Toronto Film Festival Unveils Documentary, Midnight, Discovery Lineups

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled its documentary, discovery, and midnight programs.

The lineup of 25 nonfiction works in the documentary category cover an array of topics and subjects — ranging from immigration to corruption in politics to Truman Capote’s rarefied social circle. The announcement comes as documentaries have become one of the most reliable sources of box office revenues for indie studios. Films such as “Free Solo” and “RBG” were among the biggest arthouse hits of 2018 and there’s a lot of interest among buyers in the films in this section. Thom Powers, TIFF Docs programmer, attributes the rising commercial prospects of these films to the ubiquity of non-fiction works on Netflix and other streaming services.

“People have developed a real appetite for documentary films similar to the way they once developed an appetite for serial television,” says Powers. “Once they started sampling, they just wanted more. With Netflix the ease of access is so much greater today than it was even 10 years ago.”

The section will open with the world premiere of “The Cave,” Feras Fayyad’s look at a Syrian hospital that is led be a female doctor. Other films include Barbara Kopple’s “Desert One,” the story of a hostage rescue mission in Iran; “The Capote Tapes,” a biography of the Southern writer behind “In Cold Blood”; “And We Go Green,” a look at racers in the Formula E competition for electric cars that was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio; and Eva Orner’s “Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator,” an investigation into Bikram Choudhury, a controversial yoga teacher who was accused of sexual misconduct and assault.

Toronto’s Discovery program boasts of 37 films from emerging filmmakers who represent 35 countries. This section includes a number of works from female filmmakers — 54% of the movies selected are directed by women. The program will open with Chiara Malta’s “Simple Women,” the story of a director’s chance meeting meeting with an actor she idolized in her youth.

Ten genre and boundary pushing movies comprise the festival’s Midnight Madness lineup. They include “Color Out of Space,” an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation that stars Nicolas Cage and is directed by Richard Stanley; Rose Glass’s psychological thriller “Saint Maud”; and Joko Anwar’s “Gundala,” which is based on the Indonesian superhero comic books by Harya “Hasmi” Suraminata.

Last month, Toronto released its main competition lineup. It’s an eclectic mix of films, one that dances between animated fare, comic book adaptations, and awards season contenders. “Joker,” an R-rated look at Batman’s main antagonist; “Ford v. Ferrari,” a drama about a team of designers developing a new racing car that stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale; and “Just Mercy,” a court room drama with Michael B. Jordan are just a few of the movies that will screen in Canada.

The festival runs Sept. 5 to Sept. 15.

Films screening as part of the TIFF Docs program include:

And We Go Green

Fisher Stevens, Malcolm Venville | USA
World Premiere

The Australian Dream

Daniel Gordon | Australia/United Kingdom
International Premiere

Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator

Eva Orner | USA
World Premiere

The Capote Tapes

Ebs Burnough | United Kingdom
World Premiere

TIFF Docs Opening Film*

The Cave

Feras Fayyad | Syria/Denmark/Germany/USA/Qatar
World Premiere

Citizen K

Alex Gibney | USA/United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Collective (Colectiv)

Alexander Nanau | Romania/Luxembourg
North American Premiere

Coppers

Alan Zweig | Canada
World Premiere

The Cordillera of Dreams (La Cordillera de los Sueños)

Patricio Guzmán | France/Chile
North American Premiere

Cunningham

Alla Kovgan | Germany/France/USA
World Premiere

Dads

Bryce Dallas Howard | USA
World Premiere

Desert One

Barbara Kopple | USA
World Premiere

I Am Not Alone

Garin Hovannisian | Armenia/USA
World Premiere

Ibrahim: A Fate to Define

Lina Al Abed | Lebanon/Palestine/Denmark/Qatar/Slovenia
North American Premiere

The Kingmaker

Lauren Greenfield | USA
Canadian Premiere

Letter to the Editor

Alan Berliner | USA
World Premiere

Love Child

Eva Mulvad | Denmark
World Premiere

My English Cousin

Karim Sayad | Switzerland/Qatar
World Premiere

Paris Stalingrad

Hind Meddeb | France
International Premiere

Ready for War

Andrew Renzi | USA
World Premiere

Red Penguins

Gabe Polsky | USA/Russia
World Premiere

Sing Me A Song

Thomas Balmès | France/Germany/Switzerland
World Premiere

There’s Something in the Water

Ellen Page, Ian Daniel | Canada
World Premiere

This Is Not a Movie

Yung Chang | Canada/Germany
World Premiere

Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema

Mark Cousins | United Kingdom
World Premiere

Films screening as part of the Discovery program include:

1982

Oualid Mouaness | United States/Lebanon/Norway/Qatar
World Premiere

AFRICA

Oren Gerner | Israel
World Premiere

The Antenna (Bina)

Orçun Behram | Turkey
World Premiere

The Audition (Das Vorspiel)

Ina Weisse | Germany/France
World Premiere

August (Agosto)

Armando Capó | Cuba/Costa Rica/France
World Premiere

Black Conflux

Nicole Dorsey | Canada
World Premiere

Bring Me Home (Na-reul cha-ja-jwo)

Kim Seung-woo | South Korea
World Premiere

A Bump Along The Way

Shelly Love | United Kingdom
International Premiere

Calm With Horses

Nick Rowland | United Kingdom/Ireland
World Premiere

Certified Mail (Bi Elm El Wossul)

Hisham Saqr | Egypt
World Premiere

Comets

Tamar Shavgulidze | Georgia
World Premiere

Disco

Jorunn Myklebust Syversen | Norway
World Premiere

Easy Land

Sanja Zivkovic | Canada
World Premiere

Entwined

Minos Nikolakakis | Greece
World Premiere

The Giant

David Raboy | USA
World Premiere

The Good Intentions (Las Buenas Intenciones)

Ana García Blaya | Argentina
World Premiere

Hearts and Bones

Ben Lawrence | Australia
International Premiere

Hope (Håp)

Maria Sødahl | Norway/Sweden
World Premiere

Kuessipan

Myriam Verreault | Canada
World Premiere

Lina from Lima

María Paz González | Chile/Argentina/Peru
World Premiere

The Lost Okoroshi

Abba Makama | Nigeria
World Premiere

Love Me Tender

Klaudia Reynicke | Switzerland
International Premiere

Murmur

Heather Young | Canada
World Premiere

My Life as a Comedian (En komikers uppväxt)

Rojda Sekersöz | Sweden/Belgium
World Premiere

Noura’s Dream

Hinde Boujemaa | Tunisia/Belgium/France
World Premiere

The Obituary of Tunde Johnson

Ali LeRoi | USA
World Premiere

Pompei

Anna Falguères, John Shank | Belgium/Canada/France
World Premiere

Raf

Harry Cepka | Canada/USA
World Premiere

The Rest of Us

Aisling Chin-Yee | Canada
World Premiere

Sea Fever

Neasa Hardiman | Ireland/Sweden/Belgium/United Kingdom
World Premiere

*Discovery Opening Film*

Simple Women

Chiara Malta | Italy/Romania
World Premiere

Sole

Carlo Sironi | Italy/Poland
International Premiere

Son-Mother (Pesar-Madar)

Mahnaz Mohammadi | Iran/Czech Republic
World Premiere

Stories From The Chestnut Woods (Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov)

Gregor Božič | Slovenia/Italy
World Premiere

Sweetness in the Belly

Zeresenay Berhane Mehari | Ireland/Canada
World Premiere

Two of Us (Deux)

Filippo Meneghetti | France/Luxembourg/Belgium
World Premiere

ZANA

Antoneta Kastrati | Albania/Kosovo
World Premiere

Films screening as part of the Midnight Madness programme include:

*Midnight Madness Opening Film*

Blood Quantum

Jeff Barnaby | Canada
World Premiere

Color Out of Space

Richard Stanley | USA
World Premiere

*Midnight Madness Closing Film*

Crazy World

Isaac Nabwana | Uganda
World Premiere

First Love (Hatsukoi)

Takashi Miike | Japan/United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Gundala

Joko Anwar | Indonesia
International Premiere

The Platform (El Hoyo)

Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia | Spain
World Premiere

Saint Maud

Rose Glass | United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Twentieth Century

Matthew Rankin | Canada
World Premiere

The Vast of Night

Andrew Patterson | USA
Canadian Premiere

The Vigil

Keith Thomas | USA
World Premiere