Slamdance favorite The Vast of Night was among the Midnight Madness program when the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) unveiled selections.
The Vast of Night was hands-down my favorite film to play Slamdance this year. The low-budget indie film, directed by Andrew Patterson, stars Jake Horowitz and Sierra McCormick. I have yet to hear anything about distribution but I hope that a distributor is wise to pick this film up. Some of my favorite films over the last few years have come out of Slamdance, including Future ’38, Dave Made A Maze, and Funny Story. This year’s film from Patterson will prove to be no exception. Patterson is already on a list of filmmakers discovered during the Slamdance Film Festival. For more on the film, feel free to check out my interview with Jake Horowitz, Sierra McCormick, and producer Adam Dietrich.
Films screening as part of the Midnight Madness program include:
- Blood Quantum, Jeff Barnaby | Canada, World Premiere (Midnight Madness Opening Film)
- Color Out of Space, Richard Stanley | USA, World Premiere
- Crazy World, Isaac Nabwana | Uganda, World Premiere (Midnight Madness Closing Film)
- First Love (Hatsukoi), Takashi Miike | Japan/United Kingdom, North American Premiere
- Gundala, Joko Anwar | Indonesia, International Premiere
- The Platform (El Hoyo), Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia | Spain, World Premiere
- Saint Maud, Rose Glass | United Kingdom, World Premiere
- The Twentieth Century, Matthew Rankin | Canada, World Premiere
- The Vast of Night, Andrew Patterson | USA, Canadian Premiere
- The Vigil, Keith Thomas | USA, World Premiere
The Cinematheque program was also announced this morning. The program includes:
A Dry White Season, Euzhan Palcy | USA (1989)
Pickpocket, Robert Bresson | France (1959)
No Pablo, Larraín | Chile/USA (2012)
The Last of Sheila, Herbert Ross | USA (1973)
The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese | USA (1978)
The festival also announced other selections this morning, including the Discovery and TIFF Docs programs.