It has been ‘a minute’ since I last made a list for you in terms of recommendations of films starting their Toronto screening run.
Here I recommend four films which are all different but have been receiving positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Early December Film Screenings
DRIVE BACK HOME
Writer / Director: Michael Clowater
Synopsis: In the winter of 1970, Weldon (Charlie Creed-Miles), a small town plumber from rural New Brunswick, must drive his beat-up work truck 1000 miles to Toronto to get his estranged, gay brother Perley (Alan Cumming) out of jail after being arrested for having sex in a public park. The two men are then forced to drive back home together at the behest of their hard-nosed mother before they kill each other. Inspired by a true story. Click here to watch the trailer.
Drive Back Home will screen in Toronto on December 6 to 12 at Imagine Cinemas Carlton Cinemas.
ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND
Director Raoul Peck
Synopsis: This is Peck’s latest documentary, which chronicles the life and work of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black freelance photographers in South Africa, whose early pictures, shocking at the time of their first publication, revealed to the world Black life under apartheid. Cole fled South Africa in 1966 and lived in exile in the U.S., where he photographed extensively in New York City, as well as the American South. During this period, he published his landmark book of photographs denouncing the apartheid, House of Bondage which, while banned in South Africa, cemented Cole’s place as one of the great photographers of his time at the age of 27. After his death, more than 60,000 of his 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures Cole shot in the U.S. Telling his own story through his writings, the recollections of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation.
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found will screen in Toronto on December 6 and 11 at TIFF Lightbox.
LA COCINA
Writer / Director Alonso Ruizpalacios
Synopsis: In the heart of a bustling Times Square kitchen, dreams and desperation collide as the back-of-house staff each chase the elusive American dream. When money goes missing from the till, the spotlight falls on Pedro (Raúl Briones), a passionate dreamer entangled in a tumultuous love affair with Julia (Rooney Mara), a waitress grappling with her own commitments. As tensions rise and shocking revelations unfold, the relentless pace of the kitchen threatens to shatter the hopes and aspirations of those who keep it running. It’s a high-stakes drama that explores the intersection of the personal ambition and systemic exploitation of undocumented immigrant workers within the pressure-cooker environment of a Times Square New York restaurant.
La Cocina will screen in Toronto on December 7 and 12 at TIFF Lightbox.
The Girl with the Needle
Director Magnus von Horn
Co-writer Line Langebek Knudsen
The Girl with the Needle is Denmark’s Official Selection for Best International Feature for the 97th Academy Awards®. It is also inspired by a true story.
Synopsis: Young factory worker Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) is struggling to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. When she ends up unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, the charismatic Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm) takes her in as a wet-nurse at an underground adoption agency which finds foster homes for unwanted children. A deep connection forms between them, until a shocking discovery suddenly shatters Karoline’s world. The film is described as a haunting and profound look at one woman’s search for love and morality.
The Girl with the Needle will begin screening in Toronto on December 6 at TIFF Lightbox.
