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TORONTO 2019 Galas / Special Presentations

Toronto unveils its first batch of selections

by 

- The new titles by Michael Winterbottom, Alejandro Amenábar, Małgorzata Szumowska, Armando Iannucci and Marjane Satrapi will world-premiere in TIFF’s Gala and Special Presentations strands

Toronto unveils its first batch of selections
Radioactive by Marjane Satrapi

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the first batch of movies in its official selection, which comprises 18 Gala and 38 Special Presentations films. At the 44th edition of the Canadian gathering, which will unspool from 5-15 September, 29 of the selected titles will be having their world, six their international, 13 their North American and eight their Canadian premieres, TIFF co-heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente revealed. It’s worth noting that half of the Gala films are directed by women, which sets a new record for the section.

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Some of the highlights among the films set to be world-premiered are Alejandro Amenábar’s While at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Amenábar
film profile
]
, which follows the last six months of Spanish essayist Miguel de Unamuno and is the director’s first Spanish-language film since The Sea Inside [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, while Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska will present her English-language debut, the thriller The Other Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile
]
; both will form part of the Special Presentations programme. Furthermore, in the same section, Armando Iannucci will return to Toronto for the first time since The Death of Stalin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, with his adaptation of Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical The Personal History of David Copperfield [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, starring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie, among others (see the news). Furthermore, after last year’s TIFF-premiered The Wedding Guest [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Michael Winterbottom will be coming along to the gathering brandishing his Aegean-set satire Greed [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, starring Steve Coogan.

Other world premieres include the family drama Hope Gap [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, written and directed by William Nicholson, and starring Annette Bening and Josh O’Connor; the adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiographical novel How to Build a Girl, directed by Coky Giedroyc; and Military Wives [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Peter Cattaneo, in which Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan form a choir on a military base.

In Gala Presentations, Roger Michell’s drama Blackbird, a remake of Bille August’s Silent Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, focuses on a mother who spends her final weekend with her family, starring Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska and Susan Sarandon; another bleak family drama, Ordinary Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, follows a couple, Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville, who face a life-changing cancer diagnosis; while Gala’s closing film is Marjane Satrapi’s Radioactive [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marjane Satrapi
film profile
]
, the biopic of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, starring Rosamund Pike.

Cameron Bailey stated: “We’re thrilled to unveil Galas and Special Presentations that bring the brightest lights in film to our festival audience. Our new programming team has been hard at work for months to deliver the compelling stories, acclaimed filmmakers and top on-screen talent that mark our two highest-profile sections.” Joana Vicente added: “Fast-paced, boundary-pushing, satirical — this line-up has films representing every corner of the cinematic landscape on top of a strong number of world premieres.”

Here is the full list of films announced so far:

Galas

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - Marielle Heller (USA)
Abominable - Jill Culton (USA)
American Woman - Semi Chellas (Canada)
Blackbird - Roger Michell (UK)
Clemency - Chinonye Chukwu (USA)
Ford v Ferrari - James Mangold (USA)
The Goldfinch - John Crowley (USA)
Harriet - Kasi Lemmons (USA)
Hustlers - Lorene Scafaria (USA)
Joker - Todd Phillips (USA)
Just Mercy - Destin Daniel Cretton (USA)
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band - Daniel Roher (Canada)
Radioactive [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marjane Satrapi
film profile
]
- Marjane Satrapi (UK)
The Sky Is Pink - Shonali Bose (India)
The Song of Names [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- François Girard (Canada, Hungary, UK)
True History of the Kelly Gang [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Justin Kurzel (Australia/UK)
Western Stars - Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen (USA)

Special Presentations

Bad Education - Cory Finley (USA)
Coming Home Again - Wayne Wang (USA/South Korea)
Dolemite Is My Name - Craig Brewer (USA)
The Domain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tiago Guedes
film profile
]
- Tiago Guedes (Portugal)
Ema - Pablo Larraín (Chile)
Endings, Beginnings - Drake Doremus (USA)
Frankie [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ira Sachs
film profile
]
- Ira Sachs (France/Portugal)
The Friend - Gabriela Cowperthwaite (USA)
Greed [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Michael Winterbottom (UK)
Guest of Honour - Atom Egoyan (Canada)
Heroic Losers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Sebastian Borensztein (Argentina/Spain)
Honey Boy - Alma Har’el (USA)
Hope Gap [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- William Nicholson (UK)
How to Build a Girl - Coky Giedroyc (UK)
I Am Woman - Unjoo Moon (Australia)
Jojo Rabbit [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Taika Waititi (USA/Germany)
Judy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Rupert Goold (UK/US)
Knives Out - Rian Johnson (USA)
La Belle Époque [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Bedos
film profile
]
- Nicolas Bedos (France)
The Laundromat - Steven Soderbergh (USA)
The Lighthouse - Robert Eggers (USA)
Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach (USA)
Military Wives [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Peter Cattaneo (UK)
Motherless Brooklyn - Edward Norton (USA)
No.7 Cherry Lane - Yonfan (Hong Kong)
Ordinary Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn (UK)
The Other Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile
]
- Małgorzata Szumowska (Belgium/Ireland/USA)
Pain & Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Banderas
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile
]
- Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
The Painted Bird [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Václav Marhoul
film profile
]
- Václav Marhoul (Czech Republic/Ukraine/Slovakia)
Parasite - Bong Joon-ho (South Korea)
Pelican Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katrin Gebbe
film profile
]
- Katrin Gebbe (Germany/Bulgaria)
The Personal History of David Copperfield [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Armando Iannucci (UK)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile
]
- Céline Sciamma (France)
The Report - Scott Z Burns (USA)
Saturday Fiction - Lou Ye (China)
The Two Popes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fernando Meirelles
film profile
]
- Fernando Meirelles (USA/UK/Italy/Argentina)
Uncut Gems - Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie (USA)
Weathering With You - Makoto Shinkai (Japan)
While at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Amenábar
film profile
]
- Alejandro Amenábar (Spain/Argentina)

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