This year’s scaled-down Toronto Intl. Film Festival gets underway Sept. 9 with 14 non-fiction films in the lineup – a sizable reduction from the average of 22 in non-covid outings.
Thom Powers, lead TIFF documentary programmer, winnowed down the list from 800 submissions, looking for films that “took him by surprise,” as he always does. But with fewer slots to work with, Powers admits that “the bar was set higher” for selections this year.
So, what bowled him over? Stories about the devastating fires in Australia (Eva Orner’s “Burning”); the largest prison uprising in U.S. history (Stanley Nelson’s “Attica”); and New York City’s longest hostage siege.
Several of his choices have screened at other major film festivals: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee,” about a refugee who fled Afghanistan as a boy, will screen at TIFF after being an official selection of Cannes 2020 and having a world premiere at Sundance in January.
Thom Powers, lead TIFF documentary programmer, winnowed down the list from 800 submissions, looking for films that “took him by surprise,” as he always does. But with fewer slots to work with, Powers admits that “the bar was set higher” for selections this year.
So, what bowled him over? Stories about the devastating fires in Australia (Eva Orner’s “Burning”); the largest prison uprising in U.S. history (Stanley Nelson’s “Attica”); and New York City’s longest hostage siege.
Several of his choices have screened at other major film festivals: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee,” about a refugee who fled Afghanistan as a boy, will screen at TIFF after being an official selection of Cannes 2020 and having a world premiere at Sundance in January.
- 9/8/2021
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Eva Orner’s Burning, about Australia’s devastating ‘Black Summer’, will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.
Produced by Propagate Content, Dirty Films and Amazon Studios, the film marks Amazon’s first feature-length Australian documentary commission. To screen as part of the TIFF Docs strand, it explores what happened during the 2019 and 2020 bushfires from the perspective of victims, activists and scientists, as well as the lack of political will to address climate change.
In addition to directing, Orner executive produces alongside Cate Blanchett.
The LA-based Australian director won an Oscar for producing Alex Gibney’s 2008 doc Taxi To The Dark Side. Her credits also include Chasing Asylum, which tackled Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and The Network, a behind-the-scenes look at the largest TV network in Afghanistan.
Burning is one of two Australian films selected for this year’s TIFF,...
Produced by Propagate Content, Dirty Films and Amazon Studios, the film marks Amazon’s first feature-length Australian documentary commission. To screen as part of the TIFF Docs strand, it explores what happened during the 2019 and 2020 bushfires from the perspective of victims, activists and scientists, as well as the lack of political will to address climate change.
In addition to directing, Orner executive produces alongside Cate Blanchett.
The LA-based Australian director won an Oscar for producing Alex Gibney’s 2008 doc Taxi To The Dark Side. Her credits also include Chasing Asylum, which tackled Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and The Network, a behind-the-scenes look at the largest TV network in Afghanistan.
Burning is one of two Australian films selected for this year’s TIFF,...
- 8/5/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.