Overwhelmed by TIFF indecision? Let the fest's own filmmakers help you choose what to see

Deciding what films to watch at the Toronto International Film Festival is a seriously tall order. With 397 films programmed over 11 days of the festival, you'd have to sit through 32,320 straight minutes of movies if you wanted to actually catch 'em all. And that's obviously not doable (literally — there are only 15,840 minutes in 11 days). So we decided to ask for recommendations from the very people whose work is helping making up all those minutes: the filmmakers, or to be more specific, 35 of the people who have short films screening at this year's TIFF.

Here's what they came up with:

Alexandre Dostie, Mutants
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Rural teenage tragicomedy seeded with baseball, punk and awkward love moments."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I just can't wait to see Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie's Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves. I really liked their last offering, Laurentie, and their radical style is, in my opinion, just what cinema needs these days. I think there's a lot of cinephiles out there that are craving for some risky film and that might be the piece they were waiting for."

Alisi Telengut, Nutag — Homeland
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Based on historical facts of the mass deportations of more than fourteen nations in the USSR during WWII, the film as a hand-painted visual poem."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I definitely want to see as many films as possible at TIFF, but I [especially] want to see the short film Incantati by Danièlle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub because it would be very difficult to see this film in another occasion in the future. I've seen some of their other films, and even though sometimes I found them hard to watch, they're highly personalized and unique in their own cinematic language. Their works were inspired by poems, such as the ones by Hölderlin, and he's one of my favourite poets."

Anna Maguire, Your Mother and I
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Your Mother and I is about peeling back the layers (and there are a lot of them!) about what's said, what is implied, what is inferred and the difficulty of honest and direct communication between the people who are in theory the closest."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "The short I most want to see is Maxwell McCabe-Lokos' Ape Sodom, and the feature...there are so many! It's always the ones I'm not expecting that blow me away every year at TIFF, but in general I'm really looking forward to the City to City program and exploring Nigerian Fflmmakers' work. It's not a body of work I am familiar with (I have to watch more films in general!) so I'm looking forward to learning new things."

Ariane Louis-Seize, Wild Skin
Describe your short film in one sentence: "In a fantasy world, a lonely woman discovers a baby snake in her apartment and lets her inner wildness emerge for the first time in her life."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "There are so many great movies, but if I were to choose one, I would be compelled to say The Bad Batch directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. I was amazed by her first breathtaking feature movie A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. The powerful universes that she builds still haunt me. I'm expecting another fascinating and mysterious film set in a hostile world filled with dark and enigmatic characters."

Caroline Monnet, Tshiuetin
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A stark super hero road movie in a surreal snowy landscape."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "There are so many films that I want to see and hopefully I'll have some time to check out a few. I really can't wait to see Ana Lily Amirpour's second feature The Bad Batch. I just really loved her first feature A Girl That Walks Alone at Night. It was one of the most refreshing films I saw in 2014. It's really cool that in a male-dominated industry such as filmmaking, a female director can take that much space and truly express an original voice."

Eden Mallina Awashish, Nothing About Moccasins
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A funny, thoughtful, sincere and global short film."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "A lot of titles seem really interesting to me but, overall, what captured my attention is TIFF's website. It makes me want to see them all because of the nice presentation."

Emily Kai Bock, A Funeral For Lightning
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A girl slowly wakes up after falling asleep to her husband's fable lullaby."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "It's tough to choose — I'm torn between Terrence Malick's Voyage of Time, Andrea Arnold's American Honey and Denis Villeneuve's Arrival. They are three of my favourite working directors right now — so new work from any of them would be a joy to experience."

Eva Michon, Small Fry
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Small Fry is about a father and daughter trying to reconnect.
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I want to see American Honey! I love Andrea Arnold."

Fabian Velasco, Imitations
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A lonely superfan gets plastic surgery to look like his idol, a teenage pop star."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I'm very excited to see Salt and Fire, the new film by one of my favorite filmmakers, Werner Herzog. His films portray some of the most unique and unconventional stories I have ever seen and Herzog himself is in my opinion one of the most fascinating figures in cinema."

Francois Jaros, Oh What a Wonderful Feeling
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Oh What a Wonderful Feeling is a young woman's strange journey through the night, from truckstops to the even more peculiar."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I can't wait to see Nelly: I'm a great fan of Anne Emond and I can't wait to see what she does with such a rich subject. And Arrival, and The Bleeder, and all the shorts, and..."

Haya Waseem, Shahzad
​Describe your short film in one sentence: "Shahzad explores two characters' experience with identity when they're uprooted from where they belong."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "It's Only the End of the World by Xavier Dolan. I find his work very inspiring and full of expression."

Joe Cobden, Cycles
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Cycles is a playful, sweetheart choreography, circling through the madness of grief as a man tries to figure out where it all went wrong."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I most want to see Eva Michon's Small Fry because she's a genius and my hero."

Jonathan Tremblay, Whispering Breeze
Describe your short film in one sentence: "It's a poem that takes roots in the pain of exile and nostalgia."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Cristian Mungiu's Graduation. His 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days left this invisible scar in my mind...the eye of Mungiu over the complexity of the 'simple people' is sharp and deep. He's a very inspiring creator for me."

Justin Simms, Hand.Line.Cod
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A film about a secret mission to save the world."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Maudie. Just a great collection of talent on both sides of the camera, and I'm excited to see the amazing Sally Hawkins in a movie filmed in Newfoundland."

Kelton Stepanowich, Gods Acre
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Old native man and the sea."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I'm really interested in watching X500 by Juan Andres Arango. I saw a clip while at the TIFF press conference and even though I had no context for the clip, I felt the emotion. Also interested in watching Hello Destroyer."

Lee Filipovsky, Fluffy
Describe your short film in one sentence: "It's a film that pits the emotional against the rational."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I am most excited to see the short programs because I really love seeing what my fellow colleagues/young directors have in store for us."

Marie-Helene Turcotte, Red of the Yew Tree
Describe your short film in one sentence: "The crossing of a feminine and universal imagination, an odyssey inked in fine point, a drawn moving object."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves by my friends Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie. It piqued my curiosity. And also because it's epic in length and ambitious in scope — how many Canadian films have cracked the three-hour mark over the years?"

Martin Edralin, Emma
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Emma is a film about a 14-year-old girl with alopecia — a condition of rapid, unpredictable hair loss — and how we often compromise our well-being by caring too much about what other people think of us."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Voyage of Time: Life's Journey. Because, Terrence Malick!"

Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Ape Sodom
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A post-consumerist fable about the narcissism of small differences."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I really want to see A Decent Woman because it sounds right up my alley."

Milos Mitrovic, Imitations
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A lonely superfan gets plastic surgery to look like his idol, a teenage pop star."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I really am looking forward to Denis Villeneuve's new film Arrival. I have always been a fan of his work, and I think his films are some of the few films that I literally have to pause halfway through and start screaming at the top of my lungs in excitement cause they make me feel like there are still good movies out there. True story — happened with Prisoners. I screamed so loud that I lost my voice. Probably the best director out there right now."

Molly McGlynn, 3 Way (Not Calling)
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A woman riddled with existential dread on the eve of a big birthday convinces her partner to have a threesome that changes everything...and nothing."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Without Name by Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan. Coincidentally, he's my cousin's brother-in-law (#Irish), but what I've seen of his previous work has been astounding and seeped in this dark, Irish landscape and narrative that I adore."

Patrice Laliberte, Late Night Drama
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A punch in the face."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Arrival and Prank. Prank is directed by my friend [Vincent Biron]. The story behind the production is wonderful. The team made it with their own money, without any help, because nobody wanted to, and now they're making their premiere in Venice. Arrival, just because I'm a big fan of Villeneuve's work."

Peter Huang, 5 Films About Technology
Describe your short film in one sentence: "5 Films About Technology is a comedy of manners, updated to fully represent our modern world."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "J.A. Bayona's A Monster Calls. I read the script a few years ago. At the time, I was thinking of writing something very similar after losing two aunts to protracted illnesses...I thought the script was the perfect execution of the concept and the trailer looks visually stunning. It's the perfect use of fantasy to explore such raw, human emotions." 

Pier-Luc Latulippe, The Taste of Vietnam
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Arnaud and Chloe do not know each other, or very little, and Arnaud is determined to make her last night one she'll never forget.
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "A lot of films! But to name one, I'm curious to see the first feature film of Eduardo Williams, The Human Surge. I met him a couple of years ago and saw his short films. He does everything by himself in total freedom, always in beautiful 16mm. Just filming his friends in mode of observation. It's intimate and so fascinating. Very inspiring."

Raphaël, Plain and Simple
Describe your short film in one sentence: "I'd say it's a film about the difficulty of communicating with our surroundings, an exploration of loneliness and a way to show what it's like when you don't connect with anything the world has to offer."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "There is so many! I think that as I am a big Ulrich Seidl work's fan, I will say Safari. Mostly because it is always a pleasure to see a Seidl movie on a big screen, but also it's not the kind of film you can see everywhere. It's not the kind of film you should see everywhere too! I mean, it is so particular and humanly hard to watch, it has to be a celebration at some point! I think TIFF will be the perfect occasion for that."

Rebecca Addelman, The Smoke
Describe your short film in one sentence: "The film is about a fortysomething woman in crisis who wants a
cigarette and has a hard time getting one."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I want to see American Honey. Because Andrea Arnold's awesome!"

Ryan Noth, The Road to Webequie
Describe your short film in one sentence: "In remote northern Ontario, the youth of Webequie First Nation face
infrastructure nightmares that a new mining development is promising to fix, in part by building The Road to Webequie."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "A bit of a plug for a friend here, but I really want to see Hugh Gibson's The Stairs at TIFF. I co-edited the film (with Andres Landau), and it was a long five year journey for Hugh to get to this point. I'm super proud of his dedication, but also can't wait to see it on the big screen with an audience — that's always the most exciting emotional rollercoaster, to me, when you get to feel the reaction of those sitting around you responding to this moving sculpture that you endlessly fussed over to be just a certain way."

Sanja Zivkovic, Cleo
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A film about a girl living in Toronto, who discovers an unexpected connection when she ventures outside of her comfort zone into an unfamiliar neighborhood."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Andrea Arnold's American Honey. I'm a big fan of her previous films Wasp and Fish Tank, I love her style in general and can't wait to see what she will do next!"

Terri Calder, Snip
Describe your short film in one sentence: "Snip questions Canadian settlers' history and Indigenous truths."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice, by the amazing Alanis Obomsawin. Her films are always such a steady and calm voice that hammers down on Canada's biggest issues. She just blows me away. I see her string of 50 films as a steady and determined walk in the direction that Canada needs to go. She is the true Matriarch of Indigenous film and it always an honour to witness her genius."

Tess Girard, The Road to Webequie
Describe your short film in one sentence: "In an isolated First Nations community in Northern Ontario, a group of youths give us a glimpse into their everyday lives during rapid industrial change in a mineral rich area known as The Ring of Fire."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I really look forward to seeing Alanis Obomsawin's We Can't Make The Same Mistake Twice. It is fundamentally important to educate ourselves in the issues surrounding our Aboriginal communities, particularly from the Indigenous perspective. Doing so will not only make us more informed and aware, but can provide greater context for why these issues matter and how we can affect change with our everyday actions. The first step of those actions is to go see a film like this."

Theodore Usehv, Blind Vaysha
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A fairy tale for kids from 9 to 99 years old."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I'm curious to see the new film by my Bulgarian friend Ralitsa Petrova, Godless. It won many prestigious awards in the last week."

Thyrone Tommy, Mariner
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A confident sailor cadet's extreme anxiety becomes a complete nightmarish reality during his final exams."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "Barry Jenkins' Moonlight is an absolute must. Love seeing another brother shut down the preconceived notions of what stories we can tell."

Timothy Barron Tracey, DataMine
Describe your short film in one sentence: "A highly detailed experimental stop motion animation laboriously shot at 24fps without the use of CGI."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I'm really excited for the premiere of Werewolf. Ashley McKenzie is a very gifted and unique filmmaker. I'm so excited to see her first feature film...that will be a very special moment."

Walter Woodman, TMG_103 (Rough Cut)
Describe your short film in one sentence: "TMG_103 (Rough Cut) is a film about an actress debating whether
or not to do a sex scene."
What is the one film you want to see the most at the festival? "I love seeing all the short cuts programs as it is where the most creativity seems to flourish. However the film I am most excited to see is Johnny Ma's film Old Stone. I met Johnny when he was in the short cuts program a few years ago and his style and storytelling is absolutely genius."

The 2016 Toronto International Film Festival runs September 8 - 18. For more info, visit www.tiff.net.