The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 10-19 with 50 titles, which will screen in a mix of online and physical presentations.
Here's the full list, with their TIFF descriptions:
- "180 Degree Rule" by Farnoosh Samadi: "A school teacher from Tehran is preparing to attend a wedding in northern Iran. When her husband suddenly forbids her to go, she makes a choice that will place her on a painful path to atonement." (Iran)
- "76 Days" by Hao Wu, Anonymous, and Weixi Chen: "Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan." (United States)
- "Ammonite" by Francis Lee: "Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan star in this raw love story between a solitary paleontologist and a wealthy, grieving wife in 19th-century Dorset." (United Kingdom)
- "Another Round" ("Druk"): "Director Thomas Vinterberg and actor Mads Mikkelsen reunite for Another Round, a sobering comedy about aging, alcoholism, and friendship between men." (Denmark)
- "Bandar Band": "Manijeh Hekmat’s music-infused twist on a road movie follows a band’s day-long journey across a flooded landscape to Tehran." (Iran/Germany)
- "Beans": "Based on true events, Tracey Deer's debut feature chronicles the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in 1990 in Quebec." (Canada)
- "Beginning" ("Dasatskisi"): "Dea Kulumbegashvili’s harrowing, sensorial debut feature centres on a Jehovah’s Witness missionary seeking justice in a remote Georgian village." (Georgia/France)
- "The Best is Yet to Come" ("Bu Zhi Bu Xiu"): "This timely debut from Wang Jing, Jia Zhang-ke’s assistant director, was inspired by a journalist who defended 120 million people’s rights with a pen." (China)
- "Bruised": "Halle Berry’s directorial debut follows a former MMA fighter struggling to regain custody of her son and restart her athletic career." (U.S.)
- "City Hall": "Master documentarian Frederick Wiseman delivers an epic look at Boston’s city government, covering racial justice, housing, climate action, and more." (U.S.)
- "Concrete Cowboy" by Ricky Staub: "While spending the summer in North Philadelphia, a troubled teen is caught between a life of crime and his estranged father’s vibrant urban-cowboy subculture." (U.S.)
- David Byrne's "American Utopia": "Spike Lee documents the former Talking Heads frontman’s brilliant, timely 2019 Broadway show, based on his recent album and tour of the same name." (U.S.) (Opening night film)
- "The Disciple": "Chaitanya Tamhane’s masterfully composed second feature examines a lifetime journey devoted to the art of Indian classical music." (India)
- "Enemies of the State": "An American family seeks refuge in Canada after their hacker son is targeted by the US government, in Sonia Kennebeck’s bizarre story of secrets and lies." (U.S.)
- "Falling": "In his feature directorial debut, Viggo Mortensen stars as a gay man on a patience-testing mission to care for his ailing, solitary, and conservative father (Lance Henriksen)." (Canada/U.K.)
- "The Father": "Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman star in Florian Zeller’s ingenious, subtly hallucinatory chamber drama about a man’s slide into dementia." (U.K./France)
- "Fauna": "The latest feature from Mexican-Canadian auteur Nicolas Pereda is a sly, comedic take on how violence in Mexico has infiltrated popular imagination." (Mexico/Canada)
- "Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds": "Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer (Into the Inferno) undertake a globe-trotting exploration of meteors that fell to Earth, both ancient and recent." (U.K./U.S.)
- "Gaza mon amour" by Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser: "The latest from the Nasser brothers (Degrade) is a satire on love and desire, and an affirmation that life continues amidst the absurdity of living." (Palestine/France/Germany/Portugal/Qatar)
- "Get the Hell Out" ("Tao Chu Li Fa Yuan") by I-Fan Wang: "In this gonzo, martial arts–infused horror-comedy, Taiwan’s parliament turns deadly when a virus transforms politicians into ravenous zombie mutants." (Taiwan)
- "Good Joe Bell" by Reinaldo Marcus Green: "The Oscar-winning writers of Brokeback Mountain tell the true story of a father’s walk across the US to raise awareness about the harms of bullying." (U.S.)
- "I Care A Lot": "A legal conservator (Rosamund Pike) who defrauds elderly clients runs afoul of a gangster (Peter Dinklage), in this droll thriller from J Blakeson." (U.K.)
- "Inconvenient Indian": "Michelle Latimer's affecting adaptation of Thomas King’s award-winning book explores the cultural colonization of Indigenous peoples in North America." (Canada)
- "The Inheritance": "Ephraim Asili’s debut weaves together the histories of the MOVE Organization, the Black Arts Movement, and Asili’s time in a Black Marxist collective." (U.S.)
- "Lift Like a Girl" ("Ash ya Captain") by Mayye Zayed: "Lift Like a Girl is an intimate journey into the inner life of an aspiring athlete." (Egypt/Germany/Denmark)
- "Limbo": "A Syrian asylum-seeker finds himself in a purgatorial state on a remote Scottish island, in this melancholic comedy from Ben Sharrock." (U.K.)
- "Memory House" ("Casa de Antiguidades"): "Joao Paulo Miranda Maria explores the racial tensions of modern-day Brazil in his lush, haunting debut feature rooted in Brazilian folklore." (Brazil/France)
- "MLK/FBI": "Based on newly declassified files, Sam Pollard’s resonant film explores the US government’s surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr." (U.S.)
- "The New Corporation: An Unfortunately Necessary Sequel" by Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott: "The sequel to The Corporation exposes how companies are desperately rebranding as socially responsible — and how that threatens democratic freedoms." (Canada)
- "New Order" ("Nuevo orden"): "The latest from Mexican director Michel Franco, set amid both a street protest and a posh wedding, is a timely indictment of class divide and abuse of power." (Mexico)
- "Night of the Kings" ("La Nuit des rois"): "A young man incarcerated in a prison in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire must spend the whole night recounting a story if he hopes to survive, in Philippe Lacote’s latest." (Cote d'Ivoire/France/Canada/Senegal)
- "Nomadland" (U.S.): "Frances McDormand explores the vast landscape of the American West, in Chloe Zhao’s wise and intimate portrayal of life as a modern-day nomad."
- "No Ordinary Man" by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt: "The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists." (Canada)
- "Notturno": "Award-winning director Gianfranco Rosi’s new documentary is an immersive portrait of those trying to survive in the war-torn Middle East." (Italy/France/Germany)
- "One Night in Miami": "Actor-director Regina King’s feature directorial debut, based on Kemp Powers’ play, is a fictionalized account of a 1964 meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown." (U.S.)
- "Penguin Bloom" by Glendyn Ivin: "Naomi Watts stars in this true story about a paralyzed woman who finds new hope when she joins with her family to care for an injured baby magpie." (Australia)
- "Pieces of a Woman": "Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf star as a couple reeling — in very different ways — from tragedy, in the new film from Kornel Mundruczo (White God)." (USA/Canada/Hungary)
- "Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time": "In Lili Horvat’s second feature, a brilliant neurosurgeon returns to Budapest to reunite with the love of her life: a man who says they’ve never met." ("Felkeszules meghatarozatlan ideig tarto egyuttletre") (Hungary)
- "Quo Vadis, Aida?": "The latest from Jasmila Zbanic tells the true story of a translator attempting to save the lives of her husband and sons during the Bosnian genocide." (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Norway/The Netherlands/Austria/Romania/France/Germany/Poland/Turkey):
- "Shadow In The Cloud": "Chloe Grace Moretz stars as a WWII pilot trying to warn her obstinate male comrades of a sinister stowaway, in a new nightmare at 20,000 feet from Roseanne Liang." (U.S./New Zealand)
- "Shiva Baby": "A young Jewish woman’s steamy secrets are unearthed during one emotionally frantic shiva, in Emma Seligman’s comedy of discomfort." (U.S./Canada)
- "Spring Blossom": "A bored Parisian teenager contemplates the pitfalls of growing up too fast when she falls in love with an older man, in Suzanne Lindon’s debut." (France)
- "A Suitable Boy": "A young woman in post-partition India struggles to balance family duty and personal independence, in Mira Nair’s six-part drama series adaptation." (U.K./India) (Closing night presentation)
- "Summer of 85" ("Ete 85"): "This gorgeous 1980s period piece from Francois Ozon looks at the fateful friendship and love affair between two teenage boys on the Normandy coast." (France)
- "The Third Day" by Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly: "Jude Law and Naomie Harris star in this mysterious miniseries directed by Marc Munden and Philippa Lowthorpe, about a small island town and its denizens’ uncanny rituals." (U.K.)
- "Trickster" by Michelle Latimer: "Based on Eden Robinson’s bestselling novel, this series follows an Indigenous teen struggling to support his dysfunctional family as myth, magic, and monsters slowly infiltrate his life." (Canada)
- "True Mothers" ("Asa Ga Kuru"): "The latest from acclaimed director Naomi Kawase — a candid force in contemporary Japanese cinema — is a touching family story of love and adoption." (Japan)
- "Under the Open Sky" ("Subarashiki Sekai"): "Miwa Nishikawa’s touching, poignant redemption drama follows a middle-aged ex-yakuza (Koji Yakusho) as he adjusts to life outside of prison." (Japan)
- "Violation": "In Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s deeply disturbing debut feature, a traumatic betrayal drives a woman towards a vengeful extremity." (Canada)
- "Wildfire": "Cathy Brady’s debut is an emotionally stirring exploration of two sisters — and a country — struggling to emerge from a traumatic past." (U.K./Ireland)
The Canadian Press
