Female Film Critics 24/375
In the school setting, co-writer/director Catak has created a microcosm of the world we live in, with all the same differing factions, prejudices, offhand cruelty and cancel culture machinations available on a daily basis. The Teachers Lounge is a tense, brilliant ride; the film won a handful of German Film Awards in 2023 and will represent Germany in the Best International Film Category at the 2024 Oscars.
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The stars didn’t turn out for TIFF, but that didn’t stop the flow of stellar films that provide major alternatives to Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon and Barbie for the upcoming awards season. Here are a few of my floating predictions mid-week in Toronto, where every day I’m adding new TIFF-programmed films to the list. This is still the glorious brainstorming period before the long red carpet gets streaked with footprints and marijuana butts.
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The Monk and the Gun is set in 2006. Bhutan has just got access to television (and the internet) and the king has decided the country should become a democracy. To that end, people must learn how to vote, and a trial run is set up so the locals in every village and crossroads can eventually learn to do just that. There’s a lot of planning around the mock election to be held in Ura, but it turns out democracy is a bit of a hard sell when most of the populace is still loyal to the king.
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