Films directed by actors Michael Keaton, Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ethan Hawke, Tony Goldwyn and Anna Kendrick will screen at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced Monday as they unveiled the first batch of films in the festival’s Gala and Special Presentations sections.
Keaton, Goldwyn, Kendrick, Mortensen, Pine and Thomas will present the world premieres of their films: Keaton with “Knox Goes Away”, Goldwyn with “Ezra”, Kendrick with “Woman of the Hour”, Mortensen with “The Dead Don’t Hurt”, Pine with “Poolman” and Thomas with “North Star”. Hawke’s film “Wildcat” will have its international premiere in Toronto, which means it will likely screen at the Telluride Film Festival just before TIFF.
Films receiving their world premieres in Toronto include Craig Gillespie’s “Dumb Money,” starring Paul Dano and Pete Davidson; Ellen Kuras’ “Lee,” with Kate Winslet; David Yates’ “Pain Hustlers” with Emily Blunt and Chris Evans; Michael Winterbottom’s political thriller “Shoshana”; and two music documentaries, Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” and Leigh Brooks’ “Hate to Love: Nickelback.”
Other directors represented in the selection include Alexander Payne with “The Holdovers,” which garnered attention with a private screening at TIFF last year and is another potential Telluride entry. Richard Linklater’s “Hitman,” with Glen Powell, will open in North America, while Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin will make their narrative debut with “NYAD,” a biographical drama about Olympic swimmer Diana Nyas, starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
The lineup will also include a number of films that have premiered at other festivals, including Sundance hits “Flora and Son” and “Fair Play” and Cannes titles “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Zone of Interest,” “La Chimera,” “The New Boy,” “Monster,” “Four Daughters” and “Kidnapped.”
Three of the titles were previously announced: Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins”, Ladj Ly’s “Les Indésirables” and Atom Egoyan’s “Seven Veils”.
Of the 61 films announced Monday, 39 are blockbuster titles heading to Toronto for distribution in some or all markets. That number includes movies by Keaton, Linklater, Goldwyn, Thomas, Mortensen, Hawke, and Kendrick.
With the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes making it doubtful whether actors and writers will be able to attend the festival to promote their films, TIFF’s lineup has slightly fewer high-profile studio releases than usual, though the festival will add to the lineup over the next month. At this point, galas and special appearances are about 36% US and 64% international, a modest international slant from last year’s 45% US/55% international split.
Last week, the Venice Film Festival lost its debut film, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” when distributor MGM opted to move its release date to 2024 instead of releasing it without stars Zendaya and Josh O’Connor.
Additional yet-to-be-announced Toronto programming, including TIFF Docs and Discovery and Platform sections, often leans more toward international films.
Here are the opening galas and special presentations:
GALA PRESENTATIONS
*Previously announced
“Concrete Utopia”, Um Tae-Hwa | South Korea
north american premiere
Sales Title: Rights Available in North America
“Dumb Money”, Craig Gillespie | USA
World Premiere
“Fair Play”, Chloe Domont | USA
international premiere
“Flora and son”, John Carney | Ireland/United States
canadian premiere
“I Hate to Love: Nickelback”, Leigh Brooks | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Lee”, Ellen Kuras | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
*”Next goal wins”, Taika Waititi | USA
World Premiere
“NYAD”, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA
international premiere
“Punjab ’95”, Honey Trehan | India
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Alone”, Sophie Dupuis | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
“The end from which we started”, Mahalia Belo | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title: North American Rights Available
“The emperor of the movie”, Ning Hao | Porcelain
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“The New Guy”, Warwick Thornton | Australia
north american premiere
Sales Title: North American Rights Available
“The Royal Hotel”, Kitty Green | Australia/UK
canadian premiere
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
“A difficult year”, Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache | France
international premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
“A normal family”, Hur Jin-ho | South Korea
World Premiere
Sales Title: North American Rights Available
“American Fiction”, Cord Jefferson | USA
World Premiere
“Anatomy of a fall”, Justine Triet | France
canadian premiere
“Near You”, Dominic Savage | Canada/UK
World Premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
“Days of happiness”, Chloé Robichaud | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“The Kidnapping”, Daniela Goggi | Argentina
north american premiere
Sales Title: North American Rights Available
“Ezra”, Tony Goldwyn | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Nails”, Christos Nikou | USA
international premiere
“Four daughters”, Kaouther Ben Hania | France/Tunisia/Germany/Saudi Arabia
north american premiere
Title of sale: some rights available
“His three daughters”, Azazel Jacobs | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Sicario”, Richard Linklater | USA
north american premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
“In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon”, Alex Gibney | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Kidnapped”, Marco Bellocchio | Italy/France/Germany
north american premiere
“Knox is leaving”, Michael Keaton | USA
World Premiere
Sales 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
Sales Title: Rights Available in North America
“Memory”, Michel Franco | United States Mexico
north american premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Monster”, Kore-eda Hirokazu | Japan
north american premiere
“Mother sofa”, Niclas Larsson | USA
World Premiere
“North Star”, Kristin Scott Thomas | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“A Life”, James Hawes | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Pain scammers”, David Yates | USA
World Premiere
“Pool”, Chris Pine | USA
World Premiere
Title of sale: some rights available
“Reptile”, Grant Singer | USA
World Premiere
“Rustin”, George C. Wolfe | USA
international premiere
*“Seven Veils”, Atom Egoyan | Canada
World Premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
“Shoshana”, Michael Winterbottom | UK/Italy
World Premiere
Sales Title: North American Rights Available
“Sing, sing”, Greg Kwedar | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
“Smugglers”, Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea
north american premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“The Swan Song”, Chelsea McMullan | Canada
World Premiere
Title of sale: some rights available
“The Beast”, Bertrand Bonello | France/Canada
north american premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“The Burial”, Maggie Betts | USA
World Premiere”
“The Convert”, Lee Tamahori | Australia/New Zealand
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“The Critic”, Anand Tucker | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Title of sale: some rights available
“The dead do not hurt”, Viggo Mortensen | Mexico/Canada/Denmark
World Premiere
Sales Title: Rights Available Worldwide
“The remnants”, Alexander Payne | USA
international premiere
“The Peasants”, DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman | Poland/Serbia/Lithuania
World Premiere
Title of sale: some rights available
“The zone of interest”, Jonathan Glazer | UK/Poland/USA
canadian premiere
“Together 99”, Lukas Moodysson | Sweden/Denmark
World Premiere
“Unicorns”, Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd | UK/US/Sweden
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Riot”, Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett | New Zealand
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Evil Lyrics”, Thea Sharrock | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Sales Title: International Rights Available
“Wildcat”, Ethan Hawke | USA
international premiere
Sales Title: North American Rights Available
“Woman of the moment”, Anna Kendrick | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title: US Rights Available
