2023 Toronto International Film Festival

The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.[1]

2023 Toronto International Film Festival
Festival poster
Opening filmThe Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki
Closing filmSly by Thom Zimny
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
Founded1976
AwardsAmerican Fiction (People's Choice Award)
Festival dateSeptember 7–17, 2023
Websitetiff.net/tiff
Toronto International Film Festival

The most noted change from past years was that the Contemporary World Cinema stream was renamed Centrepiece.[2] The festival also announced some changes to its programming team for the 2023 festival, following the retirement of Steve Gravestock at the end of 2022[3] and the death of Ravi Srinivasan in early 2023.[4] Noted changes included Norman Wilner taking over Gravestock's role as programmer of Canadian films, and June Kim succeeding Srinivasan as programmer for South Asian films.[1]

The festival indicated that with the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival having returned to more normal attendance figures, the event would take place exclusively in-person, ending the online platform that had been offered since the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.[5] An additional change from past years was that the film market screenings for industry professionals began on September 6, one day earlier than the festival's official opening to the public.[6]

Festival organizers acknowledged that the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was likely to impact the festival if not resolved in time, in particular because the strike prevented actors from taking part in promotional appearances to support their films, but indicated that the festival would still proceed even if fewer celebrities than usual were in attendance.[7] The rule did not necessarily bar all American actors from attending the event, however; for instance, as Atom Egoyan's Seven Veils was a Canadian production shot under ACTRA rather than SAG-AFTRA contracts, lead actress Amanda Seyfried remained able to attend the premiere,[8] though she ultimately chose not to attend.[9] As well, several films in the 2023 program were directed by notable movie stars, who were able to attend the premieres in their capacity as directors.[10]

The festival indicated that overall, 70 per cent of its planned program for 2023 came from independent and/or international producers, and would not be affected by the strike.[11]

In 2024, chief executive officer Anita Lee confirmed that despite the ongoing strike, attendance at the 2023 festival was up compared to 2022, although still short of the pre-pandemic highs of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[12]

Key programming announcements

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The first film in the festival's 2023 program, Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins, was announced on June 28.[13] Ladj Ly's Les Indésirables[14] and Atom Egoyan's Seven Veils[15] were announced in July, prior to the announcement of the full Gala and Special Presentations programs on July 24.[16] The TIFF Docs lineup followed on July 26.[17]

The festival's opener was the Japanese animated film The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki, which marked the first time in history that an animated film opened the festival.[18][19] It concluded with Sly, Thom Zimny's documentary film about actor Sylvester Stallone;[20] Stallone also participated in an In Conversation event in conjunction with the film.[21]

In Conversation events were held with film director Pedro Almodóvar and actors Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-jun and Andy Lau. Lee and Park costarred in the TIFF premiere Concrete Utopia, Lau starred in the TIFF premiere The Movie Emperor, and Almodóvar's talk was paired with the North American premiere of his short film Strange Way of Life (Extraña forma de vida).[22]

Punjab '95, by Indian director Honey Trahan, was originally announced in the "Gala Presentations" section, but was pulled out from the festival.[23] TIFF clarified that the film was pulled by its Indian distributor,[24] with sources telling Variety that political pressure was being applied to the distributor due to the film's "potentially incendiary" content.[25]

The festival also staged a special 40th anniversary screening of a new 4K restoration of the classic concert film Stop Making Sense.[26]

The festival's annual "Rising Stars" program, a networking and development program for emerging actors in festival films, spotlighted Adwa Bader (NAGA), Almudena González (The Ravaging Wind), Amrit Kaur (The Queen of My Dreams), Aria Mia Loberti (All the Light We Cannot See), Cody Lightning (Hey, Viktor!), Kudakwashe Rutendo (Backspot), Léah Aubert (Sisterhood), Mark Clennon (I Don't Know Who You Are) and Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne (The Convert).[27]

Awards

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TIFF Tribute Awards

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The TIFF Tribute Awards, the festival's program of honouring film personnel for their overall achievements in cinema, were presented early during the festival run.

Spike Lee was announced as the recipient of the Ebert Director Award, and Pedro Almodóvar was announced as the recipient of the Jeffrey Skoll Award in Impact Media.[28] Shawn Levy was announced as the recipient of the inaugural Norman Jewison Award for career achievement.[29] Performer awards were presented to Colman Domingo[30] and Vicky Krieps;[31] Patricia Arquette was the recipient of the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award.[32]

Polish cinematographer Łukasz Żal was the recipient of the Variety Artisan Award, Brazilian film director Carolina Markowicz was presented with the Emerging Talent Award, and Hong Kong actor and singer Andy Lau received a Special Tribute award.[33]

Regular awards

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Award Film Director
People's Choice Award American Fiction Cord Jefferson
People's Choice Award, First Runner Up The Holdovers Alexander Payne
People's Choice Award, Second Runner Up The Boy and the Heron Hayao Miyazaki
People's Choice Award: Documentaries Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe Robert McCallum
Documentary, First Runner Up Summer Qamp Jen Markowitz
Documentary, Second Runner Up Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa Lucy Walker
People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness Dicks: The Musical Larry Charles
Midnight Madness, First Runner Up KILL Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Midnight Madness, Second Runner Up Hell of a Summer Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk
Platform Prize Dear Jassi Tarsem Singh
Best Canadian Feature Film Solo Sophie Dupuis
Best Canadian Feature Film, Honorable Mention Kanaval Henri Pardo
Best Canadian Short Film Motherland Jasmin Mozaffari
Best International Short Film Electra Daria Kashcheeva
FIPRESCI Award Seagrass Meredith Hama-Brown
NETPAC Award A Match (Sthal) Jayant Digambar Somalkar
NETPAC Award, Honorable Mention Mimang Kim Taeyang
Amplify Voices, Best Film Kanaval Henri Pardo
Amplify Voices, Best First Film Tautuktavuk (What We See) Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk
Amplify Voices, Trailblazer Damon D'Oliveira
Changemaker Award We Grown Now Minhal Baig
Share Her Journey Shé (Snake) Renee Zhan
Share Her Journey, Honorable Mention Gaby's Hills (Gaby les collines) Zoé Pelchat

Official selections

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Gala Presentations

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The following films were selected to the Gala Presentations section:

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
The Boy and the Heron (opening film) 君たちはどう生きるか Hayao Miyazaki Japan
Concrete Utopia 콘크리트 유토피아 Um Tae-hwa South Korea
Dumb Money Craig Gillespie United States
The End We Start From Mahalia Belo United Kingdom
Fair Play Chloe Domont United States
Finestkind Brian Helgeland United States
Flora and Son John Carney Ireland, United States
Hate to Love: Nickelback Leigh Brooks Canada
Lee Ellen Kuras United Kingdom, United States
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero Carlos López Estrada, Zac Manuel United States
The Movie Emperor 红毯先生 Ning Hao China
The New Boy Warwick Thornton Australia
A Normal Family 보통의 가족 Hur Jin-ho South Korea
Nyad Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin United States
Origin Ava DuVernay United States
The Royal Hotel Kitty Green Australia, United Kingdom
Sly Thom Zimny United States
Smugglers 밀수 Ryoo Seung-wan South Korea
Solo Sophie Dupuis Canada
Swan Song Chelsea McMullan Canada
Thank You for Coming Karan Boolani India

Special Presentations

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The following films were selected to the Special Presentations section:

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
American Fiction Cord Jefferson United States
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomie d'une chute Justine Triet France
The Beast La Bête Bertrand Bonello France, Canada
The Burial Maggie Betts United States
La chimera Alice Rohrwacher Italy, France, Switzerland
Close to You Dominic Savage Canada, United Kingdom
The Convert Lee Tamahori Australia, New Zealand
The Critic Anand Tucker United Kingdom
Daddio Christy Hall United States
Days of Happiness Les Jours heureux Chloé Robichaud Canada
The Dead Don't Hurt Viggo Mortensen Canada, Mexico, Denmark
A Difficult Year Une année difficile Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache France
Evil Does Not Exist 悪は存在しない Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Japan
Ezra Tony Goldwyn United States
Fingernails Christos Nikou
Four Daughters بنات ألفة Kaouther Ben Hania France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia
His Three Daughters Azazel Jacobs United States
Hit Man Richard Linklater
The Holdovers Alexander Payne
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon Alex Gibney
Les Indésirables Ladj Ly France
Kidnapped Rapito Marco Bellocchio Italy, France, Germany
Knox Goes Away Michael Keaton United States
Last Summer L'Été dernier Catherine Breillat France
Memory Michel Franco United States, Mexico
Monster 怪物 Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan
Mother, Couch Niclas Larsson United States
The Movie Teller La contadora de películas Lone Scherfig Spain, France, Chile
Next Goal Wins Taika Waititi United Kingdom, United States
North Star Kristin Scott Thomas United Kingdom
One Life James Hawes
Pain Hustlers David Yates United States
The Peasants DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman Poland, Serbia, Lithuania
Poolman Chris Pine United States
The Promised Land Bastarden Nikolaj Arcel Denmark, Germany, Sweden
Quiz Lady Jessica Yu United States
Reptile Grant Singer United States
The Rescue: The Weight of the World El Rapto Daniela Goggi Argentina
Ru Charles-Olivier Michaud Canada
Rustin George C. Wolfe United States
Seven Veils Atom Egoyan Canada
Shoshana Michael Winterbottom United Kingdom, Italy
Sing Sing Greg Kwedar United States
Stop Making Sense Jonathan Demme United States
The Taste of Christmas El Sabor de la Navidad Alejandro Lozano Mexico
Together 99 Tillsammans 99 Lukas Moodysson Sweden, Denmark
Unicorns Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd United Kingdom, United States, Sweden
Uproar Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett New Zealand
Wicked Little Letters Thea Sharrock United Kingdom
Wildcat Ethan Hawke United States
Woman of the Hour Anna Kendrick
The Zone of Interest Jonathan Glazer United Kingdom, Poland, United States

Centrepiece

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
100 Yards Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng China
About Dry Grasses Kuru Otlar Üstüne Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkey, France, Germany, Sweden
Banel & Adama Banel et Adama Ramata-Toulaye Sy France, Senegal, Mali
The Breaking Ice Anthony Chen China
Chuck Chuck Baby Janis Pugh United Kingdom
City of Wind сэр сэр салхи Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir France, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Qatar, Germany
Close Your Eyes Cerrar los ojos Víctor Erice Spain, Argentina
Death of a Whistleblower Ian Gabriel South Africa
The Delinquents Los delincuentes Rodrigo Moreno Argentina, Brazil, Luxembourg, Chile
Fallen Leaves Kuolleet lehdet Aki Kaurismäki Finland, Germany
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed Joanna Arnow United States
Fitting In Molly McGlynn Canada
Green Border Zielona granica Agnieszka Holland Poland, Czech Republic, France, Belgium
A Happy Day Hisham Zaman Norway, Denmark
Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning Canada
Holiday Edoardo Gabbriellini Italy
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant Ariane Louis-Seize Canada
I Do Not Come To You By Chance Ishaya Bako Nigeria
In Flames Zarrar Kahn Canada, Pakistan
Inshallah a Boy Inshallah Walad Amjad Al Rasheed Jordan, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt
Irena's Vow Louise Archambault Canada, Poland
Je’vida Katja Gauriloff Finland
Kanaval Henri Pardo Canada, Luxembourg
Limbo Ivan Sen Australia
Lost Ladies Laapata Ladies Kiran Rao India
The Monk and the Gun Pawo Choyning Dorji Bhutan, France, United States, Taiwan
Mountains Monica Sorelle United States
National Anthem Luke Gilford United States
The Nature of Love Simple comme Sylvain Monia Chokri Canada, France
Perfect Days Wim Wenders Japan
A Ravaging Wind El Viento Que Arrasa Paula Hernández Argentina, Uruguay
The Reeds Son Hasat Cemil Ağacıkoğlu Turkey, Bulgaria
A Road to a Village गाउ आएको बाटो Nabin Subba Nepal
Robot Dreams Pablo Berger Spain, France
The Settlers Los Colonos Felipe Gálvez Haberle Chile, Argentina, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Sweden, Germany
Shadow of Fire Hokage Shinya Tsukamoto Japan
Shayda Noora Niasari Australia
Sira Apolline Traoré Burkina Faso, Senegal, France, Germany
Snow Leopard Xue Bao Pema Tseden China
Sweet Dreams Ena Sendijarević Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia, France
The Teachers' Lounge Das Lehrerzimmer Ilker Çatak Germany
They Shot the Piano Player Dispararon al pianista Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Spain, France, Netherlands
Toll Pedágio Carolina Markowicz Brazil, Portugal
Upon Open Sky A Cielo Abierto Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga Mexico, Spain
We Grown Now Minhal Baig United States
Woodland Wald Elisabeth Scharang Austria
Your Mother's Son Anak Ka Ng Ina Mo Jun Lana Philippines

TIFF Docs

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The following films were selected to the TIFF Docs section:

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Boil Alert Stevie Salas, James Burns Canada
Bye Bye Tiberias Bye Bye Tibériade Lina Soualem France, Belgium, Qatar, Palestine
The Contestant Clair Titley United Kingdom
Copa 71 Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine
Defiant Karim Amer Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States
Flipside Chris Wilcha United States
God Is a Woman Dieu est une femme Andrés Peyrot France, Switzerland, Panama
Homecoming Máhccan Suvi West, Anssi Kömi Finland, Norway
I Am Sirat Deepa Mehta, Sirat Taneja Canada
In the Rearview Skąd dokąd Maciek Hamela Poland, France, Ukraine
Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros Frederick Wiseman France, United States
The Mother of All Lies Kadib Abyad Asmae El Moudir Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa Lucy Walker United States
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe Robert McCallum Canada
The Pigeon Tunnel Errol Morris United Kingdom, United States, Hungary
Silver Dollar Road Raoul Peck United States
Songs of Earth Fedrelandet Margreth Olin Norway
Sorry/Not Sorry Caroline Suh, Cara Mones United States
Stamped from the Beginning Roger Ross Williams
Summer Qamp Jen Markowitz Canada
Viva Varda! Pierre-Henri Gibert France
The World Is Family वसुधैव कूटुम्बकम Anand Patwardhan India
Walls Mur Kasia Smutniak Italy

Discovery

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Achilles آشیل Farhad Delaram Iran, Germany, France
After the Fire Avant que les flammes ne s'éteignent Mehdi Fikri France
Andragogy Budi Pekerti Wregas Bhanuteja Indonesia, Singapore
Arthur & Diana Sara Summa Germany
Backspot D. W. Waterson Canada
An Endless Sunday Una Sterminata Domenica Alain Parroni Italy, Germany, Ireland
Frybread Face and Me Billy Luther United States
Gonzo Girl Patricia Arquette United States
Hajjan هجان Abu Bakr Shawky Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan
How to Have Sex Molly Manning Walker United Kingdom
I Don't Know Who You Are M. H. Murray Canada
La Suprema Felipe Holguín Caro Colombia
Mandoob مندوب الليل Ali Kalthami Saudi Arabia
A Match Sthal Jayant Digambar Somalkar India
Mimang 미망 Kim Taeyang South Korea
The Queen of My Dreams Fawzia Mirza Canada
Seagrass Meredith Hama-Brown Canada
Solitude Einvera Ninna Pálmadóttir Iceland, Slovakia, France
Tautuktavuk (What We See) Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk Canada
The Teacher Farah Nabulsi United Kingdom, Palestine, Qatar
The Tundra Within Me Eallugierdi Sara Margrethe Oskal Norway
Valentina or the Serenity Valentina o la serenidad Ángeles Cruz Mexico
Widow Clicquot Thomas Napper France, United Kingdom
Wild Woman La Mujer Salvaje Alán González Cuba
Without Air Elfogy a levegő Katalin Moldovai Hungary
Yellow Bus Wendy Bednarz United Arab Emirates

Platform

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The Platform Prize jury consisted of Barry Jenkins, Nadine Labaki and Anthony Shim.[34]

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Dear Jassi Tarsem Singh India
Dream Scenario Kristoffer Borgli United States
Great Absence Kei Chika-ura Japan
I Told You So Te l’avevo detto Ginevra Elkann Italy
The King Tide Christian Sparkes Canada
Not a Word Kein Wort Hanna Slak Germany, Slovenia, France
The Rye Horn O Corno Jaione Camborda Spain, Belgium, Portugal
Sisterhood HLM Pussy Nora El Hourch France
Shame on Dry Land Syndabocken Axel Petersén Sweden, Malta
Spirit of Ecstasy La Vénus d’argent Héléna Klotz France

Midnight Madness

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Aggro Dr1ft Harmony Korine United States
Boy Kills World Moritz Mohr Germany, South Africa, United States
Dicks: The Musical (opening film) Larry Charles United States
Hell of a Summer Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk United States, Canada
KILL Nikhil Nagesh Bhat India
NAGA ناقة Meshal Aljaser Saudi Arabia
Riddle of Fire (closing film) Weston Razooli United States
Sleep Jason Yu South Korea
When Evil Lurks Cuando Acecha la Maldad Demián Rugna Argentina
Working Class Goes to Hell Radnička klasa ide u pakao Mladen Đorđević Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania

Primetime

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Alice & Jack Victor Levin, Juho Kuosmanen, Hong Khaou United Kingdom
All the Light We Cannot See Shawn Levy, Steven Knight United States
Bad Boy Hagar Ben-Asher, Ron Leshem, Daniel Chen, Roee Florentin, Moshe Malka, Amit Cohen, Daniel Amsel Israel
Bargain Byun Seung-min, Jeon Woo-sung South Korea
Black Life: Untold Stories Leslie Norville Canada
Bria Mack Gets a Life Sasha Leigh Henry Canada
Estonia Miikko Oikkonen Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia
Expats Lulu Wang United States
Telling Our Story Kim O'Bomsawin Canada

Short Cuts

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
6 Minutes per Kilometre 6 minutes/km Catherine Boivin Canada
27 Flóra Anna Buda France, Hungary
1001 Nights 1001 noć Rea Rajčić Croatia
Aftercare Anubha Momin Canada
Alberto and the Beast John Paul Lopez-Ali United States
All the Days of May Tous les jours de mai Miryam Charles Canada
Aphasia Aphasie Marielle Dalpé
Been There Corina Schwingruber Ilić Switzerland
Bird Ave Ana Cristina Barragán Ecuador, Spain
A Bird Called Memory Pássaro Memória Leonardo Martinelli Brazil, United Kingdom
Bloom Kasey Lum Canada
DAMMI Yann Mounir Demange France
Electra Daria Kashcheeva Czech Republic, France, Slovakia
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying O Gündür Bu Gündür, Uçuyorum Aylin Gökmen Switzerland
Express Ivan D. Ossa Canada
Fár Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter Iceland
Gaby's Hills Gaby les collines Zoé Pelchat Canada
The Heart Malia Ann United States
Human Resources Ressources humaines Trinidad Plass Caussade, Titouan Tillier, Isaac Wenzek France
I Used to Live There Ryan McKenna Canada
Lake Baikal Baigal Nuur Alisi Telengut
Making Babies Faire un enfant Éric K. Boulianne
Mboa Matanda Jules Kalla Eyango Cameroon
Meteor Atefeh Khademolreza Canada
Modern Goose Karsten Wall
Motherland سرزمین مادری Jasmin Mozaffari
Mothers and Monsters Édith Jorisch
Nada de todo esto Francisco Cantón, Patricio Martínez Argentina, Spain, United States
Nun or Never! Heta Jäälinoja Finland
The Passing Ivete Lucas, Patrick Xavier Bresnan United States
La Perra Carla Melo Gampert Colombia, France
Primetime Mother Sonny Calvento Philippines, Singapore
Redlights Eva Thomas Canada
Sawo Matang Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto Canada, Indonesia, United States
Shé (Snake) Renee Zhan United Kingdom
Sheephead Spencer Creigh United States
The Skates Les Patins Halima Ouardiri Canada
This Is Not About Swimming Marni Van Dyk
This Is TMI Subarna Dash, Vidushi Gupta India
Titanic, Suitable Version for Iranian Families Titanic, noskhe monaseb baraye khanevadehaye irani Farnoosh Samadi Iran, France
WOACA Mackenzie Davis United Kingdom
Xie Xie, Ollie James Michael Chiang Canada

Wavelengths

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Bouquets 31-40 Rose Lowder France
Chantal Akerman: Her First Look Behind the Camera Chantal Akerman Belgium
The Daughters of Fire As Filhas do Fogo Pedro Costa Portugal
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World Nu astepta prea mult de la sfârsitul lumii Radu Jude Romania
Film Sculpture (1-4) Philipp Fleischmann Austria
He Thought He Died Isiah Medina Canada
Here Bas Devos Belgium
The Human Surge 3 El Auge del Humano 3 Eduardo Williams Argentina, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Peru
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell Bên trong vỏ kén vàng Phạm Thiên Ân Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain
It follows It passes on Erica Sheu Taiwan, United States
Laberint Sequences Blake Williams Canada
Let's Talk Simon Liu Hong Kong
Light, Noise, Smoke, and Light, Noise, Smoke Tomonari Nishikawa Japan
Mademoiselle Kenopsia Denis Côté Canada
Mambar Pierrette Rosine Mbakam Belgium, Cameroon
Mast-del Maryam Tafakory United Kingdom, Iran
Music Angela Schanelec Germany, France, Serbia
Nowhere Near Miko Revereza Philippines
NYC RGB Viktoria Schmid Austria, United States
Orlando, My Political Biography Orlando, ma biographie politique Paul B. Preciado France
Pictures of Ghosts Retratos Fantasmas Kleber Mendonça Filho Brazil
Quiet As It's Kept Ja'Tovia Gary United States
Shrooms Jorge Jácome Portugal
Slow Shift Shambhavi Kaul India, United States
Sundown Steve Reinke United States, Canada, Austria
Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: "Phony Wars" Film annonce du film qui n’existera jamais: Drôles de guerres Jean-Luc Godard France, Switzerland
We Don't Talk Like We Used To Joshua Gen Solondz United States, Japan, Hong Kong
Youth (Spring) 青春 Wang Bing China, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands

TIFF Classics

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
L'Amour fou (1969) Jacques Rivette France
Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got (1985) Brigitte Berman Canada
Farewell My Concubine (1993) 霸王別姬 Chen Kaige China, Hong Kong
Touki Bouki (1973) Djibril Diop Mambéty Senegal
Xala (1975) Ousmane Sembène

Industry Selects

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Films that were screened for film buyers and all industry professionals at the festival, but not open to the general public:

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Amelia’s Children Gabriel Abrantes Portugal
Bonus Track Julia Jackman United Kingdom
Borderline Jimmy Warden United States
The Boy in the Woods Rebecca Snow Canada
Dance First James Marsh United Kingdom
The Home James DeMonaco United States
Inheritance Neil Burger United States, United Kingdom, Egypt, India
My Mother's Men Les Hommes de ma mère Anik Jean Canada
Orah Lonzo Nzekwe Canada
Queen of Bones Robert Budreau Canada, United States
Umbrella Men II: Escape from Robben Island John Barker South Africa
Vera and the Pleasure of Others Vera y el placer de los otros Romina Tamburello, Federic Actis Argentina

Festival Street

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Older films, usually with some sort of connection to a film screening as part of the main program, shown at David Pecaut Square as part of TIFF's Festival Street event.

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Addams Family Values (1993) Barry Sonnenfeld United States
Batman (1989) Tim Burton United States
Clueless (1995) Amy Heckerling United States
Contact (1997) Robert Zemeckis United States
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) Taika Waititi New Zealand
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) Tim Burton United States
Rocky (1975) John G. Avildsen United States
Superman III (1983) Richard Lester United States
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) Mark Waters United States
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) Spike Jonze United States

Canada's Top Ten

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TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list of the ten best Canadian feature and short films of the year was released on December 6, 2023.[35]

Feature films

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Short films

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References

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  1. ^ a b Victoria Ahearn, "TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details". Playback, April 20, 2023.
  2. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF renames Contemporary World Cinema as Centrepiece ahead of 2023 edition". Screen Daily, April 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Tom Tapp, "Steve Gravestock Stepping Down As Toronto International Film Festival Senior Programmer After 25 Years". Deadline Hollywood, June 6, 2022.
  4. ^ Naman Ramachandran, "Ravi Srinivasan, Toronto Film Festival Programmer, Dies at 37". Variety, January 16, 2023.
  5. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ to world premiere at Toronto 2023". Screen Daily, June 28, 2023.
  6. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Toronto Film Festival Unveils Industry Programming Amid Hollywood Strikes". The Hollywood Reporter, July 19, 2023.
  7. ^ Noel Ransome, "A starless red carpet? TIFF attendees say festival enthusiasm waning due to strikes". Toronto Star, July 18, 2023.
  8. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Amanda Seyfried’s ‘Seven Veils’ to World Premiere at Toronto Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter, July 19, 2023.
  9. ^ Thomas, Carly (September 2, 2023). "Amanda Seyfried Says She Will Not Attend 'Seven Veils' Premiere at Toronto Film Fest: "It Doesn't Feel Right"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  10. ^ Jenna Benchetrit, "Canadian films to take the spotlight during 2023 Toronto International Film Festival". CBC News, August 17, 2023.
  11. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF “continuing to plan” upcoming edition amid double strike". Screen Daily, July 19, 2023.
  12. ^ Peter Howell, "TIFF 2024: First six movies announced, including Oscar-tipped dark comedy starring Amy Adams as a mother turning into a dog". Toronto Star, June 18, 2024.
  13. ^ "TIFF’s first 2023 lineup announcement: Taika Waititi’s soccer romp ‘Next Goal Wins’". Global News, June 28, 2023.
  14. ^ Michael Rosser, "Ladj Ly’s ‘Les Indésirables’ to world premiere at Toronto 2023". Screen Daily, July 5, 2023.
  15. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Atom Egoyan’s ‘Seven Veils’ to world premiere at TIFF". Screen Daily, July 19, 2023.
  16. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro, "TIFF Lineup Unveiled Amid Strikes: Awards Contenders ‘Dumb Money’, ‘The Holdovers’, ‘Rustin’; Starry Pics For Sale With Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, Michael Keaton, Viggo Mortensen & More". Deadline Hollywood, July 24, 2023.
  17. ^ Leonard Pearce, "TIFF 2023 Adds Documentaries by Frederick Wiseman, Errol Morris, Raoul Peck, Roger Ross Williams & More". The Film Stage, July 26, 2023.
  18. ^ "Animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ to open TIFF this year". Toronto Star, July 27, 2023.
  19. ^ Rebecca Ford, "Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron Will Open the Toronto Film Festival". Vanity Fair, July 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "Netflix’s Sylvester Stallone documentary Sly to close TIFF". The Globe and Mail, August 8, 2023.
  21. ^ Melanie Goodfellow, "Sylvester Stallone To Talk Career At Toronto ‘In Conversation With…’ Event". Deadline Hollywood, August 21, 2023.
  22. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF books Pedro Almodóvar, Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-jun, Andy Lau for In Conversation With… series". Screen Daily, August 11, 2023.
  23. ^ "Indian activist drama ‘Punjab ’95’ pulled from Toronto film festival". Screen Daily, August 11, 2023.
  24. ^ Peter Howell, "‘Potentially incendiary’ Punjab ‘95 withdrawn from TIFF gala". Toronto Star, August 14, 2023.
  25. ^ Naman Ramachandran, "‘Punjab ’95’ Based on Indian Human Rights Activist Jaswant Singh Khalra Removed From Toronto Lineup". Variety, August 11, 2023.
  26. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF, Spike Lee, Talking Heads unite for 40th anniversary screening of ‘Stop Making Sense’". Screen Daily, August 16, 2023.
  27. ^ Taimur Sikander Mirza, "TIFF announces Filmmaker Lab, Series Accelerator participants". Playback, August 31, 2023.
  28. ^ "Spike Lee and Pedro Almodóvar to receive TIFF Tribute Awards, while ‘Dicks: The Musical’ to open Midnight Madness". Toronto Star, August 3, 2023.
  29. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Shawn Levy to receive inaugural TIFF Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award". Screen Daily, August 16, 2023.
  30. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF to present ‘Sing Sing’ star Colman Domingo with Tribute Performer Award". Screen Daily, August 28, 2023.
  31. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Vicky Krieps to receive TIFF Tribute Performer Award". Screen Daily, September 5, 2023.
  32. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Patricia Arquette to receive TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award". Screen Daily, September 6, 2023.
  33. ^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF adds Carolina Markowicz, Lukasz Zal, Andy Lau to tribute line-up". Screen Daily, August 22, 2023.
  34. ^ John Hazelton, "Toronto unveils 2023 Platform line-up; ‘Dream Scenario’ with Nicolas Cage to open". Screen Daily, August 2, 2023.
  35. ^ Pat Mullen, "TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten Includes BlackBerry, Solo, Humanist Vampire". That Shelf, December 6, 2023.
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