TIFF announced yesterday this year’s Short Cuts lineup, presented by TikTok, which showcases 39 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts by a groundbreaking group of filmmakers representing 18 countries. With thought-provoking works from emerging Canadian and international talent, the lineup also includes new films by TIFF alumni such as Alice Rohrwacher, Sarah McCarthy, Mbithi Masya, Matthew Rankin, Carol Nguyen, Karen Chapman, and Sophy Romvari. The diverse lineup of shorts includes 21 World Premieres and 15 North American Premieres presented in 20 different languages, with a breadth of new and unique perspectives. Among this group of storytellers are 21 filmmakers from countries such as Portugal, China, Colombia, Mongolia, Kenya, Ukraine, the US, and the UK, as well as 18 filmmaking teams from across Canada.
“We’re thrilled to be returning with one of our strongest ever selections of short films by directors from all over the world,” says Jason Anderson, International Programmer for Short Cuts. “We’re always amazed by the breadth, depth, and diversity of the talents working in short-form cinema, whether they’re filmmakers who we’ve already had the privilege of presenting at TIFF or emerging storytellers who we can’t wait to introduce to our audiences. And however different these new works may be, what they share is an incredible sense of clarity and economy – these are films that don’t waste a second no matter what they’re out to achieve.”
That description applies to the wide array of cinematic visions contained within the Short Cuts programme. Festival favourite Rohrwacher returns with Le Pupille, a holiday tale set in Italy during the Second World War that stars Alba Rohrwacher and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and was co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón. More new live-action shorts with performers familiar to Festival audiences include Hazel McKibbin’s She Always Wins, starring Honor Swinton Byrne of Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, and Asia Youngman’s N’xaxaitkw, featuring Kiawentiio of Tracey Deer’s TIFF 2020 award-winner Beans. Among the standout animations in this year’s Short Cuts are The Flying Sailor, a National Film Board of Canada production by the Oscar-nominated team of Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, and Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez, recent winner of Leitz Cine Discovery prize for best short film at the Semaine de la Critique at Cannes. The lineup also features extraordinary documentaries such as Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Anastasia by Sarah McCarthy of the U.K., and Quiet Minds Silent Streets by Toronto’s Karen Chapman.
Films programmed in this year’s Short Cuts selection are eligible for three jury-selected IMDbPro Short Cuts Awards (Best Film, Best Canadian Film, and the Share Her Journey Award for best film by a woman) as well as the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award. The first programme to showcase films at the Festival by such directors as Sarah Polley and Clement Virgo, Short Cuts has a long tradition of introducing astounding new talents to Toronto audiences. The Short Cuts alumni directors bringing first features to the Festival this year are Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, Carolina Markowicz, Charlotte Wells, Saim Sadiq, Luis De Filippis, Chandler Levack, Andrés Ramírez Pulido, Joseph Amenta, Sheila Pye, Graham Foy, and Sophie Jarvis.
- À la vie à l’amor by Emilie Mannering (Canada) – World Premiere
- Against Reality by Olivia Peace (USA) – World Premiere
- Airhostess-737 by Thanasis Neofotistos (Greece) – North American Premiere
- All-inclusive (Todo incluido) by Duván Duque Vargas (Colombia, France) – World Premiere
- Anastasia (Анастасия) by Sarah McCarthy (UK) – Canadian Premiere
- Baba by Mbithi Masya (Kenya) – World Premiere
- backflip by Nikita Diakur (Germany, France) – North American Premiere
- CANARY by Pierre-Hugues Dallaire and Benoit Therriault (Canada) – North American Premiere
- Diaspora by Tyler Mckenzie Evans (Canada) – World Premiere
- Gary Screams For You by Cody McGlashan and Nolan Sordyl (USA) – World Premiere
- Hills and Mountains (Koha wa Tapaha) by Salar Pashtoonyar (Afghanistan, Canada) – World Premiere
- I’m On Fire by Michael Spiccia (USA, Australia) – World Premiere
- Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez (Portugal, France, UK) – North American Premiere
- It’s What Each Person Needs by Sophy Romvari (Canada) – World Premiere
- Lay Me by the Shore by David Findlay (Canada) – North American Premiere
- Le Pupille by Alice Rohrwacher (Italy, USA) – Canadian Premiere
- Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles (Літургія протитанкових перешкод) by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine, USA) – North American Premiere
- Mirror Mirror by Sandulela Asanda (South Africa) – World Premiere
- Municipal Relaxation Module by Matthew Rankin (Canada) – World Premiere
- N’xaxaitkw by Asia Youngman (Canada) – World Premiere
- Nanitic by Carol Nguyen (Canada) – World Premiere
- No Ghost in the Morgue (Pas de fantôme à la morgue) by Marilyn Cooke (Canada) – Canadian Premiere
- Pleasure Garden by Rita Ferrando (Canada) – World Premiere
- Quiet Minds Silent Streets by Karen Chapman (Canada) – World Premiere
- Rest Stop by Crystal Kayiza (USA) – World Premiere
- Same Old by Lloyd Lee Choi (USA, Canada) – North American Premiere
- Scaring Women At Night by Karimah Zakia Issa (Canada) – World Premiere
- Shadow of the Butterflies (الفراشات خيال) by Sofia El Khyari (France, Qatar, Portugal) – North American Premiere
- She Always Wins by Hazel McKibbin (USA, UK) – World Premiere
- Simo (سيمو ) by Aziz Zoromba (Canada) – World Premiere
- Snow in September (9-р Сарын Цас) by Lkhagvadulam (Dulmaa) Purev-Ochir (Mongolia, France) – North American Premiere
- The Chase by Gurjeet Kaur Bassi | Canada World Premiere
- The Flying Sailor by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis (Canada) – North American Premiere
- The Garbage Man (O Homem do Lixo) by Laura Gonçalves (Portugal) – North American Premiere
- The Melting Creatures (Las criaturas que se derriten bajo el sol) by Diego Céspedes (Chile, France) – International Premiere
- The Pass by Pepi Ginsberg (USA) – America North American Premiere
- The Water Murmurs (海边升起一座悬崖 HAI BIAN SHENG QI YI ZUO XUAN YA) by Jianying (Story) Chen (China) – North American Premiere
- Tremor (Beben) by Rudolf Fitzgerald Leonard (Germany) – North American Premiere
- Untold Hours by Daniel Warth (Canada) – World Premiere
In addition to the films included in Short Cuts lineup, there are 11 films in the Wavelengths shorts programme, previously announced on August 4:
- After Work by Céline Condorelli and Ben Rivers (UK) – North American Premiere
- Bigger on the Inside by Angelo Madsen Minax (USA) – World Premiere
- EVENTIDE by Sharon Lockhart (USA) – World Premiere
- F1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now by Fox Maxy (Mesa Grande Reservation/USA) –
Festival Premiere - Fata Morgana by Tacita Dean (UK, USA) – Festival Premiere
- Hors-titre by Wiame Haddad (France) – North American Premiere
- I Thought the World of You Kurt Walker (Canada) – North American Premiere
- Moonrise by Vincent Grenier (USA, Canada) – World Premiere
- The Newest Olds Pablo Mazzolo by (Argentina, Canada) – World Premiere
- Puerta a Puerta by Jessica Sarah Rinland and Luis Arnías (Mexico, USA, Venezuela) –
International Premiere - The Time That Separates Us by Parastoo Anoushahpour (Canada, Jordan, Palestine) – World Premiere
- What Rules the Invisible by Tiffany Sia (USA) – North American Premiere
