As the autumnal season of film festivals continues to unfurl, the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) steps into the spotlight. Regarded as North America's preeminent film gathering, and being among the largest publicly attended film festivals globally, TIFF sets the stage for an array of cinematic brilliance.

After its global debut in the Venetian sunshine, the latest dramatic offering from Agnieszka Holland, Green Border, will receive a warm reception in Toronto's Centrepiece section. Previously known as Contemporary World Cinema, this platform is renowned for highlighting the latest works from leading film auteurs. Holland’s intense refugee drama, set against the backdrop of the Polish-Belarusian border, is reminiscent of the journey of Václav Marhoul’s harrowing 2019 monochrome epic from wartime Poland, The Painted Bird, following a similar course from Venice’s main competition to Toronto. After Toronto IFF, Green Border has been confirmed to screen at the New York Film Festival, and further festivals are expected to invite the film.

Among this year’s TIFF must-see Short Cuts is the imaginative Czech animated/live-action hybrid Electra by Daria Kashcheeva, which doubles as her graduation project. Kashcheeva catapulted to international recognition in 2019 with her emotionally resonant and visually impressive short film, Daughter (also shown in Short Cuts at TIFF in 2019), which secured a Student Oscar and a nomination for Best Animated Short at the American Academy Awards. Her latest endeavor is no less ambitious in both its scale and its substance.

Revisiting the eponymous Greek myth, Kashcheeva explores the ramifications of a father's absence with regard to a young girl's psychological, emotional, and sexual development. The film's compact length is replete with evocative scenes filled with cryptic symbols and allusions, all set within meticulously constructed and strikingly stylized sets. Achieved over 95 shooting days, the film artfully melds real-time live-action scenes with pixilation and stop-motion animation techniques. Further solidifying its artistic prowess, Electra has also been shortlisted for the BAFTA Film Awards.

Toronto IFF has given floor to several Czech films and coproductions in the past years. The most recent ones include Victim by Michal Blaško, which had its North American premiere in Contemporary World Cinema in 2022, or Diana Cam Van Nguyen's short anidoc Love, Dad which screened as part of Short Cuts in 2021.