Previews: The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival
It is almost my favorite time of year again - film festival season! Every fall, cinephiles and film critics look forward to many influential film festivals across the globe, where the greatest movies of that year are showcased and introduced to the world. My first stop on the festival circuit will be at the Toronto International Film Festival, the world's largest public film festival with the most diverse showcase of movies and filmmakers. This year's TIFF will take place September 8-18.
For the first time, I have been granted press accreditation to this year's edition of TIFF, an exciting opportunity that I hope will progress my work as a film journalist. In addition, I was fortunate enough to receive acceptance into TIFF's Media Inclusion Initiative, a program designed to highlight members of the press who identify as part of underrepresented communities, including Indigenous, Black, POC, LGBTQ+, or individuals with disabilities. Created in 2019, the Media Inclusion Initiative supplies its participants with financial support, mentorship opportunities, and prominent placement in the festival's Media Inclusion Directory. I look forward to participating in the program and the opportunities it could provide the other 73 participants and myself.
After the global pandemic necessitated TIFF to be a greatly slimmed-down event in 2020 and 2021, I am eager for the festival to return to its normal levels of sleep-deprived chaos and excitement. TIFF crowds are like no other film festival crowds - a melting pot of industry bigwigs and movie lovers from all walks of life. In the weeks leading up to the festival, I have been raking the program of films with a fine-toothed comb to figure out which movies I CAN NOT miss. From avant-garde titles to movies already earning early Oscar buzz, here are a few films I look forward to catching at this year's TIFF.
Empire of Light
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
Festival Section: Special Presentations
Canadian Premiere
After his masterful technical achievements with his last film, 1917, British filmmaker Sam Mendes will likely reenter the awards conversation this fall with his upcoming work, Empire of Light. Starring Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward, Empire of Light appears to be an intimate, scaled-back manner of Mendes' filmmaking, focusing on a love story set against the backdrop of a movie theater in a coastal village in England during the 1980s. At this point in Mendes' prolific career, the writer-director seems poised to create an emotional love letter to cinema with Empire of Light.
Holy Spider
Festival Section: Special Presentations
Canadian Premiere
Holy Spider, directed by Ali Abbasi, has been a hot title on my radar since I missed it at Cannes, where its leading lady Zahra Amir Ebrahimi was awarded the prize for Best Actress. Based loosely on the crimes of a real-life serial killer, Holy Spider takes place in Mashhad, Iran, where a female journalist faces societal antagonism while attempting to uncover a misogynistic zealot murdering women in the city. Abbasi's last film, Border, completely surprised me upon first viewing, so I look forward to his latest efforts of ambition in Holy Spider.
How To Blow Up A Pipeline
Courtesy of TIFF.
Festival Section: Platform
World Premiere
This year, premiering in TIFF's Platform section will be How To Blow Up A Pipeline. Based on a contentious book released just last year, How To Blow Up A Pipeline centers around a group of environmental activists seeking to destroy an oil pipeline. This movie will be Daniel Goldhaber's sophomore feature and sounds like just the type of exciting discovery I seek out at TIFF each year.
Living
Festival Section: Contemporary World Cinema
Canadian Premiere
Since it was picked up for U.S distribution by Sony Pictures Classics back at Sundance, Living has intrigued me as a film with early Oscar potential. Directed by South African filmmaker Oliver Hermanus, Living is a revisionment of the 1952 movie Ikiru, directed by the iconic Akira Kurosawa, which in turn was inspired by Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich. With Living, Hermanus transplants the narrative to 1950s England, with Bill Nighy portraying the main character, a miserly administrator whose perspectives on life completely shift in the face of a terminal illness. Living will also screen at Venice Film Festival and potentially Telluride, an impressive marketing choice on the part of Sony Pictures Classics that makes me believe they have high hopes for the film's awards prospects.
The Blackening
Courtesy of TIFF.
Midnight Madness Section
World Premiere
TIFF's Midnight Madness section is always a festival highlight for me, celebrating daring works of genre cinema in front of excited late-night crowds. One of the Midnight Madness titles I am most excited to check out is Tim Story's The Blackening. Based on a 2018 short film made by 3Peat Comedy group, The Blackening tackles a stereotypical trope of horror films: if everyone in the movie is Black, who is the first to die?
The Eternal Daughter
Courtesy of A24.
Special Presentations Section
North American Premiere
Hot on a roll after releasing The Souvenir parts one and two over the past three years, Joanna Hogg's filmmaking is one of my favorite recent discoveries in cinema. With subtle sensibilities that mirror the happenings of real life, Hogg's films are resounding and astute. Hogg's latest film, The Eternal Daughter, will be her first movie to screen at TIFF. Tilda Swinton stars in the film, with the early word describing it as a haunting mystery in a country home on a remote island, where Swinton's character is pushed to confront her dark personal history. A24 will be partnering with Hogg on the distribution of The Eternal Daughter, their third collaboration in the same number of years.
Will-O'-The-Wisp
Wavelengths Section
North American Premiere
Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues' newest work Will-O'-The-Wisp, is the type of singular movie that propels me to attend festivals like TIFF that platform provocative, transgressive filmmaking. Based on word-of-mouth following its Cannes premiere earlier this year, Will-O'-The-Wisp is a gonzo movie that challenges ideas of Portuguese colonial history through an absurdist, extremely queer lens. Unlikely to make a massive splash in the awards season or at the box office, I expect Will-O'-The-Wisp to be a daring and creative work that pushes the boundaries of filmmaking.