Documentaries About Paula Deen, Clergy Abuse and Whistling Contests Headed to Toronto Film Festival
Twenty-three documentaries, including new works from the Oscar-winning directors Ben Proudfoot, Laura Poitras and Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, have been added to the lineup of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Wednesday.
The TIFF Docs program will include 16 world premieres, beginning with 'The Eyes of Ghana,' directed by Proudfoot, who has won Oscars for his short docs 'The Queen of Basketball' and 'The Last Repair Shop.' The film is executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. Other world premieres include 'Love+War' from Vasarhelyi and Chin, who won the doc-feature Oscar for 2019's 'Free Solo'; 'Nuns vs. the Vatican,' an examination of new abuse allegations inside the Catholic Church that was directed by Lorena Luciano and executive produced by Mariska Hargitay; 'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,' directed by Billy Corben; and 'Whistle,' a Christopher Nelius film about a whistling competition.
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'Cover-Up,' a film about investigative reporter Seymour Hersh from Oscar-winning director Poitras and from Mark Obenhaus, will have its Canadian premiere at TIFF after premiering at the Venice International Film Festival and likely screening at the Telluride Film Festival.
According to TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers, the films were chosen from more than 1,000 submissions, a record for the festival. Powers told TheWrap that this year's lineup was particularly strong on sales titles that are represented by top agencies, with the films looking for distribution including 'Cover-Up,' 'Whistle,' 'Canceled,' John Dower's 'The Balloonists,' Nicole Bazuin's 'Modern Whore' and Tasha Van Zandt's 'A Life Illuminated.'
Films that will be coming to TIFF after playing other festivals include Gianfranco Rosi's 'Below the Clouds,' Lucrecia Martel's 'Nuestra Tierra' and Tamara Kotevska's 'The Tale of Silyan,' all of which will play Venice. Docs that premiered in Cannes and are coming to Toronto include Raoul Peck's 'Orwell: 2+2=5' and Sepideh Farsi's 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,' whose protagonist, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, was killed in Gaza shortly after the film premiered in May.
Previously, the festival announced that a number of other nonfiction films would play in different sections of TIFF, among them Colin Hanks' opening-night film 'John Candy: I Like Me' and Baz Luhrmann's 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.'
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival will begin on Sept. 4 and run through Sept. 14.
TIFF Docs
'A Life Illuminated,' Tasha Van Zandt | USA (World Premiere)'A Simple Soldier,' Juan Camilo Cruz, Artem Ryzhykov | Ukraine (North American Premiere)'Aki,' Darlene Naponse | Canada (World Premiere)'Below the Clouds,' Gianfranco Rosi | Italy (International Premiere)'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,'Billy Corben | USA (World Premiere)'Cover-Up,'Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | USA (Canadian Premiere)'Flana,' Zahraa Ghandour | Iraq/France/Qatar (World Premiere)'Love+War,' Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA (World Premiere)'Modern Whore,'Nicole Bazuin | Canada (World Premiere)'Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising,'Shane Belcourt | Canada (World Premiere)'Nuestra Tierra,'Lucrecia Martel | Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Denmark/Netherlands (North American Premiere)'Nuns vs. The Vatican,'Lorena Luciano | USA (World Premiere)'Orwell: 2+2=5,' Raoul Peck | USA/France (North American Premiere)'Powwow People,' Sky Hopinka | USA (World Premiere)'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,' Sepideh Farsi | France/Palestine/Iran (North American Premiere)'Still Single,' Jamal Burger, Jukan Tateisi | Canada (World Premiere)'The Balloonists,' John Dower | USA/UK/Austria (World Premiere)'The Eyes of Ghana,' Ben Proudfoot | USA (World Premiere)'The Tale of Silyan,' Tamara Kotevska | North Macedonia (North American Premiere)'There Are No Words,' Min Sook Lee | Canada (World Premiere)'True North,' Michèle Stephenson | USA/Canada (World Premiere)'While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts,' Peter Mettler | Canada/Switzerland (World Premiere)'Whistle,' Christopher Nelius | Australia (World Premiere)
The post Documentaries About Paula Deen, Clergy Abuse and Whistling Contests Headed to Toronto Film Festival appeared first on TheWrap.
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