SonyaThe Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is coming up September 7 to 17 this year. While we may not be seeing as many stars on the red carpets this season due to the ongoing industry strikes there is still a massive slate of films worthy of catching. We took a first glance at the roster to bring you our top film picks with a lens on amazing women filmmakers!
You will want to get planning! A complete list of what films are coming to TIFF this year can be found here.
Here are our top picks of films made by women at this year’s TIFF!
WOMAN OF THE HOUR:
Directed by Anna Kendrick. USA/Canada. World Premiere. Cast includes Anna Kendrick, Tony Hale, Daniel Zovatto, Nicolette Robinson
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut examines uncomfortable gender dynamics with the stranger-than-fiction story of Rodney Alcala’s appearance on The Dating Game in the middle of his 1970s murder spree.
The Dating Game
WICKED LITTLE LETTERS:
Directed by Thea Sharrock. UK. World Premiere. Cast includes Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Timothy Spall, Anjana Vasan
Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley play neighbours who get on each other’s nerves in this dark comedy about a small English town where residents start receiving anonymous, expletive-laden letters, igniting a scandal in their community.
It’s the 1920s and there’s a scandal brewing in the charming seaside town of Littlehampton. Residents have started receiving anonymous, poison-pen letters, brimming with curse words and scandalous prose. Who is writing them and how can they be stopped?
Wicked Little Letters
QUIZ LADY:
Directed by Jessica Yu. USA. World Premiere. Cast includes Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, Will Ferrell
From Oscar winner Jessica Yu comes a comedy starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh as two very different sisters who are forced to pay off their mother’s gambling debts by concocting a scheme to go on a quiz show.
Quiz Lady
LEE:
Directed by Ellen Kuras. UK. World Premiere. Cast includes Kate Winslet, Alexander Skarsgård, Andrea Riseborough, Marion Cotillard, Josh O’Connor, Andy Samberg
Oscar winner Kate Winslet stars in this fascinating portrait of the great American photojournalist Lee Miller, whose singular talent and ferocious tenacity gave us some of the 20th century’s most indelible images.The story begins in Paris, 1938, where Miller lives with a bevy of artists and bon vivants. Already a model, muse, and mentee to the avant-garde photographer Man Ray, Miller is now focusing exclusively on her own work.
Lee
NORTH STAR:
Directed by Kristin Scott Thomas. UK. World Premiere. Cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham, Kristin Scott Thomas, Freida Pinto
For her feature directorial debut, Kristin Scott Thomas leads Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller in a charming family drama about three sisters who are hung up on the men in their lives, as their mother prepares for her third wedding.
North Star
BLACK LIFE: Untold Stories:
Directed by Leslie Norville. Canada. World Premiere. Cast includes Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee, Master T, Jully Black, Shad, David Austin, Sandy Hudson, Robyn Maynard, Rinaldo Walcott
Black Life: Untold Stories is a new CBC documentary series tracing the individual and collective histories of Black people in Canada, dedicated to “dispelling common myths and celebrating the many contributions of Black Canadians.” Includes contemporary interviews and archival footage.
Black Life: Untold Stories
THE END WE START FROM:
Directed by Mahalia Belo. UK. World Premiere. Cast includes Jodie Cormer, Joel Fry, Katherine Waterston, Gina McKee, Nina Sosanya, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch
A new mother (Jodie Comer), her partner (Joel Fry), and their infant are driven out of London into the English countryside by cataclysmic flooding, in this adaptation of Megan Hunter’s prophetic bestseller.
The End We Start From
TELLING OUR STORY:
Directed by Kim O’Bomsawin. Canada. World Premiere. Cast includes Kaniehtiio Horn, Jeremy Dutcher, Quentin Condo, Danielle Mukash, Matthew Mukash, Charlotte Gauthier-Nolett, Joséphine Bacon, Carlos Kistabish, Olivia Ikey Duncan, Nathan Uniam, Edna Manitowabi, Eruoma Awashish, Barbara Diabo, Brad Gros-Louis, Ivanie Aubin-Malo, and the members of over 30 communities of 11 First Peoples
Highlighting the histories, experiences, outlooks, and aspirations of 11 different First Nations, as told through the voices of their community members, this four-part documentary illuminates the rich cultures, the celebrated stories, and the enduring resilience of Indigenous peoples whose homelands now host Canada.
Telling Our Stories
FOUR DAUGHTERS: Les Filles d’Olfa
Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia. World Premiere. Cast includes Hend Sabri, Tayssir Chikhaoui, Olfa Hamrouni, Eya Chikhaoui, Ichraq Matar, Nour Karoui, Majd Mastoura
In this co-winner of the Cannes ’23 Golden Eye, Kaouther Ben Hania blends documentary and drama to explore the case of two missing sisters in Tunisia, and the family that mourns them. Oscar-nominated Tunisian writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin, Beauty and the Dogs) makes her first appearance at the Festival with her richest slow-study character portrait to date. Four Daughters is a documentary that bends the edges of narrative form in careful service to the stories of brave, bold, and complicated women.
Four Daughters
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa:
Directed by Lucy Walker. USA. World Premiere.Cast includes Lhakpa Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Sunny Dijmarescu, Shiny Dijmarescu
The first Nepali woman to summit and descend Mount Everest — now a single mom working at a Connecticut Whole Foods — heads back to Everest to make a better life for her two daughters.
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
THE ROYAL HOTEL:
Directed by Kitty Green. Australia. Canadian Premiere. Cast includes Jessica Henwick, Julia Garner, Hugo Weaving, Bree Bain, Toby Wallace
Director Kitty Green and actor Julia Garner (The Assistant) reunite in this story of two friends who run out of cash while backpacking in Australia and must take jobs in an exploitative pub to fund their trip home. This film is about two young women who are put on the defensive when they arrive in a dusty mining town brimming with unfettered male aggression.
The Royal Hotel
LAST SUMMER (L’été dernier):
Directed by Catherine Breillet. France. North American Premiere. Cast includes Léa Drucker, Samuel Kircher
Breilat’s first film in a decade is a return to her provocative, edgy explorations of female sexuality, desire and power. Anne, a brilliant lawyer, lives in perfect harmony with her husband Pierre and their six and eight‐year‐old daughters in the suburbs of Paris. One day, Theo, 17, Pierre’s son from a previous marriage, moves in with them. Anne is troubled by Theo and gradually engages in a passionate relationship with him, putting her career and family life in danger.
Last Summer
SHAYDA:
Directed by Noora Niasari. Australia. Canadian Premiere. Cast includes Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider”), Selina Zahednia, Osman Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mohan Aria, and Rina Mousavi
An Iranian woman living in Australia, Shayda finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her frightened 6-year-old daughter, Mona. Having fled her husband, Hossein, and filed for divorce, Shayda struggles to maintain normalcy for Mona. Buoyed by the approach of Nowruz (Persian New Year), she tries to forge a fresh start with new and unfettered freedoms. But when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he re-enters their life, stoking Shayda’s fear that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran.
Drawn from personal experiences, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s powerful debut feature is a beautifully crafted, poetic vérité portrayal of courage and compassion. The film captures the vulnerability and conflict as well as the radiant soul of an Iranian woman who boldly reclaims her human rights: to divorce her husband, keep her child, and dress as she chooses.
Shayda
EXPATS:
Directed by Lulu Wang. USA. World Premiere. Cast includes Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue,Brian Tee, Jack Huston, Ji-young Yoo, Ruby Ruiz, Amelyn Pardenilla, Bonde Sham, Flora Chan, Maggie Lee, Blessing Mokgohloa, Will Orr, Bodhi Del Rosario, and Tiana Gowan
Margaret (Nicole Kidman; Destroyer, TIFF ’18), her husband Clarke (Brian Tee, The Wolverine), and their three kids have moved to Hong Kong from the US. They have established a community of fellow expatriates that includes Hilary (Sarayu Blue, Happiest Season) and her husband David (Jack Huston; Kill Your Darlings, TIFF ’13). This close-knit community is fractured after a sudden family tragedy drastically impacts their intersecting lives.
EXPATS
THE MOVIE TELLER (La Contadora de Películas):
Directed by Lone Scherfig. Spain/France/Chile. World Premiere. Cast includes Bérénice Bejo, Antonio de la Torre, Daniel Brühl, Sara Becker, Alondra Valenzuela
A young woman uses her storytelling gifts to share the magic of the pictures she has seen in the cinema with the poor inhabitants of a desert mining community, in this inspirational drama.
The Movie Teller
NYAD:
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. USA. International Premiere. Cast includes Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Luke Cosgrove, Jeena Yi, Eric T. Miller
Annette Bening and Jodie Foster dive into the dangerous waters of the Florida Straits, in this film based on the true story of the woman who, at the age of 64, became the first person to swim from Cuba to the US without a shark cage.
NYAD
BRIA MACK GETS A LIFE:
Directed by Sasha Leigh Henry and Kelly Fyffe-Marshall. Canada. World Premiere. Cast includes Malaika Hennie-Hamadi, Hannan Younis, Leslie Adlam
A self-assured comedy series from Sasha Leigh Henry (director of TIFF ’20 short film Sinking Ship) that shows what adulthood is like for a smart young Black woman as she is reluctantly entering the workforce.
Bria Mack Gets a Life
THANK YOU FOR COMING:
Directed by Karan Boolani. India. World Premiere. Cast includes Bhumi Pednekar, Sehnaz Gill, Pradhuman Singh Mall, Dolly Ahluwalia, Natasha Rastogi, Shibani Bedi, Dolly Singh, Saloni Daini, Sushant Divgikar
Gautamik, Kusha Kapila, Ayesha Raza, Karan Kundrra, Anil Kapoor
Smart, successful, and respected, 32 year old Delhi food blogger Kanika Kapoor (Bhumi Pednekar) is what you might call a hapless romantic. A serial monogamist, she’s spent her entire adult life seeking a satisfying love match — both emotionally and physically. But no matter the partner, and no matter how enthusiastic the relationship, she’s never been able to have an orgasm…until last night, Now she needs to find out who got her there.
Thank You For Coming.
SISTERHOOD: HLM Pussy:
Directed by Nora El Hourch. France. World Premiere. Cast includes Léah Aubert, Médina Diarra, Salma Takaline, Oscar Al Hafiane, Mounir Margoum, and Bérénice Bejo
This fearless debut from French-Moroccan Cannes Directors Fortnight alum Nora El Hourch, dissects the complexities around the notion of consent in the era of #Metoo and social media.
Drawing from personal experience, Nora directs a group of teenage girls whose friendship is tested. Despite their different social backgrounds, Amina, Djeneba and Zineb have been friends for as long as they can remember. When Zineb experiences harassment from her brother’s best friend, Amina decides to post a compromising video of him on social media, hoping he will stop. Little does she know that the video will not only jeopardize her safety, but also strain their friendship. The film features remarkable performances by Oscar and Cannes Best Actress Winner Bérénice Béjo (THE ARTIST, THE PAST) and newcomers Léah Aubert, Salma Takaline and Médina Diarra.
Sisterhood
COPA 71 :
Directed by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine. USA/UK World Premiere. Producers Serena Williams and Venus Williams
In August of 1971, defying the sexism of the time that branded soccer as “unfeminine,” teams of women from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy gathered at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium for the first unofficial Women’s World Cup. The scale of the tournament was monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage and crowds of over 100,000 roaring fans turned this historic stadium into a cauldron of noise. And yet this event has been written out of sports history — until now. Told by the trailblazing women who participated in it and built from archive unseen for fifty years, COPA 71 revels in the excitement, passion and humor of this inexplicably well-kept secret, setting the players’ personal stories within the context of women’s liberation movement in the ‘60s through to the present day.
Copa71
Full descriptions of films available on the TIFF site as well as information about tickets, schedule of screenings, and additional events. Happy TIFF!
*all photos courtesy of TIFF and used with permission.