Eddie Huang, known for creating ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, is set to kick off the Toronto Film Festival’s TIFF Docs section with the world premiere of Vice is Broke, a documentary exploring the trajectory of Vice Media.
The film delves into the events that led to Shane Smith’s Vice Media, once a rising media powerhouse valued at $5.7 billion, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, paving the way for its sale. Toronto’s documentary lineup also includes the world premiere of Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, directed by Sinéad O’Shea, who spent countless hours interviewing the iconic Irish novelist in the final year of her life.
Additionally, Jen Gaiten and Screwball director Billy Corben bring Men of War, which focuses on a former U.S. Green Beret entangled in a failed 2020 coup to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while Steve Pink’s The Last Republican highlights former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s break from Donald Trump.
The festival will also showcase the world premieres of Marah Strauch and Bryce Leavitt’s Space Cowboy, which explores stunt skydiving and “free-fall” cinematography; Joanne Robertson and Neil Diamond’s So Surreal: Behind the Masks, which documents the efforts to return cultural artifacts to Indigenous nations; and Halima Elkhatabi’s Living Together, capturing Montreal apartment seekers in pursuit of the ideal roommate.
Other debut films include Ted Passon’s Patrice: The Movie; Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc’s Tata, chronicling Vdovîi’s attempt to reconnect with her estranged father; Anastasiia Bortuali’s Temporary Shelter, which follows Ukrainian refugees resettling in Iceland after the 2022 Russian invasion; and Sue Kim’s The Last of the Sea Women, focusing on elderly female free divers, among others.
TIFF’s Doc program has selected 21 titles from 24 countries, including Raoul Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, which debuted North American after premiering at Cannes. It portrays the life of a pioneering Black photographer in South Africa. Peck had previously premiered his James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro at TIFF in 2016.
The festival will also present the Canadian premiere of No Other Land, directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, who faced harsh criticism following their prize-winning speech at the Berlin Film Festival for a documentary on Israeli efforts to evict Palestinians from the West Bank.
Previously announced documentaries for the 2024 festival include R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s Elton John: Never Too Late; Cosima Spender’s Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe; and Thom Zimny’s Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.