In the last wave of TIFF announcements, it’s the Discovery section that we’re most curious about as it normally is loaded up with the rookies, many first-time and second time filmmakers breaking into world film festival circuit programming with genuine gems. Among the 25 plus selected films that make up the programme, we’ve got a handful of U.S. independent films in the likes of Mark Phinney’s Fat, a pair of US in Progress Paris projects in Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly’s Beneath The Harvest Sky and Tommy Oliver’s 1982, while a newbie filmmaker part of the clan in Gia Coppola makes the trip from Venice Film Festival’s Horizon section to Toronto with the book to film adapation of James Franco Palo Alto (see pic above). Also from Venice, we have the Venice Days included Bethlehem, from Israeli helmer Yuval Adler and an item that was a last minute inclusion on the Lido in Vivian Qu’s Trap Street. Among the most noteworthy titles we find Cannes Camera d’Or winner Ilo Ilo from Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen (scroll down this page to see Chen with his prize) making the leap and the World Premiere to Manolo Nieto’s The Militant among the many other World Premiere selections in the programme. Here are the titles:
1982 – Tommy Oliver (US) WP
All About The Feathers (Por Las Plumas) – Neto Villalobos (Costa Rica) WP
The Amazing Catfish (Los Insólitos Peces Gato) – Claudia Sainte-Luce (Mexico) NAP
Around The Block – Sarah Spillane (Australia) WP
Bends – Flora Lau (Hong Kong) NAP
Beneath The Harvest Sky – Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly (US) WP
Bethlehem – Yuval Adler (Israel) NAP
Bobô – Inês Oliveira (Portugal) IP
Border – Alessio Cremonini (Italy) WP
Canopy – Aaron Wilson (Australia) WP
Fat – Mark Phinney (US) WP
Giraffada – Rani Massalha (Fra-Ger-Ita-Pal) WP
I Am Yours (Jeg Er Din) – Iram Haq (Norway) IP
Ilo Ilo – Anthony Chen (Singapore) NAP
The Militant (El Lugar Del Hijo) – Manolo Nieto (Uruguay) WP
Miracle (Zázrak) – Juraj Lehotsky (Slovakia-Czech Republic) IP
My Love Awaits Me By The Sea (Habibi Bistanani And Il Bahar) – Mais Darwazah (Germany-Jordan-Palestine-Qatar) WP
Of Good Report – Jahmil X T Qubeka (South Africa) IP
Palo Alto – Gia Coppola, (US) NAP
Paradise (Paraiso) – Mariana Chenillo (Mexico) WP
Salvation Army (L’Armée Du Salut) – Abdellah Taïa (France) NAP
South Is Nothing (Il Sud È Niente) – Fabio Mollo (France-Italy) WP
The Stag – John Butler (Ireland) WP
The Summer Of Flying Fish (El Verano De Los Peces Voladores) – Marcela Said (Chile-France) NAP
Trap Street (Shuyin Jie) – Vivian Qu (China) NAP