The Toronto International Film Festival celebrates diversity with 35 international short films rounding out its Short Cuts lineup. Program highlights include the North American premiere of Nimic, a drama by Yorgos Lanthimos starring Matt Dillon as a professional cellist whose life takes a very strange turn. Two more films by celebrated directors — whose recent features have also played the Festival — are Yona Rozenkier’s Butterflies, a warm and moving snapshot of one family’s encounter with the natural world, and Teemu Nikki’s All Inclusive, the story of a bullied man who gets a mysterious chance to even the score.
Short Cuts also includes World Premieres of much-anticipated new films by American actor and filmmaker Casey Wilson (Daddio, starring Michael McKean), award-winning Swedish animator Niki Lindroth von Bahr (Something to Remember), and Ethiopian director Hiwot Admasu Getaneh (A Fool God).
Films in the Short Cuts program are eligible for the IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Film. This year’s jury includes Léo Soesanto, a Paris-based programmer and film journalist; Chelsea McMullan, a Toronto-based filmmaker; and Andrea Roa, producer of It Comes at Night, Unexpected, and Tramps.
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5 to 15, 2019.
The 35 newly announced international titles screening as part of Short Cuts include:
All Cats Are Grey in the Dark
Lasse Linder | Switzerland
International Premiere
All Inclusive
Teemu Nikki | Finland
North American Premiere
And then the Bear
Agnès Patron | France
North American Premiere
Ani
Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu | New Zealand
North American Premiere
Anna
Dekel Berenson | Ukraine/Israel/United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Are You Hungry?
Teemu Niukkanen | Finland
World Premiere
Austral Fever
Thomas Woodroffe | Chile
North American Premiere
BARAKAT
Manon Nammour | Lebanon
World Premiere
Bare Trees In The Mist
Rajan Kathet | Nepal
World Premiere
Butterflies
Yona Rozenkier | Israel/France
North American Premiere
Daddio
Casey Wilson | USA
World Premiere
Darling
Saim Sadiq | Pakistan/USA
North American Premiere
Daughter
Daria Kashcheeva | Czech Republic
North American Premiere
Exam
Sonia K. Hadad | Iran
World Premiere
Flesh
Camila Kater | Brazil/Spain
North American Premiere
A Fool God
Hiwot Admasu Getaneh | France
World Premiere
Hello Ahma
Siyou Tan | Singapore/USA
World Premiere
Human Nature
Sverre Fredriksen | Netherlands
World Premiere
Locals Only
Brent Harris | South Africa
World Premiere
Lucia En El Limbo
Valentina Maurel | Belgium/France/Costa Rica
North American Premiere
The Nap (La Siesta)
Federico Luis Tachella | Argentina
North American Premiere
Nimic
Yorgos Lanthimos | Germany/USA/United Kingdom
North American Premiere
The Raft
Sylvain Cruiziat | Germany
World Premiere
Reminiscences of the Green Revolution
Dean Colin Marcial | Philippines/USA
World Premiere
Route-3
Thanasis Neofotistos | Bosnia and Herzegovina/Greece
World Premiere
Sadla
Zamo Mkhwanazi | South Africa
World Premiere
She Runs
Qiu Yang | China/France
North American Premiere
Something to Remember (Något att minnas)
Niki Lindroth von Bahr | Sweden
World Premiere
Thirsty
Nicole Delaney | USA
World Premiere
Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves
Chintis Lundgren | Croatia/Estonia/France
North American Premiere
The Trap (Fakh)
Nada Riyadh | Egypt/Germany
North American Premiere
Watermelon Juice
Irene Moray | Spain
North American Premiere
Who Talks
Elin Övergaard | Sweden
North American Premiere
Why Slugs Have No Legs
Aline Höchli | Switzerland
World Premiere
Yandere
William Laboury | France
World Premiere
Previously announced Short Cuts films include Chloé Robichaud’s Delphine, Ariane Louis-Seize’s The Depths, Joseph Amenta’s Flood, Daniel Cockburn’s God’s Nightmares, Sandra Ignagni’s Highway to Heaven, Thea Hollatz’s Hot Flash, Sofia Banzhaf’s I Am in the World as Free and Slender as a Deer on a Plain, Alexandre Dostie’s I’ll End Up in Jail, Anna Maguire’s It’s Nothing, Emilie Mannering’s Jarvik, Renuka Jeyapalan’s Life Support, Karen Chapman’s Measure, Carol Nguyen’s No Crying At The Dinner Table, Christopher Auchter’s Now is the Time, Aaron Poole’s Oracle, Theodore Ushev’s The Physics of Sorrow, Brandon Cronenberg’s Please Speak Continuously And Describe Your Experiences As They Come To You, Pier-Philippe Chevigny’s Rebel (Recrue), Asia Youngman’s This Ink Runs Deep, and Karen Moore’s Volcano.