TIFF 2012: these 14 films are expected to defy conventions in this year’s Vanguard programme

TIFF 2012: these 14 films are expected to defy conventions in this year’s Vanguard programme

There are films at TIFF with Hollywood polish, and then there are the Vanguard entries, which are meant to be cutting edge and genre-defying. This year, TIFF will host films by singer Peaches, directors  Soi Cheang and Michel Gondry, musician Ben Drew and more. According to TIFF, these entries are darker than the Midnight Madness selections and they have a “confrontational and transgressive core.” That does not sound like a very pleasant core at all.

90 Minutes (Norway)
Director: Eva Sørhaug
Starring: Aksel Hennie, Bjørn Floberg, Pia Tjelta

Beijing Flickers (China)
Director: Zhang Yuan
Starring: Duan Bowen, Lv Yulai, Shi Shi, Han Wenwen, Li Xinyun

Berberian Sound Studio (U.K.)
Director: Peter Strickland
Starring: Toby Jones, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Cosimo Fusco

Blondie (Sweden)
Director: Jesper Ganslandt
Starring: Alexandra Dahlström, Helena af Sandeberg and Carolina Gynning

Here Comes the Devil (Mexico and Argentina)
Director: Adrian Garcia Bogliano
Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Giancarlo Ruiz, Laura Caro

Ill Manors (U.K.)
Director: Ben Drew
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Ed Skrein and Natalie Press

Motorway (Hong Kong)
Director: Soi Cheang
Starring: Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Shawn Yue and Xiaodong Guo

Painless (Spain, France and Portugal)
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Starring: Derek de Lint, Irene Montalà and Félix Gómez

Peaches Does Herself (Germany)
Director: Peaches
Starring: Danni Daniels, Sandy Kane, Peaches

Pusher (U.K.)
Director: Luis Prieto
Starring: Richard Coyle, Bronson Webb, Agyness Deyn

Room 237 (U.S.)
Director: Rodney Ascher
Starring: Rodney Ascher

Sightseers (U.K.)
Director: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Dan Charles

Thale (Norway)
Director: Aleksander Nordaas
Starring: Morten Andresen, Erlend Nervold, Silje Reinåmo

The We and the I (U.S.)
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Michael Brodie, Teresa Lynn, Raymond Delgado