Welcome back for another round of ScreenAnarchy previews ahead of the Toronto International Film Fest 2015 preview series. So far we've talked Special Presentations and Galas and Midnighters and Vanguard. Now we turn our attention to the gigantic sections of TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema. This is just a tiny taste of what's in store.
Schneider vs. Bax
Alex van Warmerdam's follow-up to the wildly acclaimed Borgman is this Locarno-premiering hitman thriller. - Ryland Aldrich
Contemporary World Cinema
Journey to the Shore
Kurosawa Kiyoshi's slightly surreal story of a woman on a quest to thank those for helping return her missing husband made its premiere earlier this year at Cannes. His last outing was Seventh Code. - Ryland Aldrich
Contemporary World Cinema
He Named Me Malala
Davis Guggenheim takes us inside the incredible story of teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. Fox Searchlight is distributing stateside. - Ryland Aldrich
TIFF Docs
Horizon
Iceland has been used by a lot of filmmakers in recent days, from Prometheus to Noah to Oblivion. Here is a documentary account of the local landscapes as interpreted by painter Georg Gudni. Horizon aims to visually capture things in a similar style to the artist it documents. - Kurt Halfyard
TIFF Docs
The Whispering Star
The latest from Japanese wild man Sono Sion tells the tale of a robotic deliverywoman contemplating her humanity along her galactic delivery route. Hmmm... - Ryland Aldrich
Contemporary World Cinema
Chevalier
From the writer of Dogtooth, Alps and The Lobster, and the director of Attenberg, The New Greek Weird is still alive and kicking, and insists on portraying human relationships as elaborate and absurd games. In the case of Chevalier, there are six men stuck on a yacht who pass the time trying to one-up each other in bizarre ways. - Kurt Halfyard
Contemporary World Cinema
Janis: Little Girl Blue
With the welcome onslaught of rockumentaries lately, it was only a matter of time before Janis Joplin got her day in the sun. And given the fluctuating ups and downs of the Janis biopic's rumour mill throughout the last decade, It's also about time. But I'll take a meaty doc any day over a James Mangold-like telling of the Janet 'The Rose' Jimplor story. Bring on Pearl! -Zach Gayne
TIFF Docs
Dark Horse
Louise Osmand's story of Welsh commoners banding together to breed a race horse has been cleaning up on the festival circuit after premiering at Sundance. Sony Classics will be putting it out soon. - Ryland Aldrich
TIFF Docs
The Hong Kong Trilogy: Preschooled Preoccupied Preposterous
Veteran cinematographer Christopher Doyle returns to the director's chair for his third feature go around with this story of Hong Kong told through three generations. - Ryland Aldrich
Contemporary World Cinema
One Breath
Germany’s Christian Zübert directs the story of two mothers, a pregnant Greek immigrant working as the nanny for a upper middle class professional in Frankfurt. Bad stuff happens, and the film is billed to offer the perspective from both women. I am positive that the bad parenting, certain to be on display here, will work me into a tizzy. - Kurt Halfyard
Contemporary World Cinema
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Cinephile François Truffaut's legendary week-long interview with Alfred Hitchcock back in 1962 resulted in Hitchcock/Truffaut; one of the most beloved film books ever released. Through conversation, the aural autobiography detailed the rise to masterdom of Alfred Hitchcock. At first glance, an adaptation of a biography seems a curious vehicle for an Alfred Hitchcock documentary. But then again, what better pathway into Hitchcock's story than through his illuminating week with a probing, wide-eyed whippersnapper named François Truffaut. -Zach Gayne
TIFF Docs
The Reflektor Tapes
Khalil Joseph takes us inside the creation of The Arcade Fire's Reflektor album in this high profile music docu. - Ryland Aldrich
TIFF Docs
Magallanes
Salvador del Solar's feature debut tells the story of a Peruvian cab driver who tries to redeem himself in the eyes of a woman he first met some 20 years before. - Ryland Aldrich
Contemporary World Cinema
Honor Thy Father
The latest from Filipino vet director Erik Matti is this drama about a family that faces financial ruin after being involved in a ponzi scheme. - Ryland Aldrich
Contemporary World Cinema
Girls Lost
Three bullied young girls, through a supernatural event, are turned into young boys. That there, ladies and gentlemen, is a great premise for a film. We will see if Swedish novelist-turned-director, Alexandra-Therese Keining, can successfully adapt her own novel into something great. Kurt Halfyard
Contemporary World Cinema