This was supposed to be the year of every fall festival would have a slew of quality world premieres to highlight but that doesn’t appear to be the case. At least that’s what we’ve learned so far by the New York Film Festival announcing just local premieres for its centerpiece (“Roma”) and opening night films (“The Favourite”) and TIFF’s initial slate announced this morning. Things can change, but there are other forces at play that we’ll get to in a minute. First, let’s ponder world premieres at Toronto this year shall we?
It’s worth noting that for six straight years TIFF has had at least one world premiere nominated for Best Picture. The venerable Canadian festival has screened other nominees and winners, but Venice and Telluride have dominated them in actual world premiere nominees (and world premiere winners) since TIFF premiere “The Hurt Locker” won in 2010. This year you can probably spot the Best Picture nominee in the following debut contenders.
“Widows”
Steve McQueen‘s follow up to “12 Years A Slave” already looks like a major Best Actress play for Viola Davis, but word is 20th Century Fox thinks they have a Best Picture contender on their hands here as well.
“The Hate U Give”
A welcome surprise for Toronto, George Tillman, Jr.‘s adaptation of Angie Thomas‘ critically acclaimed novel looks more than just your every day teenage drama. It’s inherently commercial, but could it transcend its genre to grab the Academy’s attention?
“Red Joan”
A biopic with Dame Judi Dench playing a real-life KGB agent and no U.S. distribution yet? For a Judi Dench movie? The still reigning queen of the art house box office? Either it’s the most anticipated acquisition title of the festival ready to pounce on awards season or…it’s clearly not.
“The Land of Steady Habits”
Nicole Holofcener debuts her first adaptation in this Netflix dramedy. That being said, it’s been finished for awhile. And taking into the fact we’re huge Holofcenter fans we have to ask: Did the streaming service save it for awards consideration or was TIFF it’s only real festival option? With a cast featuring Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco and Connie Britton there may be some performance campaign potential here.
“Beautiful Boy”
This Amazon Studios drama has already gotten awards watchers excited about Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell’s performances. The footage seen so far seems impressive, but the fact the film is not screening at either Venice or Telluride has us slightly concerned.
“Ben is Back”
Speaking of family dramas where the twenty something son has drug issues…thats basically the plot of Peter Hedges‘ latest. It also features the filmmaker’s now Oscar-Nominated son, Lucas Hedges, the legendary Julia Roberts and recent Emmy-winner Courtney B. Vance. Roadside acquired the drama before it hit the festival circuit and the distributor has certainly had good awards season instincts in the past.
“Life Itself”
The title card “From the creator of ‘This Is Us’” is enough to get non-traditional moviegoers excited to head to their local multiplex to take in one of the three or four movies they see in a theater each year. The question is whether this film full of prestige content favorites such as Oscar Isaac, Annette Bening, Mandy Patinkin, Jean Smart, Antonio Banderas and Samuel L. Jackson is true Oscar bait or just a commercial smash in the making.
“If Beale Street Could Talk”
This was quite the surprise. Barry Jenkins’ follow up to “Moonlight” was expected to debut at Telluride if it was ready, but instead it’s listed as a “world premiere” for Toronto (Jenkins was a longtime curator for Telluride and part of the “family”). Perhaps it is a sneak in Colorado, perhaps not, but it’s a huge coup for Toronto. It’s also a major Oscar contender with buzz already generating over Emmy favorite Regina King’s supporting performance. One to watch.
And, baring some major surprises, that’s it…for now. TIFF, like most festivals, will announce subsequent screenings and premieres in the weeks to come.
With Venice set to announce this week and Telluride pretty much known, what will soon become apparent are the contenders who don’t appear to be making their debuts at the kickoff of the season. Things can certainly change, but movies such as Adam McKay’s “Backseat” and Focus Features’ trio of “Boy Erased,” “On the Basis of Sex” and “Mary Queen of Scots” all want to wait until closer to their release dates until they roll out the red carpet. And there may be films set for Venice and Telluride that are simply skipping TIFF or will be announced significantly later such as the Coen Bros.’ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Karyn Kusama’s “The Destroyer,” Jonah Hill’s “Mid ’90s,” Matthew Heineman’s “A Private War” or Julian Schnabel’s “At Eternity’s Gate,” among others.
And, of course, Toronto does have subsequent screenings of awards players such as Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born,” Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner,” Yann Demange’s “White Boy Rick,” Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” David Lowery’s “Old Man and the Gun,” Jacques Audiard’s “The Sisters Brothers,” Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Damien Chazelle’s “First Man.” And, no, Yorgos Lanthimos‘ aforementioned “The Favourite” will not be at TIFF after Venice, an expected trip to the Colorado mountains and that coveted NYFF slot .
Also worth noting are the films from Sundance and Cannes that are looking for another boost or their first stateside love. Netflix acquired “The Kindergarten Teacher,” a huge showcase for Maggie Gyllenhaal, out of Park City and arranged a gala for it in Toronto which is, frankly, quite impressive. Despite a very mixed reception, Paul Dano’s “Wildlife” has now journeyed from Sundance to Cannes to Toronto. Foreign Language Film contenders from Cannes such as Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning, ” Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” (which could also be in play in other major categories), Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” and Asghar Farhadi’s “Everbody Knows” will get a kick of North American love in the Great White North. And, as noted, there are a significant number of other films to be announced in subsequent weeks.
But Oscar hype is coming and you officially have five weeks to prepare for it. Don’t forget to breathe.
