Cinema Travelogue

TIFF announced its line-up for the Gala, Special Presentations, Platform, and Discovery programmes a week and a half ago. As those sections, SP specifically, contain the buzziest world premieres and Oscar hopefuls, many people who don’t follow the festival that closely may think that’s all they have to offer this year. However, during the 4 years that I’ve been attending TIFF, a good majority of gems were discovered in the Wavelengths and Centrepieces sections. Particularly Wavelengths, a tightly curated programme this website has a designated section for, hosted some of the most inventive and challenging films of their respective years, which I believe is what a film festival – especially one that once announced itself as “Festival of Festivals” – should strive for – opening the portals for its audiences to enter unknown adventures.

This year I will continue to cover TIFF with an emphasis on films in Wavelengths – both the shorts and the features – that will announce their line-up tomorrow, August 4th. So without further ado, my predictions:

Near Locks

My Wife Cries – Angela Schanelec

Premiere: Berlinale

Angela Schanelec’s last 3 films have all screened at TIFF. Music (2023) and The Dreamed Path (2016) were both in Wavelengths; I Was At Home, But (2019) was in Masters (rip) and would’ve likely been in Wavelengths had the section not existed. She’s one of the most distinctive auteurs we have working today that I believe to be one of the exemplars of Wavelengths. Andréa Picard also thinks very highly of her.

La Libertad Doble – Lisandro Alonso

Premiere: Cannes (Quinzaine)

Eureka (2023) did not come to TIFF, but this seems to be an entirely different deal. It is a sequel to the most influential film of its kind – for better or worse – this century. The reviews coming out of Cannes are incredibly strong.

Everything Else is Noise – Nicolás Pereda

Premiere: Berlin

With Lazaro at Night (2024) and Copper (2025), Pereda will have a feature in Wavelengths for the third year in a row if this happens, joining him with the likes of Sergei Loznitsa and Tsai Ming-liang. And I don’t see why this won’t happen, as the film has gotten even stronger reactions than his previous two films.

High Likelihood

Dao – Alain Gomis

Premiere: Berlin

I almost placed this in Near Locks because TIFF’s relationship with Gomis goes all the way back to his debut L’Afrance (2001), but the Berlin premiere and its ~3-hour runtime pose some doubts. However, Janus Films acquired this right after Berlin, and it feels likely they’ll bring this to TIFF and NYFF to regain some buzz. Wavelengths also have at least one durational film each year, and this is by far the strongest contender.

Nobody’s Violence – Denis Côté

Premiere: Locarno (Concorso Internazionale)

A Locarno premiere, just like Côté’s previous feature Mademoiselle Kenopsia (2023). There’s no reason to think this won’t travel the same path.

9 Temples to Heaven – Sompot Chidgasornpongse

Premiere: Cannes (Un Certain Regard)

Chidgasornpongse served as an assistant director on many of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s films, so the connection is there. It is also a good idea to predict some films from fresh voices that screened in the Cannes sidebars, such as Mambar Pierrette (2023), Inside the Yellow Coccoon Shell (2023), and Viet and Nam (2024); 9 Temple to Heaven seems to be the one this year.

Solid Contenders

Hearing – Lê Bảo

Premiere: Locarno (Concorso Internazionale)

Hanabi – Ana Vaz

Premiere: Locarno (Concorso Cineasti del Presente)

At Night – Beatrice Gibson

Premiere: Locarno (Concorso Cineasti del Presente)

The reasoning for the above 3 titles is the same. Basically, I’d like to include more titles from Locarno as it is one of the most concentrated premiere destinations for Wavelengths. Out of the 3, Vaz and Gibson have had shorts screened in Wavelengths. Vaz’s first feature, It is Night in America (2022), did not come to TIFF, but that may also be attributed to COVID. I also had Lê Bảo’s Hearing, as his style feels like a pseudo-Tsai/Costa, and Taste (2021) also garnered strong buzz from Berlin’s Encounters section.

Foam of Worlds – Anna Marziano

Premiere: FIDMarseille

This might be a biased pick because I’ve seen and enjoyed the film, but Marziano does have a previous track record at Wavelengths with Beyond the One (2017). I think the film’s hybrid documentary style and its elliptical but truthful reckoning on the environmental crisis would be a strong, politically pointed entry into the programme. I’d also like to revisit this on a big screen.

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The above 10 films are my predictions for what will get selected. Given last year’s programme had 8 features and there were murmurs about it being slightly bigger this year, 10 feels like the right number for me. But there are also films I left on the chopping block that I also think are likely and would be happy to see them programmed.

Familiar Strangers

Red Rocks – Bruno Dumont

Premiere: Cannes (Quinzaine)

Only left this out because Dumont has been jumping from programme to programme in the last 20 years. The one time he had a film in Wavelengths was for Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc (2017), also a film starring children. Other than The Empire (2024), he has a fairly consistent presence at TIFF. As this seems to be one of his more accessible films, I can see this going to Centrepiece as well.

Last Stop for the Circular Ticket – Jean-Claude Rousseau

Premiere: FIDMarseille

This is Rousseau’s longest film since La Vallée close (1995). It’d be nice to see a legend return to Wavelengths since his short Under a Changing Sky (2014), but Wavelengths seems to have pivoted away from structuralist works over the years; kind of ironic if you think about it haha…

Weichen (Dust) – Tsai Ming-liang

Premiere: Venice (Docs)

Tsai was an extremely prominent figure of Wavelengths in the early 2010s and has not returned since. The only Walker films that screened at TIFF were Walker and Journey to the West. This is the 11th installation in the series. Given The Hole and Vive L’Amour are both getting restoration screenings this year, I still would not like to rule out the chance of Tsai having a resurgence.

Imperium – Sergei Loznitsa

Premiere: Venice (Docs)

Similar case with Tsai, Loznitsa’s docs have not screened at Wavelengths since 2019, but Two Prosecutors did come to TIFF last year. I still don’t know why this one will be any different.

Let Us Through, Ancestors – Lav Diaz

Premiere: Venice

Lav Diaz doesn’t necessarily have a consistent presence at TIFF, but Magellan was one of his most acclaimed titles in years. This new one also has a relatively shorter runtime, so it might be easier to include it.

Letters from an Inner Exile – Eloy Enciso

Premiere: FIDMarseille

Winner of the International Competition prize at FIDMarseille, and Enciso was at Wavelengths for Longa Noite (2019). But that film played at Locarno, and the traction around this seems very small despite the award.

Unknown Voices

These filmmakers have not had previous track records with TIFF, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t any chance for a new friendship.

September Afternoon – Nicolaas Schmidt

Premiere: Locarno (Concorso Cineasti del Presente)

Objet a – Ann Oren

Premiere: Locarno (Concorso Internazionale)

Two more filmmakers from Locarno whose films fall into the experimental realm. September Afternoon would pair up especially well with My Wife Cries considering Schanelec helped Schmidt with FINAL STAGE [The Time for All but Sunset – BGYOR].

Promised Spaces – Ivan Marković

Premiere: Cannes (ACID)

Another film from the Cannes sidebar that’s on the more formally challenging side, but the reviews seem a lot more tepid compared to 9 Temple to Heavens.

Zoom In, Zoom Out – Dong Jie

Premiere: Venice Days

Memories of Lightning – Riccardo Giacconi

Premiere: Venice (Giornate degli Autori)

I’m also putting Zoom In, Zoom Out and Memories of Lightning here because I’d like to cast a wide net. Based on their premise, these two seem to be the two most capable of surprise – the former investigating the intertwining forms of reality and video games and the latter crafting narrative through audio and sound.

London – Sebastian Brameshuber

Premiere: Berlin

Great reactions coming out of Berlin, but I am very hesitant in overpredicting titles from there.

Hopedictions

The Rib of the Greater Bay Area – Zhou Tao

Premiere: USA Doc Fortnight

This seems to have already made the rounds at various festivals in the US and Europe, but a Canadian premiere has yet to occur. As a big fan of The Periphery of the Base, I personally would be ecstatic to see this film included in the line-up, or any venue in Toronto giving this a screening. Make this happen!!!

Eden – James Benning

Potential World Premiere

A few months ago, James Benning mentioned on Facebook that he had completed Eden. I also remember him saying this won’t premiere until 2027, but my memory might be playing a trick on me. He was last here for L. COHEN (2018), and given the fact that he releases films every year (Eight Bridges premiered at Berlin earlier this year, which I am not predicting), I don’t think his relationship with TIFF is as steady as NYFF. However, a surprise world premiere might be a way to redeem and strengthen it?

Wavelengths Shorts

The shorts are much more difficult to predict as there are many world premieres that I have no idea of their existence, but here are some of my guesses (ranked alphabetically):

Another Earth – Ben Russell

Premiere: Cinéma du Réel

Chronicle of Tiredness – Natalia Marín

Premiere: FIDMarseille

Elegy for the Forgotten, on an Endless War – Bani Khoshnoudi

Premiere: Locarno (Pardi di Domani: Concorso Corti d’Autore)

Khoshnoudi presented her new feature during TIFF Cinematheque’s Jocelyne Saab retrospective back in April; I think her return is very likely.

Forever…Forever – Johann Lurf

Premiere: Berlin

This was shot on 70mm. So if TIFF were to project it in its original format, the screening would have to take place in Cinema 1 at the Lightbox 1. There is actually a precedent for this: Bjorn Kammerer’s ARENA was paired with L.COHEN for one 9 p.m. screening back in 2018. Maybe another reason for James Benning to return?

Local Sensations – Tulapop Saenjaroen

Premiere: Doc Fortnight

Pure Reason – Sofia Bohdanowicz

Premiere: FIDMarseille

Shot Reverse Shot – Radu Jude, Adrian Cioflâncă

Premiere: Berlin

The Wind, One Brilliant Day – Ben Rivers

Premiere: Locarno (Pardi di Domani: Concorso Corti d’Autore)