So after much delibration, let me present our Toronto International Film Festival picks (a collaborative effort between J. and I). This is by no means a list of the “best” films; it’s more of a strategic list of films that might be hard to see later, and that we have a reasonable chance of getting in to, or that we just felt like including.
First choices:
- The Exodus. Pang Ho-Cheung, Hong Kong. Because we don’t seen enough Asian movies.
- I’m Not There. Todd Haynes, USA. Bob Dylan’s life, as defined by the characters he invented.
- Persepolis. Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi, France. A bleak recent history of life in Iran interjected with humour and dreams, animated in stark black & white from the original graphic novels.
- Short Cuts Canada programme 2. A set of shorts leaning a bit more towards the animated end of the spectrum, with Boar Attack, Madam Tutli-Putli and Dada Dum looking particularly appealing.
- Silent Light. Carlos Reygadas, Mexico. Mexican Mennonites including Miriam Toews, speaking in Low German? Indeed.
Second choices:
- Encounters at the End of the World. Werner Herzog, USA. The legendary director does Antarctica.
- Jellyfish. Shira Geffen & Edgar Keret, Israel. Unsettling Israelis on the brink of emotional chaos, and winner of a Camera d’Or at Cannes.
- M. Lee Myung-Se, South Korea.
- The Mourning Forest. Naomi Kawase, France/Japan. An elderly man and young woman contemplating grief amidst stunning nature. Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes this year.
- With Your Permission. Paprika Steen, Denmark/Sweden. Extreme discomfort, all stiff back and flailing arms. And thankfully not dogme.
Not chosen, but looking forward to:
- L’âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness). Denys Arcand, Canada. Following up on the great Barbarian Invasions.
- Eastern Promises. David Cronenberg, UK/Canada. The History of Violence team are back again, with Mortensen accompanied this time by Naomi Watt in a Russian mobster flick.
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Shekhar Kapur, UK. Not at the top of my list, but probably worth seeing.
- My Kid Could Paint That. Amir Bar-Lev, USA. Documentary about a 4 year old whose abstract artworks have sold for over $300,000.
- My Winnipeg. Guy Maddin, Canada. Back with another weird one, I imagine.
- No Country for Old Men. Joel & Ethan Coen, USA. Highly anticipated, based on its trailer.
- Paranoid Park. Gus Van Sant, France. With Christopher Doyle as cinematographer.
- Useless. Jia Zhang-Ke, China. About an artist who criticises consumerism’s effects on China; sounds thematically similar to Manufactured Landscapes, even if the art is completely different.
Reviews will show up in the sidebar of this site over the next few weeks, once we see which picks we get in the draw. It won’t be in the RSS feed, so check back at my site periodically.