Toronto 2014 Preview: Discovery, Masters, & More

The Face of an Angel
Michael Winterbottom keeps his streak of varying genres and subjects going well with this follow-up to The Trip to Italy about our society's fascination with violence. Daniel Brühl, Kate Beckinsale, Valerio Mastandrea, and Cara Delevingne star. -Ryland Aldrich

Masters

Guidance
Canada's Pat Mills writes, directs, and acts in this edgy comedy about a haunted former child actor returning to his old school to offer the students misguided guidance. -Zach Gayne

Discovery

The Tribe
Yes, this is the deaf mute Ukranian boarding school drama that everyone has been talking about. The film by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy premiered at Cannes and was scooped up by Drafthouse for release in the USA. -Ryland Aldrich

Discovery

Hill of Freedom
Hong Sang-soo has been on a tear lately with recent releases of Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Our Sunhi. His latest Venice-premiering film stars Kase Ryo as a Japanese man who heads to Korea to find a lost love. -Ryland Aldrich

Masters

Paper Planes
Sam Worthignton stars as a father who bonds with his formerly estranged son over the boy's training for the upcoming world paper plane championship in Tokyo in this feature from Aussie director Robert Connolly. -Zach Gayne

TIFF Kids

The Little Death
Aussie actor and star of the awesome little film Crave, Josh Lawson, makes his directorial debut with this sex comedy about intertwined couples and their bizarre fetishes. -Ryland Aldrich

Discovery

A Hard Day
This South Korean Neo-noir by Kim Seong-hun about a hapless cop who finds himself being blackmailed in the days following a hit and run premiered at Cannes and impressed our own Pierce Conran. -Zach Gayne

City to City: Seoul

The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Will Takahata's story of a princess born of bamboo be the final Ghibli masterpiece? Time will tell. But in his review, Christopher O'Keefe called this film an elegant beauty. -Ryland Aldrich

Masters

Winter Sleep
Nuri Bilge Ceylon returns to Anatolia for his Palme d'Or-winning follow-up to Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. Adopt Films will be distributing in the States. -Ryland Aldrich

Masters

Atlantic.
A Moroccan windsurfer travels to Europe via ocean for an existentially endless summer in Jan-Willem van Ewijk's follow-up to his well-received debut feature Nu. -Zach Gayne

Discovery

Heaven Knows What
French sibling directors Josh and Benny Safdie's third feature is a fiction and documentary blend about a heroin addict finding love in the streets of NYC. -Zach Gayne

Wavelength

Adult Beginners
Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, and Bobby Cannavale star in Ross Katz's story of an entrepreneur who has to turn to life as a nanny. This marks the directorial debut of Katz who is best known for producing such titles as In the Bedroom, Lost in Translation, and Marie Antoinette. -Ryland Aldrich

Discovery

Leviathan
Hailed at Cannes, Andrey Zvyagintsev's follow-up to Elena about the life of a man in a small Russian town has been picked up for US distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.-Ryland Aldrich

Masters

'71
Much lauded since its premiere at Berlin, Yann Demange's tale of a young British soldier separated from his squad in dangerous 1971 Belfast stars Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, and Sean Harris. Roadside will be bringing it to theaters in the US. -Ryland Aldrich

Discovery

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Julie Taymor documents her stage production of Shakespeare's summer fantasy. -Zach Gayne

Mavericks

Speaking Parts
Atom Egoyan's International breakthrough film about a gigolo and the custodian who loves him, is presented in a new digital restoration. -Zach Gayne

Cinematheque