'Joker' will meet Mister Rogers and many more at 44th Toronto film bash
TV's lovable Mister Rogers, Batman's eternal nemesis The Joker, and Charles Dickens' young David Copperfield are among the subjects of about 50 movies announced today in the first batch of names on the 44th annual slate of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Fred Rogers, the late, great morning friend to millions of youngsters watching PBS for decades, is played by Tom Hanks in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," directed by Marielle Heller ("Can You Ever Forgive Me"), and one of 29 world premieres to be unveiled when the festival runs from Sept. 5-15.
"Joker," a North American premiere, stars Joaquin Phoenix in an original back story of how a man becomes a villain, as directed and co-written by Todd Phillips, of "The Hangover" fame. Meanwhile, "The Personal History of David Copperfield" will be another world premiere coming from "Veep" creator Armando Ianucci ("The Death of Stalin"), who likely will give the classic tale his usual satirical twists with Dev Patel in the lead role.
"Some of the year's biggest films will land in Toronto this September," said Cameron Bailey, co-head and artistic director of TIFF. "We're thrilled to unveil galas and special presentations that bring the brightest lights in film to our Festival audience.
"Our new programming team has been hard at work for months to deliver compelling stories, acclaimed filmmakers and top onscreen talent that mark our two highest profile sections (in the festival)." Among other selections announced this morning:
Fred Rogers, the late, great morning friend to millions of youngsters watching PBS for decades, is played by Tom Hanks in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," directed by Marielle Heller ("Can You Ever Forgive Me"), and one of 29 world premieres to be unveiled when the festival runs from Sept. 5-15.
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| "Joker" goes wild on a subway train, with Joaquin Phoenix on board it all. |
"Some of the year's biggest films will land in Toronto this September," said Cameron Bailey, co-head and artistic director of TIFF. "We're thrilled to unveil galas and special presentations that bring the brightest lights in film to our Festival audience.
"Our new programming team has been hard at work for months to deliver compelling stories, acclaimed filmmakers and top onscreen talent that mark our two highest profile sections (in the festival)." Among other selections announced this morning:
GALAS
"Abominable," Jill Culton | USA World Premiere
"American Woman," Semi Chellas | Canada Canadian Premiere
"Blackbird," Roger Michell | United Kingdom World Premiere
"Clemency," Chinonye Chukwu | USA International Premiere
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| Matt Damon and Christian Bale stand ready to pit "Ford v Ferrari" |
"Ford v Ferrari," James Mangold | USA Canadian Premiere
"Hustlers," Lorene Scafaria | USA World Premiere
"Just Mercy," Destin Daniel Cretton | USA World Premiere
"Ordinary Love," Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn | United Kingdom World Premiere
"Radioactive" (Closing Night Film), 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
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
"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
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| Eddie Murphy heads the cast as Rudy Ray Moore in "Dolemite Is My Name." |
"Greed," Michael Winterbottom | United Kingdom World Premiere
"Guest of Honour," Atom Egoyan | Canada North American 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
"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
"The Laundromat," Steven Soderbergh | USA North American Premiere
"The Lighthouse," Robert Eggers | USA North American Premiere
"Military Wives," Peter Cattaneo | United Kingdom World Premiere
"Motherless Brooklyn," Edward Norton | USA International Premiere
"Pain and Glory," Pedro Almodóvar | Spain Canadian Premiere
"The Painted Bird," Václav Marhoul | Czech/Ukraine/Slovakia North American Premiere
"Saturday Fiction," Lou Ye | China North American Premiere
"The Two Popes," Fernando Meirelles | USA/United Kingdom/Italy/Argentina Canadian Premiere
"While at War," Alejandro Amenábar | Spain/Argentina World Premiere
For film synopses, and more information, go to tiff.net/galas and tiff.net/special presentations.
