TIFF 2021: Galas and Hidden Gems
by KM, Movie Lightbox
One of the world’s largest public film festivals is set to return to its hybrid edition with in-person screenings at venues in Downtown Toronto and the Festival Village at iconic Ontario Place along with digital screenings on the TIFF Bell Lightbox platform with films available across Canada.
The 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will feature more than 100 films, a much bigger lineup compared to last year and more screening venues with festival attendees required to follow certain public health guidelines. Highlights of this year’s festival include the “World Exclusive IMAX presentation” of Denis Villenueve’s Dune, the much-anticipated retelling of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, and Zendaya. Screening will take place at Ontario Cinesphere, the world’s first permanent IMAX theatre. Pablo Larraín’s haunting chamber drama, Spencer starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana will have its premium screening at the Princess of Wales Theatre. To increase the accessibility of the Festival and help ignite theatrical exhibition across Canada, TIFF will launch “Coast-to-Coast Screenings”, in-person screenings across the country for one evening in each location.
For years, conversations and screening reactions from Toronto audiences are notable for garnering buzz for films having their premieres at the festival, a key part for setting the stage in the awards race and film festival acquisitions. The People’s Choice Award, the festival’s top prize, will be voted on by festival audiences and new this year, TIFF will reveal the winner live on air during the TIFF Tribute Awards presentation on September 18. Previous winners of the Audience Award include Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years A Slave, La La Land and Nomadland.
“We’re so excited to be able to share this year’s lineup with audiences in theatres, these films reflect passion, creativity, and break new ground to tell their stories. We’re honoured to have them as part of TIFF 2021.”, said Joana Vicente, Executive Director and Co-Head of TIFF.
Here’s our Top 10 picks of high profile world premieres and under the radar titles playing at the festival:
The Humans
Set inside a pre-war duplex in downtown Manhattan, The Humans follows the course of an evening in which the Blake family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. As darkness falls outside the crumbling building, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker starring Jessica Chastain.
The Survivor
Post World War II, Harry Haft is a boxer who fought fellow prisoners in the concentration camps to survive. Haunted by memories and guilt, he attempts to use high-profile fights against boxing legends like Rocky Marciano as a way to find his first love again.
Benediction
Terence Davies’ latest is an equally sombre and sumptuous portrait of 20th-century English poet and soldier Siegfried Sassoon.
Wolf
Jacob (George MacKay) has species dysphoria and believes he is a wolf trapped inside the body of a teenager.
Montana Story
Two siblings returning to the family ranch to care for their ailing father must confront painful truths, in Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s latest.
Scarborough
Three kids in a low-income neighbourhood find friendship and community in an unlikely place, in this adaptation of Catherine Hernandez’s award-winning book.
Learn To Swim
The feature debut from Toronto’s Thyrone Tommy charts the stormy romance between two very different contemporary jazz musicians.
Dug Dug
In this striking and musically infectious satire, mysterious events in the wake of a freak motorcycle accident sow the seeds of a new religion.
Saloum
A trio of mercenaries navigate a mysterious region of Senegal, in Jean Luc Herbulot’s cool and kinetic genre-shifting thriller.
The 46th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 9 - 18.
Images courtesy of TIFF