This year’s TIFF, running from September 4-14, offers a compelling wave of third-culture films. A unique perspective drives these movies, one that navigates the complex intersection of multiple cultural worlds. They offer an exploration of identity, heritage, and the search for belonging in a globalized era. Here are five such films from this year’s lineup, each a powerful example of the evolving nature of modern storytelling.
Mārama (dir. Taratoa Stappard)
The setting of this revenge thriller is 1859 England. It follows Mārama (Ariana Osborne), a young Māori woman, on a quest to reclaim her identity and indigenous culture in the stifling Victorian era after she makes a gruesome discovery in her Yorkshire manor. Filmmaker Stappard, who was born in Aotearoa, New Zealand, to an English father and Maori mother, was raised around Europe, very divorced from his Māori culture. He worked with language and culture producers on the film, which was developed with funding from the BFI and imagiNative as well as TIFF Writers Studio. The plot reflects the filmmaker’s own journey to understand his ancestral history and reconnect with his indigenous heritage. On the heels of box office smash Sinners, the Māori gothic love letter to ‘the stories that live in the shadows,’ as Stappard puts it, is both timely and powerful in using horror to explore the painful impact of colonization and assimilation.
Good Fortune (dir. Aziz Ansari)
Keanu Reeves, the internet’s favourite boyfriend, stars as well-meaning but inept guardian angel Gabriel, meddling in the fates of two Los Angeles men from different income brackets. Call this an R-rated comedy touched by a low-budget angel. It is in the tradition of classic supernatural comedies like Heaven Can Wait and It’s a Wonderful Life — with a dash of the Dan Aykroyd/Eddie Murphy life-swap of Trading Places. The switch is between entitled VC vulture (Rogen) and Arj (Ansari), a broke victim of gig economy precarity, and sends ripples through those above (Sandra Oh) and below (Keke Palmer). But are lessons learned? World premiering at TIFF ahead of its October theatrical release, expect the self-deprecating American-born Desi’s first feature to dissect class, race, and capitalist definitions of success while riffing on similar cultural friction as his hit Netflix series Master of None. Watch the trailer here.
Hamlet (dir. Aneil Karia)
A pair of Oscar winners give the Bard’s tragedy a gritty modern spin. Karia (of Indian Ugandan descent) and Oscar-nominated Sound of Metal actor Riz Ahmed shared the 2022 Academy Award win for The Long Goodbye, the haunting live-action short film that reflects Ahmed’s identity as a British Pakistani artist. Their latest collab transposes Shakespeare’s most famous play to the South Asian community of present-day London. Like Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, and even Mel Gibson, who have all played the tortured Prince of Denmark, it preserves Shakespeare’s original text—but for the first time on screen with a largely non-white cast. In this visceral reimagining, Ahmed’s privileged son goes on a violent journey from elite London society and Hindu temples to plumb the city’s underworld and avenge his father’s murder.
Rental Family (dir. Hikari)
This heartfelt cross-cultural dramedy features Canadian Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (The Whale) in his first major role since that comeback. Fraser plays a down-on-his-luck American actor in Tokyo who works as a stand-in for strangers, doing intensive immersive prep to assume his surrogate roles. Hakari, the mononymous filmmaker who helmed several episodes of Netflix’s award-winning absurdist anthology series, Beef (Steven Yeun’s showcase of third culture talent) left her native Japan for Utah at the age of 17 as a foreign exchange student. She ended up staying in the U.S. It’s no surprise that her examination of cross-cultural connection and understanding here plays in reverse. The film is tipped to be a sentimental favourite and People’s Choice contender—always the launching pad for Oscar gold. Watch the trailer here.
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Space Cadet (dir. Kid Koala)
Vancouver-raised scratch DJ Kid Koala, aka Eric San, has toured with Radiohead, Beastie Boys and Arcade Fire. His first feature is based on his 2011 graphic novel, written in the wake of the death of his grandmother (who would visit him from China). The charming, dialogue-free interstellar story is about generational cycles of memory, loneliness, and connection that San both directs and scores, while also featuring original songs by indie rock royalty (like Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). It’s brought to life by a Canadian team that includes animator and illustrator Lillian Chan (of award-winning NFB short Jaime Lo, Small and Shy) as head of story. Award voters have lately had a taste for quirky, especially when it comes to animated fare, and Space Cadet’s bittersweet analogy of a young space explorer who travels the universe while her robot guardian stays on Earth brings to mind recent Oscar-nominated favourites Marcel the Shell With Shoes On and Robot Dreams. Watch the trailer here.
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