TIFF 2018 now ready for its close-up
Slate finalized with addition of Portman musical, thriller starring Huppert and Mortez
Natalie Portman as a Madonna-like pop superstar in Vox Lux and Isabel Huppert as a sinister widow in Greta help round out the big-screen offerings for next month’s Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 6-16.
The two movies complete the festival’s Special Presentations slate of highly rated filmmakers and storytellers, bringing the program’s total to 24 titles. Along with the 46 Discovery program titles by new international filmmakers that were also announced Tuesday, TIFF’s 2018 roster is complete: 255 features and 88 shorts, 343 films in all.
That’s up three titles from 2017, which had 340 films (256 features and 84 shorts), but the total is still far lower than in other years, before TIFF trimmed its offerings to make the 11day fest more manageable.
Women directed 34 per cent of this year’s TIFF lineup, the fest reports, up from the 33 per cent from 2017.
Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux, a musical drama which will have its North America premiere in TIFF following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, co-stars Portman with Jude Law in what will be the actors’ fourth film together. They previously co-starred in Cold Mountain, Closer and My Blueberry Nights. Portman plays a woman named Celeste who survives a life-altering tragedy and rises to become a pop superstar. The soundtrack features original songs written by Grammy-nominated artist Sia.
Neil Jordan’s dramatic thriller Greta stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a young New Yorker who commences an unlikely friendship with a mysterious widow named Greta (Isabelle Huppert). Greta’s hidden motives are slow- ly revealed in a film that “quickly descends into an exploration of loneliness, obsession, and manipulation,” TIFF program notes say. Colm Feore, Maika Monroe and Stephen Rea costar.
“These are two films that explore nuanced narratives with exceptional leading women,” said Kerri Craddock, TIFF’s director of festival programming.
TIFF this year is also expanding its four-day Festival Street initiative, turning King Street between University Ave. and Peter Street into a car-free zone of film, music and other artistic endeavours. New this year will be the Refinery29 Festival Rooftop attraction that will move some of the activities atop TIFF Bell Lightbox at King and John Sts.
The first Saturday of the fest, Sept. 8, will see the “Share Her Journey” women’s rally on Festival Street, promoting female voices in cinema and also the cultural changes of the #MeToo, TIME’S UP and other movements.
The TIFF program book and screening dates and times are now available. For full details, go to tiff.net.