Toronto Film Festival reveals 60 film selections

[FWN Adm]

Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a further 60 selection of films on Monday after previously announcing Taikia Waititi's Searchlight Pictures underdog football story Next Goal Wins, and Ladj Ly's Les Indésirables, and Atom Egoyan's Seven Veils - both of which are available for the US. XYZ Films handles world sales on Seven Veils and Goodfellas is selling Les Indésirables.

All selections are subject to change. The ongoing Hollywood double strike has cast uncertainty over whether talent will attend fall festivals and TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey told Screen last week that he and his team are deep in talks "film by film, person by person" to ensure as many of the selections as possible attend the festival running September 7-17.

The first wave of TIFF selection features 37 world premieres, seven international premieres, 12 North American premieres, and four Canadian premieres. Bailey said the selections "showcase a rich tapestry of talent, vision, and storytelling" and said attendees should prepare themselves for a "star-studded festival, showcasing the best of global cinema for film lovers in September".

Anna Kendrick (Woman Of The Hour, formerly The Dating Game), Michael Keaton (Knox Goes Away), Chris Pine (Poolman) and Ethan Hawke (Wildcat) are four US stars and SAG-AFTRA members with feature directorial debuts receiving world premiere slots at TIFF. Kristin Scott Thomas makes her debut behind the camera on North Star starring Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller, and Viggo Mortensen returns for his second stint as director with The Dead Don't Hurt after 2020 TIFF selection Falling.

The selection includes Unicorns from Sally El Hosaini (who directed TIFF 2022 opening film The Swimmers) and James Krishna Floyd; Anant Tucker's mystery comedy The Critic with Gemma Arterton, Ben Barnes, Ian McKellen, Leslie Manville and March Strong; Mahalia Belo's The End We Start From starring Jodie Comer and Benedict Cumberbatch; Thea Sharrock's comedy Wicked Little Letters from Studiocanal, Film4, Blueprint Pictures and South Of The River Pictures, which it was announced today will open in the UK on Fenruary 24 2024; and Dominic Savage's drama Close To You starring Elliot Page.