Author: Jason Whyte

Another solid part of the TIFF Docs lineup, SO SURREAL: BEHIND THE MASKS was one of the most anticipated documentaries of the Festival this year! About: SO SURREAL: BEHIND THE MASKS is a feature documentary that traces the storied journey of Indigenous masks from the far reaches of Turtle Island (North America) into the hands […]

Another title in the Centrepiece section of the Toronto International Film Festival, this little hidden gem was one of my favourites that I saw at TIFF 2024. Sometimes I call this as part of my own “Throw A Dart & See a Random Movie” series where I go in knowing nothing about what I am […]

Always a fan of the National Film Board of Canada and feeling like more people at TIFF need to see the NFB content, I am always trying to go out of my way to see their latest movies and shorts at the festival, and LIVING TOGETHER did not disappoint. The TIFF Lowdown: Halima Elkhatabi’s disarming […]

The TIFF Lowdown: Matthew Rankin’s second feature is a lovingly detailed, charmingly impossible story of a Canada where Persian and French are the two official languages, and loneliness is the common currency. Winner of the inaugural Directors’ Fortnight audience award at Cannes this year, Matthew Rankin’s follow-up to his eccentric, surreal The Twentieth Century (TIFF ’19) is […]

The TIFF Lowdown: Eliza is an unassuming and beloved member of a small fishing community in Newfoundland who sees all of her relationships put in jeopardy after her secret social media persona is exposed.  In director Melanie Oates’ second feature, people in a bucolic coastal town turn quickly on their own when the status quo […]

More Canada represent at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival! Another movie that I felt was overlooked at TIFF this year is the Toronto feature YOUNG WERTHER which has a really cool concept. The TIFF Lowdown: Inspired by the popular 1770s novella The Sorrows of Young Werther, this modernization stars Douglas Booth and Alison Pill in […]

Trust me, this movie is more funny than sad! I was so happy to see SAD JOKES at TIFF as part of my “Throw A Dart, Take A Chance” portion of watching movies by attending a screening knowing NOTHING about it going in. The TIFF Lowdown: Set in Berlin, this tender, tragicomical second feature from […]

Part of the TIFF Docs section of the Toronto International Film Festival, I was excited to see Marah Strauch’s new doc, after wowing me many years ago with SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, a doc that opened TIFF Docs back in 2014. The TIFF Lowdown: You may not know the name Joe Jennings, but you’ve surely seen his […]

The TIFF Lowdown: The debut feature from Fredericton filmmaker Arianna Martinez is easier to experience than describe. It’s a multiverse picture without a single visual effect, unless you count the actors. Several years after their meet-cute — at a wedding, of course — Olive (Caroline Bell) and Benny (Ian Ottis Goff) are spending an entirely […]

As part of the Special Presentations section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, SHEPHERDS was very high on my list of movies to check out as I was a huge fan of filmmaker Sophie Deraspe’s ANTIGONE and VITAL SIGNS, both of which I saw at Whistler and the respective South By Southwest Film Festival […]

Do you wonder what actor Crispin Glover is up to these days? He was in a new movie at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and not many people noticed! Read on. The TIFF Lowdown: Crispin Glover brings his best to Tallulah H Schwab’s delightfully Kafkaesque tale of a travelling magician who finds himself in […]

I was thrilled to be able to see Sook Yin-Lee’s new movie PAYING FOR IT, as I have been a long time supporter of her work ever since admiring her work as a MuchMusic VJ, her acting and directing work over the years. It’s so wonderful to see her work continue with a new feature […]

Another solid Canadian feature at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is SEEDS, the latest work from filmmaker Kaniehtiio Horn, no stranger to Canadian and American cinema. The TIFF Lowdown: Kaniehtiio Horn (Alice, Darling, TIFF ’22) wrote, directed, and stars in Seeds, a tense thriller that weaves Kanienʼkehá꞉ka connections to the land with a cat-and-mouse game. […]

The 2024 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival starts today. This is my ninth year attending TIFF and I wouldn’t even say I am a regular at this point. Film camp is heavy this year in Toronto with the likes of Mike Leigh, Steven Soderbergh, Brady Corbet, Sean Baker and many, many other established […]