TAG documentary
Khartoum
In a world where migrants are increasingly treated as faceless numbers, Khartoum offers a vital and deeply humanising portrayal of five Sudanese people forced to flee war. Filmed entirely on iPhones, the documentary allows its subjects to tell their own stories with honesty and emotion, using roleplay reminiscent of Gestalt therapy to revisit painful memories. At a time when compassion is in short supply, Khartoum reminds us why empathy matters.
Nuns Versus the Vatican
At TIFF, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet lit up Oscar buzz, but the most urgent film was Lorena Luciano’s Nuns Versus the Vatican — a devastating exposé of clerical abuse and the Church’s silence.
Nonnes contre le Vatican
Au Festival de Toronto, Chloé Zhao a captivé avec Hamnet, mais le film le plus marquant fut “Nuns vs Vatican” de Lorena Luciano — un documentaire-choc sur les abus de religieuses et le silence de l’Église.
Ocean
n Ocean, David Attenborough, nearing his 100th year, reflects on the ocean’s power to restore our planet. Despite destructive practices like deep-sea trawling, the documentary offers hope through protected zones where marine life is rebounding. From Hawai’i to West Papua, local and global efforts show the ocean’s resilience—if only we let it heal.
Toronto International Film Festival 2024
TIFF 2024 delivered star-studded premieres and hidden indie gems alike. From Ralph Fiennes in Conclave to a haunting Ukrainian drama and a bold Mexican documentary, here’s a look at the films that defined this year’s festival.
Scala!!! A Film Tribute to a Legendary Cinema
Scala!!! is a loving, eccentric tribute to one of London’s most infamous cinemas—a place where cult classics, queer cinema, and underground films found a home in the heart of King’s Cross. This documentary captures the wild energy, sense of community, and cultural significance of a venue that shaped a generation of cinephiles, artists, and outsiders.
Homecoming, a Sami documentary at TIFF
At this year’s TIFF, Homecoming and A Road to a Village stood out not just for their storytelling, but for the worlds they revealed. From the sacred repatriation of Sámi artifacts to the quiet unraveling of a Nepalese village under the weight of modernization, both films confront the hidden costs of history and progress—and leave us transformed for having witnessed them.
A Valley of Hope
The film opens with a scene showing a local couple, Elisabetta and her husband, teaching French to a young Eritrean family. They hope by doing so they may best be able to help the family better explain their complex asylum case to the local authority.