TIFF First Look: David Oyelowo and Dianne Wiest Lead ‘Five Nights in Maine’

David Oyelowo appears in his first leading role since “Selma” in writer/director Maris Curran’s “Five Nights in Maine,” one of the 16 world premieres in Toronto’s Discovery program designed to introduce up-and-coming filmmakers to fest-goers. It will seek acquisition at the festival.

The drama deals with the relationship that forms between a white mother (Dianne Wiest) and her black son-in-law (Oyelowo), who travels to Maine seeking answers, following her daughter’s death in a car accident. Rosie Perez also stars.

This international co-production was lensed by “Blue Is the Warmest Color” DP Sofian El Fani. In a Filmmaker Magazine interview dating back to January, Curran said that the film deals with race “but not in a Hollywood, capital R way.”

“Five Nights in Maine” participated in IFP’s No Borders International Co-production Market and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, and was selected as one of the ten international projects to be developed at the Cine Qua Non Writers Lab in Mexico.

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