Toronto International Film Festival Reveals Women Dominated 2019 Discovery Program Lineup

The revamped Discovery program at this year’s 2019 Toronto International Film Festival features a lineup of 37 films from emerging filmmakers representing 35 countries, with 54% of its selection directed by women.

In furthering the festival’s commitment to championing women’s directorial voices, this year’s program opens with Chiara Malta’s Simple Women, in which a director serendipitously meets Elina Löwensohn, an actor she idolized in her youth, prompting her to question her filmmaking process. Malta was inspired by her own encounter with Löwensohn in this tender, playful, and multi-layered fiction debut. Women’s journeys are also explored as central themes in Antoneta Kastrati’s ZANA, Filippo Meneghetti’s Two of Us, Hinde Boujemaa’s Noura’s Dream, Hisham Saqr’s Certified Mail, Ina Weisse’s The Audition, Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s Disco, Kim Seung-woo’s Bring Me Home, Klaudia Reynicke’s Love Me Tender, Mahnaz Mohammadi’s Son-Mother, María Paz González’s Lina from Lima, Maria Sødahl’s Hope, Neasa Hardiman’s Sea Fever, and Tamar Shavgulidze’s Comets.

The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5–15, 2019.

2019 TIFF Discovery program

1982
Oualid Mouaness | United States/Lebanon/Norway/Qatar
World Premiere

AFRICA
Oren Gerner | Israel
World Premiere

The Antenna (Bina)
Orçun Behram | Turkey
World Premiere

The Audition (Das Vorspiel)
Ina Weisse | Germany/France
World Premiere

August (Agosto)
Armando Capó | Cuba/Costa Rica/France
World Premiere

Black Conflux
Nicole Dorsey | Canada
World Premiere

Bring Me Home (Na-reul cha-ja-jwo)
Kim Seung-woo | South Korea
World Premiere

A Bump Along The Way
Shelly Love | United Kingdom
International Premiere

Calm With Horses
Nick Rowland | United Kingdom/Ireland
World Premiere

Certified Mail (Bi Elm El Wossul)
Hisham Saqr | Egypt
World Premiere

Comets
Tamar Shavgulidze | Georgia
World Premiere

Disco
Jorunn Myklebust Syversen | Norway
World Premiere

Easy Land
Sanja Zivkovic | Canada
World Premiere

Entwined
Minos Nikolakakis | Greece
World Premiere

The Giant
David Raboy | USA
World Premiere

The Good Intentions (Las Buenas Intenciones)
Ana García Blaya | Argentina
World Premiere

Hearts and Bones
Ben Lawrence | Australia
International Premiere

Hope (Håp)
Maria Sødahl | Norway/Sweden
World Premiere

Kuessipan
Myriam Verreault | Canada
World Premiere

Lina from Lima
María Paz González | Chile/Argentina/Peru
World Premiere

The Lost Okoroshi
Abba Makama | Nigeria
World Premiere

Love Me Tender
Klaudia Reynicke | Switzerland
International Premiere

Murmur
Heather Young | Canada
World Premiere

My Life as a Comedian (En komikers uppväxt)
Rojda Sekersöz | Sweden/Belgium
World Premiere

Noura’s Dream
Hinde Boujemaa | Tunisia/Belgium/France
World Premiere

The Obituary of Tunde Johnson
Ali LeRoi | USA
World Premiere

Pompei
Anna Falguères, John Shank | Belgium/Canada/France
World Premiere

Raf
Harry Cepka | Canada/USA
World Premiere

The Rest of Us Aisling
Chin-Yee | Canada
World Premiere

Sea Fever
Neasa Hardiman | Ireland/Sweden/Belgium/United Kingdom
World Premiere

*Discovery Opening Film*
Simple Women
Chiara Malta | Italy/Romania
World Premiere

Sole
Carlo Sironi | Italy/Poland
International Premiere

Son-Mother (Pesar-Madar)
Mahnaz Mohammadi | Iran/Czech Republic
World Premiere

Stories From The Chestnut Woods (Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov)
Gregor Božič | Slovenia/Italy
World Premiere

Sweetness in the Belly
Zeresenay Berhane Mehari | Ireland/Canada
World Premiere

Two of Us (Deux)
Filippo Meneghetti | France/Luxembourg/Belgium
World Premiere

ZANA
Antoneta Kastrati | Albania/Kosovo
World Premiere

Previously announced Discovery films include Nicole Dorsey’s Black Conflux, Sanja Zivkovic’s Easy Land, Myriam Verreault’s Kuessipan, Heather Young’s Murmur, Harry Cepka’s Raf, and Aisling Chin-Yee’s The Rest of Us.