• The Wanted 18: Using stop-motion animation, drawings and interviews, director Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan recreate an astonishing true story from the 1987 Palestinian intifada: the Israeli’s army’s pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared a threat to national security on state of Israel. Courtesy WAM
    The Wanted 18: Using stop-motion animation, drawings and interviews, director Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan recreate an astonishing true story from the 1987 Palestinian intifada: the Israeli’s army’s pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared a threat to national security on state of Israel. Courtesy WAM
  • Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet: If the sequences showcased at Cannes are anything to judge by, this Salma Hayek-produced animated adaptation of Khalil Gibran’s 1923 poetry essays The Prophet will be wonderful. Hayek has gathered together nine of the world’s best animators, including The Lion King director Roger Allers, to capture the magic of Gibran’s bestseller. Hayek also provides the voice of the young girl who ties the stories together, finally fulfilling a life-long dream to play an Arab character. Liam Neeson and Alfred Molina also lend their voices. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet: If the sequences showcased at Cannes are anything to judge by, this Salma Hayek-produced animated adaptation of Khalil Gibran’s 1923 poetry essays The Prophet will be wonderful. Hayek has gathered together nine of the world’s best animators, including The Lion King director Roger Allers, to capture the magic of Gibran’s bestseller. Hayek also provides the voice of the young girl who ties the stories together, finally fulfilling a life-long dream to play an Arab character. Liam Neeson and Alfred Molina also lend their voices. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • While We’re Young: Noah Baumbach, the sometime Wes Anderson collaborator, is the most exciting director essaying American life today. Last time he made the brilliant Frances Ha, before that The Squid and the Whale (2005) and Greenberg (2007). All that is known about his new film is that its about an uptight documentary filmmaker and his wife whose life changes when they befriend a younger couple. Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried star. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    While We’re Young: Noah Baumbach, the sometime Wes Anderson collaborator, is the most exciting director essaying American life today. Last time he made the brilliant Frances Ha, before that The Squid and the Whale (2005) and Greenberg (2007). All that is known about his new film is that its about an uptight documentary filmmaker and his wife whose life changes when they befriend a younger couple. Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried star. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • Pawn Sacrifice: The most famous chess match of all time, 1972’s battle between grandmasters Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) - USA against USSR - is getting the Hollywood treatment. Directed by Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond) the docudrama looks at how the chess match was used as a propaganda tool at the height of the cold war. But what really made it such a global event were the peculiar characters squaring off against each other. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    Pawn Sacrifice: The most famous chess match of all time, 1972’s battle between grandmasters Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) - USA against USSR - is getting the Hollywood treatment. Directed by Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond) the docudrama looks at how the chess match was used as a propaganda tool at the height of the cold war. But what really made it such a global event were the peculiar characters squaring off against each other. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • Good Kill: The use of drones on the battlefield has become one of the hot topics of modern warfare and this drama sees Ethan Hawke play a drone operator living in America who begins questioning the practice of using pilotless planes to bomb Afghanistan. Director Andrew Niccol, who made Gattaca and S1m0ne has a strong track record in dealing with how technology has changed modern lives. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    Good Kill: The use of drones on the battlefield has become one of the hot topics of modern warfare and this drama sees Ethan Hawke play a drone operator living in America who begins questioning the practice of using pilotless planes to bomb Afghanistan. Director Andrew Niccol, who made Gattaca and S1m0ne has a strong track record in dealing with how technology has changed modern lives. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • The Face of an Angel: Prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s crime thriller is a fictional tale based on the Italian criminal case that saw American Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito accused of murdering a British student, Meredith Kercher. It stars Daniel Brühl as a filmmaker travelling to Italy with an author (Kate Beckinsale) to adapt her book on the trial. The film will also feature the first major acting performance from the British supermodel Cara Delevingne. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    The Face of an Angel: Prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s crime thriller is a fictional tale based on the Italian criminal case that saw American Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito accused of murdering a British student, Meredith Kercher. It stars Daniel Brühl as a filmmaker travelling to Italy with an author (Kate Beckinsale) to adapt her book on the trial. The film will also feature the first major acting performance from the British supermodel Cara Delevingne. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • Top Five: Written, directed by, and starring Chris Rock is enough of a handle to recommend any film. This one seems semi-biographical as he plays a New York City comedian-turned-film star, Andre Allen. An interview with a journalist forces him to take a long, hard look at his own life. The supporting cast is a who’s who of comedic talent: Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Adam Sandler, Whoopi Goldberg and Jerry Seinfeld. We’re laughing already. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    Top Five: Written, directed by, and starring Chris Rock is enough of a handle to recommend any film. This one seems semi-biographical as he plays a New York City comedian-turned-film star, Andre Allen. An interview with a journalist forces him to take a long, hard look at his own life. The supporting cast is a who’s who of comedic talent: Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Adam Sandler, Whoopi Goldberg and Jerry Seinfeld. We’re laughing already. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • Rosewater: The brilliant comedian Jon Stewart is best known as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. He took a three-month hiatus from the show to make his film directorial debut: a hard-hitting political drama rather than a laugh riot. Rosewater is based on a true story of the Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) who in 2009 was imprisoned and tortured for 118 days after being arrested during an election rally in Iran. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    Rosewater: The brilliant comedian Jon Stewart is best known as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. He took a three-month hiatus from the show to make his film directorial debut: a hard-hitting political drama rather than a laugh riot. Rosewater is based on a true story of the Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) who in 2009 was imprisoned and tortured for 118 days after being arrested during an election rally in Iran. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
  • Iraqi Odyssey: The Iraqi filmmaker Samir (one-name), based in Germany, delves into his family history to take a look at how his home country has changed from a land where decades ago women went to study and music was a constant street backdrop to the war-torn country of today. Samir tells the story by focusing on his own family, who are scattered between Australia, Russia, France, Britton and the United States. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival
    Iraqi Odyssey: The Iraqi filmmaker Samir (one-name), based in Germany, delves into his family history to take a look at how his home country has changed from a land where decades ago women went to study and music was a constant street backdrop to the war-torn country of today. Samir tells the story by focusing on his own family, who are scattered between Australia, Russia, France, Britton and the United States. Courtesy Toronto International Film Festival

Top 10 buzzworthy films at Toronto

Kaleem Aftab
Kaleem Aftab
London

August 31, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has more world premieres than any other film festival so sometimes the toughest part is choosing what to see. Here are 10 films that have people talking.

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