30/07/2020 - Co-head Cameron Bailey says the selection “reflects the tumult” of putting a festival on during coronavirus pandemic. Francis Lee, Thomas Vinterberg and François Ozon lead 20-film European presence

TIFF Co-Heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente today announced the line-up of titles selected for the 45th Toronto International Film Festival (scheduled to run from 10 to 19 September). There is a consistent presence of European productions in the 50-title (47 films and 3 series) list, particularly those films with production involvement from the United Kingdom.

The strong representation of women, Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour among TIFF’s selection reflect the organization’s continuing commitment to normalizing gender parity and racial equality for future generations.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, TIFF will only screen 50 presentations, with no individual sections announced. Bailey said, “This year’s line-up reflects that tumult. The names you already know are doing brand new things this year, and there’s a whole crop of exciting new names to discover. We’re thankful to every filmmaker and company that joined us on this adventure, and we can’t wait to share these brilliant films with our audiences.”

Anticipated European productions include Ammonite [+see also:
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As expected, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round [+see also:
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film profile], Viggo Mortensen’s Canadian / UK co-production that launched to acclaim at Sundance has also landed a berth. There is also a spot for François Ozon’s much-anticipated Summer of 85 [+see also:
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German director Werner Herzog and Cambridge University professor Clive Oppenheimer bring new documentary Fireball: Visitors from Darker Word, which looks at how meteorites have impacted Earth.

Several titles will come to TIFF fresh from Venice, or at the same time, including Quo Vadis, Aïda? [+see also:
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interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile] by Berlin Golden Bear winner Jasmila Žbanić and Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary Notturno [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile]. Other new films to look out for include Spring Blossom [+see also:
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interview: Suzanne Lindon
film profile] by Suzanne Lindon, which Bailey has described “as a real discovery”, I Care a Lot [+see also:
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film profile] by J Blakeson, Limbo [+see also:
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interview: Ben Sharrock
film profile] by Ben Sharrock and Wildfire [+see also:
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interview: Cathy Brady
film profile] by Cathy Brady.

The list of films announced:

Gala Presentations

David Byrne’s American Utopia – ​Spike Lee (USA) (opening film)
Ammonite [+see also:
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Bruised​ – Halle Berry (USA)
Concrete Cowboy – Ricky Staub (USA)
Good Joe Bell – Reinaldo Marcus Green (USA)
I Care A Lot [+see also:
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Nomadland – C​hloé Zhao​ (USA)
One Night in Miami – R​egina King (USA)
Pieces of a Woman [+see also:
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interview: Kornél Mundruczó and Kata W…
film profile] – Kornél Mundruczó (USA/Canada/Hungary)

Special Presentations

Another Round [+see also:
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Falling [+see also:
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film profile] – Viggo Mortensen (Canada/UK)
Penguin Bloom​ – Glendyn Ivin (Australia/USA)
Summer of 85 [+see also:
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The Disciple – Chaitanya Tamhane (India)
The Father [+see also:
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interview: Florian Zeller
film profile] – Florian Zeller (UK/France)
True Mothers – Naomi Kawase (Japan)

Contemporary World Cinema

Bandar Band [+see also:
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New Order – Michel Franco​ (Mexico)
Night of the Kings [+see also:
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interview: Philippe Lacôte
film profile] – Philippe Lacôte (France/Ivory Coast/Canada/Senegal)
Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time [+see also:
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interview: Lili Horvat
interview: Natasa Stork
film profile] - Lili Horvát (Hungary)
Quo Vadis, Aïda? [+see also:
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interview: Jasmila Žbanić
film profile] – Jasmila Žbanić (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Norway/Netherlands/Austria/Romania/France/Germany/Poland/Turkey)
Under the Open Sky – Miwa Nishikawa​ (Japan)

Discovery

180 Degree Rule – ​Farnoosh Samadi (Iran)
Beans​ – ​Tracey Deer (Canada)
Beginning [+see also:
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interview: Dea Kulumbegashvili
film profile] – Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia/France)
Gaza mon amour [+see also:
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film profile] – Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser (France/Germany/Portugal/Palestine/Qatar)
Limbo [+see also:
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interview: Ben Sharrock
film profile] – Ben Sharrock (UK)
Memory House [+see also:
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film profile]​ – João Paulo Miranda Maria​ (Brazil/France)
Shiva Baby – Emma Seligman​ (USA/Canada)
Spring Blossom [+see also:
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interview: Suzanne Lindon
film profile] – Suzanne Lindon (France)
The Best is Yet to Come – ​Wang Jing (China)
Wildfire [+see also:
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interview: Cathy Brady
film profile] – Cathy Brady (UK/Ireland)

TIFF Docs

76 Days – H​ao Wu​, Anonymous, ​Weixi Chen​ (USA)
City Hall – Frederick Wiseman (USA)
Enemies of the State – ​S​onia Kennebeck​​ (USA)
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds – Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer (UK/USA)
Inconvenient Indian – M​ichelle Latimer (Canada)
Lift Like a Girl [+see also:
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MLK/FBI​ – Sam Pollard (USA)
No Ordinary Man – A​isling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt​ (Canada)
The New Corporation: An Unfortunately Necessary Sequel​ ​– Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott (Canada)

Masters

Notturno [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile] – Gianfranco Rosi (Italy/France/Germany)

Midnight Madness

Get the Hell Out ​– I​-Fan Wang (Taiwan)
Shadow In The Cloud​ – R​oseanne Liang​ (USA/New Zealand)
Violation​ – M​adeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli (Canada)

Wavelengths

Fauna​ – N​icolás Pereda​ (Mexico/Canada)
The Inheritance – Ephraim Asili (USA)

Primetime

A Suitable Boy – Mira Nair (UK/India) (closing film) (series)
The Third Day – Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly (UK) (series)
Trickster – Michelle Latimer (Canada) (series)