TIFF’s Documentary program (TIFF Docs) is often populated with Oscar contenders and this year’s program is no exception. Thom Powers, who has been programming TIFF Docs since 2006, has put together a Doc slate that has something for everyone. Thom was nice enough to answer a few questions for us as TIFF is right around the corner.
BBP: Which films would you suggest to viewers who normally don’t watch feature length documentaries?
TP: VICE IS BROKE is the title we chose for the opening night of TIFF Docs because it’s funny, poignant and insightful on the rise and fall of Vice Media that was far reaching in the culture. Filmmaker Eddie Huang was a Vice insider as the host of the show Huang’s World. He uses his position to explore the good, the bad and the ugly of the company. MISTRESS DISPELLER is a title that’s bound to raise questions. This is an actual profession in China. Filmmaker Elizabeth Lo follows the work of an experienced mistress dispeller known as Teacher Wang as she uses unorthodox methods to bring a husband back to his marriage and break up with his mistress. MEN OF WAR comes from the team behind Cocaine Cowboys. Filmmakers Billy Corben and Jen Gatien follow Jordan Goudreau who was raised in Canada, but joined the U.S. Green Berets and later became a mercenary. He was at the center of a disastrous plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government in 2020. There’s a crazed wackiness to the story, but also a compelling exploration of how society treats veterans.
BBP: On the other end of the spectrum: what would you recommend to hardcore documentary fans?
TP: There are several works by filmmakers picking up a camera with minimal resources to capture extraordinary lives. That’s true of TEMPORARY SHELTER, directed by a Ukrainian refugee Anastasiia Bortuali. She was relocated to Iceland and documents her fellow refugees trying to rebuild their lives against a volcanic landscape. In the film SUDAN, REMEMBER US, the filmmaker Hind Meddeb (last at TIFF with Paris Stalingrad) films young people in Khartoum during a period of hopeful change in 2019. Her film gives us a personal perspective on the recent war being waged in Sudan. One of the most powerful films I’ve seen this year is NO OTHER LAND, directed by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli directors, that brings deep insight to the ongoing violence in the Middle East. It’s already won prizes at Berlin and other festivals.
Mainstream audiences are conditioned to seeing documentaries on smaller screens. Are there selections this year that really show off the benefits of experiencing a documentary on a large screen?
TP: SPACE COWBOYS profiles the esteemed skydiving cameraman Joe Jennings. The film is filled with his jaw-dropping cinematography that will leave you tightly gripping the armrest of your theater seat. THE LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN is another excursion that’s ideally experienced on a big screen. Filmmaker Sue Kim delves into the ocean with a group of South Korean women who practice freediving (without an oxygen tank) to collect sea creatures, but now have to fight for the future of their livelihood. The Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) returns to TIFF with ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND that won the Cannes documentary prize L’Œil d’or. The film draws upon a treasure of unseen photographs by the great South African photographer Ernest Cole that are visually stunning.
BBP: Are there any titles outside of the TIFF Docs program that fans of pure nonfiction (both the genre and podcast) should check out?
TP: TIFF’s competitive programme Platform has two films rooted in nonfiction this year. VIKTOR profiles a deaf man in Ukraine who eagerly wants to join the military to defend his country against Russia’s invasion. The filmmaker Olivier Sarbil is a longtime war photographer who has his own experience with hearing loss. THE WOLVES ALWAYS COME AT NIGHT is a hybrid blending documentary and fiction. Set in Mongolia, we follow a family of herders as they grapple with sustaining their rural lifestyle.
BBP: Is there anything else you’d like to share about this year’s Documentary program?
TP: There is a prominence of strong women standing up to powerful institutions in the line-up. BLUE ROAD: THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY looks at the Irish author who faced backlash from the Catholic Church and government censorship. That film resonates even more deeply after O’Brien died this past summer. PATRICE: THE MOVIE introduces us to disability rights activist Patrice Jetter. We watch her battle myriad adversities with tremendous creativity, humor and perseverance. In A SISTER’S TALE, the director Leila Amini follows her sister Nasreen in Iran over several years. Nasreen has great talent as a singer, but has to navigate personal and political forces that get in the way of her dreams.
Our team of programmers selected this year’s 21 titles in TIFF Docs from over 900 feature documentary submissions. So we believe deeply in every one of them.
Find information about the Festival, including schedule and ticket information at TIFF.net ! The Festival runs from September 5-15, 2024 and you can find coverage right here at Biff Bam Pop!