programming release
February 15, 2023
TIFF announces March-April 2023 TIFF Bell Lightbox lineup
International Women’s Day programming, contemporary Québécois cinema spotlight, and Márta Mészáros retrospective
New! TIFF launches Family Films monthly series just in time for March Break
Regrouping (1974)
TORONTO — TIFF’s programming for March and April sees the return of Midnight Madness, See the North, MDFF Selects, filmmaker retrospectives, notable special guests, and exciting new restorations, as well as a new monthly Family Film series.
In March, TIFF is excited to commemorate International Women’s Day all month long with No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image, a touring series adapted from a landmark exhibition, co-curated by Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg. Generously supported by the RBC Foundation, this showcase of rarely-seen yet pivotal feminist non-fiction films from the 1970s to the 1990s was recently listed in Artforum’s best-of-the-year exhibitions. Independent filmmaker Lizzie Borden will join Balsom for the screening of her 1976 debut feature film Regrouping on March 3, presented in a new restoration, along with a Q&A. Additional events will be announced on February 23.
A spotlight featuring contemporary Québécois films, curated by former TIFF Canadian programmer Magali Simard, opens March 10, with an in-person Q&A and screening of Chloé Robichaud’s 2016 political satire Boundaries. Later in the series, director Sébastien Pilote joins TIFF for a Q&A and screening of his 2013 film The Auction. Another film from Québec, which is featured in the See the North series, is Catherine Martin’s lyrical 2001 debut feature Mariages, newly restored in 4K by TIFF with the generous support of Telefilm Canada.
This March Break, TIFF launches a monthly Family Films series, featuring classics and new releases alongside Festival favourites. Families are invited to watch the 30th-anniversary showing of Agnieszka Holland’s The Secret Garden and 90th-anniversary screening of Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong.
Screening as part of TIFF Cinematheque’s New and Restored series, audiences can look forward to the 45th-anniversary screening and the Canadian premiere of the new 4K restoration of The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese’s documentary about the 1976 farewell concert by roots-rock legends The Band, on March 5; Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity – 70th Anniversary on March 12; and Michael Curtiz’s Angels with Dirty Faces – 85th Anniversary on April 6.
On April 7, a retrospective on celebrated Hungarian filmmaker Márta Mészáros comes to TIFF Bell Lightbox. Internationally renowned for her epic trilogy of autobiographical historical films, the series focuses on her earlier works, showcasing new restorations and Toronto premieres of films such as The Heiresses, starring Isabelle Huppert, who will participate in a virtual Q&A on April 23. Undertaken by the Hungarian National Film Fund and approved by the director herself, Youthquake: The Early Cinema of Márta Mészáros is curated by TIFF programmer Dorota Lech.
TIFF Cinematheque’s full programming listings for March and April can be accessed here.
No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image
March 3–26
Supported by the RBC Foundation
In-person and recorded introductions by series co-curators Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg.
This series is dedicated to works of nonfiction that invent new languages for the representation of gendered experience. Drawing its title from the work of writer and filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha, the programme focuses on the areas of moving image practice that have been the most inhabited by women, yet which are frequently pushed to the sidelines of film histories, feminist ones included: the overlapping and diverging traditions of documentary and experimental film.
No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image originated as an exhibition and film programme of more than 100 works by 89 individuals and collectives, on view at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin in the summer of 2022. This summer, the exhibition will tour to the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.
Films featured in the series include:
Regrouping (dir. Lizzie Borden, 1974)
Blind Spot (dir. Claudia von Alemann, 1981)
After Winter Comes Spring (Winter Adé) (dir. Helke Misselwitz, 1989)
Akiko: Portrait of a Dancer (dir. Haneda Sumiko, 1985)
Surname Viet, Given Name Nam (dir. Trinh T. Minh-ha, 1989)
Nightcleaners (dir. Berwick Street Film Collective, 1975)
The Nouba of the Women of Mount-Chenoua (dir. Assia Djebar, 1979)
Three Lives (dir. Kate Millett, 1971)
The Murmuring (dir. Byun Young-joo, 1995)
My Survival as an Aboriginal (dir. Essie Coffey, 1978) preceded by Nice Coloured Girls (dir. Tracey Moffatt, 1987)
No Master Territories: Shorts Programme 1: 24 Hours In The Life Of Jadwiga L (dir. Krystyna Gryczełowska, 1967); Miss Universe in Peru (dir. Grupo Chaski, 1982); My Contribution (dir. Sara Gómez, 1969)
No Master Territories: Shorts Programme 2: Untitled 77A (dir. Han Ok-hee,1977 ); We Aim to Please (dir. Robin Laurie, Margot Nash, 1976); Nude Photography (dir. Helke Misselwitz, 1983); Prowling by Night; Women’s Camera
TIFF Wavelengths Presents
March 8 and April 12
On March 8, TIFF Wavelengths presents Neon of the Everyday: Two Films by Pierre Clémenti, a duo of films that bookended Clémenti’s career as the imaginative, experimental, and visionary director that he was: Soleil (1988) was his last film — said to be his favourite — and New Old (1979) was his second. This screening will be preceded by a short reading from Pierre Clémenti’s memoirs, A Few Personal Messages, translated by guest curator Claire Foster. On April 12, Wavelengths Presents partners with Images Festival to screen A Woman Escapes, a collaborative feature lovingly patched together from video letters exchanged over the span of successive lockdowns during the pandemic between filmmakers Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams. Images Festival Programming Director Jaclyn Quaresma will introduce the film, and a Q&A with director Blake Williams will follow the screening.
Reformation: Contemporary Québec Cinema
March 10–26
This series is born out of contemporary Québec cinema’s approach to visual storytelling, informed by decades of strong cinematic output and a fearlessness in tackling tumultuous social realities and conflicting politics. These eight films present a brilliant spectrum of observation and reflection of the very process of social transformation and include Chloé Robichaud’s Boundaries, the late Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum, Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone, Sébastien Pilote’s The Auction, Denis Côté’s Bestiaire, Maxime Giroux’s Félix et Meira, Ivan Grbovic’s Drunken Birds and Philippe Lesage’s Genesis.
See the North
March 15 and April 11 – FREE!
The latest installment in TIFF’s free series of Canadian cinematic treasures is featuring the delicate romantic charmer Stay the Night from writer-director Renuka Jeyapalan on March 15, with a Q&A with the filmmaker.
Then on April 11, Cinematheque is screening the World Premiere 4K restoration of Catherine Martin’s Mariages (2001). Set in rural Quebec at the end of the 19th century, this is a story of one young woman’s resistance to Victorian oppression. Former TIFF Programmer Steve Gravestock will introduce the film.
The restoration of Mariages was made possible through Canadian Cinema – Reignited, a Telefilm Canada initiative that was developed to reinforce the importance of Canadian films in cinemas, festivals, and on digital platforms, and to support the curation, digitization, and preservation of influential Canadian feature films.
MDFF Selects
March 30 and April 20
Introduction by MDFF’s Kazik Radwanski.
MDFF Selects features a showcase of the world’s best, most challenging, and most provocative new international cinema. On March 30, Mark Jenkin’s highly anticipated film Enys Men, a surreal folk horror, makes its Toronto premiere at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Set in 1973 on a deserted island off the coast of Cornwall, a woman (Mary Woodvine), known only as The Volunteer, conducts daily botanical research on a seemingly uninhabited island. Sara Cwynar’s Red Film, the third film in a trilogy, will precede Enys Men.
On April 20, MDFF Selects presents Helena Wittmann’s second feature, Human Flowers of Flesh, which follows Ida (Angeliki Papoulia), a wanderer who lives with a crew of five men on a ship. Quiet, elliptical, and mesmerizing, Wittmann depicts the sea as a breathtaking force of nature, a setting in the creation of mythologies, and a site for the unfolding of time and history. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.
Youthquake: The Early Cinema of Márta Mészáros
April 7–26
With the sharp eye of a documentarist and characteristic sensitivity towards realist subjects and scenarios, including the ubiquitous fervour of youth, the universal desire for freedom, and the ambiguities and contradictions of being human, Márta Mészáros’s body of work is one of a kind. Her oeuvre is a standout amongst those of her contemporaries, utterly fresh in its groundbreaking style and contemporary approach. The films simultaneously showcase the emergence of an extraordinary artist and are living snapshots of life in occupied Hungary before the fall of the Soviet empire. Films featured in this series include The Girl, Binding Sentiments, Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls!, Riddance, Adoption, Nine Months, The Two of Them, and The Heiresses.
A Janus Films release. Digital restorations undertaken by The Hungarian National Film Fund and approved by director Márta Mészáros.
Midnight Madness Presents
April 22
Programmers Liane Cunje and Peter Kuplowsky will host a virtual Q&A with director Karen Arthur.
Since 1988, TIFF’s annual Midnight Madness programme has presented the wildest and strangest cinematic provocations from around the world while cultivating an infectiously raucous audience experience. Based on Eric Westphal’s play Toi et tes nuages (You and Your Clouds), Karen Arthur’s second feature The Mafu Cage is a disturbing delve into an obsessive, destructive sisterhood between the composed Ellen and the unravelled Cissy.
Silver Screenings
March 10 and April 21 – Free!
Each month, this free series brings seniors together to connect with fellow film lovers and participate in a variety of events, including peer-led film discussions, interactive workshops, and classes. On March 10, audiences are invited to join TIFF for a virtual screening and conversation on Maria Schrader’s acclaimed film She Said, based on the 2019 book of the same title by reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Prior to the discussion, participants will receive information on how to gain digital access to watch the film at home for free. Spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up and RSVP here.
On April 21, audiences 65+ are invited to attend the 85th anniversary screening of Angels with Dirty Faces at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Following the screening, the co-founder of the Toronto Silent Film Festival and the co-founder and resident femme fatale of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate Shirley Hughes joins TIFF for an in-depth presentation about Hollywood crime dramas and film noir. All attendees are welcome; no separate registration is required for the presentation.
TIFF Next Wave Film Festival
April 14–16
The 2023 edition of the TIFF Next Wave Film Festival is back, engaging the next generation of film lovers and creators with free movies for anyone under 25. This dynamic three-day film festival celebrates new voices in cinema with stories of self-discovery, community, and finding one’s place in the world. The programming lineup and special guests will be announced in March 2023.
TIFF Members and TIFF Under 25-Free Pass Holders receive access to year-round TIFF benefits including free access to more than 300 Cinematheque screenings. To learn more and join as a TIFF Member, visit tiff.net/membership.
In March, TIFF is excited to commemorate International Women’s Day all month long with No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image, a touring series adapted from a landmark exhibition, co-curated by Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg. Generously supported by the RBC Foundation, this showcase of rarely-seen yet pivotal feminist non-fiction films from the 1970s to the 1990s was recently listed in Artforum’s best-of-the-year exhibitions. Independent filmmaker Lizzie Borden will join Balsom for the screening of her 1976 debut feature film Regrouping on March 3, presented in a new restoration, along with a Q&A. Additional events will be announced on February 23.
A spotlight featuring contemporary Québécois films, curated by former TIFF Canadian programmer Magali Simard, opens March 10, with an in-person Q&A and screening of Chloé Robichaud’s 2016 political satire Boundaries. Later in the series, director Sébastien Pilote joins TIFF for a Q&A and screening of his 2013 film The Auction. Another film from Québec, which is featured in the See the North series, is Catherine Martin’s lyrical 2001 debut feature Mariages, newly restored in 4K by TIFF with the generous support of Telefilm Canada.
This March Break, TIFF launches a monthly Family Films series, featuring classics and new releases alongside Festival favourites. Families are invited to watch the 30th-anniversary showing of Agnieszka Holland’s The Secret Garden and 90th-anniversary screening of Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong.
Screening as part of TIFF Cinematheque’s New and Restored series, audiences can look forward to the 45th-anniversary screening and the Canadian premiere of the new 4K restoration of The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese’s documentary about the 1976 farewell concert by roots-rock legends The Band, on March 5; Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity – 70th Anniversary on March 12; and Michael Curtiz’s Angels with Dirty Faces – 85th Anniversary on April 6.
On April 7, a retrospective on celebrated Hungarian filmmaker Márta Mészáros comes to TIFF Bell Lightbox. Internationally renowned for her epic trilogy of autobiographical historical films, the series focuses on her earlier works, showcasing new restorations and Toronto premieres of films such as The Heiresses, starring Isabelle Huppert, who will participate in a virtual Q&A on April 23. Undertaken by the Hungarian National Film Fund and approved by the director herself, Youthquake: The Early Cinema of Márta Mészáros is curated by TIFF programmer Dorota Lech.
TIFF Cinematheque’s full programming listings for March and April can be accessed here.
TIFF CINEMATHEQUE SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image
March 3–26
Supported by the RBC Foundation
In-person and recorded introductions by series co-curators Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg.
This series is dedicated to works of nonfiction that invent new languages for the representation of gendered experience. Drawing its title from the work of writer and filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha, the programme focuses on the areas of moving image practice that have been the most inhabited by women, yet which are frequently pushed to the sidelines of film histories, feminist ones included: the overlapping and diverging traditions of documentary and experimental film.
No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image originated as an exhibition and film programme of more than 100 works by 89 individuals and collectives, on view at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin in the summer of 2022. This summer, the exhibition will tour to the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.
Films featured in the series include:
Regrouping (dir. Lizzie Borden, 1974)
Blind Spot (dir. Claudia von Alemann, 1981)
After Winter Comes Spring (Winter Adé) (dir. Helke Misselwitz, 1989)
Akiko: Portrait of a Dancer (dir. Haneda Sumiko, 1985)
Surname Viet, Given Name Nam (dir. Trinh T. Minh-ha, 1989)
Nightcleaners (dir. Berwick Street Film Collective, 1975)
The Nouba of the Women of Mount-Chenoua (dir. Assia Djebar, 1979)
Three Lives (dir. Kate Millett, 1971)
The Murmuring (dir. Byun Young-joo, 1995)
My Survival as an Aboriginal (dir. Essie Coffey, 1978) preceded by Nice Coloured Girls (dir. Tracey Moffatt, 1987)
No Master Territories: Shorts Programme 1: 24 Hours In The Life Of Jadwiga L (dir. Krystyna Gryczełowska, 1967); Miss Universe in Peru (dir. Grupo Chaski, 1982); My Contribution (dir. Sara Gómez, 1969)
No Master Territories: Shorts Programme 2: Untitled 77A (dir. Han Ok-hee,1977 ); We Aim to Please (dir. Robin Laurie, Margot Nash, 1976); Nude Photography (dir. Helke Misselwitz, 1983); Prowling by Night; Women’s Camera
TIFF Wavelengths Presents
March 8 and April 12
On March 8, TIFF Wavelengths presents Neon of the Everyday: Two Films by Pierre Clémenti, a duo of films that bookended Clémenti’s career as the imaginative, experimental, and visionary director that he was: Soleil (1988) was his last film — said to be his favourite — and New Old (1979) was his second. This screening will be preceded by a short reading from Pierre Clémenti’s memoirs, A Few Personal Messages, translated by guest curator Claire Foster. On April 12, Wavelengths Presents partners with Images Festival to screen A Woman Escapes, a collaborative feature lovingly patched together from video letters exchanged over the span of successive lockdowns during the pandemic between filmmakers Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Çevik, and Blake Williams. Images Festival Programming Director Jaclyn Quaresma will introduce the film, and a Q&A with director Blake Williams will follow the screening.
Reformation: Contemporary Québec Cinema
March 10–26
This series is born out of contemporary Québec cinema’s approach to visual storytelling, informed by decades of strong cinematic output and a fearlessness in tackling tumultuous social realities and conflicting politics. These eight films present a brilliant spectrum of observation and reflection of the very process of social transformation and include Chloé Robichaud’s Boundaries, the late Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum, Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone, Sébastien Pilote’s The Auction, Denis Côté’s Bestiaire, Maxime Giroux’s Félix et Meira, Ivan Grbovic’s Drunken Birds and Philippe Lesage’s Genesis.
See the North
March 15 and April 11 – FREE!
The latest installment in TIFF’s free series of Canadian cinematic treasures is featuring the delicate romantic charmer Stay the Night from writer-director Renuka Jeyapalan on March 15, with a Q&A with the filmmaker.
Then on April 11, Cinematheque is screening the World Premiere 4K restoration of Catherine Martin’s Mariages (2001). Set in rural Quebec at the end of the 19th century, this is a story of one young woman’s resistance to Victorian oppression. Former TIFF Programmer Steve Gravestock will introduce the film.
The restoration of Mariages was made possible through Canadian Cinema – Reignited, a Telefilm Canada initiative that was developed to reinforce the importance of Canadian films in cinemas, festivals, and on digital platforms, and to support the curation, digitization, and preservation of influential Canadian feature films.
MDFF Selects
March 30 and April 20
Introduction by MDFF’s Kazik Radwanski.
MDFF Selects features a showcase of the world’s best, most challenging, and most provocative new international cinema. On March 30, Mark Jenkin’s highly anticipated film Enys Men, a surreal folk horror, makes its Toronto premiere at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Set in 1973 on a deserted island off the coast of Cornwall, a woman (Mary Woodvine), known only as The Volunteer, conducts daily botanical research on a seemingly uninhabited island. Sara Cwynar’s Red Film, the third film in a trilogy, will precede Enys Men.
On April 20, MDFF Selects presents Helena Wittmann’s second feature, Human Flowers of Flesh, which follows Ida (Angeliki Papoulia), a wanderer who lives with a crew of five men on a ship. Quiet, elliptical, and mesmerizing, Wittmann depicts the sea as a breathtaking force of nature, a setting in the creation of mythologies, and a site for the unfolding of time and history. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.
Youthquake: The Early Cinema of Márta Mészáros
April 7–26
With the sharp eye of a documentarist and characteristic sensitivity towards realist subjects and scenarios, including the ubiquitous fervour of youth, the universal desire for freedom, and the ambiguities and contradictions of being human, Márta Mészáros’s body of work is one of a kind. Her oeuvre is a standout amongst those of her contemporaries, utterly fresh in its groundbreaking style and contemporary approach. The films simultaneously showcase the emergence of an extraordinary artist and are living snapshots of life in occupied Hungary before the fall of the Soviet empire. Films featured in this series include The Girl, Binding Sentiments, Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls!, Riddance, Adoption, Nine Months, The Two of Them, and The Heiresses.
A Janus Films release. Digital restorations undertaken by The Hungarian National Film Fund and approved by director Márta Mészáros.
Midnight Madness Presents
April 22
Programmers Liane Cunje and Peter Kuplowsky will host a virtual Q&A with director Karen Arthur.
Since 1988, TIFF’s annual Midnight Madness programme has presented the wildest and strangest cinematic provocations from around the world while cultivating an infectiously raucous audience experience. Based on Eric Westphal’s play Toi et tes nuages (You and Your Clouds), Karen Arthur’s second feature The Mafu Cage is a disturbing delve into an obsessive, destructive sisterhood between the composed Ellen and the unravelled Cissy.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Silver Screenings
March 10 and April 21 – Free!
Each month, this free series brings seniors together to connect with fellow film lovers and participate in a variety of events, including peer-led film discussions, interactive workshops, and classes. On March 10, audiences are invited to join TIFF for a virtual screening and conversation on Maria Schrader’s acclaimed film She Said, based on the 2019 book of the same title by reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Prior to the discussion, participants will receive information on how to gain digital access to watch the film at home for free. Spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up and RSVP here.
On April 21, audiences 65+ are invited to attend the 85th anniversary screening of Angels with Dirty Faces at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Following the screening, the co-founder of the Toronto Silent Film Festival and the co-founder and resident femme fatale of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate Shirley Hughes joins TIFF for an in-depth presentation about Hollywood crime dramas and film noir. All attendees are welcome; no separate registration is required for the presentation.
TIFF Next Wave Film Festival
April 14–16
The 2023 edition of the TIFF Next Wave Film Festival is back, engaging the next generation of film lovers and creators with free movies for anyone under 25. This dynamic three-day film festival celebrates new voices in cinema with stories of self-discovery, community, and finding one’s place in the world. The programming lineup and special guests will be announced in March 2023.
TIFF Members and TIFF Under 25-Free Pass Holders receive access to year-round TIFF benefits including free access to more than 300 Cinematheque screenings. To learn more and join as a TIFF Member, visit tiff.net/membership.