2023 Toronto International Film Festival Preview: 10 Titles to Look Forward To
Courtesy of TIFF.
The last few months in the world of cinema have proven simultaneously alarming and optimistic, witnessing the culmination of the joint-SAG-AFTRA/WGA strike and the frenzied cultural phenomenon of “Barbenheimer”, intensely showcasing the industry's constant fluctuation. As the future of filmmaking faces ever-evolving challenges, the fall film festival circuit looms nearer, with tons of new and exciting works hoping to make impactful debuts and contribute their perspectives to the cultural conversation.
On August 15, the Toronto International Film Festival released its schedule after weeks of gradually unveiling this year's lineup. From commercially viable Gala Premieres to the experimental and daring Wavelengths Program, TIFF will include 100+ films and television shows from all corners of the globe. This year's TIFF tribute awards will celebrate Spike Lee, the Ebert Director Award recipient, and Pedro Almodóvar with the Jeffery Skoll Award. TIFF will take place September 7-17, with Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron making its International Premiere as the Opening Night Film and Thom Zimny's Sylvester Stallone documentary Sly serving as the Closing Night Film. Continually praised for its accessibility as one of the largest public film festivals in the world (yes, anyone can attend and have an amazing cinematic experience!), TIFF's red carpet presence will undoubtedly be a bit muted this year with the ongoing strikes, but it has pushed the festival into exciting directions, with a large majority of its lineup being comprised of international and sales titles. Here are some of the movies making appearances at this year's Toronto International Film Festival that we at Foremost Film are most excited for:
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Aggro Dr1ft'
Director: Harmony Korine
Midnight Madness Program
After a somewhat underwhelming reaction to his last feature, 2019's Beach Bum, Korine returns to the festival circuit this year with Aggro Dr1ft. Starring Travis Scott (who Korine has already collaborated with this summer on the rapper's music film Circus Maximus), and Jordi Mollà, Aggro Dr1ft sounds like a psychedelic experimentation that will use infrared photography and feature a troubled assassin at the center of the story. Long-known for his everlasting affinity for provocation, Korine's latest will hit the Venice Film Festival Out of Competition before making its way to TIFF, where the film will be in the Midnight Madness section.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World'
Director: Radu Jude
Wavelengths Program
Hot off a Special Jury Prize at this year's Locarno Film Festival, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is already receiving rave reviews for its humorous and satirical contemporality. Since winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his last film, the similarly long-titled Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Jude's profile has elevated tremendously on a global scale, and the high praise for his latest will undoubtedly continue to expand his notoriety. Starring Ilinca Manolache with supporting performances from Nina Hoss and Uwe Boll, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World seems to be another work from Jude that features a massive scandal at the heart of the film's conflict, this time focused around the production of a work safety video in Bucharest.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Dream Scenario'
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Platform Program
Competing for this year's $20,000 top prize in the Platform section will be Dream Scenario, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Borgli. Distributed by A24, produced by Ari Aster, and starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Cera, Dream Scenario is largely shrouded in mystery. Still, it promises to intrigue, with Cage starring as an unremarkable college professor who suddenly starts appearing in everyone's dreams. Could it be goofy? Could it be twisted? Both? TIFF audiences will soon find out as Dream Scenario will serve as the opening film for the Platform Program.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Evil Does Not Exist'
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Special Presentations Program
Most known for his Best-Picture-nominated Drive My Car (the first Japanese film ever to do so), Hamaguchi's newest work, Evil Does Not Exist, seems to be heading in a new direction from the intricate character studies that make up his filmography. Set in a peaceful village far removed from urban life, Evil Does Not Exist captures the disruption and destruction caused when a Tokyo-based company moves into the region to create a glamping attraction for tourists from the city. The film will compete for the Golden Lion in Venice before making a pitstop at TIFF.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
'Fingernails'
Director: Christos Nikou
Special Presentations Program
Greek filmmaker Nikou makes his English-language debut with Fingernails, which will be distributed by Apple TV+ and feature a seriously star-studded cast that includes Jeremy Allen White, Jessie Buckley, and Riz Ahmed. A dystopian sci-fi genre piece, Fingernails follows Buckley's character as she becomes employed at an institution that monitors the truth behind couples' romance. From Theo Angelopoulos to Yorgos Lanthimos, contemporary Greek cinema has exhibited exceptional and complex ideas for many years, so Nikou's efforts with Fingernails have big shoes to fill. Fingernails is predicted to have its World Premiere at Telluride Film Festival before hitting the Special Presentations section at TIFF.
'Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person'
Director: Ariane Louis-Seize
Centrepiece Program
At Foremost Film, we never become exhausted with the cinematic representation of vampires, so Seize's feature debut, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, seems right up our alley! Set on the streets of Montreal after dark (of course), the film appears akin to A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night with its deadpan spirit, featuring a young vampire who can only drink the blood of those she feels sympathy towards. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person will appear in the Centrepiece program at TIFF, the section previously called Contemporary World Cinema.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Les Indésirables'
Director: Ladj Ly
Special Presentations Program
Ly's second feature film, Les Indésirables, will have its World Premiere at this year's edition of TIFF. Following in the footsteps of Ly's Oscar-nominated 2019 movie Les Misérables, Les Indésirables takes place in the underserved Paris suburb of Montfermeil, where marginalized groups are affected by the political and social constraints of a governmental system set up for their community to struggle. Between France's protests against the raised retirement age from 62 to 64 and the intense reactions against's the country's ongoing issues with police brutality, Les Indésirables could not seem more timely. Hopefully, the film's TIFF premiere will raise even more awareness of France's contemporary injustices.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Orlando, My Political Biography'
Director: Paul B. Preciado
Wavelengths Program
Trans writer, philosopher, and curator Precaido will bring his French-language feature debut Orlando, My Political Biography, to this year's Wavelengths section at TIFF. Inspired by the iconic 1928 Virginia Woolf novel of the same name, Orlando, My Political Biography is set to investigate and honor the nuances of the trans and queer experiences in the modern age with lavish visuals and an experimental sensibility. Already the recipient of the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, the documentary is set to be one of the most-anticipated queer works of the upcoming festival season.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'Silver Dollar Road'
Director: Raoul Peck
TIFF Docs Program
Filmmaker, activist, and former Minister of Culture for his home country of Haiti, Peck's latest documentary Silver Dollar Road is one of the most-anticipated World Premieres at TIFF this year. The documentary chronicles an African American family in North Carolina, the Reels, who have toiled for decades to keep greedy land developers from conning them out of the waterfront property their family has lived on for many years. The follow-up to his Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro from 2016, Peck will use Silver Dollar Road to dive into the African American experience and the inequities they have faced throughout time.
Courtesy of TIFF.
'The Boy and the Heron'
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Gala Presentations
For nearly forty years now, Miyazaki has taught children and adults from around the globe to dream, appreciate nature, and overcome tragedy, shaping generations of movie lovers and transforming how they see animated films and, by extension, how they see the world around them. Undoubtedly the flashiest Opening Night Film that TIFF has boasted in many years, Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron will make its International Premiere on September 7. Still largely a mystery to the Western press after premiering in Tokyo last month, The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki's first film in ten years and could likely be the 82-year-old director's final work.
For more information about this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, visit their website.