Deepa Mehta, Alanis Obomsawin bring latest to TIFF
Xavier Dolan, Nathan Morlando, Kim Nguyen bring Cannes picks to Toronto fest
The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled on Wednesday a strong list of Canadian entries slated for this year's event, with the diverse lineup including films that highlight engaging figures, shocking events and social concerns.
Mehta delves into the issue of gang rape with Anatomy of Violence, a fictional dramatization of the lives of the six men who, in 2012, sexually assaulted a young woman on a New Delhi bus before tossing her beaten and naked body onto the street.
In We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice, acclaimed documentarian Obomsawin explores Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations' landmark human rights complaint against the federal government regarding discrimination against First Nation children on reserves.
McDonald's latest is the 1970s-set coming-of-age tale Weirdos, about a runaway who hitchhikes through the Maritimes with his girlfriend in search of his mother.
'Diverse, high-calibre work'
"We are thrilled to present a robust selection of projects from some of Canada's best filmmakers," senior TIFF programmer Steve Gravestock said in a statement.
Dolan, Morlando and Nguyen — among the Canadians who debuted new work at the Cannes Film Festival in the spring — will launch the North American premieres of their films at TIFF: It's Only the End of the World, Mean Dreams and Two Lovers and a Bear, respectively.
Dolan's End of the World earned the Grand Prix honour at Cannes.
- Black Code, Nicholas de Pencier's documentary exploring privacy, democracy and censorship in cyberspace.
- Giants of Africa, in which Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis follows Toronto Raptors president and general manager Masai Ujiri on his summertime basketball development camps in Africa.
- The River of My Dreams, Oscar-winner Brigitte Berman's documentary portrait of acclaimed Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent.
- Dilip Mehta's Mostly Sunny, the story of small-town Canadian girl Sunny Leone's transformation into adult film actress and, perhaps more surprising, a Bollywood and reality TV star.
- Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming), Ann Marie Fleming's feature-length animated film about a poet embarking on a voyage of discovery.
TIFF 2016 runs Sept. 8-18.