21 films will screen in the TIFF Docs line-up at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The festival announced the documentary slate today, which includes the world premiere of Vice Is Broke from director Eddie Huang as the programme’s opening night selection. TIFF Docs lead programmer Thom Powers, speaking with POV ahead of this morning’s announcement, describes the film as a “funny and poignant insider’s account of VICE Media and its rise and fall into bankruptcy.” Huang previously hosted the VICE series Huang’s World, which explored connections between food and identity during its run from 2016 to 2017.
Powers says the film riffs on VICE’s signature house style—a mix of edgy news and documentary—while exploring what happened at the media empire that seemed to be the hallmark of digital news before filing for bankruptcy in 2023. “Eddie travels around interviewing people who worked in the company,” says Powers. “He keeps receipts on the people who did the actual work, versus the people who took credit for the work, as they look back on those years where many people were making their careers but with mixed experiences inside the company. You really watch people trying to grapple with separating the good from the bad in a potent time of their life.”
Vice Is Broke marks Huang’s feature documentary debut after the 2021 drama Boogie. His memoir Fresh Off the Boat was adapted into the hit series of the same name.
Vice Is Broke is one of several sales titles up for grabs in the TIFF Docs slate. The film, repped by UTA, leads a doc line-up that hopes to bode well for the upcoming TIFF Market and build upon the momentum of last year’s festival, which drew notable sales like the deal for Lucy Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which just premiered on Netflix after signing at a deal at TIFF 2023.
Other docs hoping to make a sales splash in Toronto include several TIFF Docs alumni. Having its world premiere at the festival is Space Cowboy, directed by Marah Strauch and Bryce Leavitt. The film marks Strauch’s return to the festival after opening the 2014 programme with Sunshine Superman about BASE jumper Carl Boenish and his daredevil habit for filming his free dives with a 16mm camera strapped to his head. Space Cowboy promises another big screen daredevil adventure as tells the story of stunt skydiver and freefall cinematographer Joe Jennings.
Space Cowboy is one of several titles repped by Submarine, as is Elizabeth Lo’s Mistress Dispeller, which has its North American premiere in TIFF Docs after hitting Venice. Powers calls the doc an “utterly fascinating film set in China about a woman whose job it is to repair marriages that have experienced infidelity.” Lo’s feature debut Stray, a portrait of street dogs, won Best International Feature at Hot Docs 2020. “Elizabeth is a real talent and I think more people are going to discover her with Mistress Dispeller,” says Powers.
Powers also points to Submarine’s The Last Republican as one doc that could do good business in Toronto. The doc offers a portrait of former politician and political commentator Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican representative from Illinois who voted in favour of Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting the insurrection at the Washington Capitol following the 2020 election. The Last Republican has additional novelty as the documentary debut of director Steve Pink, the man behind the sci-fi farce Hot Tub Time Machine.
“What’s striking to me about the film is that Adam Kinzinger is no less a conservative Republican than he ever was. His position has kind of remained the same as his party moved towards the right, and yet he works with this left wing Hollywood filmmaker,” notes Powers. “Kinzinger found trust in Steve Pink because he’s a big fan of Hot Tub Time Machine and you can see that in their dialogues from behind the camera. They may come from different ideological places, but they can hold a conversation over their shared sense of humor. That’s very meaningful for me to see on the screen in incredibly fractious times.” Powers points to it as an example in the programme that encourages conversations across ideological divides.
Another film that’s sure to spark conversation is the timely Men of War. Men of War is produced by Neon, the boutique distributor of docs like All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Fire of Love. Powers says that Neon hopes to follow the model of its doc Brats, about the Brat Pack, and use the TIFF berth to connect the doc with a wider audience. The film, which has its world premiere at the festival, is directed by American filmmaker Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys, Screwball) and Canadian Jen Gatien in her directorial debut.
Men of War tells the timely story of Mississauga native Jordan Goudreau, the former U.S. Green Beret who was recently for arms smuggling in relation to the plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government. “Billy Corben and Jen Gatien had been following Goudreau for several months,” says Powers, “and doing so in the style that Billy Corben is well known for: mashing together tabloid headlines with a dark comedy perspective, but telling stories that have deep political resonance.” Screwball, which played TIFF 2018, humorously tackled a Major League Baseball doping scandal using child actors to tell the tale.
Meanwhile, kids lend a hand in Ted Passon’s Patrice: The Movie. The film marks Passon’s feature directorial debut after series such as the Peabody Award winner Philly D.A. The documentary observes disability activist Patrice Jetter, who appeared in Passon’s Netflix series Worn Stories, as she and her partner find themselves at a crossroads when their desire to marry threatens their disability benefits. “Patrice Jetter is an extraordinarily creative person, so some of the sequences telling her life story are performed as stage tableaus with children acting out other members of her family,” notes Powers.
Another story of an inspiring woman comes from Irish filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea. She’ll follow her TIFF 2022 doc Pray for Our Sinners, about the effects of violence upon young children (especially girls), with Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story. The doc offers a portrait of the novelist whose 1960 book The Country Girls is credited as a watershed work for breaking the silence regarding sexual abuse in Ireland. O’Brien, whose novels faced censorship for their frankness, died on July 27 this year at age 93. “Sinéad has been making this film for the last year, really racing against time, and did get to share with Edna O’Brien on her deathbed that the film had gotten into the Toronto Film Festival,” says Powers. “It’s wonderful that O’Brien’s life and work can be freshly discovered by the festival audience.”
TIFF Docs finds another timely story—or series of stories—with the omnibus feature From Ground Zero. Directed by 22 filmmakers, the genre-hopping film shows a diversity of tales in Gaza against the backdrop of wartime. “This is not a collection of films that I think emphasizes victimhood as much as it emphasizes individuality of expression amongst people who are surviving against the worst circumstances imaginable,” notes Powers.
While many of the docs in the line-up are looking for a home, others are doing the same while in the hunt for a sale that could boost awards potential. Once such contender is the Palestinian-Norwegian co-production No Other Land, directed by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor, which is making its North American debut on the fall circuit after gaining strong notices overseas. The doc portrays an alliance between Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval, as told by a coalition of filmmakers from both sides of the political divide.
“No Other Land is one of the most powerful films I’ve seen all year, and I’ve watched hundreds of documentaries this year,” says Powers. “I do think that it will stand and go very far in awards this year.” The doc is repped by Cinetic, which had a hand in the bids for docs like Navalny, The Eternal Memory, and Bobi Wine: The People’s President. No Other Land comes to TIFF after scoring prizes at Berlin, Sheffield, Visions du Réel, and CPH:DOX, among other festivals.
Powers says that the sales potential for No Other Land and other docs could echo the traction that TIFF premieres like Mountain Queen and 2022’s To Kill a Tiger added to the awards conversation. The former is gaining traction as a frontrunner in this year’s race, while the latter scored a grassroots nomination over time using the strong word of mouth it built following a win at the festival.
Other films that could find themselves in the mix this year include director Sue Kim’s The Last of the Sea Women. The doc, the first in a partnership between Apple TV+ with Malala Yousafzai’s production company Extracurricular and indie label A24, looks at the haenyeo or “mermaid women” of South Korea’s Jeju Islands and an endangered tradition. Kim previously landed on the Oscar shortlist for the hit Netflix short The Speed Cubers (2020) about Rubik’s Cube wizards. “As we have watched the Academy have a deeper and deeper appreciation for a global spectrum of stories, this is a film that could appeal there,” says Powers. “Sue Kim handles the story with great warmth and sensitivity, and I think she’s a real talent to watch.”
Other hopefuls include the North American premiere of Raoul Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, which won the l’Œil d’Or at Cannes this year. The portrait of the photographer brings Peck back to the festival after last year’s Silver Dollar Road and 2016’s I Am Not Your Negro, which scored an Oscar nomination after winning the People’s Choice Award for documentary.
On the Canadian front, three Canadian features and three co-productions appear in the line-up. TIFF announced the Canadian selections for this year’s festival with Living Together, Your Tomorrow, and So Surreal: Behind the Masks repping the maple lead. All three films make their world premieres in the TIFF Docs slate.
Halima Elkhatabi’s feature directorial debut Living Together, produced by Nathalie Cloutier for the National Film Board of Canada, explores the dynamics of cohabitation as the director observes the conversations in 15 apartments as Montrealers vet prospective roommates.
In So Surreal: Behind the Masks, Neil Diamond offers his second feature doc of 2024 following the Hot Docs premiere of Red Fever. Diamond’s latest documentary again sees him on both sides of the camera as he traces efforts to repatriate Indigenous masks and discovers an unexpected trail through the surrealist movement. Diamond shares directing duties with Joanne Robertson in her debut, while Ernest Webb of Rezolution Pictures serves as producer.
Your Tomorrow, meanwhile, tells a distinctly Toronto story as director Ali Weinstein (#BLESSED) observes the fight to save Ontario Place amid controversial redevelopment plans. The vérité doc captures the goings on of seasonal workers, activists, tourists, and everyday Torontonians who enjoy the landmark as a hub for recreation and connection. The film is produced by Geoff Morrison of Big Cedar Films. “Your Tomorrow is very sympathetic to activists who are trying to save Ontario Place and find a different outcome for it,” says Powers. “It is a beautiful film about public space. In this case it happens to the Ontario Place, but I think even people outside of Toronto would recognize the importance that public space holds for communities anywhere.”
Meanwhile, the French-Canadian co-pro Russians at War touches down in Toronto for its North American premiere after debuting at Venice. The doc directed by Anastasia Trofimova and produced by Trofimova with Sally Blake, Philippe Lavasseur, and recent To Kill a Tiger Oscar nominee Cornelia Principe takes audiences to the war in Ukraine. “It’s a strong point of view film as Anastasia Trofimova films with Russians during the course of war and really gives insight into what it’s like to live in under state of wartime propaganda,” says Powers. Early word from industry peers is strong.
The homegrown docs, like their international peers, are hoping to take advantage of a hungry market. “It’s an exciting time to support the films that are still looking for distribution and can the festival to demonstrate that they have an audience,” says Powers.
The full slate of TIFF Docs announced today is as follows:
A Sisters’ Tale Leila Amini | Switzerland/France/Iran
International Premiere
Sales Title
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story Sinéad O’Shea | Ireland/United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Raoul Peck | France
North American Premiere
From Ground Zero Wissam Moussa, Nidal Damo, Ahmed Hassouna, Alaa Ayoub, Karim Satoum, Bashar Al Babisi, Khamis Masharawi, Nida’A Abu Hasna, Tamer Nijim, Ahmed Al Danaf, Rima Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Basil El Maqousi, Mustafa Al Nabih, Rabab Khamis, Mustafa Kulab, Alaa Damo, Hana Eleiwa, Mahdi Kreirah, Aws Al Banna, Islam Al Zeriei, Etimad Washah | Palestine/France/Qatar/Jordan
North American Premiere
Sales Title
Living Together Halima Elkhatabi | Canada
World Premiere
Men of War Jen Gatien, Billy Corben | USA/Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title
Mistress Dispeller Elizabeth Lo | China/USA
North American Premiere
Sales Title
No Other Land Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor | Palestine/Norway
Canadian Premiere
Sales Title
Patrice: The Movie Ted Passon | USA
World Premiere
Russians at War Anastasia Trofimova | Canada/France
North American Premiere
Sales Title
So Surreal: Behind the Masks Neil Diamond, Joanne Robertson | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title
Space Cowboy Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
Sudan, remember us Hind Meddeb | France/Tunisia/Qatar
North American Premiere
Sales Title
Tata Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc | Romania/Germany/Netherlands
World Premiere
Sales Title
Temporary Shelter Anastasiia Bortuali | Iceland
World Premiere
Sales Title
The Freedom of Fierro Santiago Esteinou | Mexico/Canada/Greece
World Premiere
Sales Title
The Last of The Sea Women Sue Kim | USA
World Premiere
The Last Republican Steve Pink | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
Vice Is Broke Eddie Huang | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
Wishing on a Star Peter Kerekes | Italy/Slovakia/Czech Republic/Austria/Croatia
North American Premiere
Sales Title
Your Tomorrow Ali Weinstein | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title
Previously announced docs include Titles announced for the festival so far include Elton John: Never Too Late, Will & Harper, Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street B, and Piece by Piece in the Galas and Special Presentations; the Ukrainian documentary Viktor and the hybrid The Wolves Always Come at Night in Platform; and Fanatical: The Catfishing Teagan and Sarah and An Unfinished Film in the Centrepiece programme. More docs are expected in the Wavelengths, Primetime, and Short Cuts line-ups later this week.
