Bernard got plastered while trying on costumes this week, so CJ’s taking the wheel as he hosts this very special Halloween edition of the Way To Indiecast. Joining them is director H.P. Mendoza, who’s here to talk about his inventively spooky movie I Am A Ghost and share his favorite ghostly horror movies. Plus, as always, our Indie Picks of the Week! Happy Halloween, movie lovers!

For more of H.P.’s work, visit hpmendoza.com

Topics

• Indie Picks (2:16)
• I Am A Ghost (9:55)
• Favorite Ghostly Horror Movies (24:21)

Articles Referenced

H.P. Mendoza Interview
I Am A Ghost Review
The Look of Silence Review
Joshua Oppenheimer Indiecast
Tokyo Tribe Review
Tangerine Review

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In a dystopian Tokyo, 23 “tribes” (read: gangs) rule different sections of the city. These tribes range from the GiraGira Girls, a group of women including a whip-cracking dominatrix, to the Musashino Saru, a gang all about promoting peace and love. But it’s the Bukuro Wu-Ronz running everything, and their leader Big Buppa (Takeuchi Riki) is not to be messed with. Mera, one of Bukuro Wu-Ronz’s top members, starts a feud with Musashino Saru heads Tera (Ryuta Sato) and Kai (Young Dais), and the battle soon spins out of control, involving every other tribe in an epic battle to become the most powerful in the city. And did I mention it’s a hip-hop musical? Welcome to the insane world of Sion Sono and Tokyo Tribe.

But that’s not all! There’s also the presence of Sunmi (Nana Seino), a mysterious girl dragged into the gang conflict with some serious fighting skills. In fact, a lot of the cast can fight really well. This also happens to be a highly kinetic action film, with numerous fight scenes placed in between the rap songs sung by the massive cast. Sometani Shota provides help for viewers as the film’s MC, walking around scenes rapping exposition about different tribes and their feuds with other gangs. Just don’t bother actually trying to understand what the hell is going on, though. Tokyo Tribe is so dense and convoluted there are already 50 other things occurring the minute after a scene ends.

The density and hyperactivity of Sono’s style prove his film’s biggest strength and weakness. Sono, working with what looks like his biggest budget to date, packs as much as he possibly can into each frame. His shots are more ambitious, letting things play out in long, elaborate single takes, the camera moving all over the place. The set design is on a whole other level compared to Sono’s previous films as well, with so many elaborately designed locations for each tribe. And Sono never takes a moment to breathe, whipping back and forth between places, stuffing each one with as many extras and activity as possible, all while putting the camera right in the middle of it. It’s exhilarating, but at the same time incredibly exhausting

Trying to watch Tokyo Tribe for its story, nothing more than a standard gangster epic with a message about community, won’t maximize the amount of shock and joy Sono throws around on-screen. It’s the quirks and little moments that work best. Like Big Buppa’s son having a room where people act as his furniture. Or a massive karate fighter wishing someone a happy birthday as they punch them 50 feet in the air (one of the fighter’s only lines: “Take me! To! A sauna!”). Or an army tank driving around Tokyo blowing shit up. Tokyo Tribe is full of these kinds of insane, world-building moments, most of them hilariously original and bonkers beyond belief.

And even though Sono’s restlessness can get tiring at times, it doesn’t take away from the utter brilliance of Tokyo Tribe. No one injects more insanity and ideas into their films on a moment-by-moment basis the way Sono does. It was hard to imagine how Sono could outdo his previous film Why Don’t You Play in Hell?, but with Tokyo Tribe he’s outdone himself completely, and by successfully taking on musicals he feels unstoppable. With a propulsive, catchy score, Tokyo Tribe doesn’t have to try to be energetic. It breathes vivaciousness. Tokyo Tribe will leave viewers dazed, assaulted, and mortified, but by the end they’ll be begging for more.

A version of this review was originally published as part of our coverage of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Every year, film festivals around the world premiere thousands of brand new films, and every person behind those works hopes a distributor will come along and pony up the cash to give their movie a nice release. The reality is that plenty of films have a hell of a time finding distribution.

Granted, there are a handful distributors in the US willing to put out some truly bold, excellent work (a few examples: Cinema Guild, KimStim and Strand Releasing). That doesn’t mean truly great films don’t end up falling through the cracks every year. Sometimes a film might be so challenging or strange it’s easy to see why no one will want to go near it. Other times it’s hard to believe why no one wants to get a certain movie out to as many eyeballs as possible.

That’s why we’ve made this list of our favourite films of 2014 that still have yet to find US distribution. These are films that should be on people’s radar, but might never see a proper release in the States. If you want to see any of these films, try to get the word out. And let this list be a message to anyone in distribution: We think these movies deserve to be seen. Hopefully you’ll agree.

Blind

Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st is a devastating film, one that made our top 5 of 2012. The film’s co-writer Eskil Vogt makes his directorial debut with Blind, and while it doesn’t match the power of Oslo it comes close. After going blind, Ingrid (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) lives as a hermit in her apartment. She spends her time imagining the lives of different people, a distraction from her crumbling marriage and social life. Vogt shoots the film entirely through Ingrid’s perspective, so we only see what Ingrid thinks is going on around her, meaning elements of a scene can change on a dime. A conversation between two characters can suddenly change locations, and a person’s clothing can change between cuts, just to name a few of Vogt’s visual tricks employed throughout.

The way Vogt films Ingrid’s head space is what makes Blind so effective. It extends beyond gimmickry because of how much the style establishes Ingrid’s inner turmoil. It feels like a mature, European version of a Charlie Kaufman film, tackling deep, existential issues with stylistic ingenuity. After premiering at Sundance this year where it won a prize for its screenplay, Blind has only gotten a few festival screenings in North America, which is a shame. It’s one of the year’s best debut features, and establishes Vogt as a new directorial voice to keep an eye on. [C.J.]

The Creator of the Jungle

Interview with director Jordi Morató
Trailer

Back when I reviewed The Creator of the Jungle at Hot Docs, it quietly snuck up on me and became one of my favourites at the festival. It’s one of those stories where truth truly is stranger than fiction. Garrel, a man with the boundless imagination of a child, has spent 45 years building, destroying and rebuilding an elaborate playground in a forest. He builds structures, mazes, dams and even cave systems with nothing except for the materials around him. At the same time, Garrel would direct himself in Tarzan movies shot on a friend’s VHS camcorder, using his creations as a set for Tarzan’s home in the jungle.

Director Jordi Morató spent 18 months poring through and editing Garrel’s home movies, putting together an astounding portrait of one man’s battle to simply play with his toys in peace. Just when it seems like Garrel’s story has come to an end, Morató suddenly jumps ahead in time to reveal even more information about Garrel and his lifelong project. And as the camera opens up, going from muddled VHS footage to widescreen HD, the clarity of seeing Garrel’s work in full will make your jaw drop. Watching Creator of the Jungle feels like discovering a hidden treasure, but without any foreseeable distribution this film will continue to stay tragically hidden. [C.J.]

Doomsdays

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Interview with director Eddie Mullins
Secret Stash with director Eddie Mullins
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Eddie Mullins’ Doomsdays is a funny, idiosyncratic hangout movie about two fatalistic vagabonds named Dirty Fred and Bruho (Justin Rice and Leo Fitzpatrick, respectively) as they weave their way through the Catskills, looting rich people’s vacation homes in preparation for the impending apocalypse brought on by peak oil (google it…if you dare). The scruffy scavengers help themselves to whatever pills and booze they find and enjoy their charmed bromance with each other…that is, until a teenage boy and a pretty girl join their number and things get sticky.

What’s really special about Doomsdays is the way it’s filmed: the camera remains almost exclusively static, with the characters walking around, in and out of the carefully composed shots in surprising, interesting ways (think of a minimalistic, nature-set Tati film, where your eyes are free to roam the frame as they may). On top of all that, the cast is great, the writing is quippy and sharp, and the ending is pleasantly unexpected. (Bonus: there’s an awesome joke in the movie about Irish beans that I stole and totally use on my friends. Gets a laugh every time.) [Bernard]

The Editor

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Canadian filmmaking group Astron-6 have quickly made a name for themselves with their loving, comedic homages to trash cinema like Father’s Day and Manborg. The Editor, their latest film, is a huge step up from their previous output. The best way to describe The Editor would be saying it does to giallo what Black Dynamite did to blaxploitation.

It starts out as a murder mystery on a film set, with the film-within-a-film’s one-handed editor considered the prime suspect. If you’re familiar with giallo, it should come as no surprise that the plot soon becomes incomprehensible, involving plenty of subplots and characters with no rhyme or reason. All of this is deliberate, of course; Astron-6 hilariously embrace everything wrong with the giallo sub genre, from awful dubbing to rampant misogyny. Yes, people unfamiliar with what The Editor spoofs won’t get much mileage out of it, but those with some knowledge of what it’s doing will find themselves laughing the whole way through. Here’s hoping someone gives this future cult classic a chance to get out in theatres next year. [C.J.]

Episode of the Sea

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Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan profile the small, remote fishing town of Urk in Episode of the Sea. What makes Urk unique is that it’s a fishing town without any surrounding water; it was an island until the government drained the water around it to increase farming. The townspeople refused to play ball with the government, so they traveled further to keep fishing. Episode of the Sea relates the different ways people of Urk have cleverly avoided different roadblocks to hold up their traditions. I reviewed the film at TIFF earlier this year, where it came and went as quickly as its hour-long runtime.

What makes Episode of the Sea such a delight to watch is the way van Brummelen & de Haan involve themselves into the process. Shooting on gorgeous 35mm in Academy ratio, rounded corners and all, the documentary finds a common bond between old fishing and filmmaking methods. The directors combine both worlds by having people from Urk perform for the camera, re-enacting conversations overheard and transcribed by the filmmakers. Episode of the Sea isn’t one side observing another; it’s an exchange between both filmmaker and subject, a documentary about the process as much as it’s about the results. It’s always nice to see a film break conventions in such a pleasing way. [C.J.]

From What is Before

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From What is Before observes a small barrio in the Philippines as it slowly gets destroyed under Ferdinand Marcos’ rule in the 1970s. Director Lav Diaz’s slow, patient approach opens the film up in a way that lets viewers feel every small detail of the world Diaz creates, teleporting them into characters’ lives in ways a more traditional narrative feature couldn’t do. And that method makes things all the more tragic once Marcos’ soldiers show up.

It’s standard procedure with Diaz’s films to mention how he takes a very long, patient approach to filming. From What is Before is over 5 and a half hours long, and for that reason it’s unlikely to ever get a theatrical release outside of festival screenings (kudos to Cinema Guild for putting out Diaz’s previous film, the four-hour Norte, the End of History, in theatres this year). Those willing to give Diaz’s work a shot will find a rich experience offering plenty of rewards. It’s all a matter of being up for the challenge. [C.J.]

Hard to Be a God

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It’s a film nearly 50 years in the making. Aleksei German started adapting Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s sci-fi novel in the 1960s, only to start making it until 2000. Pre-production lasted until 2006, and post-production took another seven years. German never saw the final product; he died during post-production, leaving his family to finish the film for him.

And the final result of this decades-long filmmaking journey is a flat-out masterpiece, a film so singular it’s impossible to imagine anything else like it. The story takes place in the future on a planet similar to ours, except it’s currently going through the Middle Ages. Men from Earth have been sent down to observe the planet’s inhabitants, with explicit orders to not interfere with anything, save for trying to protect people smart enough to help move the planet’s civilization forward (anyone showing signs of talent and/or creativity usually get slaughtered immediately by the unintelligent masses).

German doesn’t just present a filthy, disgusting world of a backwards society. He makes you feel like you’re right there in the mud and shit with everyone. It’s like German is observing rather than creating; his vision is so epic in scale, so immersive in its execution it feels like every bit of this world is real and not a fictional creation. But be warned: German’s vision isn’t a pretty one. It’s showing the worst side of humanity, meaning Hard to be a God is far from an “enjoyable” experience. But it’s a towering achievement, and one of the only modern-day films to come close to matching the sense of awe and wonder of classics like Playtime and 2001: A Space Odyssey. [C.J.]

In the Crosswind

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One of my favourites from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, In the Crosswind transforms what looks like a gimmick into something genuinely moving. Inspired by the true story of a woman’s struggle for survival during Stalin’s purge of Baltic nations in the 1940s, In the Crosswind primarily plays out through a series of elaborate tableaux vivants. Director Martti Helde spent months planning out each scene, and the preparation shows.

Shot in gorgeous black and white, and filmed in a series of long takes that bring Béla Tarr to mind, In the Crosswind uses the image of its frozen characters to evoke the feeling of suddenly losing your home, your family, and everything that grounds you in a specific time and place. These are people in constant transition, and Helde’s direct method of expressing that state of existence leads to truly affecting results. [C.J.]

L for Leisure

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Considering how much American indies get criticized today for their homogeneity, L for Leisure feels like it’s from a completely different planet. Taking inspiration from directors like Whit Stillman and Eric Rohmer, L for Leisure is a series of episodic segments following graduate students in the early 90s over different holidays. They chill out, talk about what they’re working on, smoke nutmeg to get high, play laser tag, water ski and just act really mellow.

Directors Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn spent several years getting L for Leisure made, traveling around the world to film different segments on 16mm (an aesthetic choice that’s essential to the film’s success). The laid back, dry humour slowly works its way into the brain, and by the end the dumbest exchanges can cause the biggest laughs (“I’m so mellow.” “Oh my god, I’m so mellow!”). Plus, L for Leisure has one of the year’s best soundtracks. Luckily you can buy the soundtrack, but as of now you can only hope the film might screen near you (or better yet: try to arrange a screening yourself). [C.J.]

Lake Los Angeles

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As an exceptionally quiet film—and when there is dialogue, it’s in Spanish—about illegal immigration and the dreams of those who come to America as refugees, I’m surprised I liked Lake Los Angeles as much as I did. This is, after all, covered ground. Add to all of that, much of the film revolves around a 12-year old girl, Cecilia (Johanna Trujillo), who spends a great portion of the film wandering through the cold desert of California. The film is bleak, shot mostly in washed out grays, blues, and browns. And did I mention throughout, the main character Francisco (Roberto ‘Sanz’ Sanchez) speaks love letters into a tape recorder for his wife back in Cuba? It sounds depressing, and so easily could be, except that director Mike Ott pieces it all together into an achingly touching tale of the need in everyone for companionship. It’s about the families we build for ourselves and the way we allow ourselves to be needed and loved by others. Most astounding is the performance by first-timer Johanna Trujillo who occupies much of the film as she escapes into the desert, surviving on her own and dreaming that her father is indeed on his way to find her. She shows incredible soul and depth for such a green actress and young person. It makes no statements on immigration or refugees, but uses this as a backdrop to a story of familial love bestowed and given. It’s a mesmerizing film that I hope to get to discuss with a greater audience in the future. [Ananda]

The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest

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I had the privilege of seeing this film at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was moved by not only the tale of life-prisoner Mark DeFriest, but also of the greater magnifying glass held to the United States penal system. This documentary by Gabriel London showcases the intriguing personality of Mark DeFriest, considered the Houdini of the Florida state prison system due to his many remarkable (and at time hilarious) escape attempts. I remarked in my initial coverage of the film—and the impression remains—that under entirely different circumstances, Mark DeFriest is the sort of mastermind who should have had films made documenting the spectrum of his mind and the inventions he might have been able to funnel his genius into. Instead, due to a misconception, DeFriest was imprisoned for “stealing” his own father’s bequeathed tools. A short sentence that he would have quickly gotten out of if it weren’t for DeFriest’s absolute incapability of understanding and obeying the rules of justice in America. His sentencing—now compounded to life after so many escapes—is one injustice, the added ways the system have abused him only prove further that our one size fits all approach to justice in this country has made perpetrators of the peacekeepers. It’s an excellent documentary and I sincerely hope more people get the chance to see it. [Ananda]

Living Stars

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It’s an hour-long, but it might be the best thing to come out all year. Living Stars is the KISS Principle in action, a film with a concept so simple and enjoyable it’s hard to believe no one’s done it sooner. Directors Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn plopped their camera down in people’s homes across Buenos Aires with one direction: pick a song and dance to it. The results are pure joy.

Every scene unfolds in one take, with each dancer letting it all out in their home or workplace. Usually a friend or relative is in the background, watching or ignoring the action. The rigid form only makes it more fun when things slightly deviate from the formula (the reappearance of one dancer is one of the best surprises you could ask for). I watched Living Stars with a grin fixed on my face the entire time, and when it ended I watched it again. Living Stars shouldn’t just be seen, it should be prescribed as a cure-all for sadness. [C.J.]

Mirage

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Szabolcs Hajdu’s Mirage is one of those stories you describe in a single sentence. A stranger walks the desert lands of a foreign country, hiding out from those he’s wronged, searching for an existence. This is Hungary’s modern take on minimalist westerns, a cinematic hybrid channeling Jarmusch, Herzog, and Sergio Leone all at once. In other words, Mirage is brilliant at its highest points (leading man Isaac De Bankole walking towards the horizon, meeting various miscreants along his journey to nowhere) and only slightly off-putting at its lowest points (awkward humor, scenes that rely on the thin plot).

The good news is, its peaks outnumber its troughs and the film is an overall cinematic bundle of joy, full of staggeringly gorgeous wide shots, fantastic music, and plenty proof of how captivating De Bankole’s screen presence is. That it has no distributor doesn’t exactly come as a shock because marketing something like this would be like trying to sell an antique to a high-tech company; but here’s hoping this antique gets picked up soon because it’s a great reminder of the cinematic allure at its most stripped down form. [Nik]

Runoff

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It’s a sad truth that first time directors have the hardest time finding distribution—without a famous family member or benevolent producer out to champion for it, that is. And while I tend to be the hard-nosed sort that thinks directors need to earn their kicks in this world and work their way up, it’s rare I find a film debut as polished and moving as Kimberly Levin’s Runoff. The small-town tale of a farm family whose business suffers as larger corporations offer lower prices. Joanne Kelly plays Betty, the wife trying to support her husband in his business, especially as his health starts to wane, while being the sort of mother who hand-sews her son’s Halloween costume and connects with her elder son about his hopes and dreams for life after high school. The film’s visuals beautifully capture the allure of family life on a farm, engendering the same sort of pride felt by the protagonists. Performances in the film are all around wonderful, but it’s the building tension of the film’s final act as Betty is faced with hard and fast decisions to make, that Joanne Kelly truly shines, becoming a woman who fights for the life her family has built. Levin, who also wrote the film, isn’t afraid to get a little dark, grappling with harsh realities and moral ambiguity. While there’s no end to films on the disenchanted American Dream, this one is an engaging quiet watch worth getting to see on the big screen. [Ananda]

Still the Water

Naomi Kawase has no luck with US distribution, and I’m really not sure why. She’s a regular at Cannes, and her movies wonderfully capture the beautiful balance between man and nature. The latest one, Still the Water, premiered at Cannes and it follows in her usual style; meditative, lyrical, infused in Japanese tradition and mentality. Perhaps it’s that last aspect that drives US distributors away, thinking Kawase is too foreign for American audiences. Instead of seeing it as a great opportunity to show an audience a highly fascinating culture.

The story of Still the Water is a coming-of-age tale. A boy lives with his single mother on a Japanese island, meets and falls in love with a girl whose own mom is on her death-bed and whose surfer-dad is trying to keep their restaurant working. There’s a murder mystery subplot that doesn’t quite mesh with the rest of the film, but as a whole, the picture is full of so many touching moments and contemplative images. Kawase shows how deeply intelligent she is with a slow, assured, flow that washes over the viewer like a wave. It would be a terrible shame and a great loss to keep this one away from US audiences. [Nik]

Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait

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Review

Less of a film and more of a prolonged, traumatic experience, Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait is an unflinching examination of a state in the throes of war. Exiled Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed relied on the home footage of “1,001 Syrians,” as well as an elementary school teacher Wiam Simav Bedirxan. Mohammed uses text and online chat tones to recreate his conversations with Bedirxan as the two lament over the active destruction of their home country, only for tensions to reach the breaking point when Bedirxan stops immediately returning Mohammed’s messages.

Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait premiered as a Special Screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival but went on to show at TIFF and the New York Film Festival. The footage assembled for the film is horrific in the worst ways, and even if you can imagine the atrocities, actually experiencing it on-screen is more devastating than you can prepare for. Mohammed’s film is an unprecedented look at war ripping a country apart from the inside, and deserves to be witnessed by unwavering eyes. [Zachary]

Tokyo Tribe

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Back at TIFF, I saw Tokyo Tribe and raved about it, saying it “will leave viewers dazed, assaulted, and mortified.” As a fan of Sion Sono’s work, I didn’t expect him to be able to top the insanity of his previous film Why Don’t You Play in Hell?. The opening scene of Tokyo Tribe, a sprawling single take musical number introducing the film’s major players, kicked my expectations directly to the ass-end of hell.

Taking place over one night, Sono’s musical/kung-fu/comedy/gangster/epic/action/thriller follows an impending battle between feuding gangs wrestling for power in a dystopian Tokyo. Sono’s ability to stack one crazy, hilarious idea on top of another reaches a fever pitch here, to the point where it can get exhausting trying to take it all in. That kind of style can leave people running in the opposite direction; I embrace Sono’s wackiness with open arms. The fine folks at Eureka will be releasing Tokyo Tribe in the UK, but no one has taken the opportunity to unleash Sono’s epic on US soil. You may not realize it, but you should be very jealous of the British right now. [C.J.]

Tu Dors Nicole

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Tu Dors Nicole, a Canadian production from Quebec, did get a release in Canada (that’s why I was lucky enough to see it). Unfortunately it hasn’t been picked up by a U.S. distributor yet. A black-and-white portrait of a young, twentysomething woman lazing around for the summer, Tu Dors Nicole has all the makings of a belated coming of age story. Director Stephane Lafleur thankfully finds a way to quietly break conventions. The hazy, melancholy look of the film immediately makes it distinctive, and its surreal touches can be downright hilarious.

I reviewed Tu Dors Nicole earlier this year at TIFF, and since then my opinion has only gone up. It’s a low-key delight, and hopefully some nice distributor will come along to let American audiences get a shot at seeing it (Are you reading this, IFC?). [C.J.]

Welcome to Me

This is just a matter of time, really. Co-produced by Will Ferrell, and starring the rising Kristen Wiig, Welcome To Me has Canadian distribution but somehow still doesn’t have US. Strange, not only because of the talent involved but because Wiig has never been funnier. Her Alice Klieg, a loner with Border Personality Disorder, becomes a millionaire overnight and decides to spend most on it on a television show based around her life. Major hilarity ensues.

Boasting a strong supporting cast (Wes Bentley, Joan Cusack, James Marsden, Tim Robbins, among others), and a scathing commentary on contemporary societal obsession with reality television and talk shows, Welcome To Me mostly exists as a showcase of Kristen Wiig’s monumental comedic talents. That should be more than reason enough to get distributor attention, so keep your eyes open. [Nik]

Wild Canaries

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Here’s an example of the kind of film that needs to be released. Wild Canaries follows Noah and Barri (writer/director Lawrence Michael Levine and his wife Sophia Takal), an engaged couple living in New York City trying to get by. After their downstairs neighbour dies from an apparent heart attack, Barri suspects foul play. Teaming up with her roommate Jean (Alia Shawkat), and ignoring her fiancé’s protests, Barri takes on the role of amateur detective in order to find the murderer (if there even is one).

It would be easy to compare Wild Canaries to Cold Weather, Aaron Katz’s low-budget indie mystery, but the two only share a few similarities. Levine’s film is a gleeful ode to madcap, screwball comedies like The Thin Man, going for big laughs. That broad, over the top sense of humour, combined with the nuanced relationship dynamics on display between Barri, Noah and the supporting characters, make for a wholly unique and exciting combination. The entire cast is excellent, with Levine and Takal playing Noah and Barri perfectly. Only a real-life couple could make you go from thinking these two characters can’t stand each other to believing they’re a perfect match. Wild Canaries is the shot in the arm American indies need right now. It’s funny, distinctive and isn’t afraid to be earnest. [C.J.]

With Toronto now in our rearview mirror, we’ve had time to reflect on which films at the festivals left the greatest impression on us as well as ones that left us with a bad taste (check out our coverage hub). Unlike last year’s 12 Years a Slave or Gravity, the lineup this year seemed to lack a headliner film that everyone flocked towards, but this allowed us to put on our exploring gear to discover some hidden gems. And we certainly found some surprises. We compiled our favorite and most disappointing films of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, listing any films we already saw at other festivals like Cannes and SXSW as part of our honorable mentions.

Favorite Films of TIFF 2014

Bird People

Pascale Ferran’s film defines whimsy, but don’t take that as a red flag. Split into two parts, Bird People (review) tells a similar story through two slightly connected lives. An American businessman on a trip in France makes a major, life-changing decision in the first part, and in the second one of the cleaners at the hotel the American stays at has a life-changing decision made for her. It’s best to go into Bird People not knowing too much, because the shock of where Ferran takes her film is a large part of what makes the experience so pleasurable. By finding an utterly audacious way to tell the same story twice, Bird People serves as a reminder of the limitless possibilities of storytelling. [CJ]

The Duke Of Burgundy

Wonderfully acted, sumptuously shot, vibrantly edited, Peter Strickland’s The Duke Of Burgundy (review) was one of those festival films that floored most critics, and became the unofficial recipient of the “Critic’s Choice Award.” You can count me among those who fell ecstatically in love with this intoxicating and deliciously spirited picture. Tracing the waning stages of a relationship, it may sound conventional on paper but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single conventional frame here. Chara D’Anna and Sidse Babett Knudsen play lesbian lovers Evelyn and Cynthia, deeply involved in a relationship founded on BDSM and Cynthia’s profession in lepidoptera, and the emotional core of the film is the lovers’ attempt at holding on to the passion that binds them. It’s creative in every imaginable cinematic way, and with US rights secured by IFC Midnight, I urge readers to keep a look out for release date because this is one you won’t want to miss. [Nik]

In the Crosswind

Director Martti Helde’s debut, based on Stalin’s purge of Baltic residents to Siberia, was one of the fest’s more surprising discoveries. Shot in black and white tableaux vivants, the camera slowly floats around each meticulously staged scene (each shot took months of preparation) while the protagonist narrates her experiences. It’s a bold stylistic move that pays off in spades, providing one moving image after another. At its worst, In the Crosswind (review) can be admired for its exquisite cinematography, but it’s much better than an excuse to show off some terrific camerawork. Helde merges the story’s emotional impact with the meticulous staging, delivering something completely unique and awe-inspiring. [CJ]

La Sapienza

Eugène Green’s newest work sounds trite on paper. When a famous architect loses the passion for his livelihood, along with his marriage, he sets off with his wife to study a famous Baroque architect’s work in Italy. A stop along the way has them crossing paths with two young siblings, and their experience with the brother and sister cause the couple to fall back in love again. But leave it to Green, whose formal approach is something entirely his own, to make La Sapienza (review) a thought-provoking, altogether pleasant experience. Even if one can’t adjust to Green’s habit of placing the camera directly in front of his actors, the inventive and evocative ways he films Baroque architecture will surely wow viewers. [CJ]

Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a creepy thief who stops at nothing to earn himself a buck in Dan Gilory’s directorial debut Nightcrawler. Shot by the extraordinary Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia), the film shows a side of Los Angeles that you’ve never seen before. Eager to get into any job field that will accept him, Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) stumbles into the dark and dirty world of racing ambulances to crime-scenes to capture gruesome footage for local television stations. Gyllenhaal plays a perverse anti-hero who somehow has us rooting for him in more times we care to admit. Nightcrawler keeps you on the edge of your seat with twists and turns down to the very end. For my money, it’s a better version of American Psycho. [Dustin]

Phoenix

Christian Petzold returned to the festival circuit this year, to remind us why he’s one of Germany’s most accomplished and leading directors working today. In a sixth collaboration with his muse Nina Hoss, he has directed the most sophisticated film I saw at TIFF. Phoenix (review) tells the story of Nelly, a Holocaust survivor who returns to her native Berlin to try and piece her broken life back together. She searches for her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld, also fantastic) who may or may not have betrayed her to the Nazis, and in an intricate narrative, ends up pretending to pretend to be herself. It’s a brilliant storytelling move by Petzold, who explores an identity crisis and symbolizes it in the context of post-war Berlin. The ending is probably the greatest thing Hoss and Petzold ever achieved together; it will eat you alive. [Nik]

A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence

Featured in our Top 15 Most Anticipated films for TIFF, it’s safe to say that Roy Andersson’s Golden Lion winner did not disappoint in the slightest. With a title you just want to hug, A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence begins in typical Andersson style; a stationary camera angled at a beige-colored museum room, and a pasty-white overweight man walking around, looking at fossils and relics, with his wife impatiently waiting in the background. One of these fossils turns out to be a dusty pigeon, sitting on a branch, frozen in stuffed reflection. A series of vignettes proceed to flow and connect in Andersson’s philosophizing world full of contemplative, existentialist, and often hilarious, characters and actions. Some of the scenes, including one where two eras meet in a café, are reminiscent of the superior Songs From The Second Floor in their astounding choreography and technical fortitude. For the third part of his trilogy about “being human,” Andersson has proved yet again that he is one of the most fascinating directors working today. [Nik]

The Theory of Everything

Here’s a challenge for you. Try watching the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything (review) without shedding a tear. Based off the memoir of Jane Hawking, the film chronicles the life of famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking from the time the two met at Cambridge and the difficulties they faced after Stephen was diagnosed with the paralyzing Lou Gherig’s disease. Most people only hear the scientific side of Stephen’s achievements, but this film sheds light on his personal life and the emotional struggles he and Jane went through trying to raise a family while battling a vicious disease. Don’t be surprised if you hear Eddie Redmayne’s name called come Oscar time. Portraying Stephen Hawking before and after the disease required a difficult physical transformation that Redmayne brilliantly performs. It may be a little sappy and conventional at times, but The Theory of Everything remains an incredibly uplifting film about love and hope. [Dustin]

Tokyo Tribe

Sion Sono tops himself yet again which his biggest and most ambitious film to date. Taking place over one night in a dystopian Tokyo run by 23 different gangs, Sono’s hip-hop musical/action/comedy/horror/whatever-you-want-to-call-it throws everything it can on the screen at once. At times overwhelming and exhausting, Tokyo Tribe (review) is nonetheless frequently hilarious and twisted, filled with incredible scenes and violence galore. This might not be the best introduction to Sono’s insanity (last year’s Why Don’t You Play In Hell? might work better for that), but fans of the Japanese madman have no need to worry. Sono continues to fire on all cylinders, and for all we know this could be his masterpiece. [CJ]

Wild Tales

The Argentina film Wild Tales (review) was easily the most fun experience I had at the festival. Consisting of six completely insane short stories, director/writer Damian Szifron takes these episodic segments to hilarious levels by combining pitch-black humor with creative ways to show vengeance. Each story begins with an ordinary situation most people can relate to, but as they unfold Wild Tales shifts into overdrive with exaggerated circumstances filled with irony. For example, one of the stories involves a slow driving hillbilly who serves across lanes so that they only other car on the country highway can’t pass him. When the guy finally manages to pass the slow driver, he makes an explicit gesture towards him and speeds off, only to get a flat tire a few miles later. The scene becomes chaotic and ends on an epic note. Wild Tales is packed with a lot of laughs, claps, visual style, and plenty of shock value that you would expect from a film produced by Pedro Almodóvar. [Dustin]

Most Disappointing Films of TIFF 2014

Cub

Ever read a synopsis for a movie and thought “that sounds so fantastic, it’s almost impossible to mess up,” only to walk away totally disillusioned and disappointed? That’s pretty much exactly what happened to me and this promising Belgian horror film about a 12-year-old boy scout caught in a booby-trapped forest with his troop, trying to avoid the fatal antics of a “wolf-boy” called Kai. Playing in the Midnight Madness, promoted with a tasty festival trailer, Jonas Govaerts’ Cub is, sadly, a neutered, declawed and defanged puppy, completely harmless in terms of true horror. With a unique setting in the woods, in the context of scouts and their “be prepared” motto’s, and the deliciously-sounding booby trap techniques, Cub has all the potential to be an inventive, visceral, experience. It’s nothing of the sort; relying on conventional scares, uninteresting characters, and a painfully flat finale. [Nik]

Mommy

Xavier Dolan wants you to know he’s a serious director. The Quebecois filmmaker with many job titles to his name (including actor, director, writer, producer, and editor, to name a few) made a huge splash this year when Mommy received a rapturous response at Cannes, getting a 12-minute standing ovation and a Jury Prize. Count me as someone who doesn’t get the fervent support around Dolan. With almost no plot or story, Mommy follows a mother and her troubled teenage son around as they befriend their new neighbor. Dolan shoots in a 1:1 aspect ratio, a completely useless gimmick, and tends to repeat a formula of shrill, violent fights between mother and son before dancing the pain away to a poorly chosen pop song played in full. Mommy is bad melodrama, plain and simple, a surprising step down for Dolan after his previous two features, Laurence Anyways and Tom at the Farm, showed a lot more promise. [Nik]

The Voices

The only time I felt the urge to walk out of the theater at the festival was during incredibly underwhelming The Voices. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave early thinking (nay hoping) the film would get better, a decision I would later regret. Jerry Hickfang (Ryan Reynolds) plays a seemingly normal blue-collar worker, but his home life reveals a dark secret behind this disturbed man. He hears the incredibly silly voices from his evil cat and angel-like dog who convince him to do unthinkable things. None of the performances are especially good in the film, which is disappointing considering Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick, and Jacki Weaver were involved. The tone of The Voices is completely inconsistent, beginning with an overly playful musical then shifting into a dark comedy, and eventually ventures to nonsensical horror, without an ounce of cohesiveness. During moments when the film was trying to be funny I found myself laughing at it instead of with it. Despite being a rather stylish film, The Voices is an awkward mess of genre mashing gone horribly wrong. [Dustin]

Honorable Mentions

Other films that are definitely worth checking out that played at TIFF (and other festivals): Adam Wingard’s rapturous and playful The Guest, Palm d’Or winner Winter Sleep, latest from master filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Two Days, One Night, 3 and a half hour epic Li’l Quinquin, harrowing street life portrait Heaven Knows What, ambitious and transcending Jauja, and Mike Leigh’s exemplary Mr. Turner.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. As the summer begins to wind down, cinephiles begin to flock to Canada as the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off another year. With almost 300 feature-length films playing over 11 days (along with over 100 shorts), for some people this is more of a marathon than a festival. And for film-obsessives like ourselves, it’s like being a kid in a candy store.

Now, we won’t lie: when we saw this year’s line-up we weren’t as excited as we were in the last few years, but there’s still a lot to watch. There aren’t as many films coming in with the levels of hype as 12 Years A Slave or Gravity, but that’s because it’s a different year. The Oscar race is wide open at this point, and a lot of films this year are wild cards rather than sure bets. Could it mean another out of nowhere discovery like Slumdog Millionaire or The Hurt Locker?

We got a bit of a head start on TIFF this year with our coverage at Cannes, so myself, our editor-in-chief Dustin and fellow WTI writer Nikola put our heads together and came up with our 15 most anticipated films at TIFF this year. We’ve got some new discoveries, films we couldn’t get to at Cannes, exciting follow-ups, legendary auteurs and more in our list, so take a look below to read what we picked and why. And if you happen to be in Toronto between September 4th and 14th, be sure to check out one of these movies at the festival.

Our 15 Most Anticipated Films of TIFF 2014

Bird People

I don’t know much about Bird People, and yet it’s something I’m dying to see this year at TIFF. Why? Well, back when Bird People premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, it wasn’t on my radar. Then the reviews started coming in, with people comparing it to In the City of Sylvia. I adore that film, and even wrote about it for the site earlier this year. Anything similar to In the City of Sylvia will immediately pop up on my radar, and when critics also said the film has a major surprise that people should avoid finding out about before watching, I was sold. I haven’t read anything about Bird People since, and that mystery is largely why I’m making sure I watch it at TIFF. [C.J.]

Eden

I was completely enamored with Mia Hansen-Løve’s previous film Goobye First Love, which perfectly captured relationship quarrels. In her third feature film, Hansen-Løve recalls the rise of French electronic music that gained popularity in the 1990s. While EDM is at the heart of the story (and likely the soundtrack too), Eden also contains a relationship-observation vantage point we come to expect from Hansen-Løve. The other reason we’re excited for the film is it stars two indie darlings, Brady Corbet (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Simon Killer) and Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha, Lola Versus). This is one of those films that might not have a lot of attention before the festival, but could have people buzzing afterwards. [Dustin]

Goodnight Mommy

Before the official lineup for TIFF came out, some of the early rumors predicted Ulrich Seidl’s In the Basement to be at the festival. Being a huge fan of the director, I was saddened to learn the film would show in Venice instead. But Seidl will still have a part in this festival, credited as a producer of the bizarre looking Goodnight Mommy. The film is about two young twins who begin to question their mother’s identity when a cosmetic surgery leaves her buried beneath bandages. All cooped up in an isolated countryside home, the two boys become restless and out of control. It sounds equal parts absurd and nerve-wracking, a combination we don’t mind here at Way Too Indie. [Dustin]

Horse Money

Pedro Costa has scuffled around the arthouse circuit since the 80s, but it’s the Fontainhas trilogy (Ossos, In Vanda’s Room and Colossal Youth) and their subsequent Criterion packaging, that perked up people’s ears and opened up most cinephiles’ eyes on this Portuguese master’s mesmerizing works. This is cerebral, poetic cinema of the highest order, choreographed mise-en-scene fit to be framed and admired in the most respected of museums. Costa mostly focuses on the bottom-of-the-barrel lost souls in impoverished surroundings of his home country, and this year we will finally see his follow-up: Horse Money. The movie continues to follow Ventura, the main person of interest from Colossal Youth, as a revolution is bubbling. He’s already won Best Director at the Locarno Film Festival, which is a good sign as any that Horse Money is much of the same cinema magic as his indelible trilogy. [Nik]

It Follows

First making a splash at the Critics’ Week sidebar in Cannes, It Follows now makes it way over to North America for a midnight premiere. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s horror film deals with a 19-year-old girl receiving a sexually transmitted curse (yes, you read that right). Her curse is an entity taking the form of any person, an apparition only she can see, who begins slowly following her. When it catches up to her, she’ll die. She can outrun it, but it’ll always be following. Mitchell’s premise sounds like wondrously creepy fun, an American take on something that sounds like it came straight out of J-horror. Buzz has been building steadily on this one since May, and we can’t wait to check it out during TIFF. [C.J.]

The Keeping Room

Brit Marling is one of my favorite upcoming actors, so any film with her name attached to it instantly sparks my interest. In The Keeping Room, she and Hailee Steinfeld are sisters who must defend their farm during the end of the American Civil War. Fighting along their side is their family’s young slave (Muna Otaru) as two Yankee scouts aim to ravage their land and prosperity. The Keeping Room is based on a screenplay that ended up on the esteemed Black List back in 2012. And it’s easy to see why considering the powerful subject matter. This remarkable story touches on several important historical events; the Civil War, women’s rights, and slavery. American History films tend to sit well with Academy voters (Lincoln, 12 Years A Slavery), so don’t act too surprised if The Keeping Room ends up being an early Oscar candidate. [Dustin]

Luna

Admittedly this one might fly over many people’s heads, and with 143 World Premieres at TIFF this year, it feels like Dave McKean’s Luna is destined to be seen only by the major McKean fans. I count myself among this crowd, as many a night his art in comic books and graphic novels (particularly those written by Neil Gaiman,) kept me permanently stuck to the pages, jaw-dropped in a mixture of horror and awe. Check out Batman: Arkham Asylum written by Grant Morrison, or the covers of Gaiman’’s Sandman series, to get the idea. MirrorMask was McKean’s debut as a filmmaker, and it’s a visual feast with art direction as darkly intriguing as some of his best artwork on print. Luna’s trailer gives some cause for pause when it comes to the dialogue and performances, but there’s a taste of what the story will look like, as it surrounds the death of a child and the re-imagining of said child’s death through batshit fantastical scenarios. Sounds about right. Those of you following McKean will likely have been waiting for this one, but those who are yet to discover the man’s artistic prowess are strongly advised to take a leap of faith with Luna. [Nik]

Miss Julie

Everyone knows Liv Ullmann as one of Ingmar Bergman’s main muses during his peak years, since she’s helped make films like Persona, Shame, and Cries and Whispers some of the greatest from Bergman’s canon. But, she’s also pretty handy behind the camera as well. With the help of Bergman’s natural talent for scriptwriting, she’s directed Private Confessions and Faithless into compelling and potent chamber pieces. Now, after 14 years, Ullmann makes her comeback with a film adaptation of infamous Swedish playwright August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. Set in Ireland, starring on-fire Jessica Chastain and fired-up Colin Farrell, the film details the power struggle between a countess and her valet, wrought with sexual tension. Austere Swedish cinema, two wonderful actors (say what you want about Farrell, then watch any of his arthouse roles and you’ll see he’s pretty great), Ullmann directing a Strindberg play, gorgeous Irish landscapes. Is it possible for this movie to be anything but absolutely fantastic?  [Nik]

The New Girlfriend

Toronto absolutely adores François Ozon. And there’s no reason to blame them. The French auteur has shown fourteen of his films at the festival and his newest film The New Girlfriend marks his fifth in a row. Ozon tends to explore taboo topics and The New Girlfriend is no exception. A young woman (Anaïs Demoustier) discovers the husband (played by Romain Duris of Mood Indigo) of her late best friend enjoys cross dressing. Needless to say, we won’t be surprised if the lines are long at TIFF for this film. [Dustin]

Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler wasn’t even supposed to make my list. But after reading more about it and, especially, after watching the trailer, the movie skyrocketed into my must-see list at TIFF. Apologies to Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye To Language 3D which I’m sure is awesome. Gilroy’s film deals with the underground world of freelance crime journalism, and it stars Jake Gyllenhaal. Sounds like ol’ Dan stepped into a world designed by David Fincher, you say? Not so; Dan is the younger brother of Tony Gilroy, the director behind political super-thriller Michael Clayton and writer of the three original, adrenaline-injecting Bourne movies. Dan is a successful screenwriter in his own right, and now Nightcrawler is his directorial feature debut (he’s also the sole writer credited.) Sounds like he’s got more than enough pedigree and experience to tell a suspenseful crime story, and I for one am really excited. Just watch the trailer again, you’ll see what I mean. [Nik]

Phoenix

Personally speaking, all I needed to see were two names before deciding to put Phoenix high on my most-anticipated list: Christian Petzold and Nina Hoss. This pairing of director and actress might be one of the best ones in cinema right now. If you haven’t seen Barbara, their last collaboration, do yourself a favour and watch it as soon as possible to understand why Phoenix is one of TIFF’s more anticipated titles. Hoss plays Nelly, a Holocaust survivor undergoing facial reconstruction surgery after getting injured while imprisoned in a concentration camp. Nelly returns home after surgery searching for her husband, and in the process learns her husband might have been the one to hand her over to the Nazis. Petzold knows how to create brilliant drama, and with a plot like this it’s hard to think Petzold will go wrong here. Phoenix will have its World Premiere at TIFF, and we’re excited to be one of the first people to see it. [C.J.]

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

It’s finally happening you guys. Roy Andersson is back after seven long years, and his latest is getting its North American premiere at TIFF. After the news of no Inherent Vice softly devastated me, I practically jumped up like a bona fide film geek when I heard that the other Andersson (the extra s means he’s Swedish) will be coming to Toronto with A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence. Yep, still my favorite title of the year. I’m expecting the usual dose of existentialism and sandpaper-dry humor that made his Songs From The Second Floor (2000) and You, The Living (2007) such joys to watch. Though Andersson is mostly popular with reclusive cinephiles like myself, it’s nice to see that Pigeon has been garnering hype since it’s been on festival prediction lists for a few years now; hopefully this means more people will get to experience the bizarre, hilarious, and foppish world Roy Andersson so meticulously crafts with his distinctly angular, motionless camera style. Yum. [Nik]

Spring

While fellow writer Bernard Boo wasn’t a big fan of Resolution, I thought it was one of the best horror debuts in years. A smart, clever and refreshingly self-aware film, Resolution found a way to craft a compelling mystery while breaking down horror tropes and audience expectations – think of it as a cross between Cabin in the Woods and Funny Games, except with less finger-wagging and more creepiness. Spring is directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead’s follow-up, and it sounds like an interesting change of pace from their first film. After a young man’s (Lou Taylor Pucci) mother dies, he heads off to Europe and ends up falling in love with a woman while visiting Italy. Sounds romantic, but this is a horror film, and it looks like this mystery girl has some sort of dark secret. Colin Geddes, the programmer who selected Spring for TIFF, calls the film “Before Sunrise with a supernatural twist.” Maybe it’s just me, but that alone has me looking forward to Spring. [C.J.]

Tokyo Tribe

I’m an unabashed fan of Sion Sono all the way back to when I first saw Suicide Club. Last year at TIFF I reviewed Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and thought it was a fun time. Tokyo Tribe looks like Sono has, once again, outdone himself. The incredible trailer, incomprehensible and so batshit-crazy you can’t help but grin, looks like it’ll be an uber-violent story about gang warfare with hip-hop musical numbers thrown in for good measure. May sound crazy to you, but it’s par for the course in Sono’s off-kilter imagination. Tokyo Tribe opens Midnight Madness this year, and it’ll be one of the hottest tickets to get in that programme. Midnight Madness crowds love Sono (Why Don’t You Play in Hell? won the audience award for the programme last year), so if you can snag a ticket be sure to go. [C.J.]

While We’re Young

Noah Baumbach schmoozed Toronto audiences two years ago with his delightful indie comedy Frances Ha, so it’s no surprise a lot of attention surrounds his newest film While We’re Young. While the previous film focused on an free-spirited twenty-something dancer who was anything but mature, Bamubach’s latest focuses from a different perspective. Here a middle-aged couple (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) begin to question themselves after meeting a much younger and hip couple. Using New York City as his backdrop once again, Baumbach explores how relationships and ambitions can fade with age. If While We’re Young is even remotely as good as Frances Ha, we’ll be in for a real treat. [Dustin]

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.