The Toronto International Film Festival has burnished its reputation as one of starriest and glitziest festivals in the world, with a vibrant acquisitions market that’s also a critical stop for films looking for awards season oomph. However, with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes threatening to keep Hollywood’s biggest stars off the red carpet, TIFF is seizing the opportunity to remind audiences and the industry of its longstanding and impressive world cinema credentials. And in 2023, TIFF is putting the emphasis on international.
Last month, as the industry wondered aloud about the impact of the strikes on festivals, TIFF leadership issued a statement noting that over 70% of the 2023 lineup features non-U.S. producers, from over 70 countries around the world. Sections such as Centerpiece (formerly World Contemporary Cinema) and Discovery have long served as hubs for the festival’s international films, which span its entire lineup. In 2015, TIFF furthered its commitment with the launch of Platform, a juried competition section specifically designed for films that don’t have North American distribution.
European cinema in particular shines this year as the programming team have ensured there’ll be no shortage of highly anticipated World and International Premieres from prominent filmmakers — such as Ladj Ly (Les Indésirables), Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (A Difficult Year), and Lukas Moodysson (Together 99) — to slot alongside their curated selection of hot titles from Cannes and Berlin that continue to buzz among cinephiles (including Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of A Fall, Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World, Music, Robot Dreams, Last Summer, and Fallen Leaves).
Digging deeper into TIFF’s 2023 lineup, the strong presence of European films — many of them tagged by the EFP (European Film Promotion) this year — further amplifies the festival’s global reach, with numerous surprises waiting to be uncovered. In the Platform section, filmmakers and jury members Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk), Nadine Labaki (Capernaum), and Anthony Shim (2022 Platform Prize–winner for Riceboy Sleeps) will consider a strong batch of contenders. Among them is Spirit of Ecstasy, which finds French pop star Claire Pommet taking on her first big screen role in director Héléna Klotz’s sophomore feature, following a young, non-binary person trying to find their personal path to freedom in the world of finance. Also unveiling their second feature is Ginevra Elkann with her star-studded I Told You So, in which a January heatwave in Rome pushes an ensemble of characters to the brink. Hanna Slak’s latest feature brings acclaimed cinematographer Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady On Fire) into the fold for Not A Word, focused on a conductor who must face troubling truths about her teenage son. Meanwhile, Axel Petersén returns to TIFF with Shame on Dry Land, a thriller set in a community of Swedish expats in Malta.
The extensive Centerpiece slate also brims with films from across Europe. Selections include Elisabeth Scharang’s Woodland, based on the bestselling novel by Doris Knecht, the story of a woman grappling with trauma after witnessing a horrific terrorist attack. A Happy Day finds filmmaker Hisham Zaman chronicling the romance and drama that unravels between three teenage friends hatching an escape plan from a Norwegian center for asylum seekers.
Elsewhere, Iceland is represented by Ninna Pálmadóttir’s Solitude in the Discovery lineup, in which a rural, middle-aged recluse strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 10-year-old boy when he’s forced to move to the city. Homecoming, from Suvi West and Anssi Kömi, is a documentary tracking the timely story of the return of Indigenous Sámi artifacts to their homeland from a Helsiniki museum. For those looking for something a little more freaky, Mladen Djordjevic’s Working Class Goes To Hell comes to Midnight Madness, weaving a supernatural spell about a small-town labour union who turn to the dark arts to overcome the rapacious actions of their factory’s new owners.
Outside of screenings, industry professionals will have further opportunities to engage with the filmmakers and producers putting European moviemaking on the map. Events include: the Visionaries conversation series that will find Ladj Ly and Nadine Labaki among the participants; Nora El Hourch (Sisterhood) and Katja Gauriloff (Je’vida) discussing their TIFF films, process, and more; and a Spotlight session focused on the thriving Polish cinema scene.
The 48th edition of TIFF runs from September 7-17 and this year, more than ever, it feels like the world is coming to Toronto.
