First Time In History For A Spielberg Film To Premiere at TIFF; 200 Feature Films; 40 Short Films
By Firdaus Ali
Dim those lights and bring out the popcorn!
For its film-fever month. That time of the year when the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) returns to Toronto, dazzling cine buffs with red carpet events, glitzy gala presentations, world premieres, public film screenings, networking events and more.
Toronto International Film Festival returns in September 2022 (8th to18th) for its 47th edition. Eleven days of international and Canadian cinema, special events featuring some of the biggest names in film, and TIFF’s Industry Conference, offering diverse and innovative perspectives on the art and business of film.
Festival CEO Cameron Bailey has indicated that the full lineup will comprise around 200 feature films and about 40 short films, the largest lineup the festival has booked since the pre-pandemic 2019 edition.
TIFF 2022 organizers have indicated that this year’s festival will be staged primarily in-person. A small selection of films will still be offered on the Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox platform, but this represents a much smaller proportion of the overall lineup than in 2020 and 2021.
The festival is also slated to see the return of its networking and gala events, which were also suspended or held virtually in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
In light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, state-backed Russian films and organizations will be banned from the festival, although participation by independent Russian filmmakers will still be permitted.
Among many firsts this year, is The Fabelmans’ screening as a special presentation, which marks the first time in history that a Steven Spielberg film will premiere at the festival.
TIFF 2022 will open in style with Welsh-Egyptian director Sally El Hosaini’s film The Swimmers, a soaring epic dramatizing the true story of two sisters who left their home in war-torn Syria for a new life in Europe – and the chance to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
One of the biggest draws of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is its impressive slate of World Premieres. With titles using our city as a jumping off point for a substantial festival/theatrical run or the first stop in a long awards season, these films stand to capture attention not only of local audiences but for people around the world.
TIFF also recently announced this year’s talent development programmes and participants, including TIFF Rising Stars, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, TIFF Series Accelerator, the CHANEL Women Writers’ Network Micro Talent Summit, TIFF Micki Moore Residency, and TIFF Talent Accelerator.
“There’s an explosion of new talent telling new stories and changing the creative landscape,” said Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer, TIFF. “By providing participants with mentorship from industry professionals, access to insider knowledge, and tools to develop their projects, TIFF aims to play a key role in supporting the most exciting new voices today who will shape the industry of the future. We’re thrilled to add two new initiatives this year ― TIFF Series Accelerator and the CHANEL Women Writers’ Network Micro Talent Summit ― to expand our support to even more creators.”
TIFF Tribute Awards this year include the cast of My Policeman — Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson and Rupert Everett — have been named as the recipients of one of the two awards for actors, marking the first time the award has been presented to an ensemble cast rather than an individual. Sam Mendes has been named as the recipient of the Director Award, while Brendan Fraser will receive a Tribute Award for Performance in The Whale.
Nineteen films have been selected for the Gala Presentations including films from USA, Canada, UK, Italy, and South Korea. Some prominent films included in the Gala Presentations, which come with all the bells and whistles associated to a film festival, include: Alice Darling, (USA/Canada), Black Ice (Canada), Shekhar Kapur’s What’s Love Got to Do with It? (UK) and Shubham Yogi’s Kacche Limbu (India).
There has been a lot of hype about Sarah Polley’s film, Women Talking, based on the 2018 novel by the same name by Miriam Toews. Some of the most anticipated films to play at TIFF 2022 are: Bros directed by Nick Stroller, Spielberg making his TIFF debut with his autobiographical tale The Fablemans, Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Documentary Now!, Sally El Hosaini’s The Swimmers, Peter Farrelly’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Daniel Radcliffe-starrer Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Henry Selick & Jordan Peele’s Wendell & Wild, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King and Catherine Hardwicke’s Prisoner’s Daughter.
For classic film lovers, older movies will be shown at the OLG Cinema Park, an open-air cinema run by TIFF. Spielberg’s West Side Story along with The Mummy, The Greatest Showman and School of Rock are among many old-timers to be screened at TIFF’s Festival Street.
TIFF also includes an extraordinary lineup of Industry Selects. “Our Talent Development programmes make space for promising filmmakers and on-screen talent from around the world with diverse approaches to meet ― paving the way for innovation, mentorship, and collaboration ― all while fostering a sense of community and a safe space to take creative risks,” said Jane Kim, Industry Programming Producer.
For more information about TIFF 2022 and the film schedule, visit: www.tiff.net