With the 44th Toronto International Film Festival just around the corner from September 5 to 15, 2019, we can’t wait to welcome the world to Canada for this major film fest, which brings the industry’s top players, talent, and projects to Toronto. (Of course, Canada will be going big at TIFF, ready to support and spotlight its homegrown talent and industry.)
It goes without saying that we’re extra excited about all the Canadian projects that made the cut for this year’s TIFF selection. As recently announced, some awesome Canadian films will be presented at this year’s event; including the opening night film this year!
Gala and Special Presentations
In its world premiere, the festival’s opening film is Daniel Roher’s documentary about Canadian musician Robbie Robertson, called Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. This film’s executive producers are none other than Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer, and Ron Howard.
After debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival, making its Canadian premiere in a TIFF Gala Presentation is Semi Chellas’ American Woman, based on a novel by Susan Choi, about events and characters following Patty Hearst’s kidnapping. Another Gala Presentation, François Girard’s The Song of Names, features Hollywood favourites Clive Owen, Tim Roth, and Catherine McCormack. Luke Wilson stars in Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honour, making its North American premiere (after premiering at the upcoming Venice Film Festival) as a Special Presentation. Another homegrown music movie will also make its world premiere at TIFF this year in a Special Event: Barry Avrich’s documentary David Foster: Off the Record, about famed Canadian producer and musician David Foster.
More Canadian films screening this year at TIFF
Additional Canadian features confirmed so far include:
- Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone
- Nicole Dorsey’s Black Conflux
- Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum
- Joey Klein’s Castle in the Ground
- Albert Shin’s Clifton Hill
- Alan Zweig’s Coppers
- Sanja Zivkovic’s Easy Land
- Louise Archambault’s Il pleuvait des oiseaux
- Alanis Obomsawin’s Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger
- Myriam Verreault’s Kuessipan
- Heather Young’s Murmur
- Zacharias Kunuk’s One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk
- Amy Jo Johnson’s Tammy’s Always Dying
- Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’s and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
- Kire Paputts’ The Last Porno Show
- Aisling Chin-Yee’s The Rest of Us
- Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century
- Yung Chan’s This Is Not a Movie
- Harry Cepka’s Raf
- Calvin Thomas’s and Yonah Lewis’s White Lie
For all your industry TIFF updates and to find out what Canada will be up to at the festival, keep your eyes on our programming page, right here!
