Winnipeg filmmaker and artist Isiah Medina’s He Thought He Died will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) next month.

He Thought He Died (pictured) is among 12 features and 19 short films selected for TIFF’s Wavelengths programme, which also includes the world premiere of Eganville, Ont.-born artist Steve Reinke’s U.S.-Canada-Austria short Sundown. The selection is “drawn from the worlds of documentary, contemporary art, and international art-house cinema,” according to a news release.

Medina’s He Thought He Died, produced by Kelley Dong, is described in the release as an “experimental take on the heist film.” The feature will world premiere in Wavelength’s Pairings section, which includes the North American premiere of the short film Laberint Sequences by Toronto-based multimedia artist and co-founder of Blue Magenta Films Blake Williams.

Another Canadian title making its North American premiere is Quebec writer-director Denis Côté’s Mademoiselle Kenopsia in the Wavelengths Features section. Produced by Montreal’s Voyelles Films, Mademoiselle Kenopsia had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival earlier this month. Worldwide sales are handled by Montreal’s h264.

The Wavelengths programme is named after Canadian filmmaker Michael Snow’s 1967 film Wavelength and “draws continued inspiration from the artist’s boundless exploration, experimentation, and innovation across media.” The 2023 programme is dedicated to the memory of Snow, who died in January at the age of 94.

TIFF also unveiled four films for its Classics programme, including the restored version Canadian producer-director Brigitte Berman’s Oscar-winning feature documentary Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got (1985). The restoration of the film was overseen by Berman with the financial support of Donald Hicks, and made possible through Canadian Cinema – Reignited, a Telefilm Canada initiative, in partnership with TIFF, said the release.

Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got will screen in a world premiere presentation.

TIFF will run from Sept. 7 to 17.

Photo courtesy TIFF