Toronto International Film 2024 Reviews and Interviews

This year, Toronto International Film Festival was back. TIFF typically kicks off the North American fall festival season alongside Telluride, but it has had a rocky past couple of years. The pandemic in 2020 put a temporary pause on in-person festivities, and 2021-2022 featured a tentative rollout of hybrid festivities. Though 2023 committed to total in-person attendance, the SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 limited the amount of American celebrity presence on the red carpet; festival buzz too had been similarly muted. This year’s edition, however, witnessed the famed festival in full swing. With 278 films in this year’s programming, the 2024 edition of TIFF was jam-packed with Berlin/Cannes favorites, Awards season’s to-be-darlings, and of course, a good chunk of independent cinema. 

Among the Asian cinema contenders, Korean and Taiwanese cinema have held an especially strong presence this year. There were nine Korean and Korean-adjacent entries – almost 100% more than in 2022, when there were only 5 – including Hyunbin-starring “Harbin”, Ryu Seung-wan’s blockbuster sequel “I, the Executioner,” and Anderson .Paak‘s first feature, “K-POPS.” On the other hand, Taiwan had only two entries, but both were well-regarded in the awards. John Hsu’s “Dead Talents Society” was a runner-up for the Midnight Madness – People’s Choice Award, while actress Sylvia Chang took home an Honourable Mention for the Platform Award for her performance in “Daughter’s Daughter.” 

But without further ado, here is our own list of coverage from TIFF:

Interview with Ryoo Seung-wan

The maturity of themes and the characters is palpable. You can really feel the 9-year difference between “Veteran” and “I, the Executioner.”

When we finished “Veteran,” we definitely wanted to make a sequel. Once it became such a big hit, however, I felt nervous. I didn’t want to follow a formula. See, when I look at previous movie series, I noticed that the ones that failed tended to follow a formula. They would ride the momentum from the first movie. So I wanted this sequel to be really different from the first – but how that would happen, though, took a while to figure out. What should [Seo Do-cheol] fight against? This became more of a dilemma as the years passed. I changed as a person – but so did society. For audiences who had seen “Veteran,” I also imagine that they matured over these nine years; for those who haven’t, I wanted this film to appeal to them too. So I had to think about more contemporary issues. (Grace Han)

Film Review: Cloud (2024) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

The band of vindictive vagrants will remind viewers of Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” (1992). The strangers come together for a shared vision, yet they constantly bicker amongst themselves due to different ulterior motives. One, for example, has nothing to lose, because he’s a murderer-on-the-lam; another has nothing to lose because he literally lost it all through Yoshii’s scam; and yet another is just his ex-boss at the factory, miffed that Yoshii did not welcome him into his home. Throughout it all, Yoshii remains supremely confused (and to a degree, rightfully so) as to why these particular people have teamed up against him. (Grace Han)

Film Review: Harbin (2024) by Woo Min-ho

As a CJ Entertainment production featuring one of Korea’s biggest stars, the film is an undeniably gorgeous period piece. In the film’s introduction, Woo Min-ho mentioned that he commissioned the London Symphony Orchestra to record the film’s swelling score, which resounded well within a traditional concert hall. “Harbin” is also visually striking. Sweeping wide shots of the unforgiving Manchurian winters pair well with the claustrophobia of the closed trains the fighters must travel in. Lush wooden interiors underscore the Japanese militia’s crisp uniforms, clashing against the freedom fighters’ ragtag disguises. From wooded battlefields to rickety Vladivostok apartments to the beaux-arts Harbin train station, Woo Min-ho indulges in immersing his audiences in Ahn Jung-geun’s world. (Grace Han)

Film Review: KPOPS (2024) by Anderson .Paak

Just like the director’s personal history, “K-POPS” is a perfect Blasian mix where Black and Korean music come together, rather than collide. Here, .Paak himself plays BJ, a biracial Los Angeles-based musician in desperate need of a lucky break. After a failed relationship with the love of his life, Yeji (Jee Young Han), he spends his days performing in a mostly-empty bar owned by his good friend, Cash (longtime musical collaborator Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park). BJ’s fortune seems to change for the better, however, when Cash points him to a drumming gig. There’s only one catch, however: the gig is in Korea, where his absent father is from. (Grace Han)

Film Review: Crocodile Tears (2024) by Tumpal Tampubolon

In a number of interviews I had throughout the years with female filmmakers shooting family dramas, what I mostly heard about the relationship between mothers and their children, is that the mother-son relationship resembles more one among couples, while the mother-daughter one is one of competition, as if fighting for the same man in a way. This concept finds its apogee in Tampubolon’s debut, which focuses on a relationship between a mother and a son that definitely resembles a romantic one. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

Short Film Review: Vox Humana (2024) by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan

An allegory about the relationship between people, animals and nature, which seems to aim to comment on how people have forgotten that they are not the only ones living in this world, and that their mistreatment of animals, and of the environment in general, can be the cause of natural disasters. The treatment of the man also moves in the same direction, with the forced efforts to humanize him pointing towards animal cruelty, and towards racism, particularly regarding how people treat those who are different. What happens as soon as he starts acting like a human, cements this comment, as does the fact that the people around the newcomer think that he is the root of the disaster that happened in the area. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

Film Review: Daughter’s Daughter (2024) by Xi Huang

It is certain that the stakes are high for Xi who tries to tell an emotionally charged story in a compelling and heartfelt way. In order to keep the grip over the viewer’s attention, he splits it into two different time frames that he seamlessly goes between for the 126 minutes of the runtime, revealing the protagonist’s backstory slowly and carefully. The viewers learn as much about her, the pressure she is under and the emotions that influence her decision as they need to know, so the effect of those perfectly timed revelations is maximized. On top of being a writer who is in complete control of the story, he is also a master director who not just pays close attention to the details of the background, but also knows how to frame his actresses and actors, usually in longer, continuous takes, to make them shine. (Marko Stojiljković)

Film Review: Seven Days (2024) by Ali Samadi Ahadi

Unlike the typical refugee documentary however – like “Beyond Utopia” (2023), “The Swimmers” (2022), and “Flee” (2021) in the past few years – the route is not the focus of “Seven Days” at all. While the film does follow Maryam’s relatively smooth passing through nondescript buses and cabins and eventually, the snow-capped Zagros Mountains, this harrowing route consists of only a mere fraction of the film. Instead, for “Seven Days,” the second half of the film hones in on Maryam’s own internal decision. At the end of the seven days, does she take the opportunity to live abroad with her family, or does she return to Iran to continue the fight? (Grace Han)

Film Review: Gülizar (2024) by Belkıs Bayrak

Bayrak manages to go to the core of women’s silence when it comes to sexual assault. How do you break it to the world? Are you ready to do it at all? The male compulsion to play the protector, the avenger and the problem-solver sometimes clashes with what a woman needs to get as support. Emre is precisely the type of man who doesn’t get that silence is not a betrayal, but a defense system. He interprets Gülizar‘s stiffness during the wedding night, and her wish to forget it all as a threat to their marriage and not a warning that she is not doing well. (Marina Richter)

Interview with Belkis Bayrak and Bekir Behrem

How did you develop the chemistry between Emre and Gülizar? 

Belkis Bayrak: Before the shoot, we [Bekir, Ecem, and I] had the chance to meet and rehearse the critical scenes. It’s not about acting. It’s about mindset and perspective. During the audition, I asked them, “Why would this character act in this way?” I was very happy that they understood what I intended, because it’s not very easy to express these nuances. 

There were some times during shooting when they wanted to give up, especially the emotionally heavy scenes. Bekir said yesterday [after the premiere], “After two years, I can finally breathe again.” (laughs) (Grace Han)