Spanish movies at TIFF 2019

Discover the 2019 selection of Spanish movies at the “Toronto International Film Festival,” one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually.

Pain and Glory (Dolor y Gloria)

On Friday, September 6 at 5:30 pm. At Ryerson Theatre.
On Saturday, September 7 at 2:45 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2019, 113 minutes. In Spanish, subtitled. Canadian Premiere.

An aging filmmaker (Antonio Banderas) grapples with an uncertain future and the circumstances that shaped his successful but troubled life, in Pedro Almodóvar’s self-reflexive consideration of identity and desire.

While at War (Mientras Dure La Guerra)

On Friday, September 6 at 6:15 pm. At TIFF Bell Lightbox.
On Sunday, September 8 at 9:45 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre
On Saturday, September 14 at 9:15 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, Spain / Argentina, 2019, 107 minutes. In Spanish, subtitled. World premiere.

Set in the first months of the Spanish Civil War, this timely chamber drama from acclaimed writer-director Alejandro Amenábar (The Others) tracks the country’s slide into nearly four decades of fascism under dictator Francisco Franco.

The Platform (El Hoyo)

On Friday, September 6 at 11:59 pm. At Ryerson Theatre.
On Sunday, September 8 at 10 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Sunday, September 15 at 7:15 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, Spain, 2019, 94 minutes. In Spanish, subtitled. World premiere.

In a future dystopia, prisoners housed in vertically stacked cells watch hungrily as food descends from above –feeding the upper tiers, but leaving those below ravenous and radicalized– in Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s parable about the socio-political potency of genre cinema.

Endless Night (Longa noite)

On Saturday, September 7 at 9 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
On Monday, September 9 at 3:15 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
Directed by Eloy Enciso, Spain, 2019, 92 minutes. In Galician and Spanish languages, subtitled. North American premiere.

Working with non-actors and a script sourced from excerpted plays, memoirs, and letters penned by political prisoners, Galician filmmaker Eloy Enciso explores the mood and texture of life in Franco-era Spain in the materialist tradition of Straub-Huillet and Pedro Costa.

Heroic Losers (La odisea de los giles)

On Sunday, September 8 at 2:30 pm. At Elgin Theatre.
On Tuesday, September 10 at 2:45 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Sunday, September 15 at 10 am. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Sebastian Borensztein, Argentina / Spain, 2019, 117 minutes. In Spanish, subtitled. International premiere.

When some neighbours in rural Argentina are swindled out of their savings by an unscrupulous lawyer and bank manager, they join forces to plan an elaborate heist and take back what’s theirs.

Liberté

On Sunday, September 8 at 6:15 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
On Tuesday, September 10 at 9:15 pm. At TIFF Bell Lightbox.
On Saturday, September 14 at 9 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
Directed by Albert Serra, France / Spain / Portugal / Germany, 2019, 132 minutes. In French, German, Italian, subtitled. North American premiere.

Visionary Catalan filmmaker Albert Serra (The Death of Louis XIV) returns to the Festival with another period-piece provocation, which follows an ensemble of libidinous 18th-century French aristocrats who embark on an extended night of woodland cruising to live out their sexual fantasies and explore their philosophy of libertinage

Those That, at a Distance, Resemble Another

On Sunday, September 8 at 12:30 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO)
On Tuesday, September 10 at 4:15 pm. At TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Directed by Jessica Sarah Rinland, United Kingdom / Argentina / Spain, 2019, 67 minutes. In Spanish, Portuguese, English, subtitled. North American premiere.
Preceded by Heavy Metal Detox.

Artist-filmmaker Jessica Sarah Rinland’s hypnotic new work tracks the production of a lab-engineered elephant tusk, in a reflection on conservation, fabrication, and authenticity.

Wasp Network

On Monday, September 9 at 6 pm. At Ryerson Theatre.
On Tuesday, September 10 at 6 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Saturday, September 14 at 8:30 pm. At Ryerson Theatre.
Directed by Olivier Assayas, France / Brazil / Spain / Belgium, 2019, 125 minutes. In Spanish, English, Russian, subtitled. North American premiere.

Starring Edgar Ramírez, Penélope Cruz, and Gael García Bernal, this political thriller from Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, Clouds of Sils Maria) follows the increasingly complex lives of Cuban dissidents during the country’s 1990s post–Soviet Union economic collapse.

Fire Will Come (O que arde)

On Tuesday, September 10 at 6:45 pm. At TIFF Bell Lightbox.
On Wednesday, September 11 at 9:15 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
On Saturday, September 14 at 9:30 am. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
Directed by Oliver Laxe, Spain / France / Luxembourg, 2019, 85 minutes. In Galician, subtitled. North American premiere.

A former arsonist (Amador Arias) returns to his family home in the mountains in this work from acclaimed director Oliver Laxe (Mimosas).

The Long Walk (Bor Mi Vanh Chark)

On Tuesday, September 10 at 8:45 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Wedneday, September 11 at 4:45 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Friday, September 13 at 9 am. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
Directed by Mattie Do, Laos / Spain / Singapore, 2019, 116 minutes. In Lao, subtitled. North American premiere.

Decades after witnessing a fatal car accident near his isolated home in rural Laos, a middle-aged man is left alone with his regrets and the unsettled spirit who still walks the road where she died, in this hauntingly dramatic third feature from Mattie Do (Dearest Sister).

Sanctuary

On Wednesday, September 11 at 6 pm. At Ryerson Theatre.
Directed by Álvaro Longoria, Spain, 2019, 75 minutes. In English, Spanish, German, subtitled. World premiere.

Featuring Spanish actors and environmental activists Javier and Carlos Bardem, this urgent, enlightening, and stunningly beautiful documentary tells the story of a campaign to preserve the Antarctic Ocean by Greenpeace.

Devil Between the Legs (El Diablo entre las piernas)

On Thursday, September 12 at 9:15 pm. At TIFF Bell Lightbox.
On Friday, September 13 at 9:30 pm. At Jackman Hall (AGO).
On Sunday, September 15 at 6:15 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Arturo Ripstein, Mexico / Spain, 2019, 147 minutes. In Spanish, subtitled. World premiere.

Geriatric sex and other hazards plaguing aging lovers get a candid, unflinching, and darkly hilarious spin in the latest from legendary Mexican director-screenwriter duo Arturo Ripstein and Paz Alicia Garcíadiego (Bleak Street).

Shorts

Flesh (Carne)

On Friday, September 6 at 9:45 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Thursday, September 12 at 9 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Camila Kater / Brazil, Spain, 2019, 12 minutes. In Portuguese, subtitled. North American premiere.

Five women, each in a different stage of their life, share experiences about their relationships to their bodies and how others perceive them in this powerfully intimate mixed-media animated documentary from Camila Kater.

Watermelon Juice (Suc de síndria)

On Saturday, September 7 at 10 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
On Friday, September 13 at 9 pm. At Scotiabank Theatre.
Directed by Irene Moray, Spain, 2019, 22 minutes. in Catalan, subtitled. North American premiere.

In this lushly sensual drama, young couple Barbara and Pol go on holiday to heal old wounds and reconnect with good friends. Irene Moray creates a uniquely mature and generous portrait of a woman finding refuge from trauma through intimacy.