25 Alternative 2011 TIFF Picks: Must See Films Flying Low on the Radar

Single tickets for films showing at TIFF officially go on sale tomorrow and before you consider paying for an overpriced, over-hyped, red carpet Gala screening of a film that will be out in theatres week later, we suggest you mix it up a bit and consider the alternative. Joined by our own Toronto based critic Blake Williams (who is also presenting his latest short entitled Coorow-Latham Road in Wavelengths 4 this year), we’ve complied a 25-list of invigorating films from pioneering master filmmakers who still don’t get enough cred to visionaries making their first contributions to cinema. We begin the countdown with..: 

#1. Almayers Folly

Director: Chantal Akerman
Cast: Stanislas Merhar, Marc Barbé, Aurora Marion, Zac Andrianasolo
Distributor: Rights Available

Buzz: Akerman is at once a key figure in structural filmmaking, 60’s & 70’s world cinema, and women’s filmmaking in general. Producing some of the most contemplative and soaring masterpieces of the last few decades (Jeanne Dielman, News From Home, La Captive), this highly anticipated and overdue return to narrative features will bow in Venice before heading to Toronto a week later.

The Gist: A pirate and his chores…for three…days. Not really. Based on an 1895 Joseph Conrad novel, this is supposedly a fever dream of a movie (i.e. the best kind) about colonialism and greed. If I read more into what actually takes place in this film, I’ll risk ruining it for myself, but that is more than enough to get me pumped.

TIFF Schedule: Monday September 12 Isabel Bader Theatre 10:00pm
Tuesday September 13 TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 9:15am
Sunday September 18 Scotiabank Theatre 3 6:30pm