Wrapping up the selections for glitzy Galas and Special Presentations programmes (the break down is: 44 World Premieres, 9 International Premieres, 12 North American Premieres and 11 Canadian Premieres), TIFF’s second wave announcement is for the most part: heavy on English language offerings, generous in Netflix preems (David Mackenzie’s Outlaw King opens the fest), friendly in acquisition buzz title offerings and finally, heavy on red carpet starlet presence. While I make yearly, same, dull complaint that there are too many offerings jousting for positioning, there are nonetheless, curious entries world preeming. Formerly titled Vulture Club, Maryam Keshavarz’s Viper Club (starring Susan Sarandon) and Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold the Dark (starring Jeffrey Wright) will be making their debuts before showcasing on Netflix shortly after. In actors turned filmmakers, we’ll see Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit and Jonah Hill’s Mid90s share the spotlight, and speaking of prime time….we could have another Still Alice type moment with Julianne Moore starring in Gloria Bell – Sebastián Lelio’s remake (or inspired by) of his 2013 film, Gloria. In the literary world gone apeshit, Sam Taylor-Johnson’s A Million Little Pieces and Justin Kelly’s Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy (Closing Night Film) are high up on my curiosity list. Here are the latest add-ons.
GALAS 2018
Green Book – Peter Farrelly | USA
World Premiere
* Closing Night Film *
Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy – Justin Kelly | Canada/USA/United Kingdom
World Premiere
The Lie – Veena Sud | Canada
World Premiere
* Opening Night Film *
Outlaw King – David Mackenzie | USA/United Kingdom
World Premiere
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2018
22 July – Paul Greengrass | Norway/Iceland
North American Premiere
American Woman – Jake Scott | USA
World Premiere
Baby ( Bao Bei Er ) – Liu Jie | China
World Premiere
Boy Erased – Joel Edgerton | USA
International Premiere
Driven – Nick Hamm | Puerto Rico/United Kingdom/USA
North American Premiere
Duelles (Mothers’ Instinct) – Olivier Masset-Depasse | Belgium/France
World Premiere
A Faithful Man (L’homme fidèle) – Louis Garrel | France
World Premiere
Gloria Bell – Sebastián Lelio | USA/Chile
World Premiere
Hold the Dark – Jeremy Saulnier | USA
World Premiere
Kursk – Thomas Vinterberg | Belgium/Luxembourg
World Premiere
Legend of the Demon Cat – Director’s Cut – Chen Kaige | China/Japan
World Premiere
Mid90s – Jonah Hill | USA
World Premiere
A Million Little Pieces – Sam Taylor-Johnson | USA
World Premiere
Never Look Away ( Werk ohne Autor ) – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Germany
North American Premiere
The Quietude ( La Quietud ) – Pablo Trapero | Argentina
North American Premiere
Skin – Guy Nattiv | USA
World Premiere
Teen Spirit – Max Minghella | USA
World Premiere
Tell It To The Bees – Annabel Jankel | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Viper Club – Maryam Keshavarz | USA
World Premiere
Vision – Naomi Kawase | Japan/France
International Premiere
Vita & Virginia – Chanya Button | United Kingdom/Ireland
World Premiere
Wild Rose – Tom Harper | United Kingdom
World Premiere
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
