Toronto International Film Festival 2021 announced the full Platform competition lineup with Academy Award–nominated actor Riz Ahmed as head of the jury.

“I am honored to be named president of the Platform jury at TIFF this year and to be a part of TIFF with Encounter,” said Ahmed. “TIFF has always been a festival that showcases bold and daring cinema on a global stage. Its commitment to celebrating small independent films, like Sound of Metal, has had such a significant impact on my career and many others. I’m looking forward to watching all of this year’s selections and working alongside my fellow jury members.”

TIFF will present a special TIFF Cinematheque retrospective of Abenaki artist, filmmaker, singer, writer, and activist Alanis Obomsawin, entitled Celebrating Alanis. Curated by Jason Ryle, this presentation of films spans Obomsawin’s vast accomplishments and is co-presented with the National Film Board of Canada.

TIFF also unveiled this year’s Short Cuts lineup, which comprises 38 new live-action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts by a diverse group of filmmakers representing 22 countries. Along with works by emerging talents from all over the world, the program includes new films by such TIFF alumni as Zacharias Kunuk, Albert Shin, Matias Piñeiro, Lois Patiño, and Seth A. Smith. Among the filmmakers returning to Short Cuts are Terril Calder, Lee Filipovski, Rakan Mayasi, and Ayçe Kartal, as well as recent award-winner Paul Shkordoff (2020 IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film for Benjamin, Benny, Ben).

Short Cuts is also proud to continue introducing TIFF audiences to many of cinema’s most remarkable new talents. Among the Short Cuts alumni directors who are bringing first features to the Festival this year are Danis Goulet (Night Raiders), Thyrone Tommy (Learn To Swim), Haya Waseem (Quickening), Mounia Akl (Costa Brava, Lebanon), Justine Bateman (Violet), and Carlo Francisco Manatad (Whether the Weather is Fine).

PLATFORM PROGRAM

Arthur Rambo
Laurent Cantet | France
World Premiere

Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres)
Ivan Grbovic | Canada
World Premiere

Earwig
Lucile Hadžihalilović | United Kingdom/France/Belgium
World Premiere

Huda’s Salon
Hany Abu-Assad | Palestine/Egypt/Netherlands/Qatar
World Premiere

Mlungu Wam (Good Madam) (Mlungu Wam)
Jenna Cato Bass | South Africa
World Premiere

Montana Story
Scott McGehee, David Siegel | USA
World Premiere

Silent Land (Cicha Ziemia)
Aga Woszczyńska | Poland/Italy/Czech Republic
World Premiere

Yuni
Kamila Andini | Singapore/France/Indonesia/Australia
World Premiere

TIFF CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAM

Celebrating Alanis Obomsawin

A member of the Abenaki Nation and one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers, Alanis Obomsawin is a filmmaker and producer at the National Film Board of Canada, where she has worked since 1967. On December 10, 2020, Obomsawin received the Rogers-DOC Luminary Award at the DOC Institute Honours, which is given to an individual who embodies the creative spirit of the Canadian documentary tradition and displays generosity by supporting the next generation of doc makers through mentorship. In October, she received the Glenn Gould Prize, as chosen by an international jury. Obomsawin’s 2019 production Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger (TIFF ’19 Official Selection) was her 52nd film, completed in the 52nd year of a legendary filmmaking career devoted to chronicling the lives and concerns of First Nations people and exploring issues of importance to all. On June 27, 2019, Obomsawin was named a Companion of the Order of Canada — its highest honour. In winter 2022, the retrospective Alanis Obomsawin: Lifework will be presented at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Obomsawin will also be honoured with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media supported by Participant Media at the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards during the Festival.

Portraits: Programme 1
Puberty – Part 1 (1975)
Puberty – Part 2 (1975)
Mother of Many Children (1977)

Portraits: Programme 2
Richard Cardinal: Cry from a Diary of a Métis Child (1986)
No Address (1988)

Lighting the Fire: Programme 1
The Canoe (1972)
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)

Lighting the Fire: Programme 2
Moose Call (1972)
Amisk (1977)
Incident at Restigouche (1984)

The Dignity of Children: Programme 1
Snowshoes (1972)
Walking Is Medicine (2017)
Our People Will Be Healed (2017)

The Dignity of Children: Programme 2
Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair (World Premiere; 2021)
Mount Currie Summer Camp (1975)
Children (1972)
Sigwan (2005)
When All the Leaves Are Gone (2010)
Christmas at Moose Factory (1971)

The Dignity of Children: Programme 2 will include a special preview trailer for the new animated short film Seeds: The Art of Alanis Obomsawin, created and directed by Terril Calder and proudly presented by The Glenn Gould Foundation. The film will be projected as a spectacular outdoor sound and light show onto the east façade of the Royal Ontario Museum for a two-week run starting October 4, 2021.

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner: 20th Anniversary

In 2001, Inuk filmmaker and producer Zacharias Kunuk’s groundbreaking film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner — the first Canadian feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut — won the Best Canadian Film Award at the 26th Toronto International Film Festival and became the first Canadian film to win the Camera d’Or at Cannes. TIFF Cinematheque marks 20 years since the film opened the Festival and captivated audiences, with a free screening of the film in its digitally remastered version.

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) Zacharias Kunuk | Canada
Digitally remastered DCP courtesy of the TIFF Film Reference Library Screening Collection.

TIFF SHORT CUTS PROGRAM

A Few Miles South
Ben Pearce | United Kingdom
World Premiere

Angakusajaujuq – The Shaman’s Apprentice (Angakusajaujuq)
Zacharias Kunuk | Canada
North American Premiere

Anxious Body
Yoriko Mizushiri | France/Japan
North American Premiere

ASTEL
Ramata-Toulaye Sy | France/Senegal
World Premiere

Beity
Isabelle Mecattaf | Lebanon/United States of America
International Premiere

Bhai
Hamza Bangash | United Kingdom/Canada/Pakistan
World Premiere

Boobs
Marie Valade | Canada
North American Premiere

Charlotte
Zach Dorn | United States of America
World Premiere

DEFUND
Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Araya Mengesha | Canada
World Premiere

Displaced (Pa Vend)
Samir Karahoda | Kosovo
North American Premiere

DUST BATH
Seth A Smith | Canada
World Premiere

Egúngún (Masquerade)
Olive Nwosu | United Kingdom/Nigeria
World Premiere

Fanmi
Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers, Carmine Pierre-Dufour | Canada
World Premiere

Hanging On
Alfie Barker | United Kingdom
International Premiere

I Gotta Look Good for the Apocalypse
Ayçe Kartal | France
North American Premiere

I Would Never
Kiran Deol | United States of America
World Premiere

Little Bird
Tim Myles | Canada
World Premiere

Love, Dad (Milý tati)
Diana Cam Van Nguyen | Czech Republic/Slovakia
Canadian Premiere

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
Terril Calder | Canada
World Premiere

Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit (Al motociclista no le cabe la felicidad en el traje)
Gabriel Herrera | Mexico
Canadian Premiere

NuisanceBear
Jack Weisman, Gabriela Osio Vanden | Canada
World Premiere

Ousmane
Jorge Camarotti | Canada
World Premiere

Saturday Night
Rosana Matecki | Canada
World Premiere

Shark
Nash Edgerton | Australia
World Premiere

Soft Animals
Renee Zhan | United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Some Still Search (Algunos Siguen Buscando)
Nesaru Tchaas | United States of America
World Premiere

Srikandi
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto | Indonesia/Canada
World Premiere

Successful Thawing of Mr. Moro (Lyckad upptining av herr Moro)
Jerry Carlsson | Sweden
International Premiere

Sycorax (Sycorax)
Lois Patiño, Matías Piñeiro | Portugal/Spain
North American Premiere

The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be
Adeyemi Michael | United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere

The Infantas (Las Infantas)
Andrea Herrera Catalá | Spain
World Premiere

The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night
Fawzia Mirza | United States of America/Canada
World Premiere

Together (Ham-Gye)
Albert Shin | Canada/South Korea
World Premiere

Trumpets in the Sky
Rakan Mayasi | Palestine/Lebanon/France/Belgium
World Premiere

Twelve Hours
Paul Shkordoff | Canada
World Premiere

White Devil
Mariama Diallo, Benjamin Dickinson | United States of America
World Premiere

You and Me, Before and After
Madeleine Gottlieb | Australia
International Premiere

Zero (Nula)
Lee Filipovski | Canada/Serbia
World Premiere

SPECIAL EVENTS

Reflecting the breadth of TIFF audiences’ interests, TIFF announced Part One of its Special Events Programme to engage and entertain audiences:

Special IMAX Screenings of Dune

TIFF previously announced that the award-winning Canadian filmmaker and 2021 TIFF Ebert Director Award honouree Denis Villeneuve will screen his film Dune as a World Exclusive Special IMAX Screening at Cinesphere Theatre at Ontario Place. The film, based on Frank Herbert’s classic novel, will screen at the Cinesphere in Toronto on the following dates:

· Saturday, September 11 – World Exclusive IMAX Special Event
· Sunday, September 12 – Repeat IMAX Screening
· Saturday, September 18 – Public IMAX Screening

TIFF also announced an additional Special IMAX screening of Dune in Montreal presented by Bell at Cinéma Banque Scotia Montréal on Sunday, September 12.

NBA Films For Fans created with OLG

On November 1, 1946, the NBA’s first-ever game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens, where the hometown Toronto Huskies played the New York Knickerbockers. Seventy-five years later, as part of the league’s anniversary celebrations, the NBA honours its Canadian roots at TIFF 2021.

TIFF announced the launch of NBA Films For Fans created with OLG. This Special Event will feature five short films from Canadian filmmakers and basketball fans: Thyrone Tommy — also at this year’s Festival with his debut feature, Learn to Swim — and fellow Torontonians and TIFF talent development alumni Romeo Candido, Shawn Gerrard, and S.M. Turrell, as well as Vancouverite Kat Jayme, also a Talent Alumni as the 2019 Pitch This winner.

Special Event Films

The following films will be presented as part of the Special Event Program.

A Hero (Ghahreman) Asghar Farhadi | Iran

Memoria Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Colombia/Thailand/United Kingdom/France/Germany/Mexico

Spencer Pablo Larraín | United Kingdom/Germany