Two labor strikes may be upending Hollywood’s awards season and the film festivals that serve as the launch pad for many Oscar contenders, but the Toronto International Film Festival signaled on Monday that it still plans to showcase the best in cinema, unveiling its 2023 film slate.
Alexander Payne, Richard Linklater, Kore-eda Hirokazu and Justine Triet are among the authors who will present their latest works at the festival. Payne will be on hand with “The Holdovers,” a comedy set in a boarding school that reunites him with “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti, while Linklater presents “Hitman,” an action-comedy starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona. Kore-eda and Triet will screen “Monster” and “Anatomy of a Fall”, both of which premiered at Cannes, where the latter won the Palme d’Or.
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In total, the first wave of festival selections includes 60 films, representing 70 countries around the world. But the lineup also stands out for its lack of studio premieres, like “Dune: Part 2” or the musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,” a sign that some of those movies could move their release dates if strikes by actors and writers stretch deeper into the fall.
Movie studios fear opening these films if the actors starring in them are on the picket lines and cannot promote their work. Some stars are scrambling to get waivers from SAG-AFTRA to do press for films that are independently funded or seeking distribution. Other indie studios are just pushing ahead with their release plans, hoping a resolution will be reached before releasing their movies. The festival runs from September 7-17, which is just around the corner, and with guilds and studios yet to resume talks, it’s unclear if a deal will be struck by the time stars are expected to dust off their passports to head north.
That’s not to say TIFF, as Toronto is known to the artists and executives who regularly attend, will be devoid of big premieres (even if its red carpets are a bit less celebrity-filled). Craig Gillespie’s “Dumb Money,” a comedy-drama about Sony’s GameStop short that stars Seth Rogen and Paul Dano, as well as several Netflix films like George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin,” David Yates’ “Pain Hustlers,” and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad,” will all screen at the festival. And Apple will bring “Flora and Son,” a heartwarming musical drama from “Sing Street” filmmaker John Carney,” after buying it from Sundance for $20 million. But many films, such as “Lee” starring Kate Winslet as photographer Elizabeth “Lee” Miller and Jodie Comer’s survival drama “The End We Start From,” that hit the festival will arrive without a studio. They are looking to leverage strong reviews into a sale.
The lineup also includes several films from directors known for their work in front of the camera, including Michael Keaton (“Knox Goes Away”), Chris Pine (“Poolman”), Anna Kendrick (“Woman of the Hour”) and Viggo Mortensen (“The Dead Don’t Hurt”). Ethan Hawke will bring his latest directorial effort “Wildcat,” which stars his daughter, Maya Hawke, as novelist Flannery O’Connor.
The festival’s backers have stressed that they plan to continue with their projects, and in a statement, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey highlighted the breadth and depth of the programming.
“This year’s galas and special presentations showcase a rich mosaic of talent, vision and storytelling,” he said. “From thought-provoking narratives to breathtaking visuals and stories so unreal they have to be real, each work embodies the power of cinema to inspire, challenge and move audiences. Get ready for an unforgettable celebration of cinema and a memorable, star-studded festival, bringing the best of world cinema to moviegoers in September.
But without many movie stars, will festival-goers and the media be as numerous as before?
See the full range below:
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
A difficult year
Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache | France
International premiere
A normal family
Hur Jin-ho | South Korea
world premiere
American fiction
Cord Jefferson | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Anatomy of a fall
Justine Triet | France
Canadian premiere
Close to you
Dominique Sauvage | Canada/UK
world premiere
happy days
Chloe Robichaud | Canada
world premiere
El Rapto
Daniela Goggi | Argentina
North American premiere
Ezra
Tony Goldwyn | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Nails
Christos Nikou | UNITED STATES
International premiere
four girls
Kaouther Ben Hania | France/Tunisia/Germany/Saudi Arabia
North American premiere
his three daughters
Azazel Jacobs | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Hitman
Richard Linklater | UNITED STATES
North American premiere
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon
Alex Gibney | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Kidnapped
Marco Bellocchio | Italy/France/Germany
North American premiere
Knox leaves
Michael Keaton | UNITED STATES
world premiere
The Chimera
Alice Rohrwacher | Italy/France/Switzerland
North American premiere
Last summer
Catherine Breillat | France
North American premiere
The Undesirables
Ladj Ly | France
world premiere
Memory
Michael Franco | USA/Mexico
North American premiere
Freak
Kore-eda Hirokazu | Japan
North American premiere
Mother Couch
Nicholas Larson | UNITED STATES
world premiere
North Star
Kristin Scott Thomas | United Kingdom
world premiere
A life
James Hawes | United Kingdom
world premiere
Adventurers of Pain
David Yates | UNITED STATES
world premiere
pool man
Chris Pine | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Reptile
Grant Singer | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Rust
George C. Wolfe | UNITED STATES
International premiere
Seven Veils
Egoyan atom | Canada
world premiere
Shoshana
Michael Winterbottom | UK/Italy
world premiere
sing sing
Greg Kwedar | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Smugglers
Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea
North American premiere
swan song
Chelsea McMullan | Canada
world premiere
The beast
Bertrand Bonello | France/Canada
North American premiere
the funeral
Maggie Betts | UNITED STATES
world premiere
The convert
Lee Tamahori | Australia/New Zealand
world premiere
The critic
Anand Tucker | United Kingdom
world premiere
The dead don’t hurt
Viggo Mortensen | Mexico/Canada/Denmark
world premiere
Leftovers
Alexander Payne | UNITED STATES
International premiere
Farmers
DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman | Poland/Serbia/Lithuania
world premiere
The area of interest
Jonathan Glazer | UK/Poland/USA
Canadian premiere
Set 99
Lucas Moodyson | Sweden/Denmark
world premiere
unicorns
Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd | UK/US/Sweden
world premiere
Uproar
Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett | New Zealand
world premiere
Naughty little letters
Thea Sharrock | United Kingdom
world premiere
Wild cat
Ethan Hawke | UNITED STATES
International premiere
woman of the hour
Anna Kendrick | UNITED STATES
world premiere
2023 GALA PRESENTATIONS
concrete utopia
Um Tae-Hwa | South Korea
North American premiere
dumb money
Craig Gillespie | UNITED STATES
world premiere
Fair play
Chloe Domont | UNITED STATES
International premiere
Flora and son
John Carney | Ireland/USA
Canadian premiere
I hate to love: Nickelback
Leigh Brooks | Canada
world premiere
Lee
Ellen Kuras | United Kingdom
world premiere
The next goal wins
Taika Waititi | UNITED STATES
world premiere
NYAD
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | UNITED STATES
International premiere
Punjab ’95
Honey Trehan | India
world premiere
Solo
Sophie Dupuis | Canada
world premiere
The end from where we start
Mahalia Belo | United Kingdom
world premiere
The Emperor of Cinema
Ninghao | China
world premiere
The new boy
Warwick Thorton | Australia
North American premiere
The Royal Hotel
green kitten | Australia/UK
Canadian premiere
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