There are perhaps no more complex feelings for a film lover than the stress, nerves and thrill of making a festival shortlist, then going into battle for limited tickets against other film lovers (and sometimes the ticketing system itself). 

It’s all in service of being able to go in with a clear mind, ahead of any buzz or influence. Being the first. Sometimes being the only audience to see a film in a theatrical setting before it is bought perhaps for streaming release. Being bathed in the shared reverence of a festival audience versus a potentially tired and distracted Friday night multiplex crowd. Being present with the filmmakers and cast, a physical part of their achievements—for a film is not truly finished until it meets its audience. 

The 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off today in the Ontario capital and online and the official Letterboxd list shows more than 200 films, at least 60 of those world premieres. There are familiar names and fresh voices in categories including galas, discovery, Midnight Madness, documentaries and more, along with tributes and awards, and repertory and free public screenings of old favorites. 

It is a huge selection, which our fall festival preview only lightly touched on. So for those still deciding on what to see at TIFF, or what of the festival’s fare to plan to catch at subsequent festivals, we went straight to the top for advice. 

Here are the edited highlights of our second-annual Twitter Spaces conversation with the festival’s senior team: CEO Cameron Bailey and Director of Festival Programming and Cinematheque, Robyn Citizen. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery writer and director Rian Johnson also popped by for a chat. 

Let’s start with the Platform section, which is very director-focused and has featured films like Sound of Metal, Moonlight and Jackie in recent years. Robyn, tell us about some of the Platform titles this year you’re most excited about. 
Robyn Citizen: Emily is our opening night Platform film, and it’s directed by an actress, s O’Connor, who many of us will from Mansfield Park. It stars Emma Mackey, and we’re really excited because there are a lot of young actors in this film that are really on the verge of breaking through. So we think this sets a really good tone for the rest of the Platform program.

I mean, why not?
RC: Yeah, exactly. So through her journey, she meets a number of interesting people that really make her realize her strength and her own ability to look after herself. But, at the same time, really form strong connections with people outside of her grandmother, which will serve her well. So it’s just a wonderful story and it’s told beautifully by Maïmouna Doucouré.

There’s a lot of buzz already about Daniel Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and I have Thunder on my watchlist, but let’s move on to hidden gems. What are the films that folks might overlook that you’d like us to know about?
CB: That’s a great question. In of hidden gems I would recommend, I would say the new Alice Diop film which is coming from Venice, Saint-Omer, is certainly one. If you’re looking for something that’s more of a family film, Blueback, from Australia, the Robert Connolly film is just lovely. Driving Madeleine, Christian Carion’s new film from is just a beautiful film as well. This is maybe a little bit less of a hidden gem, but I just want to make sure people see The Banshees of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh, which is really just hilarious and surprisingly deep. You think it’s just a simple story of two friends who have a falling out, but it ends up being this very existential reflection as well.

RC: I want to point out Biosphere, because that was our secret-surprise screening addition. It is still a bit top secret, so I can’t give away too much of the plot—but it does have Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass and is about two men that are saving the world and finding interesting, innovative ways to do it. You will not see what’s coming in this film, I just strongly encourage people to seek it out.

The other two that are really close to my heart are Nanny, which was at Sundance this year—it’s by Nikyatu Jusu, who is a wonderful filmmaker. It’s about an immigrant nanny, Aisha, wonderfully played by Anna Diop, who is trying to achieve the American dream and wanting to bring her son to live with her and has a number of aquatic nightmares in doing so. And Baby Ruby, for the mothers out there. This really resonated with me. It’s about some of the extraordinary expectations of new mothers. It has Kit Harrington—Jon Snow!—and Noémie Merlant from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, another just fantastic performance.

I know that the TIFF Tribute Awards are really important to you every year for what they do to highlight some of the more singular voices in film. I am all in for all 134 minutes of Welsh-Egyptian director Sally El Hosaini’s The Swimmers, which is both a Next Wave and a Gala Presentation. So, quick synopsis: real-life sisters Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa, play real-life sisters Yusra and Sara in the dramatized story of champion-grade swimmers who have to make the perilous journey from Syria to Europe. You are honoring Sally with the TIFF Emerging Talent Award this year. Tell us why.
CB: I just think she’s a terrific filmmaker. The Swimmers is magnificently made. She’s got such a terrific handling of pacing, of scale. This is the story of two sisters. It begins in a very intimate world, they’re training to be competitive swimmers in Syria, but then it expands into this epic scale, setting out on this journey to safety in Europe. 

There’s an incredible sequence as they try to cross this stretch of the Mediterranean on a very shaky boat that may not make the crossing, and because they are competitive swimmers, they may just have a way to make it. And she handles this, honestly, like Spielberg handles the storming of Omaha Beach in Saving Private Ryan. I think she can do whatever she wants to do in future, in filmmaking. I think she’s told one of the most important stories of our day, which is the story of migration and refugees, and I think it’s a film everyone should see.

Also, fresh from very emotional appearances and a hugely warm reception at Venice, Brendan Fraser is an honoree for his work in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale.
CB: Brendan went to school in Toronto, he spent part of his youth here and so we do feel a special affinity for him. But I think anyone who’s seen him over his career from the ‘90s, playing in action movies and comedies, to what he’s doing in The Whale will just be so impressed with what he accomplishes. It’s a role that’s difficult to play, I can only imagine, but he does it with such sensitivity, such nuance, such heart and he said that he put everything he has into this film and you’ll see that in his performance. I think it will be widely recognized and we’re glad to welcome him back home and to present him with a Tribute Award.

CB: And we have the Buffy Sainte-Marie documentary [Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On], which I found just so illuminating. Directed by Madison Thomas, a full portrait of this remarkable career as a musician and an activist over so many decades. A lot of things I thought I knew about Buffy Sainte-Marie, a lot of things in the film were entirely new to me, and it’s just a remarkable life she’s leading.

Please, can you confirm that Forrest Gump or something. She’s remarkable. She’s been part of so many key moments in pop culture over decades.

Are there any films you’d both like to highlight from the TIFF Docs section this year? I’m really curious about the Laura Poitras film about Nan Goldin [All the Beauty and the Bloodshed].
CB: Laura Poitras, of course, is a legendary doc filmmaker and her approach to Nan Goldin is maybe different from what people may be familiar with, even knowing Goldin’s work. 

I have to say, I’m excited to present the premiere of the new Sidney Poitier documentary [Sidney] that Reginald Hudlin has directed. It is comprehensive, it is thorough, it has everybody in it talking about how this icon changed American cinema and through doing that changed America. TIFF Cinematheque is planning to do a tribute to Sidney Poitier later on and we hope this will get people primed. It’s really an incredible life that he led.

RC:  I’ve been looking forward to Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s The Grab. This was pretty highly anticipated, our TIFF docs programmer, Tom Powers, has been talking about it quite a bit and some of you might recognize her earlier film Blackfish. The quality of investigation that she does is just always top-tier. This one is about the increasing amount of food and water shortages and the ways that governments and other sometimes private entities around the world are making grabs for those food resources outside of their own countries and national boundaries in ways that aren’t always the most ethical. The deep dive that is done here is incredible and as there are more climate change events and as there are more food shortages, I think knowing all you can about something like this is really important and she has done a really rigorous job.