The Toronto Intl. Film Festivals folks are slowly coming to the end of their selection announcements (we are still expecting them to announce some heavyweight last-minute entries) and in today’s batch it was Thom Powers’ turn to drop the Docs Programme. We have a good mix of world premieres and some film fest musts in the twenty-one films selected and if we had to cherry-pick a trio of world premiere musts we ‘d point to the films by Eddie Huang, Steve Pink and the Jen Gatien and Billy Corben tandem.
Huang known for ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, will open the section with Vice is Broke — which chronicles the events leading up to Shane Smith‘s Vice Media, a once scrappy media player valued at $5.7 billion, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, paving the way for the company’s sale. Known mostly for forgettable fiction titles, Steve Pink moved into the docu realm for The Last Republican — which profiles Adam Kinzinger as he went against the grain and broke ranks with the GOP to criticize Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Finally, we have Men of War – the NEON docu by Corben and Gatien which details the tale of former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who was arrested on July 31 in connection to his failed 2020 coup to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. We also have The Last of the Sea Women — an Apple TV+ project (dropping in October) that details an extraordinary band of feisty grandmother warriors wages a spirited battle against vast oceanic threats. Sue Kim directs. The Wavelengths programme is being unveiled tomorrow. Here are the docs:
A Sisters’ Tale – Leila Amini | Switzerland/France/Iran (IP)
Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story – Sinéad O’Shea | Ireland/United Kingdom (WP)
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found – Raoul Peck | France (NAP)
Living Together – Halima Elkhatabi | Canada (WP)
Men of War – Jen Gatien, Billy Corben | USA/Canada (WP)
Mistress Dispeller – Elizabeth Lo | China/USA (NAP)
No Other Land – Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor | Palestine/Norway (CP)
Patrice: The Movie – Ted Passon | USA (WP)
Russians at War – Anastasia Trofimova | Canada/France (NAP)
So Surreal: Behind the Masks Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson | Canada (WP)
Space Cowboy – Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt | USA (WP)
Sudan, remember us – Hind Meddeb | France/Tunisia/Qatar (NAP)
Tata – Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc | Romania/Germany/Netherlands (WP)
Temporary Shelter – Anastasiia Bortuali | Iceland (WP)
The Freedom of Fierro – Santiago Esteinou | Mexico/Canada/Greece (WP)
The Last of the Sea Women – Sue Kim | USA (WP)
The Last Republican – Steve Pink | USA (WP)
Vice is Broke – Eddie Huang | USA (WP)
Wishing on a Star – Peter Kerekes | Italy/Slovakia/Czech Republic/Austria/Croatia (NAP)
Your Tomorrow – Ali Weinstein | Canada (WP)
From Ground Zero – Wissam Moussa, Nidal Damo, Ahmed Hassouna, Alaa Ayoub, Karim Satoum, Bashar Al Babisi, Khamis Masharawi, Nida’A Abu Hasna, Tamer Nijim, Ahmed Al Danaf, Rima Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Basil El Maqousi, Mustafa Al Nabih, Rabab Khamis, Mustafa Kulab, Alaa Damo, Hana Eleiwa, Mahdi Kreirah, Aws Al Banna, Islam Al Zeriei, Etimad Washah | Palestine/France/Qatar/Jordan (NAP)
