TIFF '23: Zar Amir Ebrahimi mesmerizes as "Shayda"

by Cláudio Alves

"Shayda" is coming to US theaters on December 1st from Sony Pictures Classics.

Though I've hardly been running after Oscar contenders while at TIFF – apologies if that's what you wanted out of this coverage – the Best International Film race remains at the forefront of my mind. With new daily announcements, the festival's an excellent opportunity to catch some titles that could be hard to track down later in the season. So, a lot of my scheduling has been built around productions that might end up in that race or have already been confirmed for the 96th Academy Awards. Not all of the experiences are positive, but  a few of them are revelatory.

Such is the case of Noora Niasari's feature debut, Shayda, representing Australia. If you thought Zar Amir Ebrahimi was remarkable in last year's Holy Spider, wait to see what she does here…

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TIFF '23: At the Crossroads of Old and New

by Cláudio Alves

During my days at the festival, I've found TIFF can be a place of great discovery, full of small titles coexisting with big ones, often besting them from a disadvantageous position. Discovery can also exist in the dialogues established between programmed projects, threads of shared ideas and ideals linking works of distinct artists from all over the globe.

Because of its status as Bhutan's Oscar submission and Pawo Choyning Dorji's follow-up to his nominated Lunana, I would always see The Monk and the Gun. However, the conversations it shares with other, less high profile films, were a welcome surprise. Despite their disparate genres (comedy, character study, tragedy) themes of encroaching modernity within traditional communities of mountainous Asian nations echoed back from the Nepalese A Road to a Village and the Mongolian City of Wind...

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TIFF: Viggo Mortensen’s ‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Courtesy of TIFF

Western films tend to deal with violence in some capacity, presenting a world either defined by lawlessness or exploring what it means to set up a system of law and order to ensure that it isn't. When everyone has a gun and collecting bounties is a popular pastime, it can be difficult to instill a sense of moral consequences in a society that may not be interested in it. The Dead Don’t Hurt weaves a love story into a portrait of a town on the edge of becoming modern. A bleak view of humanity emerges... 

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TIFF '23: Bening swims for gold in "Nyad"

by Cláudio Alves 

Amid arthouse offerings and experimental fare, daring feats of international cinema and midnight madness, the traditional Oscar movie can have a hard time standing out. Still, coexistence is possible, and there's always that beautiful occurrence, once every blue moon, when a festival's boldest piece is its most likely to succeed with awards. I wish I could say Nyad was that movie, but Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's narrative feature debut falls short of such lofty expectations. Yet, don't let this curmudgeon film critic's dissatisfaction dissuade you from predicting it in several categories. Sink or swim, Nyad is going for gold…

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TIFF '23: "A Ravaging Wind" delivers an acting masterclass

by Cláudio Alves

Sergi Lopez and Alfredo Castro work miracles in "A Ravaging Wind"

I swore to myself that, if ever I got to attend TIFF, I wouldn't capitulate to the tyranny of awards buzz. Smaller pictures and international sensations deserve as much attention as those movies bound for Academy consideration. Now that I'm here, that intention remains true, though new frustrations compound with old ones, especially concerning actors. In such a wide array of world cinema offerings, it's dispiriting that the only thespians that can headline articles and cause social media stirs are either Hollywood institutions or Sandra Hüller.

That's not a dig at those lucky few, merely an appreciation that there's greatness beyond the mainstream spotlight. In other words, everyone at TIFF should be talking about what Chilean star Alfredo Castro and Catalan star Sergi López  achieve in A Ravaging Wind… 

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