September 04, 2024

WIFF Announces THE TRAGICALLY HIP: NO DRESS REHEARSAL Special Screening Event

Plus, WIFF Announces the first 10 Films for the 20th Anniversary Festival including Opening Night, Centrepiece and Closing Night Films

The Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) is thrilled to announce that it will be hosting a special screening event of The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal during the 20th Anniversary Festival happening this Fall. The new docu-series, directed by Mike Downie, will be presented in its entirety and include an extended Q&A discussion period with special guests.

Shepherds, directed by Sophie Deraspe will be presented as the Opening Night Film for the 2024 Festival. The film follows a young man as he abandons the life he knows—corporate job security, city living—for that of a shepherd in the South of France. The film is set to premiere this month at TIFF. Deraspe was previously nominated for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film for Antigone (2019).

Featured as the Centrepiece Film this year will be Everybody Loves Touda, directed by Nabil Ayouch. Determined to achieve her dream of being a Sheikha, Touda fearlessly performs traditional Morrocan music and works towards securing a better future for her and her son. The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year.

Closing out the 2024 Festival is Conclave, the new historical thriller from Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front). Through the process of electing the new pope, dark secrets and conspiracies are exposed. Over the weekend, the film had it’s world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival garnering excited reactions and Oscar buzz from patrons and critics. Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, and is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris.

WIFF is pleased to also be announcing six additional titles from the 2024 programming slate —

The Substance, directed by Coralie Forget

The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit, directed by Daniel Loewenthal

Unstoppable, directed by William Goldenberg

The Seed of the Sacred Fig, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

Superboys of Malegaon, directed by Reema Kahti

Eno, directed by Gary Hustwit

“Since WIFF’s inception in 2005, sharing great films with our community has always been at the forefront. As we head into our 20th anniversary, we are thrilled to offer what is set to be our largest program yet, including exemplary films like Shepherds and Conclave, among many others. Creating exceptional experiences through film is what we strive for, and we can’t wait to celebrate icons of Canadian culture at the The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal screening event,” said Vincent Georgie, Executive Director and Chief Programmer for WIFF. “Keep your eyes peeled, we have lots more to share with you.”

The 20th Anniversary Festival will run from Thursday, October 24 to Sunday, November 3, 2024. The 2024 festival is proudly presented by the Toldo Foundation.

The full festival lineup will be revealed on Thursday, September 19, with all tickets going on sale the same day. Following the announcement will be two free community screenings of a selection of WIFF 2024 trailers, hosted at the Capitol Theatre. More information can be found by visiting windsorfilmfestival.com.

Stay in touch with WIFF via the festival’s Facebook page, X (Twitter), Instagram, or by signing up to receive WIFF news via email by visiting windsorfilmfestival.com.

More about the films:

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal directed by Mike Downie

October 26, 2024 at 1 PM | Get Tickets

A love story between a band and the country they call home. Canadian rock’n’roll legends The Tragically Hip share the story of their unique, complicated and wildly successful musical brotherhood. 40-years of hits and misses, friendship and frustration, triumph and tragedy. Featuring never-before-seen performances, unreleased music and unprecedented access to the band and the people closest to them.

Shepherds directed by Sophie Deraspe

October 24, 2024 at 6 PM | Get Tickets

Mathyas trades in his Montreal life as a young advertising executive to become a shepherd in the South of France. But the harsh realities of the pastoral world force him to question his romantic vision of the profession. A visit from Elise, a civil servant who has abruptly quit her job, gives Mathyas’ quest a new direction. Together, with a herd in their care, they embark on a journey towards a new way of life in the mountains.

Everybody Loves Touda directed by Nabil Ayouch

October 30, 2024 at 6 PM | Get Tickets

Irrepressible Touda only dreams of one thing: being a Sheikha, a respected traditional Moroccan performer empowered by the lyrics of the fierce female poets who came before her – with their songs of resistance and emancipation. Performing every evening in provincial bars under the lustful gaze of men, Touda plans to set her sights on leaving her small village for the bright lights of Casablanca where she hopes to be recognized as a true artist and also secure a better future for her and her son.

Conclave directed by Edward Berger

November 3, 2024 at 6 PM | Get Tickets

From director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), Conclave follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting a new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church.

The Substance directed by Coralie Fargeat

October 25, 2024 at 8:20 PM and November 2, 2024 at 9:30 PM | Get Tickets

Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself?

You. Only better in every way.

You’ve got to try this product: The Substance.

It changed my life.

Demi Moore gives a career-best performance as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister past her prime and suddenly fired from her fitness TV show by repellent studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid). She is then drawn to the opportunity presented by a mysterious new drug: THE SUBSTANCE. All it takes is one injection and she is reborn – temporarily – as the gorgeous, twentysomething Sue (Margaret Qualley). The only rule? Time needs to be split: exactly one week in one body, then one week in the other. No exceptions. A perfect balance. What could go wrong?

Deliriously entertaining and ruthlessly satirical, Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes sensation turns toxic beauty culture inside out with a be-careful-what-you-wish-for fable for the ages. Explosive, provocative and twisted, The Substance marks the arrival of a thrillingly visionary filmmaker.

The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit directed by Daniel Loewenthal

October 24, 2024 at 6 PM and October 27, 2024 at 1 PM | Get Tickets

The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit is a landmark — the first documentary film to explore the dynamic story of the city’s innovative and influential jazz musicians. Inspired by Mark Stryker’s award-winning 2019 book Jazz from Detroit, the feature-length film makes the case that you can’t tell the history of jazz without telling the history of jazz from Detroit. Set within Detroit’s dramatic rise and fall as an industrial power and the struggles and triumphs of its African American community, the documentary weaves a compelling historical and cultural tapestry through the 20th and 21st centuries. From legends like Elvin Jones, Yusef Lateef, and Ron Carter to today’s stars like Karriem Riggins, Garrett, and Regina Carter, scores of world-class jazz musicians have rolled off Detroit’s assembly line—nurtured by a profound legacy of mentors such as Barry Harris, Marcus Belgrave, and Rodney Whitaker and the resiliency of an American city that never quits. The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit reminds audiences that Detroit remains a mecca of Black musical excellence, and that jazz is central to the soundtrack of the city’s renaissance.

Among the musicians, producers, historians, and writers appearing in the film are: Barry Harris, Charles McPherson, Robert Hurst III, Christian McBride, Pat Metheny, Terence Blanchard, Sheila Jordan, Regina Carter, Louis Hayes, Johnny O’Neal, James Carter, Karriem Riggins, Rodney Whitaker, Don Was, George Bohanon, David Maraniss, Herb Boyd, Jamon Jordan, Marsha Music, Endea Owens, Marion Hayden, and many others.

Unstoppable directed by William Goldenberg

November 2, 2024 at 7:30 PM | Get Tickets

Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), despite being born without a right leg, rises to become a NCAA Division 1 Champion wrestler ultimately winning a national championship against the school that rejected him, national powerhouse Iowa. With the earned support of his wrestling coaches (Don Cheadle, Michael Peña) and unwavering support of his mother (Jennifer Lopez), Robles showcases determination and strength while working to achieve his goals. The film is based on the book Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion, by Anthony Robles and Austin Murphy.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

October 29, 2024 at 6:15 PM and November 2, 2024 at 1 PM | Get Tickets

Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.

Superboys of Malegaon directed by Reema Kahti

October 27, 2024 at 5 PM | Get Tickets

Superboys of Malegaon is a film based on the life of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur filmmaker from the town of Malegaon. The residents of the town look to Bollywood cinema for a much needed escape from daily drudgery. Nasir gets inspired to make a film for the people of Malegaon, by the people of Malegaon. He bands together his ragtag group of friends to bring his vision to life, thereby bringing a fresh lease of life into the town. The film is a poignant yet uplifting take on both filmmaking and friendship – and what happens when those two worlds collide.

Eno directed by Gary Hustwit

October 26, 2024 at 6:45 PM and November 2, 2024 at 4:05 PM | Get Tickets

Visionary musician and artist Brian Eno — known for producing David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, among many others; pioneering the genre of ambient music; and releasing more than 40 solo and collaboration albums — reveals his creative processes in Eno, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Gary Hustwit (Helvetica, Rams).

In the first career-spanning documentary of the legendary and prolific artist and the world’s first generative feature film, Hustwit set out to decode Eno’s creative strategies and examine his lifelong search for the meaning of music. Defying the hagiographic impulses of the music doc genre, Eno draws from original interviews and the artist’s own staggering archive of never-before-seen footage and unreleased music, as well as Hustwit’s original interviews. Utilizing a proprietary software system developed by Hustwit and digital artist Brendan Dawes, Eno offers millions of possible variations and ushers in a groundbreaking approach to storytelling. The result is a viewing experience that resonates with Eno’s own artistic practice, his use of technology to compose music, and the mercurial essence of creativity as his endless pursuit.