The Demons[/caption]
The 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 21 to May 5, announced the films in competition for the Golden Gate Awards (GGA).
SFFS Executive Director Noah Cowan said “With more than a thousand new films from around the world hitting the major festival circuit each year, inevitably some great films get overlooked and some important voices go unheard. The Golden Gate Awards are here to celebrate these artists and their work, providing an additional chance for international exposure and recognition.”
The GGA New Directors Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, the GGA Documentary Feature winner will receive $10,000 and the GGA Bay Area Documentary Feature winner will receive $5,000.
2016 GGA NEW DIRECTORS PRIZE (NARRATIVE FEATURE) COMPETITION
As I Open My Eyes, Leyla Bouzid, Tunisia/France/Belgium
Her family assumes that Farah, a high-achieving student in Tunis, will continue her studies, but she just wants to sing. When her mom hears that she’s performing politically provocative material with a group of male friends, a powerful story unfolds of female independence that stands in the face of conservative Muslim beliefs.
The Demons, Philippe Lesage, Canada
Documentary filmmaker Philippe Lesage’s narrative debut is an exquisitely observed portrait of a delicate 10-year-old Quebec boy grappling with the insecurities and confusion of impending adolescence. The fragility of innocence is foregrounded through minor humiliations and petty cruelties that unfold in pastel, sun-soaked locations. Infused with an unsettling air of ambiguity and dread that portends terrible crimes to follow, this restrained and coolly beautiful film is an unforgettable portrait a child forced to confront the dangers of growing up.
From Afar, Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela/Mexico
When a middle-aged single man, who cruises his Caracas neighborhood for rough trade, takes a tough young boy into his home, a gritty exploration ensues as these two angry men negotiate a relationship that resides somewhere between lover and friend and a paternal father/son dynamic. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Lorenzo Vigas’s debut feature is a tour-de-force exploration of a relationship’s darker side.
Home Care, Slávek Horák, Czech Republic/Slovakia
Dedicated home-care nurse Vlasta (Karlovy Vary winner Alena Mihulová) traipses around the south Moravia countryside on bus and foot tending to (and bantering with) patients too infirm or elderly to travel. When she herself is diagnosed with a serious illness, she turns to alternative therapies and the company of women healers. The Czech Republic’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film is a rueful, touching mix of realism, absurdity, irony and daring gallows humor.
Mountain, Yaelle Kayam, Israel/Denmark
Yaelle Kayam’s debut feature is strikingly shot against the tombstones of Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, where an Orthodox woman’s longing for her husband’s love sets in motion a transformational journey into a nocturnal world of pimps and prostitutes. A mesmerizing performance by Shani Klein keeps viewers riveted to a character study that is by turns tender and startling.
Neither Heaven nor Earth, Clément Cogitore, France/Belgium
In this suspenseful war film that uses fear of the dark to great effect, a French army contingent operating in Afghanistan is beset by mysterious disappearances. While Captain Antarès (Jérémie Renier) initially and understandably blames local villagers for the loss of his men, the real cause could be something supernatural, a force that implies the profound wrongness of these men being on soil that doesn’t belong to them.
Thirst, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Bulgaria
When water becomes scarce due to drought, a laundress living in rural southwest Bulgaria with her husband and son invites a dowser and his spirited daughter onto their property to search for hidden springs. Wonderfully atmospheric, the film gracefully depicts how the teenaged girl’s combative nature and the oppressive heat surrounding them all upset the family’s balance, for good and bad.
Thithi, Raam Reddy, India/USA
In a small South Indian village, a cantankerous centenarian keels over and dies, setting the stage for a capricious comedy of errors among three generations of dissimilar sons. Conflict, confusion, corruption and a series of ill-conceived actions all come to a head at the funeral celebration (the titular thithi). With its charming cast of non-professional actors — both human and ovine — director Raam Reddy’s feature film offers a playful portrait of intergenerational conflicts and differences.
Very Big Shot, Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, Lebanon/Qatar
Two brothers are bitten by the movie bug when they conceive an idea to smuggle drugs in empty film canisters in this often hilarious satire of politics and filmmaking. With an easily manipulated director on board, their controversial storyline involving forbidden love catches the eye of local authorities and their original plan takes a backseat to their cinematic ambitions.
2016 GOLDEN GATE AWARDS DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson, USA
Simultaneously an astute observation of nonfiction filmmaking’s dilemmas, and a wonderfully creative autobiographical collage, Cameraperson is a must-see for all documentary enthusiasts. Acclaimed cinematographer Kirsten Johnson, who has lensed such acclaimed films as Citizenfour, Very Semi-Serious and Darfur Now, assembles moments from 25 years of location shoots — including a birthing clinic in Nigeria, a Bosnian farm, a detention center in Yemen and a boxing ring in Brooklyn — and stiches together an illuminating, emotional patchwork memoir.
Dead Slow Ahead, Mauro Herce, Spain/France
We are embedded on a massive cargo freighter as it chugs slowly across the vast Atlantic ocean in this haunting, meditative and expansively ambient film. Humanized by the melancholy of a hard-working crew as they struggle against the elements, Mauro Herce’s insightful and poetic cinematography emphasizes the smallness of human experience against the crushing and mighty mechanical grind of the ship, and the unknowable vastness of the open sea.
haveababy, Amanda Micheli, USA
Amanda Micheli’s stirring and suspenseful documentary follows several aspiring parents who desperately want to have a baby but are struggling with infertility and the high cost of treatments. They place themselves in the hands of Las Vegas doctor Gregory Sher and his annual contest offering a prize of a free round of in-vitro fertilization treatments — with no guarantee of pregnancy. A rollercoaster of hope and despair awaits them all.
The Joneses, Moby Longinotto, USA/UK
Filmmaker Moby Longinotto’s fascinating, thoroughly candid documentary invites audiences to pull up a chair at the never-dull family table in a Mississippi trailer park home. Everything is on the menu: dashed dreams, seething resentments, sexual awakenings and dollops of unconditional love. Overseeing all the tumult is unflappable, 73-year-old transgender matriarch Jheri Jones, whose dedicated ministrations keep her family going.
National Bird, Sonia Kennebeck, USA
Executive produced by Wim Wenders and Errol Morris, this elegant and chilling documentary provides a glimpse of what the US government doesn’t want you to know about drone warfare by focusing on three veterans whose service experience caused them to question the usage of drones in overseas combat.
Notes on Blindness, Peter Middleton, James Spinney, UK/France
A taped journal that theologian John Hull kept after the onset of blindness in 1980 forms the basis of this elegant and moving depiction of struggle and transcendence. Hull’s own voice provides the audio, though an actor plays the deceased writer, as he learns to negotiate his condition and endures a crisis of faith. Sublime sound design further enhances this evocative documentary, making manifest Hull’s discovery that the loss of one sense leads to the sharpening of others.
NUTS!, Penny Lane, USA
Penny Lane’s documentary — comprised of archival material, animated sequences and the occasional talking head — blooms into an incredible almanac of early 20th-century quackery and innovation as she focuses on JR Brinkley, an early broadcasting baron, direct-mail pioneer and an evangelical proponent of goat-testicle implants. An empire built on spurious claims and fear mongering seems unstoppable — until an obscure regional newspaper dares to question its foundations.
The Return, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Katie Galloway, USA
After California voters reversed the state’s Three Strikes law, thousands of inmates became suddenly eligible for resentencing and release. This provocative and touching documentary chronicles what happened next. Filmmakers Kelly Duane De la Vega and Katie Galloway (Better this World, SFIFF 2011) focus on the journeys of the newly free and their families, as well as the Stanford-based lawyers working on behalf of nonviolent offenders, illuminating the multifaceted struggle behind every transition from incarceration to freedom.
Salero, Mike Plunkett, USA/Bolivia
Moises Chambi Yucra and his family stand at the crossroads of time. For generations, they have has made a humble living harvesting salt from Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, but beneath Uyuni sit massive amounts of lithium, a mineral instrumental in powering smartphones and electric vehicles. With stunning cinematography that captures both the vibrancy and the solitude of the land and life, director Mike Plunkett captures the final days of an age-old way of life.
Under the Sun, Vitaly Mansky, Russia/Latvia/Germany/Czech Republic/North Korea
Shot with the permission and supervision of North Korean authorities, Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s film turns a propaganda effort into a deep-cover documentary about life inside one of the world’s most repressive nations. Its subjects — a young girl in Pyongyang and her family — rigorously stick to the ideological script, but by keeping the camera rolling between takes of their carefully staged “real life,” Mansky reveals the grinding gears of the totalitarian message machine.
A Young Patriot, Du Haibin, China/USA/France
Du Haibin’s insightful documentary captures five years in the life of a young Maoist zealot in northern China and provides an unforgettable portrait of China in transition. As the tumult of the country’s recent history unfolds, cracks in the armor of Zhao’s patriotism appear on multiple fronts. Communist Party corruption scandals, the rise of capitalism and the inhumane treatment of his family due to a reclamation project erode his bright optimism.Very Big Shot
-
20 Films to Compete for Golden Gate Awards at San Francisco International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_9418" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Demons[/caption]
The 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 21 to May 5, announced the films in competition for the Golden Gate Awards (GGA).
SFFS Executive Director Noah Cowan said “With more than a thousand new films from around the world hitting the major festival circuit each year, inevitably some great films get overlooked and some important voices go unheard. The Golden Gate Awards are here to celebrate these artists and their work, providing an additional chance for international exposure and recognition.”
The GGA New Directors Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, the GGA Documentary Feature winner will receive $10,000 and the GGA Bay Area Documentary Feature winner will receive $5,000.
2016 GGA NEW DIRECTORS PRIZE (NARRATIVE FEATURE) COMPETITION
As I Open My Eyes, Leyla Bouzid, Tunisia/France/Belgium
Her family assumes that Farah, a high-achieving student in Tunis, will continue her studies, but she just wants to sing. When her mom hears that she’s performing politically provocative material with a group of male friends, a powerful story unfolds of female independence that stands in the face of conservative Muslim beliefs.
The Demons, Philippe Lesage, Canada
Documentary filmmaker Philippe Lesage’s narrative debut is an exquisitely observed portrait of a delicate 10-year-old Quebec boy grappling with the insecurities and confusion of impending adolescence. The fragility of innocence is foregrounded through minor humiliations and petty cruelties that unfold in pastel, sun-soaked locations. Infused with an unsettling air of ambiguity and dread that portends terrible crimes to follow, this restrained and coolly beautiful film is an unforgettable portrait a child forced to confront the dangers of growing up.
From Afar, Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela/Mexico
When a middle-aged single man, who cruises his Caracas neighborhood for rough trade, takes a tough young boy into his home, a gritty exploration ensues as these two angry men negotiate a relationship that resides somewhere between lover and friend and a paternal father/son dynamic. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Lorenzo Vigas’s debut feature is a tour-de-force exploration of a relationship’s darker side.
Home Care, Slávek Horák, Czech Republic/Slovakia
Dedicated home-care nurse Vlasta (Karlovy Vary winner Alena Mihulová) traipses around the south Moravia countryside on bus and foot tending to (and bantering with) patients too infirm or elderly to travel. When she herself is diagnosed with a serious illness, she turns to alternative therapies and the company of women healers. The Czech Republic’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film is a rueful, touching mix of realism, absurdity, irony and daring gallows humor.
Mountain, Yaelle Kayam, Israel/Denmark
Yaelle Kayam’s debut feature is strikingly shot against the tombstones of Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, where an Orthodox woman’s longing for her husband’s love sets in motion a transformational journey into a nocturnal world of pimps and prostitutes. A mesmerizing performance by Shani Klein keeps viewers riveted to a character study that is by turns tender and startling.
Neither Heaven nor Earth, Clément Cogitore, France/Belgium
In this suspenseful war film that uses fear of the dark to great effect, a French army contingent operating in Afghanistan is beset by mysterious disappearances. While Captain Antarès (Jérémie Renier) initially and understandably blames local villagers for the loss of his men, the real cause could be something supernatural, a force that implies the profound wrongness of these men being on soil that doesn’t belong to them.
Thirst, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Bulgaria
When water becomes scarce due to drought, a laundress living in rural southwest Bulgaria with her husband and son invites a dowser and his spirited daughter onto their property to search for hidden springs. Wonderfully atmospheric, the film gracefully depicts how the teenaged girl’s combative nature and the oppressive heat surrounding them all upset the family’s balance, for good and bad.
Thithi, Raam Reddy, India/USA
In a small South Indian village, a cantankerous centenarian keels over and dies, setting the stage for a capricious comedy of errors among three generations of dissimilar sons. Conflict, confusion, corruption and a series of ill-conceived actions all come to a head at the funeral celebration (the titular thithi). With its charming cast of non-professional actors — both human and ovine — director Raam Reddy’s feature film offers a playful portrait of intergenerational conflicts and differences.
Very Big Shot, Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, Lebanon/Qatar
Two brothers are bitten by the movie bug when they conceive an idea to smuggle drugs in empty film canisters in this often hilarious satire of politics and filmmaking. With an easily manipulated director on board, their controversial storyline involving forbidden love catches the eye of local authorities and their original plan takes a backseat to their cinematic ambitions.
2016 GOLDEN GATE AWARDS DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson, USA
Simultaneously an astute observation of nonfiction filmmaking’s dilemmas, and a wonderfully creative autobiographical collage, Cameraperson is a must-see for all documentary enthusiasts. Acclaimed cinematographer Kirsten Johnson, who has lensed such acclaimed films as Citizenfour, Very Semi-Serious and Darfur Now, assembles moments from 25 years of location shoots — including a birthing clinic in Nigeria, a Bosnian farm, a detention center in Yemen and a boxing ring in Brooklyn — and stiches together an illuminating, emotional patchwork memoir.
Dead Slow Ahead, Mauro Herce, Spain/France
We are embedded on a massive cargo freighter as it chugs slowly across the vast Atlantic ocean in this haunting, meditative and expansively ambient film. Humanized by the melancholy of a hard-working crew as they struggle against the elements, Mauro Herce’s insightful and poetic cinematography emphasizes the smallness of human experience against the crushing and mighty mechanical grind of the ship, and the unknowable vastness of the open sea.
haveababy, Amanda Micheli, USA
Amanda Micheli’s stirring and suspenseful documentary follows several aspiring parents who desperately want to have a baby but are struggling with infertility and the high cost of treatments. They place themselves in the hands of Las Vegas doctor Gregory Sher and his annual contest offering a prize of a free round of in-vitro fertilization treatments — with no guarantee of pregnancy. A rollercoaster of hope and despair awaits them all.
The Joneses, Moby Longinotto, USA/UK
Filmmaker Moby Longinotto’s fascinating, thoroughly candid documentary invites audiences to pull up a chair at the never-dull family table in a Mississippi trailer park home. Everything is on the menu: dashed dreams, seething resentments, sexual awakenings and dollops of unconditional love. Overseeing all the tumult is unflappable, 73-year-old transgender matriarch Jheri Jones, whose dedicated ministrations keep her family going.
National Bird, Sonia Kennebeck, USA
Executive produced by Wim Wenders and Errol Morris, this elegant and chilling documentary provides a glimpse of what the US government doesn’t want you to know about drone warfare by focusing on three veterans whose service experience caused them to question the usage of drones in overseas combat.
Notes on Blindness, Peter Middleton, James Spinney, UK/France
A taped journal that theologian John Hull kept after the onset of blindness in 1980 forms the basis of this elegant and moving depiction of struggle and transcendence. Hull’s own voice provides the audio, though an actor plays the deceased writer, as he learns to negotiate his condition and endures a crisis of faith. Sublime sound design further enhances this evocative documentary, making manifest Hull’s discovery that the loss of one sense leads to the sharpening of others.
NUTS!, Penny Lane, USA
Penny Lane’s documentary — comprised of archival material, animated sequences and the occasional talking head — blooms into an incredible almanac of early 20th-century quackery and innovation as she focuses on JR Brinkley, an early broadcasting baron, direct-mail pioneer and an evangelical proponent of goat-testicle implants. An empire built on spurious claims and fear mongering seems unstoppable — until an obscure regional newspaper dares to question its foundations.
The Return, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Katie Galloway, USA
After California voters reversed the state’s Three Strikes law, thousands of inmates became suddenly eligible for resentencing and release. This provocative and touching documentary chronicles what happened next. Filmmakers Kelly Duane De la Vega and Katie Galloway (Better this World, SFIFF 2011) focus on the journeys of the newly free and their families, as well as the Stanford-based lawyers working on behalf of nonviolent offenders, illuminating the multifaceted struggle behind every transition from incarceration to freedom.
Salero, Mike Plunkett, USA/Bolivia
Moises Chambi Yucra and his family stand at the crossroads of time. For generations, they have has made a humble living harvesting salt from Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, but beneath Uyuni sit massive amounts of lithium, a mineral instrumental in powering smartphones and electric vehicles. With stunning cinematography that captures both the vibrancy and the solitude of the land and life, director Mike Plunkett captures the final days of an age-old way of life.
Under the Sun, Vitaly Mansky, Russia/Latvia/Germany/Czech Republic/North Korea
Shot with the permission and supervision of North Korean authorities, Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s film turns a propaganda effort into a deep-cover documentary about life inside one of the world’s most repressive nations. Its subjects — a young girl in Pyongyang and her family — rigorously stick to the ideological script, but by keeping the camera rolling between takes of their carefully staged “real life,” Mansky reveals the grinding gears of the totalitarian message machine.
A Young Patriot, Du Haibin, China/USA/France
Du Haibin’s insightful documentary captures five years in the life of a young Maoist zealot in northern China and provides an unforgettable portrait of China in transition. As the tumult of the country’s recent history unfolds, cracks in the armor of Zhao’s patriotism appear on multiple fronts. Communist Party corruption scandals, the rise of capitalism and the inhumane treatment of his family due to a reclamation project erode his bright optimism.
-
30 Films Selected for 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Discovery Program
The Toronto International Film Festival announced its Discovery program showcasing 30 feature films, including 16 World Premieres, by first and second time directors from Canada and across the globe.
The diverse 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Discovery Program lineup includes Desde Allá, an intense social drama from Venezuelan newcomer Lorenzo Vigas; Tom and Sam McKeith’s Manila-set thriller Beast; German filmmaker Sebastian Ko’s riveting suspense We Monsters; Michael Lennox’s A Patch of Fog which chronicles a British anti-bromance; Very Big Shot, the debut from Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, delving into a darkly comedic world of coke smuggling in Lebanon; Maris Curran’s intimate drama Five Nights in Maine; Irish director Simon Fitzmaurice’s feature debut, the coming-of-age story My Name is Emily; and Mexico’s Alejandra Márquez Abellas’ debut, the poignant drama Semana Santa.
The Toronto International Film Festival also announced an additional title has been added to the Cinematheque Program — a special 20th anniversary screening of Michael Mann’s magnum-opus Heat, followed by a Q&A with the acclaimed writer/director; and in the Vanguard Program, the Festival announced the world premiere of Pedro Morelli’s Zoom.
DISCOVERY PROGRAMME
A Patch of Fog
Michael Lennox, United Kingdom World Premiere
A celebrated novelist and TV personality finds his reputation on the line when he is caught shoplifting by a lonely security guard, intent on becoming his friend for life. Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean, Boardwalk Empire) stars alongside Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), Lara Pulver (Sherlock), Arsher Ali (Four Lions) and Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones).
The Ardennes
Robin Pront, Belgium World Premiere
Two bandit brothers, one fresh from prison, the other eager to escape their criminal past, form a potentially explosive love triangle with the ex-con’s ex-girlfriend, in Robin Pront’s Cain vs. Abel update.
Beast
Tom McKeith, Sam McKeith, Australia/Philippines World Premiere
Deep in the slums of Manila, a young boxer’s life is changed forever when his father pressures him to cheat in a fight.
Black
Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Belgium World Premiere
Fifteen-year-old Mavela is a member of the notorious Black Bronx gang. She falls head over heels in love with the charismatic Marwan, a boy from the rival gang 1080ers. The two young people are brutally forced to choose between loyalty to their gang and their love for each other. An impossible choice … or not?
Born to Dance
Tammy Davis, New Zealand World Premiere
A Maori teen faces parental and social pressure while leading his competitive hip-hop dance crew toward the regional championships, in this exhilarating feature directorial debut from New Zealand actor Tammy Davis.
Dégradé (pictured above)
Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser, Palestine/France/Qatar North American Premiere
Gaza Strip, present day. Christine’s beauty salon is heaving with female clients: a bitter divorcée, a stern religious woman, a disenchanted housewife addicted to prescription drugs, and a young bride-to-be, among others. But their day of leisure is disrupted when gunfire breaks out across the street. A gangland family has stolen the lion from Gaza’s zoo, and the police have decided it’s time to wrestle control. Stuck in the salon, the women start to unravel…
Desde Allá
Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela North American Premiere
Fifty-year-old Armando picks up young boys in the streets of Caracas and pays them to come home with him. He also regularly spies on an older man with whom he seems bound by something in the past. One day he meets 17-year-old Elder, the leader of a small gang. Violent at first, their relationship morphs into something beautiful … until the inevitable happens.
Downriver
Grant Scicluna, Australia International Premiere
James has served time for drowning a little boy when he himself was just a child, although the body was never found. Upon his parole, a visit from his victim’s mother sends him on a quest to find the truth. With little time and danger at every turn, James risks his freedom and his life to uncover the trail of sins that might give closure to a grieving mother.
Eva Nová
Marko Škop, Slovakia World Premiere
Eva would do anything to regain the love of the one she hurt the most — her son. She is a recovered alcoholic, but decades ago she was a famous actress.
Five Nights in Maine
Maris Curran, USA World Premiere
Reeling from the tragic, sudden death of his wife, a man travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death. Starring David Oyelowo (Selma), Dianne Wiest and Rosie Perez.
The Here After (Efterskalv)
Magnus von Horn, Poland/Sweden/France North American Premiere
When John returns home to his father after serving time in prison, he is looking forward to starting his life afresh. However in the local community, his crime is neither forgotten nor forgiven. John’s presence brings out the worst in everyone around him and a lynch-mob atmosphere slowly takes shape. Feeling abandoned by his former friends and the people he loves, John loses hope and the same aggressions that previously sent him to prison start building up again. Unable to leave the past behind, he decides to confront it.
Ixcanul
Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala/France Canadian Premiere
María, a young 17-year-old Mayan girl, lives and works with her parents on a coffee plantation in the foothills of an active volcano in Guatemala. An arranged marriage awaits her. Although María dreams of going to the “big city,” her status as an indigenous woman does not permit her to change her destiny. A snake bite forces her to go out into the modern world where her life is saved, but at what price?
James White
Josh Mond, USA Canadian Premiere
James White (Christopher Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle, but as his mother (Cynthia Nixon) battles a serious illness James is forced to take control of his life. The directorial debut of Martha Marcy May Marlene producer Josh Mond, James White, which had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2014 where it was the winner of the Audience Award: NEXT, is a confident and closely observed debut that explores loss and the deep relationship between a mother and son.
Keeper
Guillaume Senez, Belgium/Switzerland/France North American Premiere
Maxime and Mélanie are in love. Together, they clumsily explore their sexuality with fiery curiosity until the day Mélanie realizes she’s pregnant. At first Maxime takes the news badly, but then he gets used to the idea of becoming a father. He convinces Melanie to keep the baby. So it’s been decided – Maxime and Mélanie, all of fifteen years old, will become parents.
Les Cowboys
Thomas Bidegain, France/Belgium North American Premiere
A vast prairie, a country and western gathering somewhere in the east of France. Alain is a central figure in this community. He’s dancing with his daughter, 16-year-old Kelly, as his wife and their young son Kid watch from the sidelines. But on this day, Kelly disappears, and the family falls apart. Alain embarks on a relentless search for his daughter, even though it costs him everything and takes him to dark, unsettling places, where his sole support is Kid, who sacrifices his youth to accompany his father on this seemingly endless quest.
Meghmallar
Zahidur Rahim Anjan, Bangladesh World Premiere
A case of mistaken identity throws an apolitical chemistry teacher into the maelstrom of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, in the striking debut feature from director Zahidur Rahim Anjan.
Mountain
Yaelle Kayam, Israel/Denmark North American Premiere
An Orthodox Jewish woman, living at the edge of the cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, becomes fascinated by a nocturnal community of prostitutes and drug dealers congregating amongst the tombstones. Mountain is a haunting and dramatic exploration of a women’s search for identity.
My Name is Emily
Simon Fitzmaurice, Ireland North American Premiere
Packed off to a foster home after her father is institutionalized, a rebellious young Irish girl resolves to bust her dad out of the hospital where he’s been confined, in this spirited coming-of-age tale from celebrated memoirist and first-time feature director Simon Fitzmaurice.
The Paradise Suite
Joost van Ginkel, Netherlands/Sweden/Bulgaria World Premiere
This dexterous tale of survival from director Joost van Ginkel traces the intersecting stories of six immigrants from very different backgrounds in Amsterdam who learn that they can irreversibly influence each other’s lives, sometimes with just one glance.
Semana Santa
Alejandra Márquez Abella, Mexico World Premiere
Dali and her eight-year-old son Pepe take a vacation to Acapulco with Dali’s boyfriend, Chavez. Instead of bringing them closer, their beach holiday brings out things in each of them that threaten to pull this emerging family apart.
Spear
Stephen Page, Australia World Premiere
Djali, a young Aboriginal man, sets off on a journey of initiation to understand what it means to be a man in a modern day world. He sees the problems being faced by Aboriginal men in remote and urban communities. As he struggles to find his place, he becomes awakened to a spiritual force within, guiding him on his journey into manhood.
Very Big Shot (Film Kteer Kbeer)
Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, Lebanon/Qatar World Premiere
Intending to smuggle the amphetamine Captagon to Iraqi Kurdistan, a small-time Lebanese drug dealer discovers that a way to foil customs, with the help of a talentless filmmaker. Posing as a film producer, he has no qualms manipulating public opinion to his advantage.
The Wait (L’attesa)
Piero Messina, Italy North American Premiere
Waiting for someone is an act of faith. Anna and Jeanne, isolated in a Sicilian country house in Caltagirone, are waiting for Giuseppe’s arrival. He is the former’s son, the latter’s boyfriend. Their wait turns into a mysterious act of love and will, while in the streets people are celebrating Easter.
We Monsters (Wir Monster)
Sebastian Ko, Germany North American Premiere
Paul and Christine know their teenage daughter Sarah has been thrown off track by their separation — but is she capable of committing a horrible crime? Wanting to protect her, they decide attempt to hide her wrongdoing, but their joint guilt forces the family back together under a web of lies. The directorial debut from German actor Sebastian Ko, We Monsters is a gripping psychological
thriller.
Wedding Doll (Chatona Meniyar)
Nitzan Gilady, Israel International Premiere
Fixated on romantic fantasies, a kindly and strong-willed young woman with a mild mental disability embarks on a relationship — much to the concern of her protective mother — in this assured first feature from director Nitzan Gilady.
Previously announced Canadian titles in the Discovery Program include Stephen Dunn’s Closet Monster, Adam Garnet Jones’ Fire Song, Jamie M. Dagg’s River, Kire Paputts’ The Rainbow Kid, and Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant.
CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAMME
Heat
Michael Mann, USA
Hard-boiled ex-con Neil McCauley is the leader of a crew of seasoned thieves who operate with grim determination and military discipline. But when a last-minute replacement on his team leads to a bloody triple murder during an armored truck robbery, McCauley is targeted by veteran detective Vincent Hanna, whose obsessive dedication both mirrors and contrasts with McCauley’s ruthless professionalism. Starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro with Jon Voight, Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore and Amy Brenneman.
VANGUARD PROGRAMME
Zoom,
Pedro Morelli, Canada World Premiere
Zoom is a fast-paced, pop-art inspired, multi-plot contemporary comedy. The film consists of three seemingly separate but ultimately interlinked storylines about a comic book artist, a novelist and a film director. Each character lives in a separate world but authors a story about the life of another.
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.