For the first time since 2019, the international industry is looking forward to getting back to a fully in-person TIFF where there will be plenty to discuss with old friends besides the invigorating roster of premieres.
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The public-facing festival (September 8-18) is many things and one of them is a conveyor belt of awards season premieres. These get scrutinised by the many awards strategists, buyers and sellers in attendance, who will want to know can these films survive at the box office, and can they sustain box office at times when tentpoles aren’t as abundant as they are in the summer.
Festival audiences will turn out in droves for the likes of the Searchlight Pictures duo Empire Of Light from Sam Mendes and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees Of Inisherin. There’s no question Universal’s The Fabelmans, which brings Steven Spielberg to TIFF for the first time and with a non-genre film, no less, will be a big draw, too.
How other awards hopefuls and quality arthouse films with less obvious crossover appeal fare in theatres across North America and the world will be watched closely in the months ahead as the industry waits to see whether cinema-going can get back to where it was prior to the pandemic.
The plight of Cineworld will be a talking point. The world’s second largest exhibitor, which owns Regal in the US and tried to acquired Canada’s top circuit Cineplex, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and its fate will have broad ramifications.
Curious minds will also be sure to pore over the current wave of private money coming into the UK production, sales and distribution sector. Charles Cohen’s Cohen Media Group from the US is acquiring HanWay Films while Paris-based Federation has bought a majority stake in UK producer Vertigo Films.
And there is expected to be a lot of goodwill around the announcement this week that Eugene Hernandez is the incoming director of Sundance Film Festival.
Jessica Lacy, the former ICM Partners agent who has set up Range Media’s indie division Range Select and is selling Canadian filmmaker Carly Stone’s Contemporary World Cinema selection North Of Normal, is feeling positive coming into TIFF.
“It’s important for some films to be seen with an audience of buyers,” says Lacy. “I’m very hopeful for the specialty box office heading into the fall. You see people feeling more comfortable going back to the theatres and now will be the test with lots of auteur indie films coming up in the release calendar.”
Many films in TIFF selection are already spoken for, however there are plenty of available titles (see hot list) to tempt. Theatrical distributors may feel emboldened by the recent travails of the streamers, with Netflix dropping subscribers and HBO Max finding itself in search of identity and a mandate amid David Zaslav’s Warner Bros Discovery project.
“Everyone is talking about the contraction of the streamers and studios, but that also creates opportunity for the independent community,” says Rena Ronson, partner and co-head of UTA Independent Film Group. “We continue to be optimistic about the health of the theatrical market and the independent space. After being in Telluride and seeing audiences’ reaction to being back in the theatre, it’s clear there’s definite a craving to see great movies. We’re hopeful that we’ll see buyers stepping up and making offers.”
Ronson’s fellow partner and co-head Jim Meenaghan agrees, adding: “The thing we’ve noticed in the last 12 to 24 months is that relying on the streamers for a big buy isn’t necessarily required anymore. The more traditional studios and independent distributors and financiers are stepping in more now, whether it’s a pre-buy or production commitment.”
Streaming isn’t going anywhere and don’t be surprised if there are one or two splashy platform buys on market packages. Besides TIFF’s public festival role, it usually serves as a screening venue for the industry where sellers can show completed films and buyers can see what they’ve paid for.
Sellers will also use the occasion to close territories on festival selections and there is always a smattering of heavyweight packages. Among those are Game Stock film Dumb Money from the new Black Bear International, where John Friedberg will want to announce the new company’s arrival ahead of what needs to be a big AFM for him and Black Bear founder Teddy Schwarzman.
Millennium Media has action thriller Dirty Angels, a modern wartime story which reunites Eva Green with her Casino Royale director Martin Campbell. Highland Film Group brings Russell Crowe crime thriller Sleeping Dogs, while UTA Independent Film Group took Icarus: The Aftermath to Telluride and will be touting Bryan Fogel’s sequel to his Oscar-winning 2017 documentary about Russian sports doping (which Netflix acquired for the world.)
AGC Studios has set up buyer presentations with Anna Kendrick (in TIFF selection Alice, Darling) for her directorial debut The Dating Game; and Richard Linklater and Glen Powell (in TIFF selection Devotion) for the action comedy Hitman.
WME Independent has Brad Anderson’s horror thriller Blood with Michelle Monaghan and Skeet Ulrich, as well as inspirational drama Bank Of Dave starring Rory Kinnear. Both projects are in post.
All in all there will be plenty to keep attendees occupied, including the below list of some of the acquisition titles set to play in the festival.
TIFF 2022 hot list
In all cases the first P&I and first public screenings are listed. There may be other P&I and public screenings. Screenings listed in Eastern Time.
Moving On
Gala Presentation
Paul Weitz (About A Boy) directs Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in one of the most anticipated acquisition titles at TIFF. The story centres on two friends who meet at a friend’s funeral and plot revenge on the dastardly widower. Malcolm McDowell also stars.
Screenings: P&I Sept 9, 9.30am, Scotiabank; WP Sept 13, 9.30pm, Roy Thomson Hall
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group
Sanctuary
Special Presentation
All eyes are on Margaret Qualley (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) in Zachary Wigon’s (The Heart Machine) contained psychosexual thriller set in a hotel room where a dominatrix and wealthy man (Christopher Abbott) engage in power games. Rumble Films produced with Hype Studios, Mosaic Films and Charades.
Screenings: WP Sept 11, 9pm, Royal Alexandra Theatre; P&I Sept 12, 9.05am, Scotiabank
Sales: Charades (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)
Daliland
Gala Presentation
Mary Harron’s (American Psycho, Charlie Says) latest film stars a hugely entertaining Ben Kingsley as the legendary Spanish Surrealist painter Salvador Dali matched every step of the way by Barbara Sukowa as his wife and muse Gala. Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty) is Dali’s wide-eyed assistant in the run-up to an important New York show in the early 1970’s.
Screenings: P&I Sept 11, 1pm, Scotiabank; WP Sept 17, 6.30pm The Princess Of Wales
Sales: Bankside Films (international); CAA Media Finance (North America)
Butcher’s Crossing
Gala Presentation
Nic Cage, on a decent run of form after Pig and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, stars as a buffalo hunter in the tale of a 19th century Harvard drop-out who joins an expedition into the Rockies. Director Gabe Polsky brought Red Army to TIFF 2014. The cast includes Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus) and Paul Raci from Sound Of Metal. Saban Films will distribute in the US.
Screenings: WP Sept 9, 9.30pm, Roy Thomson Hall; P&I Sept 10, 8.30am, Scotiabank
Sales: Altitude (international)
Wildflower
Contemporary World Cinema
Matt Smukler’s narrative feature debut is a coming-of-age story about a young woman (Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men) caring for her intellectually disabled parents while seeking an independent life. The cast includes Jean Smart, Jacki Weaver and Brad Garrett.
Screenings: P&I Sept 11, 3.40pm; WP Sept 12, 4pm, Scotiabank.
Sales: Sierra/Affinity (international); CAA Media Finance and WME Independent (US)
Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe
Discovery
Trans filmmaker Aitch Alberto’s comedy-drama follows two teenage Mexican boys who bond in 1987 El Paso, Texas, at a time during the Reagan era when queerness was repressed.
Screenings: WP Sept 9, 9.15pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox; P&I Sept 10, 9.10am, Scotiabank
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group and WME Independent.
North Of Normal
Contemporary World Cinema
Toronto director Carly Stone adapted the memoir by Cea Sunrise Person about the author’s unconventional youth in the wilds of 1970’s Western Canada. Sarah Gadon, Robert Carlyle and Janet Porter star. Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada.
Screenings: WP Sept 11, 6.45pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox; P&I Sept 12, 9.40pm, Scotiabank
Sales: Range Select
My Sailor, My Love
Contemporary World Cinema
Klaus Haro, director of The Fencer, brings the story of a curmudgeonly retired Naval officer who falls in love with a widowed housekeeper.
Screenings: WP Sept 9, 5.45pm, Scotiabank; P&I Sept 10, 12.30pm, Scotiabank
Sales: Global Screen
How To Blow Up A Pipeline
Platform
Daniel Goldhaber, whose 2018 horror Cam was snapped up by Netflix, returns with a thriller about environmental activists sabotaging an oil pipeline. The film stars Ariela Barer (also a co-writer and producer), Kristine Froseth and The White Lotus’s Lukas Gage. The film is based on Andreas Malm’s 2021 book.
Screenings: WP Sept 10 Lightbox 9pm; P&I Sept 11, 9.15am, Scotiabank
Sales: CAA Media Finance
Riceboy Sleeps
Platform
Anthony Shim’s second feature after Daughter takes place in the 1990’s as a Korean single mother struggles to provide a better life for her son in the Canadian suburbs. Shim stars alongside Ethan Hwang (The Umbrella Academy), Hunter Dillon and newcomer Choi Seung-yoon.
Screenings: WP Sept 11, 6.35pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox; P&I Sept 12, 3.40pm, Scotiabank
Sales: Sphere Films
Baby Ruby
Discovery
Playwright Bess Wohl’s feature directing debut stars Noémie Merlant (Portrait Of A Lady On Fire) as a vlogger and influencer who unravels after she gives birth. Kit Harington from Game Of Thrones plays her husband.
Screenings: WP Sept 9, 1.30pm, Royal Alexandra Theatre; P&I Sept 10, 12.15pm, Scotiabank
Sales: FilmNation
Roost
Gala Presentation
Amy Redford’s first feature directorial outing since The Guitar played Sundance in 2008 stars Stranger Things Season 4 star Grace Van Dien as a teenager who meets a man online masquerading as someone younger than his years. Summer Phoenix also stars.
Screenings: P&I Sept 9, 4.30pm, Scotiabank; WP Sept 15, 6pm, Roy Thomson Hall
Sales: The Film Sales Company
The Hummingbird
Gala Presentation
Pierfrancesco Favino, Bérénice Bejo and Nanni Moretti star in Francesca Archibugi’s adaptation of Sandro Veronesi’s time-hopping bestseller about the dramas hidden in an ‘ordinary’ life. An unusual case of an Italian film premiering in TIFF and not Venice. 01 Distribution will distribute in Italy on October 20.
Screenings: P&I Sept 10, 9.35am, Scotiabank; WP Sept 16, 9pm, Roy Thomson Hall
Sales: Fandango
The Grab
TIFF Docs
Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) trains her sights on efforts by governments, investors and mercenaries to control food and water.
Screenings: WP Sept 10, 9.35pm, Scotiabank; P&I Sept 9, 12noon, Scotiabank
Sales: WME Independent
Sisu (main picture)
Midnight Madness
A prospector discovers a cache of gold in the Finnish wilderness in 1945 and must keep his treasure trove from a unit of retreating Nazis in Jalmari Helander’s action title.
Screenings: WP Sept 9, 11.59pm, Royal Alexandra Theatre; P&I Sept 10, 8.55am, Scotiabank
Sales: WME Independent
Prisoner’s Daughter
Gala Presentation
Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen), is back with the story of a dying convict who tries to reconnect with his daughter and the grandson he’s never known. Kate Beckinsale and Succession patriarch Brian Cox star.
Screenings: P&I Sept 9, 12.30pm, Scotiabank; WP Sept 14, 6pm, Roy Thomson Hall
Sales: Capstone Global (international); UTA Independent Film Group (US)
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