North America’s largest documentary festival, running from April 25 to May 5, will feature over 200 films from around the world, including 5 Spanish feature-length films and 4 shorts.

My Sextortion Diary

• On Saturday, April 27 at 8:30 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre 6, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto. Buy tickets.
• On Monday, April 29 at 10:45 am. At Scotiabank Theatre 7, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Patricia Franquesa, 2024, 64 minutes. Watch trailer.

A woman’s worst nightmare comes true when her laptop is stolen and the thieves threaten to share her sexually explicit photos. When the Spanish police and courts are unable to help she rakes law unto her hands.

The Click Trap

• On Wednesday, May 1 at 5 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre 5.
• On Friday, May 3 at 5:15 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre 5. Buy tickets.
• On Saturday, May 4 at 4 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre 7. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Peter Porta, 2024, 90 minutes. World premiere. Watch trailer.

How can pop-up ads used to sell shoes also undermine global democracy? Digital advertising no longer only markets products but increasingly disinformation. Investigative journalists and online activists expose the unsettling reach of an unregulated industry in this tech exposé.

Flying hands

• On Wednesday, May 1 at 10:45a m. At Scotiabank Theatre 6. Buy tickets.
• On Thursday, May 2 at 2:00pm. At Scotiabank Theatre 7. Buy tickets.
• Directed by Marta Gómez & Paula Iglesias, 2023, 78 minutes. World premiere.Watch trailer.

After giving birth to a deaf daughter, a Pakistani mother questions the custom that would have her hide her child out of family shame and builds a community that uplifts deaf children through education and respect.

Eyes of the soul

• On Thursday, May 2 at 5 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre 5, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3M6.
• On Sunday May 5 at 4 pm. At TIFF Lightbox 3, 350 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5.
• Directed by Carlota Nelson, 2023, 70 minutes.
• Watch trailer and buy tickets.

Eyes of the Soul is a documentary film that sheds light on the acclaimed work of Spanish photographer Cristina García Rodero, who joined the prestigious Magnum photo agency at the age of 73. The film provides an intimate look at Rodero’s lifelong dedication to documenting the complexities of human life, love, and spirituality through her unique photographic lens. Director Carlota Nelson follows Rodero as she continues her celebrated career, capturing the essence and hidden depths of her subjects with a keen, insightful gaze.

Songs after a war

• On Sunday, May 5 at 10:45 am. Buy tickets.
• At TIFF Lightbox 1, 350 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5.
• Directed by Basilio Martín Patino, 1971, 115 minutes.

This documentary film that explores the cultural and social impact of the Spanish Civil War through the lens of popular music. Director Basilio Martín Patino delves into the way songs and folk music were used as a form of resistance, solidarity, and remembrance in the aftermath of the conflict. The film features rare archival footage and interviews that showcase how music became a powerful tool for both the Republican and Nationalist sides to express their ideologies, mourn their losses, and maintain a sense of identity during the tumultuous post-war period. Patino examines how certain songs and performers were suppressed or appropriated by the Franco regime, while others continued to be passed down as part of Spain’s cultural heritage.

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Made in Spain Shorts Program

Discover Spain’s young filmmaking talent in the dedicated Made In Spain Shorts Program celebrating the next generation of storytellers, on Friday, May 3rd at 11:45 am:

Aqueronte

• Directed by Manuel Muñoz Rivas, 2023, 26 minutes.
• At Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3M6.
• Watch trailer and buy tickets.

Onboard a ferry, a series of passengers cross from one riverbank to the other. Some wrap themselves in silence or contemplate the scenery. The journey seems to expand, the destination is postponed, the magnitude of space is blurred. Motion itself is perhaps the only certainty.

Back to Riaño

• Directed by Miriam Matín, 2023, 15 minutes.
• At Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3M6.
• Buy tickets.

Moving images shot from the ground against moving images shot from the sky. The words of women, men and children against official speeches. People who don’t want to move, “just like the pine tree by the riverbank.” A valley turned into a reservoir. The class struggle lies underground … and underwater.

Aitana

• Directed by Marina Alberti, 2024, 19 minutes.
• At Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3M6.
• Watch trailer and buy tickets.

Marina is haunted by the idea that she may lose her memory. Her grandmother suffered memory loss and now her mother Aitana, daughter of the writer María Teresa León and the poet Rafael Alberti, seems to be losing hers as well. In the silence of the night, the ghosts of the family’s past, the history of a country, return.

Salt Covers All

• Directed by Joana Moya, 18 minutes.
• At Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3M6.
• Buy tickets.

On the coasts of the Basque Country, 57 female weavers work—a traditional occupation they continue as if time were suspended. With their hands covered in salt, they weave in silence, without stopping. They are part of the sea and its mystery.

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