Contemporary World Cinema Toronto 2019
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- DirectorHikariStarsEita OkunoMakiko WatanabeNanami KawakamiYuma is a young Japanese woman with cerebral palsy. Torn between her obligations towards her family and her dream to become a manga artist, she struggles to lead a self-determined life.
- DirectorKôji FukadaStarsMariko TsutsuiMikako IchikawaSôsuke IkematsuA home-care nurse's relationship with the family she has spent years working for is threatened when her nephew is arrested for kidnapping their daughter.
- DirectorHlynur PálmasonStarsIngvar SigurdssonÍda Mekkín HlynsdóttirHilmir Snær GuðnasonAn off duty police begins to suspect a local man for having had an affair with his recently dead wife. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones.
- DirectorLouise ArchambaultStarsAndrée LachapelleGilbert SicotteRémy GirardThree elderly hermits live in the woods. While wildfires threaten the region, their quiet life is about to be shaken by the arrival of two women - A story of intertwined destinies, where love can happen at any age.
- DirectorSophie DeraspeStarsNahéma RicciRachida OussaadaNour BelkhiriaA modern adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy which falls within a social realism. To the law of men, the young Antigone apposes her own sets of values.
- DirectorManele LabidiStarsGolshifteh FarahaniMajd MastouraAïsha Ben MiledAfter years abroad in Paris, Selma returns to Tunis with the dream of opening up her own psychotherapy practice.
- DirectorMichael HerbigStarsFriedrich MückeKaroline SchuchDavid KrossEast Germany, 1979. After initially failing to flee from the East to the West in a self-built hot-air balloon, two families struggle to make a second attempt, while the East German State Police are chasing them.
- DirectorBridget Savage ColeDanielle KrudyStarsDavid CoffinDavid PridemoreAdam Wolf MayersonMary Beth and Priscilla Connolly attempt to cover up a gruesome run-in with a dangerous man. To conceal their crime, the sisters must go deep into the criminal underbelly of their hometown, uncovering the town's darkest secrets.
- DirectorEdward BurnsStarsJennifer EhleEdward BurnsHannah DunneA suburban wife and mother longs to escape the monotony of her daily routine and the stress caused by her underwhelming adult children.
- DirectorGitanjali RaoStarsCyli KhareAmit DeondiGargi ShitoleBOMBAY ROSE is a beautiful hand-painted animation created by award winning animator Gitanjali Rao. Amidst the bustle of a magnetic and multifaceted city, the budding love between two dreamers is tested by duty and religious divides.
- DirectorJoey KleinStarsImogen PootsNeve CampbellAlex WolffAfter the untimely death of his mother, a teenager befriends his charismatic but troubled next-door neighbor and becomes embroiled in a world of addiction and violence just as the opioid epidemic takes hold of their small town.
- DirectorJ.-P. ValkeapääStarsPekka StrangEster GeislerováEllen KarppoJuha has lost his wife in a drowning accident. Years after he still feels numb and unable to connect with people. Meeting Mona, a dominatrix, changes everything.
- DirectorJenna Cato BassStarsFaith BaloyiNicole FortuinIzel BezuidenhoutA contemporary Western, a journey of self-discovery for three different but equally trapped women. A portrait of femininity against a hostile land, questioning what it means to be a woman today in South Africa and the world at large.
- DirectorPat CollinsStarsHenry GlassiePravina ShuklaSamuel RodriguesThe worldwide travels and unique cultural finds of renowned American folklorist Henry Glassie are enthralling chronicled in this portrait by director Pat Collins.
- DirectorYaron ZilbermanStarsYehuda Nahari HaleviAmitay Yaish Ben OusilioAnat RavnitzkiDetails the year leading to the assassination of Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), from the point of view of the assassin.
- DirectorJahmil X.T. QubekaStarsSivuyile NgesiZolisa XaluvaBongile MantsaiAn aging, womanizing professional boxer and his career-criminal brother take one last shot at success and get more than they've bargained for.
- DirectorHalina ReijnStarsCarice van HoutenMarwan KenzariMarie-Mae van ZuilenIn spite of her expertise and experience, a seasoned psychologist is completely infatuated by the sex offender she is treating in a penal institution.
- DirectorLijo Jose PellisseryStarsAntony VargheseChemban Vinod JoseSabumon AbdusamadA portrait of a remote village where a buffalo escapes and causes a frenzy of ecstatic violence.
- DirectorRubaiyat HossainStarsShahana GoswamiRikita Nandini ShimuDeepanwita MartinShimu fled her village as a child when her stepmother threatened to marry her off to a middle-aged man. Now 23 and living in the capital, she works grueling hours for paltry sums at a textile factory while her husband searches for work.
- DirectorKarl MarkovicsStarsHeinz TrixnerBorhanulddin Hassan ZadehKonstanze DutziA grumpy old man enlists the help of an Afghani migrant to bury his dead dog, and as the two dredge through prejudices to find common ground, their day takes an unexpected turn.
- DirectorZaida BergrothStarsPihla ViitalaSatu Tuuli KarhuSaga SarkolaThe orphan Salome is the servant and devout follower of Maria Åkerblom, a charismatic sect leader. But as Salome befriends a rebellious outsider and starts to have doubts, Maria turns dangerous.
- DirectorSharipa UrazbayevaStarsMeruert SabbusinovaHamza KoksebekAlmas BektibayevIn Zhanash, a far-away village nestled on the Kazakh Steppe, 400 kilometers away from Almaty - and another three kilometers by foot on a dirt path off the main road - Mariam (Meruert Sabbusinova) lives with her husband and four young children in a home without light and water. One winter day, her husband disappears without a trace. Because there is no body, he cannot be officially declared dead. As a result, Mariam cannot receive state financial support. A very reserved person who buries her emotions deep inside, Mariam, alone, must take survival into her own hands. The experience changes her. Then, just as everything has begun to fall into place, her husband suddenly returns as if nothing has happened and expects life to continue as before.
- DirectorAtiq RahimiStarsAmanda MugabezakiAlbina KirengaMalaika UwamahoroA coming-of-age story about of a group of Rwandan schoolgirls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school.
- DirectorDaniel BorgmanStarsVivelill Søgaard HolmPeter PlaugborgSofie GråbølThe dangerous paranoia lurking beneath the seemingly idyllic existence of a family of hermits living on a remote island begins to come to the fore when their daughter starts to question her parents' worldview.
- DirectorKeren YedayaStarsNeta ElkayamAmi AbuRiki GalThis is the story of Mami, a young woman who was born and raised in a small impoverished town down south. She works at the snack bar at the local gas station and is in love with Nissim, her neighbor. One day she is struck by the strong hand of fate: A few days after their wedding, Nissim is wounded in the war and succumbs to a vegetative state.
- DirectorAndrés WoodStarsMercedes MoránMaría ValverdeMarcelo AlonsoThree friends are part of an opposition group in the chaotic Chile of the early 70's and together commit a political crime that changes the history of the country and incidentally involves them in a betrayal that separates them forever.
- DirectorPeter BrosensJessica WoodworthStarsPeter Van den BeginLucie DebayUdo KierHow the last King of the Belgians becomes the first Emperor of Europe.
- DirectorRabah Ameur-ZaïmecheStarsRamzy BediaAmel Brahim-DjelloulSlimane DaziIn a country plunging into armed conflict, a doctor tries to do his duty against all odds, until the day his destiny is turned upside down.
- DirectorAmy Jo JohnsonStarsFelicity HuffmanAnastasia PhillipsClark JohnsonCatherine, a young woman forced to care for her embarrassing alcoholic mother, decides to flee her life of poverty and appear on a sleazy talk show after her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
- DirectorGrímur HákonarsonStarsArndís Hrönn EgilsdóttirSveinn Ólafur GunnarssonÆvar Þór BenediktssonA widowed farmer begins a new life on her own terms by fighting against corruption and injustice in her community.
- DirectorKire PaputtsStarsNathanael ChadwickMickey VosVictoria DunsmoreWayne, a struggling method actor, inherits the city's last porno cinema from his estranged father Al. Seeing this as an unconventional opportunity to reconcile their relationship, Wayne absorbs himself in the underworld of the pornography business. While running the cinema Wayne meets a cast of characters including Ralf, a slimy business partner of Al's, James, a young man with special needs employed by Al, and Athar, a young boy who lives in the upstairs apartments. Each character acts as a piece of a puzzle in helping Wayne rediscover the father he barely knew. But the old cinema turns out to be much more than Wayne anticipated. Between the community's pressure to have it closed and the antics of the devoted patrons, unresolved traumatic experiences from his youth bubble their way to the surface and begin to paint a clearer picture of Al. Landing his first lead role in a film, Wayne can't help but recognize the similarities between this fictional character and his father. Wayne slowly takes on Al's persona in preparation of filming, but begins to lose his own identity in the process and eventually his grasp on reality. As Wayne lives and breathes everything Al, he finds himself in a much darker place than anything he ever could have imagined. No longer just a character study, Wayne painfully reconstructs his traumatic experiences using Athar in the role of himself as a child. But Wayne goes too far and ends up on the wrong side of his memory. It's only then that he realizes the errors of his ways. He must now find reconcilement with the people he has affected along the way. In a final act of closure, Wayne decides to close the porno cinema and embrace his own identity.
- DirectorKristina GrozevaPetar ValchanovStarsIvan BarnevIvan SavovTanya ShahovaVasil has just lost his long-time partner in life, his wife Valentina. When a woman at her funeral proclaims that the dead woman called her cell phone, Vasil seeks out the help of a well-known psychic in order to contact his wife. His son Pavel tries to bring him to his senses, but Vasil stubbornly insists on doing things his own way. "The Father" is an intimate family drama about the difficulties of connecting with those close to us. As the picture slowly gathers momentum, its story unfolds many carefully arranged absurd or comic situations.
- DirectorMattie DoStarsYannawoutthi ChanthalungsyVilouna PhetmanyPor SilatsaAn old Laotian hermit discovers that the ghost of a road accident victim can transport him back in time fifty years to the moment of his mother's painful death.
- DirectorSandra KogutStarsRegina CaséRogério FróesGisele FróesOver a trio of summers, a caretaker for luxury condominiums relies on her resourcefulness and her eye for opportunity to take advantage of whatever comes her way as her employers are caught in major corruption scandals.
- DirectorYonah LewisCalvin ThomasStarsKacey RohlAmber AndersonMartin DonovanA popular undergrad faking cancer struggles to maintain her secret.
- DirectorAmjad Abu AlalaStarsMustafa ShehataIslam MubarakMahmoud Maysara ElsarajShortly after Muzamil was born, the village's holy man predicts that he will die at age 20. Muzamil's father can't stand the curse and leaves home. Sakina raises her son as a single mother, overly protective. One day, Muzamil turns 19.