If you’re anything like me, by about this time every summer you’re doing two things: panicking about school and panicking about what to see at TIFF. I know, one problem is definitely more serious than the other, and it is most definitely not the one that has anything to do with tuition fees or the outrageous receipts from the bookstore.
But it tires me to no end that newspapers, blogs, and YouTubers alike seem to spend countless words prophesizing which films from the festival circuit will end up being Oscar winners, leaving little space to actually talk about the films that should matter at TIFF. The documentaries that tell unbelievable stories, the foreign films that might not be released anywhere else in North America (and probably not with good subtitles online), and the films actually made in Canada are pushed to the middle of the section, if they’re mentioned at all.
Don’t misunderstand—I’m a total award season junkie and I will definitely see all of the Best Picture nominees by January 2016, but I think it’s worth it to wait to gush over Tom Hardy’s double performance in Legend, Bryan Cranston in Trumbo, or Julianne Moore and Ellen Page in Freeheld. Here’s my own significantly pared down list of must-sees for this year’s festival:
The Lobster – Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ new film follows a group of hotel guests who are given 45 days to find a romantic partner or they will be turned into animals. From the director of Dogtooth, The Lobster features a pretty Hollywood-oriented cast, and while I think it could potentially fall into the Hollywood category, I think its absurdist, magic realism, sci-fi-esque plot will limit its theatrical run, so see it while you have the chance.
Sleeping Giant – Canadian director Andrew Cividino’s first feature film is set in Northern Ontario and follows a group of teenagers over the course of a summer, examining their personal relationships and small town life experiences. The film has a dark, sharp, The Suburbs-by-Arcade-Fire kind of vibe, and strong reviews after its screening at Cannes.
Phantom Boy – A part of the TIFF Kids program, this animated film comes from the same Paris-based studio that produced A Cat in Paris. Created over a span of five years, the film, set in NYC, plays with film noir style in child-friendly form and will no doubt be as beautiful and meticulously crafted as it is delightful and fun.
Amazing Grace – Filmed by renowned director Sydney Pollack back in the 1972, this documentary captures the recording of Aretha Franklin’s incredibly successful album of the same name. The film’s raw footage sat unfinished for decades and provides a concert film, a cinéma vérité look, and some outstanding early reviews.
Jafar Panahi’s Taxi – Panahi’s latest film takes place entirely inside of a taxi and is filmed with a dashboard camera. It’s an aesthetic mix somewhere between a drama and a documentary and promises to be enlightening and comic. Early reviews praise the film’s ability to capture a side of Iranian culture often left out of Western media and suggest that it’s political, but in a subtle, easy-to-digest kind of way.
TIFF Short Cuts Programmes (any of them) – seriously, if you want to learn a lot about film, see the power of order and syntax at work, and/or have a short attention span, the Short Cuts Programmes are always unbelievable and surprisingly fun if you attend with the right people.
