TIFF LOVE: MOVIES REPRESENTING THE REGION ON THE BIG SCREEN IN TORONTO

▶ Directors from Syria and Palestine will have their work shown at the city’s film festival, writes Chris Newbould

It was a slow start for films from the Mena region when the Toronto International Film Festival last month announced its initial slate of movies for this year’s event. As the opening night on Thursday, September 5, draws closer and more films are added to the line-up, we are beginning to see a wider selection from the Middle East on the programme. Here are the regional films that will be screened in the Canadian city.

‘Ibrahim: A Fate to Define’ by Lina Al Abed

In this provocative and personal documentary, Jordanian director Al Abed searches for traces of her father, a seemingly ordinary Palestinian family man who was actually a member of a militant splinter group, the Abu Nadal Organisation. He vanished when Lina was only a child, leaving behind his wife and five children.

‘Certified Mail’ by Hisham Saqr

The Egyptian director has worked extensively as an editor, including on 2010’s Microphone, which won the Muhr Arab Awards at the Dubai International Film Festival that year. His debut feature follows a single mother who is struggling with parenthood, a jailed husband and her own mental health.

‘My English Cousin’ by Karim Sayad

Of Sheep and Men director Sayad brings his second feature documentary to Tiff. It follows Sayad’s cousin, Fahed, who left Algeria for England in 2001 and is contemplating a return to his home country.

‘Paris Stalingrad’ by Hind Meddeb

Documentarian and former journalist Meddeb takes her camera through the streets of the French capital’s Stalingrad district and meets the refugees struggling to make a home for themselves there. It is an eye-opening exploration of the perils and perseverance that shape the migrant experience.

‘This is Not a Movie’ by Yung Chang

Not technically a film from the region, but definitely one of interest to viewers here, Chinese-Canadian director Yung chronicles the groundbreaking reporting of renowned foreign correspondent and author Robert Fisk, who spent much of his career reporting from the Middle East.

‘Noura’s Dream’ by Hinde Boujemaa

Tunisian director Boujemaa brings Noura’s Dream to the festival’s global cinemafocused Discovery section, in which Tiff says 54 per cent of the directors represented this year are women. In her film, Noura’s abusive husband is in jail and a divorce is pending, with the hardworking titular character almost able to grasp a happy, new life with lover Lassaad. But when her bestlaid plans are upended, Noura must rely on her unshakable will to fulfil her dream.

‘143 Sahara Street’ by Hassen Ferhani

The film, which screened at the Locarno Film Festival last week, is the fiction feature debut for Algerian director Ferhani, who is best known for his documentaries. It tells the story of Malika, who lives alone in the middle of the desert, where she runs a small restaurant that serves two dishes, omelette or tomato omelette, to those who pass by like fleeting apparitions. Malika has gathered countless stories along the way, and they are now as much a part of her as she is of them.

‘It Must Be Heaven’ by Elia Suleiman

The Palestinian director’s satirical film was awarded the Jury Special Mention award at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The movie follows Suleiman as he goes from Paris to New York alongside co-star Ali Suliman

(Homeland, Lone Survivor) in a semi-autobiographical tale of a Palestinian man seeking a new homeland, only to find similarities with Palestine wherever he goes. Suleiman’s film also picked up the Fipresci Critics’ Award at Cannes.

‘The Cave’ by Feras Fayyad

Fayyad’s 2017 film, Last Men in Aleppo, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature that year. With his latest film, which will open Tiff’s documentary section, he returns to his native Syria to follow a team of female doctors, working in an underground hospital while battling sexism.

The Cave has been picked up by NatGeo in the US for a theatrical and TV release, and is tipped for an Oscar nod.