Some historic bits of Canadiana will get the red carpet treatment at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The festival announced the full slate of Galas and Special Presentations for its 50th anniversary edition. Galas include Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, director Ally Pankiw’s portrait of the historic concert that began in 1997 to spotlight women’s voices.
On the Special Presentations front, hometown hero Drake joins the cast and crew of Degrassi to reminisce about the landmark TV series in Degrassi: Whatever It Takes. The film is directed by Lisa Rideout and looks back at the series that made headway for inclusive youth programming. Toronto cultural history also takes the spotlight in You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… from director Nick Davis. The doc features Canuck acting greats including Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Jayne Eastwood, Victor Garber, and Eugene Levy as they reminisce about the legendary 1972 stage production. The film will have its world premiere at TIFF. Lilith Fair and Degrassi are also world premieres.
Also getting the red carpet treatment is the King himself with the world premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. The rockumentary features footage that Luhrmann encountered while crafting his Oscar nominated biopic Elvis. The film has its world premiere in Special Presentations. TIFF also hosts the world premiere of Tasha Hubbard’s Meadowlarks, a dramatic adaptation of her acclaimed 2017 documentary Birth of a Family.
These films join the previously announced documentary John Candy: I Like Me in TIFF’s star studded slate. Additional films announced today include the Canadian premiere of Navalny director Daniel Roher’s dramatic feature debut Tuner, the North American premiere of the hotly anticipated UFC drama The Smashing Machine, which is brewing Oscar buzz for stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and the world premiere of Philippe Falardeau’s Lovely Day.
The Galas and Special Presentations announced today are as follows:
Galas
* previously announced
*A Private Life | Rebecca Zlotowski | France
North American Premiere
Adulthood | Alex Winter | USA
World Premiere
Driver’s Ed | Bobby Farrelly | USA
World Premiere
Eleanor the Great | Scarlett Johansson | USA
North American Premiere
Eternity | David Freyne | USA
World Premiere
Fuze | David Mackenzie | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Glenrothan | Brian Cox | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Good Fortune | Aziz Ansari | USA
World Premiere
*Hamnet | Chloé Zhao | United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere
*Homebound | Neeraj Ghaywan | India
North American Premiere
*John Candy: I Like Me | Colin Hanks | USA
World Premiere
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery | Ally Pankiw | Canada
World Premiere
Nuremberg | James Vanderbilt | USA
World Premiere
Palestine 36 | Annemarie Jacir | Palestine/United Kingdom/France/Denmark/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Jordan
World Premiere
Peak Everything | Anne Émond | Canada | Closing Night Gala
Toronto Premiere
*Roofman | Derek Cianfrance | USA
World Premiere
*She Has No Name | Peter Ho-Sun Chan | Hong Kong/China
North American Premiere
Sholay | Ramesh Sippy | India | 50th Anniversary Restoration
North American Premiere
Swiped | Rachel Lee Goldenberg | USA
World Premiere
*The Choral | Nicholas Hytner | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Two Pianos | Arnaud Desplechin | France
World Premiere
Special Presentations (in alphabetical order):
* previously announced
A Pale View of Hills | Kei Ishikawa | Japan/United Kingdom/Poland
North American Premiere
A Poet | Simón Mesa Soto | Colombia/Germany/Sweden
North American Premiere
Bad Apples | Jonatan Etzler | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Ballad of a Small Player | Edward Berger | United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere
California Schemin’ | James McAvoy | United Kingdom/USA
World Premiere
Calle Malaga | Maryam Touzani | Morocco/France/Spain/Germany/Belgium
North American Premiere
Charlie Harper | Tom Dean, Mac Eldridge | USA
World Premiere
Christy | David Michôd | USA
World Premiere
Couture | Alice Winocour | USA/France
World Premiere
Dead Man’s Wire | Gus Van Sant | USA
North American Premiere
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes | Lisa Rideout | Canada
World Premiere
Easy’s Waltz | Nic Pizzolatto | USA
World Premiere
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert | Baz Luhrmann | Australia/USA
World Premiere
Eternal Return | Yaniv Raz | United Kingdom/USA
World Premiere
Frankenstein | Guillermo del Toro | USA
North American Premiere
*Franz | Agnieszka Holland | Czech Republic/Germany/Poland
World Premiere
*Good News | Byun Sung-hyun | South Korea
World Premiere
*Hedda | Nia DaCosta | USA
World Premiere
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You | Mary Bronstein | USA
Canadian Premiere
It Was Just an Accident | Jafar Panahi | Iran/France/Luxembourg
Canadian Premiere
It Would Be Night in Caracas | Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás | Mexico
World Premiere
Kokuho | Lee Sang-il | Japan
North American Premiere
Ky Nam Inn | Leon Le | Vietnam
World Premiere
Lovely Day | Philippe Falardeau | Canada
World Premiere
Meadowlarks | Tasha Hubbard | Canada
World Premiere
*Mile End Kicks | Chandler Levack | Canada
World Premiere
Monkey in a Cage | Anurag Kashyap | India
World Premiere
Nouvelle Vague | Richard Linklater | France
Canadian Premiere
Poetic License | Maude Apatow | USA
World Premiere
Primavera | Damiano Michieletto | Italy/France
World Premiere
Project Y | Lee Hwan | South Korea
World Premiere
*Rental Family | HIKARI | USA/Japan
World Premiere
Rose of Nevada | Mark Jenkin | United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Sacrifice | Romain Gavras | United Kingdom/Greece
World Premiere
Scarlet | Mamoru Hosoda | Japan
North American Premiere
Sentimental Value | Joachim Trier | Norway/France/Denmark/Germany/Sweden/United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere
Silent Friend | Ildikó Enyedi | Germany/Hungary/France
North American Premiere
Sirāt | Óliver Laxe | France/Spain
North American Premiere
Sound of Falling | Mascha Schilinski | Germany
North American Premiere
*Steal Away | Clement Virgo | Canada/Belgium
World Premiere
*The Captive | Alejandro Amenábar | Spain/Italy
World Premiere
*The Christophers | Steven Soderbergh | United Kingdom
World Premiere
*The Lost Bus | Paul Greengrass | USA
World Premiere
The Secret Agent | Kleber Mendonça Filho | Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany
Canadian Premiere
The Smashing Machine | Benny Safdie | USA
North American Premiere
The Testament of Ann Lee | Mona Fastvold | UK
North American Premiere | Presented in 70mm
The Ugly | Yeon Sang-ho | South Korea
World Premiere
Three Goodbyes | Isabel Coixet | Italy/Spain
World Premiere
Train Dreams | Clint Bentley | USA
International Premiere
Tuner | Daniel Roher | USA
Canadian Premiere
Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband) | Zacharias Kunuk | Canada
North American Premiere
*Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Rian Johnson | USA
World Premiere
You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… | Nick Davis | USA
World Premiere
