Every year, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) welcomes film lovers and moviegoers worldwide to share their love of cinema.
Various films spanning different genres are shown on big screens at all the various TIFF venues, including Roy Thomson Hall, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, TIFF Bell Lightbox, and, of course, Scotiabank Theatre (which features everyone’s favourite escalator).
Screening in all these various theatres in 2023 are TIFF’s documentary selections. Covering a broad range of topics, each movie that will be screened as part of TIFF is worth watching if you get tickets. Although choosing only five from TIFF’s comprehensive doc list was hard, my top five are showcased below!
Boil Alert dir. Stevie Salas & James Burns
Following activist Layla Staats, this brilliant documentary highlights an urgent look at the clean water crisis across multiple reservations and the fight for First Nations people to access the fundamental human right of drinkable and clean water.
Staats speaks to various community members and how their lives have been affected for generations. In addition, the film showcases Staats’s personal life and her journey to overcoming her struggles and reconnecting with her Haudenosaunee roots. At every moment, the documentary makes clear that the rights of Indigenous people in Canada and the US (and throughout the world) have never been a priority for non-Indigenous decision-makers. Staat’s work and this film are of the utmost importance.
Bye Bye Tiberias dir. Lina Soualem
After leaving her home in Palestine at 23 to pursue an acting career in France, Hiam Abbas returns with her daughter, the documentary’s director, Lina Soualem.
In the film, Abbas takes her daughter to her childhood home, which has readily changed over the years. The documentary effortlessly weaves old and new family records, including pre-1948 archival material. Soualem’s story highlights four generations of women in her family who withstood multiple forced and chosen separations. Bye Bye Tiberias is one of the most personal docs you’ll see at TIFF this year.
Copa 71 dir. Rachel Ramsay & James Erskine
If you love a good sports story, look no further than this doc about the unofficial 1971 Women’s World Cup that was essentially erased from sports history.
With the first official Women’s World Cup being sanctioned by FIFA in 1991, this was the beginning of a new chapter in women’s athletics. However, it was not the first time that different nations gathered for the love of the beautiful game. The teams from England, Argentina, France, Denmark, Italy and Mexico played at Azteca Stadium before a crowd of 100,000 people. Executive produced by history makers Venus and Serena Williams, Copa 71 is a winner.
Stamped From the Beginning dir. Roger Ross Williams
Examining racism and the history of anti-Blackness in America, Stamped From the Beginning is a documentary inspired by Dr. Ibram Kendi’s book.
Not only does the documentary feature commentary from Kendi himself, but it also features Angela Davis. It is clear that Williams made sure to amplify the voices of Black women, who are often overlooked in documentary history. The past comes to life in the doc and shows how centuries of injustices continue to shape our world today.
Swan Song dir. Chelsea McMullan
This feature is an in-depth look at the National Ballet of Canada’s 2022 production of Swan Lake, which was choreographed for the first time by artistic director Karen Kain, who made her debut in ballet in 1971.
After a famed 50-year career, Kain chose Swan Lake as her final project and swan song before retirement. Not only does Swan Song touch on Kain’s illustrious career, but it also shows the passing of the torch to younger generations and their concerns as dancers of colour, their mental and physical health and much more. Beautifully shot and informative, Swan Song is a must-watch at this year’s TIFF.
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