All film festivals face a busy season as most of the on-screen talent will be forced out of this due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Just last week, MGM and Luca Guadagnino snatched “Challengers” from the Venice opening night and moved the film entirely to April next year.
But the Toronto International Film Festival is moving forward with a stellar lineup this year of 60 films in the Galas and Special Presentations sections, it announced on Monday morning. The festival has yet to name an opening night selection, although so far TIFF has programmed Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ and Ladj Ly’s ‘Les Indésirables’.
World premieres include Ellen Kuras’ “Lee,” starring Kate Winslet as war photographer Lee Miller; Viggo Mortensen’s directorial effort “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” a Western starring himself and Vicky Krieps; Craig Gillespie’s GameStop biopic short “Dumb Money” starring Paul Dano and Pete Davidson; Sophie Dupuis’ “Solo” with Theodore Pellerin as an up-and-coming drag queen; Tony Goldwyn’s “Ezra” with Robert De Niro and Rose Byrne; Mahalia Belo’s “The We End Start From” with Jodie Comer, Katherine Waterston and Benedict Cumberbatch; Michael Keaton’s “Knox Goes Away” with Al Pacino and James Marsden; Kristin Scott Thomas’ family saga “North Star” with Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller and herself; David Yates’ Netflix drama “Pain Hustlers” with Emily Blunt and Chris Evans; Maggie Betts’ legal drama “The Burial” with Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones and Jurnee Smollett; Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s “Together 99,” a sequel to his 2000 film “Together”; and Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Hour.”
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Most of these people will not be able to promote their films in person at the festival (or anywhere else) due to the work stoppage orders and conditions of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. But the movies go on.
A number of high-profile films not announced as world premieres mean they’ve played Cannes or, if we haven’t seen them, they’ve been awarded either Telluride (whose lineup is hushed up until Labor Day weekend) or Venice (which unveils its full lineup on July 25). These include Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’, Richard Linklater’s ‘Hitman’, Kitty Green’s ‘The Royal Hotel’, Michel Franco’s ‘Memory’, Christos Nikou’s ‘Fingernails’, Ethan Hawke’s ‘Wildcat’, Bertrand Bonello’s ‘The Beast’, George C. Wolfe’s ‘Rustin’ and more.
Watch the full lineup from TIFF 2023 galas and special presentations below.
Gala presentations
*Previously announced
“Concrete Utopia”, Um Tae-Hwa | South Korea
North American premiere
“Dumb Money”, Craig Gillespie | United States of America
World premiere
“Fair Play”, Chloe Domont | United States of America
First International
“Flora and son”, John Carney | Ireland/USA
Canadian first
“Hate to Love: Nickelback,” Leigh Brooks | Canada
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Lee”, Ellen Kuras | United Kingdom
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“Next Goal Wins”, Taika Waititi | United States of America
World premiere
“NYAD”, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | United States of America
First International
“Punjab ’95”, Honey Trehan | India
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Alone”, Sophie Dupuis | Canada
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“The end from which we start”, Mahalia Belo | United Kingdom
World premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“The Emperor of Cinema”, Ning Hao | China
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“The New Boy”, Warwick Thornton | Australia
North American premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“The Royal Hotel”, Kitty Green | Australia/UK
Canadian first
Special presentations
*Previously announced
“A difficult year”, Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache | France
International premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“An ordinary family”, Hur Jin-ho | South Korea
World premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson | United States of America
World premiere
“Anatomy of a fall”, Justine Triet | France
Canadian first
“Near You”, Dominic Savage | Canada/UK
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“Days of Happiness”, Chloé Robichaud | Canada
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“The Kidnapping”, Daniela Goggi | Argentina
North American premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“Ezra”, Tony Goldwyn | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Nails”, Christos Nikou | United States of America
International premiere
“Four Daughters”, Kaouther Ben Hania | France/Tunisia/Germany/Saudi Arabia
North American premiere
Sale Title – Some Rights Available
“His Three Daughters”, Azazel Jacobs | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Hitman”, Richard Linklater | United States of America
North American premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Alex Gibney | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Kidnapped,” Marco Bellocchio | Italy/France/Germany
North American premiere
“Knox is leaving,” Michael Keaton | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“The Chimera,” Alice Rohrwacher | Italy/France/Switzerland
North American premiere
“Last Summer”, Catherine Breillat | France
North American premiere
* “The Undesirables”, Ladj Ly | France
World premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“Memory”, Michel Franco | USA/Mexico
North American premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Monster”, Kore-eda Hirokazu | Japan
North American premiere
“Mother Couch,” Niclas Larsson | United States of America
World premiere
“North Star”, Kristin Scott Thomas | United Kingdom
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“A Lifetime”, James Hawes | United Kingdom
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Pain Hustlers”, David Yates | United States of America
World premiere
“Polist”, Chris Pine | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – Some Rights Available
“Reptilian”, Grant Singer | United States of America
World premiere
“Rustin”, George C. Wolfe | United States of America
First International
“Seven Veils”, Atom Egoyan | Canada
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“Shoshana”, Michael Winterbottom | UK/Italy
World premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“Sing Sing”, Greg Kwedar | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
“Smugglers”, Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea
North American premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Swan Song”, Chelsea McMullan | Canada
World premiere
Sale Title – Some Rights Available
“The Beast,” Bertrand Bonello | France/Canada
North American premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“The Burial”, Maggie Betts | United States of America
World premiere
“The Convert”, Lee Tamahori | Australia/New Zealand
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“The Critic”, Anand Tucker | United Kingdom
World premiere
Sale Title – Some Rights Available
“The dead don’t hurt,” Viggo Mortensen | Mexico/Canada/Denmark
World premiere
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“The Holdovers”, Alexander Payne | United States of America
First International
“The Peasants,” DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman | Poland/Serbia/Lithuania
World premiere
Sale Title – Some Rights Available
“The Zone of Interest”, Jonathan Glazer | UK/Poland/USA
Canadian first
“Together 99”, Lukas Moodysson | Sweden/Denmark
World premiere
“Unicorns”, Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd | UK/USA/Sweden
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Uproar”, Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett | New Zeland
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Wicked Little Letters”, Thea Sharrock | United Kingdom
World premiere
Sale Title – International Rights Available
“Wildcat”, Ethan Hawke | United States of America
First International
Sale Title – Rights Available for North America
“Woman of the Hour”, Anna Kendrick | United States of America
World premiere
Sale Title – US Rights Available
