Finishing off a big day for the Toronto International Film Fest that included announcements of the fest's Midnight, Vanguard, and Masters slates, the good folks at TIFF also let us know what will be coming up in the Documentaries program unspooling September 4. The lineup includes films from such recognizable names as Fan Lixin (Last Train Home), Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing), and perhaps most surprisingly, Ethan Hawke. The full lineup is below.
Beats of the Antonov Hajooj Kuka, Sudan/South Africa
Beats of the Antonov follows refugees from the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains in Sudan as they survive displacement and the trauma of civil war. Music, a cornerstone of their traditions and identity, becomes itself a vehicle for survival.
World Premiere
I Am Here (Wo Jiu Shi Wo) Lixin Fan, China
During the summer of 2013, 12 young boys battle each other for the No. 1 spot in Super Boys, a decade-old American Idol-style TV talent show in China. They discover who they are and learn to love each other in the process. From the director of Last Train Home.
International Premiere
Iraqi Odyssey Samir, Iraq/Switzerland/Germany/United Arab Emirates
Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir (Forget Baghdad) pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war, and foreign occupation.
World Premiere
Merchants of Doubt Robert Kenner, USA
Documentarian Robert Kenner (Food, Inc.) investigates the shadowy world of professional skeptics, whose services are bought and paid for by corporations, think tanks and other special interests to cast doubt and delay on public and governmental action on climate change.
Canadian Premiere
National Diploma (Examen d'Etat) Dieudo Hamadi, France/Congo
A group of young Congolese high-school students who are about to write the exam for their National Diploma in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, gather in a maquis (communal house) to help each other prepare. It is common practice to be ejected from classes during the school year for failing to pay "teachers' fees", but the students are determined, and resort to all means at their disposal to earn a diploma, a stepping stone out of a life of poverty.
North American Premiere
National Gallery Frederick Wiseman, France/USA
Master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (Crazy Horse, At Berkeley) takes the audience behind the scenes of this London institution, which is inhabited by masterpieces of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. In a perpetual and dizzying game of mirrors, the film presents a portrait of a place, its inner workings, and its relationship with the world, its staff, its public and its paintings.
North American Premiere
Natural Resistance Jonathan Nossiter, Italy/France
A group of Italian vineyard proprietors live a life many can only dream of. In their converted 11th-century monastery and winery in Tuscany, Giovanna Tiezzi and Stefano Borsa find a way to grow grains, fruit and wine that create a link to their ancient Etruscan heritage. Ten years after Mondovino, the wine world has changed just like the world itself. The enemy is now far greater than the threat of globalization. But against the new world economy, these natural wine rebels offer a model of charmed and joyous resistance.
North American Premiere
Red Army Gabe Polsky, USA/Russia
Red Army follows the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Soviet Union's Red Army hockey team of the 1980s. Told from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the story portrays his transformation from national hero to political enemy. From the USSR to Russia, the film examines how sport mirrors social and cultural movements, and parallels the rise and fall of the Red Army team with the Soviet Union. An inspiring story about the Cold War played out on the ice rink, and the man who stood up to a powerful system and paved the way for change for generations of Russians.
Canadian Premiere
Seymour: An Introduction Ethan Hawke, USA
Director Ethan Hawke explores the life and lessons of pianist, teacher and sage, Seymour Bernstein. Since giving up a career as a concert pianist at age 50, Seymour has dedicated his life to teaching his students about music, happiness and the power of detaching satisfaction from success.
International Premiere
Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Ma'a al Fidda) Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan, Syria/France
The collaboration between exiled Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed and young Kurdish activist Wiam Simav Bedirxan distills footage from thousands of clandestine videos to create a shattering, on-the-ground documentary chronicle of the ordeal being undergone by ordinary Syrians in the ongoing civil war.
North American Premiere
Sunshine Superman Marah Strauch, USA/Norway/United Kingdom
Sunshine Superman tells the story of Carl Boenish who pioneered and popularized the activity of BASE jumping (jumping from fixed objects with a parachute). Carl married Jean Campbell and together they travelled to Norway in 1984 to jump from the cliffs of Trollveggen. Against the backdrop of the midnight sun, tragedy strikes.
World Premiere
Tales of the Grim Sleeper Nick Broomfield, USA/United Kingdom
Nick Broomfield investigates the 2010 arrest of Lonnie Franklin following a 25-year killing spree in South Central Los Angeles, in which it is thought he could have killed over a 100 victims, potentially making him the most prolific serial killer in history.
World Premiere
The Look of Silence (Senyap) Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark/Indonesia/Norway/Finland/United Kingdom
(Pictured Above)
Through Joshua Oppenheimer's work with perpetrators of the Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discover who killed their son. The youngest brother is determined to break the spell of silence and fear under which the survivors live, and confronts the men responsible for his brother's murder.
Canadian Premiere
This Is My Land Tamara Erde, France
This film follows several Israeli and Palestinian teachers over one academic year, observing their exchanges and confrontations with students, their debates with their respective ministries' curriculum and its restrictions, and offering an intimate glimpse into the profound and long-lasting effect that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict transmits onto the next generation.
World Premiere
The Yes Men Are Revolting Laura Nix and The Yes Men, USA
For two decades, The Yes Men have pulled off hilarious and spectacular media hoaxes to expose corporate crime. In this intimate portrait, they are now approaching middle age and struggle to stay inspired as the worst crime of all threatens the planet. Can they get it together before the ice caps melt?
World Premiere
Roger & Me Michael Moore, USA (Previously Announced 25th Anniv. Screening)
Roger & Me is Michael Moore's satirical account of one of America's greatest urban disasters in Flint, Michigan, General Motors' birthplace. Moore chronicles thwarted efforts to interview then GM Chairman Roger Smith and reveals truths about the economic cruelties of corporate America. The film celebrates its 25th anniversary, having debuted in 1989 at the Toronto International Film Festival where it won the People's Choice Award.
Toronto 2014 Docu Lineup Announced