10 documentaries piquing our interest at TIFF 2013

If fiction isn’t your thing, head to one of the more than 20 documentaries at this year’s TIFF.

If fiction isn’t your thing, head to one of the more than 20 documentaries at this year’s TIFF. We checked out the TIFF Docs programme to pick out a handful that look interesting to us. Here are 10 we’re curious about:

Ain’t Misbehavin’: Eighty-five-year-old documentarian Marcel Ophüls looks back at his own life, and that of his filmmaker father Max Ophüls, in this humourous and often poignant memoir. Before turning to documentary films, Marcel worked alongside some of the best in cinema, including Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and legendary director François Truffaut. Personal and professional stories are woven throughout, and we see many of the world-changing events of the past century through Ophüls’ eyes.

Beyond the Edge: Canadian-born director Leanne Pooley combines archival footage and state-of-the-art 3D techniques to create this fascinating recreation of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s history-making ascent of Mount Everest.

Burt’s Buzz: You may not have heard of Burt Shavitz, but you’ve likely heard of the company named after him: Burt’s Bees. Director Jody Shapiro examines Shavitz’s complex relationship with the brand he helped build and is still obligated to promote – despite the fact that he sold his shares in the company decades ago.

Finding Vivian Maier: Vivian Maier’s tens of thousands of photographs may have gone unnoticed were it not for the keen interest of a 26-year-old amateur historian, John Maloof. Maloof purchased a box full of negatives and undeveloped film at an auction, and couldn’t believe the treasure he’d stumbled upon. He set out to bring the late Maier’s legacy to the masses, and the mysterious recluse is now being called one of America’s most talented and prolific street photographers.

The Last of the Unjust: Holocaust documentarian Claude Lanzmann returns to familiar territory with The Last of the Unjust, which brings to light a 1975 interview Lanzmann conducted with Benjamin Murmelstein, a controversial figure from World War II. At the start of the war, the Viennese rabbi along with Adolf Eichmann arranged for the emigration of 120,000 Jews. Murmelstein would later spend time in prison as he was considered by some to be a Nazi collaborator for his work overseeing a Czech camp.

Midway: Renowned photographer Chris Jordan teams with documentary editor Sabine Emiliani to create this stark and stunningly beautiful film about the life cycle of albatrosses that nest on the remote Midway Atoll island in the Pacific Ocean. The birds live amongst machinery left over from the Second World War, providing compelling imagery for the camera lens.

The Square: Director Jehane Noujaim has spent the past two years speaking to revolutionaries who gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square – her conversations with them form the backbone of The Square. It’s timely viewing given recent events in Egypt, and it seems to be resonating with moviegoers. An unfinished cut of the film won an Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival back in January.

A Story of Children and Film: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Fanny and Alexander are among the many films that have featured young actors in central roles – in his latest documentary, director Mark Cousins examines how child performances diverge from those of their adult counterparts.

Tim’s Vermeer: At first it seems an odd concept – celebrity magicians Penn & Teller doing a documentary on Dutch painter Vermeer? But when you dig a little deeper, and find out that the two are delving into claims that Vermeer may have used a camera obscura in the development of his almost photographic paintings, it makes a bit more sense. The two illusionists follow their friend Tim Jenison’s quest to paint a replica of the artist’s The Music Lesson using 17th century technology.

The Unknown Known: Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris won an Oscar for The Fog Of War (2003), his fascinating interview with Robert S. McNamara. Now he turns his lens on another significant figure in U.S. history, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in The Unknown Known. In making the film, Morris studied countless communiques from when Rumsfeld was in office in an attempt to learn more about his role in major events between 2001 and 2006, including the invasion of Iraq.

What are you seeing/did you see at this year’s TIFF? Comment below!

Still from Finding Vivian Maier.

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