TIFF '24: A Dozen Capsules and Final Farewells

by Cláudio Alves

PERFUMED WITH MINT was one of many gems in TIFF's Wavelengths section.

At long last, let's close this seemingly unending TIFF coverage, so that The Film Experience can move on to some NYFF reviews, maybe even some peeks into the Lisbon festival scene. Still, before bidding Toronto adieu, a dozen titles need assessment, even if it's through a cornucopia of capsule reviews, plus a personal top ten to close things off properly. Spread out through five different festival sections and four continents, these twelve final films span from the experimental to the conventional, from dreamy stylization to dry dreary realism. There are beautiful sights to appreciate and performances, too, including a pair of wildly different characterizations from Chilean actress Paulina García. 

To open the belated farewell, I propose a look at my favorite TIFF section – Wavelengths. Within its radical offerings, one can find pictures that look like none other, such unique visions as Muhammad Hamdy's Perfumed with Mint and Jessica Sarah Rinland's Collective Monologue…

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TIFF ’24: Embeth Davidtz Directs “Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight”

By Abe Friedtanzer

Actors becoming directors can feel like an event, especially when they opt to cast themselves in their projects. Embeth Davidtz, who grew up in South Africa, takes that auspicious step with a deeply personal story set in 1980s Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), screening the film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where she’s in good company with her Junebug costars, Amy Adams (Nightbitch) and Alessandro Nivola (The Brutalist). She now has her most significant role since Schindler’s List, thirty-one years back...

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TIFF '24: "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" and 'Vagabond Queen'

by Cláudio Alves 

ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL

This year, like the last, I'm focusing much of my TIFF schedule on international cinema, looking a bit past the Hollywood Oscar hopefuls that tend to overtake the conversation. Sometimes, this strategy results in glorious cinematic experiences, often bolstered by a feeling of discovery. In other occasions, the outcome is more disappointing but no less interesting to parse out. All this to say that, diving into part of the African contingent of TIFF programming, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl and The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos represent a study in contrasts, from their value as cinema to their intentions, from character study in oblique terms to a raging political indictment of national injustices…

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Review: "Mami Wata" Brings West African Folklore to the Big Screen

by Cláudio Alves

As if dipped in ink, the screen is a void, shadows so thick they seem to swallow the light. Gravity-pulling like a black hole, this emptiness must be broken. So, it is with water leading the way, that eternal life-giver, life-taker. And even before we see its tide, we feel an ocean calling. It emerges in white lines, foam on cresting waves, their back-and-forth movement an Atlantic embrace. No character has invoked her yet, but we already sense the immensity of Mami Wata, the mother-like water deity that appears across African myth and the diaspora. In a feat of miraculous cinema, Nigerian director C.J. 'Fiery' Obasi has used his third feature to summon the spirit, inviting us to commune with her. 

That's not to say Mami Wata – now in theaters – is a film aiming solely at religious ecstasy. If possible, it has even greater ambitions. Its tale is the story of a matriarchal society threatened by patriarchy and treacherous progress, of a sisterhood trying to resolve ancient contradictions while preserving the old ways into a changing world…

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Review: "Ashkal" Keeps Its Cards Close to the Chest

by Cláudio Alves

Some viewers like their films tidily wrapped up, conclusions tied like neat bows. If there's mystery, it should come with a key to unlock it. Puzzles must be complete by the time credits roll. This is cinema as traditional storytelling, made easy to swallow whole. That kind of work can be made glorious by the right artist, but it would be erroneous to presume it the only valid form of film. Often, it's the rebellious piece that begets the biggest impact, forcing itself into the audience's imagination where it will percolate long after they've left the theater. This is cinema as haunt. This is Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation, now in limited release…

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