A massive thank you to everyone who participated in the Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival 2022. It's been absolutely fantastic having so many filmmakers involved and seeing the global support for true indie film...
The judges' votes have been counted and added to the audience's feedback. Huge congratulations to the filmmakers who screened with us! A particular well done to the following films...
Festival Winners
Best Film
(next screening with Lift-Off in Los Angeles 2022)
Snake Trail
Dir. Shicong Zhu
Synopsis: Urged to complete the traditional Chinese death ritual as her mother’s only daughter, but without the legal documentation to prove their kinship—a girl finds herself in an institutional conundrum.
Best Film
(next screening with Lift-Off in Los Angeles 2022)
The Smell of Mango (El Olor Del Mango)
Dir. Andressa Back
Synopsis: The smell of mango provokes a journey of nostalgia in Dolores, a Colombian immigrant in Canada, lost in-between times and spaces, expecting a baby while coping with her mother’s inevitable passing.
Season Award Nominations
The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are nominated and invited to attend the prestigious Lift-Off Season Awards, culminating at the end of the Lift-Off season. Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.
Heart of Rose Hip
Dir. Rune Abildgaard
Synopsis:"Young Tea postpones her summer trip to take care of her dying mother on the island she grew up on. Here she meets the charming Anton who distracts her from realizing something is completely off in her childhood home."
Best Cinematography
For I Am Dead
Dir. Patricia Delso Lucas
Synopsis: In late-1800s Europe, Oscar, a wealthy but lonely middle-aged man who has lived a decadent, extravagant life in a chateau filled with wine, courtesans and opium, confesses love to his gardener Jude before he dies of his excesses.
Nominated for Best Art Direction
Peanut
Dir. Taihra Swaine
Synopsis: Odette struggles with her identity and relationship after deciding to terminate her pregnancy, she seeks comfort in the pool, trying to find a way forward.
Nominated for Best First-Time Film
Snake Trail
Dir. Shicong Zhu
Synopsis: Urged to complete the traditional Chinese death ritual as her mother’s only daughter, but without the legal documentation to prove their kinship—a girl finds herself in an institutional conundrum.
Nominated for Best Short Live Action Narrative
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE
Dir. Xianhe Lei
Synopsis: During the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping was demoted to Jiangxi Province for re-education through labor. He went deeply into the grass roots and perceived the suffering together with the ordinary people and kept thinking about China’s future and destiny, laying an ideological foundation for the policy of Reform and Opening-up
Nominated for Best Art Direction
Audience Choice
The Audience Choice award is given to the filmmakers whose film received the most votes during the festival. The filmmakers will be invited to join us on the Lift-Off YouTube channel for a directors commentary roundtable. Join in the conversation as we delve deeper into each film.
Amany
Dir. Amr Haitham
Synopsis: A nostalgic Amr, the son of a remarkable mother, experiences an inner conflict, challenged by validating his feelings towards his mother in a one-sided relationship. Amr is pursuing a moment of truth.
Echo
Dir. Quentin Ferrant
Synopsis: Hurt people hurt people. 'Echo' proffers a voyeuristic lens on a picture-perfect facade of 'happy ever after,' exposing the duplicitous nature of a narcissistic woman. An exploration of the cyclical nature of abuse through drama, demonstrating the ways in which domestic violence manifests, and echoes through generations. A counter-narrative that attempts to subvert societal prejudice surrounding perpetrators of abuse, offering a fresh and nuanced perspective on male victims.
Chatairene
Dir. Victor Pelletier
Synopsis: Chatairene embodies a nostalgic implosion that navigates between the mourning, the abundance, the absurdity and the affection we have for those beings who cross our path. For Irene, it's her cat Styromousse.
Twenty Marks
Dir. Savas Alpaltun
Synopsis: In 1940 Nazi occupied France, Maximillian’s church is cursed by the aftermath of a great nearby revolt. The turmoil has left his church devastated, and thereby his priesthood. In these trying times, in fraternising and trading with the anti-Semitic regime, he can either replenish his career or his virtue, but not both.