By Roger Costa
FORASTERA
Lyrical and narrated with a profound sense of melancholy, Madrid-born filmmaker Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’ distinctive directorial debut is a sensitive reimagination of magical realism.
Exploring the process of grieving, loss and the importance of memory, it is seen through the perspective of a teen girl who loses her grandmother and somehow replaces her in order to care for her ailing grandfather.
Set during a sun-soaked summer in Mallorca, this exquisite coming of age features a revelatory performance by Zoe Stein as Cata, the protagonist, whose experience reflects on the urgency of care and empathy among the rushed traffic of modern family bonds.
(Screens September 8 and 9).
OCA
Addressing faith, prejudice and human relationships, this allegorical satire on religion and devotion blends elements of Luis Bunuel, Fellini and Robert Altman, delivering a darkly poetical sociopolitical statement. Making her feature debut, Mexican director Karla Badillo demonstrates impressive results as she tackles sensitive and provocative material through the unlikely encounters of very different people on a journey to meet the new archbishop.
Interconnecting the stories of group of pilgrims on a religious procession, a young nun who receives visions, a humble girl whose mother had just abandoned her, a bourgeois woman and her driver and a parachutist, the film is a brilliantly sharp commentary on spirituality, community and the challenges of existentialism.
(Screens September 9 and 10).
UNDER THE SAME SUN
Mysterious and transcendental, Barcelona-born accomplished director Ulises Porra’s philosophical jungle-set period drama charts the journey of a Spanish settler, his Chinese companion, and a former Haitian soldier working together to bring high-quality silk production to early 19th-century Hispaniola.
Lyrical, atmospheric and accurate in its political resonance, it’s a unique, romantic and visually-arresting depiction of economic struggle and cultural clashes on the shadows of colonialism.
(Screens September 11, 12 and 14).
(The 50th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 4–14, 2025. Go to https://tiff.net/ for details, available tickets and schedule).
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