This year’s Toronto International Film Festival has an opener: Stephen Chbosky’s feature-film adaptation of the Tony Award–winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen” will serve as the Opening Night Gala Presentation at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival and will screen Thursday September 9 at Roy Thomson Hall. Starring Tony winner Ben Platt as Evan, along with Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, and Nik Dodani, “Dear Evan Hansen” features songs from the original Broadway sensation. The festival has also announced its closer, Zhang Yimou’s “One Second,” billed as “a love letter to movies and a reminder of how they can unite people, regardless of our differences,” along with a robust series of additions to both the Galas and Special Presentations slates, joining a list of already-announced titles. Standout films include the world premiere of Michael Showalter’s Jessica Chastain- and Andrew Garfield-starring “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Barry Levinson’s “Survivor,” plus recent Cannes hits like “Bergman Island,” “Drive My Car,” “Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades),” and “The Worst Person in the World.”
“There was no question that ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ was the ideal film to launch the Festival this year,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head, TIFF in an official statement. “This film is ultimately about healing, forgiveness, and reaffirms how connected and essential we all are to one another. We couldn’t think of a more important idea to celebrate this year as we come together once again to share the power and joy of cinema in theatres together.” “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, need to be seen by one another, especially in times of loneliness and despair,” added Joana Vicente, Executive Director and Co-Head, TIFF. On September 9, TIFF will kick off its 10-day event with over 100 films in its Official Selection, many of which will be announced later this summer. This year’s festival will include in-person screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Roy Thomson Hall, the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, and Festival Village at the iconic Ontario Place. While it’s currently unclear how many out-of-town visitors the festival, which launched a hybrid version last year, will be able to host in September, Canada announced this week that fully vaccinated travelers would be able to enter the country starting on August 9. “Some of the year’s biggest films will screen at TIFF this year,” added Bailey. “We’re thrilled to announce these films as Galas and Special Presentations. Our programming team has been hard at work for months searching for the most compelling stories, acclaimed filmmakers, and top onscreen talent that comprise two of TIFF’s highest-profile sections.”
Check out the list of both new and previous additions below. GALA PRESENTATIONS 2021 “Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh | United Kingdom, World Premiere “Dear Evan Hansen,” Stephen Chbosky | USA, World Premiere “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” Will Sharpe | United Kingdom, Canadian Premiere “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Michael Showalter | USA, World Premiere Searchlight “Jagged,” Alison Klayman | USA, World Premiere “Last Night in Soho,” Edgar Wright | United Kingdom, North American Premiere “The Mad Women’s Ball (Le Bal des folles),” Mélanie Laurent | France, World Premiere “Night Raiders,” Danis Goulet | Canada/New Zealand, North American Premiere “One Second,” Zhang Yimou | China, North American, Premiere “The Survivor,” Barry Levinson | USA/Canada/Hungary, World Premiere “The Good House Maya Forbes,” Wallace Wolodarsky | USA, World Premiere “Silent Night,” Camille Griffin | United Kingdom, World Premiere “The Worst Person In The World (Verdens Verste Menneske),” Joachim Trier | Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark, North American Premiere SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2021 “Ali & Ava,” Clio Barnard | United Kingdom, North American Premiere “All My Puny Sorrows,” Michael McGowan | Canada, World Premiere “Benediction,” Terence Davies | United Kingdom, World Premiere “Bergman Island,” Mia Hansen-Løve | France, International Premiere “Charlotte,” Eric Warin, Tahir Rana | Canada/France/Belgium, World Premiere “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” Dave Wooley, David Heilbroner | USA, World Premiere “Drive My Car,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Japan, North American Premiere “Encounter,” Michael Pearce | United Kingdom/USA, International Premiere “The Guilty,” Antoine Fuqua | USA, World Premiere “I’m Your Man,” Maria Schrader | Germany, North American Premiere “Inexorable,” Fabrice du Welz | Belgium/France, International Premiere “Lakewood,” Phillip Noyce | Canada, World Premiere “The Middle Man,” Bent Hamer | Norway/Canada/Germany/Denmark World Premiere “Official Competition (Competencia Oficial),” Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat | Spain/Argentina, North American Premiere “Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades),” Jacques Audiard | France, North American Premiere “Petite Maman,” Céline Sciamma | France, Canadian Premiere “The Starling,” Theodore Melfi | USA, World Premiere “The Story of My Wife,” Ildikó Enyedi | Hungary/Germany/Italy/France, North American Premiere “Three Floors (Tre Piani),” Nanni Moretti | Italy/France, North American Premiere “Violet,” Justine Bateman | USA, International Premiere Mark Williams
“The Falls (Pu Bu),” Chung Mong-Hong | Taiwan, North American Premiere “The Humans,” Stephen Karam | USA, World Premiere “Inu-Oh,” Masaaki Yuasa | Japan/China, North American Premiere “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds (Lingui),” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | Chad/France/Germany/Belgium, North American Premiere “Mothering Sunday,” Eva Husson | United Kingdom, North American Premiere “The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion | Australia/New Zealand, Canadian Premiere “Sundown,” Michel Franco | Mexico, North American Premiere “Wolf,” Nathalie Biancheri | United Kingdom/Ireland/Poland, World Premiere Cinetic “Ahed’s Knee (Ha’berech),” Nadav Lapid | Israel/France/Germany, North American Premiere “The Box (La Caja),” Lorenzo Vigas | USA/Mexico, North American Premiere (previously announced in Contemporary World Cinema) “France,” Bruno Dumont | France/Germany/Italy/Belgium, North American Premiere “Where Is Anne Frank?,” Ari Folman | Belgium/France/Netherlands/Luxembourg/Israel, North American Premiere CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” Wen Shipei “The Box (La Caja),” Lorenzo Vigas “Costa Brava, Lebanon (Costa Brava),” Mounia Akl “The Daughter (La Hija),” Manuel Martín Cuenca “The Hill Where the Lionesses Roar (Luaneshat e kodrës),” Luàna Bajrami Cannes “Întregalde,” Radu Muntean “Kicking Blood,” Blaine Thurier “La Soga 2,” Manny Perez “Maria Chapdelaine,” Sébastien Pilote “Medusa,” Anita Rocha da Silveira “Murina,” Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović “Nobody Has to Know,” Bouli Lanners “The Odd-Job Men (Sis dies corrents),” Neus Ballús “The Other Tom (El otro Tom),” Rodrigo Plá, Laura Santullo “OUT OF SYNC (Tres),” Juanjo Giménez “Terrorizers,” Ho Wi Ding “Unclenching The Fists,” Kira Kovalenko “Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas),” Edwin “The Wheel,” Steve Pink “Whether the Weather is Fine (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon),” Carlo Francisco Manatad “7 Prisoners (7 Prisioneiros),” Alexandre Moratto | Brazil, North American Premiere “Compartment No. 6,” Juho Kuosmanen | Finland/Germany/Estonia/Russia, North American Premiere “The Gravedigger’s Wife,” Khadar Ayderus Ahmed | France/Somalia/Germany/Finland, North American Premiere “Jockey,” Clint Bentley | USA, International Premiere “Small Body,” Laura Samani | Italy/France/Slovenia, North American Premiere “True Things,” Harry Wootliff | United Kingdom, North American Premiere DISCOVERY “Aloners,” Hong Sung-eun “Anatolian Leopard (Anadolu Leoparı),” Emre Kayış “As In Heaven (Du som er i himlen),” Tea Lindeburg “A Banquet,” Ruth Paxton “Dug Dug,” Ritwik Pareek “Farha,” Darin J. Sallam “The Game,” Ana Lazarevic
“Learn To Swim,” Thyrone Tommy “Lo Invisible,” Javier Andrade “Paka (River of Blood),” Nithin Lukose “Quickening,” Haya Waseem “Scarborough,” Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson “Snakehead,” Evan Jackson Leong “To Kill The Beast,” Agustina San Martín “Tug of War,” (Vuta N’Kuvute) Amil Shivji “Wildhood,” Bretten Hannam TIFF DOCS “Attica,” Stanley Nelson | USA, World Premiere “Beba,” Rebeca Huntt | USA/Mexico, World Premiere “Becoming Cousteau,” Liz Garbus | USA, International Premiere “Burning,” Eva Orner | Australia, World Premiere “Comala,” Gian Cassini | Mexico, World Premiere “The Devil’s Drivers,” Mohammed Abugeth, Daniel Carsenty | Qatar/France/Lebanon/Germany, World Premiere Neon/Participant “Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Denmark/France/Sweden/Norway, Canadian Premiere “Hold Your Fire,” Stefan Forbes | USA, World Premiere “Listening to Kenny G,” Penny Lane | USA, World Premiere “Oscar Peterson: Black + White,” Barry Avrich | Canada, World Premiere “The Rescue,” E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA/United Kingdom, International Premiere “Three Minutes – A Lengthening,” Bianca Stigter | Netherlands/United Kingdom, Canadian Premiere “Wochiigii lo: End of the Peace,” Heather Hatch | Canada, World Premiere WAVELENGTHS FEATURES “Futura,” Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi, Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, North American Premiere “The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne),” Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher | Switzerland, North American Premiere “Neptune Frost,” Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman | Rwanda/USA, North American Premiere Cannes “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” Payal Kapadia | India/France, International Premiere “Ste. Anne,” Rhayne Vermette | Canada, North American Premiere “The Tsugua Diaries (Diários de Otsoga),” Maureen Fazendeiro, Miguel Gomes | Portugal, North American PremiereMIDNIGHT MADNESS “After Blue (Dirty Paradise),” Bertrand Mandico | France, North American Premiere “DASHCAM,” Rob Savage | United Kingdom/USA, World Premiere “Saloum,” Jean Luc Herbulot | Senegal, World Premiere “Titane,” Julia Ducournau | France, North American Premiere “You Are Not My Mother,” Kate Dolan | Ireland, World Premiere “Zalava,” Arsalan Amiri | Iran, North American Premiere PLATFORM PROGRAMME “Arthur Rambo,” Laurent Cantet | France, World Premiere “Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres),” Ivan Grbovic | Canada, World Premiere “Earwig,” Lucile Hadžihalilović | United Kingdom/France/Belgium, World Premiere “Huda’s Salon,” Hany Abu-Assad | Palestine/Egypt/Netherlands/Qatar, World Premiere “Mlungu Wam (Good Madam) (Mlungu Wam),” Jenna Cato Bass | South Africa, World Premiere “Montana Story,” Scott McGehee, David Siegel | USA, World Premiere “Silent Land (Cicha Ziemia),” Aga Woszczyńska | Poland/Italy/Czech Republic, World Premiere “Yuni,” Kamila Andini | Singapore/France/Indonesia/Australia, World Premiere Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
