05/08/2022 - The festival has announced 54 new titles across three of its prime sections, of which 16 are fully or part European productions

Following the announcement of its first wave of selections (read news) and its more compact Platform section, all composed of world premieres this year (read news), the Toronto International Film Festival (running 8-18 September) has announced its second large batch of titles for the Discovery, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths sections. The three strands will host 54 films, of which 16 are full European productions or co-productions. Particularly in Wavelengths, the festival’s left-field and experimental section, the majority are enjoying their first full North American showings after excelling at Cannes and Berlin.

Discovery, reserved for debuts or second features, has many notable Middle Eastern films amongst its European-financed contingent. Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend [+see also:
interview: Basil Khalil
film profile], a UK-Palestine co-production, is a ‘hilariously irreverent satire’, following “a bumbling Englishman and an uptight Israeli who are desperate to get into the Gaza strip — ‘the safest place in the world’ — when a virus breaks out”. British TV regular Stephen Mangan and Mouna Hawa play the duo. The Taste of Apples is Red [+see also:
trailer
film profile], an Israel and Germany-financed film by Syrian director Ehab Tarabieh, is a ‘gripping debut’, as per the TIFF programme notes, about a respected sheikh forced to choose between family and duty once his estranged brother returns to the Golan Heights.

Dorota Lech, TIFF’s Discovery lead and international programmer, said, “The program is a showcase of cinema and talent from around the world — a place to unearth work that is bold, distinctive, and, above all, passionate. This year’s robust program offers 24 films that shook us to the core, filled us with joy, broke our hearts, and, most importantly, reminded us that the future is bright.

Wavelengths, almost a festival-within-a festival with its off-site exhibition and shorts programmes, will allow Toronto audiences first looks at the likes of Albert Serra’s acclaimed Pacifiction [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Albert Serra
film profile] and João Pedro Rodrigues’ delightful Will-o’-the-Wisp [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile], a queer Portuguese musical that brought its audience to mid-film applause at its Cannes Quinzaine screening. For Senior Curator Andréa Picard, “The selections in this year’s Wavelengths line-up reimagine the possibilities of cinema in ways both inspiring and rejuvenating. The program itself continues to champion film as art in a climate increasingly challenging for non-commercial and non-conforming work.”

The titles announced so far for the three sections:

Discovery

The Inspection - Elegance Bratton (USA) (opening film)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Aitch Alberto (USA)
Baby Ruby - Bess Wohl (USA)
Carmen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Benjamin Millepied (Australia/France)
Daughter of Rage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Baumeister
film profile] - Laura Baumeister (Nicaragua)
A Gaza Weekend [+see also:
interview: Basil Khalil
film profile] - Basil Khalil (UK/Palestine)
I Like Movies - Chandler Levack (Canada)
A Long Break [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Davit Pirtskhalava (Georgia)
Pussy - Joseph Amenta (Canada)
Return to Seoul [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Davy Chou
film profile] - Davy Chou (South Korea/France/Germany/Belgium)
ROSIE - Gail Maurice (Canada)
Runner [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Marian Mathias (USA/France/Germany)
SHIMONI - Angela Wanjiku Wamai (Kenya)
Snow and the Bear [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selcen Ergun
film profile] - Selcen Ergun (Turkey/Germany/Serbia)
Something You Said Last Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luis De Filippis
film profile] - Luis De Filippis (Canada/Switzerland)
Susie Searches - Sophie Kargman (USA)
Sweet As - Jub Clerc (Australia)
The Taste of Apples is Red [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Ehab Tarabieh (Israel/Germany)
This Place - VT Nayani (Canada)
Unruly [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Malou Reymann (Denmark)
Until Branches Bend [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sophie Jarvis (Canada/Switzerland)
When Morning Comes - Kelly Fyffe-Marshall (Canada)
The Young Arsonists - Sheila Pye (Canada)

Midnight Madness

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Eric Appel (USA) (opening film)
The Blackening - Tim Story (USA)
Pearl - Ti West (USA)
The People’s Joker - Vera Drew (USA)
Project Wolf Hunting - Kim Hongsun (South Korea)
Sick - John Hyams (USA)
Sisu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Jalmari Helander (Finland)
Venus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Jaume Balagueró (Spain)
V/H/S 99 - Flying Lotus, Johannes Roberts, Maggie Levin, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter (USA)
Leonor Will Never Die - Martika Ramirez Escobar (Philippines) (closing film)

Wavelengths

Feature films

Concrete Valley - Antoine Bourges (Canada)
De Humani Corporis Fabrica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Véréna Paravel, Lucien Cast…
film profile] - Vérena Paravel/Lucien Castaing-Taylor (France/Switzerland)
Dry Ground Burning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Joana Pimenta/Adirley Queirós (Portugal/Brazil)
Horse Opera - Moyra Davey (USA)
Pacifiction [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Albert Serra
film profile] - Albert Serra (France/Spain/Germany/Portugal)
Queens of the Qing Dynasty - Ashley McKenzie (Canada)
Unrest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cyril Schäublin
film profile] - Cyril Schäublin (Switzerland)
Will-o’-the-Wisp [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile] - João Pedro Rodrigues (Portugal/France)

Short films

After Work - Céline Condorelli, Ben Rivers (UK)
Bigger on the Inside - Angelo Madsen Minax (USA)
EVENTIDE - Sharon Lockhart (USA)
F1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now - Fox Maxy (Mesa Grande Reservation/USA)
Fata Morgana - Tacita Dean (UK/USA)
Hors-titre - Wiame Haddad (France)
I Thought the World of You - Kurt Walker (Canada)
Moonrise - Vincent Grenier (USA/Canada)
The Newest Olds - Pablo Mazzolo (Argentina/Canada)
Puerta a Puerta - Jessica Sarah Rinland, Luis Arnías (Mexico/USA/Venezuela)
The Time That Separates Us - Parastoo Anoushahpour (Canada/Jordan/Palestine)
What Rules the Invisible - Tiffany Sia (USA)