Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts films bound for TIFF
TORONTO — Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut featuring Lady Gaga, a Julia Roberts family addiction drama and Ryan Gosling’s turn as astronaut Neil Armstrong are among the projects bound for the Toronto International Film Festival.
On Tuesday, organizers unveiled the galas and special presentations set for this year’s fest, which runs Sept. 6 to 16.
The list includes Cooper’s romantic drama “A Star is
Born,” which the four-time Oscar-nominated actor cowrote and stars in, playing an alcoholic country musician who falls in love with a singer played by Gaga.
In Peter Hedges’ “Ben is Back,” Roberts plays a mother whose son (played by Lucas Hedges of “Manchester by the Sea”) returns home for the holidays with substance abuse issues.
The theme of recovery continues with Felix van Groeningen’s “Beautiful Boy,” starring Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet as his son who’s battling a methamphetamine addiction.
Meanwhile, Gosling teams up with his “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle for “First
Man,” about Armstrong’s life and legacy after walking on the moon. Steven Spielberg is an executive producer.
The lineup also has Montreal native Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner,” starring Hugh Jackman as American Senator Gary Hart who was embroiled in an adultery scandal.
While the bulk of the Canadian titles have yet to be revealed, some major homegrown films have been locked in, including “Through Black Spruce” by Toronto director Don McKellar.
It’s based on the acclaimed novel by Canadian author Joseph Boyden, whose claims of Indigenous ancestry were questioned last year and sparked online debates after an investigation by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
Emmy-nominated writerdirector Patricia Rozema of Kingston, Ont., returns to the fest with “Mouthpiece.”
Montreal filmmaker Kim Nguyen, whose previous features include the Oscar-nominated “Rebelle,” recruited an A-list cast for “The Hummingbird Project.” Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgard and Salma Hayek star in the 1990s-set story of highfrequency trading.
And while “The Sisters Brothers” is not a Canadian film, it is based on the lauded comic western novel by Vancouver Island native Patrick deWitt. “Rust and Bone” filmmaker Jacques Audiard directed and co-write the adaptation, which stars John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Other heavy-hitting projects include David Lowery’s bankrobber biopic “Old Man & the Gun,” which is said to be Robert Redford’s final onscreen performance before his planned retirement from acting.
Co-stars include Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tom Waits and Sissy Spacek.
Steve McQueen will be at the fest with the heist thriller “Widows,” which is loaded with stars, including Viola Davis, Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson.
In “What They Had” by Elizabeth Chomko, Blythe Danner plays a mother with Alzheimer’s disease. Co-stars include Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon.
Emilio Estevez makes a longawaited return to filmmaking with “The Public,” in which he also stars alongside a cast including Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater and Gabrielle Union.
A total of 17 galas and 30 special presentations were announced — 21 of which are world premières, and 13 of which are directed by women.