New Delhi, Sep 12 (Agency) The global uncertainty sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and climate disaster are at the centre of creativity by filmmakers around the world. At the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), several works across genres and styles address the anxiety and tensions brought out by the current global crisis. The festival, which comes on the heels of the shocking discovery of over a thousand unmarked graves in northern Canada pointing to systemic racism at the residential schools for indigenous children in the ’80s, has made indigenous filmmaking the centrepiece of the event this year. One of the films that directly address the Covid-19 health emergency is the Taiwanese film ‘The Falls’ directed by Chung Mong-Hong, whose 2019 film ‘A Sun’ was shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the Academy awards this year.
‘The Falls’ tells the story of a divorced mother and her teenage daughter quarantined at home during the pandemic after one of the daughter’s school classmates tests positive for the virus. “‘The Falls’ is a sharp yet compassionate look at the unexpected directions lives can take in extreme circumstances. Chung’s attention to detail and to the subtle movements of the soul paints onto the screen two indelible female characters of great strength and beauty,” says TIFF senior programmer Giovanna Fulvi about the film’s focus on the strain of family relationships in confined spaces. Three well-known Italian filmmakers hit the streets of their country during the pandemic in ‘Futura’, a collaborative work by directors Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi and Alice Rohrwacher. Celebrating Alanis Obomsawin, a special section of TIFF on the famous Canadian filmmaker who is considered one of the greatest indigenous artists in the world, includes films that illuminate the lives and stories of indigenous children. “This remarkable artist has led by example, shining a path of generous empathy, of boundless curiosity about the human experience, and of righteous anger when that’s needed,” says the festival’s artistic director Cameron Bailey.