TIFF '24: Produced by Ken Loach

by Cláudio Alves

Before Toronto, HARVEST premiered in Venice's official competition.

In 2023, Ken Loach premiered what the world assumes is his last film, The Old Oak, which earned a mixed reaction at Cannes and seems to have been quickly forgotten. Regardless of his swan song's reception, Loach's legacy is indisputable, and one year later, we can see that it extends beyond the films that bear his directing credit. Sixteen Films, a production company he co-founded with Rebecca O'Brien in 2002 that, until now, had been dedicated to Loach's directorial efforts, is now supporting the work of other filmmakers, a fair share of up-and-comers. As Loach recedes even further behind the scenes, Sixteen Films is reborn into a new life. Harvest and On Falling, two of their first productions, bowed at TIFF, though only the latter was a world premiere…

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A Year with #52FilmsByWomen

Year in Review. Every afternoon, a new wrap-up. Today Glenn on his year with #52FilmsByWomen

The hashtag ‘52FilmsByWomen’ was started by Women in Film as a means of getting people to consciously watch at least one film a week directed by a woman. It seems like a simple mission considering the number of films many of us watch for both work and pleasure, but I have no doubt that of the 10,000+ people who pledged to do it, many didn’t reach the goal. That’s all right, though, because I saw enough for two.

No, really. In 2016, I watched 105 titles including feature films, shorts, and documentaries. They cover classics, new releases, hidden gems, animations, comedy, horror, and from all over the world. Here are...

TEN OBSERVATIONS FROM MY YEAR OF #52FILMSBYWOMEN

Subverting Toxic Masculinity
We don’t just want more women making films for their fine-tuned insights into the lives of women – Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women and Anna Rose Holmer’s The Fits being perhaps the most obvious examples among this year’s releases that I saw – but also for their unique takes on men and masculinity.

Look no further for Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier for a film that couldn’t have been made by a man, but which has so much to say in this year of “toxic masculinity”. What a shame it didn't catch fire with arthouse audiences and award voters. I wasn't too taken by Tsangari's Attenberg, but I responded to Chevalier more than any of Yorgos Lanthimos' works so far, so make of that what you will.

I’ll Go Anywhere with Andrea Arnold
From the surveilled streets of Scotland in Red Road, the council estates of Essex in Fish Tank, the moors of Wuthering Heights, and now, apparently, the American Midwest...

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