Toronto International Film Festival Reveals First Slate of Titles: New Ridley Scott and Cary Fukunaga Films Top List, ‘Demolition’ to Open
READ MORE: Toronto Film Festival Lineup: What Did They Get?
Now that the New York Film Festival has completed its major marquee announcements — including picks for Opening Night (“The Walk”), Closing Night (“Miles Ahead”) and Centerpiece (“Steve Jobs”) — the Toronto International Film Festival has taken center stage, unveiling two major sections of its upcoming programming, including both Galas and Special Presentations picks. This year’s TIFF will open with the world premiere of Jean-Marc Vallee’s Jake Gyllenhaal-starring “Demolition.”
This first announcement speaks to the wide variety of films featured every year at TIFF, a lineup rife with expected titles (including Ridley Scott’s Matt Damon-starring “The Martian,” Stephen Frears’ Lance Armstrong biopic “The Program” and the Canadian premiere of Scott Cooper’s fact-based “Black Mass,” which will bow at the Venice Film Festival) and some exciting outliers, like Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s long-anticipated animated film, “Anomalisa,” Sebastian Schipper’s one-take “Victoria” and Cary Fukunaga’s Netflix-owned “Beasts of No Nation.”
Other big names include Tom Hooper’s “The Danish Girl” (starring TIFF breakout Eddie Redmayne), Lenny Abrahamson’s book-based “Room,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkly funny “The Lobster,” TIFF favorite Denis Villeneuve’s “Sicario” and Peter Sollett’s hotly anticipated true story, “Freeheld.” That’s still just a small sample of the goodies that await TIFF-goers within this announcement, which only contains less than fifty titles, but still manages to be the festival fans equivalent of Christmas morning.
Although this slate boasts 25 world premieres, there are some notable festival repeats here, including John Crowley’s period piece “Brooklyn” and Adam Salky’s “I Smile Back” (bolstered by a dramatic performance by Sarah Silverman), which both debuted at Sundance in January, and Cannes standouts like the Palme d’Or-winning “Dheepan” from Jacques Audiard and Laszlo Nemes’ star-making “Son of Saul.” This lineup, though only a taste of what TIFF will hold this year, already offers a wide selection of the films that will likely remain in the awards season conversation for many months to come.
Below are the first additions to the TIFF 2015 lineup. The festival runs September 10 – 20.
Opening Night
“Demolition,” directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, USA, World Premiere
Galas
“Beeba Boys,” directed by Deepa Mehta, Canada, World Premiere
“Eye in the Sky,” directed by Gavin Hood, UK, World Premiere
“Forsaken,” directed by Jon Cassar, Canada, World Premiere
“Freeheld,” directed by Peter Sollett, USA, World Premiere
“Hyena Road (Hyena Road: Le Chemin du Combat),” directed by Paul Gross, Canada, World Premiere
“Lolo,” directed by Julie Delpy, France, World Premiere
“LEGEND,” directed by Brian Helgeland, United Kingdom, International Premiere
“The Man Who Knew Infinity,” directed by Matt Brown, United Kingdom
“The Martian,” directed by Ridley Scott, USA, World Premiere
“The Program,” directed by Stephen Frears, United Kingdom, World Premiere
“Remember,” directed by Atom Egoyan, Canada, North American Premiere
“Septembers of Shiraz,” directed by Wayne Blair, USA, World Premiere
“Stonewall,” directed by Roland Emmerich, USA, World Premiere
“The Dressmaker,” directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, Australia, World Premiere
Special Presentations
“Anomalisa,” directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, USA, Canadian Premiere
“Beasts of No Nation,” directed by Cary Fukunaga, Ghana, Canadian Premiere
“Black Mass,” directed by Scott Cooper, USA, Canadian Premiere
“Brooklyn,” directed by John Crowley, United Kingdom/Ireland/Canada, Canadian Premiere
“The Club,” directed by Pablo Larrian, Chile, North American Premiere
“Colonia,” directed by Florian Gallenberger, Germany/Luxembourg/France, World Premiere
“The Danish Girl,” directed by Tom Hooper, United Kingdom/Sweden, North American Premiere
“The Daughter,” directed by Simon Stone, Australia, North American Premiere
“Desierto,” directed by Jonás Cuarón, Mexico, World Premiere
“Dheepan,” directed by Jacques Audiard, France, North American Premiere
“The Family Fang,” directed by Jason Bateman, USA, World Premiere
“Guilty (Talvar),” directed by Meghna Gulzar, India, World Premiere
“I Smile Back,” directed by Adam Salky, USA, Canadian Premiere
“The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayer),” directed by Hany Abu-Assad, United Kingdom/Palestine, World Premiere
“The Lady in the Van,” directed by Nicolas Hytner, USA, World Premiere
“Len and Company,” directed by Tim Godsall, USA, North American Premiere
“Office,” directed by Johnnie To, China/Hong Kong, International Premiere
“Parched,” directed by Leena Yadav, India/USA, World Premiere
“Summertime,” directed by Catherine Corsini, France, North American Premiere
