Is it even possible to whittle down TIFF’s line-up to 15? This year TIFF has 399 shorts and features playing the festival, an insane number that has us asking questions like “Why are there so many movies?” and “Why couldn’t the 400th movie be Carol?” among many others.

Every year at TIFF is an embarrassment of riches, and this year is no different, so we had a tough time narrowing our choices down to what we consider the essentials (even crueler: it’s unlikely we’ll catch all of these at the festival, meaning we’re praying some of these get released soon or get some sort of distribution deal). But we did manage to come up with a list, and it’s a varied one. There are some films we missed at festivals earlier this year, some brand spanking new ones by directors we love, a return from a master of the cinema, and one film from a newbie that looks like it could be one of the most unforgettable experiences of this year’s festival.

Read on to see our picks below, and be sure to keep reading the site for our coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival for the rest of the month.

Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman. A name that, for those familiar with the man’s work, justifies the length of a paragraph to be all but two words on this list. Kaufman’s screenplays—Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind–-burst people’s notions of original comedy, with plots, settings, characters, and dialogue that turned the ordinary into the fascinatingly unique. It’s easy to get lost in Kaufman’s eccentricities, but there’s profound stuff underneath his squiggly surface (especially evident with his directorial debut Synecdoche, New York). His latest effort is a stop-motion animation feature, co-directed by Duke Johnson, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Thewlis, and Kaufman regular Tom Noonan providing the voice talent, about a misanthrope travelling to Cincinnati to give a keynote speech about his bestselling book on customer service. From the purportedly fantastic look of the film, to the much welcomed return of Kaufman’s sui generis imagination, everything about Anomalisa so far (including early raves from Telluride) fills this film to the gills with promise. [Nik]

Arabian Nights

Miguel Gomes has been popping his head out from the subterranean levels of arthouse since 2008’s Our Beloved Month of August, but it was his sensational and half-silent 2012 film Tabu that wrote him on the proverbial map with permanent ink. Now he’s back with what is his most ambitious effort to date, a sprawling 6-hour epic split into three volumes based on the infamous Middle Eastern and Asian stories, 1001 Nights. Going by the popular English title of the collection, Arabian Nights pushes the boundaries of narrative with its three volumes—titled The Restless One, The Desolate One, The Enchanted One respectively—and sets events in Portugal, elucidating on the country’s socioeconomic issues through allegory and Gomes’ signature vigor for cinematic storytelling. Using a mesh of satire and fantasy, fiction and non-fiction, the film has been hailed as a genuinely stirring cinematic experience in all respects since it premiered in Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight, and we are beyond excited to see it at TIFF. [Nik]

The Assassin

Gestating in development for over ten years, and scaling a mountain of budgetary hurdles all while learning to adjust to the ever-changing climate of film production, Hou Hisao-Hisen’s latest film is finally here. For a film that’s been anticipated this long, directed by a beloved legend of Taiwanese arthouse cinema, the hype for The Assassin was strained with a mix of excitement and slight trepidation before it premiered at Cannes. The film turned out to be a critical hit, and Hou was commemorated with a Best Director prize (many believed it would walk away with the Palme). This wuxia tale follows a trained killer (Shu Qi) who is forced to choose between her heart and her profession when she gets her latest assignment. Yeah, it’s a synopsis bland enough to fit the description of the worst kind of Steven Segal movie, but its plot is not why The Assassin has already been hailed as a masterpiece by many. With a master filmmaker at the helm, the film’s qualities are found in its aesthetics, mood, composition, and a refined kind of slow-burning mystery that seems to cast a spell on all who see it. Yummy. [Nik]

Baskin

After discovering Baskin’s inclusion in the Midnight Madness programme, I contacted director Can Evrenol to get a glimpse at his 2013 short film (which this film is based on). Evrenol was gracious enough to let me see his short, and the moment it ended I knew I had to catch his feature-length adaptation at TIFF. Both the short and the film have the same synopsis: a group of cops responding to a call for backup arrive at an abandoned building that turns out to be the home of some sort of horrifying dark arts ritual. By the time the cops realise they’ve stumbled into some seriously freaky, occult type stuff, all hell literally breaks loose. The short is a brief and twisted slice of fun, and Baskin looks like it’s expanding in all the right ways: gorier, nastier, and with plenty more horrifying surprises in store. Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes has gone on record saying that Baskin might rival the legendary premiere of Martyrs at TIFF in 2008, and based on what I’ve seen of Baskin, I’m inclined to believe he might turn out to be right. [C.J.]

Beasts of No Nation

Fresh off the enormous success of True Detective, Cary Fukunaga returns to the big screen with more critical clout than ever before. Beasts of No Nation marks the writer/director’s third feature, and it looks to be a work of greater intensity and visceral impact than either of his previous films. From a Mexican immigration drama (Sin Nombre) to a classic bildungsroman adaptation set in Victorian England (Jane Eyre), Fukunaga now takes us to an unnamed country in Africa where a young boy struck by tragedy is forced to become a child soldier in a ferocious civil war. Fukunaga’s versatility is truly impressive, and with this film carrying the added plus of Idris Elba (in what could potentially be his greatest role yet), I’d say it’s shaping up to be yet another feather in the cap of an exciting and steadily rising filmmaker. [Byron]

Black Mass

Scott Cooper is someone who hasn’t quite broken out yet as a “name director.” Crazy Heart was acknowledged for its performances and music despite being a solid character study with real directorial sensitivity, and while Out of the Furnace proved to be somewhat bland and predictable, it still contained glimmers of a filmmaker with a distinct vision. With his third film, Black Mass, Cooper is tackling something of significant scale. It’s the story of the notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, and the project boasts a killer cast. Johnny Depp arrives in heavy makeup once again, this time in a different context, and he appears to be in rare form, exuding charisma that is terrifyingly deceptive rather than merely quirky. With such a weighty subject, there’s a lot that could go wrong, but hopefully Cooper rises to the occasion and finally takes the spotlight, delivering something more like The Departed than Killing Them Softly. [Byron]

Cemetery of Splendour

Arguably the greatest arthouse filmmaker of the 21st century, Apichatpong Weerasethakul is more beloved than the spelling of his full name is hard to memorize. Every feature he’s directed—most especially Tropical Malady, Syndromes of a Century, and Palme D’Or-winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives—has been studied by cinephiles for their hypnotic power and spiritual sensations. His latest is titled Cemetery of Splendor, and if that’s not enticing enough (it should be), its Cannes premiere was met with the kind of plaudits worthy of Weerasethakul’s venerated oeuvre. The film follows a housewife who volunteers at a clinic where she befriends a soldier with a mysterious sleeping sickness and meets a medium who helps family members communicate with their comatose relatives. In typical Weerasethakul fashion, dreams, memory, and romance are weaved together to create a mystical viewing experience. We couldn’t be more ready for this. [Nik]

Evolution

Way back in January of this year, I picked Lucile Hadžihalilović’s Evolution as one of my most anticipated films of 2015. I figured it would premiere at Cannes, given it went into production last year, but Cannes came and went without her film appearing. I forgot about the film (partially to not disappoint myself again), so once it got announced at part of TIFF’s Vanguard programme this year I was ecstatic. Little was known about Evolution back when I first wrote about it, but now there’s a better idea of what to expect. The film centres on a ten-year-old boy living on an island with no adult males, only women and young boys like himself. The boys undergo various medical experiments, and Nicholas decides to investigate what’s going on. Rather than explain why Evolution is on my radar again, I’ll just quote its programmer Colin Geddes who told me it’s “a sublime, body horror, fairy tale mystery.” I don’t think it’s possible to hear a description like that and not get intrigued. [C.J.]

High-Rise

I won’t lie: I’ve been deliberately avoiding learning much about Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise, which is having its world premiere this year in TIFF’s competitive Platform programme. I know it has a killer cast (Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Elisabeth Moss and Luke Evans, to name a few). I know it’s an adaptation of a J.G. Ballard novel, it involves different people living in an apartment building, and that Clint Mansell is doing the score. That’s about it. So why am I putting this down as one of my most anticipated titles of TIFF? Because Ben Wheatley is one of the more exciting names in international cinema right now, hopping between genres with ease and delivering films that are truly distinct. This looks like a return to the moodier, intense fare of Kill List along with the chamber piece quality of his terrific debut Down Terrace (which largely took place in a house). High-Rise sounds like a literal expansion for Wheatley compared to his low-budget first feature: a bigger cast, a bigger budget, a bigger location and a bigger scale. Here’s hoping Wheatley makes the most of it. [C.J.]

Mountains May Depart

To be honest, I don’t know much about Mountains May Depart, but what I do know is that Jia Zhangke’s A Touch of Sin was one of the best movies to emerge from 2013. Brutal and depressing in equal measures, the film is an anthology that presented the deeply troubled nature of modern China through powerful allegory. Jia’s follow-up seems to cover similarly ambitious ground, spanning two generations and confronting the effects of a rapidly changing societal landscape. No matter what the story details are, Mountains May Depart is a must-see purely because it places the audience in the secure hands of a great cinematic social commentator. [Byron]

Office

Want to know how much I love Johnnie To? Whenever I see the word “musical” I tend to run in the other direction, yet I’m clearing my TIFF schedule to fit in the musical Office because he’s helming it. The film marks two firsts for To, a director who’s been working for decades with an insanely prolific and consistent output; it’s his first musical, and his first film in 3D. Seeing To tackle new areas only gets me more excited, because he’s shown multiple times that he has no problem adapting any genre to his economic and quick-paced style. Based on the hit play by Sylvia Chang (who also stars in Mountains May Depart), Office sounds like a continuation of To’s recent fixation on the corporate class and the 2008 financial crisis seen in films like Don’t Go Breaking My Heart and Life Without Principle. But this time, To has recruited big names like Chang and Chow Yun-Fat, along with (what sounds like) full-blown song and dance numbers. Early word on Office has been great, and I can’t wait to see what will surely be To’s unique take on the musical. [C.J.]

Sunset Song

Suffused with rich feeling and evocative melancholia, Terence Davies’ movies are like a vintage wine that sentimentality has rendered priceless; only to be uncorked for a momentous occasion. Which is exactly what the world premiere of his latest picture, Sunset Song, already feels like. Coming off the heels of The Deep Blue Sea, probably the most underrated and misunderstood film of its year, Sunset Song is a period piece set in the cinegenic Scottish countryside of the 1930s, and based on a book by Lewis Grassic Gibon that’s been called the most important Scottish novel of the 20th century. Other than a few gorgeous-looking stills, and the announcement of the cast which includes the brilliant Peter Mullan, mum’s been the word on the details behind Davies’ adaptation. But if he sticks close to Gibbon’s story, we’ll be following the hard life of young Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn), a woman growing up in a dysfunctional household, on a farm in Scotland. We expect nothing less than the same refined and lyrical cinematic precision we’ve been getting from one of Britain’s most celebrated auteurs. [Nik]

Where to Invade Next?

America’s most divisive filmmaker returns with a new documentary sure to inspire an avalanche of critical blog posts, angry tweets and bitter Fox News segments. It’s been six years since Michael Moore released Capitalism: A Love Story, and little is known about his new project outside of the vague notion that it will concern the United States’ unending condition of being at war in some capacity. I’ve always been fond of Moore’s work, despite the loudness of his mouth and the dubiousness of his specific claims. For sheer entertainment value, his films are about as hilariously satirical as documentaries get, but beneath the unabashed agenda and supposed methods of misdirection lies a sobering reality demanding our immediate attention. For this reason, I can’t wait to see Where to Invade Next? and revel in the controversy it will inevitably stir up. [Byron]

The Witch

If the reactions out of Sundance earlier this year are any indication, The Witch is the latest installment in a recent string of thoughtful indie horror pictures (such as It Follows and The Babadook) vying for “instant classic” status. The film is a period piece—something far too uncommon in the genre these days—and tells the tale of 17^th century New England settlers encountering evil forces in a nearby forest while perhaps confronting their own inner demons as well. I like my horror cinema grim and ambiguous, and the film’s brilliant trailer seems to promise a gloomy tone and ominous atmosphere, along with what might be the most malevolent on-screen goat since Drag Me to Hell (although likely not as humorous). A 2016 release date pretty much guarantees a series of sold-out shows at this year’s fest, so don’t hesitate to check it out if you get the chance. [Byron]

Yakuza Apocalypse

Back in May when Yakuza Apocalypse premiered at Cannes, it sounded like Takashi Miike was back in full-force. But then again, considering his insanely prolific output (I’ve lost track of his films, there are too many), “full-force” seems to be status quo for Miike. The image above should give you an idea of what Yakuza Apocalypse might be like: insane, bonkers, all over the place, nonsensical and yet completely entertaining to watch. The film starts out with a Yakuza boss revealed to be a vampire, and soon the entire town he rules over gets converted into vampires as they try to remove threats to their way of life. And also there’s something about a fighting alien toad, the apocalypse, and whatever else Miike could think of apparently. When it comes to Miike, I don’t ask questions anymore. He’s proven himself to be an amazing director, so when I get the chance to see one of his latest films I’ll go on blind faith. Sometimes his films don’t work out for me, but other times they work spectacularly. Yakuza Apocalypse looks like it’s going to fall more into the “spectacular” category. [C.J.]

Still parsing through the lineup of 59 films announced by the Toronto International Film Festival last week? Well TIFF was just getting started. Today the festival revealed films set to play in several programmes. Read on to learn what programmes were announced, along with some of the more notable films in the bunch.

First up is Midnight Madness, one of the more popular programmes of the festival. The programme dedicates itself to wacky, shocking, funny, scary and extreme films from around the world. Every night of the festival brings a new, exciting premiere at the stroke of midnight for the programme’s passionate and dedicated fans. Programmer Colin Geddes tends to launch some big genre films every year, with past festivals premiering films like You’re Next, Insidious, The Raid: Redemption and Oculus. This year the programme opens with Sion Sono’s latest film Tokyo Tribe, and closes with Adam Wingard‘s The Guest. Other films playing are It Follows, which caused a stir earlier this year at Cannes; Jermaine Clement & Taika Waititi’s vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows; Kevin Smith’s Tusk; [REC]: Apocalypse, the fourth entry in the hit Spanish franchise, and Big Game, the new film from the director of past TIFF film Rare Exports starring Samuel L. Jackson as the president.

Next up is Vanguard, the programme people like to describe as Midnight Madness’ older, darker sister. This area of the festival reserves itself for some truly wild, original material. This year we’ll be seeing the likes of Dave McKean (MirrorMask) with his latest film Luna; Fabrice du Welz‘s Alleluia; Takashi Miike‘s Over Your Dead Body, and, most excitingly, Peter Strickland‘s The Duke of Burgundy, his follow-up to Berberian Sound Studio.

TIFF Docs is, well, exactly that. The documentary arm of the festival is set to show off new works from Frederick Wiseman, Joshua Oppenheimer, Ethan Hawke, and Nick Broomfield, among many others. As always, documentary fans have plenty to chew on here.

Finally, Masters deals exclusively with top-tier arthouse filmmakers from around the world, and this year brings yet another impressive line-up of names. Roy Andersson finally emerges with his new film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, and Jean-Luc Godard‘s latest Goodbye to Language 3D will also screen. Works from renowned directors like Michael Winterbottom, Ann Hui and Hong Sang-Soo will also screen. Also screening is Leviathan, a film we raved about at Cannes this year.

Read on for full descriptions of everything announced today. The Toronto International Film Festival happens from September 4th to 14th, 2014, in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, including how to buy tickets, you can visit www.tiff.net/thefestival.

Midnight Madness

[REC] 4: Apocalypse (Jaume Balagueró), Spain World Premiere
Angela Vidal wakes up in a high-security quarantine facility, sole survivor and witness to the horrific events inside the building. But does she remember what happened to her? Is she carrying a virus? Distrust spreads through the isolated facility while new, even more deadly forms of evil spread even faster.

Big Game (Jalmari Heleander), Finland/United Kingdom/Germany World Premiere
The fate of the most powerful man in the world lies in the hands of a 13-year-old boy. Plunged into a deadly game of cat and mouse, Oskari and the president must team up to survive the most extraordinary night of their lives.

Cub (Jonas Govaerts), Belgium World Premiere
Young, imaginative 12-year-old Sam heads off to camp with his Cub Scouts pack. In the woods, he stumbles upon a strange treehouse and a masked, feral child. When his leaders ignore his warnings about the mysterious boy, Sam starts to feel increasingly isolated from the pack, and convinced a terrible fate awaits them all.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (Mark Hartley), Australia International Premiere
Director Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood, Machete Maidens Unleashed!) continues his delightful documentary disinterment of down-market movie detritus with this chronicle of the rise and fall of 1980s action-exploitation juggernaut Cannon Films, whose contributions to the cinematic canon include American Ninja, The Delta Force, Death Wish II and Masters of the Universe.

The Guest (Adam Wingard), USA Canadian Premiere
The follow-up to Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s wildly popular You’re Next, The Guest tells the story of a mysterious and devastatingly charming visitor, David (Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey) who arrives on the doorstep of a bereaved family claiming to be the best friend of their dead son, a young soldier who died in action. The Petersons welcome David into their home and into their lives, but when people start mysteriously dying in town, their teenage daughter Anna (Maika Monroe of It Follows) starts wondering if David is responsible.

It Follows (David Robert Mitchell), USA North American Premiere
For 19-year-old Jay (Maika Monroe), the fall should be about school, boys and weekends at the lake. Yet after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter she suddenly finds herself plagued by nightmarish visions; she can’t shake the sensation that someone, or something, is following her. As the threat closes in, Jay and her friends must somehow escape the horrors that are only a few steps behind. With a riveting central performance from Monroe and a strikingly ominous electronic score by Disasterpeace, It Follows is an artful psychosexual thriller from David Robert Mitchell (whose The Myth of the American Sleepover premiered at Critics’ Week in 2010). The film also stars Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe.

Midnight Madness Opening Night Film.

Tokyo Tribe (Sion Sono), Japan International Premiere
Set in an alternate Tokyo of the near future, director Sion Sono continues his run of sensational films with the explosive street gang tale Tokyo Tribe. Tokyo Tribe is the first live-action adaptation of the best-selling manga series Tokyo Tribe 2, by Santa Inoue, which has sold two million copies and has been published in Asia and the west to great popularity.

Tusk (Kevin Smith), USA World Premiere
Wallace (Justin Long) is a podcaster on a mission who thinks he has found the story of a lifetime in Howard Howe (Michael Parks), an adventurer with amazing stories and a curious penchant for walruses. When Mr. Howe’s true desires unfold, things take a dark turn and Wallace faces a terrifying transformation at the hands of his captor. As his friends Alison and Teddy (Genesis Rodriguez and Haley Joel Osment) search the backwoods of Canada to rescue him, they discover a nightmare from which there is no escape. Conceived from one of indie legend Kevin Smith’s own Smodcast’s, Tusk is an unprecedented tale that is equal parts hilarious and horrifying.

What We Do in the Shadows Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, New Zealand/USA Canadian Premiere
Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), Viago (Taika Waititi), and Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) are three flatmates who are just trying to get by and overcome life’s obstacles—like being immortal vampires who must feast on human blood. Hundreds of years old, the vampires are finding that beyond sunlight catastrophes, hitting the main artery, and not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe without a reflection, modern society has them struggling with the mundane like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.

Vanguard

Alleluia (Fabrice Du Welz), France/Belgium North American Premiere
When Gloria and Michel meet on a dating site, nothing suggests the destructive and murderous passion that will be born of their crazy love. Alleluia is inspired by a 1947 article about nurse Martha Beck and swindler Raymond Fernandez, who became involved in a deadly, tragic affair.

The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland), United Kingdom World Premiere
Peter Strickland’s eagerly anticipated follow up to Berberian Sound Studio and Katalin Varga is a gorgeously dark melodrama following two women who test the limits of their unsettlingly intense relationship. Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) and Chiara d’Anna.

Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh, Ich seh) (Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala), Austria North American Premiere
In the heat of the summer in an isolated house in the countryside between woods and corn fields, 10-year-old twins wait for their mother. When she returns with her head wrapped in bandages after surgery, nothing is as it was before. Stern and distant now, she shuts the family off from the outside world. Starting to doubt that this woman is actually their mother, the boys are determined to find the truth by any means.

Hyena (Gerard Johnson), United Kingdom International Premiere
Michael Logan is an anti-hero for our times: a natural predator, a high-functioning addict, and corrupt police officer. But his dark world is evolving: a recent influx of ruthless Albanian gangsters is threatening to change London’s criminal landscape. Michael’s razor sharp instincts have always kept him one step ahead, but now his increasingly self-destructive behavior and the sheer brutality of the new gang lords send Michael spiraling into a descent of fear and self-doubt.

Luna (Dave McKean), United Kingdom World Premiere
Renowned artist and filmmaker Dave McKean (MirrorMask) brings his distinctive blend of live action and gorgeously wrought animation to this dreamlike reverie about four people – Grant, Christine, Dean and Freya – whose long weekend in an isolated house by the sea brings up old resentments and the life of a dead child is revisited in a series of strange dreams.

Over Your Dead Body (Takashi Miike), Japan International Premiere
A star, Miyuki Goto (Ko Shibasaki) plays Oiwa, the protagonist in a new play based on the ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan. She pulls some strings to get her lover, Kosuke Hasegawa (Ebizo Ichikawa) cast in the play, even though he’s a relatively unknown actor. Other performers Rio Asahina (Miho Nakanishi) and Jun Suzuki (Hideaki Ito) lust after Miyuki. Off stage the cast’s possessive love and obsessions exist as reality. Trapped between the play and reality, the cast’s feelings for each other are amplified. When it becomes clear that love is not meant to be both on and off stage, love turns into a grudge and crosses the blurred line between reality and fantasy.

Shrew’s Nest (Musarañas) (Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel), Spain World Premiere
Spain, 1950s. Monste’s agoraphobia keeps her locked in a sinister apartment in Madrid and her only link to reality is the little sister she sacrificed her youth to raise. But one day, a reckless young neighbour, Carlos, falls down the stairwell and drags himself to their door. Someone has entered the shrew’s nest… and perhaps he’ll never leave.

Spring (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead), USA World Premiere
A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a girl harbouring a dark, primordial secret in this edgy, romantic drama with a supernatural twist.

They Have Escaped (JP Valkeapää), Finland North American Premiere
A boy and a girl meet at a custody center for youth with difficulties. The boy has come to serve his obligatory civil service. The girl is one of the youths in custody, and she is constantly in trouble, with a fire inside her and a lust for life that can’t be quashed or controlled. The boy becomes infatuated with the girl. He is a quiet one; a stutterer. But there is a fire inside him as well. Rules, laws, punishment; the shackles of the hostile environment with no understanding around them can be broken. They steal a car and flee together. Thus begins a journey with endless escapes.

Waste Land (Pieter Van Hees), Belgium World Premiere
Leo Woeste is a homicide investigator living with his girlfriend Kathleen and her five-year-old son, Jack. Kathleen gets pregnant unexpectedly just as Leo must solve his most bizarre case to date: the ritual murder of a young Congolese man, which may or may not involve Leo’s hedonistic new colleague, Johnny Rimbaud. As the case’s complexity mounts by the minute, Leo is pulled away from Kathleen and his role as a father, and heads deeper and deeper into the Waste Land.

The World of Kanako (Kawaki) (Tetsuya Nakashima), Japan International Premiere
When beautiful straight-A high school student Kanako goes missing, her mother asks ex-husband Akikazu — a drifting, irresponsible former cop — to find their daughter. He embarks on a desperate search in the hope of reuniting his family by any means necessary. But as his investigation progresses, Akikazu starts to discover the darkness that lies behind his daughter’s impeccable façade. Clue by clue, revelation by revelation, he starts his descent into the hellish underworld of Kanako’s secret life…

TIFF Docs

Beats of the Antonov (Hajooj Kuka), Sudan/South Africa World Premiere
Beats of the Antonov follows refugees from the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan as they survive displacement and the trauma of civil war. Music, a cornerstone of their traditions and identity, becomes itself a vehicle for survival.

I Am Here (Wo Jiu Shi Wo) (Lixin Fan), China International Premiere
During the summer of 2013, 12 young boys battle each other for the No. 1 spot in Super Boys, a decade-old American Idol-style TV talent show in China. They discover who they are and learn to love each other in the process. From the director of Last Train Home.

Iraqi Odyssey (Samir), Iraq/Switzerland/Germany/United Arab Emirates World Premiere
Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir (Forget Baghdad) pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war, and foreign occupation.

Merchants of Doubt (Robert Kenner), USA Canadian Premiere
Documentarian Robert Kenner (Food, Inc.) investigates the shadowy world of professional skeptics, whose services are bought and paid for by corporations, think tanks and other special interests to cast doubt and delay on public and governmental action on climate change.

National Diploma (Examen d’Etat) (Dieudo Hamadi), France/Congo North American Premiere
A group of young Congolese high-school students who are about to write the exam for their National Diploma in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, gather in a maquis (communal house) to help each other prepare. It is common practice to be ejected from classes during the school year for failing to pay “teachers’ fees”, but the students are determined, and resort to all means at their disposal to earn a diploma, a stepping stone out of a life of poverty.

National Gallery (Frederick Wiseman), France/USA North American Premiere
Master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (Crazy Horse, At Berkeley) takes the audience behind the scenes of this London institution, which is inhabited by masterpieces of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. In a perpetual and dizzying game of mirrors, the film presents a portrait of a place, its inner workings, and its relationship with the world, its staff, its public and its paintings.

Natural Resistance (Jonathan Nossiter), Italy/France North American Premiere
A group of Italian vineyard proprietors live a life many can only dream of. In their converted 11th-century monastery and winery in Tuscany, Giovanna Tiezzi and Stefano Borsa find a way to grow grains, fruit and wine that create a link to their ancient Etruscan heritage. Ten years after Mondovino, the wine world has changed just like the world itself. The enemy is now far greater than the threat of globalization. But against the new world economy, these natural wine rebels offer a model of charmed and joyous resistance.

Red Army (Gabe Polsky), USA/Russia Canadian Premiere
Red Army follows the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Soviet Union’s Red Army hockey team of the 1980s. Told from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the story portrays his transformation from national hero to political enemy. From the USSR to Russia, the film examines how sport mirrors social and cultural movements, and parallels the rise and fall of the Red Army team with the Soviet Union. An inspiring story about the Cold War played out on the ice rink, and the man who stood up to a powerful system and paved the way for change for generations of Russians.

Seymour: An Introduction (Ethan Hawke), USA International Premiere
Director Ethan Hawke explores the life and lessons of pianist, teacher and sage, Seymour Bernstein. Since giving up a career as a concert pianist at age 50, Seymour has dedicated his life to teaching his students about music, happiness and the power of detaching satisfaction from success.

Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Ma’a al Fidda) (Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan), Syria/France North American Premiere
The collaboration between exiled Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed and young Kurdish activist Wiam Simav Bedirxan distills footage from thousands of clandestine videos to create a shattering, on-the-ground documentary chronicle of the ordeal being undergone by ordinary Syrians in the ongoing civil war.

Sunshine Superman (Marah Strauch), USA/Norway/United Kingdom World Premiere
Sunshine Superman tells the story of Carl Boenish who pioneered and popularized the activity of BASE jumping (jumping from fixed objects with a parachute). Carl married Jean Campbell and together they travelled to Norway in 1984 to jump from the cliffs of Trollveggen. Against the backdrop of the midnight sun, tragedy strikes.

Tales of the Grim Sleeper (Nick Broomfield), USA/United Kingdom World Premiere
Nick Broomfield digs into the case of the notorious serial killer Lonnie Franklin, known as the “Grim Sleeper,” who terrorized South Central Los Angeles over a span of 25 years.

The Look of Silence (Senyap) (Joshua Oppenheimer), Denmark/Indonesia/Norway/Finland/United Kingdom Canadian Premiere
Through Joshua Oppenheimer’s work with perpetrators of the Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discover who killed their son. The youngest brother is determined to break the spell of silence and fear under which the survivors live, and confronts the men responsible for his brother’s murder.

This Is My Land (Tamara Erde), France World Premiere
This film follows several Israeli and Palestinian teachers over one academic year, observing their exchanges and confrontations with students, their debates with their respective ministries’ curriculum and its restrictions, and offering an intimate glimpse into the profound and long-lasting effect that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict transmits onto the next generation.

The Yes Men Are Revolting (Laura Nix and The Yes Men), USA World Premiere
For two decades, The Yes Men have pulled off hilarious and spectacular media hoaxes to expose corporate crime. In this intimate portrait, they are now approaching middle age and struggle to stay inspired as the worst crime of all threatens the planet. Can they get it together before the ice caps melt?

Masters

1001 Grams (Bent Hamer), Norway/Germany/France World Premiere
When Norwegian scientist Marie attends a seminar in Paris on the actual weight of a kilo, it is her own measurement of disappointment, grief and love that ends up on the scale. Starring Ane Dahl Torp, Laurent Stocker and Stein Winge.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron) (Roy Andersson), Sweden/Norway/France/Germany North American Premiere
Like a modern-day Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Sam and Jonathan, two travelling salesmen peddling novelty items, take audiences on a kaleidoscopic journey through human destinies. This is a trip that shows us the beauty of single moments, the pettiness of others, the humour and tragedy that is in us, and the frailty of humanity.

The Face of an Angel (Michael Winterbottom), United Kingdom World Premiere
Why are we fascinated by murder? Inspired by the killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, this film looks beyond the salacious headlines to explore both the media and the public’s obsession with violent stories, whether fictional or real. Starring Daniel Brühl, Kate Beckinsale, Valerio Mastandrea and Cara Delevingne.

The Golden Era (Huang jin shi dai) (Ann Hui), China/Hong Kong North American Premiere
Xiao Hong, one of the most famous female writers, lived through the most turbulent times in contemporary China. Her estrangement from her father sparked a long quest for an emotionally satisfying life. She was rescued from poverty by writer Xiao Jun, but their competitive relationship brought her more heartache than joy. While escaping the Japanese invasion, she married novelist Duanmu Hongliang and fled to Hong Kong. Starring Tang Wei and Feng Shao Feng.

Goodbye to Language 3D (Adieu au langage 3D) (Jean-Luc Godard), France North American Premiere
The idea is simple: A married woman and a single man meet. They love, they argue, fists fly. A dog strays between town and country. The seasons pass. The man and woman meet again. The dog finds itself between them. The other is in one, the one is in the other and they are three. The former husband shatters everything. A second film begins: the same as the first, and yet not. From the human race we pass to metaphor. This ends in barking and a baby’s cries. In the meantime, we will have seen people talking of the demise of the dollar, of truth in mathematics and of the death of a robin.

Hill of Freedom (Ja-yu-ui eon-deok) (Hong Sang-soo), South Korea North American Premiere
South Korean master Hong Sang-soo crafts yet another delightful, soju-saturated tale of love thwarted in this story of a heartsick Japanese man who travels to Seoul to attempt a reunion with the woman he still pines for. Starring Ryo Kase, Sori Moon, Younghwa Seo and Euisung Kim.

Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev), Russia Canadian Premiere
Kolia lives in a small fishing town near the Barents Sea. He owns an auto-repair shop that stands right next to the house where he lives with his young wife Lilya (Elena Liadova) and his son Roma (Sergueï Pokhodaev) from a previous marriage. The town’s corrupt mayor Vadim Shelevyat is determined to take away his business, his house, as well as his land. First the mayor tries buying off Kolia, but Kolia unflinchingly fights as hard as he can so as not to lose everything he owns. Facing resistance, the mayor starts being more aggressive. Starring Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovitchenkov, Roman Madyanov and Anna Ukolova.

Revivre (Hwajang) (Im Kwon-taek), South Korea North American Premiere
A middle-aged man who has recently lost his wife to cancer indulges in fantasies about a young woman at his work in the new film from Korean master Im Kwon-taek (Chunhyang). Starring Ahn Sung-ki, Kim Qyu-ri and Kim Ho-jung.

Timbuktu(Abderrahmane Sissako), France/Mauritania/Mali North American Premiere
Luminous, lyrical and poetic, set during the early days of the 2012 fundamentalist takeover of northern Mali and inspired by real people and real events, Timbuktu is a searing drama about the everyday woes and resistance of ordinary people in a city overrun by extremist foreign fighters. Starring Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino, Toulou Kiki and Abel Jafri.

Only God Forgives

Only God Forgives is director Nicholas Winding Refn’s most bizarre film yet, even more so than the inter-dimensional Viking picture Valhalla Rising. The marketing for his new film suggests an extension of the beloved Ryan Gosling fueled mayhem seen in Drive. However, that’s a trick. Refn refuses to repeat himself and that is not necessarily a bad thing. During the introduction to Only God Forgives Refn compared both films to drug experiences; that Drive is like doing really good cocaine all night and Only God Forgives is like doing acid in college.

The conflict begins after the elder of two psychotic brothers meets his maker for raping and murdering a young prostitute in Bangkok, where they run drugs together, and their even more psychotic mother arrives screaming for the killer’s blood. Ryan Gosling plays, Julian, the younger brother, who must deal with the complex business of revenge involving a high ranking Thai police captain.

Now that the plot has been described, forget it. Refn focuses the film on Julian’s Oedipal relationship to his mother (she mentions that he killed his own father to protect her) and police captain Chang’s sadistic stranglehold on Bangkok’s underworld. He visualizes this by obsessing over various visual metaphors for each character. Julian’s hands act as his sexual organ and his mode of violence as a boxer. Chang eventually castrates him figuratively, by severely beating him in a boxing match. This motif also makes for some very strange love scenes. Chang, Refn’s villain, rules the screen with long mesmerizing karaoke numbers that symbolize his control over Bangkok’s underworld. The Thai music during these scenes is just as enchanting as Cliff Marinez’s wonderful score. These musical driven sequences dominate most of the film’s screen time that call to mind moments in David Lynch’s early films.

Only Kristen Scott Thomas’s turn as Julian’s deranged mother disrupts the stillness of the film. She proves to be far more of a monster than Chang and steals every scene she’s in. The best moment of the film pits her against Julian who only wants to impress her with his pretty girlfriend. It is one of the few scenes with dialogue. Luckily, cinematographer Larry Smith’s images drive the film and truly establish the hallucinatory tone. If you’re not enchanted by Refn’s strange hang-ups, you’re not likely to enjoy the film, but many of the haunting images and unexpected scenes linger long after the lights come up.

RATING: 6

Lesson of Evil

Takashi Miike’s batshit crazy return to form, Lesson of Evil, will truly appease any fan of bad taste. After a droll remake of samurai classic Hara-kiri, Miike jumps back into the horror genre with his wicked sensibility intact. Lesson of Evil takes place at an average Tokyo high school where teachers grapple with the everyday problems of bullying, cell phone cheating, and teacher-student sexual assault. Super-stud English teacher Hasumi struggles to right all his school’s wrongs as he helps a student extricate herself from a blackmailed sexual relationship with the gym teacher and proposes to install cell phone jammers to eradicate cheating. But soon teachers and students become suspicious of Hasumi’s squeaky-clean persona. Miike masterfully balances a massive cast of students and teachers, while sticking closely to Hasumi’s point of view. In doing so, he establishes a high school drama while exposing subtle cracks in Hasumi’s façade. Much like his breakthrough film Audition, Miike abruptly changes directions mid-film and pulls out the rug from under audiences.

The second half of Lesson of Evil shifts into a psycho-horror comedy with an insanely un-politically correct plot twist that only could have originated from the culturally insensitive nation of Japan. Miike proves himself as a master of tone and character as he shifts from gruesome violence to side-splitting humor all within the pull of a trigger. He efficiently reintroduces peripheral characters, gives them hopes and dreams, and then kills them off with diabolical wit and gallons of gore. The dark humor Miike injects into his film hits even harder because Lesson of Evil is actually a tasteless exploitation of American headlines, but one that manages to brutally entertaining and clever.

RATING: 7

The Conjuring

A movie so scary, the MPAA rated it ‘R’ for just being way too scary. The Conjuring has amassed an impressive amount of hype as a classy horror offering from schlock director James Wan, the new master of scare of the week films Saw, Dead Silence, and Insidious. Here, he’s found a solid script from Baywatch turned thriller writers Chad and Carey Hayes that explores an unused chapter from the files of famed demonologists, The Warrens, of Amityville horror fame. Their script adapts the best elements of The Amityville Horror, a terribly overrated film ripe for an overhaul, and The Exorcist. Wan displays ample restraint in the first half of the film easing audiences into the possessed house along with the lovable and unsuspecting family parented by the excellent Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor. Cinematographer John Leonetti executes some showy, yet breathtaking shots to establish a 1970s style full of zooms and hand held camera work, while expertly shooting on digital.

The second portion of The Conjuring introduces Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the married ghost hunters. The script gives ample time to their characters and some other supernatural cases they’ve investigated, which proves extremely interesting and provides more material for scares. Both Wilson and Farmiga are good and add a higher degree of credibility to the film as does the rest of the talented cast of knowns and unknowns. In his introduction Wan said he wanted to make a picture in the vein of classic studio horror films of the 70s, that have vanished over the years. He puts those resources to work to craft a high caliber film that truly scares.

RATING: 7

The director Takashi Miike, who may be most famous for directing the horror film Audition, is the director of this epic samurai period film. 13 Assassins is set in 1844 toward the end of the Edo era that Tokyo Japan once was, when finding a true samurai warrior was growing more difficult. It is a remake of the 1963 film done by Eiichi Kudo that shares the same title. 13 Assassins is a foreign film whose premise is similar to that of the film 300, but overall they are on a different playing field, this one is much better.

The beginning warns us that Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira (Gorô Inagaki) is sadistic in nature, the warning was nice but grossly understated. Lord Naritsugu is the half-brother of the shogun looking to rise in power. It is not uncommon for him to kick around severed heads and rape anyone he chooses just for fun. In one instance, a victim not only gets their arms and legs amputated but also their tongue.

This is why the noble advisor to the Shogun, Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira), has plans to assassinate Lord Naritsugu. Doi seeks out help from one of the last true samurai, Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho), and to gather another dozen samurai warriors to join him on his quest.

For better and for worse, the film gives a background story on each one of the recruits. The result of this provides good character understanding and development but also makes the first hour of the film go by fairly slow. Some people may not be able to handle that first hour and that fact that it is all subtitled does not help matters but if you enjoy epic battle scenes enough, your patience will be rewarded.

The group of 12 samurai warriors are willing to gamble their lives in order to prevent Lord Naritsugu from ascending to the throne and bringing the entire country into a war zone. Because the title conveniently states the number of assassins, we know that the group of 12 will eventually find one more. They unexpectedly find the last assassin on their journey through a thick Japanese forest. Koyata (Yûsuke Iseya) is a hunter who does not believe in the samurai code but is a natural born fighter. He provides comic relief to an otherwise completely serious toned film, which I think really helped it. I am not sure if it was Miike’s intention but Koyata ended up being the one you care about the most even though he may seem like an afterthought at first.

Odds are not in these 13 assassin’s favor and they know that going in. They choose to fortify a small town that they believe Lord Naritsugu and his men will pass. Like a chess game, they carefully plan out each move in order to defeat their opponent. The assassins soon find out that Lord Naritsugu brings 200 of his men to fight, thus begins the 13 versus 200 battle between good and evil.

Basically the entire film is a set up for the one large epic battle at the end. This battle is undeniably amazing and extends close to 45 minutes in length. To choreograph fight sequences for that length must have been a grueling task. However, it did feel like we had to sit through each one of the nearly 200 deaths. Although the film finds a few clever ways, there are only so many different ways you can skill someone with swords so by the end it felt monotonous.

In an addition to that excellent fight sequence there are a few memorable subtexts and metaphors. The best and most obvious one comes when an assassin tells Lord Naritsugu that he is just like his sword he carries, decorated and only for show. The overall theme of 13 Assassins is the dedication of one’s life that the traditional samurai code demands.

There a couple of scenes that seemed out of place slightly, however, there are two different versions of the film and I believed I watched the international copy which has a few scenes cut for a shorter runtime. I will admit I did not fully understand one of the assassin’s death. After watching the film, you should know which one I am talking about, however, going into too much detail may give away some spoilers. There is a chance I missed something fairly obvious but I would like to assume that most people will be a little perplexed as well.

It would be tough to argue that 13 Assassins is not a terrific samurai film and that it is easily one of the better ones made within the last 5 to 7 years. Having said that, samurai films in general do not typically interest me all that much. That is why for me the film is good not great. However, the fact that I can enjoy it does prove that the film stands out among its kind.