It often bears repeating that the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) started way back in 1976 as the "Festival of Festivals", ostensibly a showcase for the best of the world's cinema brought to our screens.

The tradition for this curation continues, with some exceptional films finally landing for locals to check out.

The following are some of the best Festival Films that are making their Toronto debut at TIFF 2022.

Triangle of Sadness

Ruben Östlund's acerbic dramedy starts out echoing Zoolander and ends as a full-on Lord of the Flies catastrophe. Along the way you're treated to one of the smartest, most pointed critics of society you'll ever see with a tux-wearing crowd. Winner of Canne's Palme d'Or and easily one of the best films of 2022.

Joyland

I was absolutely floored by Saim Sadiq’s family tale that explores the Transgender community in Lahore. The first Pakistani film to ever play Cannes, the film not only took home the Jury award, it gained plenty of international attention for this remarkable work.

Holy Spider

Ali Abassi's Border was a weird, wild ride, but this latest from the Iranian filmmaker who calls Denmark home is even more remarkable.

Moonage Daydream

In my Cannes video review I described Brett Morgen's David Bowie doc as a "cinematic orgasm", and months later continue to vibrate from its effect.

Expertly assembled sound and vision elements combine to provide a definitive dive into the legend's work. Debuting at Ontario Place's Cinesphere in glorious IMAX, this is an absolute must see.

Falcon Lake

I was annoyed to miss this at Cannes due to scheduling issues (a conflict with a Cronenberg interview, of all things, resulting the most Canadian of conundrums!), but I heard nothing but excellent things about Charlotte Le Bon's award winning, gothic coming-of-age saga.

Decision to Leave

The winner of a major prize at Cannes, I was perhaps an outlier in finding it a lesser work by a master filmmaker. Still, when the film shines it's extraordinary, and while it may not live up to my love of several of Park Chan-wook's other masterpieces, it's still very much worth exploring.

Living

Based on the brilliant Kurosawa film Ikiru, Nobel Prize winner (!) Kazuo Ishiguro does an absolutely stunning job transferring this tale of a dying bureaucrat to mid-Century Britain.

Helmed by Oliver Hermanus and with a breathtaking performance by a beloved Bill Nighy, this is truly a beautiful, moving masterwork.

Hunt

Screened at Cannes as part of their Midnight selection, this Korean political police procedural didn't get nearly enough love when it played there. The directorial debut of Lee Jung-jae, known to millions from Squid Game, his Spy-vs-Spy Chief thriller is a lot of explosive fun, mixed with deeper character beats hits it mark.

R.M.N.

I've never been a huge fan of Cristian Mungiu and the "slow-cinema" that he and his Romainian compatriots helped help popularize on the fest circuit, but I was thoroughly moved by this dense yet deep look at language, culture, and community, and the rot at the heart of it all,  in this morally and politically terrifying Transylvanian tale.

EO

Named for the onomatopoeic cry of its lead character, Jerzy Skolimowski twists Breson's clasic Au Hasard Balthazar to tell the tale of a sentient donkey dunking on the vagaries of human ideas and emotions.

The 84-year old Polish director shared the Cannes Jury prize for this quirky yet remarkable film.