With a total of 50+1 films from around the world, the Contemporary World Cinema programme could very well be a film festival in its own right. Once again loaded in Cannes North American premieres from, the section also includes world preem titles: Xiaolu Guo's UFO in her Eyes, Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister (starring Emily Blunt see pic above), Nacho Vigalondo's Extraterrestrial and Christophe Van Rompaey's Lena. Among Cannes titles we can vouch for, which will play out in the section and happen to tell us that this world is not healthy state of affairs we have Andrey Zvyagintsev's brilliant Elena, Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala , and Markus Schleinzer' Michael.
Extremely touched by her previous, searing and honest portrait (her third film was my introduction to the director), and so I'm looking forward in seeing what's next in store especially with what appears to be an emotionally gripping, adolescence and moving in adulthood type structure.
3 out of 300 films might not seem like a lot, but from the nation that produces less than 30 features a year, it's plenty. There are three Romanian films being featured in Toronto this year, one is a co-production and the other pair are split among the Contemporary World Cinema and Visions programme.
The Wanderer is Avishai Sivan's debut feature film. A film school graduate in 2001, his only film to date was a barely noticed documentary film. This tells the story of Isaac, a young yeshiva student, an only child to born-again orthodox parents. Trapped in a dysfunctional family and a failing body, Isaac finds refuge in wandering. Tormented by his newfound infertility, Isaac looks for answers in his father’s dubious past. Wandering through the backstreets of the city, he seeks deliverance.
If photographers still used flashbulbs, then TIFF’s latest announcements would generate much bulb waste. The fest announced 8 more selections yesterday adding more titles...