The Toronto International Film Festival is promising a “refreshed, more tightly curated” festival this time around, saying that it has “a renewed commitment to bold, director, driven programming, continued support of female filmmakers, and enough star power to fuel 400,000 festival-goers.” They’re not kidding, either, as their announcement of this year’s initial lineup proves.
The Gala films feature a number of established and rising female filmmakers. Among the selections are Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Kings, Dee Rees’ Sundance standout Mudbound, Susanna White’s Woman Walks Ahead, and a documentary about the The Tragically Hip‘s farewell tour from Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier. Also of note is Mary Shelley, which was helmed by Haifaa Al Mansour, the first female Saudi director. We’re also excited for David Gordon Green’s Stronger and Andy Serkis’ directorial debut, Breathe.
The festival’s slate of Special Presentation features includes Alexander Payne’s Downsizing, Valerie Faris’ Battle of the Sexes, Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Wim Wenders’ Submergence. A few Hollywood bigwigs will also debut films—Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father is on hand, as is George Clooney’s Suburbicon, which was written by the Coen Brothers.
Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird will open the festivities, which kick off on September 8th and run through the 17th. Stay tuned for more films as they’re announced and look forward to our full coverage of the event.
