Alright, film buffs, get ready for some real talk! The Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) is gearing up to drop its Wavelengths section, and according to the report, it’s a whole vibe. After Cannes saw international auteurs taking the spotlight, TIFF’s avant-garde showcase is also set to foreground artist-driven films. Andréa Picard, the curator for the Wavelengths program, shared that with all the heavy news out there, many of these filmmakers are doing a ‘deep dive’ inwards, resulting in a lot of introspection and personal investment in their work. This year’s lineup for the TIFF Wavelengths section is looking pretty soulful, featuring debuts and compelling narratives that hit different.
One of the standout films making its North American premiere is Beatrice Gibson’s debut feature, ‘At Night’. Shot in classic 16mm, this BBC Films production puts the audience right into the struggles of a filmmaker trying to make sense of her own creation. The story unfolds as six women in Paris gather to hash out the psychic exhaustion and anxiety that often comes with navigating that iconic city after dark. This film, fresh off its bow in Locarno, promises a raw, intimate look at urban life and the creative process, definitely something that will resonate.
Another inward-looking gem is Mariano Llinas’s epic five-and-a-half-hour documentary, ‘BiografÃa de Jorge Luis Borges’ (Life of Jorge Luis Borges). This Argentinian director’s work, which debuted in Venice, delves into the life of the renowned Argentine writer and poet. However, it’s not just a straightforward biography. Picard highlights that the film also sees director Llinas wrestling with how to even capture a literary titan known for endless reinvention. It’s ‘straight up’ about the making of the film itself, with Llinas appearing in it, making it almost as much a self-portrait as it is a tribute to Borges.
Keeping the Argentinian auteur train rolling, Lisandro Alonso is bringing ‘La Libertad Doble’ (Double Freedom) for its North American showing after a Cannes world premiere. Shot on 35mm film, this flick revisits the main character and setting from Alonso’s minimalist first feature, ‘Freedom’, which chronicled a solitary woodcutter’s life twenty-five years prior. Jesse Cumming, an associate curator for Wavelengths, notes that while the original was isolated in Argentina’s rural La Pampa, this loosely-inspired sequel explicitly echoes the reverberations of Argentina’s ongoing economic crisis, even in remote areas.
The Wavelengths section is also bringing some serious heat from Berlin, featuring North American premieres for Sebastian Brameshuber’s ‘London’, Nicolas Pereda’s comedic ‘Lo demás es ruido’ (Everything Else is Noise), and German auteur Angela Schanelec’s austere romantic tragedy, ‘Meine Frau Weint’ (My Wife Cries). Not to be outdone, prolific Romanian auteur Radu Jude’s Cannes entry, ‘Le Journal d’Une Femme de Chambre’ (The Diary of a Chambermaid), a French-language and highly political adaptation of an old 19th-century book, also gets a North American bow, adding even more international flavor to the lineup.
For those into historical docs, TIFF has a Canadian premiere that’s pretty dope: William and David Greaves’ posthumous ‘Once Upon a Time in Harlem’. This film captures a 1972 gathering of surviving notables from the original Harlem Renaissance, offering a unique window into a pivotal cultural movement. Since William Greaves passed in 2014, his son David and granddaughter Liani stepped up to finish this important work. The festival also features two world premieres: Toronto-based artist Yuula Benivolski’s first feature, ‘The Black Box is Orange’, and John Torres’ ‘The Remotes’, an artful combination of behind-the-scenes footage from Philippine films woven into a fictional narrative.
And there’s even more! The Wavelengths short and mid-length lineup is stacked, including Kamal Aljafari’s ‘Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo’, Maryam Tafakory’s essay film ‘Ghazal-e Sorkh’, and Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s nocturnal ‘Fire Flies’. Plus, a slew of other world premieres will grace the screens, like Parastoo Anoushahpour’s ‘Peacocks Come with the Clouds’, Rita Ferrando’s ‘After Image’ (tracing a family’s migration), Mustafa Uzuner’s 16mm ‘The Address Book’, Ben Russell’s ‘La Prospettiva (1653)’, Jiaqi Yu’s ‘Moon Palace’, and Simon Liu’s intriguing ghost tale ‘Splits in Two’. It’s clear the Wavelengths program is ‘on point’ this year, showcasing a diverse range of cinematic visions.
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Livia Dorne covers film, television, music, and pop culture with a keen editorial perspective. She delivers engaging commentary, reviews, and behind-the-scenes insights that keep readers connected to the entertainment world. Her style blends critique with storytelling.
