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A NEW LEAF
Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson in “Dune”
The return of TIFF means the return of film awards season
By Rebecca Aizin
AFTER ADOPTING A HYBRID FORMAT LAST YEAR, THE 46TH
Toronto International Film Festival is ready to open its doors and reclaim its rightful place as the world’s largest public film festival. Starting Sept. 9 and lasting for 10 days, TIFF will screen almost 200 films in its Official Selection and host live events with acclaimed industry guests.
In-person screenings at some of TIFF’s iconic theaters— including the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Roy Thomson Hall, the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, and Festival Village in Ontario Place—will resume, with digital screenings also available through the TIFF Bell Lightbox. And in an effort to elevate underrepresented voices in the industry, TIFF plans to invite new critics who will represent diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities as part of its Media Inclusion Initiative, which is continuing for the fourth straight year.
Though Canadian borders officially opened to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens on Aug. 9 (and will open on Sept. 7 for the rest of the world), press and industry screenings will still have a digital option for those unable to travel. The festival will also once again be broadcast in Canada by CTV and streamed to the rest of the world via Variety.
The 2021 program will kick off with director Stephen Chbosky’s musical-turned-movie “Dear Evan Hansen,” the story of Evan (Ben Platt, reprising his Tony-winning role), an anxious high school senior caught up in a misunderstanding that leads to a journey of belonging and acceptance. “As TIFF resumed this year in the wake of a pandemic that marked and changed all of our lives, we felt it was important to open this year’s festival with a film that connects to our shared humanity and that reminds us how deeply we need one another,” said TIFF executive director and co-head Joana Vicente in a statement.
TIFF also announced the first list of films from the 2021 Official Selection, including 10 Galas and 22 Special Presentations. Galas will include Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” while the Special Presentations list features highly anticipated films like Theodore Melfi’s “The Starling” and Éric Warin and Tahir Rana’s “Charlotte,” among others. “These films reflect passion, creativity, and break new ground to tell their stories,” Vicente said. “We’re honored to have them as part of TIFF 2021.”
One of the most highly anticipated movies of the season, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, and Jason Momoa, will screen in IMAX at TIFF following its world premiere at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival. The movie has a personal connection to TIFF, as Villeneuve is Canadian.
The fest’s closing night film will be “One Second” from Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (“Raise the Red Lantern,” “Hero”). The film, described as a “love letter to movies,” delves into the story of how a traveling film projectionist and a prisoner on the loose connect through cinema.
TIFF will also introduce Coast-to-Coast Screenings this year in an effort to encourage audiences to return to theaters. Screenings will occur for one night only in select locations across the country in hopes of invigorating people’s enthusiasm for upcoming film releases.
