Each September, we wrap up the Toronto International Film Festival by reviewing some of our favourite needle drops from the many films we screened during the fest. So now that all the awards have been announced (The Life of Chuck took the People’s Choice) and we’ve somewhat caught up on sleep, we’re ready to jump headfirst into this fantastic musical tradition and revisit our favourite moments via song.
There was no shortage of music-oriented features and docs to revel in this year, and they’re well represented with tracks from No Dress Rehearsal, Because I Believe, Better Man, Emilia Perez, Piece By Piece and Never Too Late. Then there’s a song or two to send shivers up your spine (from Heretic and The Substance), alongside some stellar but subdued covers from Sinead O’Connor (from Queer) and The Roches (Bonjour, Tristesse). There’s joy-filled bursts of energy too, courtesy of Pat Benetar (from The Last Showgirl) and Wang Chung (from Life of Chuck), and some stone-cold classics from Robyn (from Babygirl), The Verve (from Bird) and Laura Branigan (from Patrice: The Movie). Whatever your jam, there’s something to groove to and celebrate another successful fortnight of film
There are 35 tracks in total! So tune in below to the tracks we loved, then scroll down to find out which film the songs were featured in:
Here’s a list of where the songs were featured:
- “The Air That I Breathe” by The Hollies (from Heretic)
- “All Apologies” by Sinead O’Connor (from Queer)
- “Your Song” by Elton John (from Elton John: Never Too Late)
- “I’m On Your Team” by Babehoven (from We Live in Time)
- “Angels” by Robbie Williams (from Better Man)
- “Yellow” by Coldplay (from Bird)
- “Come Softly to Me” by The Roches (from Bonjour, Tristesse)
- “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” by The Ink Spots (from Can I Get a Witness?)
- “At Last” by Etta James (from The Substance)
- “The Smile on Your Face” by Little Ann (Bonjour, Tristesse)
- “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler (from The Last Showgirl)
- “Father Figure” by George Michael (from Babygirl)
- “Gimme Some Lovin'” by The Spencer Davis Group (from The Life of Chuck)
- “Creep” by Radiohead (from Heretic)
- “Hella Good” by No Doubt (from Piece By Piece)
- “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf (from The Mountain)
- “Gloria” by Laura Branigan (from Patrice: The Movie)
- “Dance Hall Days” by Wang Chung (from The Life of Chuck)
- “La plus belle chanson du monde” by Jacqueline Taieb (from Bonjour, Tristesse)
- “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn (from Babygirl)
- “El Mal” by Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón and Camille (from Emilia Perez)
- “Felicità” by Al Bano and Romina Power (from Bonjour, Tristesse)
- “Shadows of the Night” by Pat Benatar (from The Last Showgirl)
- “Calm Down” by Rema (from 40 Acres)
- “Shake Ya Ass” by Mystikal feat. Pharrell Williams (from Piece By Piece)
- “Sound of Da Police” by KRS-One (from The Mountain)
- “Too Real” by Fontaines D.C. (from Bird)
- “Rockstar” by N.E.R.D. (from Piece By Piece)
- “Mi Camino” by Selena Gomez (from Emilia Perez)
- “Look at the Boy” by Jean Plum (from Bonjour, Tristesse)
- “Ahead By A Century” by The Tragically Hip (from No Dress Rehearsal)
- “Lucky Man” by The Verve (from Bird)
- “Zamilou” by Bu Kolthoum (from Meet the Barbarians)
- “Favourite Places” by Hunter Foster (from Really Happy Someday)
- “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli feat. Sarah Brightman (from Because I Believe)
- “My Way” by Robbie Williams (from Better Man)
Did we miss any other songs that stuck with you from this year’s fest? Tell us in the comments and we’ll add them in! Or check back in with our previous TIFF playlists over on our Spotify!
A big thank you to this year’s playlist contributors: Pat Mullen, Courtney Small, Rachel West, Larry Fried, Ethan Dayton, Barbara Goslawski, Akash Singh, Marc Winegust, and Jason Gorber.
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