TIFF 2013: 12 Years a Slave tops our annual buzz poll
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave tops this year’s Toronto Star “Chasing the Buzz” poll in advance of TIFF.
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Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in 12 Years a Slave, based on the the 19th-century memoirs of a man sold into slavery in America's south.
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, based on the 19th-century memoirs of an enslaved African-American, tops this year’s Toronto Star “Chasing the Buzz” poll in advance of TIFF.
Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor in the title role of author Solomon Northup, and co-starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Alfre Woodard and Brad Pitt, the film led our 13th annual “Chasing the Buzz” panel of critics, programmers, professors and regular movie buffs at the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 5 to 15.
It garnered four votes from our 30 panelists, who this year were asked to name just a single film they were most anticipating at TIFF, a departure from the traditional three.
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12 Years took double the number of ballots as the next most-mentioned movies, six of which received two votes apiece: Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction, Ron Howard’s Rush, Richard Ayoade’s The Double, Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida and Jia Zhangke’s A Touch of Sin.
Fourteen other films received a single vote apiece, for a total of 21 films identified by our panel. Consider them all good bets as you work your way through the approximately 300 films coming to TIFF.
Sam Adams, editor, Criticwire
The Double: “Richard Ayoade’s Submarine was a wry and heartfelt coming-of-age story, but it hardly foreshadowed his second feature: an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Double. TIFF is a great place to check in with old masters, but there’s a special thrill in watching newer talent push boundaries.”
Steve Almond, film buff, parabola.ca
Labor Day: “Jason Reitman looks to continue his streak of excellent TIFF showings (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air) with this story of a young teen, his withdrawn mother (Kate Winslet), and their encounter with an escaped convict (Josh Brolin).”
Gail Anthony, film buff/executive assistant
Cameron Bailey, TIFF artistic director
The Double: Richard Ayoade has one of the driest wits this side of Samuel Beckett and it’s on brilliant display in this doppelganger romance that has Jesse Eisenberg playing two roles, opposite Mia Wasikowska. Based on a Dostoyevsky novella, it’s a sharp follow-up to Submarine, which also premiered in Toronto. So good it made my Mission List: bit.ly/tiffmission .
Jennifer Bell, TIFF vice-president for communications
12 Years a Slave: “Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) delivers once again with an unflinching and raw portrayal of an African-American musician who is kidnapped, taken from his family and sold into slavery. An exceptional cast built around an incredible true story.”
Anne Brodie, movie reviewer, Studio 12 News
12 Years a Slave: “I’m thrilled to see this, given that Steve McQueen directs an important period piece with a ridiculously good cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt as a Canadian, Benedict Cumberbatch, plus a nearly grownup Quvenzhané Wallis and Paul Dano. A cinch.”
Philip Brown, freelance film critic
Gravity: “It’s been seven excruciatingly long years since Alfonso Cuarón made Children of Men. He’s finally back with a minimalist blockbuster about Sandra Bullock floating alone in space that is sure to offer a magical combination of special effects wonderment and nauseating suspense.”
Sherry Coman, Humber College film professor, hana dreaming blogger
Ida: “Ever since I saw the trailer for Pawel Pawlikowski’s new film, I have been hypnotized by the promise of its mesmerizing black-and-white, traditional framing and caring exploration of faith and family. The story of a young Catholic novice in 1960s Poland who discovers she has Jewish roots, Ida is just one of several films by master Polish directors being presented this year at TIFF.”
Noah Cowan, TIFF Bell Lightbox artistic director
Salvation Army: “A fantastic underappreciated novel with a new take on immigration and sexuality is finally turned into a film.”
Richard Crouse, film critic, CTV/Metro
The Art of the Steal: “Jay Baruchel, Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon and Terence Stamp star in this twisty-turny movie that mixes laughs with intrigue, crime with revenge to present an offbeat heist flick.”
Greg Cruse, developer and editor, TOfilmfest.ca
Of Good Report: “Initially banned in South Africa, Jahmil Qubeka’s controversial feature stirred worldwide debate until it finally won approval for release, plus ‘Artistic Bravery’ prize from the Durban Film Fest.”
Brad Deane, manager, film programs, TIFF Cinematheque
A Touch of Sin: “Jia Zhangke’s newest and perhaps his most devastating film continues his career-spanning exploration of China’s ideological and economic transition, this time using familiar genres such as wuxia to create a portrait of a society descending into corruption and violence.”
Thom Ernst, former host/producer, Saturday Night at the Movies
Rush: “I haven’t been impressed by a Ron Howard film in years and yet Rush is rumoured to be more accomplished than Apollo 13 — and that I have to see for myself.”
Alex Ganetakos Johnston, TV writer/producer
12 Years a Slave: “I’m a big fan of director-actor ‘muse’ relationships, and with Hunger and Shame under their belts, McQueen and Fassbender clearly have one of the best things going. In short, can’t wait!”
Eli Glasner, arts reporter, CBC News Network
Visitors: “Because movies like Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi were my gateway drug and I’m still chasing that original high. Because I never want Steven Soderbergh’s long goodbye to end. Because director Godfrey Reggio was a monk and this is his church. Because the TSO are performing the Philip Glass score live. Because. Because. Because.”
Marc Glassman, film critic, Classical 96.3 FM
Watermark: “I’m looking forward to seeing the audience reception to this exceptional documentary by the iconic ‘big picture’ photographer Ed Burtynsky and the remarkable doc-duo of Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier: It’s a cinematic essay that looks at water as a force of nature, of spiritualism, of a focus for debates on climate change and much more. Thoughtful and beautiful!”
Jason Gorber, film critic, Twitchfilm.com, Filmfest.ca
Rush: “This adrenaline-charged tale of the ’76 Formula One season has impeccable production and sound design, strong, award-worthy lead performances, exceptional editing and direction and a fine (if at times earnest) script, all of which adds up to a kind of alchemical miracle: a picture that works extremely well for both petrol-head and neophyte, resulting in an enthralling cinematic experience.”
Karen Gordon, movie critic, Metro Morning, CBC Radio
Dallas Buyers Club: “I’d follow Quebec director Jean-Marc Vallée, who wrote and directed C.R.A.Z.Y. and last year’s beautiful Café de Flore, anywhere, cinematically speaking. He’s one of those rare directors who can move from whimsy to true emotion in the same scene and make it feel real and deep.”
Steve Gravestock, senior TIFF programmer, Canadian films
Hi-Ho Mistahey!: “My colleague Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo and I are very excited about the First Nations films at the festival, especially this new one by Alanis Obomsawin — a true Canadian master who’s made a film which is deeply affecting, profoundly important and very timely . . . It’s by turns devastating, shocking and, ultimately, uplifting.”
Piers Handling, TIFF director and CEO
Ida: “Making his first film in his native Poland after building a career in the U.K. with movies like Last Resort and My Summer of Love, Pawel Pawlikowski delves deep into recent Polish history with a heartbreaking, but beautifully controlled, black-and-white film about a young Catholic nun about to take her vows who discovers that her family past is full of secrets that stretch back to the Holocaust.”
Teri Hart, host/producer, The Movie Network
Siddharth: “It’s been six years since Canadian writer/director Richie Mehta blew me away with his feature debut Amal. We finally get his follow-up, taking us back to India with the story of a father looking for his missing son.”
Jordan Hoffman, critic, Film.com and New York Daily News
Only Lovers Left Alive: “Jim Jarmusch’s love letter to mad artists living like vampires on society’s fringe is the type of film that, if I saw it at age 15, would have inspired me to drop out of school. It’s a cult masterpiece only the right people will love.”
Eric Kohn, chief film critic/senior editor, Indiewire
R100: “Japan’s Hitoshi Matsumoto is a wizard of weird allegorical narratives that dance a terrific line between silliness and profundity, so I’m especially looking forward to his latest whatsit narrative, about a man who gets trapped by his membership in an S&M club — since even that bizarre description likely fails to describe the essence of Matsumoto’s crazed storytelling approach and satirical aims.”
Michèle Maheux, TIFF managing director
Giraffada: “I’m taking the whole family to see this tale of a 10-year-old boy’s love for the giraffe in his local zoo in the West Bank and the lengths he will go to in order to ensure her survival — finding her a mate on the other side of the separation wall.”
David Poland, editor/columnist, MovieCityNews.com
12 Years a Slave: “There has been a lot of high-profile cinema about the black experience in America this year. Steve McQueen brings a skill set that offers the potential of a different level of representational discourse.”
Kiva Reardon, founding editor of cléo, staff film writer at TheLoop.ca
A Touch of Sin: “Yet again, Jia Zhangke proves just why he belongs in the Masters Program at TIFF. The genre-blending, multi-narrative film is a jarring and scathing look at the fatal toll capitalism takes on humanity. We’re sold.”
B. Ruby Rich, Editor in Chief, Film Quarterly
Night Moves: “Kelly Reichardt is a filmmaker’s filmmaker, one who bows to no fashion in her pursuit of pure cinema. There’s a reason the best actors want to work with her: subtlety, precision, understated writing, incremental steps into deepening significance . . . the prospect of her dipping into thriller territory should be beguiling enough to double audience anticipation.”
James Rocchi, film critic, MSN Movies
The Grand Seduction: “There are a lot of galas and Midnight Madness picks to fawn over, but, frankly, the one film I’m most excited about is Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction. Between McKellar’s directorial eye, his sharp, dry sense of humour and the presence of Gordon Pinsent, it’s enough to make an expatriate’s heart beat a little faster with true patriot love.”
Radheyan Simonpillai, film writer, NOW magazine
Night Moves: “Among the most compelling voices on the indie scene, Kelly Reichardt’s poetic observations of marginalized Americans keep getting better, so I’m expecting her latest drama about activists scheming to sabotage a dam to make cinematic waves.”
Susan Wloszczyna, contributor to RogerEbert.com
Philomena: “Stephen Frears’ ingenious pairing of Judi Dench and Steve Coogan — together at last — has the potential to be even more historic than when the lofty dame took on Vin Diesel in The Chronicles of Riddick.”
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