TIFF announces Short Cuts Line-ups

TIFF 2022 announces boundary-breaking Short Cuts lineup, presented by TikTok, showcasing international & homegrown talent from TIFF alumni and newcomers

TORONTO — TIFF is delighted to announce this year’s Short Cuts lineup, presented by TikTok, which showcases 39 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts by a groundbreaking group of filmmakers representing 18 countries. With thought-provoking works from emerging Canadian and international talent, the lineup also includes new films by TIFF alumni such as Alice Rohrwacher, Sarah McCarthy, Mbithi Masya, Matthew Rankin, Carol Nguyen, Karen Chapman, and Sophy Romvari. The diverse lineup of shorts includes 21 World Premieres and 15 North American Premieres presented in 20 different languages, with a breadth of new and unique perspectives. Among this group of storytellers are 21 filmmakers from countries such as Portugal, China, Colombia, Mongolia, Kenya, Ukraine, the US, and the UK, as well as 18 filmmaking teams from across Canada.“We’re thrilled to be returning with one of our strongest ever selections of short films by directors from all over the world,” says Jason Anderson, International Programmer for Short Cuts. “We’re always amazed by the breadth, depth, and diversity of the talents working in short-form cinema, whether they’re filmmakers who we’ve already had the privilege of presenting at TIFF or emerging storytellers who we can’t wait to introduce to our audiences. And however different these new works may be, what they share is an incredible sense of clarity and economy – these are films that don’t waste a second no matter what they’re out to achieve.”

TIFF – Toronto International Film Festival

That description applies to the wide array of cinematic visions contained within the Short Cuts programme. Festival favourite Rohrwacher returns with Le Pupille, a holiday tale set in Italy during the Second World War that stars Alba Rohrwacher and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and was co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón. More new live-action shorts with performers familiar to Festival audiences include Hazel McKibbin’s She Always Wins, starring Honor Swinton Byrne of Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, and Asia Youngman’s N’xaxaitkw, featuring Kiawentiio of Tracey Deer’s TIFF 2020 award-winner BeansAmong the standout animations in this year’s Short Cuts are The Flying Sailor, a National Film Board of Canada production by the Oscar-nominated team of Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, and Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez, recent winner of Leitz Cine Discovery prize for best short film at the Semaine de la Critique at Cannes. The lineup also features extraordinary documentaries such as Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Anastasia by Sarah McCarthy of the U.K., and Quiet Minds Silent Streets by Toronto’s Karen Chapman.Films programmed in this year’s Short Cuts selection are eligible for three jury-selected IMDbPro Short Cuts Awards (Best Film, Best Canadian Film, and the Share Her Journey Award for best film by a woman) as well as the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award.The first programme to showcase films at the Festival by such directors as Sarah Polley and Clement Virgo, Short Cuts has a long tradition of introducing astounding new talents to Toronto audiences. The Short Cuts alumni directors bringing first features to the Festival this year are Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, Carolina Markowicz, Charlotte Wells, Saim Sadiq, Luis De Filippis, Chandler Levack, Andrés Ramírez Pulido, Joseph Amenta, Sheila Pye, Graham Foy, and Sophie Jarvis. In addition to the films included in Short Cuts lineup, there are 11 films in the Wavelengths shorts programme, previously announced on August 4.


SHORT CUTSPresented by TikTokÀ la vie à l’amor Emilie Mannering | CanadaWorld PremiereAgainst Reality Olivia Peace | United States of AmericaWorld PremiereAirhostess-737 Thanasis Neofotistos | GreeceNorth American PremiereAll-inclusive (Todo incluido) Duván Duque Vargas | Colombia, FranceWorld PremiereAnastasia (Анастасия) Sarah McCarthy | UKCanadian PremiereBaba Mbithi Masya | KenyaWorld Premierebackflip Nikita Diakur | Germany, FranceNorth American PremiereCANARY Pierre-Hugues Dallaire, Benoit Therriault | CanadaNorth American PremiereDiaspora Tyler Mckenzie Evans | CanadaWorld PremiereGary Screams For You Cody McGlashan, Nolan Sordyl | United States of AmericaWorld PremiereHills and Mountains (Koha wa Tapaha) Salar Pashtoonyar | Afghanistan, CanadaWorld PremiereI’m On Fire Michael Spiccia | United States of America, AustraliaWorld PremiereIce Merchants João Gonzalez | Portugal, France, United KingdomNorth American PremiereIt’s What Each Person Needs Sophy Romvari | CanadaWorld PremiereLay Me by the Shore David Findlay | CanadaNorth American PremiereLe Pupille Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, United States of AmericaCanadian PremiereLiturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles (Літургія протитанкових перешкод) Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk | Ukraine, United States of AmericaNorth American PremiereMirror Mirror Sandulela Asanda | South AfricaWorld PremiereMunicipal Relaxation Module Matthew Rankin | CanadaWorld PremiereN’xaxaitkw Asia Youngman | CanadaWorld PremiereNanitic Carol Nguyen | CanadaWorld PremiereNo Ghost in the Morgue (Pas de fantôme à la morgue) Marilyn Cooke | CanadaCanadian PremierePleasure Garden Rita Ferrando | CanadaWorld PremiereQuiet Minds Silent Streets Karen Chapman | CanadaWorld PremiereRest Stop Crystal Kayiza | United States of AmericaWorld PremiereSame Old Lloyd Lee Choi | United States of America, CanadaNorth American PremiereScaring Women At Night Karimah Zakia Issa     | CanadaWorld PremiereShadow of the Butterflies (خيال الفراشات) Sofia El Khyari | France, Qatar, PortugalNorth American PremiereShe Always Wins Hazel McKibbin | United States of America, United KingdomWorld PremiereSimo (سيمو) Aziz Zoromba | CanadaWorld PremiereSnow in September (9-р Сарын Цас) Lkhagvadulam (Dulmaa) Purev-Ochir | Mongolia, France North American PremiereThe Chase Gurjeet Kaur Bassi | CanadaWorld PremiereThe Flying Sailor Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis | CanadaNorth American PremiereThe Garbage Man (O Homem do Lixo) Laura Gonçalves | PortugalNorth American PremiereThe Melting Creatures (Las criaturas que se derriten bajo el solDiego Céspedes | Chile, FranceInternational PremiereThe Pass Pepi Ginsberg | United States of AmericaNorth American PremiereThe Water Murmurs (海边升起一座悬崖 HAI BIAN SHENG QI YI ZUO XUAN YAJianying (Story) Chen | China North American PremiereTremor (BebenRudolf Fitzgerald Leonard | GermanyNorth American PremiereUntold Hours Daniel Warth | CanadaWorld PremiereFor more information, please see tiff.net.