TIFF48: Centerpiece Lineup Announced, Featuring Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Víctor Erice and Agnieszka Holland, Plus Added Gala and Special Presentation Titles

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TIFF announced Thursday morning this year’s Centerpiece program featuring 47 titles from filmmakers representing 45 countries. The program, previously known as Contemporary World Cinema (CWC), honors and celebrates global cinematic achievements and will feature About Dry Grasses from Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Close Your Eyes by Víctor Erice, Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki, Green Border by Agnieszka Holland, Perfect Days by Wim Wenders and more. Several world premieres will highlight the section including Ian Gabriel’s Death of a Whistleblower and Ishaya Bako’s I Do Not Come To You By Chance.

“We are very excited to present the new Centerpiece program, a cinematic journey that transcends boundaries and embraces the art of human experience,” said Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer. “The rebranding of the TIFF program, formerly Contemporary World Cinema, is a reflection of the festival’s vision to provide an elevated platform for international cinema, for acclaimed titles from festivals around the globe, highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents, and the latest work of influential filmmaking luminaries.”

TIFF also added several films to the lineup recently announced Gala, Special Presentation, and Documentary lineups including world premiere’s of Brian Helgeland’s Finestkind, Karan Boolani’s Thank You For Coming, The Movie Teller from Lone Sherfig and Jessica Yu’s Quiz Lady. Among the North American premieres will be Evil Does Not Exist from Ryûsuke Hamagachi, and Smugglers from Ryoo Seung-wan.

Here is the complete lineup of the Centerpiece program and added Gala and Special Presentation titles.

CENTERPIECE PROGRAM 2023

100 Yards Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng | China International Premiere

About Dry Grasses (Kuru Otlar Üstüne) Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey/France/Germany/Sweden North American Premiere

Banel & Adama (Banel e Adama) Ramata-Toulaye Sy | France/Senegal/Mali North American Premiere

The Breaking Ice Anthony Chen | China North American Premiere

Chuck Chuck Baby Janis Pugh | United Kingdom International Premiere

City of Wind (сэр сэр салхи) Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | France/Mongolia/Portugal/Netherlands/Qatar/Germany North American Premiere

Close Your Eyes (Cerrar Los Ojos) Víctor Erice | Spain/Argentina North American Premiere

Death of a Whistleblower Ian Gabriel | South Africa World Premiere

The Delinquents Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina/Brazil/Luxembourg/Chile North American Premiere

Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet lehdet) Aki Kaurismäki | Finland/Germany Canadian Premiere

The Feeling That the Time for Something Has Passed Joanna Arnow | USA North American Premiere

Fitting In Molly McGlynn | Canada Canadian Premiere (Sloan Science on Film Showcase, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation)

Green Border (Zielona Granica) Agnieszka Holland | Poland/Czech Republic/France/Belgium North American Premiere

A Happy Day Hisham Zaman | Norway/Denmark World Premiere

Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning | Canada Canadian Premiere

Holiday Edoardo Gabbriellini | Italy World Premiere

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Ariane Louis-Seize | Canada North American Premiere

I Do Not Come To You By Chance Ishaya Bako | Nigeria World Premiere

In Flames Zarrar Kahn | Canada/Pakistan North American Premiere

Inshallah a Boy (Inshallah Walad) Amjad Al Rasheed | Jordan/France/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/Egypt North American Premiere

Irena’s Vow Louise Archambault | Canada/Poland World Premiere

Je’vida Katja Gauriloff | Finland Canadian Premiere

Kanaval Henri Pardo | Canada/Luxembourg World Premiere

Limbo Ivan Sen | Australia North American Premiere

Lost Ladies (Laapataa Ladies) Kiran Rao | India World Premiere

The Monk and the Gun Pawo Choyning Dorji | Bhutan/France/USA/Taiwan International Premiere

Mountains Monica Sorelle | USA International Premiere

National Anthem Luke Gilford | USA International Premiere

The Nature of Love (Simple Comme Sylvain) Monia Chokri | Canada/France North American Premiere

Perfect Days Wim Wenders | Japan Canadian Premiere

The Reeds (Son Hasat) Cemil Ağacıkoğlu | Turkey/Bulgaria World Premiere

A Ravaging Wind (El Viento Que Arrasa) Paula Hernández | Argentina/Uruguay World Premiere

A Road to A Village (गाउ आएको बाटो) Nabin Subba | Nepal World Premiere

Robot Dreams Pablo Berger | Spain/France North American Premiere

The Settlers (Los Colonos) Felipe Gálvez Haberle | Chile/Argentina/France/Denmark/United Kingdom/Taiwan/Sweden/Germany North American Premiere

Shadow of Fire Shinya Tsukamoto | Japan North American Premiere

Shayda Noora Niasari | Australia Canadian Premiere

Sira Apolline Traoré | Burkina Faso/Senegal/France/Germany North American Premiere

Snow Leopard (Xue Bao) Pema Tseden | China North American Premiere

Sweet Dreams Ena Sendijarević | Netherlands/ Sweden/ Indonesia/France North American Premiere

The Teachers’ Lounge Ilker Çatak | Germany North American Premiere

They Shot the Piano Player (Dispararon Al Pianista) Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal | Spain/France Canadian Premiere

Toll (Pedágio) Carolina Markowicz | Brazil/Portugal World Premiere

Upon Open Sky (A Cielo Abierto) Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga | Mexico/Spain North American Premiere

We Grown Now Minhal Baig | USA World Premiere

Woodland (WALD) Elisabeth Scharang | Austria World Premiere

Your Mother’s Son (Anak Ka Ng Ina Mo) Jun Robles Lana | Philippines World Premiere

GALAS

Finestkind Brian Helgeland | USA World Premiere

A Normal Family Hur Jin-ho | South Korea World Premiere

Smugglers Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea North American Premiere

Thank You For Coming Karan Boolani | India World Premiere

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Daddio Christy Hall | United States International Premiere

El Sabor de la Navidad Alejandro Lozano | Mexico World Premiere

Evil Does Not Exist Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | Japan North American Premiere

The Movie Teller Lone Scherfig | Spain/France/Chile World Premiere

The Promised Land Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark/Germany/Sweden Canadian Premiere

Quiz Lady Jessica Yu | USA World Premiere

Ru Charles-Olivier Michaud | Canada World Premiere

DOCUMENTARY

I am Sirat A collaboration between Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja | Canada World Premiere