Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)

  • Netflix Releases Quincy Jones Documentary Trailer Featuring Mary J. Blige, Tony Bennett, Bono, Will Smith,

    Quincy Netflix released the trailer for the documentary Quincy, described as an intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones, ahead of its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival on September 9. The film directed by Quincy’s daughter Rashida Jones along with Alan Hicks, seamlessly threads personal vérité moments with private archival footage to reveal a legendary life like no other. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America. Beyond his own acclaim as a trumpeter, producer, conductor, composer and arranger, Jones’s inimitable gift to discover the biggest talents of the past half of the century is unprecedented. He has mentored and cultivated the careers of young talents, from Lesley Gore and Michael Jackson to Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith. Quincy features Quincy Jones, Mary J. Blige, Tony Bennett, Bono, Will Smith, Jay Z, Peggy Lipton, Paul McCartney, Oprah Winfrey and many others. The film will launch globally and in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on September 21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT7gn6nhsAc

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  • Filmmaker Claire Denis to Receive 2018 Roger Ebert Golden Thumb Award

    Claire Denis Claire Denis, the award-winning creator of Beau travail, 35 Shots of Rum, Nenette and Boni, Chocolat, and this year’s High Life — which is premiering at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival — has been named the recipient of the fifth annual Roger Ebert Golden Thumb Award. Friends, filmmakers, and industry professionals will gather to acknowledge the French director’s remarkable career achievements at an intimate reception taking place on Monday, September 10, at the Toronto International Film Festival. “It is an honour to celebrate Claire Denis with the Roger Ebert Golden Thumb Award,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director at TIFF. “Claire’s passion and expertise reflect industry excellence as she continues to reinvent her perspective in cinema.” The Roger Ebert Golden Thumb Award was designed to celebrate a remarkable filmmaker who reflects renowned film critic Roger Ebert’s taste and passion for cinema. Denis joins previous recipients Martin Scorsese, Ava DuVernay, Agnès Varda, and Wim Wenders in an impressive list of honorees. The awards event, hosted by TIFF and the Ebert family, is a celebration of cinema that brings the film community together during the Festival.

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  • Toronto International Film Festival Cancels Canadian Premiere of GALVESTON

    [caption id="attachment_31148" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Galveston Galveston[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival has pulled the Canadian premiere Galveston from the lineup and replaced it with the World Premiere of A Private War. The Festival issued the following statement regarding their decision to withdraw Galveston from the 2018 Festival lineup: “We have recently learned director and cast for Galveston are no longer available to attend the Canadian Premiere in Toronto due to work commitments. Our Gala Presentations require filmmaker and key cast to be present at the premiere screening at Roy Thomson Hall, and unfortunately we cannot move forward with Galveston in this selection. At this time, all our other programming slots are in place so we have regretfully withdrawn the film. We wish Mélanie Laurent and the film’s production team the very best, and hope Toronto audiences will have the opportunity to see Galveston in the near future.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFKu8UNi7I TIFF announced that A Private War will replace Galveston in the Gala selection. Pre-purchased tickets for the cancelled screenings of Galveston will be valid for the added screenings of A Private War.

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  • A PRIVATE WAR Starring Rosamund Pike and Jamie Dornan to World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival [Trailer]

    [caption id="attachment_31587" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]A PRIVATE WAR A PRIVATE WAR[/caption] Matthew Heineman’s A Private War will make its world premiere at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival, joining the Festival’s Gala Presentations lineup.  The film marks the feature narrative debut of critically acclaimed director Matthew Heineman ( Cartel Land, City of Ghosts) whose previous work in documentary filmmaking has earned him an Academy Award nomination, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two DGA wins for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Award. A Private War, a biopic based on the true story of award-winning war correspondent Marie Colvin, stars Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl, Hostiles) in one of her most intense roles to date. Based on a blistering 2012 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, the drama follows Colvin to the front lines of conflicts around the globe as she risks everything to reveal the truth. Pike is joined by supporting cast which includes Jamie Dornan ( The Fall, Fifty Shades of Grey ), Stanley Tucci ( The Lovely Bones, Spotlight), and Tom Hollander ( The Night Manager). “It has been a deeply personal journey sharing the extraordinary story of Marie Colvin in A Private War,” stated filmmaker Matthew Heineman. “We are so thrilled to be able to finish the film in time to premiere at TIFF and honored to share with the audiences there.” At a time when journalism itself is under attack, Marie Colvin is one of the world’s most celebrated war correspondents. She is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the front lines of conflicts around the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limit between bravery and bravado. After being wounded by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she has witnessed takes its toll. Yet her mission to show the true cost of war leads her to embark — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Dornan) — on the most dangerous assignment of her life, in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4mHCilwdk0

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  • 2018 Toronto International Film Festival Unveils TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave Films for Young Audience

    [caption id="attachment_31543" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Elephant Queen The Elephant Queen[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival did not forget the kids with the TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave selections, guaranteeing something for film lovers of all ages.  This year’s selection includes The Elephant Queen, a fascinating documentary following the elephant Athena and her herd, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor; Icebox, based on an award-winning short of the same name that follows a twelve-year-old Honduran, Oscar, who faces the harsh reality of navigating immigration after fleeing gang violence in his hometown; Minuscule – Mandibles From Far Away, a story of a young ladybug who works to save the rainforest after being swept away on a grand adventure; and the stunningly animated Tito and the Birds, which follows ten-year-old Tito on his quest to learn more about birds as his town faces a strange new affliction that makes people sick when they get scared. This year’s TIFF Next Wave lineup features 11 titles selected by the TIFF Next Wave committee, a group of young film aficionados responsible for picking the films they believe their peers would most enjoy. From the Ethiopian civil war ( Fig Tree) to the Closing Night Film of Midnight Madness ( Diamantino), Next Wave champions new and diverse voices. This year’s lineup boasts five films helmed by women and eight feature filmmaking debuts, including the world premieres of Jonah Hill’s nostalgic coming of age film, Mid90s, and Jasmin Mozaffari’s skillfully tenacious Firecrackers, made by an almost entirely female key crew. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.

    TIFF Kids

    The Elephant Queen Victoria Stone, Mark Deeble | United Kingdom/Kenya World Premiere (TIFF Docs) Recommended for ages 7+ Icebox Daniel Sawka | USA World Premiere (Discovery) Recommended for ages 11+ Minuscule – Mandibles From Far Away ( Minuscule – Les Mandibules du Bout du Monde) Thomas Szabo, Hélène Giraud | France World Premiere (Contemporary World Cinema) Recommended for ages 6+ Tito and the Birds ( Tito e os Pássaros) Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar, André Catoto | Brazil North American Premiere (Discovery) Recommended for ages 8+

    TIFF Next Wave selection

    Diamantino Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt | Portugal/France/Brazil North American Premiere (Midnight Madness) Fig Tree Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian | Israel/Germany/France/Ethiopia World Premiere (Discovery) Firecrackers Jasmin Mozaffari | Canada World Premiere (Discovery) Giant Little Ones Keith Behrman | Canada World Premiere (Special Presentations) Girl Lukas Dhont | Belgium Canadian Premiere (Discovery) The Grizzlies Miranda de Pencier | Canada World Premiere (Special Presentations) The Hate U Give George Tillman, Jr. | USA World Premiere (Gala Presentations) Mid90s Jonah Hill | USA World Premiere (Special Presentations) Phoenix ( Føniks) Camilla Strøm Henriksen | Norway/Sweden World Premiere (Discovery) Rafiki Wanuri Kahiu | Kenya/South Africa/France/Lebanon/Norway/Netherlands/Germany/USA North American Premiere (Discovery) Teen Spirit Max Minghella | United Kingdom World Premiere (Special Presentations)

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  • Toronto International Film Festival to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of THE JOY LUCK CLUB

    The Joy Luck Club The Toronto International Film Festival will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club with a special event screening on Thursday, September 13 at the Elgin Theatre – exactly 25 years after its original Canadian premiere was held at the same venue. Recapturing the magic of its original debut, The Joy Luck Club returns with appearances from the cast and crew, led by director and co-producer Wayne Wang and the film’s original stars, including Kieu Chinh and Tamlyn Tomita. Based on Amy Tan’s bestselling novel, The Joy Luck Club follows three generations of Chinese women in San Francisco, whose lives are interwoven through this story of mothers and daughters attempting to break through the social and generational differences that both jeopardize and strengthen the loving bonds between them. “For its 25th anniversary, I’m so happy to be able present a newly refined digital version of The Joy Luck Club at the Toronto International Film Festival,” said director Wayne Wang. “It’s going to be so special to look back on the film with the cast and original fans and to introduce the film to a new generation.” Following the screening, Lainey Lui, co-host of CTV’s The Social, etalk Senior Correspondent and founder and editor of LaineyGossip.com, will join Wayne Wang and the cast onstage for a conversation, unpacking the film’s enduring legacy and the impact it has had on Hollywood cinema. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nYDMp1LdT8

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  • 46 Breakout Films Selected for 2018 Toronto International Film Festival Discovery Program

    [caption id="attachment_31512" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Screwdriver Screwdriver[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival revealed the 46 breakout films from 50 international storytellers that will screen in its 2018 Discovery lineup,  marking a record year for the program. Hailing from 37 different countries, these promising new filmmakers present works that explore identity, complex portraits of women, and youth as they struggle to navigate a fragile world. Twenty-nine of the films will make their World Premieres at the Festival. The lineup stands out for the impressive number of Asian and Eastern European films — accounting for 26% of the Discovery program — and the number of films directed by women. Opening this year’s Discovery program will be Bai Xue’s The Crossing, a captivating Chinese film following the journey of an ordinary teenage girl who becomes entangled in illicit activities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVd56lm-8Cs The program’s highlights include: Adina Pintilie’s innovative Touch Me Not, winner of the Golden Bear and Best First Feature in Berlin; Syrian director Soudade Kaadan’s The Day I Lost My Shadow, a bewitching film on the Syrian conflict; Nino Zhvania’s Parade, the only Georgian feature in the selection; Lithuanian director Marija Kavtaradze’s touching Summer Survivors; Han Ka-ram’s charming Our Body; and renowned Nigerian actor Genevieve Nnaji’s exciting directorial debut, Lionheart. This year’s lineup also stands out for the strong portrayals of sensitive and witty women within it. Among them are Arturo Infante’s sci-fi comedy The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste García , starring popular actor María Isabel Díaz; Mexican director Lila Avilés’ The Chambermaid; Arash Lahooti’s Orange Days; Nikos Labôt’s Her Job; and Woman at War by Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson, which has already earned critical praise. Putting the struggles of young characters front and centre, the Discovery program includes UK actor-director Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Farming, which tells the story of a Nigerian immigrant facing a racist skinhead gang in 1980s England; Carmel Winters’ beautiful Float Like a Butterfly; Lukas Dhont’s Girl; Daniel Sawka’s Icebox; Rosanne Pel’s Light as Feathers; Darko Štante’s Consequences; Ash Mayfair’s The Third Wife; Imogen Thomas’ poetic Emu Runner; Ethiopian–Israeli filmmaker Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian’s Fig Tree; and Joël Karekezi’s The Mercy of the Jungle, showcasing the breakthrough performance of TIFF International Rising Star Stéphane Bak. Risk-takers and daring artists also stand out in this year’s slate, as in Wanuri Kahiu’s Rafiki, an electric female LGBTQ+ love story set in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal; Sameh Zoabi’s border-crossing dark comedy Tel Aviv on Fire; Ognjen Glavonić’s The Load; and Irish brothers Andy and Ryan Tohill’s suspenseful thriller The Dig. Bold Australian filmmaker Benjamin Gilmour will present the groundbreaking Jirga . To close this bright selection, Palestinian director Bassam Jarbawi will introduce North American audiences to his exceptional first feature film, Screwdriver, a gripping drama that examines the psychological impact of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018

    2018 Toronto International Film Festival Discovery Program

    aKasha hajooj kuka | Sudan/South Africa/Qatar/Germany North American Premiere ANIARA Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja | Sweden World Premiere Blind Spot (Blindsone) Tuva Novotny | Norway International Premiere The Chambermaid (La Camarista) Lila Avilés | Mexico World Premiere Complicity (Kazenoki Wa Koto No Youni) Kei Chikaura | Japan/China World Premiere Consequences (Posledice) Darko Štante | Slovenia/Austria World Premiere Discovery Opening Film The Crossing (Guo Chun Tian) Bai Xue | China World Premiere The Day I Lost My Shadow (Yom Adaatou Zouli) Soudade Kaadan | Syria/France/Qatar/Lebanon North American Premiere The Dig Andy Tohill, Ryan Tohill | United Kingdom North American Premiere An Elephant Sitting Still (Da Xiang Xi Di Er Zuo) Hu Bo | China Canadian Premiere Emu Runner Imogen Thomas | Australia World Premiere ENDZEIT – EVER AFTER (ENDZEIT) Carolina Hellsgård | Germany World Premiere The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste García (El Viaje Extraordinario de Celeste García) Arturo Infante | Cuba/Germany World Premiere Farming Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | United Kingdom World Premiere Fig Tree Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian | Israel/Germany/France/Ethiopia World Premiere Float Like a Butterfly Carmel Winters | Ireland World Premiere Girl Lukas Dhont | Belgium Canadian Premiere Gwen William McGregor | United Kingdom World Premiere Helmet Heads (Cascos Indomables) Neto Villalobos | Costa Rica/Chile World Premiere Her Job Nikos Labôt | Greece/France/Serbia World Premiere Icebox Daniel Sawka | USA World Premiere Jirga Benjamin Gilmour | Australia North American Premiere Light as Feathers Rosanne Pel | Netherlands World Premiere Lionheart Genevieve Nnaji | Nigeria World Premiere The Load (Teret) Ognjen Glavonic | Serbia/France/Croatia/Iran/Qatar North American Premiere Manta Ray (Kraben Rahu) Phuttiphong Aroonpheng | Thailand/France/China North American Premiere The Mercy of the Jungle Joël Karekezi | Belgium/France/Germany North American Premiere Orange Days (Rooz-haye Narenji) Arash Lahooti | Iran World Premiere Our Body (A-wol Ba-di) Han Ka-ram | South Korea World Premiere Parade (Aglumi) Nino Zhvania | Georgia/Russia World Premiere Phoenix (Føniks) Camilla Strøm Henriksen | Norway/Sweden World Premiere Rafiki Wanuri Kahiu | Kenya/South Africa/France/Lebanon/Norway/Netherlands/Germany/USA North American Premiere Saf Ali Vatansever | Turkey/Germany/Romania World Premiere Discovery Closing Film Screwdriver (Mafak) Bassam Jarbawi | Palestine/USA/Qatar North American Premiere Summer Survivors Marija Kavtaradze | Lithuania World Premiere Tel Aviv on Fire Sameh Zoabi | Luxembourg/France/Israel/Belgium North American Premiere The Third Wife Ash Mayfair | Vietnam World Premiere Tito and the Birds (Tito e os Pássaros) Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar, André Catoto | Brazil North American Premiere Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven) Dominga Sotomayor | Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar North American Premiere Touch Me Not Adina Pintilie | Romania/Germany/Czech Republic/Bulgaria/France North American Premiere Twin Flower (Fiore Gemello) Laura Luchetti | Italy World Premiere Woman at War (Kona fer í stríð) Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland/France/Ukraine North American Premiere Previously announced Canadian titles in the Discovery programme include Akash Sherman’s Clara , Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s Edge of the Knife, Jasmin Mozaffari’s Firecrackers, and Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Freaks.

    TIFF DOCS

    Reason (Vivek) Anand Patwardhan | India World Premiere

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  • VOX LUX and World Premiere of GRETA Added to 2018 Toronto International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_31494" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Greta Greta[/caption] Two new films – Vox Lux and Greta will premiere as part of the Special Presentations program in September at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The World Premiere of Neil Jordan’s Greta and the North American Premiere of Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux will cap off the Festival’s Special Presentations and bring the total for the program up to 24 titles. Neil Jordan’s Greta tells the story of a young New York woman named Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with an enigmatic widow named Greta (Isabelle Huppert). The older woman’s motives are gradually revealed to be sinister and the film quickly descends into an exploration of loneliness, obsession, and manipulation. Greta, co-written by Jordan and Ray Wright, also stars Colm Feore, Maika Monroe, and Stephen Rea. [caption id="attachment_31495" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Vox Lux Vox Lux[/caption] In musical drama Vox Lux, Brady Corbet’s second feature as writer-director tracks its heroine’s path from childhood tragedy to a life of fame and fortune. Starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law, the film begins with teenage sisters Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) and Eleanor (Stacy Martin) who survive a violent incident that changes their lives. The film is both a riveting character study and a perceptive survey of the cultural shifts that have shaped a generation. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018

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  • Toronto International Film Festival Unveils 2018 Wavelengths Program of 43 Experimental Films

    [caption id="attachment_31419" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled the 18th edition of it’s Wavelengths program showing adventurous and carefully curated lineup of shorts and feature films from around the world.  This year’s selection of 43 films, comprises 4 programs of experimental short films, 2 curated pairings, and 10 features, each contributing to an exciting, diverse lineup of moving-image art. Wavelengths ’18 offers trenchant reflections on home, memory, and a world in flux through artistic narratives produced by a mix of emerging talent and contemporary masters and working across a variety of inventive styles. Fiction highlights include Bi Gan’s dazzling and mysterious Long Day’s Journey Into Night, a dreamy neo-noir about memories, passion, and the malleability of time that received critical acclaim at Cannes; the beautiful and intimate RAY & LIZ, the searing debut feature by Richard Billingham, Turner Prize–nominated photographer-turned-filmmaker, inspired by his family and his own Thatcher-era childhood memories; and Mariano Llinás’ epic 14-hour drama La Flor — the longest film in Argentine history — which took nearly a decade to produce and which explores the possibilities of cinematic narrative through impressive and ingenious experiments in acting and genre. Wavelengths will showcase several astonishing and sure-to-be landmark documentaries, including master Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing’s powerful Dead Souls, a momentous, eight-hour documentary that offers sobering testimonials of experiences in China’s forced re-education camps in the 1950s; the World Premiere of the stunningly shot The Stone Speakers by Igor Drljača, a compelling documentary about faith, tourism, shifting industries, and competing historical narratives in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the provocative and powerful What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? by the returning Roberto Minervini, a fiery portrayal of Black life in the American South; the gripping found-footage film The Trial by Festival mainstay Sergei Loznitsa, which assembles original material from a show trial conducted under Stalin’s Soviet government in 1930s Moscow; and the elegant, moving Erased,___Ascent of the Invisible by Ghassan Halwani, a personal-essay film by the animator of The Lebanese Rocket Society (Wavelengths 2012) inspired by the distorted image of a mysterious man thought to have disappeared many years ago in Beirut. Andrea Bussmann’s solo debut, Fausto, and Jodie Mack’s The Grand Bizarre are two of this year’s most exhilarating cinematic experiments; they defy categorization as they meld documentary inquiry with inspired audio-visual expressions, ranging from the mythical to the musical. Short-film highlights include new works by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Abraaj Group Art Prize winner Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Nathaniel Dorsky, Mary Helena Clark, Laida Lertxundi, Ben Rivers, Kevin Jerome Everson, Laura Huertas Millán, and more. The programme also features the World Premiere of artist-filmmaker Beatrice Gibson’s I Hope I’m Loud When I’m Dead, a KW Production Series co-commission with Mercer Union (Toronto), Camden Arts Centre (London), and Bergen Kunsthall (Bergen), which is supported by the Julia Stoschek Foundation and Outset Germany_Switzerland and which features appearances by poets Eileen Myles and CAConrad. Wavelengths will also present a number of historical restorations and rediscoveries. This year’s archival selections include the previously unseen 1986 Summer (1986), by Japanese avant-garde titan Toshio Matsumoto; Lisa Baumgardner’s punchy Girl Pack (1981), recently restored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and the fascinating and idiosyncratic portrait film Alice (1974), directed by Austrian painter and filmmaker Maria Lassnig as part of her Soul Sisters series. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.

    WAVELENGTHS SHORT FILM PROGRAMS

    Wavelengths 1: Earth, Wind & Fire

    Polly One Kevin Jerome Everson | USA | Canadian Premiere Blue Apichatpong Weerasethakul | France/Thailand | International Premiere Fainting Spells Sky Hopinka | Ho-Chunk Nation/USA | International Premiere Prologue to the Tarot: Glenna Brittany Gravely, Ken Linehan | USA | World Premiere Hoarders Without Borders Jodie Mack | USA | World Premiere ante mis ojos Lina Rodriguez | Colombia/Canada | World Premiere ALTIPLANO Malena Szlam | Chile/Argentina/Canada | World Premiere

    Wavelengths 2: Another Brick in the Wall

    Ada Kaleh Helena Wittmann | Germany | World Premiere The Glass Note Mary Helena Clark | USA | North American Premiere mumok kino Philipp Fleischmann | Austria | International Premiere TREES DOWN HERE Ben Rivers | United Kingdom | International Premiere 1986 Summer ( 1986夏) Toshio Matsumoto | Japan | International Premiere Words, Planets Laida Lertxundi | Spain/USA | Canadian Premiere The Invisible Cinema 3 Philipp Fleischmann | Austria | International Premiere Walled Unwalled Lawrence Abu Hamdan | Germany | North American Premiere

    Wavelengths 3: Centerfold

    Girl Pack Lisa Baumgardner | USA | International Premiere Please step out of the frame. Karissa Hahn | USA | Toronto Premiere The Air of the Earth in Your Lungs Ross Meckfessel | USA/Japan | World Premiere Sira Rolla Tahir | Canada | World Premiere Slip Celia Perrin Sidarous | Canada | Toronto Premiere Alice Maria Lassnig | USA | Canadian Premiere Fallen Arches Simon Liu | United Kingdom/USA/Hong Kong | World Premiere I Hope I’m Loud When I’m Dead Beatrice Gibson | USA/Italy/United Kingdom | World Premiere

    Wavelengths 4: We’ve Only Just Begun

    Colophon (for the Arboretum Cycle) Nathaniel Dorsky | USA | World Premiere A Return James Edmonds | Germany | North American Premiere The Labyrinth ( El Laberinto) Laura Huertas Millán | Colombia/France | North American Premiere Île d’Ouessant David Dudouit | France | North American Premiere Julio Iglesias’s House ( La casa de Julio Iglesias) Natalia Marín | Spain | North American Premiere Man in the Well ( Jing li de ren) Hu Bo | China | North American Premiere

    PAIRINGS

    L. COHEN James Benning | USA Canadian Premiere preceded by Arena Björn Kämmerer | Austria International Premiere The Grand Bizarre Jodie Mack | USA North American Premiere preceded by Those Who Desire ( Los que desean) Elena López Riera | Switzerland/Spain International Premiere

    FEATURES

    Dead Souls ( Si Ling Hun) Wang Bing | France/Switzerland North American Premiere Erased,___Ascent of the Invisible ( Tirss, Rihlat Alsoo’oud ila Almar’i) Ghassan Halwani | Lebanon North American Premiere Fausto Andrea Bussmann | Canada/Mexico North American Premiere In My Room Ulrich Köhler | Germany/Italy North American Premiere The Flower (La Flor) Mariano Llinás | Argentina North American Premiere Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Di qiu zui hou de ye wan) Bi Gan | China/France North American Premiere RAY & LIZ Richard Billingham | United Kingdom North American Premiere The Stone Speakers (Kameni Govornici) Igor Drljača | Canada/Bosnia/Herzegovina World Premiere The Trial Sergei Loznitsa | Netherlands North American Premiere What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? Roberto Minervini | Italy/USA/France North American Premiere Previously announced Canadian titles in the Wavelengths Program include Lina Rodriguez‘s ante mis ojos, Andrea Bussmann’s Fausto, Rolla Tahir’s Sira , Celia Perrin Sidarous’ Slip, and Igor Drljača’s The Stone Speakers.

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  • Toronto International Film Festival to Spotlight 48 Films in 2018 Contemporary World Cinema Program

    [caption id="attachment_31415" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Look at Me Look at Me[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival will spotlight 48 films from international filmmakers in this year’s 2018 Contemporary World Cinema roster  with a strong presence from Latin America and Eastern Europe — telling stories of identity, depicting family dynamics, and making bold political statements. Several of the the impressive 27 World Premieres in the program are from TIFF veterans, including Belmonte from Uruguay’s Federico Veiroj, The Other Story from Israel’s Avi Nesher, Stupid Young Heart from Finnish Academy Award nominee Selma Vilhunen, Quién te Cantará from Spain’s Carlos Vermut, and Look at Me from Tunisia’s Nejib Belkadhi. The program also highlights film selections that have already captivated audiences worldwide this year, including “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” by Radu Jude, Birds of Passage by directing duo Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, and Border by Ali Abbasi.

    2018 Toronto International Film Festival Contemporary World Cinema Program

    The Accused ( Acusada) Gonzalo Tobal | Argentina North American Premiere Angel (Un Ange) Koen Mortier | Belgium/Netherlands/Senegal International Premiere Asako I & II ( Netemo Sametemo) Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Japan/France North American Premiere Before the Frost ( Før Frosten) Michael Noer | Denmark World Premiere Belmonte Federico Veiroj | Uruguay/Spain/Mexico World Premiere Birds of Passage ( Pájaros de verano) Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra | Colombia/Denmark/Mexico/France Canadian Premiere Black 47 Lance Daly | Ireland/Luxembourg North American Premiere The Black Book Valeria Sarmiento | Portugal/France World Premiere Border ( Gräns) Ali Abbasi | Sweden/Denmark North American Premiere Bulbul Can Sing Rima Das | India World Premiere Core of the World Natalia Meshchaninova | Russia/Lithuania International Premiere The Dive ( Hatzlila) Yona Rozenkier | Israel North American Premiere Donbass Sergei Loznitsa | Germany/Ukraine/France/Netherlands/Romania North American Premiere El Ángel Luis Ortega | Argentina/Spain North American Premiere EXT. Night ( Leil Khargi ) Ahmad Abdalla | Egypt/United Arab Emirates World Premiere The Factory (Завод (Zavod)) Yury Bykov | Russia/France/Armenia World Premiere Florianópolis Dream ( Sueño Florianópolis) Ana Katz | Argentina/Brazil/France North American Premiere “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” ( Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari) Radu Jude | Romania/Czech Republic/France/Bulgaria/Germany North American Premiere Jinpa ( Zhuang Si Le Yi Zhi Yang ) Pema Tseden | China North American Premiere Let Me Fall (Lof mer ad falla) Baldvin Z | Iceland/Finland/Germany International Premiere Look at Me Nejib Belkadhi | Qatar/France/Tunisia World Premiere Minuscule – Mandibles From Far Away ( Minuscule – Les Mandibules du Bout du Monde) Thomas Szabo, Hélène Giraud | France World Premiere The Most Beautiful Couple (Das schönste Paar) Sven Taddicken | Germany/France World Premiere Museum (Museo) Alonso Ruizpalacios | Mexico North American Premiere One Last Deal (Tuntematon mestari) Klaus Härö | Finland World Premiere The Other Story (Sipur Acher) Avi Nesher | Israel World Premiere Quién te Cantará Carlos Vermut | Spain/France World Premiere The Realm (El Reino) Rodrigo Sorogoyen | Spain/France World Premiere Redemption (Geula) Boaz Yehonatan Yacov, Joseph Madmony | Israel North American Premiere Retrospekt Esther Rots | Netherlands/Belgium World Premiere Roads in February (Les routes en février) Katherine Jerkovic | Canada/Uruguay World Premiere Rosie Paddy Breathnach | Ireland World Premiere Sew the Winter to my Skin Jahmil X.T. Qubeka | South Africa/Germany World Premiere Sibel Çagla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti | France/Germany/Luxembourg/Turkey North American Premiere Stupid Young Heart (Hölmö nuori sydän) Selma Vilhunen | Finland/Netherlands/Sweden World Premiere Styx Wolfgang Fischer | Germany/Austria North American Premiere The Sweet Requiem (Kyoyang Ngarmo) Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam | India/USA World Premiere That Time of Year (Den Tid På Året) Paprika Steen | Denmark World Premiere Ulysses & Mona Sébastien Betbeder | France World Premiere The Vice of Hope (Il Vizio Della Speranza) Edoardo de Angelis | Italy World Premiere Winter Flies (Všechno bude) Olmo Omerzu | Czech Republic/Slovenia/Poland/Slovakia International Premiere Working Woman (Isha Ovedet) Michal Aviad | Israel International Premiere Previously announced Canadian titles in the Contemporary World Cinema program include Darlene Naponse’s Falls Around Her, Bruce Sweeney’s Kingsway, Renée Beaulieu’s Les Salopes or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin, Thom Fitzgerald’s Splinters, Sébastien Pilote’s The Fireflies Are Gone, and Maxime Giroux’s The Great Darkened Days.

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  • Toronto International Film Festival to Spotlight 11 Films by International Legends in 2018 Masters Program

    [caption id="attachment_31411" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Peterloo Peterloo[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival today unveiled the lineup for the 2018 Masters program, comprised of 11 daring new films by acclaimed, established auteurs with remarkable bodies of work.  Included in the 2018 Masters lineup are new works by three acclaimed European directors that unwaveringly address contemporary adversities: the debut of the single-installment version of Italian maestro Paolo Sorrentino’s corrosive comedy, Loro, which stars Toni Servillo as infamous politician Silvio Berlusconi; legendary French—Swiss auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s The Image Book, winner of the inaugural 2018 Special Palme d’Or at Cannes; and German director Christian Petzold’s daring Transit, an adaptation of Anna Seghers’ World War II novel set in an era resembling the present day, which offers subtle and timely reflections on rootlessness and exile. Among the auteurs in the lineup are: Algerian visionary Merzak Allouache, who explores religious radicalization with Divine Wind, the latest in a remarkable filmography that spans over four decades; acclaimed Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who is known for his distinct cinematic use of landscape and who returns to the Festival with The Wild Pear Tree; Mexican master Carlos Reygadas, who delivers an existential meditation on a couple’s open relationship in Our Time; South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, who returns to the program with Hotel by the River, a black-and white-drama set in an isolated hotel during a cold winter; British director Mike Leigh, who explores the history of British parliamentary reform in Peterloo; and Iranian maverick Jafar Panahi, who presents 3 Faces, a thoughtful examination of traditional gender roles and artistic independence. Chinese pioneer Jia Zhang-ke will introduce his largest production to date, Ash Is Purest White, a look at the rapid evolution of Chinese capitalist society explored through the romance between two mismatched people, while veteran Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto will present Killing, an ambitious samurai genre film set in mid-19th century Japan. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.

    2018 Toronto International Film Festival Masters Program

    3 Faces Jafar Panahi | Iran North American Premiere Ash Is Purest White ( Jiang Hu Er Nü) Jia Zhang-ke | China/France North American Premiere Divine Wind ( Rih rabani) Merzak Allouache | Algeria/France/Qatar/Lebanon World Premiere Hotel by the River ( Gangbyun Hotel) Hong Sang-soo | South Korea North American Premiere Killing ( Zan) Shinya Tsukamoto | Japan North American Premiere Loro Paolo Sorrentino | Italy/France World Premiere Our Time ( Nuestro Tiempo) Carlos Reygadas | Mexico/France/Germany/Denmark/Sweden North American Premiere Peterloo Mike Leigh | United Kingdom Canadian Premiere The Image Book ( Le livre d’image) Jean-Luc Godard | Switzerland/France North American Premiere The Wild Pear Tree ( Ahlat Ağacı) Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey/France/Germany/Bulgaria North American Premiere Transit Christian Petzold | Germany North American Premiere

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  • 2018 Toronto International Film Festival Adds More Gala and Special Presentations Films

    [caption id="attachment_31408" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Green Book Green Book[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival today unveiled its second batch of titles premiering in the Gala and Special Presentations programs in September. Four Gala Presentations and 22 Special Presentations have been added to the selection of titles already announced. “We’re rounding out the lineup of Galas and Special Presentations with some of the most exciting films of the year,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “Audiences won’t want to miss these premieres from a mix of newcomers and global heavyweights.” This second announcement brings the total for Galas and Special Presentations to 44 World Premieres, 9 International Premieres, 12 North American Premieres and 11 Canadian Premieres. The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.

    GALAS 2018

    Green Book Peter Farrelly | USA World Premiere Closing Night Film Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy Justin Kelly | Canada/USA/United Kingdom World Premiere The Lie Veena Sud | Canada World Premiere Opening Night Film Outlaw King David Mackenzie | USA/United Kingdom World Premiere

    SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2018

    22 July Paul Greengrass | Norway/Iceland North American Premiere American Woman Jake Scott | USA World Premiere Baby ( Bao Bei Er) Liu Jie | China World Premiere Boy Erased Joel Edgerton | USA International Premiere Driven Nick Hamm | Puerto Rico/United Kingdom/USA North American Premiere Duelles (Mothers’ Instinct) Olivier Masset-Depasse | Belgium/France World Premiere A Faithful Man ( L’homme fidèle) Louis Garrel | France World Premiere Gloria Bell Sebastián Lelio | USA/Chile World Premiere Hold the Dark Jeremy Saulnier | USA World Premiere Kursk Thomas Vinterberg | Belgium/Luxembourg World Premiere Legend of the Demon Cat – Director’s Cut Chen Kaige | China/Japan World Premiere Mid90s Jonah Hill | USA World Premiere A Million Little Pieces Sam Taylor-Johnson | USA World Premiere Never Look Away ( Werk ohne Autor) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Germany North American Premiere The Quietude ( La Quietud) Pablo Trapero | Argentina North American Premiere Skin Guy Nattiv | USA World Premiere Teen Spirit Max Minghella | USA World Premiere Tell It To The Bees Annabel Jankel | United Kingdom World Premiere Viper Club Maryam Keshavarz | USA World Premiere Vision Naomi Kawase | Japan/France International Premiere Vita & Virginia Chanya Button | United Kingdom/Ireland World Premiere Wild Rose Tom Harper | United Kingdom World Premiere

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