TIFF 2019 DOCUMENTARY LINEUP INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERES OF THE CAVE, AND WE GO GREEN, DADS, DESERT ONE, RED PENGUINS, SING ME A SONG, THE CAPOTE TAPES, AND BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5–15, 2019.
Slate includes new work from Feras Fayyad, Barbara Kopple, Bryce Dallas Howard, Thomas Balmès, Eva Mulvad, Alan Berliner, Alex Gibney, Eva Orner, Ebs Burnough, Alla Kovgan, Gabe Polsky, and Fisher Stevens & Malcolm Venville
The Toronto International Film Festival® documentary programme reveals its lineup of 25 non-fiction works, including 18 World Premieres with representation from 18 countries. The films cover many high-profile figures, both famous and infamous — including Truman Capote, Merce Cunningham, Ron Howard, Bikram Choudhury, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Imelda Marcos — and a broad range of themes, including artistic achievement, the power of journalism, immigration, global politics, and resistance against corrupt leaders. Three films use sports as a framework to look at environmentalism, capitalism, and racism.
“This year’s programme captures characters you’ll never forget: lovers, fighters, dancers, athletes, despots, rebels, hustlers, and heroes,” said Thom Powers, serving his 14th year as TIFF Docs programmer this Festival. “We’ll be talking about these films for a long time to come.”
The section will open with the World Premiere of The Cave from Oscar-nominated director Feras Fayyad, about an underground hospital led by a female doctor in war-torn Syria. Other World Premieres from renowned directors include Alan Berliner’s Letter to the Editor, a personal reflection on photojournalism; Barbara Kopple’s Desert One, chronicling a perilous mission to rescue hostages in Iran; Thomas Balmès’ S ing Me A Song, following a young monk in Bhutan who forms a long-distance relationship via his smartphone; And We Go Green, about racers in the Formula E competition for electric cars, directed by Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville and produced by LeonardoDiCaprio; and Eva Orner’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, about the controversial yoga teacher who had multiple lawsuits filed against him for sexual misconduct.
First-time documentarians present films on prominent figures: Bryce Dallas Howard’s Dads explores fatherhood with leading comedians and her own father, RonHoward; Alla Kovgan’s Cunningham, shot in 3D, captures the artistry of dancer Merce Cunningham; and Ebs Burnough, who previously served in the Obama administration, makes his debut with The Capote Tapes, a biography of American writer Truman Capote.
Press Release TIFF August 8, 2019