by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

The Toronto International Film Festival continues with more interesting selections from around the world. Here are six more highlights. 

Victim (dir. Michal Blaško)

Victim is a searing drama about Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), a Ukrainian woman facing an ethical dilemma in the Czech Republic. Her teenage son, Igor (Gleb Kuchuk), is in the hospital claiming to have been beaten by three Roma youth. Irina hopes to sort things out with the police, while also trying to get citizenship and open a salon. Igor’s case gains support from Selsky (Victor Zavadil) who generates media and a protest march, which attracts the attention of xenophobes and neo-Nazi groups. The local Mayor (Gabriela Míčová) also assists the courageous Irina financially and with her citizenship issue. But then Irina learns something that shifts her thinking about what happened to Igor and must decide what to do. Smachelyuk commands the screen, giving an unflinching performance as Irina grapples with the various pressures in her life. Director Michal Blaško tells this timely story effectively and efficiently without a wasted shot, and with plenty of tension. 

Love and Mathematics (dir. Claudia Sainte-Luce)

The poignant, low-key Mexican import, Love and Mathematics depicts the unexpected romance that blossoms between Billy (Robert Quijano), and Monica (Diana Bovio), his new neighbor in a suburban housing development in Monterrey. Billy is a former member of a boy band who is lost in life being a stay-at-home dad and caring full-time for his infant son Leo. He also has contempt for his wife Lucía’s (Daniela Salinas) yappy dog, Lucas—and sometimes for his wife. His malaise prompts him to spend more time with Monica, who was a fan of his during his heyday. Billy confides in Monica, and she inspires him to perform again, but can they get out of their respective ruts and be together? Director Claudia Sainte-Luce lets this simple, gentle love story unfold in artfully composed shots. Moreover, she frequently moves her camera to create real emotion. A 360-degree tracking shot when Billy recounts how he got a scar is masterful in revealing each character’s thoughts and reactions. Quijano and Bovio bring a real pathos to their performances, and viewers will be rooting for them to couple up. 

The End of Sex (dir. Sean Garrity)

The Canadian comedy, The End of Sex, is a modest film—both in laughs and ambitions. It pivots on the question of can married couple Emma (Emily Hampshire of Schitt’s Creek) and Josh (writer Jonas Chernick) revive their sex life during the week when their daughters are away at the very camp where the couple first met. They each have concerns after a pair of faked orgasms. Emma finds herself thinking about Marlon (Gray Powell), who is crushed on her, and proposes a threesome with her friend Wendy (Melanie Scrofano), that backfires. Meanwhile, Josh suggests an ill-fated visit to the local sex club. They also both decide to take some MDMA to maybe heat things up. The situations, which are meant to be awkward and funny, or both, are sometimes neither. Nevertheless, Hampshire is terrific with her timing, as is Lily Gao, who plays Josh’s smart and sexy coworker. Alas, The End of Sex is more mild than wild. 

Daughter of Rage (dir. Laura Baumeister)

Daughter of Rage immerses viewers in the hardscrabble world of Maria (Ara Alejandra Medal), who lives on the edge of a Nicaraguan landfill with her mother, Lilibeth (Virginia Raquel Sevilla Garcia). Maria loves the puppies her mother raises to sell, but when the planned sale goes awry, Lilibeth leaves Maria with Raul (Noé Hernández), who puts her to work in his child labor camp. Maria is forlorn and restless; she wants only to be reunited with her mother. Writer/director Laura Baumeister—the first Nicaraguan woman to direct a feature film—captures Maria’s coming of age as she grapples with loneliness and learns to fight for what she wants. Maria’s friendship with Tadeo (Carlos Gutierrez) offers some relief to her misery, but it is how Maria develops her self-reliance that resonates. Baumeister creates a gritty atmosphere, and there are some indelible images—from Maria hiding under a tarp on the back of a truck to a mystical scene with a catwoman—and she coaxes a marvelous performance from Ara Alejandra Medal. 

The Umbrella Men (dir. John Barker)

The Umbrella Men is a shaggy, jazzy caper film set in Cape Town as Jerome (Jaques De Silva) needs 1 million rand to keep ownership of his late father’s jazz club. Jerome is part of the Umbrella Men minstrel troupe—the film is set in the weeks leading up to the town’s January 2 Carnival—and Tariq (Abduragman Adams), the head of their rivals, the Maulers, wants the club for a gentrification project. To raise the money, Jerome and his best friend, Mortimer (Kenan Arrison), who has just finished a ten-year stint in jail, assemble a band of bank robbers for a highly dangerous but extremely lucrative job—if they succeed. Complicating matter is Jerome’s budding romance with Keisha (Shamilla Miller) who works at the bank. The Umbrella Men takes its time setting up the heist, but it is worth the wait given the charisma of De Silva and Miller. Director/cowriter John Barker may not be reinventing the wheel here, but with an ensemble cast of fun characters, a strong sense of place, and some terrific music, The Umbrella Men offers plenty of appeal.  

Miúcha: The Voice of Bossa Nova (dirs. Daniel Zarvos & Liliane Mutti)

Miúcha: The Voice of Bossa Nova is an affectionate documentary based on the letters, diaries and watercolors of singer Heloïsa Buarque de Hollanda. Known professionally as Miúcha, she narrates this story of her life which involves her becoming a key player in the burgeoning Bossa Nova scene in Brazil and elsewhere in the 1960s. She explains that she long wanted to be a singer—much to her mother’s dismay—but not in the Edith Piaf mode. It was her collaborations with Vinicius de Moraes and then João Gilberto that put her on the map with her slinky voice. But when she married Gilberto, and moved to Mexico City and later New York City, her career hit pause to help her husband, who eventually took her songs for his albums. Their rocky marriage ended, and she returned to Brazil with their daughter, Betel, where Miúcha found success working with Tom Jobim. Director’s Daniel Zarvos and Liliane Mutti recount the singer’s ups and downs with the buoyant music guiding viewers’ emotions. There are fabulous performance clips, home movies, photographs, and even animated segments, that reflect the good times and joys of making music, as well as Miúcha’s interest in feminism and “finding her voice.” For lovers of the musical genre, this film is both illuminating and enjoyable.