TIFF 2019: From the Joker to Judy Garland, All the Films We’re Already Excited About
All photos courtesy of TIFF
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival is fast approaching and, after previously announcing that a Canadian documentary (Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band) will kick off the fest for the first time, festival organizers this morning dropped the roster of TIFF 2019 Gala and Special Presentation films.
Of the 56 films announced, some of the most anticipated titles include Todd Phillips’ long-awaited Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular villain in his origin story; Western Stars, a Bruce Springsteen concert film; Parasite, a South Korean film that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is described as a “genre-bending” movie about “a family of cunning derelicts [who] scheme to enter a wealthy household’s employ”; Knives Out, an American murder mystery from Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson starring Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer and Michael Shannon, among others; Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the winner of the Cannes Queer Palm, about an 18th century female painter who falls in love with the bride she’s commissioned to paint; The Laundromat, director Steven Soderbergh’s look at the “corrupt and secret world of financial crime that was exposed by the infamous Panama Papers leak,” starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas; The Two Popes, a US, UK, Italy and Argentinian collaboration that stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis as they “debate the best path forward for the Catholic Church, in this surprisingly funny chamber piece from Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles”; and True History of the Kelly Gang, the Australian film starring Russell Crowe that presents a “fictionalized re-telling of the life and crimes of infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, based on Peter Carey’s Booker Prize–winning novel.”
Biopics are also proving a huge draw at TIFF 2019, including American films like the Tom Hanks-led Mr. Rogers film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood; Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy “as comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who became a legend in midlife with his outlandish 1970s Blaxploitation character Dolemite”; and Harriet, starring Tony-winner Cynthia Erivo in the story of Underground Railroad hero Harriet Tubman. The UK film Judy stars Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in the story of the last chapter of her life; Australia’s I Am Woman chronicles the life of Helen Reddy, “the fiercely ambitious Australian singer behind the 1971 megahit anthem that became the rallying cry of the women’s liberation movement”; and Radioactive, another UK offering, is about famed scientist Marie Curie (Rosamund Pike) and based on the award-winning graphic novel by Lauren Redniss.
Canuck fare announced for the fest includes Semi Chellas’ drama American Woman, described as a “fictionalized reimagining of the Patty Hearst affair,” Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honour, about a father and daughter who, “work through their complicated relationship, secret histories, and personal demons,” François Girard’s The Song of Names, an “historical drama, about a man searching for his childhood best friend — a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust — who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance,” and Once Were Brothers.
Of course, there are so many more TIFF 2019 films that we’re excited about already that boast Hollywood heavyweights, international hits and some of the most unique stories on the silver screen. Those films include…
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Marielle Heller
TIFF Synopsis: “A jaded journalist (Matthew Rhys) reluctantly accepts an Esquire assignment to profile the children’s television host Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), and encounters a profoundly empathetic worldview that changes his life forever.”
American Woman (Canadian Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: Canada
Director: Semi Chellas
TIFF Synopsis: “A political activist (Hong Chau) helps take care of a group of America’s most wanted fugitives — including a well-known, recently radicalized heiress — in this fictionalized reimagining of the Patty Hearst affair.”
Bad Education (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Corey Finley
TIFF Synopsis: “Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, and Ray Romano star in this fact-based dramedy directed by Cory Finley (Thoroughbreds), about an infamous $11 million school-larceny scandal that rocked Long Island in the early aughts.”
Blackbird (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Robert Michell
TIFF Synopsis: “A terminally ill mother (Susan Sarandon) invites her family to their country house for one final gathering, but tensions quickly boil over between her two daughters (Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska), in Roger Michell’s (My Cousin Rachel, Le Week-End) remake of the award-winning 2014 Danish film Silent Heart.”
Country: United States
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
TIFF Synopsis: “A death row prison warden (Alfre Woodard) grapples with the psychological fallout of her job following years of executions, in Chinonye Chukwu’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize–winning drama.”
Coming Home Again (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States / South Korea
Director: Wayne Wang
TIFF Synopsis: “A Korean American man cares for his ailing mother while trying to master her traditional cooking in the latest from Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club), based on Chang-rae Lee’s New Yorker short story.”
Dolemite Is My Name (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Craig Brewer
TIFF Synopsis: “Eddie Murphy leads this hugely entertaining biopic from Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) with his hilarious and finely honed turn as comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who became a legend in midlife with his outlandish 1970s Blaxploitation character Dolemite.”
Ford v Ferrari (Canadian Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United States
Director: James Mangold
TIFF Synopsis: “James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) directs Matt Damon and Christian Bale in this high-speed biographical drama that pits an underdog team of American automotive engineers against Ferrari in the 1966 “24 Hours of Le Mans” endurance race.”
Frankie (North American Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: France / Portugal
Director: Ira Sachs
TIFF Synopsis: “An aging actor (Isabelle Huppert) summons her idiosyncratic extended family on a fateful holiday, in Ira Sachs’ thoughtful dramedy co-starring Marisa Tomei, Brendan Gleeson, Jérémie Renier, and Greg Kinnear.”
Greed (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Michael Winterbottom
TIFF Synopsis: “Festival favourite Michael Winterbottom skewers the fast-fashion industry in this scathing farce about a retail billionaire (Steve Coogan) whose lavish birthday plans are thrown into disarray by a nearby refugee camp.”
Guest of Honour (North American Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: Canada
Director: Atom Egoyan
TIFF Synopsis: “A father (David Thewlis) and daughter (Laysla De Oliveira) attempt to work through their complicated relationship, secret histories, and personal demons, in Atom Egoyan’s latest exploration of unresolved personal trauma and its unintended consequences.”
Harriet (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Kasi Lemmons
TIFF Synopsis: “Tony-winning Broadway actor Cynthia Erivo stars in Kasi Lemmons’ inspiring biopic about renowned abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and risked her life to lead others to freedom through the network of safehouses known as the Underground Railroad.”
Heroic Losers (International Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: Argentina / Spain
Director: Sebastian Borensztein
TIFF Synopsis: “When some neighbours in rural Argentina are swindled out of their savings by an unscrupulous lawyer and bank manager, they join forces to plan an elaborate heist and take back what’s theirs.”
Hope Gap (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United Kingdom
Director: William Nicholson
TIFF Synopsis: “A together-forever couple (Annette Bening and Bill Nighy) unpack the many complications of splitting up, in Oscar-nominated writer-director William Nicholson’s razor-sharp drama.”
Hustlers (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Lorene Scafaria
TIFF Synopsis: “Inspired by a 2015 New York Magazine article that went viral, Hustlers follows a savvy crew of former strippers (Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, Constance Wu, and Julia Stiles) who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.”
I Am Woman (World Premiere)
Special Presentation / Opening Night Film
Country: Australia
Director: Unjoo Moon
TIFF Synopsis: “This uplifting biopic tells the story of Helen Reddy, the fiercely ambitious Australian singer behind the 1971 megahit anthem that became the rallying cry of the women’s liberation movement.”
Jojo Rabbit (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Taika Waititi
TIFF Synopsis: “Taika Waititi directs a riotous cast — including Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, and Alfie Allen — in this equally daring, droll, and touching story of a young German boy who discovers a Jewish girl hiding in his home and consults with his imaginary best friend, Adolf Hitler (Waititi).”
Country: United States
Director: Todd Phillips
TIFF Synopsis: “Joaquin Phoenix becomes the iconic comic-book villain in director Todd Phillips’ (War Dog, The Hangover) dark chronicle of a vulnerable man’s descent into violent madness.”
Judy (Canadian Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Rupert Goold
TIFF Synopsis: “Oscar winner Renée Zellweger delivers a note-perfect performance as Judy Garland during the last year of her life, in Rupert Goold’s (True Story) moving adaptation of the stage play End of the Rainbow.”
Knives Out (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Rian Johnson
TIFF Synopsis: “Director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper) assembles an all-star cast — Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, and LaKeith Stanfield — in this intelligent whodunit about a famed southern detective (Craig) who joins forces with local police to investigate a group of eccentric suspects following the murder of a wealthy crime novelist (Christopher Plummer).”
Country: France
Director: Nicolas Bedos
TIFF Synopsis: “In this high-concept comedy from Nicolas Bedos (Mr. & Mrs. Adelman), a luddite cartoonist suffering an existential crisis hires a VR company to recreate a happier time in his marriage, as he tries to reconcile the golden-hued past with an inescapable digital present.”
No. 7 Cherry Lane (North American Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: Hong Kong
Director: Yonfan
TIFF Synopsis: “Set in the politically charged Hong Kong of the 1960s, iconic Chinese director Yonfan’s animation debut is an atmospheric story of an English literature student who enters into a love triangle with the woman he is tutoring and her middle-aged mother.”
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation / Festival Opener
Country: Canada
Director: Daniel Roher
TIFF Synopsis: “Directed by Daniel Roher (Ghosts of Our Forest) and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer, and Ron Howard, the feature documentary follows Robertson from his early life in Toronto and on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, in Southern Ontario, to the creation of legendary roots-rock group The Band.”
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn
TIFF Synopsis: “Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville star as a long-standing couple facing a potentially life-changing cancer diagnosis, in this drama scripted by Northern Irish playwright Owen McCafferty.”
Pain and Glory (Canadian Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: Spain
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
TIFF Synopsis: “An aging filmmaker (Antonio Banderas) grapples with an uncertain future and the circumstances that shaped his successful but troubled life, in Pedro Almodóvar’s self-reflexive consideration of identity and desire.”
Parasite (Canadian Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: South Korea
Director: Bong Joon-ho
TIFF Synopsis: “A family of cunning derelicts scheme to enter a wealthy household’s employ in this genre-bending, Palme d’Or–winning thriller of class struggle from South Korean master Bong Joon-ho (Okja, Snowpiercer).”
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Canadian Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: France
Director: Céline Sciamma
TIFF Synopsis: “Hired to paint a portrait ahead of a prospective marriage, an artist in 18th-century Brittany finds herself falling for the reclusive would-be bride, in the Cannes Queer Palm–winning fourth feature from writer-director Céline Sciamma (Girlhood).”
Radioactive (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Marjane Satrapi
TIFF Synopsis: “Based on Lauren Redniss’s award-winning graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi’s (Persepolis) biopic stars Rosamund Pike as two-time Nobel Prize–winning scientist Marie Curie, highlighting the groundbreaking discoveries she made with her husband, Pierre (Sam Riley).”
Saturday Fiction (North American Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: China
Director: Lou Ye
TIFF Synopsis: “In 1941, a Chinese actress returns to Japanese-occupied Shanghai, ostensibly to star in a play, but her true motivations become complicated as she learns of the imminent Pearl Harbor attack and struggles to differentiate friend from undercover enemy.”
The Goldfinch (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United States
Director: John Crowley
TIFF Synopsis: “A young boy’s life is forever altered following a terrorist attack at an art museum, in John Crowley’s (Brooklyn) adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. Starring Nicole Kidman, Ansel Elgort, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, and Jeffrey Wright.”
The Laundromat (North American Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Steven Soderbergh
TIFF Synopsis: “Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas star in Steven Soderbergh’s guided tour through the corrupt and secret world of financial crime that was exposed by the infamous Panama Papers leak.”
The Painted Bird (North American Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovakia
Director: Václav Marhoul
TIFF Synopsis: “A young Jewish boy encounters the worst of humanity as he wanders Eastern Europe during World War II, in director Václav Marhoul’s adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s infamous Holocaust novel.”
The Personal History of David Copperfield (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Armando Iannucci
TIFF Synopsis: “Director Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin) brings his sardonic wit — and a stellar cast that includes Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Capaldi, and Ben Whishaw — to Charles Dickens’ classic autobiographical novel.”
Country: Canada
Director: François Girard
TIFF Synopsis: “Tim Roth and Clive Owen star in François Girard’s (Hochelaga, Land of Souls) latest sweeping historical drama, about a man searching for his childhood best friend — a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust — who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance.”
The Two Popes (Canadian Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Argentina,
Director: Fernando Meirelles
TIFF Synopsis: “In 2013, progressive incoming Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) and conservative outgoing Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) debate the best path forward for the Catholic Church, in this surprisingly funny chamber piece from Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles (City of God).”
Country: Australia
Director: Justin Kurzel
TIFF Synopsis: “A fictionalized re-telling of the life and crimes of infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, based on Peter Carey’s Booker Prize–winning novel. Starring Russell Crowe and Nicholas Hoult.”
Western Stars (World Premiere)
Gala Presentation
Country: United States
Director: Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen
TIFF Synopsis: “The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen himself.”
While At War (World Premiere)
Special Presentation
Country: Spain / Argentina
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
TIFF Synopsis: “Set in the first months of the Spanish Civil War, this riveting and timely chamber drama from acclaimed writer-director Alejandro Amenábar (The Others) tracks the country’s slide into nearly four decades of fascism under dictator Francisco Franco.”
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5-15 2019. Click here for more information on all the films already announced.
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