September
23
Day#3 Of TIFF-Sat.,Sept.10th,2022
The morning started real early with our first screener of the day, Maya And The Waves.
IN MAYA AND THE WAVE, WE FOLLOW MAYA GABEIRA ON A QUEST TO BREAK A WORLD SURFING RECORD IN THE PORTUGUESE TOWN OF NAZARÉ, KNOWN FOR ITS AMAZING WAVES.
The film delivers a breathtaking visual experience of majestic waves, beautiful countries and the art of surfing. A two thumbs up to the videographer.
Filmmaker Stephanie Johnes followed Maya over several years as she goes through setbacks, injuries, and a near-death experience to pursue her goal. Maya Gabeira grew up in Brazil with a dream to surf on a world scale. Like any surfer, she had to overcome the hazards of the ocean through training and discipline.
Maya and her family has rarely achieved recognition in the circle of elite athletes. We see her draw strength from her mother, the fashion designer Yamê Reis, and her father, Fernando Gabeira, whose life in radical politics was depicted in the Oscar-nominated film Four Days in September.
We see Maya encounter chauvinism in the male-dominated sport and every critic around the world. She survives the sports business side, judging and the struggles that arise over sponsorship, press coverage, and she endures constant criticism. Maya fights to gain recognition with the Guinness Book Of World Records and with her persistence, she finally gets her much deserved acknowledgment with her world record surf.
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Documentary Award winner was:
The second runner-up Maya and the Wave dir. Stephanie Johnes
After we finished with the surfer documentary, we were off to our next film.
TIFF22-The Woman King
Action-packed epic film of the Agojie, a real-life regimen of legendary heroic women warriors and their struggles and sacrifices to protect their kingdom of Dahomey in 19th century West Africa, from its aggressive neighbours, European colonizers and salacious slavery, featuring a strong performance by its leader, Nanisca, heroically portrayed by Oscar-winning Viola Davis.
In addition to Davis, the cast includes Lashana Lynch (Izogie, a warrior), Thuso Mbedu (Nawi, a new young warrior), Sheila Atim (Amenza, a warrior and Nanisca’s adviser) and John Boyega (King Ghezo).
Director Prince-Bythewood states that “The intent of this film (is) certainly to celebrate these women, celebrate the kingdom (of Africa), the beauty, the fact that there were kings and queens.”
We were off to see the highly anticipated documentary about the iconic Louie Armstrong
DRAWING ON LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S AUDIO DIARIES, DOCUMENTARIAN SACHA JENKINS (WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN) REVISITS THE MUSIC AND REAPPRAISES THE POLITICS OF THE LEGENDARY JAZZ TRUMPETER AND SINGER.
Louis Armstrong had kept recorded audio diaries of himself that reveal a different side of his personality than the showman on camera. Those tapes play a key role in this documentary portrait of the jazz musician.
Filmmaker Sacha Jenkins, covered Armstrong’s worldwide career. The documentary‘s private footage of his show performances, while in concert, on the road, and at home. We hear past recordings of his contemporaries including Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw, as well as Armstrong’s second wife, pianist Lil Hardin, and his last wife, Lucille, to whom he was married for nearly 30 years. The Passages from his private correspondence were narrated by Nas.
Armstrong was perceived by a younger, more radical generation who thought he was overly accommodating to white audiences. Ossie Davis, Amiri Baraka, and Wynton Marsalis each attest to being detractors who turned into admirers.
The soundtrack is amazing, and it contains music from all his hits plus new music composed by Terence Blanchard. The film lets us enjoy Armstrong’s musicianship, singing skills, as well as conversation, joking around, his train of thoughts, and leaving a record of his life.
Throughout the documentary we see Armstrong on the world stage with the world’s top jazz musicians, being interviewed by icons such as Orson Wells and performing on top rated TV shows. We hear vintage audio, including icons: Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Artie Shaw, as well as Armstrong’s second wife, pianist Lil Hardin, and his last wife, Lucille.
Our last screener of the day before we would end the night with a couple of events.
TIFF22-Glass Onion: a Knives Out Mystery
A witty whodunnit mystery with a disruptor cast of characters invited by tech Billionaire Miles Bron to an idyllic Greek island with some startling plot twists revealed by the ultimate detective , the eccentric southerner Blanc Benoit, deftly portrayed by Daniel Craig, in the latest Knives Out Mystery by director Rian Johnson, an admirer of Agatha Christie’s classic mysteries.
With a star-studded cast consisting of notable actors such as Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Italian Job), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton, One Night in Miami…), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune), Janelle Monáe (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Kathryn Hahn (Bad Moms, Transparent), Madelyn Cline (Boy Erased), and Jessica Henwick (The Gray Man), among others, Glass Onion delivers an enjoyable crowd-pleasing mystery.
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Award winner:
The second runner-up was Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery dir. Rian Johnson
We were back at Marbl for Supper Suite and the red carpet of The Blackening.
This Premiere party for THE BLACKENING starring Tom Dewayne Perkins, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, Jay Pharoah, Yvonne Orji, Antoinette Robertson, X Mayo and Sinqua Walls were at Marbl on Saturday night.
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award:
The second runner-up is The Blackening dir. Tim Story.
We had a short walk along King St.W. to Mademoiselle. The event was the celebration of the Canadian documentary BLACK ICE. In attendance was the director Hubert Davis and some of the cast members.
The TIFF 2022 People’s Choice Documentary Award winner was Black Ice dir. Hubert Davis.
It was the final event of the night and we went uptown to Parc Ave. in Yorkville for the Bombay TIFF pop up lounge to relax for a bit and they had an amazing DJ spinning music and patrons dancing. We stayed for a short period of time and departed back downtown towards King St.
After the pop up TIFF event, we ended day#3.
BKonthescene 