The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) yesterday added 11 titles to its official selection, bringing the overall number to 17 after two smaller waves of announcements. Ten of these will be world premieres. This year’s edition runs from 4-14 September and marks the 50th anniversary of the storied Canadian festival, which has upheld its reputation for launching awards-season titles, and giving a vast platform to new international cinema and emerging filmmakers.

With the Venice Film Festival announcement taking place next Tuesday, Toronto has unveiled some US films in its line-up that will rival the Italian gathering’s crop, along with a smaller number of European titles. Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet (see the news) will have its Canadian premiere in a Gala screening, meaning that it will show at Telluride or indeed Venice beforehand (where the Chinese filmmaker won the Golden Lion for Nomadland in 2020); in it, Paul Mescal will incarnate none other than William Shakespeare as he finds the inspiration for his iconic tragedy, whose title is one letter away from Hamnet’s. Hikari’s Rental Family, distributed by Searchlight Pictures, already has major awards buzz around it, with Brendan Fraser in another tearjerking role as a struggling US actor in Japan, who’s hired to role-play in bereaved families’ lives. Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral sees Ralph Fiennes’ first major turn since the twisty election procedural Conclave [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], where he’ll play a choirmaster leading an ambitious performance in rural, northern Britain amidst World War I.

Perhaps expected instead at Venice, Agnieszka Holland is bringing her ambitious Kafka biopic Franz [+leggi anche:
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“Since its inception, TIFF has championed global cinema that opens our eyes and brings us together,” remarked Anita Lee, chief programming officer at TIFF. “We are delighted to share 11 more titles from our Gala and Special Presentations programmes that showcase the remarkable originality and excellence of today’s most exciting and acclaimed directors. These films reflect a sweeping range of voices and styles that embody the spirit of TIFF and our commitment to a public audience.”

The Platform, Discovery and Centrepiece strands are typically the home of TIFF’s noteworthy European world premieres. Two Cannes titles in the guise of Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound and Rebecca Zlotowski’s Jodie Foster-starrer A Private Life [+leggi anche:
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The full list of titles announced so far is below:

Galas

Roofman - Derek Cianfrance (USA)
Homebound - Neeraj Ghaywan (India/USA)
John Candy: I Like Me - Colin Hanks (USA)
She Has No Name - Peter Ho-Sun Chan (China)
The Choral - Nicholas Hytner (UK/USA)
Hamnet - Chloé Zhao (UK/USA)
A Private Life [+leggi anche:
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Special Presentations

The Captive [+leggi anche:
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Hedda - Nia DaCosta (USA)
The Lost Bus - Paul Greengrass (USA)
Rental Family - Hikari (USA/Japan)
Franz [+leggi anche:
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - Rian Johnson (USA)
Mile End Kicks - Chandler Levack (Canada/USA)
The Christophers - Steven Soderbergh (USA)
Good News - Byun Sung-hyun (South Korea)
Steal Away - Clement Virgo (Canada/Belgium/Netherlands)