A documentary about women who accused Louis C.K. of sexual harassment and the consequences those accusations had on their careers is one of 22 documentaries from 12 countries heading to the 2023 Toronto Intl. Film Festival.
The docu titled “Sorry/Not Sorry,” previously intended for Showtime, is one of several films in TIFF’s nonfiction program that focus on women who have been unjustly ignored for their achievements. TIFF Docs opening night film, “Copa 71,” tells the story of the lost legacy of a 1971 international women’s soccer tournament that had record setting crowds in Mexico City but was largely erased from sports history. The film’s producers include Venus and Serena Williams as well as soccer super star Alex Morgan. Lucy Walker, a two-time Oscar nominee, is bringing “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,” about a single mother working as a dishwasher at a Connecticut Whole Foods, who has another life as a record-breaking mountain climber.
Other notable titles in this year’s TIFF docu lineup include Raoul Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road,” about a Black family’s fight to save their North Carolina property from land grabbing developers; Anand Patwardhan’s “The World Is Family,” which traces his parents’ personal history and their links to the leaders of India’s independence movement, Karim Amer’s “Defiant,” about Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and his colleagues as they wage a war against disinformation, and Roger Ross Williams’ “Stamped From the Beginning,” based on the best-selling book by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, which examines the history of anti-Black racism in the U.S.
If Hollywood’s two labor strikes are still in effect when TIFF commences on Sept. 7, documentary filmmakers and their subjects could be some of the biggest stars to hit the fest’s red carpets.
“I don’t have a crystal ball into what’s going to happen with the strike, but I think in the world of documentaries there have always been huge stars that maybe you didn’t know before you watched a movie but came away feeling like they were the most exciting person at the festival,” says Thom Powers, lead TIFF documentary programmer. “For instance, “Mountain Queen,” about mountain climber Lhakpa Sherpa, I guarantee you after the film is over she is going to be a major star in audiences’ lives.”
Powers winnowed the list of 22 from over 800 submissions. The lineup consists of 16 films, including “Sorry/Not Sorry” and “Mountain Queen,” that are seeking distribution.
Despite streamers services’ new distribution landscape, which, for the most part, no longer includes acquiring titles that aren’t commissioned, Powers is still optimistic that TIFF will generate sales.
“Of course, I love it when films sell and go farther into the world,” says Powers. “At TIFF, I’m looking for something different. We screened (docs) that I’m sure will be very commercial, but I just didn’t feel like a festival film. They felt like films that are going to do fine in the world without TIFF. What I was really looking for are those films that I believe have a chance to go further in the marketplace and in some cases could probably use the extra attention.”
While Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” which will screen in TIFF’s special presentations section, Powers said that he deliberately stayed away from programming celebrity driven nonfiction fare.
“There are celebrity profiles about the famous, the infamous, and the overlooked and many of them will have a strong life head of them and will strongly appeal to fans,” says Powers. “Sometimes those stories don’t always have the complexity or sense of surprise that I crave. So, that’s why I was going in some other directions this year.”
In addition to females being overlooked and anti-Black racism, war migration is another theme in this year’s TIFF docu lineup. Powers sights Karim Amer’s “Defiant,” about Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and his colleagues as they wage a war against disinformation and Kasia Smutniak’s “Walls,” about the refugee flow in the “red zone” of the Belarusian-Polish border while evading arrest as two examples.
Programming political films is tricky given the heavy criticism from human rights advocates and other documentarians after “Jihad Rehab” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022. The focus on who is responsible to vet politically oriented docs has become a concern. Some point to film festival programmers such as Powers as those who should take on the responsibility.
“I think very seriously about presenting films that have a serious moral compass behind them,” says Powers. “It’s not a foolproof process, but I definitely take time to talk to filmmakers around films that may have challenges about them to understand their process better.”
Other notable docus featured in this year’s TIFF lineup include international and North American premieres from legendary filmmakers including Frederick Wiseman’s “Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros,” in which the 93-year-old director embeds inside a French restaurant that’s held three Michelin stars for more than 50 years, and Errol Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel,” a masterful portrait of the spy novelist David Cornwell ― a.k.a. John Le Carré ― for what was the author’s final interview.
Those TIFF doc titles join a number of documentaries already announced for TIFF 2023 as part of the gala and special presentations programs, including Leigh Brooks’ “Hate to Love: Nickelback,” Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” Chelsea McMullan’s “Swan Song,” and Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.”
The full list of the TIFF Docs lineup follows:
“Boil alert”
Stevie Salas, James Burns
Canada/USA
World Premiere
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
Lina Soualem
France/Belgium/Qatar/Palestine
North American Premiere
Sales Title
“The Contestant”
Clair Titley
United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title
“Copa 71”
Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine
United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title
“Defiant”
Karim Amer
Ukraine/United Kingdom/USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
“Flipside”
Chris Wilcha
USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
“God Is a Woman”
Andrés Peyrot
France/Switzerland/Panama
North American Premiere
Sales Title
“Homecoming”
Suvi West, Anssi Kömi
Finland/Norway
World Premiere
“In the Rearview”
Maciek Hamela
Poland/France/Ukraine North American
Premiere
Sales Title
“Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros”
Frederick Wiseman
France/USA
North American Premiere
Sales Title
“The Mother of All Lies”
Asmae El Moudir
Morocco/Egypt/Saudi Arabia/Qatar
North American Premiere
Sales Title
“Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa”
Lucy Walker
USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
“Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe”
Robert McCallum
Canada
World Premiere
“The Pigeon Tunnel”
Errol Morris
United Kingdom/USA/Hungary
International Premiere
“Silver Dollar Road”
Raoul Peck
USA
World Premiere
“Songs of Earth”
Margreth Olin
Norway
North American Premiere
Sales Title
“Sorry/Not Sorry”
Caroline Suh, Cara Mones
USA
World Premiere
Sales Title
“Stamped From the Beginning”
Roger Ross Williams
USA
World Premiere
“Summer Qamp”
Jen Markowitz
Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title
“The World Is Family”
Anand Patwardhan
India
World Premiere
Sales Title
“Viva Varda!”
Pierre-Henri Gibert
France
North American Premiere
Sales Title
“Walls”
Kasia Smutniak
Italy
World Premiere
Sales Title
