TIFF Next Wave

TIFF Next Wave is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario.[1] An offshoot of the Toronto International Film Festival, the Next Wave festival is held in spring each year, screening films of interest to teenagers and young adults selected by a committee of students from the city's high schools.[2]

The festival was launched in 2012.[3] It programs both a lineup of Canadian and international feature films, and a Young Creators Showcase program of short films by Canadian film students. Some, but not all, films are also made available on the TIFF Bell Lightbox for viewing across Canada. The festival has also included special programs such as Battle of the Scores, a battle of the bands competition in which emerging musicians compete to compose and perform the best live score for a short film,[4] the Next Wave Film Challenge, a competition which gives emerging filmmakers three days to make and complete a short film,[5] and the Young Creators Co-Lab, which gives young content creators a chance to meet and network with film industry professionals.[6]

Prior to 2012, film programming for both children and young adults was screened as part of a single Sprockets film festival.[7]

Admission to the festival screenings is free for people under age 25, and $14 for people older than 25.[1]

In addition to the standalone TIFF Next Wave festival, films of youth interest in the primary TIFF program also bear a "TIFF Next Wave" designation,[8] and the organizing committee served as the jury for the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award from 2020 to 2023.[9]

Programs

2012

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
17 Girls 17 filles Delphine and Muriel Coulin France
Fat Kid Rules the World Matthew Lillard United States

2013

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
5-25-77 Patrick Read Johnson United States
Bushido Sixteen Bushidō Shikkusutīn Tomoyuki Furumaya Japan
Dead Before Dawn April Mullen Canada
Earthbound Alan Brennan Ireland
Fame High Scott Hamilton Kennedy United States
Family Weekend Benjamin Epps United States
Ghost Graduation Promoción fantasma Javier Ruiz Caldera Spain
Molly Maxwell Sara St. Onge Canada
Otelo Burning Sara Blecher South Africa
Struck by Lightning Brian Dannelly United States

2014

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
A Birder's Guide to Everything Rob Meyer United States
Camp Takota Chris Riedell, Nick Riedell United States
Final Recipe Gina Kim South Korea
Fly Colt Fly Adam Gray, Andrew Gray Canada
For No Eyes Only Tali Barde Germany
G.B.F. Darren Stein United States
Gone Too Far! Destiny Ekaragha Nigeria, United Kingdom
I Learn America Jean-Michel Dissard, Gitte Peng United States
Leap 4 Your Life Gary Hawes Canada
Palo Alto Gia Coppola United States

2015

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
52 Tuesdays Sophie Hyde Australia
Boy 7 Lourens Blok Netherlands
Dessau Dancers Jan Martin Scharf Germany
Girlhood Bande de filles Céline Sciamma France
Leave to Remain Bruce Goodison United Kingdom
Lily & Kat Micael Preysler United States
McFarland, USA Niki Caro United States
No Cameras Allowed James Marcus Haney United States
Partners in Crime Kong Feng Chang Jung-chi Taiwan
Wet Bum Lindsay MacKay Canada
The Word Obietnica Anna Kazejak-Dawid Poland

2016

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Ayanda Sara Blecher South Africa
Flocking Flocken Beata Gårdeler Sweden
I Am Thalente Natalie Johns South Africa, United States
The Idol Hany Abu-Assad United Kingdom, Palestine, Qatar, Netherlands
Los Ángeles Damian John Harper Germany
Microbe & Gasoline Microbe et Gasoil Michel Gondry France
Sing Street John Carney Ireland
Songs My Brothers Taught Me Chloé Zhao United States
Takin' Place Cyrus Dowlatshahi United States

2017

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
1:54 Yan England Canada
2 Fists Up Spike Lee United States
As You Are Miles Joris-Peyrafitte United States
Barakah Meets Barakah Barakah yoqabil Barakah Mahmoud Sabbagh Saudi Arabia
Before I Fall Ry Russo-Young United States
Before the Streets Avant les rues Chloé Leriche Canada
Divines Houda Benyamina France
Japanese Girls Never Die Azumi Haruko wa yukue fumei Daigo Matsui Japan
The Young Offenders Peter Foott Ireland

2018

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Axolotl Overkill Helene Hegemann Germany
Bad Genius Chalard Games Goeng Nattawut Poonpiriya Thailand
Bad Lucky Goat El dia de la cabra Samir Oliveros Colombia
Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountain Tian Tsering United Kingdom
Beyond Dreams Dröm vidare Rojda Sekersöz Sweden
Dayveon Amman Abassi United States
Fake Tattoos Les faux tatouages Pascal Plante Canada
High Fantasy Jenna Bass South Africa
A Kid from Somewhere Adam Beck, Paul Johnston Canada
Love, Simon Greg Berlanti United States
Person to Person Dustin Guy Defa United States
Thoroughbreds Cory Finley United States

2019

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Blue My Mind Lisa Brühlmann Switzerland
Carmen & Lola Carmen y Lola Arantxa Echevarría Spain
Jinn Nijla Mu'min United States
Ladyworld Amanda Kramer United States
Meteorites Les Météorites Romain Laguna France
Minding the Gap Bing Liu United States
Respeto Treb Monteras II Philippines
Slut in a Good Way Charlotte a du fun Sophie Lorain Canada
Socrates Alexandre Moratto Brazil
Virus Tropical Santiago Caicedo Colombia

2020

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
And Then We Danced Da chven vitsek'vet Levan Akin Georgia, Sweden
Angelfish Peter Lee United States
Children of the Sea Kaijū no Kodomo Ayumu Watanabe Japan
CRSHD Emily Cohn United States
House of Hummingbird 벌새 Kim Bora South Korea
Kuessipan Myriam Verreault Canada
Papicha Mounia Meddour Algeria
Premature Rashaad Ernesto Green United States
Selah and the Spades Tayarisha Poe United States
Sequin in a Blue Room Samuel Van Grinsven Australia
Take Me Somewhere Nice Ena Sendijarević Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Your Turn Espero tua (re)volta Eliza Capai Brazil

2021

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Beans Tracey Deer Canada
Cocoon Kokon Leonie Krippendorff Germany
Death of Nintendo Raya Martin Philippines
La Leyenda Negra Patricia Vidal Delgado United States
My Name Is Baghdad Meu nome é Bagdá Caru Alves de Souza Brazil
The Night of the Beast La noche de la bestia Mauricio Leiva Cock Colombia, Mexico
Scales Sayidat Al Bahr Shahad Ameen Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq
Summertime Carlos López Estrada United States
Tahara Olivia Peace United States
Unapologetic Ashley O'Shay United States

2022

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
4 Feet High Maria Belen Poncio, Rosario Perazolo Masjoan Argentina/France
The Braves Entre les vagues Anaïs Volpé France
Casablanca Beats Haut et fort Nabil Ayouch Morocco, France
The Fam La Mif Fred Baillif France
Freda Gessica Généus Haiti
Girl Picture Tytöt tytöt tytöt Alli Haapasalo Finland
I Don't Wanna Dance Flynn von Kleist Netherlands
It's a Summer Film! Summer Film Ni Notte Soushi Matsumoto Japan
Slash/Back Nyla Innuksuk Canada
Stop-Zemlia Стоп-Земля Kateryna Gornostai Ukraine

2023

Official selections

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Adolfo Sofía Auza Mexico, United States
Egghead & Twinkie Sarah Kambe Holland United States
Liquor Store Dreams So Yun Um United States
The Lost Boys Le Paradis Zeno Graton Belgium
Motherhood La Maternal Pilar Palomero Spain
The Ordinaries Sophie Linnenbaum Germany
Scrapper Charlotte Regan United Kingdom
Summer Scars Nos cérémonies Simon Rieth France
Summer with Hope Tabestan Ba Omid Sadaf Foroughi Canada, Iran

Young Creators Showcase

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Castaway Shamiso Chigwende Canada
Execution Triptych Giran Findlay Canada
Hoa Tram Anh Nguyen Canada, Vietnam
In the Whiteness Niya Ahmed Abdullahi Canada
Inside Groove Elizabeth Wei Yun Albrecht Canada
Late Bloomer Emma Cheuk Canada
The Mess We're In Jamie Lam Canada
Ms. Butterworth's Cherry Pie Cameron Lightly Canada
On the Cosmic Shore Luvleen Hunjan Canada, India
Ozigwan (Tail of Serpent) Cole Forrest Canada
Shallots and Garlic Bawang Merah Bawang Putih Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto Canada, Indonesia
What Will You Do When I'm Gone? majboor-e-mamool Haaris Qadri Canada
The Year Long Boulder Brielle LeBlanc Canada

2024

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Big Boys Corey Sherman United States
Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story Luck Razanajaona France, Madagascar, Germany, Mauritius, South Africa
Gamma Rays Les Rayons gamma Henry Bernadet Canada
Girls Will Be Girls Shuchi Talati India
Hoard Luna Carmoon United Kingdom
Paradise Is Burning Paradiset Brinner Mika Gustafson Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden
Power Alley Levante Lillah Halla Brazil, France, Uruguay
She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones Kai Shi De Qiang Youjia Qu China
A Song Sung Blue Xiao Bai Chuan Zihan Geng China

References

  1. ^ a b Emma Badame, "The 2023 TIFF Next Wave Film Festival lineup is here!". That Shelf, March 15, 2023.
  2. ^ Kelly Townsend, "Summer With Hope among TIFF's Next Wave lineup". Playback, March 16, 2023.
  3. ^ Kate Wilkinson, "Not another teen film festival; TIFF's Next Wave brings a youth perspective to cinephilia". National Post, May 10, 2012.
  4. ^ Jason Anderson, "TIFF Next Wave puts youth in focus: Festival's busy lineup presents range of stories for teen set that doesn't necessarily involve dystopian hunks". Toronto Star, February 12, 2016.
  5. ^ Linda Barnard, "Big dreams and small budgets pay off for teen filmmaker 'Always think big,' says young filmmaker: Nate Wilson was able to fund more movies after winning the 2013 TIFF Next Wave Film Challenge". Toronto Star, February 8, 2014.
  6. ^ Jason Anderson, "TIFF Next Wave reels in young movie buffs: Family Day weekend programming honours teens with free access to regular screenings". Toronto Star, February 17, 2017.
  7. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Breaking up Sprockets: How TIFF targets young film-goers one festival at a time". Playback, March 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Taylor Simmons, "How these GTA teens helped shape the lineup at this year's TIFF". CBC News Toronto, September 3, 2019.
  9. ^ "Canadian chart-topper Shawn Mendes to perform at TIFF Tribute Awards". Toronto Star, September 9, 2020.