Synopsis

In this surreal vision of the not-too-distant-future, the official language of Canada is now Farsi. Against this oddball background, three slice-of-life stories emerge: Two young friends venture to retrieve money found frozen in a block of winter ice. A man quits his painfully bureaucratic government job and returns home. And a peculiar tour guide shows off some of Winnipeg’s dullest attractions to a group of discombobulated tourists. Taken together, these deadpan stories create a picture of life in the “heart of Canada” that’s both hilarious and heartwarming. Featuring masterful production design with an eye toward the absurd, director Matthew Rankin (The Twentieth Century) describes his second feature as “a love letter to Iranian cinema,” combining the soulfulness of Abbas Kiarostami with the visual whimsy of Wes Anderson to create an appealingly unusual odyssey.

Synopsis

A filmmaker immerses his daughter in the magic of cinema, where chaos meets fantasy. This creates a deep bond that will sustain them through good and bad.

Synopsis

Pierre (Vincent Lindon, La Haine, Titane), a devoted father in his fifties, is raising his two sons alone in a “rust belt” city in northern France. While the brothers couldn’t be more different — athletic Fus spends his time on football and cage fighting, while Louis’s nose is buried in his books — the three form a tight-knit family. But as Louis immerses himself in his studies, Fus’s behavior becomes increasingly furtive and distant. When it becomes clear that Fus has been seduced by a local far-right group, an explosive rift develops between him and his union-leader father.

A sense of intimacy and urgency propels this timely family drama from writer-director sister duo Delphine and Muriel Coulin, as The Quiet Son grapples with questions of how to accept and find common ground with loved ones we no longer recognize. What can be forgiven, and what line is too far to cross? The always masterful Lindon stands out as a conflicted father who’s torn between love and hate and hope and despair.

Synopsis

Jérémie returns to his sleepy hometown of Saint-Martial in the south of France to attend the funeral of his former boss, the village baker. Afterwards, he decides to stay for a few days with Martine, the baker’s widow. His continued presence in town unsettles the locals, and a threatening neighbor starts to question Jérémie’s intentions. When a mysterious disappearance disturbs the community, a cloud of suspicion begins to form.

Packed with suspense and intrigue, director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake, 2013, Staying Vertical, 2016) returns to the Festival with this misty masterwork. Cloaked in an aura of uncertainty, the film’s tense, winding plot expertly suggests hidden meanings and secret motivations. Featuring a stunning earth-toned visual palette and an unforgettable cast of characters (including a priest with suspicious intentions), Misericordia is an incisive, twist-filled mystery.

Synopsis

Melrick, an unruly 13-year-old boy living in Stains, France, spends his summers at his grandmother’s house in French Guiana. He loves drumming — in no small part because his uncle Lucas, who tragically died 11 years prior, was also a drummer. As Melrick’s awareness of his family’s devastating past grows, he searches for ways to pay tribute to his history, culture, and heritage. Through a blend of intimate invented scenarios and carefully observed documentary footage, director Maxime Jean-Baptiste deftly crafts a heart-wrenching, deeply human portrait of a family and of a community committed to the anti-colonial struggle trying to reconcile their grief with an impulse for revenge. Listen to the Voices is urgent, beautiful, and filled with humanity.