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Pendance Announces First 25 Films for 2020

Tickets for individual screenings go on sale Monday. Friday and Saturday screenings will take place at TIFF Bell Lightbox between Cinema 2 and Cinema 3. Thursday & Sunday screenings will take place at the Art Gallary of Ontario’s Jackman Hall Theatre.

Get Passes Now

Full schedule will be up next week. For 2020, we worked harder than ever to find the very best films, artists, and workshop leaders. And we’re happy to say with less than four weeks remaining, we’ve found them.

The Last Tree (2019) | Shola Amoo | UK

After a happy childhood in the countryside, a teenager moves to London, where he must navigate an unfamiliar environment on his road to adulthood. Featuring a ground-breaking performance from Samuel Adewunmi.

Starring: Samuel Adewunmi, Nicholas Pinnock, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Denise Black  
*Official Selection: Sundance, BFI 

Aleksi (2019) | Barbara Vekaric | Croatia | Canadian Premiere

Aleksi is a photographer dodging the responsibilities of adulthood and giving into all of her impulses with the various men in her life. An indie-style dramedy that tackles the topic of “the second coming of age” and figuring out life goals on the brink of one’s thirties in a realistic fashion.

Starring Tihana Lazovic, Jason Mann, Neda Arneric, Sebastian Cavazza

*Official Selections: SWSW, Pula Film Festival 

Koko Di Koko Da (2019) | Johannes Nyholm | Sweden | Ontario Premiere

As a couple goes on a trip to find their way back to each other, a sideshow artist and his shady entourage emerge from the woods, terrorizing them, luring them deeper into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick

Starring LeufEdlund, Peter Belli, Ylva Gallon 

*Official Selections: Sundance, Fantasia

Saint Frances (2019) | Alex Thompson | Ontario Premiere

After ending her pregnancy at the start of the summer, Bridget reluctantly accepts a much-needed job nannying a six-year oldin affluent Evanston, Illinois. With no time to recover, she clashes with the obstinate Frances and struggles to navigate a growing tension between Frances’ moms. As her personal relationships suffer, a reluctant friendship with Frances emerges, and Bridget contends with the inevitable joys and shit-shows of becoming a part of someone else’s family.

Starring Kelly O’Sullivan, Jim True-Frost, Rebekah Ward, Francis Guinan. Lily Mojekwu

*Awards: Audience Award SXSW 

The Wall of Mexico (2019) | Magdalena Zyzak & Zachary Cotler | Canadian Premiere

Don, a young handyman, is hired by the Aristas, a wealthy Mexican-American family with two outrageously decadent daughters. Don is aware of rumors that the source of the family’s wealth is the ‘special’ well water they sell to the town. Tensions flare as Don becomes infatuated with the youngest daughter Tania, and water from the Artistas’ well begins to disappear during the night.

Starring Jackson Rathbone, Carmela Zumbado, Marisol Sacramento, Esai Morales, Mariel Hemingway, Xander Berkeley  

*Official Selection SXSW

The Short History of the Long Road (2019) | Ani Simon-Kennedy | Ontario Premiere

Teenage Nola grew up living out of a van with her charismatic father, Clint; two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone. She’ll need to take the wheel for the first time learning to own her grief, her past and her new destination.

Starring Sabrina Carpenter, Steven Ogg, Maggie Siff, Danny Trejo, Jashaun St. John  

*Jury Mention for Best Screenplay at Tribeca Film Festival

 

Cook F**k Kill (2019) | Mira Fornay| Canadian Premiere

“If I was a girl, this would never have happened. Cook F**k Kill is not as lighthearted as that title makes it seem. Described as an “absurd drama”, the film is directed by a Czech filmmaker named Mira Forney and deals with domestic abuse – about a man who loves to cook, fuck, and, well, kill. “Seen through the prism of a metaphor, the film is an intimate story about family or ‘the most aggressive group within a society, with the exception of the army and the police’, as Fornaystates.” Meaning the family, how people inside their home are abusive even if they’re nice outside.

Starring Jaroslav Plesl, Petra Fornayová, Regina Rázlová, Jan Alexander, Jazmína Cigánková

Official Selection: Rotterdam, Tallinn 


Check Out the first 18 Short Films Selected to Pendance2020:
Xavier Dolan, Yorgos Lanthimos, Leah Pipes, Oscar Winners, and much more.