TIFF Wish List: 30 Films to Watch for in Toronto

The Toronto skyline. Photo by Peter Knegt.

In celebration of Canada Day, indieWIRE is offering some speculation on the country’s biggest celebration of film, the Toronto International Film Festival. The fest started announcing titles last week, and will be announcing a big block of programming at its July 14th press conference. The 34th edition of the fest runs September 10 - 19, and while it’s essentially assured a large number of Cannes and Berlin titles will have their North American premieres there - from Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” to Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” to Andrea Arnold’s already announced “Fish Tank,” the following list focuses on the films few among us have seen. 

As we’re all aware, Toronto is a huge launching pad for fall fare, particularly those gunning for Oscar gold (three of the five past best picture winners have screened there), so it’s possible a good portion of Oscar’s top ten could very well come from this wish list of TIFF premieres (the lists links to film pages in the indieWIRE Calendar for more information).

The Opening Film?

Atom Egoyan’s last six feature films - going all the way back to 1994’s “Exotica” - have all premiered at Cannes. But “Chloe,” a thriller with uncharacteristically high star wattage for Egoyan (Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Amanda Seyfried), is apparently ready to go and Cannes 2010 is a long way off. The opening night slot of TIFF is reserved for homegrown fare (though this is a US/Canada co-pro), so it seems like a reasonable suggestion that “Chloe” could be it.

Chloe, directed by Atom Egoyan

The Oscar Campaigns Begin…

Lately there’s always been a few heavy hitters that steer clear of the Venice-Toronto-Telluride triad, whether its because the film simply isn’t finished yet, or because it probably wouldn’t benefit from the potentially slippery slope that is festival buzz. This year, it’s likely we won’t see the likes of Martin Scorcese’s “Shutter Island” (Scorcese rarely ever debuts his films at festivals), Clint Eastwoods’s “Invictus,” or Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones” until they hit theaters.

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A scene from Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant.” Image courtesy of Warner Brothers. However, here’s a list of 12 films that are more likely to take a trip to Toronto (even if some of them hit Venice or Telluride first), from the Coen Brothers latest to Mira Nair’s Amelia Earhart biopic to a promising double dose of Matt Damon via his “Ocean’s” and “Bourne” trilogy directors Steven Soderbergh and Paul Greengrass. It would be surprising if at least 8 of them don’t end up in the lineup, even Rob Marshall’s “Nine” - which if it learned anything from recent Oscar-bait musicals “Dreamgirls” and “Sweeney Todd,” playing the waiting game doesn’t always work out for the best. Amelia, directed by Mira Nair Biutiful, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu Brothers, directed by Jim Sheridan Dear John, directed by Lasse Hallstrom Green Zone, directed by Paul Greengrass The Informant, directed by Steven Soderbergh Love Ranch, directed by Taylor Hackford Nine, directed by Rob Marshall Ondine, directed by Neil Jordan The Road, directed by John Hillcoat A Serious Man, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen The Tempest, directed by Julie Taymor —on page two, potential surprises, docs and more—   (1 of 2)  Next Page › Login to recommend this article » posted on July 1, 2009 |Share Login to Leave a Comment »