The Toronto International Film Festival announced more films to their lineup today. The 46th edition of the fest added some much-needed heft by including Jane Campion’s “The Power Of The Dog” starring Benedict Cumberbatch. That film will now be at Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York’s respective festivals. I doubt another director will be able to do that this fall, and it does have similar shades to how Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” got rolled out last year. Best Picture incoming?
Other TIFF additions today include Joachim Trier’s Cannes-winning “The Worst Person In The World,” Eva Husson‘s. “Mothering Sunday,” and Michel Franco‘s“Sundown.” No sign of another Clifford the Dog movie. Thank God.
The full line-up can be found here. I am told there are still around 40 movies left to be announced.
Now if one were to make the trek to Toronto this year, and logistically it would be a headache given the rising number of COVID cases and border restrictions, then you would have to narrow down the 79 films announced thus far to the nitty gritty. The major titles, so to speak. Sure, there were will be under-the-radar surprises, but the most anticipated TIFF titles right now are these:
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)
Benediction (Terrence Davies)
Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright)
Lakewood (Phillip Noyce)
Petite Maman (Celine Sciamma)
Sundown (Michel Franco)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Michael Showalter)
The Humans (Stephen Karam)
The Power of Dog (Jane Campion)
The Starling (Theodore Melfi)
Again, lots of titles still unannounced and there will be surprises in store I have no doubt. But oddly missing from the TIFF lineup are some of the biggest directors from Venice and Telluride. Where are Paul Schrader, Pedro Almodovar, Mike Mills, Pablo Larrain, and Paolo Sorrentino? Here’s hoping some of them show up in the next wave of titles.
Thatcher shows up on-screen for, at most, 10 seconds. She looks remarkably like Thatcher and comes off as almost too polished, non-human like. Further clues are pointing at AI.