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Toronto International Film Festival · 2023

Toronto International Film Festival 2023

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Programme

22 films · 14 reviews

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The Breaking Ice

The relationship between a trio of young people over a period of a few days in the snow.

(Country: China; Year: 2023; Director: Anthony Chen; Writer: Anthony Chen; Stars: Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran, Qu Chuxiao)

City Of Wind (Ser Ser Salhi)

Review preview for City Of Wind

Purev-Ochir gives a sense of the pressures the younger generation are under through their experience in the classroom, with a tacit implication that Ze’s struggles are reflecting a spirit of a nation.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A teenage shaman finds his life shifting after he meets a girl.

(Country: Qatar, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Mongolia, France; Year: 2023; Director: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir; Writer: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir; Stars: Tergel Bold-Erdene, Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba, Bulgan Chuluunbat, Ganzorig Tsetsgee, Tsend-Ayush Nyamsuren)

Full review See: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir on her debut feature City Of Wind

Close Your Eyes (Cerrar Los Ojos)

Review preview for Close Your Eyes

A meditation on both memory and movies as well as ageing and a hankering for the past that is informed by the melancholic knowledge that nostalgia is inevitably rose-tinted.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A TV show looking into the mysterious disappearance of an actor leads a director on a journey into his own past while making discoveries in the present.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2023; Director: Victor Erice; Writer: Víctor Erice, Michel Gaztambide; Stars: Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent, María León, Soledad Villamil)

Full review

The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes)

Review preview for The Delinquents

Moreno isn’t shy about his use of symbolism...What this effects to disguise, however, is the degree to which [the men's] own thinking has been shaped by symbols and by the belief system which surrounds them.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Two bank staff rob their own establishment.

(Country: Argentina, Brazil, Luxembourg, Chile; Year: 2023; Director: Rodrigo Moreno; Writer: Rodrigo Moreno; Stars: Margarita Molfino, Esteban Bigliardi, Cecilia Rainero)

Full review See: Interview with Rodrigo Moreno about The Delinquents

Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet Lehdet)

Review preview for Fallen Leaves

An amuse-bouche of a film, Aki Kaurismäki’s latest comedy romance may leave you wanting more but it’s also a fully rounded, good looking experience packed with all the flavours we’ve come to expect from the master of deadpan down the years.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The course of potential love does not run smooth for a shelf-stacker and a metal worker.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2023; Director: Aki Kaurismäki; Writer: Aki Kaurismäki; Stars: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen)

Full review

The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed

A fragmented, experiential look at the life of a woman as time passes in her long-term casual BDSM relationship, low-level corporate job, and quarrelsome Jewish family.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Joanne Arnow; Writer: Joanne Arnow)

Green Border (Zielona granica)

Review preview for Green Border

Essential, urgent and damning.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Multifaceted drama about the plight of refugees on the Belarus/Poland border.

(Country: Poland, Germany, France, Czechia, Belgium; Year: 2023; Director: Agnieszka Holland; Writer: Agnieszka Holland, Gabriela Lazarkiewicz-Sieczko, Maciej Pisuk; Stars: Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Tomasz Włosok, Behi Djanati Atai, Mohamad Al Rashi, Dalia Naous)

Full review See: Agnieszka Holland speaks out on the targeting of refugees by populists, Europe's tack to the right and pricking people's consciences

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire Humaniste Cherche Suicidaire Consentant)

Review preview for Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

While Louis-Seize’s treatment of the night is atmospheric, the emphasis here is firmly on comedy rather on gore.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Ariane Louis-Seize; Writer: Christine Doyon, Ariane Louis-Seize; Stars: Sara Montpetit, Félix-Antoine Bénard, Steve Laplante, Sophie Cadieux, Noémie O'Farrell, Lilas-Rose Cantin, Arnaud Vachon, Marie Brassard, Madeleine Péloquin, Gabriel-Antoine Roy, Isabella Villalba, Patrick Hivon, Marc Beaupré, Micheline Bernard, Sylvie Lemay)

Full review See: Ariane Louis-Seize on making a vampire film with comedic bite

In Flames

Review preview for In Flames

Writer/director Zarrar Khan uses techniques borrowed from the horror genre to address the experience of living in an environment where one is seen as less than fully human, or even as prey.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
After the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and imagined.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Zarrar Kahn; Writer: Zarrar Kahn; Stars: Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Mohammad Ali Hasni, Adnan Shah)

Full review

Limbo

A detective reopens the case of an Aboriginal woman murdered 20 years ago. The people in the victim’s small outback town and her family are silent because the cop is white and the truth is complex.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2023; Director: Ivan Sen; Writer: Ivan Sen; Stars: Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen, Nicholas Hope, Mark Coe)

The Nature Of Love (Simple Comme Sylvain)

Sophia, a 40-year-old philosophy professor. Sylvain is a craftsman, renovating Sophia and her partner Xavier's new country house. When Sophia and Sylvain meet, Sophia’s world is turned upside down.

(Country: Canada, France; Year: 2023; Director: Monia Chokri; Writer: Monia Chokri; Stars: Magalie Lépine-Blondeau , Pierre-Yves Cardinal, François Létourneau , Monia Chokri)

Perfect Days

Review preview for Perfect Days

The 4:3 format, preferred by Yasujirō Ozu, is the perfect frame for paying attention to the small mysteries that are often overlooked.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
The story of an urban renewal project which involves the creation of 17 public toilets in key locations in the Japanese capital.

(Country: Japan, Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Wim Wenders; Writer: Takuma Takasaki, Wim Wenders; Stars: Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada, Yumi Asô)

Full review See: Wim Wenders in conversation on his Oscar-nominated Perfect Days, Yasujirō Ozu, Anselm Kiefer and Ingeborg Bachmann , Wim Wenders in conversation on Perfect Days, Anselm Kiefer, Paul Celan and fairy tales

The Settlers (Los Colonos)

19th century drama. A man on an expedition is forced to take part in a massacre. Afterwards he forms a bond with the only survivor.

(Country: Chile, Argentina; Year: 2023; Director: Felipe Gálvez; Writer: Felipe Gálvez)

Shadow Of Fire (Hokage)

(Country: Japan; Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto; Writer: Shin'ya Tsukamoto; Stars: Mirai Moriyama, Tatsushi Ômori, Shuri, Hiroki Kono, Gô Rijû, Ouga Tsukao)

Shayda

Review preview for Shayda

What really drives the film is the quietly powerful central performance.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Shayda, an Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter. Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardised.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2023; Director: Noora Niasar; Writer: Noora Niasar; Stars: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mojean Aria, Selina Zahednia)

Full review

Snow Leopard (Xue Bao)

A dad and son argue about whether to kill a leopard that enters their home.

(Country: China; Year: 2023; Director: Pema Tseden; Writer: Pema Tseden; Stars: Jinpa, Ziqi Xiong)

Sweet Dreams

Review preview for Sweet Dreams

More poem than conventional narrative, Sweet Dreams explores the tropes of the colonial fable with a romantic eye and a sharp wit.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
When Dutch patriarch and plantation owner Jan dies suddenly in Indonesia, his son arrives from Europe with plans for radical change. But when Jan’s will puts his Indonesian concubine Siti at the forefront of the family estate, ideals prove to be futile and blood thicker than water.

(Country: Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia, Réunion; Year: 2023; Director: Ena Sendijarević; Writer: Ena Sendijarević; Stars: Renée Soutendijk, Hayati Azis, Lisa Zweerman, Florian Myjer, Muhammad Khan, Hans Dagelet, Rio den Haas, Peter Faber, Verdi Solaiman)

Full review

The Teachers' Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer)

Review preview for The Teachers' Lounge

Thrums from start to almost finish with the sweaty tension of a looming maths test.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: İlker Çatak; Writer: İlker Çatak; Stars: Leonie Benesch, Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, Anne-Kathrin Gummich)

Full review See: llker Çatak on his cinematic inspirations, Wim Wenders and The Teachers’ Lounge

They Shot The Piano Player

A music journalist from New York sets out on a frantic investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Brazilian pianist Tenorio Jr, regular accompanist of Vinicius de Moraes, among others.

(Country: Spain, France, Netherlands; Year: 2023; Director: Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba; Writer: Fernando Trueba; Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, João Gilberto, Vinicius de Moraes, Paulo Moura)

Toll (Pedágio)

Review preview for Toll

At the heart of it is the complex relationship between mother and son.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Suellen, a toll booth attendant, realises she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally. But this is only for a noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.

(Country: Brazil, Portugal; Year: 2022; Director: Carolina Markowicz; Writer: Carolina Markowicz; Stars: Maeve Jinkings, Thomas Aquino, Isac Graça, Caio Macedo, Aline Marta Maia, Kauan Alvarenga)

Full review