For the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, we are spotlighting three captivating films from Japanese directors that has already made waves in film festivals around the world. The masterful KORE-EDA Hirokazu brings his first South Korean feature Broker to TIFF this year with an all-star cast lead by Song Kang-ho (Parasite) and Bae Doona (Air Doll, Linda Linda Linda). The rising HAYA KAWA Chie’s increasingly relevant Plan 75 about Japan’s aging population also graces the TIFF stage, along with FUKADA Kôji’s captivating romantic drama Love Life.
Broker ベイビー・ブローカー
Tuesday, September 13, 5:30 PM, Royal Alexandra Theatre
Wednesday, September 14, 8:30 PM, Royal Alexandra Theatre
Directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu • 2022 • 129 min. • Presented in Korean with English subtitles
Sang-hyeon is the owner of a launderette and a volunteer at the nearby church, where his friend Dong-soo works. The two run an illegal business together: Sang-hyeon occasionally steals babies from the church’s baby box with the help of Dong-soo, who deletes the church’s CCTV footage that shows a baby was left there, and they sell them on the adoption black market. But when a young mother, So-young, comes back after having abandoned her baby, she discovers them and decides to go with them on a road-trip to interview the baby’s potential infertile parents. Meanwhile, two detectives, Soo-jin and Detective Lee, are on their trail.
Love Life ラブライフ
Monday, September 12, 3:00 PM, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Tuesday, September 13, 3:35 PM, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Directed by FUKADA Kôji • 2022 • 123 min. • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles
Taeko and her husband, Jiro, are living a peaceful existence with son, Keita. A tragic accident brings the boys father, Park, back into her life, Taeko throws herself into helping this deaf and homeless man to cope with pain and guilt.
Plan 75
Tuesday, September 13, 9:30 PM, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Wednesday, September 14, 9:15 PM, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Saturday, September 17, 8:35 AM, Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Directed by HAYAKAWA Chie • 2022 • 112 min. • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles
Government program Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be euthanized to remedy an aged society. An elderly woman whose means of survival are vanishing, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman, and a Filipino laborer face choices of life and death.
