The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) features some of the biggest names in film and international cinema, screening some of the best international films from their time across various sections that include movies starring high-profile casts, director’s firsts, genre films, shorts and documentaries features.
Vuulr is home to several films that have screened at TIFF over the years, all of which are available for licensing. Here are our top picks:
Thriller / Suspense, Fantasy (Greece, United States)
Official Selection – Toronto International Film Festival (2019)
Making his feature debut as both director and co-writer, Minos Nikolakakis conjures a spooky fairy tale about a village doctor who uncovers the dark secret of an isolated woman who lives with a mysterious skin condition. Determined to cure her, the doctor soon discovers the woman he is trying to help is not the helpless princess he thought she was and time is of the essence for both of them.
Shot on Mountain Parnonas in the Peloponnese Peninsular – birthplace of many Greek myths – Entwined won the Best Location Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival (2022). It was also nominated for the Hellenic Film Academy Awards (2022) and Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (2020).
Entwined is available for licensing on Vuulr
Animation, Children’s, Musical (India)
Premiered Worldwide at the Toronto International Film Festival (2013)
The World of Goopi and Bagha tells the story of Goopi and Bagha – a pair of musicians gifted with magical powers by the King of Ghosts. With caricatured hand-drawn depictions of the characters, this animated feature film was released theatrically in India in March 2019 and is inspired by Satyajit Ray’s classic Goopi Gyne Baagha Byne. The film was also screened at 11th Mumbai International Film Festival (2013) and won Best Indian Animated Feature Film at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry [FICCI] Best Animated Frames [BAF] Awards.
The World of Goopi and Bagha is available for licensing on Vuulr
Drama (Italy)
Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (2018) where it received an honorable mention from the FIPRESCI Discovery Prize jury
Twin Flower tells the story of how two adolescents, abused and damaged by life, escape together towards a new start. Starring Anastasyia Bogach as Anna, a young woman on the run from human traffickers who have murdered her father, and Kalill Kone as Basim, a refugee from Côte d’Ivoire desperately trying to avoid being caught by Italian immigration agents. Both Bogach and Kone are non-professional actors in their first-ever film roles.
Twin Flower was also nominated for Best Feature Film at the Seattle International Film Festival (2019).
Twin Flower is available for licensing on Vuulr
Documentary, Sports (Ireland, Israel, Norway, United Kingdom)
International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (2016)
Forever Pure is a critically acclaimed 2016 UK-Israel documentary film, by Maya Zinshtein. The documentary follows Beitar Jerusalem F.C., the most popular and controversial football team in Israel for being the only club in the Premier League never to sign an Arab player, mid-way through the 2012-13 season. A secretive transfer deal by the owner, Russian-Israeli oligarch Arcadi Gaydamak, brought two Muslim players from Chechnya. The deal inspired the most racist campaign in Israeli sport that sent the club spiraling out of control.
Renowned film critic Wendy Ide found the film to be a “eye-opening documentary that traces the tumultuous 2012-13 season, during which the political affiliations of a vocal group of the team’s loyal fans threatened to tear the club to pieces”.
Forever Pure won a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 2018 for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. The film was also nominated and won several other film festivals, including DOC NYC (2016), Chicago International Film Festival (2016), Cleveland International Film Festival (2017), RiverRun International Film Festival (2017), and more.
Forever Pure is available for licensing on Vuulr
Documentary (Germany)
Special Selection – Toronto International Film Festival (2016)
Variety called it “an inspiring, warmhearted look at a group of resilient spirits who find a way to indulge their passion for surfing while living in the Gaza Strip”.
Gaza Surf Club is an award winning documentary that received nominations at festivals such as Jerusalem FIlm Festival (2017), Hawaii International Film Festival (2016), and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (2017).
Directed by Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine, this is an excellent documentary about the efforts to create a surfing community in the Gaza Strip. In a country locked between Egypt and Israel, Gaza’s youth are drawn to their beaches. Weary of the daily ‘state of emergency’ they seek meaning and perspective to their lives through surfing.
Gaza Surf Club is available for licensing on Vuulr
Drama (United States)
Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (2014)
Starring Hollywood heavyweight Richard Gere, Time Out Of Mind is about a homeless, mentally-ill man drifting through and trying to survive in New York City while attempting to make contact with his estranged daughter (Jena Malone).
Directed by Israeli-American Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, film director, and Emmy Award-winning film producer Oren Moverman, this lo-fi indie film won the International Critics’ Prize. Talking about the film, Moverman said: “Richard is an actor I’ve admired for a long time and I am honored to be working with him on a movie that doesn’t pussyfoot around social issues while telling a very accessible, human tale about a dispossessed man who is also a father, a lover, a friend and a statistic that deserves our attention.”
The movie was also officially selected at the 52nd New York Film Festival and 58th San Francisco International Film Festival.
Time Out Of Mind is available for licensing on Vuulr.
Drama, Family (United States)
Nominated for the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (2012)
The Land of Eb tells the story of life among Marshallese immigrants living on the fringes of society in Hawaii. Jacob, a cancer stricken immigrant father and grandfather struggles to look for work to provide for his large family. Sensing his life coming to an end, Jacob turns a small video camera on himself and begins to record his own story and the tragic story of his people. Critics have described the film as “a powerful wrecking ball of emotion”.
The Land of Eb also won the Gold Honu Award at the Big Island Film Festival (2015) and the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival (2012). The film was also nominated for the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival (2012).
The Land of Eb is available for licensing on Vuulr
Drama (Philippines)
Official Selection – Toronto International Film Festival (2008)
In this neo-realistic drama, veteran actress Anita Linda as an 80-year-old grandma spends her birthday alone in the slums while waiting for her children to show up. As she reflects on the bygone years of stability, her will to live dignified despite the disappointment of life emerges.
Not only did this Filipino indie film win multiple awards at the Young Critics Circle Award (2009), Adela was also part of the official selection at the Busan International Film Festival (2008), Rotterdam International Film Festival (2009), and Melbourne International Film Festival (2009).
Adela is available for licensing on Vuulr