Toronto International Film Fest unveils lineup
Films from Jolie, Clooney, Aronofsky among premieres
LOS ANGELES - George Clooney’s crime comedy “Suburbicon,” Angelina Jolie’s Khmer Rouge drama “First They Killed My Father,” and Darren Aronofsky’s horror feature “mother!” starring Jennifer Lawrence are among the films that will be playing at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
Festival programmers Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey unveiled the initial 47 film lineup Tuesday.
The Toronto festival, along with Venice and Telluride, is considered one of the launching pads for Hollywood’s awards season and a best-of display of films from other festivals.
Some of the buzzier films set to play include Joe Wright’s Winston Churchill biopic “The Darkest Hour,” starring Gary Oldman; Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War-set fairy tale “The Shape of Water”; Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and Alexander Payne’s satire “Downsizing,” starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig, which will have previously opened the Venice Film Festival.
A few actors will be showing off their directorial debuts, including Andy Serkis with the biographical drama “Breathe,” starring Andrew Garfield as the polio-stricken disability advocate Robin Cavendish and Greta Gerwig with “Lady Bird,” where Saoirse Ronan plays a Sacramento teenager looking to escape her small town.
TIFF will also feature a number of sports biopics including “The Battle of the Sexes,” with Emma Stone as Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs, and “I, Tonya” with Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding and Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly. Paul Rudd can also be seen as Major League Baseball player turned WWII operative Moe Berg in Ben Lewin’s adaptation of “The Catcher Was a Spy.”
“Mustang” director Deniz Gamze Erguven will debut her L.A. riots film “Kings,” with Halle Berry and Daniel Craig. The festival will also show David Gordon Green’s Boston Marathon drama “Stronger” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany.
Sundance favorite “Call Me By Your Name,” a coming-of-age romance from Italian director Luca Guadagnino starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet will make a stop at Toronto too, as will Dee Rees’ Southern racial drama “Mudbound,” with Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell.
The French wedding film “C’est La Vie!” from directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano will close the festival.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from Sept. 7 through Sept. 17. More films will be announced in the coming weeks.