Every year, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) welcomes film lovers and moviegoers worldwide to share their love of cinema.
This year, there is an excellent selection of projects featuring Black talent on-camera (and in some cases behind the camera as well). All of the projects span various genres, and all are must-watches during the festival and, of course, afterward when they come to big and small screens near you. I was excited to see there were many Black-led projects featured at TIFF this year.
Narrowing the list down to my top five selections was challenging, so I would like to share some honourable mentions, including two that were featured on my list of favourite women-directed projects from this year’s festival, including Ava DuVernay’s Origin, which starred Aunjanue Ellis and had Niecy Nash-Betts and Audra McDonald in supporting roles. Another I’d like to mention is the hilarious Bria Mack Gets A Life, directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall and Sasha Leigh Henry. And lastly, George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, which will be streaming on Netflix later this year. Now, without further ado, see my top five Black-led projects to watch at TIFF 2023 below!
American Fiction dir. Cord Jefferson
Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction was one of my favourites from this year’s festival. Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is a novelist and professor of English literature who is fed up with the current state of the publishing industry, which is centring books like the recent best-seller We’s Lives In Da Ghetto – a highly stereotypical book that is supposed to include the African-American experience. Taking matters into his own hands, Monk writes a book using all these stereotypes and a pen name to see if this latest novel will sell to publishers. During this time, Monk’s family experiences a tragedy, and he has to navigate this in addition to his discontent with his work life.
American Fiction is hilarious and thought-provoking, showcasing excellent performances from Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Myra Lucretia Taylor and Issa Rae.
Les Indésirables dir. Ladj Ly
Haby (Anta Diaw) is the president of the public housing association and lives in one of the city’s “10-storey favelas.” When the current mayor suddenly dies, a family doctor named Pierre (Alexis Manenti) is picked as the interim mayor. With little to no contact or communication with his constituents, aside from the affluent ones, Pierre’s administration begins a forceful campaign targeting the largely immigrant community. Haby will not stand to see her community become evicted and decides to put her name into the ring for the mayoral candidate in the upcoming election, but will that be enough?
Set mainly in an underprivileged Paris suburb, Ladj Ly’s Les Indésirables gives powerful commentary on the racist policies that push the impoverished to live in dangerous and inferior conditions.
Mountains dir. Monica Sorelle
Xavier (Atibon Nazaire) is a demolition worker who has dreams of purchasing a suburban home for his wife, Esperance (Sheila Anozier). Xavier works hard to provide for his wife and son, Junior (Chris Renois), a recent college dropout who has ambitions of becoming a stand-up comedian but is also struggling under the weight of his father’s expectations.
Set in Little Haiti in Miami, Monica Sorelle’s narrative feature debut grapples with being an immigrant worker amidst housing instability in a swiftly gentrifying neighbourhood.
Sing Sing dir. Greg Kwedar
Based on the real-life events of a rehabilitation program that uses drama and acting to help inmates, the incarcerated drama troupe at Sing Sing Correctional Facility has gathered to choose their next play to perform. Often looking to Divine G (Colman Domingo) for guidance on their plays, the troupe’s dynamic changes when a new member, Divine Eye, suggests they perform a comedy instead of a drama this time around. The men learn new performance tactics and take the time to connect and unpack the pain of their experiences through their performances.
Domingo gives a powerful performance alongside his equally capable cast, almost entirely made up of formerly incarcerated actors who participated in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme.
We Grown Now dir. Minhal Baig
12-year-old Malik (Blake Cameron James) and his best friend, Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), move throughout the Cabrini-Green public housing complex, experiencing joys and adversities. When danger comes to their doorstep in the form of drugs and crime, a sudden family tragedy shakes both families and the future of the children becomes unsure. As Malik’s mother, Dolores (Jurnee Smollett), weighs a new job option that would take them to the suburbs, Malik has to grapple with the fact that he might have to bid farewell to his best friend.
With pitch-perfect performances from the entire cast, We Grown Now depicts the power of friendship and family in times of uncertainty and what it truly means to be a community.
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