The Toronto International Film Gala celebrates 50 years, opening this Thursday with 292 films from around the globe. The festival illuminates powerful storytelling with four films about Palestine, providing viewers with a new way of seeing the stories that have never been told. TIFF Director of Programming Robyn Citizen told Reuters that the festival serves an important purpose by allowing filmmakers to create empathy and reflection in a world that doesn’t always allow us to connect with one another, and that is what stories do help us to understand the world and our place in it.
The festival illuminates powerful storytelling with four films about Palestine, providing viewers with a new way of seeing the stories that have never been told. TIFF Director of Programming Robyn Citizen told Reuters that the festival serves an important purpose by allowing filmmakers to create empathy and reflection in a world that doesn’t always allow us to connect with one another, and that is what stories do help us to understand the world and our place in it.
The spirit of civilian resistance to bombings is shown in Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Sepideh Farsi, whereas the voice of a lost girl in Gaza is recorded in The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania, making the use of real-life phone recordings the strongest way to influence the audience. The short film It is so Beautiful Here and Not Scared, Just Sad by Isabelle Mecattaf also shed more light on how people manage to survive in conflict zones with courage.
Read more: France to Recognize Palestine in September
The Toronto International Film Festival continues until September 14 and the films below are North American premieres. The festival program highlights the ability of cinema to inform, entertain and motivate all audiences across the globe.
