TIFF announces April programming slate

Spring heralds the arrival of an electrifying array of films, as TIFF unveils its vibrant lineup for the month of April. TIFF Cinematheque is honouring French filmmaker Marguerite Duras in Destroy, She Said: The Cinema of Marguerite Duras. This overdue 17-film major retrospective — the largest on the filmmaker in North America — includes a significant number of Duras’ films; imported prints of rarely seen works such as her debut, La Musica, and the elusive Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert; and special guests who worked with her, namely DP Bruno Nuytten and editor Dominique Auvray. Working with some of the greatest actors and technicians of her time, Duras’ formally daring, sensual, and politically subversive films are also timeless in their collapsing of personal and global catastrophe. Programmed by TIFF Cinematheque Senior Curator Andréa Picard, this series aims both to celebrate and contextualise an oeuvre that has too often been considered inscrutable and impenetrable, rather than bold, moving, and extraordinarily inventive. Destroy, She Said: The Cinema of Marguerite Duras is presented by the French Embassy in Canada.

In advance of its premiere on Crave on Sunday, April 14, TIFF and Crave are thrilled to present the Canadian premiere of HBO’s The Sympathizer and to welcome Don McKellar, the series’ co-showrunner and executive producer, along with producer Niv Fichman, for an onstage conversation following the screening of the first episode.

Check out Midnight Madness Presents Fulltime Killer in 35mm, starring Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau; and MDFF Selects’ Canadian Premiere of Lucy Kerr’s Family Portrait, which follows a sprawling family on a morning when they have planned a group picture. The filmmaker, along with actor Deragh Campbell (Anne at 13,000 Ft), will join MDFF Selects co-founder and curator Kazik Radwanski for a post-screening Q&A.

Audiences can also catch a 50th anniversary screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part II; Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia in 35mm; a new 4K restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris, also screening for free to those 65+ with guest programmer Alicia Fletcher as part of Silver Screenings; and the last Secret Movie Club presentation of the season.

Skills for Change, in collaboration with TIFF Community Impact, is pleased to present New Horizons: Diverse Voices of Canada. This inclusive and celebratory multicultural community event features a complimentary screening of short films by newcomer and immigrant filmmakers, followed by a moderated discussion with some of the filmmakers.

Tickets will go on sale to TIFF Members on Wednesday, March 13, and to the public on Friday, March 15 at tiff.net.

PROGRAMMING LISTINGS

Destroy, She Said: The Cinema of Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Duras (1914–1996) stands as a prime example of literary excellence, celebrated as one of France’s foremost postwar writers. Aligned with the Nouveau roman movement, her works fearlessly confront colonialism and broach taboo topics like incest and interracial desire, sparking controversy in their time. While she made 19 films, her cinema remains largely unknown and under-appreciated. This substantial retrospective aims to introduce her formally innovative and sensual films to a new audience — doing so at a time when her writings on cinema are newly available in English. All films directed by Marguerite Duras, unless otherwise noted:

Détruire dit-elle | April 4, 6:30pm
India Song with Bruno Nuytten | April 5, 6:30pm
Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert with Bruno Nuytten | April 6, 3pm
Le Camion with Bruno Nuytten | April 6, 7pm
Sauve qui peut (la vie) (d. Jean-Luc Godard) | April 7, 4pm
La Femme du Gange | April 7, 6:30pm
Nathalie Granger with Claire Foster | April 16, 6:30pm
Hiroshima mon amour (d. Alain Resnais) | April 17, 6:30pm
Le Navire Night with Dominique Auvray | April 19, 6:30pm
Duras et le cinéma (d. Dominique Auvray) preceded by Les Mains négatives with Dominique Auvray | April 20, 4pm
Baxter, Vera Baxter with Dominique Auvray | April 21, 3:30pm
Les enfants preceded by En rachâchant (d. Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub) | April 21, 6:30pm
La Musica (co-directed with Paul Seban) | April 23, 6:30pm
L’Homme Atlantique preceded by Agatha et les lectures illimitées | April 24, 6:30pm

TIFF thanks the following for their assistance in mounting this retrospective: Frédéric Chambon, Ambassade de France; Hadrien Laroche & Mélanie Rivière-Thimothée, Consulat général de France à Toronto; Sébastien Blayac, FICUNAM; Julien Gester; Matías Piñeiro; Bingham Bryant; Bruno Nuytten; Dominique Auvray; Daniella Schreir, Another Gaze; Claire Foster.

Destroy, She Said: The Cinema of Marguerite Duras is presented by the French Embassy in Canada.

From the Collection
This series is exclusive and FREE to TIFF Members.
Apocalypse Now Redux (d. Francis Ford Coppola) with Cameron Bailey | April 2, 6pm

MDFF Selects
Family Portrait (d. Lucy Kerr) with the filmmaker and actor Deragh Campbell | April 18, 6:30pm

Midnight Madness Presents
Fulltime Killer (d. Johnnie To, Wai Ka-fai) | April 20, 6:30pm

See the North presented by MUBI
All See the North screenings are FREE to the public.
La moitié gauche du frigo (d. Philippe Falardeau) | April 17, 4pm

TIFF Cinematheque Special Screenings
The Godfather: Part II (d. Francis Ford Coppola) | March 29 & April 3, 6:30pm
Magnolia (d. Paul Thomas Anderson) | March 30, 6:30pm
Early Spring (d. Yasujirô Ozu) | March 31, 7pm

TIFF New and Restored
A Woman of Paris (d. Charlie Chaplin) | March 30, 4pm
Daisies (d. Věra Chytilová) | March 31, 3pm

TIFF Wavelengths Presents
Man in Black (d. Wang Bing) | April 10, 6:30pm
This screening of Man in Black is co-presented by Images Festival.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING

TIFF Primetime: HBO’s The Sympathizer | April 11, 7:30pm
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name and starring Hoa Xande and Academy Award-winner Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer), The Sympathizer is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles, where he learns that his spying days aren’t over. The Sympathizer is co-show run by executive producer, writer, and director (episodes 103), Park Chan-wook and executive producer, and writer, Don McKellar.

Silver Screenings: A Woman of Paris (d. Charlie Chaplin) | April 19, 11am
Following the screening, film curator, writer, and producer Alicia Fletcher will speak to Chaplin’s legacy as one of the most notable early film figures and his close collaborations with silent film performers like Edna Purviance and Mary Pickford.

New Horizons: Diverse Voices of Canada | April 19, 7pm
Skills for Change, in collaboration with TIFF Community Impact, is pleased to present this inclusive and celebratory multicultural community event featuring a complimentary screening of short films by newcomer and immigrant filmmakers, followed by a moderated discussion with some of the filmmakers.

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TIFF 2024 takes place September 5–15, 2024.

About TIFF
TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization with a mission to transform the way people see the world through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film Festival®in September; TIFF Lightbox, which features five cinemas, learning and entertainment facilities; and the innovative national distribution program Film Circuit. The organization generates an annual economic impact of $200 million CAD. TIFF Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel, and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation, and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.

TIFF is generously supported by Major Sponsors RBC and Visa, and Major Supporters: the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, and City of Toronto.

TIFF Cinematheque is supported by Ontario Creates and Canada Council for the Arts.

Silver Screenings is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Government of Canada.