10 Documentaries From The Toronto International Film Festival You Need To Watch

When it comes to the buzzier titles at any film festivals, traditional narrative cinema often hogs the spotlight. But the Toronto International Film Festival, held in Toronto, Canada in September 2023, has also provided an impressive array of non-fiction films, movies that take a look at the real-life workings of humanity. From sports documentaries and intimate explorations of war, to films about legendary musicians and meditative dives into family history, this year's crop of TIFF documentaries has a little something for everyone.

The best documentaries offer audiences a new perspective on the world around them, shedding light on important issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, or even just paying homage to the careers of beloved stars. Without the dramatic flourishes of narrative films, which embellish even stories based on real life, documentaries are able to prevent a much more authentic vision of the world — albeit subject to the specific viewpoint of their filmmakers. Through TIFF's Docs program, the fall festival has brought us an exciting new crop of documentaries for viewers to sink their teeth into.

Lhakpa Sherpa, star of "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa," has led a fascinating life. In her younger days, she became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. As you can imagine, that's no small feat, even for someone who grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas and knows the terrain. She's made this journey not once, but an astonishing nine times by the start of the film. We catch up with her years later, after moving to the United States despite speaking little English, where she now works at a Whole Foods in West Hartford, Connecticut, to provide for her two teenage daughters. Although they're scraping by, Sherpa begins to dream of a way to turn things around for them by returning to Nepal and climbing Mount Everest once again.

"Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" has a wistful tone, as Sherpa fights to improve her quality of life in any way she can. It charmed audiences at TIFF, where it was the second runner-up for the People's Choice Documentary Award. Soon after its release at the festival, it was bought by Netflix, where it will be released in 2024.

Summer camp is a place for kids to spread their wings a little bit, learning how to make friends and be independent outside the day-to-day rigors of school. "Summer Qamp," on the other hand, offers something more specific for its young campers. This documentary, directed by Jen Markowitz in their feature debut, revolves around Camp fYrefly, which is designed to be a safe space for LGBTQ+ kids and teens in Alberta, Canada. It provides them with an opportunity to meet other kids like them, which functionally allows that aspect of their identity to fade into the background — since they all identify as queer, the challenges they may face in their day-to-day life aren't as powerful, and they can just be kids. 

With queer and trans rights increasingly under fire, this space for them to just exist is more important than ever. Markowitz has a light hand in their directorial style, letting the campers mold the narrative as the summer goes on. In an interview with POV Magazine, the filmmaker spoke of building that trust with the kids, saying, "I let them know right off the bat that I wasn't going to be hammering in on their traumas in my storytelling. I also was not going to be sneaking around trying to grab little moments that they didn't know about." 

"Summer Qamp" was the runner-up in the People's Choice Documentary Award competition, and is currently seeking distribution.

Of all the musicians of the 1960s, Paul Simon — along with his ex-performing partner, Art Garfunkel — was among the most influential. He's responsible for some of the most memorable songs of the period, from "Mrs. Robinson" (featured heavily in the generation-defining "The Graduate") to "Bridge Over Troubled Water." So it's only fair that he's finally earned his own musical documentary, "In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon." 

Under the careful eye of director Alex Gibney (who previously helmed films such as "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and "Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief"), we jump back and forward in time, watching footage of Simon's earlier career highlights, as well as the recording of his most recent album at the age of 81.

"In Restless Dreams" takes a good, long look into the life of Paul Simon, clocking in at three-and-a-half hours, but fans of the musician will undoubtedly find it rewarding. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com called it a "consistently interesting study of one of the most essential musicians in history," while Owen Gleiberman of Variety added that it's "a documentary that every Paul Simon fan on earth should want to see and experience."

For most people, even diehard sports fans, the history of women's soccer begins in earnest during the early 1990s, when the first ever FIFA-sanctioned Women's World Cup was held in China back in 1991. So it might come as a surprise that decades earlier, there was a major international competition that pitted women's soccer teams from around the globe against one another, a well-attended display of the potential of the sport. "Copa 71" chronicles this little-known tournament, an event that it claims was functionally erased from history because it operated outside the jurisdiction of the all-powerful FIFA organization. 

With interviews from all the stars of the tournament, many of whom were reunited for the very first time during the making of this film, it does justice to their athletic exploits while also capturing a sense of everything they were up against as female soccer players in the 1970s. They experience wonder at realizing that there are so many other women around the world as dedicated to soccer as they are, but also face humiliation from the male-dominated sporting infrastructure determined to treat them like a joke. "Copa 71" is a love letter to female athletes who have until recently had their legacies ignored. Fans of "A League of Their Own" will find another gem in the same vein.

"The Mother of All Lies" had quite a reputation before it even premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, having won the prestigious best director award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes earlier in the year. But even with such lofty expectations, "The Mother of All Lies" still impressed audiences. 

Director Asmae El Moudir crafts an intimate story that examines her own family history, questions she has about her childhood in Casablanca, Morocco, and the deep trauma of the past that no one has been able to address to her satisfaction. The central question at the movie's heart — and one that ends up creating endless off-shoots — is that Asmae has only one photograph of herself as a child, and she has never believed that she's actually the girl in the photo. From there, tendrils unfold in a delicate web that weaves together personal anecdotes and the political reality of the time, showing how inextricably linked the two are.

Along with receiving acclaim and awards, "The Mother of All Lies" was selected as Morocco's entry into the Academy Awards best international film category, although it has yet to secure a distribution deal.