TIFF audiences will need to stock up on butter as a new Julia Child doc is coming to the festival. The festival announced the addition of Julia from RBG directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West to the TIFF Docs line-up. The film is a portrait of the iconic chef who helped homes across America master the art of French cooking and transformed the way people whipped up dinners at a time when frozen foods were becoming the norm. Julia will be released in October following its festival launch.
The festival also announced the industry programming for TIFF 2021, which will occur virtually. Free Solo Oscar winners E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin headline the documentary side of the event with an in-depth conversation about their film The Rescue, which recounts the expedition to save members of a soccer team who were trapped in a cage in Thailand. The Microsessions series includes quick chats with a non-fiction focus on topics like “Documenting Celebrities” and “Documenting History.” Confirmed panelists include Alison Klayman, Penny Lane, and Stanley Nelson, who are at the festival with Jagged, Listening to Kenny G, and Attica, respectively.
The industry events also further TIFF’s growing mandate to promote diversity in film. Sessions include conversations about fostering more balance programming slates at broadcasters like the CBC and streamers like Netflix, while panels and Microsessions feature perspectives on disability in film, narrative sovereignty, and the state of film criticism.
TIFF will release its schedule on August 24 ahead of the festival, which runs Sept. 9 to 18.