Are you thinking of seeing the Toronto International Film Festival? You can join some showings online this year. With that in mind, take a look at our picks for the TIFF showings.
Roll out the red carpet because the Toronto International Film Festival is back. The annual showcasing of the best world cinema will have you feeling like a kid in a candy store with dozens of stories to choose from ranging from animated to documentary, love to crime, laughter to tears, or a mix. End a glamorous Hollywood experience with a night on the slots in the casino. Read on for our picks for the things you simply must not miss at this year’s festival.
1. The Last Night in Soho
The latest from famed director Edgar Wright is quite the swing away from his usual brand of whimsy and humour. No big cops in small towns, no music-obsessed getaway drivers or gaming-obsessed white knights, The Last Night in Soho instead offers a look into the dark underbelly of 1960’s swinging London in a psychological thriller.
Yet to disappoint with his rather varied work, Wright’s latest endeavour will surely be a gripping tale that will stick with you forever.
Eloise is a 60’s-obsessed young woman newly moving to the big city. Retreating to her dorm when her peers won’t accept her into their clique, Eloise somehow psychically becomes intertwined with Sandy, a singer living in 1966. As she revisits most nights, Eloise descends into the past where her trauma mingles with Sandy’s creating danger everywhere.
2. Dear Evan Hansen
Musical lovers will be ecstatic with the news that the film adaptation of famed high school musical Dear Evan Hansen will finally be coming to the big screen.
Socially anxious Evan is writing letters to himself detailing all the good things in his life: including his crush on his classmate Zoe. When Zoe’s brother puts Evan in an awkward position, he creates a friendship that never existed and concocts an entire new life for himself built on very unstable foundations.
The Tony Award-winning musical about adolescence and grief will surely be in good hands with the director (and author) of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky at the helm. With voices like that of The Hate U Give’s Amandla Stenberg and cast members like Chris platt and Colton Ryan reprising their role sure to deliver the inspirational music to applause.
3. Celebrating Alanis
The centerpiece of the 46th Toronto International Film Festival, Celebrating Alanis focuses on activist Alanis Obomsawin, whose work as a filmmaker, musician and visual artist has brought to the forefront the stories and plights of the Indigenous people of Canada. Stories of abuse inflicted by the most powerful authorities, and their fight against injustice have inspired others to join the fight in the streets and the courts.
To spread that influence and awareness further, Obomsawin’s films, including her Best Canadian Feature Prize winning documentary, Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, will be shown at this year’s festival. Her documentaries cover ideas of aboriginal rights, indigenous law, aboriginal-crown relations, human rights, conflict resolution, and anti-racism.
4. Where is Anne Frank
Waltz with Bashir director Ari Folman has proven he can take a very, very, delicate subject and treat it with all the tenderness it needs in a format that is usually reserved for children and comedy.
Revisiting his trademark of historical fiction depicted in beautiful animation, Folman addresses the life of Anne Frank: not an easy feat. Told from the perspective of someone entirely in the holocaust-survivors imagination, Where is Anne Frank is a heartbreaking and inspiring telling of the famed story of a young Jewish girl keeping a diary whilst hiding from the Nazi regime. Kitty, who Anne addressed all her diary entries to, has no knowledge of camps or war beyond her pages. Nevertheless, she goes out into the world to look for what became of Anne when her diary ended.