Gird your loins! The Toronto International Film Festival is back for another installment and it looks to be one for the ages. Following recent installments affected by the remnants of the pandemic and labour strikes, which severely scaled back the festivities, TIFF24 feels like the first proper edition in recent memory. As in previous years, TIFF’s catalogue contains a healthy dose of films from across the Asian continent, and we’re happy to say that the diaspora has showed out with a number of our communities represented.
On the eve of TIFF 2024, here are some films us here at The Asian Cut are looking forward to!
Daughter’s Daughter, dir. Huang Xi
Taiwanese screen legend Sylvia Chang plays a mother faced with an incredibly difficult decision in this tale of mothers and daughters in the aptly titled, Daughter’s Daughter. The heavy central premise of this family drama is about an older woman in a strained relationship with her two adult daughters. When one dies, leaving behind a fertilized in vitro embryo, the conflicted matriarch is left to decide what to do with it. The emotional and multilayered story about intergenerational relationships grabbed my attention right away and its potential for cinematic greatness (Daughter’s Daughter is executive produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien!) has left me very intrigued.
—Rose Ho
Gülizar, dir. Belkıs Bayrak
This film will be a tough watch. Described by TIFF programmer Dorota Lech as “precise and assured,” Gülizar is about a 22-year-old woman who is sexually assaulted on the way to her wedding. But more than being about the young woman, the film seems to become her — it is diligently told through Gülizar’s perspective. As director Belkıs Bayrak grounds the film within her lead, Ecem Uzun, I wonder if she won’t also depict and thereby diaphanously, subtly take to task the many-headed-beast of cultural taboos, gender expectations, and decorum. As they are delineated, will they also reveal themselves to be ridiculous and harmful? Gülizar will hit close to home for many, myself included; but even as its content advisory frightens me for its familiarity, I also feel that Gülizar will be one of those films that follow us for the rest of our lives.
—Alisha Mughal
Love In The Big City, dir. E.oni
One of Korea’s biggest shining stars Kim Go-eun, who swept a host of awards for her work in Exhuma, and Steve Sanghyun Noh, known for his affecting performance in Apple TV+’s Pachinko, seem primed to move us with a romance in Seoul following two disparate lost strangers coming together. I’m excited to see what they and director E.oni have in store for us.
—Calvin Law
My Sunshine, dir. Hiroshi Okuyama
Quite frankly, there’s more than enough doom and gloom in the world that I’ve been gravitating heavily towards films that have a feel-good quality that won’t leave me with an existential crisis as the credits roll. My Sunshine looks to be just that for me at this year’s festival, a seemingly sweet story about two teenage figure skaters and a friendship that blooms and bonds them.
— Rachel Ho
Paying For It, dir. Sook-Yin Lee
Fans of Canadian indie graphic novels may have heard of Chester Brown’s Paying For It, a controversial memoir of his life as a john wherein he forgoes more socially acceptable romantic relationships and frequents prostitutes instead. Along the way, he debates with his friends about the benefits and morality of his actions. A big criticism that many readers (myself included) have leveled at the author was how little he focused on the women’s perspectives. Excitingly, Brown’s ex-girlfriend (and ex-MuchMusic VJ) Sook-Yin Lee is adapting his story for the big screen, which is sure to bring a much-needed feminist viewpoint to this particular thorny topic.
—Rose Ho
Presence, dir. Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh’s latest sounds like a morose, existential haunted house and while my confidence in the filmmaker has waned in recent years, Lucy Liu’s presence in Presence piques my interest enough. There’s been a surge in Asian-leading stories in the last decade and I’m excited to see those who helped get us here receive their due — hopefully Presence will be just that for Liu.
—Rachel Ho
The Shadow Strays, dir. Timo Tjahjanto
Making his glorious return to the Midnight Madness program, Timo Tjahjanto’s latest film,The Shadow Strays, is bound to delight those thirsting for a taste of high-octane blood and violence. No one does it quite like the Indonesians when it comes to contemporary martial arts cinema, and the film looks to continue Tjahjanto’s streak of brutally engaging action cinephiles (in the best way possible, of course!). If you can muster the energy to stay up past midnight, The Shadow Strays will most definitely not disappoint.
—Wilson Kwong
Shook, dir. Amar Wala
Amar Wala’s directorial feature debut navigates a fraught time in the life of a young man whose family is coming apart, falling in love, and faces challenge after challenge in his budding writing career. The early buzz on Shook from my colleagues has been high and I cannot wait to dig into a film that uses Scarborough as a back drop to celebrate the people and community.
—Rachel Ho
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest has been favourably compared to many classics before it and touches upon the current political and social climate in Iran, landing the director in hot water in his home country. The Seed of the Sacred Fig was given the elusive perfect 5-star rating here at The Asian Cut during Cannes 2024, and I am buzzing to discover why.
—Rachel Ho
Sunshine, dir. Antoinette Jadaone
Over the years, there have only been a handful of Filipino films gracing TIFF’s presence, and even fewer films helmed by female directors. Antoinette Jadaone will only be the second Filipina filmmaker (after Martika Ramirez Escobar’s film Leonor Will Never Die from TIFF 2022) to have a film showing at the festival. Given Jadaone’s ability to incorporate humour and wit into even her most serious narratives, I can’t wait to watch Sunshine at the festival.
—Paul Enicola
Viet and Nam, dir. Minh Quý Trương
You know a gay movie is worth seeing when it has been banned by its own country. Throughout history — and not just in Asia — queer cinema has thrived because of its willingness to ruffle some feathers, so I’m looking forward to what director Minh Quý Trương, an exciting new voice in LGBTQ+ film, has to say with his story about two young miners on an underground adventure. Very few queer films from Southeast Asia make their way to North America, so Viet and Nam has been on my radar ever since it made a splash at Cannes earlier this year.
—Jericho Tadeo
