TIFF Adds More Galas and Special Presentations

New films by Chloé Zhao and Clement Virgo are among the 11 titles announced today for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The festival unveiled more Galas and Special Presentations with Zhao’s Hamnet getting tapped for a Canadian premiere among the main red carpet slate, while Virgo’s Steal Away will have a world premiere among the Special Presentations.

Hamnet marks Zhao’s return to Toronto after her film Nomadland scored a one-two punch winning the Golden Lion at Venice and the People’s Choice Award at TIFF before going on to score three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. The film adapts the book by Maggie O’Farrell about William Shakespeare’s son, whose death by bubonic plague inspired one of his most beloved works. The film stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.

Meanwhile, Virgo’s Steal Away (pictured) tells the story of a young woman who develops a strong bond with a refugee taken in by her family. The film stars Angourie Rice, Mallori Johnson, and Lauren Lee Smith. Virgo is a TIFF regular, mostly recently debuted Brother at the 2022 festival. The film went on to sweep the Canadian Screen Awards. Steal Away marks the lone Canadian title announced today and joins Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks among the homegrown slate so far.

Other titles announced today include the huge surprise of Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion follow-up, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Sequel. Two weeks ago, it was announced that Dead Man would open the London Film Festival as an “international premiere” with festival nomenclature suggesting the film was therefore out at TIFF given that such a designation is usually reserved for a film’s premiere outside its country of origin. (In this case, USA.) Evidently, TIFF is bringing out the big guns for its 50th edition.

Other titles include the world premieres of Nicholas Hynter’s The Choral starring Ralph Fiennes and Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman starring Kirsten Dunst, Channing Tatum, and Peter Dinklage, along with world premieres of new films by Agnieszka Holland and Paul Greengrass.

Titles announced today are: