Bill Pullman is a befuddled American
ambassador who flees from his responsibilities into one of Rio’s most dangerous favelas. There he becomes co-opted by the
schemes of Fisher Stevens, favela tour operator and romantic huckster.
A Screaming Man
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France/Belgium/Chad North American Premiere
One of Africa’s preeminent film artists, Haroun returns to themes of family and loyalty in war-torn Chad. A father and son work
together at the pool of five-star hotel, but the civil war forces life-and-death choices upon them.
Special Treatment
Jeanne Labrune, France/Luxembourg/Belgium World Premiere
A high-class prostitute and a pre-eminent psychoanalyst discover that they share many things in common. They are both unhappy
with their professions, seeking a way out that involves unique contact with each other’s worlds.
Stone
John Curran, USA World Premiere
Robert De Niro and Edward Norton deliver powerful performances as a seasoned corrections official and a scheming inmate
whose lives become dangerously intertwined. Stone weaves together the parallel journeys of two men grappling with dark
impulses, as the line between lawman and lawbreaker becomes precariously thin. The film also stars Milla Jovovich and Frances
Conroy.
Submarine
Richard Ayoade, United Kingdom World Premiere
British comic Richard Ayoade delivers his hotly-anticipated feature debut “Submarine.” One boy must fight to save his mother
from the advances of a mystic, and simultaneously lure his eczema-strafed girlfriend in to the bedroom, armed with only a vast
vocabulary and near-total self-belief. His name is Oliver Tate.
That Girl in Yellow Boots
Anurag Kashyap, India North American Premiere
Ruth is searching for her father – a man she hardly knew but cannot forget. Desperation drives her to work without a permit, at a
massage parlour, where she gives “happy endings” to unfulfilled men. Torn between several schisms, Mumbai becomes the
backdrop for Ruth’s quest as she struggles to find her independence and space even as she is sucked deeper into the labyrinthine
politics of the city’s underbelly.
Tamara Drewe
Stephen Frears, United Kingdom North American Premiere
Based on Posy Simmonds’ beloved graphic novel. When Tamara Drewe returns to the village of her youth, life for the locals is
thrown upside down. Tamara – once an ugly duckling – has been transformed and is now a minor celebrity. As infatuations,
jealousies, love affairs and career ambitions collide among the inhabitants of the neighbouring farmsteads, Tamara sets a
contemporary comedy of manners into play.
Trigger
Bruce McDonald, Canada World Premiere
Molly Parker and the late Tracy Wright form a highly dysfunctional yet endearing rock duo reuniting a decade after their band
called it quits. Directed by Bruce McDonald (Pontypool, The Tracey Fragments, Hard Core Logo, Highway 61), and written by
Daniel MacIvor, the film features Sarah Polley, Don McKellar and Callum Keith Rennie.
The Trip
Michael Winterbottom, United Kingdom World Premiere
Follow two good friends in this hilarious road movie as they embark on a tour of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales of
Northern England, eating, chatting and driving each other crazy. The film stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.
Trust
David Schwimmer, USA World Premiere
Safe and sound in their suburban home, Will and Lynn Cameron (Clive Owen and Catherine Keener) used to sleep well at night.
When their 14-year-old daughter, Annie, made a new friend on-line – a 16-year-old boy named Charlie – Will and Lynn didn’t
think much of it. But when Annie and Charlie make a plan to meet what happens in the next 24 hours changes the entire family
forever. Charlie is really a 40-year-old serial pedophile (Chris Henry Coffey) and, once Annie’s rape comes to light, it becomes a
touchstone event that reverberates through the entire family.
What’s Wrong With Virginia
Dustin Lance Black, USA World Premiere
Jennifer Connelly stars as Virginia, a charming yet mentally ill mother whose greatest love is her protector and illegitimate son,
Emmett (Harrison Gilbertson). Richard Tipton (Ed Harris), the local married Mormon sheriff, who is running for public office,
might very well be Emmett’s father. This boardwalk town’s peculiar secrets are threatened when Virginia’s son begins a
romantic relationship with Tipton’s daughter (Emma Roberts) sending mother and son on a mad dash to seize their own brand of
the American Dream – guns blazing.
The Whistleblower
Larysa Kondracki, Canada/Germany World Premiere
This harrowing political thriller recounts the story of a female Nebraska police officer turned peacekeeper who uncovers a
horrible sex-trafficking underworld in Bosnia and its shocking connection to the UN. As Kathryn Bolkovac (Academy Award®winner Rachel Weisz) feverishly works to expose the scandal, the UN does its utmost to keep her quiet.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Woody Allen, United Kingdom/USA/Spain North American Premiere
Woody Allen’s latest comic ensemble piece follows a group of Londoners struggling with failing marriages, restless libidos, the
perils of aging and desires that drive a series of decisions with unforeseen consequences. The film stars Antonio Banderas, Josh
Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch and Naomi Watts.
A scene from Dustin Lance Black’s “What’s Wrong With Virginia?”
Sprockets Family Zone
Karla and Jonas
Charlotte Sachs Bostrup, Denmark North American Premiere
Thirteen-year-olds Karla and Jonas search for Jonas’ birth mother in this coming of age story based on the books by Renée Toft
Simonsen.
LittleSister
Richard Bowen,China/USA World Premiere
Based on one of the earliest versions of the beloved Cinderella tale comes a magical film that reveals the Chinese origins of this
widely known fairy tale.
Make Believe
J. Clay Tweel, USA International Premiere A group of dedicated teen magicians amaze audiences by performing seemingly
impossible feats while pursuing the title of Teen World Champion Magician.
Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage
Ben Stassen, Belgium North American Premiere
Sammy the sea turtle embarks on an exciting 50-year journey through the oceans in this 3D animation film that combines
entertainment with an environmental message.
Vanguard
At Ellen’s Age
Pia Marais, Germany
A German flight attendant falls into increasingly bizarre adventures when she leaves her husband, quits her job and joins a radical
group of animal activists.
The Christening
Marcin Wrona, Poland International Premiere
Michal (Wojciech Zielinski) hopes to change his luck and escape his criminal past. But when he’s pursued by a violent gang, he
desperately tries to find a way to save his family.
Cold Fish
Sion Sono, Japan North American Premiere
Equal parts black humour and bloody dementia, and based on a true story, this film is a portrait of a Japanese tropical fish dealer
responsible for more than 40 murders.
Confessions
Tetsuya Nakashima, Japan Canadian Premiere
Tetsuya Nakashima’s Confessions is one of Japan’s most important films of the year. A stylized mixture of cruelty and
compassion, the film spins the dark tale of vengeance of a teacher whose little daughter has been killed by two of her students.
Easy Money
Daniel Espinosa, Sweden North American Premiere
The worlds of a mob enforcer, an escaped convict and an ambitious young business student collide in an explosive and whiteknuckled thriller based on the 2006 bestselling Swedish novel by Jens Lapidus.
A Horrible Way to Die
Adam Wingard, USA World Premiere
When a serial killer escapes from prison, he pursues his ex-girlfriend, who has fled to start a new life in a small town.
Kaboom
Gregg Araki, USA/France North American Premiere
Smith’s everyday life in the dorm – hanging out with his arty, sarcastic best friend Stella, hooking up with a beautiful free spirit
named London, lusting for his gorgeous but dim surfer roommate Thor – all gets turned upside-down after one fateful, terrifying
night.
L.A. Zombie
Bruce LaBruce, Germany/USA/France North American Premiere
Corpse-eating meets poverty politics in this pornographic art film set on the streets of Los Angeles, where an alien zombie brings
dead men back to life.
Microphone
Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt World Premiere
A bold example of new North African cinema, Microphone mixes and remixes fiction and cinema verité as it follows an Egyptian
expatriate’s return to Alexandria, where he dives into a thriving underground music and arts scene.
Monsters
Gareth Edwards, United Kingdom Canadian Premiere
Six years after a probe carrying alien life samples crashes in Mexico, a photojournalist must escort his boss’ daughter through the
“Infected Zone” back to the safety of her home in the U.S.
Our Day Will Come
Romain Gavras, France World Premiere
The highly anticipated debut by French director Romain Gavras (director of M.I.A.’s video Born Free) focuses on two outcast
redheads – a bullied teen (Olivier Barthelemy) and a psychologist (Vincent Cassel) – who embark on a hallucinatory journey to
Ireland in a quest for freedom.
Visions
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu
Andrei Ujica, Romania North American Premiere
Culled from one thousand hours of archival footage and four years in the making, this spellbinding epic montage unfolds as if
from the memory of former Romanian ruler Nicolae Ceausescu, after his reign was brought to an abrupt and tumultuous end in
December 1989.
Brownian Movement
Nanouk Leopold, The Netherlands/Germany/Belgium World Premiere
Acclaimed Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold explores a young mother’s desires and needs in this langorous and atmospheric
film.
Curling
Denis Côté, Canada
Set in a village in Quebec, Denis Côté’s Curling follows inveterate loner Jean-François, a single father, and his isolated 12-yearold daughter Julyvonne. Between his unremarkable jobs, Jean-François devotes an awkward energy to Julyvonne until some
unexpected events jeopardize the fragile balance of their relationship.
The Ditch
Wang Bing, France/Belgium North American Premiere
A political ghost story that gives voice to atrocious memories, The Ditch draws from Wang Bing’s experience as a documentary
filmmaker and lays bare a dramatic hidden chapter of China’s communist history. It recounts the harrowing story of life at one of
Mao’s camps, at the end of the fifties, where “rightists” were sent to be “re-educated through labour.”
The Four Times
Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy/Germany/Switzerland Canadian Premiere
Inspired by Pythagoras’s belief in four-fold transmigration – by which the soul is passed from human to animal to vegetable to
mineral, until completely purified – The Four Times is a genre-defying work of cinematic transcendence that follows the journey
of an elderly shepherd through the afterlife.
k.364 A Journey by Train
Douglas Gordon, United Kingdom/Germany/France North American Premiere
Two musicians return to a haunted landscape and play the concerto of their lives.
Moscow 11:19:31
Michael Nyman, United Kingdom North American Premiere
In this short film, when legendary composer Michael Nyman fails to answer an interview question, music takes over.
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow
Sophie Fiennes, U.K./France/The Netherlands North American Premiere
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow profiles major contemporary artist Anselm Keifer in the style of his work.
Promises Written in Water
Vincent Gallo, USA North American Premiere
Shot in black and white, this fiercely independent film traces the steps a young photographer takes to fulfill the dying wishes of a
beautiful young woman, including getting a job in a funeral parlour so he can oversee her cremation.
Summer of Goliath
Nicolàs Pereda, Mexico/Canada/Netherlands North American Premiere
Toronto resident Nicolas Pereda explores the boundaries between fiction and documentary to evoke the atmosphere of the place
in his latest feature, Summer of Goliath. It’s a hot summer in the rural Mexican community of Huilotepec and the townspeople
are tense and suspicious of one another.
Trois temps après la mort d’Anna
Catherine Martin, Canada English Canadian Premiere
After vibrant young violinist Anna dies, her mother Françoise leaves Montreal and takes refuge at the country home of her
maternal ancestors in Kamouraska. She has given up on life, but an old friend labours to revive her desire to live.
A Useful Life
Federico Veiroj, Uruguay International Premiere
Jorge has been working at the Cinematheque in Montevideo, Uruguay, for 25 years. Its imminent closing forces him to take
drastic steps and become the star of his own life. Shot in black and white, A Useful Life is an entertaining homage to a life of
film.
Wavelengths
Wavelengths 1: Soul of the City
As the pace of the contemporary urban experience grows faster and the world becomes increasingly fractured, artists are
documenting the vestiges and layers revealed in flux; global updates on the city symphony.
Tomonari Nishikawa’s “Tokyo-Ebisu” (Japan) is a 16mm in-camera patchwork constructed from multiple viewpoints from the
platforms of Tokyo’s busiest railway line, Yamanote, and a masking technique which exposes 1/30th of a frame 30 times in order
to capture an image of spectral apparitions. “The Soul of Things” (U.S.A) from Dominic Angerame presents luscious chiaroscuro
images of the construction and destruction of modern structures exposing their inner soul. From Thom Andersen, director of “Los
Angeles Plays Itself,” “Get Out of the Car” (U.S.A.) is a city symphony exploring Los Angeles’ gentrification through a
thoughtful montage of façades and a playful excursus through its musical history. Callum Cooper’s “Victoria, George, Edward &
Thatcher” (United Kingdom) is an ecstatic, taxonomic montage-animation of images of London row-houses shot with an iPhone.
With sonic dislocation and frame by frame animation, Eriko Sonoda’s “Landscape, semi-surround” (Japan) revels in the
afterglow of memory. Through a slideshow of abandoned homes and an apocalyptic tale inspired by a massacre in Gaza in the
summer of 2006, Basma Al-Sharif’s Everywhere Was the Same (Palestine/Egypt) recounts a city mired and mutilated. Oliver
Husain’s “Leona Alone” (Canada) aesthetically intervenes in a historic Toronto neighbourhood cum suburb, offering
gentrification a more wistful look.
Wavelengths 2: Plein-Air
As with painting, natural light and colour are inexhaustible sources of inspiration for film and video artists, whose plain-air
shooting radically transforms our scenic views, offering a stirring ephemerality and, in some cases, a poignant intimacy.
In Vincent Grenier’s “Burning Bush” (Canada/U.S.A.), a virtuosic use of video sets a burning bush alight with crimson colour
and spiritual flight. Kaleidoscopic colour, parenting and art-making coalesce in John Price’s domestic life frieze “Home Movie”
(Canada), an extended portrait of his children captured with an old Russian 35mm camera and a variety of expired film stock.
“Ouverture” (Canada/France) by Christopher Becks is a serene, yet kinetic in-camera meditation on an old barn in Normandy.
Philipp Fleischmann’s “Cinematographie” (Austria) reinvents the filmstrip by way of an astonishing 360 degree camera obscura
construction, which allows for a continuous image to emerge like a scroll. Recently blown-up to 16mm from its original super
8mm, Helga Fanderl’s intimate triptych, “Blow-Ups: Portrait, Tea Time, Red Curtain” (Germany) is a tender depiction of a love
affair. “Anne Truitt Working” (U.S.A.) is a portrait of the Minimalist painter and sculptor elegantly observed by Jem Cohen.
Madison Brookshire’s “Color Films 1 & 2” (U.S.A.) close the programme with winsome wavelength compositions of light.
Wavelengths 3: Ruhr
Exchanging his 16mm Bolex for a high-definition video camera, and straying from his native soil, James Benning heads to
Germany with “Ruhr” (Germany/U.S.A.). Using his medium much like a painter would, Benning creates a monumental and
surprising portrait of the Ruhr Valley, the largest urban agglomeration in Germany known for its heavy industry. Split into two
parts, with six long takes in the first section and one masterful hour-long take in the second, Benning turns his mathematician’s
eye toward the area’s industrial sublime, reinvigorating our viewing experience along the way.
Wavelengths 4: Pastourelle
Nathaniel Dorsky is one of the most gifted 16mm filmmakers of our time and was recently voted “The Best Experimental
filmmaker of the Decade” by a poll conducted by Film Comment magazine. Suffused with longing, Dorksy’s three latest films,
“Compline,” “Aubade” and “Pastourelle” (U.S.A.) demonstrate a devotional cinema wherein the plasticity of the medium is met
by the artist’s consummate expression. Arresting in its twilight beauty and filled with beguiling apparitions, Compline is the final
film “Dorsky” was able to shoot on Kodachrome, his preferred and longtime-used film stock. “Aubade,” which is a poem
evoking daybreak, signals a new beginning, with his shooting on colour negative. Glimpses of Paris – the abstraction of its
flickering neon signs, the elegance of its views - appear in both “Aubade” and “Pastourelle,” the latter presented here as a World
Premiere. The program concludes with T. Marie’s wondrous digital triptych, “Water Lillies” (U.S.A.), which evokes Monet’s
famous late Impressionist series by meticulously employing the inherent aesthetisizing properties of pixels, working with time
and luminosity.
Wavelengths 5: Blue Mantle
The ocean has always been a mythic source of life, as much as it has a legendary call to death.
In Mati Diop’s mysterious and melancholic “Atlantiques” (Senegal/France), winner of the International Film Festival
Rotterdam’s Tiger Award for Best Short Film, a young man speaking in hushed tones describes his high-seas odyssey to friends
huddled around a campfire in Dakar. Faint illuminations cast through an ornate gateway to a train platform in an abandoned
station from Buffalo’s glory days create hazy, elegiac stained-glass effects, or the blurred vision of escape and disappearance in
“Eve Heller’s One” (Austria); the first roll of film she ever shot, recently revisited and blown-up to 35mm. Resuscitated archival
footage of a tragic event is met with contemporary prophecy in Kevin Jerome Everson’s enigmatic “753 McPherson Ave.”
(U.S.A.). Rebecca Meyers’ “blue mantle” (U.S.A.) is an ode to the ocean, intercutting between the mesmeric sea with its
glistening, beckoning waters and various representations of the deep. Meyers crafts an ambitious treatise buoyed by the breadth
of its cast. The apocalyptic sublime of J. M. W. Turner’s 1840 masterpiece “The Slave Ship,” with its fiery conflagration and
strewn debris amid wild waters, is the source for T. Marie’s time-based pixel painting-film “Slaveship” (U.S.A.). A languorous,
searing abstraction with a hot palette updates the classic scene in reference to today’s skewed social hierarchy and the selling of
human life. “Hell Roaring Creek” (U.S.A.) is the latest film by experimental anthropologist Lucien Castaign-Taylor, co-director
of “Sweetgrass.” A static camera records the coming of day as a shepherd leads his flock of sheep across the titular stream in a
prismatic, painterly pastoral.
Wavelengths 6: Coming Attractions
Early cinema confronted the spectator like no other art, beckoning a reciprocal engagement and curiosity as both spectacle and
document. This program pairs contemporary experimental works with those from a hundred years ago when cinema itself was a
grand experiment.
Celebrated Italian artist Paolo Gioli returns to a tabula rasa with his handmade cameras allowing him to exploit and fashion film’s
reproductive means. The exhilarating “Photo Finish Figures” (“Il Finish delle figure”) (Italy) relays a sense of the contemporary,
sensory “photo-finished” experience using a 35mm stills camera and various masking devices. Ken Jacobs’ “The Day was a
Scorcher” (U.S.A.) sees the Jacobs clan vacationing in Italy in stroboscopic postcards pulsing amid Roman ruins. Then to Torino
in 1909, for turn-of-the- century postcards in which a bunch of bambini-in-a-barrel pucker up for the camera, blowing kisses,
some through tears of terror, all’italiana in “Concorso di bellezza fra bambino a Torino.” In Friedl vom Gröller’s “Delphine de
Oliveira” (Austria), a placid young woman is filmed in a Parisian courtyard. Her belle laide looks convey paradoxical and untold
mysteries, while a mise-en-abyme furthers the peculiar attraction. Jonas Mekas in “Kodachrome Days” (U.S.A.) is another
timepiece comprised of family photos resuscitated through digital technology, whose pulse harkens back to proto-cinematic
devices, giving Mekas an air of a trickster like Segundo de Chomón’s “Le Roi des dollars” from 1905. (France). Peter
Tscherkassky’s “Coming Attractions” (Austria) is a sly, sartorial comedy masterfully mining the relationship between early
cinema and the avant-garde, by way of ‘50s-era advertising. With references to Méliès, Lumières, Cocteau, Léger, Chomette, the
film playfully explores cinema’s subliminal possibilities using an impressive arsenal of techniques like solarization, optical
printing and multiple exposures. Completing the evening’s attractions is a selection from EYE Film Institute Netherlands’ “Bits
and Pieces project” (Netherlands), which restores and compiles “anonymous, unidentified or otherwise interesting fragments,”
saving them from oblivion for our viewing pleasure. The archival prints will be presented with live piano accompaniment by
William O’Meara.