#TIFF21: “ONE SECOND” REVIEW

Review by George Kozera

Set in China in the ’70s, ONE SECOND tells the tale of a labour camp escapee (Zhang Yi) that is desperate to see a newsreel which contains footage of his estranged daughter. When he arrived too late at the theatre screening, he is told it will be shown again the next day at a nearby village. When he sees a scruffy young girl (Liu Haocun) steal one of the reels, he manages to retrieve it and treks across the desert to deliver it to the next theatrical engagement.

ONE SECOND is laced with gentle humour, stunning desert vistas and a Cast of intriguing characters. The Maoist propaganda is fascinating to watch and the bond between the fugitive and the thief nicely morphs into a dyslexic father/daughter relationship. When you throw in the character of the projectionist known as Mr. Movie (Fan Wei), events on the screen turn lively.

ONE SECOND may have problems finding a North American audience used to bigger. The pace is languid and borderline melodramatic. But the Movie is pure and honest and commendable.

It screens:

Sat, Sep 18 IN-PERSON Roy Thomson Hall 4:30 PM

Sat, Sep 18 IN-PERSON Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre 6 PM

Sat, Sep 18 DIGITAL PREMIERE SCREENING digital TIFF Bell Lightbox 7 PM

#TIFF21: “THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE”, “DEAR EVAN HANSEN”, “ONE SECOND”, “SILENT NIGHT” AND MORE ADDED TO TIFF ’21 LINEUP

Additional titles have been announced for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival today and some high-profile selections like DEAR EVAN HANSEN and THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE will be debuting here in Toronto this September! The former has been selected as the Festival’s Opening Night selection and makes its way to the screen after critical adoration on Broadway, with star Ben Platt reprising his award-winning role. The Film will be premiering at Roy Thomson Hall on September 9, 2021 with additional screenings at Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, at the RBC Lakeside Drive-In at Ontario Place, and digitally on the digital TIFF Bell Lightbox platform.

Iconic Director Zhang Yimou will be presenting his latest, One Second at the Festival with the Film closing out the Festival. The Cultural Revolution-set Drama previously was censored in its homeland China.

This brings the announced titles to 11 Galas and 21 Special Presentations thus far, with more titles to come. The Festival runs September 9-18, 2021.

GALA PRESENTATIONS 2021
*previously announced 

*Belfast Kenneth Branagh | United Kingdom 
World Premiere
 
Clifford the Big Red Dog Walt Becker | USA/United Kingdom/Canada
World Premiere
 

*Opening Night Film*
Dear Evan Hansen Stephen Chbosky | USA
World Premiere

 The Electrical Life of Louis Wain Will Sharpe | United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere

*Jagged Alison Klayman | USA 
World Premiere

*Last Night in Soho Edgar Wright | United Kingdom
North American Premiere

*The Mad Women’s Ball (Le Bal des folles) Mélanie Laurent | France
World Premiere

*Night Raiders Danis Goulet | Canada/New Zealand
North American Premiere

*Closing Night Film*
One Second Zhang Yimou | China
North American Premiere

The Survivor Barry Levinson | USA/Canada/Hungary
World Premiere

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2021
*previously announced 

Ali & Ava Clio Barnard | United Kingdom 
North American Premiere

All My Puny Sorrows Michael McGowan | Canada
World Premiere

*Benediction Terence Davies | United Kingdom
World Premiere

Bergman Island Mia Hansen-Løve | France
International Premiere

*Charlotte Eric Warin, Tahir Rana | Canada/France/Belgium
World Premiere

*Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over Dave Wooley, David Heilbroner | USA
World Premiere

Drive My Car Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Japan 
North American Premiere

Encounter Michael Pearce | United Kingdom/USA 
International Premiere

The Eyes of Tammy Faye Michael Showalter | USA 
World Premiere

*The Guilty Antoine Fuqua | USA
World Premiere

I’m Your Man Maria Schrader | Germany 
North American Premiere

Inexorable Fabrice du Welz | Belgium/France 
International Premiere

*Lakewood Phillip Noyce | Canada 
World Premiere

The Middle Man Bent Hamer | Norway/Canada/Germany/Denmark
World Premiere

Official Competition (Competencia Oficial) Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat | Spain/Argentina
North American Premiere

Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades) Jacques Audiard | France
North American Premiere

*Petite Maman Céline Sciamma | France 
Canadian Premiere

*The Starling Theodore Melfi | USA
World Premiere

The Story of My Wife Ildikó Enyedi | Hungary/Germany/Italy/France 
North American Premiere

Three Floors (Tre Piani) Nanni Moretti | Italy/France
North American Premiere

Violet Justine Bateman | USA 
International Premiere

The Worst Person In The World (Verdens Verste Menneske) Joachim Trier | Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark
North American Premiere

UPDATE (7/28/21): Additional titles at TIFF ’21 have been announced today in Contemporary World Cinema, Special Presentations and Galas! Among those surfacing at the Festival are ONE NIGHT, premiering as a Gala, starring Keira Knightley, Annabelle Wallis and Matthew Goode. A TIFF Rewind retrospective also will be a component of the Festival in partnership with Crave and Bell.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
Presented by Sunlife

Are You Lonesome Tonight? Wen Shipei | China
North American Premiere

The Box (La Caja)Lorenzo Vigas | USA/Mexico
North American Premiere

Costa Brava, Lebanon (Costa Brava)Mounia Akl | Lebanon/Norway/Sweden/France/Spain/Denmark/Qatar
North American Premiere

The Daughter (La Hija) Manuel Martín Cuenca | Spain
World Premiere

The Hill Where the Lionesses Roar (Luaneshat e kodrës)Luàna Bajrami | Kosovo/France
North American Premiere

Întregalde Radu Muntean | Romania
North American Premiere

Kicking Blood Blaine Thurier | Canada
World Premiere

La Soga 2 Manny Perez | USA
World Premiere

Maria Chapdelaine Sébastien Pilote | Canada
World Premiere

Medusa Anita Rocha da Silveira | Brazil
North American Premiere

Murina Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović | Croatia/Brazil/USA/Slovenia
North American Premiere

Nobody Has to Know Bouli Lanners | France/Belgium/United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Odd-Job Men (Sis dies corrents) Neus Ballús | Spain
North American Premiere

The Other Tom (El otro Tom)Rodrigo Plá, Laura Santullo | Mexico/USA
North American Premiere

OUT OF SYNC (Tres) Juanjo Giménez | Spain
North American Premiere

Terrorizers Ho Wi Ding | Taiwan
World Premiere

Unclenching The Fists Kira Kovalenko | Russia
North American Premiere

Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas) Edwin | Indonesia/Singapore/Germany
North American Premiere

The Wheel Steve Pink | USA
World Premiere 

Whether the Weather is Fine (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon) Carlo Francisco Manatad | Philippines/France/Singapore/Indonesia/Germany/Qatar
North American Premiere

DISCOVERY
Presented by Dyson

Aloners Hong Sung-eun  | South Korea
International Premiere

Anatolian Leopard (Anadolu Leoparı) Emre Kayış | Germany/Denmark/Turkey/Poland
World Premiere

As In Heaven (Du som er i himlen) Tea Lindeburg | Denmark
World Premiere

A Banquet Ruth Paxton | United Kingdom
World Premiere

Dug Dug Ritwik Pareek | India
World Premiere

Farha Darin J. Sallam | Jordan/Sweden/Saudi Arabia
World Premiere

The Game Ana Lazarevic | Serbia/USA
World Premiere

Learn To Swim Thyrone Tommy | Canada
World Premiere

Lo Invisible Javier Andrade | France/Ecuador
World Premiere

Paka (River of Blood)Nithin Lukose | India
World Premiere

Quickening Haya Waseem | Canada
World Premiere

Scarborough Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson | Canada
World Premiere

Snakehead Evan Jackson Leong | USA
International Premiere

To Kill The Beast Agustina San Martín | Argentina/Brazil/Chile
World Premiere

Tug of War (Vuta N’Kuvute)Amil Shivji | Tanzania/South/Africa/Germany/Qatar
World Premiere

Wildhood Bretten Hannam | Canada
World Premiere

GALA PRESENTATIONS

The Good House Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky | USA
World Premiere

Silent Night Camille Griffin | United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Worst Person In The World (Verdens Verste Menneske) Joachim Trier | Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark
North American Premiere
(*Previously announced as a Special Presentation)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Presented by Visa

The Falls (Pu Bu) Chung Mong-Hong | Taiwan
North American Premiere

The Humans Stephen Karam | USA
World Premiere

Inu-Oh Masaaki Yuasa | Japan/China
North American Premiere

Lingui, The Sacred Bonds (Lingui) Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | Chad/France/Germany/Belgium
North American Premiere

Mothering Sunday Eva Husson | United Kingdom
North American Premiere

The Power of the Dog Jane Campion | Australia/New Zealand
Canadian Premiere

Sundown Michel Franco | Mexico 
North American Premiere 

Wolf Nathalie Biancheri | United Kingdom/Ireland/Poland
World Premiere

TIFF Rewind presented by Bell

Confirmed films and guests in this program include:

Antoine Fuqua on Training Day
Director Antoine Fuqua revisits his acclaimed police thriller about a rookie cop who spends 24 hours in Los Angeles gang territory with a corrupt senior narcotics officer, which marks the 20th anniversary of its North American premiere at the Festival in 2001. The film earned Denzel Washington his first Academy Award for Best Actor after two previous nominations (and an earlier Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor).

Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara on Best in Show
Director and co-writer Christopher Guest and stars Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy revisit the making of their cult classic about the competitive world of dog shows, which made its world premiere at the Festival in 2000.

Patricia Cardoso and America Ferrera on HBO’s Real Women Have Curves
Director Patricia Cardoso and star America Ferrera discuss their breakout hit about a young Mexican American woman coming of age in Los Angeles, which was helmed by a Latina creative team and had its international premiere at the Festival in 2002.

Viggo Mortensen on Eastern Promises
Viggo Mortensen revisits his second collaboration with David Cronenberg, a crime thriller set in the nebulous, cut-throat underworld of Russian organized crime in London, which made its world premiere at the Festival in 2007 and won the People’s Choice Award.

More details to come. Visit here for more.

(Photo credit: Universal Pictures)