Forty French-produced or co-produced films, accompanied by a strong artistic delegation, will be presented in all sections of the 48th edition of TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), North America's largest film festival and film market, taking place in the Canadian city from September 7 through 17.
For its 48th edition, TIFF, a major international cinema event, will present the world premieres of several highly-anticipated French films: Les Indésirables by Ladj Ly, A Difficult Year by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano in Special Presentations, along with Spirit of Ecstasy by Héléna Klotz and Sisterhood by Nora El Hourch in the Platform strand, as well as Mehdi Fikri's feature After the Fire in the Discovery strand.
And as every year, TIFF will also offer the North American premiere of many of the films discovered at Cannes (Anatomy of a Fall, Four Daughters, Last Summer, Banel & Adama) and Venice a few days earlier (The Beast, City of Wind, and the documentary Bye bye Tiberias).
The French delegation
These French artists (or artists associated with majority-French films) will be at TIFF this year: Nora El Hourch, Héléna Klotz, Ladj Ly, Justine Triet, Bertrand Bonello, Olivier Nakache, Pio Marmaï, Kaouther Ben Hania, Hiam Abbass, Lina Soualem, Pierre-Henri Gibert, Andrès Peyrot, Ramata-Toulaye Sy, Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, Mehdi Fikri, Paul B. Preciado, Yann Demange, Carla Melo Gampert, Anta Diaw, Frédéric Alvarez, Claire Pommet, Mehdi Fikri, Héléna Klotz, Medina Diarra, Léah Aubert, Kaouther Ben Hania, Salma Takaline
Unifrance in Toronto
As for the pre-Covid editions, Unifrance is providing its members with a dedicated space at the Film Market, which takes place at the Hyatt Hotel. This year, nine French exporters will be present at the Unifrance stand.
French exporters present at the Unifrance stand:
- The Party Film Sales
- Orange Studio
- SND
- Pyramide International
- Le Pacte
- Pulsar Content
- Memento International
- Reservoir Docs
- Other Angle Pictures
This year, Unifrance is joining forces with the Ambassade de France in Canada and Hollywood North for a day-long celebration of French cinema and culture at Campbell House. On the evening of Saturday, September 9, Unifrance will be holding its traditional French Night, bringing together the teams of selected French films, producers, exporters, distributors, and international professionals, and organized in partnership with BNP Paribas.
Unifrance will also organize a dinner with French artists to encourage networking with North American professionals and journalists.
Unifrance's presence at TIFF is supported by the French government, the CNC, PROCIREP, the "Choose France" label, BNP Paribas, and the Consulat Général de France in Toronto.
All the French films presented at the 48th TIFF
Special Presentations
- Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania
- Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet
- Les Indésirables by Ladj Ly
- Last Summer by Catherine Breillat
- The Beast by Bertrand Bonello
- A Difficult Year by Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache
- Kidnapped by Marco Bellocchio (minority-French co-production)
- La Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher (minority-French co-production)
Discovery
- After the Fire by Mehdi Fikri
- Achilles by Farhad Delaram (French co-production share not specified)
- Solitude by Ninna Pálmadóttir (minority-French co-production)
Wavelengths
- Youth (Spring) by Wang Bing
- Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado
- Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell by Tien Ân Pham (French co-production share not specified)
- Music by Angela Schanelec (minority-French co-production)
- Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World by Radu Jude (minority-French co-production)
Platform
- Spirit of Ecstasy by Héléna Klotz
- Sisterhood by Nora El Hourch
- Not a Word by Hanna Slak (minority-French co-production)
Centrepiece
- Banel & Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy
- City of Wind by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
- The Settlers by Felipe Galvez (minority-French co-production)
- The Nature of Love by Monia Chokri (minority-French co-production)
- Sira by Apolline Traoré (French co-production share not specified)
- They Shot the Piano Player by Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal (minority-French co-production)
- The Monk and the Gun by Pawo Choyning Dorji (French co-production share not specified)
- Robot Dreams by Pablo Berger (minority-French co-production)
- Inshallah a Boy by Amjad Al Rasheed (French co-production share not specified)
- The Green Border by Agnieszka Holland (minority-French co-production)
- About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (minority-French co-production)
TIFF Docs
- Viva Varda! by Pierre-Henri Gibert
- God Is a Woman by Andrès Peyrot
- Bye bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem
- Menus Plaisirs - Les Troisgros by Frederick Wiseman (French co-production share not specified)
- In the Rearview by Maciek Hamela (French co-production share not specified)
TIFF Classics
Short films - Short Cuts
- Titanic, suitable version for Iranian families by Farnoosh Samadi
- 27 by Flóra Anna Buda
- Dammi by Yann Demange
- Electra by Daria Kashcheeva
- The Perra by Carla Melo Gampert
- Human Resources by Trinidad Plass Caussade, Titouan Tillier, and Isaac Wenzek
Short films - Wavelengths
- Trailer of the Film that Will Never Exist: "Phony Wars" by Jean-Luc Godard
- Bouquets 31-40 by Rose Lowder
The complete 48th TIFF line-up can be found here
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