TIFF 50: "Mārama" serves Gothic horror with an anticolonial twist

by Cláudio Alves

Before even its company credits unfold on screen, Mārama hits the audience with a smash of historical context. A short text positions the narrative to come within the legacy of colonialism in Aoteaora, renamed New Zealand by its invaders. Specifically, it warns of the desecration of Māori culture and the violence that persists to this day, concluding with a statement that might as well stand for the film's thesis: "To move into our future we must understand our past." Such sentiment underpins much of contemporary anticolonial art, and Mārama makes for a particularly curious example, as it explores the subject by appealing to genre precepts, moving away from didacticism toward the pulpy visceral. 

For his feature directorial debut, Taratoa Stappard has imagined a Gothic story cum revenge fantasy, where a Māori woman travels across the globe to Victorian England and seeks justice for what was done to her, her family, her people…

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TIFF 50: "Frankenstein" has great gowns, beautiful gowns

by Cláudio Alves

Last year, Emilia Pérez finished in second place for TIFF's People's Choice Award, and, while not as bad, this year's runner-up left me similarly displeased. You can deduce that the masses disagree, having received Guillermo del Toro's Mary Shelley adaptation with open hearts and adoration aplenty. I think I was also predisposed to love the Mexican master's spin on Frankenstein, having defended his follies for the last decade, even when critics I respect soured on the man's cinema. Moreover, I even re-read the novel – comparing the 1818 and 1831 versions as I went along – to prepare for what was sure to be a grand Gothic spectacle to sweep me off my feet.

As it turns out, del Toro's Frankenstein was one of my major disappointments at TIFF 50, maybe the biggest. Thank heavens for those beautiful costumes and that beautiful Creature, for I'm not sure I'd have made it through this 150-minute slog without them…

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TIFF 50: "Hamnet" is Chloé Zhao's best film to date

by Cláudio Alves

Another year, another TIFF coverage extended far past the festival's end. When one watches as many films as I try to at such events, I guess this is inevitable. Getting sick just as I was about to leave Canada and cross the Atlantic back home didn't help matters, but I'm back on writing duties and ready to share my thoughts on a number of exciting new titles. NYFF, which I'll cover digitally, is still a week and change away, so that can serve as the deadline to wrap up this celebration of TIFF's 50th edition - Happy TIFFTY! 

So, let's begin again, starting with the drama that reduced the northern metropolis to tears and secured Chloé Zhao a place in history as the only director to have won the TIFF People's Choice Award twice. And it's well deserved, as Hamnet represents the filmmaker's finest achievement yet…

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"Hamnet" wins the People's Choice at TIFF. Can it win Best Picture?

by Nathaniel R

HAMNET © Focus Features

With TIFF wrapping up today, it's time to update the Oscar charts (which we will be doing soon). Chloe Zhao's adaptation of the acclaimed novel Hamnet, historical fiction about the Shakespeares and the loss of their son, has the won the coveted People's Choice Award. While this prize has historically been very prophetic in regards to future Best Picture runs, Hamnet didn't need it per se; it's Oscar appeal was already ample given the subject matter, pedigree, rising stars, and ecstatic critical response. (We're super excited that Chloe Zhao will be able to follow Jane Campion in becoming only the second woman to score multiple nominations in Best Director. That might even happen twice this year with Kathryn Bigelow in the mix for A House of Dynamite) The runners up for the coveted People's Choice prize are slightly wilder cards in terms of Oscar gold...

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Venice: Oscar Contender "The Voice of Hind Rajab"

by Elisa Giudici

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB © Venice Film Festival

Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania has always worked at the intersection of personal tragedy and political urgency. From The Man Who Sold His Skin to Four Daughters, she has shown a capacity to merge documentary impulses with bold formal invention. Yet with The Voice of Hind Rajab (the film that left Venice audiences openly sobbing halfway through its screening) she has taken that approach further, venturing into a space where cinema becomes almost unbearable.

The story is simple and shattering. On January 29, 2024, five-year-old Hind Rajab was trapped inside her family’s car in Gaza, surrounded by the corpses of her relatives and encircled by Israeli tanks...

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