Angelina Jolie’s ‘Without Blood,’ Mike Leigh’s ‘Hard Truths’ Added to Toronto Film Fest Lineup

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Angelina Jolie’s ‘Without Blood,’ Mike Leigh’s ‘Hard Truths’ Added to Toronto Film Fest Lineup

As a long-time film enthusiast and festival goer, I’m thrilled to see the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) bringing back the stars for its 2023 edition. Last year’s event was missing the Hollywood glitz due to labor disputes in Los Angeles, but Toronto remains an essential platform for major studios and independents to showcase their star-driven movies to ordinary film fans.

I’m thrilled to be a fan reporting on the Toronto Film Festival’s impressive lineup for its 49th edition! This year, they’ve outdone themselves by including the latest projects from some truly remarkable artists. Alicia Vikander, Lupita Nyong’o, Steve Coogan, Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, and Riz Ahmed have all joined the festival. What an honor it is to witness their talents on the big screen!

At the Gala event held at Roy Thomson Hall, two music documentaries will be premiered: “Andrea Bocelli: Believe,” a biopic on the renowned Italian tenor produced by director Cosima Spender; and “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band,” a documentary by Thom Zimny for Disney+ and Hulu. Last year, Zimny was in Toronto presenting his Sylvester Stallone documentary titled “Sly” on Netflix.

As a gamer, I’m excited to share that I’ll be among the first to witness Uberto Pasolini’s historical epic “The Return,” starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche who previously worked together on “The English Patient.” Additionally, I can’t wait for the world premieres of some amazing films. These include Peter Cattaneo’s “The Penguin Lessons,” featuring Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce, Jennifer Lopez’s sports drama “Unstoppable,” directed by William Goldenberg and supported by Artists Equity and Amazon MGM Studios, and Chris Sanders’ animated movie “The Wild Robot” from DreamWorks, with Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, and Kit Connor leading the voice cast.

Toronto will showcase a variety of films this year that previously premiered at Cannes and Venice film festivals, as well as highly anticipated world premieres. These movies will be screened for mainstream audiences at Roy Thomson Hall, TIFF Bell Lightbox, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, and Scotiabank Theatre. Later, they will compete for awards during the upcoming Hollywood season.

At Roy Thomson Hall’s Gala event sidebar, the following films had their international debuts: Julie Delpy’s refugee comedy “Meet the Barbarians,” which was previously shown at the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema; “The Friend” directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, with Naomi Watts and Constance Wu in leading roles; and “Will & Harper” by Josh Greenbaum – a documentary about a road trip taken by Will Ferrell and Harper Steele.

At Toronto, films by notable directors will make their North American debuts. These include “Oh, Canada” by Paul Schrader, featuring Uma Thurman, Richard Gere, and Jacob Elordi; David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds”; Sean Baker’s award-winning film “Anora,” starring Mikey Madison; and Jacques Audiard’s crime musical “Emilia Perez” with Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez in the lead roles.

I’m thrilled to share that Michael Gracey’s “Better Man” and Embeth Davidtz’s “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” will have their Canadian premieres. Toronto recently announced gala world premieres for Ron Howard’s “Eden,” Rebel Wilson’s “The Deb,” Elton John: Never Too Late” by directors R. J. Cutler and David Furnish, Woo Min-ho’s “Harbin,” and Reema Kagti’s “Superboys of Malegaon.” As a fan, I can hardly wait to witness these exceptional films on the big screen for the first time!

In other parts of the festival, Toronto’s Special Presentations sidebar showcased the world premieres of several noteworthy films. Angelina Jolie’s “Without Blood,” featuring Salma Hayek and Demian Bichir as leads, was among them. Additionally, Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” which brought him back together with his “Secrets & Lies” star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, was unveiled. Julianna Margulies, Gretchen Mol, Minnie Driver, and Morena Baccarin headlined Edward Burns’ “Millers in Marriage.” Riz Ahmed and Lily James starred in the thriller “Relay,” directed by David Mackenzie. Barry Keoghan replaced Paul Mescal in Christopher Andrews’ crime thriller “Bring Them Down” for Mubi. Sydney Freeland, a veteran TV director, presented the Netflix Native American basketball feature “Rez Ball,” which was produced by LeBron James. Ann Marie Fleming’s sci-fi thriller “Can I Get a Witness?” also premiered, with Sandra Oh starring and her earlier “Window Horses” collaborator in the cast.

Tiff organizers are hopeful that Hollywood celebrities will make a significant appearance this year, following the absence of star power in Toronto’s 2023 festival due to labor disputes in Los Angeles. Despite the lack of prestige and allure reminiscent of Cannes or Venice, Toronto provides an opportunity for major studios and independents to showcase their celebrity-driven films to regular moviegoers and gain recognition or rejuvenation following premieres at Telluride or top European festivals.

I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be witnessing some incredible films in the Special Presentations section at Toronto. Among them, Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl” starring Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dave Bautista; Dito Montiel’s crime comedy “Riff Raff” with Jennifer Coolidge and Brian Cox; the sci-fi thriller “The Assessment,” featuring Alicia Vikander and Elisabeth Olsen, directed by Fleur Fortune; Jason Buxton’s “Sharp Corner” led by Cobie Smulders and Ben Foster; William Bridges’ “All of You”; R.T. Thorne’s post-apocalyptic thriller “40 Acres,” starring Danielle Deadwyler; the A24 thriller “Heretic,” helmed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, with Hugh Grant in the lead; and Korean director E. oni’s queer drama “Love in the Big City.” These are just a few of the films I can’t wait to experience!

As a film enthusiast with a deep appreciation for both independent and international cinema, I find this year’s Other Special Presentations lineup to be particularly exciting. Having had the chance to delve into various cinematic worlds through my years of exploration, I am eager to witness the fresh perspectives and unique storytelling that these films promise.

Many well-known American films scheduled for Toronto’s film festival this year have previously secured US distribution deals. Consequently, the event serves as a valuable platform for fine-tuning promotion and release strategies for these films in theaters later in 2023 and into the following year. Historically, TIFF has played a crucial role in introducing international movies to the North American market, particularly crowd-pleasers such as “Slumdog Millionaire,” which went on to win an Oscar, and Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, “The Boy and the Heron,” which debuted at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival.

At TIFF, Edward Berger’s “Conclave” made its international debut, featuring an intriguing Vatican conspiracy with Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow in lead roles. Morgan Neville introduced his animated biography titled “Piece by Piece,” chronicling Pharrell Williams’ life. Lastly, Netflix premiered Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut, “The Piano Lesson,” boasting a star-studded cast including Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Ray Fisher.

In addition, Walter Salles’ directorial comeback “I’m Still Here” (previously acquired by Sony Pictures Classics at Cannes) features North American premieres. This list includes “Harvest,” a neo-Western film directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari and starring Caleb Landry Jones. Furthermore, the newest work from Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson titled “Rumors” also had its North American debut at Cannes.

As a longtime film enthusiast and regular attendee of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), I can’t help but be excited about this year’s lineup. Having witnessed the festival’s evolution over the years, I’ve come to appreciate its knack for showcasing a diverse range of films while also catering to mainstream audiences.

The Toronto Film Festival is set to run from Sept. 5-15.

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2024-07-22 17:25