We’re still only in July, but cinephiles are already looking ahead to this September when the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) once again descends upon the city. Last week, TIFF announced Daniel Roher’s musical bio-pic Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band will kick off TIFF 2019 as the Opening Gala film. This morning, TIFF Co-Heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente announced the first wave of films slated for this year’s festival. And there are some exciting titles in that opening lineup.
TIFF revealed 18 Galas and 38 Special Presentations that will screen at TIFF 2019. Some of the noteworthy announcements include the world premiere of Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (starring Tom Hanks), the Canadian premiere of James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari, and the North American Premiere of Todd Phillips’ much-hyped Joker.
TIFF is the largest and most glamorous of fall festivals, but it still must compete with smaller fests for the season’s most exclusive world premieres. Venice, Telluride and NYFF are all chomping at the bit to premiere the season’s next Moonlight or Ladybird. Right now, TIFF has a handful of enviable premieres in their early slate. Some of their major scores include World Premieres for Kasi Lemmons Harriet, Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, and Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit.
And while they may not be World Premieres, I’m going out of my way to catch Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat, Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory, and Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie’s Uncut Gems. And once TIFF kicks off, the first place you will find me is lining up for Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (Gisaengchung). Believe that!
TIFF 2019 Gala and Special Presentations programmes:
TIFF 2019 GALAS
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Marielle Heller | USA * World Premiere
Abominable – Jill Culton | USA * World Premiere
American Woman – Semi Chellas | Canada * Canadian Premiere
Blackbird – Roger Michell | United * World Premiere
Clemency – Chinonye Chukwu | USA * International Premiere
Ford v Ferrari – James Mangold | * Canadian Premiere
The Goldfinch – John Crowley | * World Premiere
Harriet – Kasi Lemmons | * World Premiere
Hustlers – Lorene Scafaria | * World Premiere
Joker – Todd Phillips | * North American Premiere
Just Mercy – Destin Daniel Cretton | USA *World Premiere
*Opening Night Film* Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band – Daniel Roher | Canada * World Premiere
Ordinary Love – Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn | United Kingdom * World Premiere
*Closing Night Film* Radioactive – Marjane Satrapi | United Kingdom * World Premiere
The Sky Is Pink – Shonali Bose | India * World Premiere
The Song of Names – François Girard | Canada * World Premiere
True History of the Kelly Gang – Justin Kurzel | Australia *World Premiere
Western Stars – Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen | USA * World Premiere
TIFF 2019 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
A Herdade –Tiago Guedes | Portugal * North American Premiere
Bad Education – Cory Finley | USA * World Premiere
Coming Home Again – Wayne Wang | USA/South Korea * World Premiere
Dolemite Is My Name – Craig Brewer | USA * World Premiere
Ema – Pablo Larraín | Chile *North American Premiere
Endings, Beginnings – Drake Doremus | USA * World Premiere
Frankie – Ira Sachs | France/Portugal * North American Premiere
The Friend – Gabriela Cowperthwaite | USA* World Premiere
Greed – Michael Winterbottom | United Kingdom * World Premiere
Guest of Honour Atom Egoyan | Canada * North American Premiere
Heroic Losers (La odisea de los giles) – Sebastian Borensztein | Argentina/Spain * International Premiere
Honey Boy – Alma Har’el | USA * International Premiere
Hope Gap – William Nicholson | United Kingdom * World Premiere
How to Build a Girl – Coky Giedroyc | United Kingdom * World Premiere
*Opening Special Presentations Film* I Am Woman – Unjoo Moon | Australia * World Premiere
Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi | USA * World Premiere
Judy – Rupert Goold | United Kingdom *Canadian Premiere
Knives Out – Rian Johnson | USA * World Premiere
La Belle Époque – Nicolas Bedos | France * North American Premiere
The Laundromat – Steven Soderbergh | USA * North American Premiere
The Lighthouse – Robert Eggers | USA * North American Premiere
Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach | USA * Canadian Premiere
Military Wives – Peter Cattaneo | United Kingdom * World Premiere
Motherless Brooklyn – Edward Norton | USA* International Premiere
No. 7 Cherry Lane – Yonfan | Hong Kong * North American Premiere
The Other Lamb – Malgorzata Szumowska | Belgium/Ireland/USA * World Premiere
Pain and Glory – Pedro Almodóvar | Spain * Canadian Premiere
The Painted Bird – Václav Marhoul | Czech Republic/Ukraine/Slovakia * North American Premiere
Parasite (Gisaengchung) – Bong Joon-ho | South Korea * Canadian Premiere
Pelican Blood (Pelikanblut) – Katrin Gebbe | Germany/Bulgaria * North American Premiere
The Personal History of David Copperfield – Armando Iannucci | United Kingdom * World Premiere
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) – Céline Sciamma | France * Canadian Premiere
The Report – Scott Z. Burns | USA * International Premiere
Saturday Fiction (Lan Xin Da Ju Yuan) – Lou Ye | China * North American Premiere
The Two Popes – Fernando Meirelles | USA/United Kingdom/Italy/Argentina * Canadian Premiere
Uncut Gems – Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie | USA * International Premiere
Weathering With You – Makoto Shinkai | Japan * North American Premiere
While at War (Mientras Dure La Guerra) – Alejandro Amenábar | Spain/Argentina * World Premiere
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 05 – 15th 2019.
