Jim & Andy: the Great Beyond – the story of Jim Carrey & Andy Kaufman with a very special, contractually obligated mention of Tony Clifton (USA/Canada, 95 min.) Dir. Chris Smith Programme: TIFF Docs (North American Premiere) Please give Milos Forman a round of applause for restraining himself from punching Jim Carrey in the
The Gospel According to Andre (USA, 94 min.) Dir. Kate Novack Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) In The Gospel According to Andre, Kate Novack offers a long needed and detailed examination of Andre Leon Talley’s life and career. Born and raised in the segregated American South, Talley, a six-and-a-half-foot tall black man with a
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (UK/Ireland, 115 min.) Dir. Sophie Fiennes Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami is the only documentary I’ve ever seen that cites a hat designer in its opening credits. The title card is well earned for hat master Philip Treacy, since Grace Jones brings a fierce chapeau game in nearly every
Jane (USA, 90 min.) Dir. Brett Morgen Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) I went into Brett Morgen’s doc Jane with some trepidation. Did we really need a new Jane Goodall movie? This one’s different, though. The deal here is that National Geographic gave director Morgen 140 hours of footage of Jane Goodall shot from
Gaga: Five Foot Two (USA, 100 min.) Dir. Chris Moukarbel Programme: Special Events (World Premiere) A special event lit up the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, Sept. 8 when Lady Gaga turned Festival Street into a red carpet runway and then transformed the VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre into
Caniba (France, 90 min.) Dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel Programme: Wavelengths (North American Premiere) “Bring a barf bag,” was a warning I heard from a TIFF insider before I saw Caniba. This wasn’t exactly surprising to hear. I knew two things already about the film in question: one, that Caniba is the new
Dragonfly Eyes (China/USA, 81 min.) Dir. Xu Bing Programme: Wavelengths (North American Premiere) Xu Bing is a Chinese artist of Ai Weiwei’s vintage—they were even roommates in New York—whose most famous work seems to be Book from the Sky (1987–91), a massive manuscript of beautiful calligraphy that looks like Chinese but is actually gibberish.
One of Us (USA, 95 min.) Dir. Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers calls One of Us a “documentary thriller” in his programme notes for the film. The description couldn’t be more appropriate. This suspenseful, gripping, and incendiary film by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing
There aren’t too many documentaries outside the TIFF Docs programme this year, but this observation doesn’t mean the festival comes up short. TIFF’s Short Cuts offers half a dozen short docs scattered around the line-up. These films are worth the hunt since they’re easily among the most original, and arguably best, selections TIFF has to offer. Michelle Latimer’s Nuuca (Programme 5),
On My Way Out: The Secret Life of Nani and Popi (Canada, 40 min.) Dir. Brandon Gross, Skyler Gross Programme: Special Event (World Premiere) Short films tend to get somewhat shut out at red carpet-driven festivals like TIFF, which, of course, is too bad. If people want to get over their feature-length fetishes promptly,