Original-Cin TIFF 2020 Picks: Friday, September 11

By Jim Slotek, Liam Lacey, Kim Hughes, Karen Gordon, Linda Barnard, Bonnie Laufer, and Thom Ernst

Gaza mon amour (Discovery)

Fri, Sept 11, Online at Bell Digital Cinema from 6 pm; Fri, Sept 18, West Island Open Air Cinema at Ontario Place, 9 pm; Sat, Sep 19, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 4:30 pm.

Finding love is never easy. But it’s especially fraught when you’re middle aged, living in a militarized zone, besieged by a meddling sister… and there’s a found and possibly priceless statue with a gigantic erect penis stashed in your closet. Such is the lot for weary fisherman Issa (Salim Daw) who wants to live a simple life, preferably alongside his crush, tailor Siham (Hiam Abbass). Alas, life itself (and the local constabulary) keeps getting in the way in this absurdly charming dramedy written and directed by brothers Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser and set in a rarely seen contemporary Gaza of the title. -KH

Get The Hell Out (Midnight Madness)

Fri. Sept.11, Online at Bell Digital Cinema staring at 6 pm

“A wrong movie makes you suffer for 90 minutes; a wrong government makes you suffer for four years” declares the opening text in Get The Hell Out, a manic political zombie comedy set almost entirely with Taiwan notoriously fractious and brawl-prone parliament, which only lasts 90 minutes, even if it seems longer. New reform MP Ying-Ying (Megan Lai) is determined to shut down a toxic plant that threatens to destroy her home but is soon pressured to resign after pulverizing an annoying journalist. She forces a cowardly security guard Yu-Wei, who is secretly in love with her, to take her parliamentary seat as her puppet. Instead, she sees him immediately him fall in with the corrupt bloc known as the Better Generation, who wear gaudy leisurewear.

Bigger problems arise when the Republic’s zombie infected president arrives and starts biting people. Soon, Ying-Ying and a small squad of survivors are busy hacking, stabbing and shooting their way through the corridors and tunnels of power, against hordes of zombies and civil servants in scenes bursting with slapstick action, video game graphics, pop music video interruptions and a screaming rock score. Midst the aural and visual onslaught, one can detect a Taiwan-specific here message of protecting your homeland and refusing to get the hell out. - LL

One Night In Miami… (Gala Presentations)

Fri, Sept 11, Visa Skyline Drive-In at CityView 7:45pm; Sun, Sept 13, Online at Bell Digital Cinema from 6 pm; Wed, Sept 16 TIFF Bell Lightbox Premium 4K, 4:30pm.

One Night in Miami… is a powerful and impactful film directed by the Regina King. This is King’s feature directorial debut and it’s no surprise she has given us something that will undoubtedly stir up a lot of conversation while courting awards. Based on Kemp Powers’ play, it’s a fictionalized account of a 1964 meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. The four real-life friends meet up to celebrate Clay’s win over Sonny Liston, which made him the heavyweight champion of the world.

What ends up happening is a heated discussion over race relations, working for the white man and the realities of living as Black men, even the celebrated Black men that they are. Does their “status” in society give them the freedom to fight racism? Do they really have a voice? Will anyone really listen? The themes and discussions couldn't ring truer given what is going on in our world today. Powerhouse performances from the cast, but the standout is Leslie Odom Jr as Sam Cooke who not only embodies the singer’s personality but belts out Cooke’s hits with ease. - BL

The Disciple (Special Presentations)

Friday, Sept. 11, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 4:45 and 5 pm; Sun, Sept. 13, TIFF Bell Lightbox, 4:30 pm and Online Bell Digital Cinema at 6 pm.

A bit deep-inside Hindustani classical music, The Disciple gradually becomes an engrossing psychological study of a singer’s obsessive quest for musical greatness but perhaps not cut out for it. Sharad Nerulkar (Aditya Modak) rides his scooter around Mumbai at night, listening to lectures from a long-dead woman teacher, who insists on near-impossible levels of discipline (no family, no regular job) required to achieve excellence.

He practices meditation and trains constantly to match the level of his ailing teacher or Guruji (Arun Dravid). Through the juggled time frame, we see how Sharad, whose later father was a second-rate singer, was programmed from childhood to have the highest aspirations. When a famous music critic dispels a few of his illusions, Sharad is confronted with his own limitations, and reminded, a world of insipid American Idol-style pop competition show, that the world barely cares. Director Chaitanya Tamhane’s austere camera work and deliberate structure, along with the performances from the actor-singers, celebrate the traditions Sharad aspires to while regarding the culture around them with a critical eye. - LL

The Way I See It (Special Events, Plant Africa 25)

Fri. Sept. 11, available online at Bell Digital Cinema from 6 pm.

On the surface the documentary The Way I See It is a film about Pete Souza, official presidential photographer to both Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. After working so closely with these two men, Souza was appalled at what he saw in Donald Trump and is using his photos to show images of what traits he says are important in a president: leadership, empathy, character. Director Dawn Porter has taken the intelligent, articulate Souza’s themes up a notch, turning the doc into an exploration of the role of the official photographer, an homage to the empathetic humane side of President Obama and, in this election year, a sober reminder of the lack of that in that the current occupant of the White House, and of the choice at hand come November. – KG

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