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Films from countries including Ethiopia, New Zealand, Peru, Israel, Indonesia, Germany, Australia, Spain,

China, France, Japan, Iceland and Morocco in Festival spotlight.

Toronto — A diverse and fascinating selection of 60 films from countries across the globe were announced today in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Contemporary World Cinema Programme. Spotlighting work from some of the world’s finest international filmmakers, the lineup delivers an array of compelling films for festival audiences to savour, journeying through unique and universal stories told on film.

Included in the lineup is the latest from directors Christian Zübert, Nabil Ayouch, Rúnar Rúnarsson, Alexandra-Therese Keining, Grímur Hákonarson, Erik Matti, Oliver Hermanus, Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche, Federico Veiroj, Eric Khoo, Sion Sono, Danielle Arbid, Emin Alper, and Jeremy Sims.

For the fourth year, The Toronto International Film Festival® partners with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs on the Contemporary World Speakers Series. This initiative pairs six films in the Contemporary World Cinema Programme with expert scholars from the Munk School. Audiences will have the opportunity to interact with filmmakers and scholars in extended discussions, following each film’s second public screening. Speakers include Stephen J. Toope, Ron Levi, Dan Brenznitz, Robert Steiner, Janice Stein, and Robert Austin. The Contemporary World Speakers Series is programmed in conjunction with the TIFF Adult Learning department.

Below are some of the films screening as part of the Contemporary World Cinema programme include:

25 April Leanne Pooley, New Zealand World Premiere
Award-winning filmmaker Leanne Pooley utilizes the letters and memoirs of New Zealand soldiers and nurses along with state of the art animation to tell the true story of the 1915 battle of Gallipoli. Dramatic, moving, sometimes humourous and often thrilling, the film explores an event whose resonance continues for Australians and New Zealanders to the present day.

3000 Nights (3000 Layla) Mai Masri, Palestine/France/Jordan/Lebanon/United Arab Emirates/Qatar World Premiere
After Layal, a newlywed Palestinian schoolteacher gives birth to a baby boy in an Israeli prison, the chief warden threatens to take her baby away unless she agrees to spy on the other prisoners who are planning a major strike. 3000 Nights makes a prison into a metaphor for Palestine under occupation, exploring the complicated interplay of resilience, empathy, and psychological manipulation between women. Layal fights to survive and maintain hope.

An Naomi Kawase, Japan/France/Germany North American Premiere
Sentaro runs a small bakery that serves dorayakis — pastries filled with sweet red bean paste (“an”). When an old lady, Tokue, offers to help in the kitchen, he reluctantly accepts. But Tokue proves to have magic in her hands when it comes to making “an”. Thanks to her secret recipe, the little business soon flourishes. And with time, Sentaro and Tokue will open their hearts to reveal old wounds.

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The Apostate (El Apóstata) Federico Veiroj, Spain/France/Uruguay World Premiere
A young man finds himself navigating the baffling, labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Catholic Church when he attempts to formally renounce his faith, in this gently absurdist comedy from Uruguay’s Federico Veiroj (A Useful Life).

As I Open My Eyes (A peine j’ouvre les yeux) Leyla Bouzid, Tunisia/France/Belgium North American Premiere
Tunis, summer 2010, a few months before the Revolution. Eighteen-year-old Farah is at a crossroads: to fulfill her mother’s wish and enroll in medical school or follow her passion for music. She has joined a subversive rock band, “Joujma”. As it becomes more and more visible, she does not suspect the danger of a regime that watches and infiltrates her privacy.

Chevalier Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece North American Premiere
In the middle of the Aegean Sea, on a luxury yacht, six men on a fishing trip have decided to play a game. Things will be measured, blood will be tested. The man who wins will be the best man, and he will wear upon his littlest finger the victorious signet ring: the “Chevalier”.

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A Copy of My Mind Joko Anwar, Indonesia/South Korea North American Premiere
She gives facials in a cheap beauty salon. He makes subtitles for pirated DVDs. They find a soulmate in each other. But their love is threatened to a tragic end when she stumbles upon evidence of a corruption case linked to a presidential candidate’s closest aides.

The Endless River (La Rivière sans fin) Oliver Hermanus, South Africa/France North American Premiere
A fierce crime drama set against an unforgiving landscape, The Endless River is a story about morality, love, revenge and forgiveness.

Frenzy (Abluka) Emin Alper, Turkey/France North American Premiere
In the new film from award-winning Turkish writer-director Emin Alper, an ex-con, just released after serving a 15-year sentence, is recruited as a police informant as political violence grips Istanbul.

*Stephen J. Toope, Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and an officer of the Order of Canada, is an international scholar on law, human rights, and global affairs. He will speak about Frenzy in a Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.

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Honor Thy Father Erik Matti, Philippines World Premiere
An idyllic family’s life crumbles when the couple, Edgar and Kaye, discover that the investment scheme Kaye runs is one big scam. With friends turning against them and murderous big-time investors at their heels, Edgar is forced to return to his dark roots to save his family.

Imbisibol (Invisible) Lawrence Fajardo, Philippines/Japan International Premiere
Invisible essays the story of four Filipino migrant workers in Japan, in a crucial encounter that mirrors the difficult challenges that confront the “Pinoy” diaspora. The main characters in the film include Linda, a mail-to-order-bride who married a Japanese “salaryman”; Benjie, an illegal migrant worker who has been jumping from one odd job to another in the last 17 years; Manuel, an overstayer who now works as a male entertainer in a bar in the red light district; and Rodel, a newcomer who works as a day labourer in a logging company.

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Jack Elisabeth Scharang, Austria North American Premiere
One winter’s night a girl freezes to death after suffering brutal injuries. Jack is convicted of her murder. When he is released from prison 15 years later, he goes from being a jailbird poet to a real ladykiller and darling of Vienna’s society. Can a man change so fundamentally? Or is it a case of once a murderer, always a murderer?

Journey to the Shore (Kishibe no tabi), Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan/France North American Premiere
Mizuki’s husband drowned at sea three years ago. When he suddenly comes back home, she is not that surprised. Instead, Mizuki is wondering what took him so long. She agrees to let him take her on a journey. A touching ghost story from Japanese master Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata, Pulse).

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*Dan Breznitz, Director of Research and Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs, is an expert on innovation-based growth and how we respond to global changes. He will speak about The Kind Words in a Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.

Last Cab to Darwin Jeremy Sims, Australia International Premiere
Rex drives a cab and has never left Broken Hill in his life. When he discovers he doesn’t have long to live, he decides to drive across the heart of the country to Darwin, where he’s heard he will be able to die on his own terms; but along the way he discovers that before you can end your life you’ve got to live it, and to live it you’ve got to learn to share it.

*Robert Steiner, Director of the Fellowships in Global Journalism Program, is a writer and award-winning former foreign correspondent now teaching journalism at the Munk School. He will speak about Last Cab To Darwin in a Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.

Let Them Come (Maintenant ils peuvent venir) Salem Brahimi, France/Algeria World Premiere
Algeria, at the end of the 1980s: against the background of mounting violence from a radical Islamist opposition repressed by the army, compelled by his mother, Noureddine marries Yasmina. As the conflict becomes more pronounced, he and his family have to defend themselves from the onslaught of pervasive barbarity. A chilling foray into a very contemporary drama, and remarkable adaptation from the novel with the same title by Arezki Mellal.

*Janice Stein, founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and member of the Order of Canada, is an internationally renowned expert on conflict management. She will speak about Let Them Come (Maintenant ils peuvent venir) in a Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.

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Mekko Sterlin Harjo, USA International Premiere
Starring Rod Rondeaux and Zahn McClarnon, tells the story of a homeless Native American parolee who discovers a chaotic yet beautiful community living on the streets of Tulsa. He also uncovers an old-world darkness that threatens to destroy them from within, one he must fight before it’s too late.

One Breath (Ein Atem) Christian Zübert, Germany World Premiere
One Breath is the story of two women from different backgrounds but with the same desire: happiness. Elena, young, well-educated and with no perspective in her home country, Greece, is trying to pursue a better life. And Tessa, a 30-something mother and successful manager in Germany, is torn between happiness as an individual and a mother. These two women meet and their encounter changes both their lives forever.

*Robert Austin, Associate Professor at the Munk School’s Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, is an expert on East Central and Southeastern Europe and coordinates the Hellenic Studies Program. He will speak about One Breath in a Q&A session following the second public screening of the film.

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Please visit TIFF website for a listing of all the films.

– Originally Posted August 25, 2015