Reserved for debut and sophomore films from emerging filmmakers, this year’s Toronto International Film Festival’s Discovery programme consists of two dozen feature films and it’ll include some noteworthy items beginning with the film that opens the section in Canadian writer-turned filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose‘s directorial debut Bonjour Tristesse – the book to film adaptation that follows Cécile (Lily McInerny), a young woman spending the summer in a villa in the south of France with her widowed father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his latest love interest, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). The spicy addition here might be in the character of the late mother’s friend Anne – played by Chloë Sevigny. Also in the Canadiana, Somali-Canuck musician K’naan Warsame (aka K’naan) presents his debut in Mother Mother – about a widow and her son work in a rural place. Her son wants to live in the city with Ifrah, the girl of his dreams. However, a young American declares his love for Ifrah, which leads to a murder. Qalifo makes a life-changing decision.
The most notable sophomore projects belongs to César Augusto Acevedo – the Colombian filmmaker won the prestigious Camera d’Or for Land and Shade back in 2015 and workshopped this project at the Cannes Cinefondation. Production on Horizonte took place in November of ’22 – starring Claudio Cataño, Paulina Garcia, Carlos Mario Echeverry, Maria Victoria Hernandez and Ángela Patricia Cano, this is about two ghosts, a mother and son, search for the boy’s missing father on a journey, both physical and spiritual, through a world ravaged by war. United Kingdom/Portugal-based Laura Carreira‘s On Falling has been on our radar as well. Starring Joana Santos, Inês Vaz, Piotr Sikora, Jake McGarry and Neil Leiper, this tells the story of Aurora, a Portuguese migrant working as a warehouse picker in Edinburgh, Scotland. Trapped between the confines of a vast distribution centre and the solitude of her own bedroom, Aurora seeks out every opportunity to resist the alienation and isolation that threaten her sense of self. And finally, another Euro item to watch out for might be Danish helmer Frederik Louis Hviid‘s The Quiet Ones which stars Reda Kateb, Gustav Giese and Amanda Collin. It’s set during the financial crisis that hit Europe in 2008 and essentially tells the tale about a group of Danish and European men plan to commit the largest robbery ever on Danish soil. Inspired by true events. Almost all selections are world premieres – here are the 24 selections. The Centrepiece, TIFF Docs, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths programmes should be announced in the weeks ahead.
Aberdeen – Ryan Cooper, Eva Thomas | Canada
Bonjour Tristesse – Durga Chew-Bose | Canada/Germany (opening night)
Boong – Lakshmipriya Devi | India
Diciannove – Giovanni Tortorici | Italy (IP)
Do I Know You From Somewhere? – Arianna Martinez | Canada
Freedom Way – Afolabi Olalekan | Nigeria
Gülizar – Belkıs Bayrak | Turkey/Kosovo
Horizonte – César Augusto Acevedo | Colombia/France/Luxembourg/Chile/Germany
Ink Wash – Sarra Tsorakidis | Romania/Greece/Denmark
Linda – Mariana Wainstein | Argentina/Spain
Meat – Dimitris Nakos | Greece
Mother Mother K’naan Warsame | Kenya/Somalia
My Fathers’ Daughter – Egil Pedersen | Sápmi (Norway/Sweden/Finland)
On Falling – Laura Carreira | United Kingdom/Portugal
Really Happy Someday – J Stevens | Canada
Saba Maksud Hossain | Bangladesh
Sad Jokes – Fabian Stumm | Germany (IP)
Seeds – Kaniehtiio Horn | Canada
Shook – Amar Wala | Canada
The Courageous – Jasmin Gordon | Switzerland
The Paradise of Thorns – Boss Kuno | Thailand (IP)
The Party’s Over – Elena Manrique | Spain
The Quiet Ones – Frederik Louis Hviid | Denmark
U Are the Universe – Pavlo Ostrikov | Ukraine/Belgium
