Twenty-one titles from 24 countries around the world are selected for the TIFF Docs programme of the 49th edition of Toronto International Film Festival.
“This year’s line-up covers a wide range of experiences: comical, infuriating, revelatory, audacious, and profound, with an underlying theme of pushing back against corrupt systems,” write organisers. “Audiences will encounter unforgettable figures such as former Vice host Eddie Huang, novelist Edna O’Brien, US politician Adam Kinzinger, disability rights activist Patrice Jetter, aerial cameraman Joe Jennings, and the haenyeo fisherwomen of South Korea.”
The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will take place September 5-15, 2024.
The programme will open with Huang’s Vice is Broke, in which the former Vice contributor investigates the media company’s rise and fall.
Several directors return to TIFF with “attention-grabbing” World Premieres, the festival points out. These include Men of War, directed by Billy Corben (Screwball, Cocaine Cowboys) and Jen Gaiten, which involves arms smuggling and a plot to overthrow Venezuela’s government; The Last Republican, directed by Steve Pink (The Wheel, Hot Tub Time Machine), which profiles US conservative politician Kinzinger as he breaks ranks with the GOP to criticize Donald Trump; Space Cowboy, directed by Marah Strauch (Sunshine Superman) and Bryce Leavitt, which captures the stunning cinematography and complicated life of skydiver Jennings; So Surreal: Behind the Masks, directed by Neil Diamond (Reel Injun) and Joanne Robertson, which covers the effort to return cultural artifacts to the Yup’ik and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nations; and Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, directed by Sinéad O’Shea (Pray for Our Sinners, TIFF ’22), which profiles the ground-breaking Irish novelist “who broke taboos with her sexual candour.”
Other World Premieres include Halima Elkhatabi’s Living Together, Ted Passon’s Patrice: The Movie, Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc’s Tata, Anastasiia Bortuali’s Temporary Shelter, Santiago Esteinou’s The Freedom of Fierro, Sue Kim’s The Last of the Sea Women, and Ali Weinstein’s Your Tomorrow.
TIFF Docs programme selection 2024
- A Sisters’ Tale by Leila Amini | Switzerland/France/Iran. International Premiere
- Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story by Sinéad O’Shea | Ireland/United Kingdom. World Premiere
- Ernest Cole: Lost and Found by Raoul Peck | France. North American Premiere
- From Ground Zero by 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. North American Premiere
- Living Together by Halima Elkhatabi | Canada. World Premiere
- Men of War Jen Gatien by Billy Corben | USA/Canada. World Premiere
- Mistress Dispeller by Elizabeth Lo | China/USA. North American Premiere
- No Other Land by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor | Palestine/Norway. Canadian Premiere
- Patrice: The Movie by Ted Passon | USA. World Premiere
- Russians at War Anastasia Trofimova | Canada/France. North American Premiere
- So Surreal: Behind the Masks by Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson | Canada. World Premiere
- Space Cowboy by Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt | USA. World Premiere
- Sudan, remember us by Hind Meddeb | France/Tunisia/Qatar. North American Premiere
- Tata Lina Vdovîi by Radu Ciorniciuc | Romania/Germany/Netherlands. World Premiere
- Temporary Shelter by Anastasiia Bortuali | Iceland. World Premiere
- The Freedom of Fierro by Santiago Esteinou | Mexico/Canada/Greece. World Premiere
- The Last of the Sea Women by Sue Kim | USA. World Premiere
- The Last Republican Steve Pink | USA. World Premiere
- Vice is Broke by Eddie Huang | USA. World Premiere
- Wishing on a Star by Peter Kerekes | Italy/Slovakia/Czech Republic/Austria/Croatia. North American Premiere
- Your Tomorrow by Ali Weinstein | Canada. World Premiere
