TPFF GUIDE TO ARAB AND PALESTINIAN FILMS AT TIFF’23
To share the best of contemporary Arab cinema coming to our city, TPFF has put together a list of Palestinian and Arab films playing at this year’s TIFF. To watch even more groundbreaking Palestinian films, join us at TPFF 2023: September 27- October 1st, 2023 in-theatre at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. All films will be available to stream online until Wednesday, October 4th, 2023.
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We are proud to see a familiar name on TIFF's Platform jury. Nadine Labaki! Platform Jury Highlight Nadine Labaki.
Industry Conference, TIFF’23
With more than a decade’s worth of accolades under her belt, director, writer, and actor Nadine Labaki is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of the form through her cinematic exploration of topics that are often deemed taboo. Often working with non-professional actors, Labaki paints complex portraits that are bold, specific, collaborative, and highly observational. VISIONARIES is proud to welcome Labaki, as she discusses her highly meticulous creative process, her devout interest in life’s peculiarities, and the capacity for cinema to bring about social change.
Special Presentations
Four Daughters (France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia) dir. Kaouther Ben Hania, North American Premiere
In this co-winner of the Cannes ’23 Golden Eye, Kaouther Ben Hania blends documentary and drama to explore the case of two missing sisters in Tunisia, and the family that mourns them.
In-person screenings: Sep 13, 2:00 PM | Sep 14, 9:45 PM
Discovery
The Teacher (United Kingdom, Palestine, Qatar) dir. Farah Nabulsi, World Premiere.
The parallel struggles of a Palestinian schoolteacher grieving the loss of his son and an American couple fighting to reclaim their son from kidnappers propel writer-director Farah Nabulsi’s gripping feature debut.
In-person screenings: Sep 9, 6:30 PM | Sep 11, 9:15 PM
Hajjan (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan) dir. Abu Bakr Shawky, World Premiere.
This renegade, mythic coming-of-age adventure from director Abu Bakr Shawky is set in the legendary, high-stakes world of Bedouin camel racing.
In-person screenings: Sep 10, 5:30 PM | Sep 11, 6:15 PM
Mandoob (Saudi Arabia) dir. Ali Kalthami, World Premiere
An overworked delivery app driver in Riyadh tries to branch out into bootlegging, in Ali Kalthami’s dark comedic feature debut set in the rarely seen, ultra-modern world of Saudi nightlife
In-person screenings: Sep 8, 2:30 PM | Sep 9, 9:30 PM
Yellow Bus (United Arab Emirates, Jordan, India) dir. Wendy Bednarz, World Premiere — In Wendy Bednarz’s feature debut, an Indian woman living in the Arabian Gulf embarks on a search for truth and accountability after her daughter is left to die on a school bus in the sweltering desert heat.
In-person screenings: Sep 10, 3:45 PM | Sep 12, 6:00 PM
Centerpiece
Inshallah a Boy (Jordan) dir. Amjad Al Rasheed, North American Premiere
Inshallah a Boy is the rousing debut feature by Jordanian director Amjad Al Rasheed, in which a woman and her daughter face destitution after the sudden passing of her husband unless she’s able to give birth to a son.
In-person screenings: Sep 12, 3:35 PM | Sep 13, 7:35 PM | Sep 14, 10:00 PM
Midnight Madness, programmed by Peter Kuplowsky
NAGA (Saudi Arabia) dir. Meshal Aljasser, World Premiere
In Meshal Aljaser’s exhilaratingly madcap thriller, a young woman stranded in the Arabian desert races to be home before curfew under the threat of extreme punishment from her scary strict father.
In-person screenings: Sep 12, 11:59 PM | Sep 13, 8:45 PM
Docs, programmed with Thom Powers
Bye Bye Tiberias (France, Belgium, Qatar, Palestine) dir. Lina Soualem, North American Premiere
Years after leaving her Palestinian village to pursue an acting career in France, Hiam Abbass (Succession) returns home with her daughter, filmmaker Lina Soualem, in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
In-person screenings: Sep 11, 9:45 PM | Sep 13, 9:05 PM | Sep 16, 10:00 AM
The Mother of All Lies (Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar) dir. Asmae El Moudir, North American Premiere
Winner of the Best Director prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir uses handmade figurines and models to uncover layers of personal and political history.
In-person screenings: Sep 14, 5:30 PM | Sep 15, 2:50 PM
For more information about TPFF 2023, visit tpff.ca