Recently, the Organizing Committee of the Toronto Film Festival invited film-related curators, historians and archivists from all over the world to vote for the top ten films in the past 10 years (2010 to present). In the final list, there are 19 films (including works tied), covering English, Chinese, French, German, Korean, Thai, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian and other languages, and only Hou Xiaoxian's "Assassin Nie Yinniang" was selected.
Stills from "The Assassin Nie Yinniang". Image from the web
Most of the 19 works voted were literary niche, but there were also horror films like Breaking Bad. In terms of the gender ratio of directors, 3 of the 19 films are directed by women, namely Luquesia Martel, the director of the first two "Zama", Marlen Ade, director of "Tony Erdmann", and Agnes Varda, director of "Face, Village". Among its most popular, Jean-Luc Godard's work was the most popular, with two of his works selected: Goodbye Language and Cinematic Socialism at No. 3 and No. 7, respectively.
Poster of Zama. Image from the web
List of films voted:
1. Zama (2017), Luquesia Martel
2. Tony Erdmann (2016), Marlen Ader
3. Goodbye Language (2014), Jean-Luc Godard
4. Moonlight Boy (2016), Barry Jenkins
5. House of the Snowy Mountains (2016), Kristi Puyou
6. "The Assassin Nie Yinniang" (2015), Hou Xiaoxian
Transit (2018), Christian Petzold [juxtaposed]
7. Socialism in Cinema (2010), Jean-Luc Godard
8. The Sacred Carriage (2012), Leo Carax
Uncle Bumi Who Recalls Past Lives (2010), Apichatpong Welashaku [Juxtaposition]
9. The Master (2012), paul Thomas Anderson
Sister Ida (2013), Pavyu Pavlikovsky
Escape from Breaking Bad (2017), Jordan Peel
The Sound of the House (2012), Kleber Mendoza Jr
Faces, Villages (2017), Agnès Varda
Vitalina Varela (2019), Pedro Costa [tied]
10. The Horse of Turin (2011), Bella Tarr
Burning (2018), Li Cangdong
The Adventures of Angelica (2010), by Manuel de Oliveira [Juxtaposed]
Beijing News reporter Teng Chao
Edited by Xu Meilin Proofreader Liu Jun