Though the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (September 4–14) may prove an effective launching pad for award-hungry actresses, the new lineups announced today affirm our earlier assessment that TIFF just won’t be a great showcase for women directors this year.
The festival announced four new categories totaling 44 new films this morning, and only 6, or 14%, of those were helmed by a female filmmaker. Taking into the account TIFF’s previously announced films, that brings the number of women-directed films to just 12 out of 103, or just under 12% of the festival’s offerings. (More lineups in other categories are forthcoming.)
The lineups revealed today are the genre program Midnight Madness (0 of 9 films directed by women), the auteur-centric Masters (1 of 9 films directed by women; Ann Hui’s The Golden Era), the self-explanatory TIFF Docs (4 of 15 directed by women), and the artsier Vanguard (1 of 11 films directed by women).
Here’s what made the cut at TIFF in those categories:
Masters
The Golden Era (Huang jin shi dai) Ann Hui, China/Hong Kong, North American Premiere
TIFF Docs
Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Ma’a al Fidda) Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan, Syria/France, North American
Premiere
Sunshine Superman Marah Strauch, USA/Norway/United Kingdom, World Premiere
This Is My Land Tamara Erde, France, World Premiere
The Yes Men Are Revolting Laura Nix and the Yes Men, USA, World Premiere
Vanguard
Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh, Ich seh) Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Austria, North American Premiere
[via Variety]
