Toronto 2024 preview: Screen’s guide to the Gala and Special Presentations

Below is the full line-up of world and international premieres in Toronto’s Gala and Special Presentations programmes, with details on each title including sales contacts.

Galas

Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe (UK)

Dir. Cosima Spender
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who has been blind since the age of 12 and was the subject of 2017 biopic The Music Of Silence, opens up about his private life in this documentary from UK-Italian filmmaker Spender. Her credits include Tribeca 2015 horse-racing documentary Palio. Jan Young­husband, former head of music TV commissioning at the BBC, produces. The feature was produced and financed through eOne UK prior to the company’s acquisition by Lionsgate in December 2023. eOne remains a production label of Lionsgate’s unscripted arm, with Lionsgate handling sales.
Contact: Lionsgate

Better Man (Australia)

Dir. Michael Gracey
Gracey has taken seven years to follow up his last scripted feature, The Greatest Showman, and the Australian filmmaker does so with this musical biopic of UK pop star Robbie Williams, who achieved major solo success following his departure from boy band Take That in 1995. Williams and Jonno Davies play the star at different ages, with a cast including Steve Pemberton and Alison Steadman. The Australia-­shot film sold to Paramount Pictures for North America in a deal negotiated by CAA Media Finance, with Rocket Science selling out inter­national rights.
Contact: Rocket Science

The Deb (Australia)

Dir. Rebel Wilson
Wilson makes her directing debut with an adaptation of The Deb, the musical first staged by the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2022 that was written by Hannah Reilly with songs by Megan Washington. It tells the tale of two teenage girls attending a debutante ball in a small country town. A public fallout between Wilson and three of the film’s producers — now extending to claims, counter-­claims and a defamation suit — risks distracting from the positive vibes created by the film in its TIFF closing slot on September 15.
Contact: Deborah McIntosh, WME Independent 

Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight (S Afr)

Dir. Embeth Davidtz
US-South African actress Davidtz’s directing debut is her own adaptation of Alexandra Fuller’s memoir about her family of white tenant farmers in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, before and after independence. Helena Spring (Oscar-­nominated 2004 feature Yesterday), Paul Buys (Netflix series Ludik) and Davidtz produce, and she also stars in the drama, which focuses on tensions between white landowners and Black farmworkers in the lead-up to the country’s 1980 general election.
Contact: CAA Media Finance

Eden (US)

Dir. Ron Howard
A starry ensemble boasting Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas and Daniel Brühl convene in a thriller about a group who abandon civilisation to rebuild their lives in the Galapagos islands, only for the project to become a fight for survival against the elements and each other. AGC Studios struck a multi-territory deal with Prime Video in Cannes and is holding out for a US deal. As director, Howard was last at TIFF in 2013 with documentary Made In America.
Contact: AGC Studios

Elton John: Never Too Late (US)

Dirs. RJ Cutler, David Furnish
Elton John has been the subject of documentary films before — notably in 1997 with the Furnish-directed, TV Bafta-nominated Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras — and his rise to fame was celebrated in 2019 film musical Rocketman. Never Too Late, jointly directed by Furnish and Cutler (The September Issue), promises unseen concert footage of the performer from the past 50 years, plus his handwritten journals and present-day footage with his family. Disney Original Documentary produces alongside Furnish and John’s Rocket Pictures and Cutler’s This Machine, with Disney+ streaming globally.
Contact: Disney+

The Friend (US)

Dirs. Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Five of McGehee and Siegel’s previous features either launched at Toronto or segued there from Telluride, beginning with Suture in 1993. The US pair are back with their adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 novel, a National Book Award for Fiction winner, about a Manhattan-­dwelling novelist (Naomi Watts) who inherits a Great Dane after the death of her best friend and mentor (Bill Murray). The comedy drama is produced by 3dot Productions’ Liza Chasin alongside McGehee and Siegel, while the cast also features Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu and Ann Dowd.
Contact: CAA Media Finance 

Harbin (S Kor)

Dir. Woo Min-ho
Director Woo returns with a period spy thriller following 2021 Oscar submission The Man Standing Next. Set in 1909, shortly before Korea became part of the Japanese empire, the true story follows a man who leads a plot to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, the main architect behind Japan’s invasion. Harbin’s cast is led by Hyun Bin (Confidential Assignment), Park Jeong-min (Smugglers) and Jo Woo-jin (Hunt), and it is produced by Hive Media Corp, which made last year’s top-grossing film at the South Korean box office, 12.12: The Day.
Contact: CJ ENM 

Meet The Barbarians (Fr)

Dir. Julie Delpy
Delpy brings her signature snark and satire to this timely immigration-­focused comedy about a Syrian family trying to fit in among locals in a small town in France — who were expecting a family from Ukraine and do not take kindly to their new neighbours. Delpy also stars opposite Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Lafitte, Ziad Bakri and India Hair, and the feature is produced by Michael Gentile’s Paris-based The Film. Delpy world premiered her drama My Zoe at TIFF in 2019.
Contact: Charades 

Nutcrackers (US)

Dir. David Gordon Green
Ben Stiller takes a break from directing television, playing his first lead role in years as a workaholic who is suddenly charged with caring for his livewire orphaned nephews. Green has brought a handful of films to TIFF, including his 2018 Halloween reboot. Rivulet Films fully financed and produced the opening night selection with Rough House Pictures and shot late last year in Ohio under a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement. Rob Paris, Mike Witherill and Nate Meyer produce.
Contact: UTA Independent Film Group 

The Penguin Lessons (UK-Sp)

Dir. Peter Cattaneo
Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce headline Cattaneo’s adaptation of Tom Michell’s 2016 memoir of the same name, recounting the story of an Englishman teaching in a school in Argentina in the mid-1970s, where his life is unexpectedly transformed by a penguin. The production companies are 42 and Nostromo Pictures, with financing from Intake Films, Rolling Dice and Aperture Media Partners. This marks a second trip to Toronto for Cattaneo, after Military Wives’ premiere in 2019 — likewise a collaboration between the filmmaker and 42. Lionsgate will release The Penguin Lessons in UK/Ireland.
Contact: Rocket Science (international); CAA Media Finance (US)

The Return (Italy-Greece-UK-France)

Dir. Uberto Pasolini
Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche reunite for the first time since 1996’s The English Patient in a retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey. Fiennes plays Odysseus, who returns home from fighting in the Trojan War to find his wife (Binoche) plagued by suitors, while Charlie Plummer stars as their son Telemachus. This is Pasolini’s first world premiere in Toronto, after his directorial outings Machan, Still Life and Nowhere Special all landed at Venice. Producers are Red Wave Films, Rai Cinema, Heretic, Ithaca Films, Kabo Films and Marvelous Productions. Bleecker Street is releasing in North America.
Contact: HanWay Films

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band (US)

Dir. Thom Zimny
Zimny — whose Sylvester Stallone Netflix documentary Sly was at TIFF last year — has had a long association with Bruce Springsteen, and the pair jointly directed Warner Bros’ 2019 TIFF-launched Western Stars. Zimny’s films with the musician also include the Primetime Emmy Award-­winning 2018 TV movie Springsteen On Broadway. The latest collaboration sees Springsteen narrate an exploration of his band’s career, which spans more than five decades, and includes backstage fly-on-the-wall footage and band rehearsals for their 2023‑24 world tour. Hulu and Disney+ will air the feature in October.
Contact: Disney+

Superboys Of Malegaon (India)

Dir. Reema Kagti
This Hindi-language film is based on the journey of Nasir Shaikh and his fellow amateur filmmakers as they make low-budget movies in the Indian city of Malegaon. The feature is written by Varun Grover inspired by 2008 documentary Supermen Of Malegaon. Director Kagti previously made 2023 Prime Video series Roar(Dahaad), which was the first Indian show to premiere at the Berlinale. Her latest feature is also an Amazon Original, produced by Kagti and Zoya Akhtar of Tiger Baby and Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment.
Contact: Vivek Suri, Amazon MGM Studios 

Unstoppable (US)

Dir. William Goldenberg
With a producer roster including Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, this Amazon MGM Studios biographical drama is adapted from Anthony Robles and Austin Murphy’s book of the same name, chronicling how Robles became a wrestling champion having being born with only one leg. Jharrel Jerome, a Primetime Emmy winner for When They See Us, stars as the wrestler, with a cast including Jennifer Lopez, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña and Don Cheadle. Goldenberg makes his directing debut, having earned five Oscar nominations over his long career as an editor, winning for Argo.
Contact: Amazon MGM Studios

The Wild Robot (US)

Dir. Chris Sanders
In a year that has seen sequels — Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Kung Fu Panda 4 — dominate the animation box office, DreamWorks Animation flies the flag for fresh storytelling, albeit adapted from the 2016 book by Peter Brown. This latest from How To Train Your Dragon director Sanders tells the story of a robot building relationships with animals after being abandoned on an island, and becoming the adoptive parent to an orphaned gosling. Voice cast includes Lupita Nyong’o as robot Roz, Kit Connor as the young goose, plus Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy and Stephanie Hsu.
Contact: Universal Pictures

William Tell (UK-It)

Dir. Nick Hamm
Hamm returns to Toronto, after Driven and The Journey screened here in 2018 and 2016 respectively, with his take on the story of the titular 14th-century crossbow-­wielding Swiss folk hero. The retelling is based on a play of the same name by Friedrich Schiller, with Claes Bang as William Tell, and a cast also including Connor Swindells and Golshifteh Farahani. Production companies are Tempo Productions and Free Turn Films, in association with Beta Cinema, WME Independent, Prime Focus Studios, Grøenlandia and Cineroma, with support from the IDM Film Fund.
Contact: Beta Cinema (international); WME Independent (North America) 

Special Presentations

40 Acres (Can)

Dir. RT Thorne
Canadian filmmaker Thorne’s debut feature comes after a decade of TV work including Hulu’s Utopia Falls and Primetime Emmy-nominated series The Porter. The post-­apocalyptic sci-fi follows a Black family who must protect their farm from armed mercenaries. Danielle Deadwyler stars alongside Kataem O’Connor, Michael Greyeyes, Jaeda LeBlanc and Milcania Diaz-Rojas. Thorne, who participated in the TIFF Filmmaker Lab in 2018, has kept production and funding based in Canada. Jennifer Holness and Lora Campbell produce for Hungry Eyes Media, and financiers include Ontario Creates, Mongrel Media and Telefilm.
Contact: Hungry Eyes Media

All Of You (US)

Dir. William Bridges
Primetime Emmy Award-­winning director Bridges, known for his work on Black Mirror and Stranger Things, teams up with Ted Lasso actor Brett Goldstein — who also co-stars and co-produces — on the screenplay for this futuristic romance. It chronicles the hidden love two best friends harbour for each other, despite one of them being matched with their supposed soulmate. Imogen Poots, Steven Cree and Zawe Ashton also star. Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett produce for Ryder Picture Company alongside Bridges and Goldstein.
Contact: Jacie Luo, Media Rights Capital 

The Assessment (UK-Ger-US)

Dir. Fleur Fortuné
France’s Fortuné made her name helming commercials, shorts and music videos. Developed and produced by Number 9’s Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, and starring Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Olsen, this near-future sci-fi drama sees a couple’s seven-day assessment for the right to have a child unravel into a nightmare. Writers are John Donnelly (The Pass) and duo Nell Garfath Cox and David Thomas (aka Mrs and Mr Thomas). The film shot in Cologne’s MMC Studios and on location in Tenerife, and is also produced by Germany’s Augenschein Filmproduktion.
Contact: WME Independent (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)

Bring Them Down (Ire-UK-Belg)

Dir. Chris Andrews
A Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2019, Andrews makes his feature directing debut with this revenge thriller chronicling a feud between neighbouring families in rural Ireland. Starring Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan, the project appeared on the 2018 Brit List of unproduced screenplays under the name Shepherd, and is produced by Ivana Mac­Kinnon for the UK’s Wild Swim, alongside Ireland’s Tailored Films and Belgium’s Frakas Productions. Mubi financed alongside public funders including Screen Ireland and the UK Global Screen Fund.
Contact: Charades

Can I Get A Witness? (Can)

Dir. Ann Marie Fleming
Sandra Oh stars in this Sleepy Dog Films production set in the near future where humans have solved all problems. The catch is everyone must die at 50, and teenage artists have to document it. Keira Jang plays a youngster on her first day on the job and Oh is her mother, who is getting her own matters in order. Joel Oulette co-stars. Vancouver-­based Fleming, whose animation Window Horses played TIFF in 2016, was partially inspired by the pandemic and a 2006 windstorm that devastated the city’s iconic Stanley Park. Fleming, Raymond Massey and Ruth Vincent produce. Mongrel Media will distribute in Canada and handles sales.
Contact: Mongrel Media

Carnival Is Over (Bra-Por)

Dir. Fernando Coimbra
This is the third fiction feature from Coimbra, whose debut film A Wolf At The Door launched at Toronto back in 2013. He reunites here with that picture’s lead actress Leandra Leal, playing the ambitious wife of the heir to a Rio de Janeiro illegal gambling empire (Irandhir Santos from Aquarius and Neighboring Sounds). The couple formulate a risky plan to free themselves from the family’s illicit business. Carnival Is Over is produced by major Brazilian audiovisual company Gullane.
Contact: Playtime

Conclave (US-UK)

Dir. Edward Berger
Having its inter­national premiere at the festival following a Telluride bow, Oscar-nominated and Bafta-winning director Berger follows up his Netflix hit All Quiet On The Western Front with a religious thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. Set in the Vatican during a Papal Conclave, the film follows a cardinal who finds himself at the centre of a dark conspiracy. The Bafta-winning Peter Straughan penned Conclave while producers are House Productions and FilmNation Entertainment. Black Bear distributes in the UK and Focus Features in the US.
Contact: FilmNation Entertainment 

The Cut (UK-US)

Dir. Sean Ellis
Ellis ventures back to Toronto after his debut feature, dark comedy drama Cashback, played the festival in 2006. Since then, he has premiered at Karlovy Vary with Anthropoid and Sundance with Metro Manila. In psychological thriller The Cut, Orlando Bloom plays a boxer who comes out of retirement to hustle for the championship title. Caitriona Balfe and John Turturro also star. The producers are James Harris and Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions — whose slate also includes Cannes Midnight Screenings premiere The Surferand another boxing feature, The Giant — alongside Bloom and Adam Kara­sick of Amazing Owl.
Contact: The Exchange (international); WME Independent (North America)

The End (Den-Ger-Ire-It-UK-Swe)

Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
Twelve years have passed since Bafta-­winning documentary The Act Of Killing and 10 since its spiritual successor The Look Of Silence. That gap makes Oppenheimer’s fiction debut among the most anticipated titles on the circuit, with distribution already in place including Neon for the US. The 148-minute post-­apocalyptic musical follows the last human family two decades after the world-ending event to which they contributed. Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Moses Ingram and Michael Shannon lead the cast, with Oppenheimer reuniting with producing partner Signe Byrge Sorensen of Denmark’s Final Cut For Real.
Contact: The Match Factory

The Fire Inside (US)

Dir. Rachel Morrison
Cinematographer Morrison, whose credits include Black Panther and Mudbound, makes her feature directing debut with MGM’s true-life drama starring Ryan Destiny as boxer Claressa Shields, who in 2012 became the first US woman to take an Olympic gold medal in the sport — winning again in 2016. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins brings further sparkle to the package as screenwriter. Amazon MGM Studios has set a December 25 US theatrical release. Amazon holds worldwide rights, Curzon is the UK distributor, and the film will debut on Prime Video everywhere else.
Contact: Amazon MGM Studios

Hard Truths (UK-Sp)

Dir. Mike Leigh
Leigh was last in Toronto with Peterloo in 2018, which played after its Venice bow. This is the first time he has world premiered a feature in Toronto, where he will also receive an honorary award. Leigh’s latest is a London-shot study of modern-day family life, starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin, who both appeared in his 1996 Cannes Palme d’Or winner Secrets & Lies. Producers are Thin Man Films and The Mediapro Studio, with Film4 co-financing. Bleecker Street will release it in the US, and Studiocanal in the UK and Ireland.
Contact: Cornerstone

Heretic (US)

Dirs. Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Hugh Grant has played rogues and charmers but nothing quite like Mr Reed. Hailing from the writer/directors of sci-fi adventure 65, who also co-wrote A Quiet Place with John Krasinski, Heretic stars the UK screen veteran as a strange man playing a game of cat-and-mouse with two young missionaries who knock on his door. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East also feature in the horror thriller from Beck/Woods, Catchlight Studios and Stacey Scher’s Shiny Penny. A24 releases in the US on November 15 and represents worldwide sales.
Contact: A24 

Hold Your Breath (US)

Dirs. Karrie Crouse, Will Joines
Co-directors Crouse (one of the writers on HBO’s Westworld) and Joines arrive with their feature debut after collaborating for years on short films. This horror shot in New Mexico in late 2022 and arrives after a strike-induced post-­production delay. Sarah Paulson plays a woman who believes a sinister force is threatening her family during the devastating 1930s Oklahoma dust storms. The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach also stars, and Alix Madigan and Lucas Joaquin produce. The film will debut on Hulu in the US and Disney+ across the rest of the world on October 3.
Contact: Searchlight Pictures

K-POPS (US)

Dir. Anderson .Paak
Rapper and composer .Paak makes his feature directing debut, also co-writing this film from Stampede Ventures about a has-been musician who joins the house band on a K-pop show, only to discover his estranged son is one of the contestants. The cast includes .Paak, Jee Young Han, Jonnie ‘Dumbfoundead’ Park, Soul Rasheed and Yvette Nicole Brown. Greg Silverman, Jon Berg, .Paak, Jaeson Ma and Park produce. WME Independent and Stampede Ventures jointly represent worldwide sales.
Contact: WME Independent; Stampede Ventures 

The Last Showgirl (US)

Dir. Gia Coppola
Pamela Anderson stars in her first major role for over a decade, as a showgirl at odds when her 30-year Las Vegas run comes to an end. Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd are also among the cast. Coppola premiered her last two features — 2013’s Palo Alto and 2020’s Mainstream— in Venice’s Horizons, and has directed several music videos. Robert Schwartzman and Natalie Farrey produce.
Contact: Flavien Eripret, Goodfellas (international); CAA Media Finance filmsales@caa.com (North America)

The Life Of Chuck (US)

Dir. Mike Flanagan
Horror maestros assemble! Genre ace Flanagan has adapted the work of legendary horror writer Stephen King before — The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep in 2019 — and his latest film is based on King’s novella from 2020 collection If It Bleeds. Tom Hiddleston stars in the Intrepid Pictures production as the epony­mous Chuck Krantz, whose life is told backwards over three chapters. The cast includes Karen Gillan, David Dastmalchian and Mark Hamill. Trevor Macy and Flanagan produce.
Contact: WME Independent (US); Contact: FilmNation Entertainment (international)

Love In The Big City (S Kor)

Dir. E.oni
This romantic drama stars Kim Go-eun of Exhuma, the biggest film at the South Korea box office to date in 2024, opposite Steve Sanghyun Noh of Apple TV+ series Pachinko. They play two misfits who become roommates in a story that explores how young adults live and love in contemporary Seoul. The film is directed by E.oni (aka Lee Eon-hee), whose credits include 2018 action comedy The Accidental Detective 2: In Actionand 2016 mystery thriller Missing. Produced by Showbox, Tale Farming and Plus M Entertainment, a local release is planned on October 2.
Contact: Plus M Entertainment

The Luckiest Man In America (US)

Dir. Samir Oliveros
Inspired by the Press Your Luck scandal of 1984, Paul Walter Hauser stars as an ice-cream van driver who exploits a flaw in a TV game show to win a big cash prize, arousing the suspicions of network execs. Haley Bennett, Walton Goggins and Maisie Williams also star. Colombia’s Oliveros arrives with his second feature after SXSW 2017 selection Bad Lucky Goat. US outfit Plenty Good produces, Chile’s Fabula co-­produces, and Pablo Larrain is among the exec producers.
Contact: CAA Media Finance (North America); Protagonist Pictures (international)

Millers In Marriage (US)

Dir. Edward Burns
Burns is back with his first directorial outing since Beneath The Blue Suburban Skies premiered at TIFF in 2019. Morena Baccarin, Minnie Driver, Benjamin Bratt, Patrick Wilson, Gretchen Mol and Burns star in the tale of three middle-aged couples grappling with marriage, fidelity, professional success and failure. Paramount Global’s recently revived Republic Pictures handles worldwide sales on the ensemble drama from Marlboro Road Gang Productions.
Contact: Jennifer Weingroff, Paramount Global

Nightbitch (US)

Dir. Marielle Heller
Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? caused a splash when it premiered at TIFF in 2018 and the filmmaker returned a year later with A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood. She is back with Searchlight Pictures’ horror comedy starring Amy Adams as a stay-at-home mother who puts her career on hold when things take a surreal turn. The cast includes Scoot McNairy, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Archana Rajan and Jessica Harper. Anne Carey, Heller, Sue Naegle, Christina Oh, Adams and Stacy O’Neil produce, and Searchlight releases in the US on December 6.
Contact: Searchlight Pictures

On Swift Horses (US)

Dir. Daniel Minahan
Oscar-winning Nomadland producers Peter Spears and Mollye Asher have teamed with Ley Line and Wavelength on this adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel. Daisy Edgar-Jones, hot off summer hit Twisters, stars with Jacob Elordi and Will Poulter in the 1950s American West-set drama about a married woman whose life is upended by her wayward brother-in-law, setting her off on a path of self-­discovery. Veteran TV director Minahan has made a career helming shows such as Game Of Thrones and Homeland; this is his second feature after 2001’s Series 7: The Contenders.
Contact: UTA Independent Film Group; Black Bear

Paul Anka: His Way (US)

Dir. John Maggio
Documentarian Maggio trains his lens on Canada-born Anka, the singer/songwriter of Syrian-Lebanese parents who rose to fame at the tender age of 15 with number-one hit ‘Diana’. He went on to enjoy a successful recording career, and also wrote songs for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Drake. Maggio, whose credits include Panic: The Untold Story Of The 2008 Financial Crisis and The Perfect Weapon, uses archival footage and interviews with Anka discussing his career.
Contact: UTA Independent Film Group 

The Piano Lesson (US)

Dir. Malcolm Washington
One of Netflix’s prestige awards season titles, The Piano Lesson is the latest in producer Denzel Washington’s series of adaptations of the work of August Wilson. Washington’s son Malcolm directs the drama, set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, chronicling a family and their piano heirloom that bears carvings by their enslaved ancestor. Samuel L Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, Corey Hawkins and Erykah Badu feature in a cast that includes further Washington family members: director Malcolm’s mother Pauletta and twin sister Olivia.
Contact: Netflix

Piece By Piece (US)

Dir. Morgan Neville
Piece By Piece explores the life of performer Pharrell Williams as told through the lens of Lego animation, and directed by Neville, who won the best documentary Oscar for 20 Feet From Stardom a decade ago. Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg voice their Lego avatars. Focus Features holds worldwide rights and will distribute in the US on October 11, with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.
Contact: Focus Features 

Quisling — The Final Days (Nor)

Dir. Erik Poppe
Vidkun Quisling led the Norwegian government during the country’s occupation by the Nazis, and collaborated with Adolf Hitler’s regime to such an extent that his surname is a synonym in English for ‘traitor’. Quisling — The Final Days depicts his trial for charges including high treason. Gard B Eidsvold plays the title role, with The Worst Person In The World star Anders Danielsen Lie as the priest who counselled him in prison. Poppe has previously delved into Norwegian history — both recent (2018’s Utoya: July 22) and Second World War (2016’s The King’s Choice) — and here reteams with his Para­dox producers Finn Gjerdrum and Stein B Kvae.
Contact: Peter Ahlen, REinvent Studios 

Relay (US)

Dir. David Mackenzie
Riz Ahmed, Sam Worthington and Lily James lead the cast of this thriller about a fixer who abandons his strict rules to protect a potential client. The Scottish director’s first feature since 2018’s TIFF launch Outlaw King, after helming limited series Under The Banner Of Heaven, is co-written with Justin Piasecki, and is produced by Black Bear, Thunder Road Pictures and Sigma Films. Black Bear fully financed Relay and is handling UK distribution as well as international sales.
Contact: Black Bear

Rez Ball (US)

Dir. Sydney Freeland
The Primetime Emmy-­nominated US director broke out at Sundance 2014 with her debut feature Drunktown’s Finest. After venturing into TV, Freeland returns to film with a sports drama following an underdog basketball team and their path to greatness, based on Michael Powell’s 2019 non-fiction book Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season On The Navajo Nation. Jessica Matten, Julia Jones and Amber Midthunder star in a Netflix feature that has basketball superstar LeBron James as a producer through The Springhill Company. Wise Entertainment, Lake Ellyn Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment round out the production.
Contact: Netflix

Riff Raff (US)

Dir. Dito Montiel
Known to audiences for A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints and Channing Tatum underground street-brawler film Fighting, US director Montiel’s black comedy Riff Raff follows an ex-criminal trying to live a normal life with his family among threats from gangsters. A starry cast includes Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Coolidge and Bill Murray, with John Pollono serving as screenwriter. Producers are Noah Rotham for Canopy Media Partners, Marc Goldberg and Sarah Gabriel for Signature Films, and Adam Paulsen. Grindstone and Roadside Attractions have acquired US rights.
Contact: Signature Films

The Salt Path (UK)

Dir. Marianne Elliott
Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs lead the debut feature of theatre director Elliott, which was part of Cannes’ Great 8 showcase this year. It is based on Raynor Winn’s memoir, in which the writer trekked the UK coastline with her husband after they were made homeless. Rebecca Lenkiewicz (She Said) penned the script. Producers are Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley of Number 9 Films — also at TIFF with Fleur Fortuné’s The Assessment — alongside Shadow­play, with financing from BBC Film and Lipsync. Black Bear distributes in the UK and Ireland.
Contact: Rocket Science

Saturday Night (US)

Dir. Jason Reitman
A Canadian premiere designation at Toronto suggests a Telluride debut for Reitman’s ensemble film about the launch of the iconic US comedy sketch show 50 years ago. Gabriel LaBelle (TIFF 2022’s The Fabelmans), Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby) and Willem Dafoe are among the cast in Sony Pictures’ awards season hopeful. Canadian filmmaker Reitman broke out in 2005 with TIFF selection Thank You For Smoking and has directed features including Juno and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sony releases on October 11 in the US.
Contact: Sony Pictures

Sharp Corner (Can-Ire)

Dir. Jason Buxton
Buxton’s debut Blackbird premiered at Toronto in 2012, jointly taking best Canadian first feature film alongside Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral. He returns to the festival with follow-up Sharp Corner, about a family man who starts to obsess about protecting future casualties after a car crash in his garden. Cobie Smulders and Ben Foster star in the film, which was developed at eQuinoxe script lab. It is produced by Canadian outfits Alcina Pictures, Shut Up & Colour Pictures and Ireland’s Kobalt Films.
Contact: Neon

Shell (US)

Dir. Max Minghella
The UK filmmaker and actor’s second stint in the director’s chair after his Toronto 2018 premiere Teen Spirit is a dark comedy starring Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber (Bottoms). A dispirited actress is invited into the glamorous world of a health and wellness empire and realises that all is not right when patients start to go missing. Black Bear, Dark Castle Entertainment, Range Media Partners, Minghella’s Blank Tape and Moss’s Love & Squalor Pictures are the producers, and actor Jamie Bell is an executive producer.
Contact: WME Independent (US); CAA Media Finance (US); Black Bear (international)

Shepherds (Can-Fr)

 

Dir. Sophie Deraspe
Deraspe’s last feature Antigone was named best Canadian feature at TIFF in 2019 and was the country’s international feature submission to the Oscars. Shepherds from Canada’s micro_scope and France’s Avenue B Productions tells the story of a Montreal advertising executive (Félix-Antoine Duval) who quits his job to become a shepherd in France and is joined by a former civil servant (Solene Rigot). Producers are Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Elaine Hébert, Caroline Bonmarchand and Xenia Sulyma. Maison 4:3 handles Canadian distribution and Pyramide Distribution will release in France.
Contact: Pyramide International

Sketch (US)

Dir. Seth Worley
US filmmaker Worley makes his feature debut having directed a number of shorts including Old/New (2015), narrated by Patton Oswalt. Sketch follows a grieving father having to fight off his daughter’s surprisingly dark drawings, which have been brought to life. Tony Hale (a two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner for Veep) and D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place) lead the cast, with Hale also producing the feature alongside Steve Taylor and Dusty Brown.
Contact: UTA Independent Film Group 

We Live In Time (UK-Fr)

Dir. John Crowley
After The Goldfinch world premiered at Toronto in 2019 and Brooklyn played the festival in 2015, Crowley returns with a decade-spanning romance starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. The feature weaves through a couple’s relationship from meeting, to building a family, and then unearthing difficult truths that threaten to derail their lives. SunnyMarch produces alongside Studiocanal, with Film4 co-­financing and Benedict Cumberbatch executive producing. Studiocanal also represents sales and will distribute in various European territories, including the UK and Ireland, with A24 releasing in the US.
Contact: Chloé Marquet, Studiocanal 

Went Up The Hill (NZ-Australia)

Dir. Samuel Van Grinsven
From the producers of Talk To Me comes another tale about contact with the other side. Dacre Montgomery stars as a man who connects with his estranged mother’s widow (Vicky Krieps) following his mother’s death — and the pair are soon put in danger when the mother’s ghost begins inhabiting them. Talk To Me’s Causeway Films (producer) and Bankside Films (sales) reunite on the film. Grinsven co-wrote the screenplay with Jory Anast, having previously collaborated on his debut feature Sequin In A Blue Room which won the audience award at Sydney Film Festival 2019.
Contact: Bankside Films (international/North America); CAA Media Finance (North America)

Without Blood (US-It)

Dir. Angelina Jolie
In her fifth feature as director, Jolie adapts Alessandro Baricco’s 2002 novel set in the aftermath of an undefined conflict. The film shot in Italy with an international cast led by Salma Hayek Pinault and Demian Bichir. Jolie — who participates in Venice this year as star of Maria — launched her last film First They Killed My Father at Toronto in 2017. Without Blood marks the actress/director’s first feature under her three-year deal with Fremantle which produces alongside its own Italian outfit The Apartment, with De Maio Entertainment and Jolie Productions.

Contact: Lisa Honig, Fremantle

Young Werther (Can)

Dir. Jose Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenco
Douglas Booth and Alison Pill star in this romantic comedy, a modern adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1774 novel, about an awkward three-way friendship between two men and the woman with whom they are both in love. The cast also includes Patrick J Adams and Iris Apatow. Wilding Pictures produces this feature-directing debut, with Mason Novick (Juno) serving as executive producer. Level­Film distributes in Canada.
Contact: Mister Smith Entertainment (international); CAA Media Finance (US)

TIFF profiles by Gabriella Berkeley-Agyepong, Ellie Calnan, Adam Cole, Ben Dalton, Charles Gant, Elaine Guerini, Jeremy Kay, Rebecca Leffler, Lee Marshall, Michael Rosser, Matt Schley, Mona Tabbara, Silvia Wong

• Screen digital edition: August-September 2024