At Toronto, hunting for the next 'Obsession' on the banks of Lake Whatever

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Set us as preferred For 10 days, the center of the cinematic universe is the Toronto International Film Festival, whose closest geographical landmark is currently a ludicrous controversy.“Welcome to TIFF and welcome to the beautiful shore of — say it with me — Lake Ontario,” festival CEO Cameron Bailey said on opening night as he introduced “Being Heumann,” director Sian Heder’s crowd-pleasing follow-up to her best picture Oscar-winner “CODA.” The crowd said it back.Google Maps, however, insists that the festival is actually a 15-minute stroll to Lake America.

I’ve yet to hear a single person call it that without an eyeroll.What’s in a name? Last year in the spirit of patriotism, my favorite Toronto coffee shop taped over the menu listing for its Americano to re-dub it a Canadiano.This fall, the sign has returned to Americano.

Taking a pause from politics, I ordered a flat white.Yet, the festival’s programmers seem to be decentralizing their attention-hogging neighbors to the south.Typically, TIFF is a launch pad for awards contenders.

But there are fewer high profile Hollywood filmmakers this year than usual — which was also the case in Cannes.Perhaps these international festivals are testing their own waters to see if they’re obliged to invite Americans to their party.

Movies Five years after her Oscar-winning ‘CODA,’ filmmaker Siân Heder talks about ‘Being Heumann,’ her new movie opening Toronto, and how her life changed.Instead, the Toronto line-up boasts pointed films about fascism.On its surface, Michaël R.

Roskam’s “Le Faux Soir” is a procedural account of how a network of rebels in occupied Belgium published its own parody issue of a pro-Nazi newspaper on the 25th anniversary of Armistice Day in 1943.Most of the script’s energy goes to talking about typesetting and rot...