Pandemic or not, Toronto International Film Festival is trucking forward and has announced its 2020 lineup. Set to run from September 10th to 19th, the hybrid event will include limited offline film screenings and virtual red carpets, press conferences, and industry events.
“We will be relying on drive-ins and outdoor screenings and will have some indoor screenings, and then there’s a strong digital component, not just for the public, but also for the industry,” festival co-head Joana Vicente told The Hollywood Reporter.
What’s more, they’ve tapped 50 top industry directors and actors to serve as TIFF Ambassdors throughout the 10-day event. These include Ava DuVernay, Taika Waititi, Martin Scorsese, Claire Denis, Denis Villeneuve, and the list goes on.
So, what’s on the docket? Quite a lot, all things considered. Spike Lee’s filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia will open the festival; Oscar winner Regina King brings her directorial debut One Night in Miami; Roseanne Liang will roll out her action horror pic Shadow in the Cloud; and Werner Herzog will add a dose of existential terror with his meteorite documentary, Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds.
Other highlights include Francis Lee’s Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; Glendyn Ivin’s Penguin Bloom featuring Jacki Weaver and Naomi Watts; Florian Zeller’s dementia drama The Father that stars Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman; and Halle Berry’s directorial debut feature Bruised in which she also stars.
Consult the full lineup below and stay tuned for more coverage on Consequence of Sound.
180 Degree Rule Farnoosh Samadi | Iran
76 Days Hao Wu, Anonymous, Weixi Chen | USA
Ammonite Francis Lee | United Kingdom
Another Round (Druk) Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark
Bandar Band Manijeh Hekmat | Iran/Germany
Beans Tracey Deer | Canada
Beginning (Dasatskisi) Dea Kulumbegashvili | Georgia/France
The Best is Yet to Come (Bu Zhi Bu Xiu) Wang Jing | China
Bruised Halle Berry | USA
City Hall Frederick Wiseman | USA
Concrete Cowboy Ricky Staub | USA
Opening Night Film – David Byrne’s American Utopia Spike Lee | USA
The Disciple Chaitanya Tamhane | India
Enemies of the State Sonia Kennebeck | USA
Falling Viggo Mortensen | Canada/United Kingdom
The Father Florian Zeller | United Kingdom/France
Fauna Nicolás Pereda | Mexico/Canada
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer | United Kingdom/USA
Gaza mon amour Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser | France/Germany/Portugal/Palestine/Qatar
Get the Hell Out (Tao Chu Li Fa Yuan) I-Fan Wang | Taiwan
Good Joe Bell Reinaldo Marcus Green | USA
I Care A Lot J Blakeson | United Kingdom
Inconvenient Indian Michelle Latimer | Canada
The Inheritance Ephraim Asili | USA
Lift Like a Girl (Ash Ya Captain) Mayye Zayed | Egypt/Germany/Denmark
Limbo Ben Sharrock | United Kingdom
Memory House (Casa de Antiguidades) João Paulo Miranda Maria | Brazil/France
MLK/FBI Sam Pollard | USA
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott | Canada
New Order (Nuevo orden) Michel Franco | Mexico
Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois) Philippe Lacôte | Côte d’Ivoire/France/Canada/Senegal
Nomadland Chloé Zhao | USA
No Ordinary Man Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt | Canada
Notturno Gianfranco Rosi | Italy/France/Germany
One Night in Miami Regina King | USA
Penguin Bloom Glendyn Ivin | Australia
Pieces of a Woman Kornél Mundruczó | USA/Canada/Hungary
Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time (Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre) Lili Horvát | Hungary
Quo Vadis, Aïda? Jasmila Žbanić | Bosnia and Herzegovina/Norway/The Netherlands/Austria/Romania/France/Germany/Poland/Turkey
Shadow In The Cloud Roseanne Liang | USA/New Zealand
Shiva Baby Emma Seligman | USA/Canada
Spring Blossom Suzanne Lindon | France
Closing Night Presentation – A Suitable Boy Mira Nair | United Kingdom/India
Summer of 85 (Été 85) François Ozon | France
The Third Day Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly | United Kingdom
Trickster Michelle Latimer | Canada
True Mothers (Asa Ga Kuru) Naomi Kawase | Japan
Under the Open Sky (Subarashiki Sekai) Miwa Nishikawa | Japan
Violation Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli | Canada
Wildfire Cathy Brady | United Kingdom/Ireland