Toronto next wave includes 'Free Fire', 'Blair Witch', DiCaprio doc

This week’s offering includes Ben Wheatley’s all-star gangster thriller Free Fire, which opens Midnight Madness one year after the premiere of the British auteur’s High-Rise; fast-rising Chadwick Boseman in revenge thriller Message From The King in Vanguard and a TIFF Docs strand that features climate change documentary The Turning Point, featuring and produced by Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio.

The 41st Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8 to 18.

WP = world premiere, IP = international premiere, NAP = North American premiere, CP = Canadian premiere, TP = Toronto premiere.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

Ben Wheatley’s all-star gunfight Free Fire starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer and Cillian Murphy will open the section, which includes Morgan Spurlock’s documentary Rats, Adam Wingard’s Blair Witch, André Øvredal’s The Autopsy Of Jane Doe, Colm McCarthy’s Locarno hit The Girl With All The Gifts, and The Mo Brothers’ Headshot starring The Raid’s Iko Uwais.

“Midnight Madness is the destination for those who love to sink their teeth into excessive, unrelenting, weird and wild films,” said Colin Geddes, international programmer for the festival. Midnight Madness is sponsored by Cineplex Entertainment.

• The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (USA) André Øvredal WP
• The Belko Experiment (USA) Greg McLean WP
• Blair Witch (USA) Adam Wingard WP
• Dog Eat Dog (USA) Paul Schrader North American Premiere
• Free Fire (UK) Ben Wheatley WP
  Midnight Madness opening night film
• The Girl With All The Gifts (UK) Colm McCarthy North American Premiere
• Headshot (Indonesia) Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto WP
• Rats (USA) Morgan Spurlock WP
• Raw (Grave) (France-Belgium) Julia Ducournau IP
• Sadako vs. Kayako (Japan) Kōji Shiraishi IP
  Midnight Madness closing night film.

TIFF DOCS

New work from Steve James, Raoul Peck, Errol Morris, and Werner Herzog takes pride of place, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Turning Point. TIFF Docs is sponsored by A&E IndieFilms.

“Revelations abound in this year’s crop of documentaries,” said TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers. “We gain fresh perspectives on high profile figures such as James Baldwin, Amanda Knox and The Beatles; and we meet compelling figures from the worlds of activism, music, sports and, not to be forgotten, classic burlesque.”

• The 6th Beatle (USA-UK-Germany) Tony Guma and John Rose, WP
• ABACUS: Small Enough To Jail (USA) Steve James WP
• Amanda Knox (USA-Denmark) Brian McGinn and Rod Blackhurst WP
• An Insignificant Man (India) Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla WP
• The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography (USA) Errol Morris IP
• Beauties Of The Night (Mexico) María José Cuevas CP
• Bezness As Usual (Netherlands) Alex Pitstra NAP
• Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (USA) John Scheinfeld IP
• The Cinema Travellers (India) Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya NAP
• Citizen Jane: Battle For The City (USA) Matt Tyrnauer WP
• Forever Pure (Israel-UK-Ireland-Norway) Maya Zinshtein IP
• Gaza Surf Club (Germany) Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine WP
• Gimme Danger (USA) Jim Jarmusch NAP
• Girl Unbound (Pakistan-Canada-Hong Kong-South Korea) Erin Heidenreich WP
• I Am Not Your Negro (USA-France-Belgium-Switzerland) Raoul Peck WP
• I Called Him Morgan (Sweden-USA) Kasper Collin CP
• India In A Day (India-UK) Richie Mehta IP
• In Exile (Germany-Myanmar) Tin Win Naing WP
• Into the Inferno (UK-Austria) Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer IP
• The Ivory Game (Austria-USA) Keif Davidson and Richard Ladkani IP
• Karl Marx City (USA-Germany) Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker WP
• Mali Blues (Germany) Lutz Gregor NAP
• Politics, Instructions Manual (Política, Manual De Instrucciones) (Spain) Fernando León de Aranoa IP
• Rodnye (Close Relations) (Latvia-Germany-Estonia-Ukraine) Vitaly Mansky NAP
• The Turning Point (USA) Fisher Stevens WP
• The War Show (Denmark-Finland-Syria) Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon NAP
• Water And Sugar: Carlo Di Palma, The Colours Of Life (Italy) Fariborz Kamkari IP.

Previously announced titles in TIFF Docs include: Brigitte Berman’s The River Of My Dreams; Hubert Davis’ Giants Of Africa; Nicholas de Pencier’s Black Code; Hugh Gibson’s The Stairs; Jaime Kastner’s The Skyjacker’s Tale; Dilip Mehta’s Mostly Sunny and Fred Peabody’s All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, And The Spirit Of I.F. Stone. In Gala are: Jonathan Demme’s JT + The Tennessee Kids and Paul Dugdale’s The Rolling Stones Olé Olé Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America.

VANGUARD

Finding their way into Vanguard are Fabrice Du Welz’s thriller Message From The King starring Chadwick Boseman, Nacho Vigalondo’s Colossal, a twist on the Kaiju genre starring Anne Hathaway, and Ana Lily Amirpour’s The Bad Batch. Vanguard is sponsored by AXE.

“At the festival, everyone has the opportunity to indulge their different cinematic tastes,” said Geddes. “In the Vanguard line-up, arthouse and genre collide to surprise, delight and shock, with films that are a bit darker, a bit more transgressive and a bit more dangerous.”

• The Bad Batch (USA) Ana Lily Amirpour NAP
• Blind Sun (France-Greece) Joyce A. Nashawati NAP
• Buster’s Mal Heart (USA) Sarah Adina Smith WP
• Colossal (pictured, Canada) Nacho Vigalondo WP
• GODSPEED (Taiwan) Chung Mong-Hong WP
• I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House (Canada-USA) Osgood Perkins WP
• Interchange (Malaysia-Indonesia) Dain Iskandar Said NAP
• Message From The King (UK-France-Belgium) Fabrice Du Welz WP
• My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (USA) Dash Shaw WP
• Prevenge (UK) Alice Lowe NAP
• The Untamed (La Región Salvaje) (Mexico-Denmark-France-Germany-Norway) Amat Escalante NAP
• WITHOUT NAME (Ireland) Lorcan Finnegan WP.

Previously announced Canadian titles in the Vanguard programme include Anne Émond’s Nelly.

TIFF CINEMATHEQUE

Highlights from the digitally restored line-up include a 30th anniversary screening of Jonathan Demme’s anarchic cult favourite Something Wild, Marlon Brando’s sole directorial outing One-Eyed Jacks, and Gillo Pontecorvo’s epic The Battle Of Algiers (La Battaglia Di Algeri).

“The power of this year’s TIFF Cinematheque programme lies in the enduring resonance and impact each of these films presents for

contemporary audiences,” said TIFF programmer Brad Deane. “Exploring issues of race, gender and geopolitical conflict, the films in the programme are as timely and relevant now as they were at the time of their release.”

Tickets to all TIFF Cinematheque screenings during the festival are free and will be distributed at the Steve & Rashmi Gupta Box Office at TIFF Bell Lightbox on a first-come, first-served basis two hours before each screening.

• Daughters Of The Dust (USA) Julie Dash
• General Report On Certain Matters Of Interest For A Public Screening (Informe General Sobre Algunas Cuestiones De Interés Para Una Proyección Pública) (Spain) Pere Portabella
• Irma Vep (France) Olivier Assayas
• Lumière! (France) Lumière Brothers
• One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (L’Une Chante, l’Autre Pas) (France) Agnès Varda
• One-Eyed Jacks (USA) Marlon Brando
• Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico-Spain-USA) Guillermo del Toro
• Something Wild (USA) Jonathan Demme
• The Battle Of Algiers (La Battaglia Di Algeri) (Algeria-Italy) Gillo Pontecorvo
• The Horse Thief (China) Tian Zhuangzhuang.

The previously announced Canadian title in the TIFF Cinematheque selection is Sidney J. Furie’s A Cool Sound From Hell.

SHORT CUTS

Forty-one titles join the 33 previously announced Canadian shorts and the overall line-up will screen across 11 curated programmes. Films in the programme are eligible for the Short Cuts Award for best film.

• All Rivers Run To The Sea (Toate Fluviile Curg în Mare) (Romania) Alexandru Badea NAP
• And The Whole Sky Fit In The Dead Cow’s Eye (Y Todo El Cielo Cupo En El Ojo De La Vaca Muerta) (Chile-USA) Francisca Alegría WP
• Andy Goes In Josh Polon (USA) WP
• Anna (Israel) Or Sinai NAP
• Bargain (Moam-gab) (South Korea) Lee Chung-hyun IP
• Battalion To My Beat (Algeria-USA-Western Sahara) Eimi Imanishi IP
• Because The World Never Stops (Sweden) Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson WP
• BLACK HEAD COW (Tanzania) Engiteng’ Narok Lukunya Elizabeth Nichols WP
• A Brief History Of Princess X (France-Portugal-UK) Gabriel Abrantes, NAP
• Cul-De-Sac (USA) Damon Russell WP
• Dadyaa (Nepal-France) Pooja Gurung and Bibhusan Basnet NAP
• Decorado (Spain-France) Alberto Vázquez NAP
• Fluffy (Flafi) (Serbia-Canada) Lee Filipovski WP
• Green (Verde) (Mexico) Alonso Ruizpalacios WP
• Half A Man (Po covika) (Croatia) Kristina Kumric WP
• The Hedonists (China) Jia Zhang-ke NAP
• Imago (Philippines) Raymund Ribay Gutierrez NAP
• Import (Netherlands) Ena Sendijarević NAP
• In The Hills (UK) Hamid Ahmadi NAP
• Inner Workings (USA) Leo Matsuda CP
• The Last Leatherman Of The Vale Of Cashmere (USA) Greg Loser IP
• Mr. Sugar Daddy (Sweden) Dawid Ullgren NAP
• A New Home (Slovenia) Žiga Virc WP
• Next (Russia) Elena Brodach NAP
• Night Dancing (UK) Barney Cokeliss WP
• On The Origin Of Fear (Indonesia) Bayu Prihantoro Filemon NAP
• Paraya (South Africa-France) Sheetal Magan and Martín Morgenfeld NAP
• The Pine Tree Villa (Eine Villa Mit Pinien) (Germany) Jan Koester NAP
• Red Apples (Armenia-Georgia-USA) George Sikharulidze WP
• Romantik (France-Poland) Mateusz Rakowicz IP
• Samedi Cinema (Senegal-USA) Mamadou Dia NAP
• Sandy Beach (Greece) Thanos Papastergiou WP
• Second To None (Ireland) Vincent Gallagher IP
• Semiliberi (Italy) Matteo Gentiloni NAP
• Sevince (When You Love) (Germany) Süheyla Schwenk WP
• Standby (UK) Charlotte Regan WP
• SUBMARINE (Lebanon) Mounia Akl NAP
• Summer Camp Island (USA) Julia Pott WP
• Transition (Tranzicija) (Serbia) Milica Tomovic NAP
• Trespass (Australia) Mirrah Foulkes IP
• The White Helmets (UK) Orlando von Einsiedel CP.

Click here to see the previously announced Canadian shorts.