We had an smidgen of an idea that the Real to Reel section might be especially strong this year, but with the likes of Frederick Wiseman, Rithy Panh, Jonathan Demme, Werner Herzog, Jessica Yu, Alex Gibney, Joe Berlinger, Ron Fricke, Nick Broomfield and Michael Glawogger, we're now beginning to think that Thom Powers' section has not only outclassed Toronto's sister event Hot Docs, but just about any other doc-related film festival.
"Kim Ki-duk, one of South Korea's premiere - and most prolific - arthouse filmmakers for the last two decades, has, with his new film Arirang, assembled a diary that helps to explain why we haven't seen any new projects from him since 2008's Dream. Turning the camera on himself for 100 insufferable minutes, this is the kind of narcissistic woe-is-me claptrap that gives the Video Diary genre an unnecessarily bad name..."
Like anyone else we look forward to the heavyweight selections in the Main Competition this year --- but what about the other sections? Blake Williams and I have our alternative lists ready for you --- a top 20 list of films that have caught our attention for reasons X, Y and Z. Without further ado, here is the list: