The 45th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is fast approaching. As previously announced, things will look quite different at this year’s festival: instead of red carpets on King Street lined with spectators, think digital screenings and socially distanced theatre experiences. Today, TIFF revealed the full lineup of films, special events and calendar for the 2020 festival.
“In Conversation With..,” a series of discussions with leading industry talent, will be entirely digital this year and feature guests such as Ava DuVernay, Saoirse Ronan and Halle Berry.
Special Events were also announced today; among the selected films, which will all be available on TIFF’s Bell Digital Cinema platform, are Underplayed, a Canadian documentary about gender inequality in the electronic music world, The Water Man, a family drama helmed by Selma star David Oyelowo and The Boy from Medellín, a documentary about J Balvin.
The festival will also see a revival of a programme created by TIFF co-head Cameron Bailey in 1995 celebrating African cinema. “Planet Africa 25” will feature four films from Africa and the African diaspora, as well as a panel discussion with the programmers and a live-streamed dance party.
“It was important for TIFF to move forward and keep the creative spirit alive,” said TIFF co-head Cameron Bailey in a press release. “That is why we are so happy to deliver TIFF. We are dedicated to providing a platform for filmmakers of colour, emerging talents, and independent creative film artists, and particularly women filmmakers — to spotlight their work, raise their profiles, and amplify their voices, especially those of Canadian and Indigenous artists, and continue to be a thought leader in film culture.” As part of TIFF’s five-year “Share Her Journey” commitment to increasing participation for women in all aspects of film, the TIFF 2020 lineup is 45% directed, co-directed or created by women.
TIFF runs from September 10 to 19, with tickets on sale for TIFF members beginning August 28 and the general public September 5. Check out the festival schedule here and full list of films below (all bolded films are part of the 43 percent which are directed, co-led or made by women).
180 Degree Rule, directed by Farnoosh Samadi
76 Days, directed by Hao Wu, Anonymous, Weixi Chen
40 Years A Prisoner, directed by Tommy Oliver
Akilla’s Escape, directed by Charles Officer
Ammonite, directed by Francis Lee
Another Round (Druk), directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Bandar Band, directed by Manijeh Hekmat
Beans, directed by Tracey Deer
Beginning (Dasatskisi), directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili
The Best Is Yet to Come (Bu Zhi Bu Xiu), directed by Wang Jing
Bruised, directed by Halle Berry
City Hall, directed by Frederick Wiseman
Concrete Cowboy, directed by Ricky Staub
David Byrne’s American Utopia, directed by Spike Lee
The Disciple, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane
Downstream to Kinshasa (En route pour le milliard), directed by Dieudo Hamadi
Enemies of the State, directed by Sonia Kennebeck
Falling, directed by Viggo Mortensen
The Father, directed by Florian Zeller
Fauna, directed by Nicolás Pereda
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds, directed by Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer
Gaza Mon Amour, directed by Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Get the Hell Out (Tao Chu Li Fa Yuan), directed by I-Fan Wang
Good Joe Bell, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
I Care A Lot, directed by J Blakeson
Inconvenient Indian, directed by Michelle Latimer
The Inheritance, directed by Ephraim Asili
Lift Like a Girl (Ash Ya Captain), directed by Mayye Zayed
Limbo, directed by Ben Sharrock
Memory House (Casa de Antiguidades), directed by João Paulo Miranda Maria
MLK/FBI, directed by Sam Pollard
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, directed by Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott
New Order (Nuevo Orden), directed by Michel Franco
Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois), directed by Philippe Lacôte
Nomadland, directed by Chloé Zhao
No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt
Notturno, directed by Gianfranco Rosi
One Night in Miami, directed by Regina King
Penguin Bloom, directed by Glendyn Ivin
Pieces of a Woman, directed by Kornél Mundruczó
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Felkészülés Meghatározatlan Ideig Tartó Együttlétre), directed by Lili Horvát
Quo Vadis, Aïda?, directed by Jasmila Žbanić
Shadow In the Cloud, directed by Roseanne Liang
Shiva Baby, directed by Emma Seligman
Spring Blossom, directed by Suzanne Lindon
A Suitable Boy, directed by Mira Nair
Summer of 85 (Été 85), directed by François Ozon
The Boy from Medellín, directed by Matthew Heineman
The Third Day, directed by Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly
The Truffle Hunters, directed by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
The Water Man, directed by David Oyelowo
The Way I See It, directed by Dawn Porter
Trickster, directed by Michelle Latimer
True Mothers (Asa Ga Kuru), directed by Naomi Kawase
Underplayed, directed by Stacey Lee
Wolfwalkers, directed by Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
READ MORE:
TIFF Unveils 2020 Festival Plans Featuring Drive-Ins and Virtual Red Carpets
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