Toronto 2020: TIFF Announces Film Festival Lineup

front: Rachel Sennott, back L to R: Fred Melamed, Danny Deferrari, and Polly Draper. Credit: Maria Rusche

The Toronto International Film Festival announced a smaller lineup this morning for the annual film festival taking place north of the border.

“We began this year planning for a 45th Festival much like our previous editions,” said Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF, “but along the way we had to rethink just about everything. This year’s lineup reflects that tumult. The names you already know are doing brand new things this year, and there’s a whole crop of exciting new names to discover. We’re thankful to every filmmaker and company that joined us on this adventure, and we can’t wait to share these brilliant films with our audiences.”

“TIFF 2020 is a special edition and symbolizes what is possible when collaboration, ingenuity, and passion take centre stage,” said Vicente, Executive Director and Co-Head of TIFF. “It’s also a time for us to celebrate and affirm some of the founding values of TIFF, including the power film has to propel us forward as a society and present a diversity of voices. I’m proud and excited to share these films with audiences.”

I haven’t had the chance to fully study the lineup compared to now-canceled film festivals such as SXSW and Cannes. At first glance, Emma Selligman’s Shiva Baby will hold its Canadian premiere in Toronto.  Unlike previous releases from last year, there are no mentions of premiere status.

This year’s 45th Toronto International Film Festival will run September 10–19, 2020.

Gala Presentations

  • Ammonite Francis Lee | United Kingdom
  • Bruised Halle Berry | USA
  • Concrete Cowboy Ricky Staub | USA
  • David Byrne’s American Utopia Spike Lee | USA (Opening Night Film)
  • Good Joe Bell Reinaldo Marcus Green | USA
  • I Care A Lot J Blakeson | United Kingdom
  • Nomadland Chloé Zhao | USA
  • One Night in Miami Regina King | USA
  • Pieces of a Woman Kornél Mundruczó | USA/Canada/Hungary

Special Presentations

  • Another Round (Druk) Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark
  • Falling Viggo Mortensen | Canada/United Kingdom
  • Penguin Bloom Glendyn Ivin | Australia
  • Summer of 85 (Été 85) François Ozon | France
  • The Disciple Chaitanya Tamhane | India
  • The Father Florian Zeller | United Kingdom/France
  • True Mothers (Asa Ga Kuru) Naomi Kawase | Japan

Contemporary World Cinema

  • Bandar Band Manijeh Hekmat | Iran/Germany
  • New Order (Nuevo orden) Michel Franco | Mexico
  • Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois) Philippe Lacôte | Côte d’Ivoire/France/Canada/Senegal
  • Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time (Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre) Lili Horvát | Hungary
  • Quo Vadis, Aïda? Jasmila Žbanić | Bosnia and Herzegovina/Norway/The Netherlands/Austria/Romania/France/Germany/Poland/Turkey
  • Under the Open Sky (Subarashiki Sekai) Miwa Nishikawa | Japan

Masters

  • Notturno Gianfranco Rosi | Italy/France/Germany

Discovery

  • 180 Degree Rule Farnoosh Samadi | Iran
  • Beans Tracey Deer | Canada
  • Beginning (Dasatskisi) Dea Kulumbegashvili | Georgia/France
  • Gaza mon amour Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser | Palestine/France/Germany/Portugal/Qatar
  • Limbo Ben Sharrock | United Kingdom
  • Memory House (Casa de Antiguidades) João Paulo Miranda Maria | Brazil/France
  • Shiva Baby Emma Seligman | USA/Canada
  • Spring Blossom Suzanne Lindon | France
  • The Best is Yet to Come (Bu Zhi Bu Xiu) Wang Jing | China
  • Wildfire Cathy Brady | United Kingdom/Ireland
No Ordinary Man
No Ordinary Man. Courtesy of TIFF.

TIFF Docs

  • 76 Days Hao Wu, Anonymous, Weixi Chen | USA
  • City Hall Frederick Wiseman | USA
  • Enemies of the State Sonia Kennebeck | USA
  • Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer | United Kingdom/USA
  • Inconvenient Indian Michelle Latimer | Canada
  • Lift Like a Girl (Ash Ya Captain) Mayye Zayed | Egypt/Germany/Denmark
  • MLK/FBI Sam Pollard | USA
  • No Ordinary Man Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt | Canada
  • The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott | Canada

Midnight Madness

  • Get the Hell Out (Tao Chu Li Fa Yuan) I-Fan Wang | Taiwan
  • Shadow In The Cloud Roseanne Liang | USA/New Zealand
  • Violation Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli | Canada

Wavelengths

  • Fauna Nicolás Pereda | Mexico/Canada
  • The Inheritance Ephraim Asili | USA

Primetime

  • A Suitable Boy Mira Nair | United Kingdom/India (Closing Night Presentation)
  • The Third Day Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly | United Kingdom
  • Trickster Michelle Latimer | Canada

Information on TIFF’s public screening venues and ticket on-sale dates will be announced in early August.

The 45th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10–19, 2020.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.