News

Mubi has unveiled next month’s streaming lineup, featuring David Cronenberg’s recent short Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection and Julie Dash’s 1977 short Diary of an African Nun. Other highlights include Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, on the occasion of Mubi’s theatrical release of Bird, alongside May Harron’s Psycho, Paul Felten and Joe DeNardo’s excellent indie Slow Machine, and a new restoration of Tunç Başaran’s Turkish classic Don’t Let Them Shoot the Kite.

They are also spotlighting Alanis Obomsawin in a special series, as their synopsis reads, “November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States, and Mubi is celebrating by spotlighting six films by Abenaki American-Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. Obomsawin’s prolific documentary practice encompasses dozens of short and feature films produced across the past 50-plus years. This collection features six of Obomsawin’s most...

Angelina Jolie will receive the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media, the Toronto film festival announced on Tuesday. Presented by Anne-Marie Canning, the prize honors “leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema,” according to the festival.

Jolie, whose new film “Without Blood” will have its world premiere on September 8 at TIFF, will be honored the same day, alongside Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, Durga Chew-Bose, David Cronenberg, Clément Ducol and Camille, Jharrel Jerome, Mike Leigh, and Zhao Tao. Sandra Oh will serve as the inaugural Honorary Chair of the fundraising gala.

“Angelina Jolie is a multifaceted talent who has entertained audiences for decades while consistently using her platform to champion important causes,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said via statement. “We’re honoured to present her with the 2024 TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media. This award recognizes her exceptional achievements in filmmaking, and her unwavering commitment for positive change,...

Academy Award–winning actor-turned-filmmaker Angelina Jolie is set to receive the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey announced on Tuesday.

Jolie will receive the award at the 2024 TIFF Tribute Awards, taking place at Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Sunday, September 8, while in town for the world premiere of her latest directorial effort, Without Blood, a war drama based on the book of the same name by Alessandro Baricco, which stars Salma Hayek and Demián Bechir.

Previously bestowed upon the likes of Pedro Almodóvar, Mira Nair, and Alanis Obomsawin, the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media is presented by Anne-Marie Canning and recognizes leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Other honorees set for the TIFF fundraising gala, for which Sandra Oh is serving as the inaugural Honorary Chair, include Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, Durga Chew-Bose, David Cronenberg,...

Angelina Jolie will receive Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media at the festival’s awards fundraiser on September 8.

The Impact Award recognises leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Prior recipients include Pedro Almodóvar, Mira Nair and Alanis Obomsawin.

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said Jolie was “a multifaceted talent whose unwavering commitment to positive change” cemented her reputation as “a veritable humanitarian and global force to be reckoned with”.

Jolie will attend the world premiere of her latest film as director, Without Blood, on September 8. She previously attended the 2017 festival as director...

Angelina Jolie is being honored for her humanitarian work at TIFF.

The Academy Award–winning actor, Tony Award–winning producer, writer, and director will receive the 2024 TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media. The award recognizes leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema, per the festival. Previous recipients have included Pedro Almodóvar, Mira Nair, and Alanis Obomsawin.

“Angelina Jolie is a multifaceted talent who has entertained audiences for decades while consistently using her platform to champion important causes,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a press statement. “We’re honored to present her with the 2024 TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media. This award recognizes her exceptional achievements in filmmaking, and her unwavering commitment for positive change, solidifying her status as a veritable humanitarian and global force to be reckoned with.”

Jolie will debut her latest film “Without Blood,” starring Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir, at the festival.

Amisk.This past fall, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto presented The Children Have to Hear Another Story, a retrospective exhibition of the life and work of Alanis Obomsawin, a musician, artist, poet, activist, and documentarian. The show, curated by Richard William Hill and Hila Peleg, began at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, continued at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and will travel to the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal in September 2024.The exhibition is organized chronologically, beginning in 1932, when Obomsawin was born in Odanak, an Abenaki reserve near Montreal. When she was nine, her family moved to Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where she was forced to learn French and subjected to physical and verbal abuse by classmates and teachers. In the 1950s, Obomsawin began singing professionally, performing songs in Abenaki, French, and English. She toured across the country, was interviewed by leading newspapers and magazines, and performed...

Toronto — Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF, is delighted to announce the first honourees of this year’s Tribute Awards: Academy Award®–winning directors and legends Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee. One of the world’s foremost filmmakers and provocative storytellers, Almodóvar will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media presented by Participant, and Lee, a cultural icon who has influenced generations of filmmakers, will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award. The 2023 Tribute Awards presented by Bulgari will take place on Sunday, September 10, during the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival at Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Now in its fifth year, the TIFF Tribute Awards have served as an awards-season bellwether, with past honourees Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain, Roger Deakins, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, Taika Waititi, and Chloé Zhao going on to win awards on the international stage.

“It’s a true thrill to acknowledge Pedro...

TIFF is honouring big talent.

On Thursday, the Toronto International Festival announced the first recipients of its 2023 Tribute Awards, to be handed out during the fest in September.

Read More: TIFF Reveals First-Look At Nicolas Cage In ‘Dream Scenario’, Announces Movie As Platform Programme Opener

The first pair of recipients will be directors Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee, both well-recognized lights of international filmmaking.

A Spanish filmmaker, Almodóvar is known for his brightly coloured, melodramatic films dealing with sex, relationships and much more. He has frequently worked with actors like Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.

His films include “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!”, “All About My Mother”, “Talk To Her”, “Volver”, “Pain and Glory” and more.

“It’s a true thrill to acknowledge Pedro Almodóvar as the distinguished recipient of the Jeff Skoll Impact Media Award for 2023,” said Cameron Bailey, TIFF CEO. “Pedro has been coming to TIFF for...

Oscar winning filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee are getting feted at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards.

Almodóvar will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media presented by Participant, while Lee will be bestowed with the TIFF Ebert Director Award. The fifth annual Tribute Awards ceremony presented by Bulgari will take place on Sunday, Sept. 10 during the 48th edition of the fest at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

The TIFF Tribute Awards in its short run have already served as an awards-season bellwether, with past honourees including Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain, Roger Deakins, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, Taika Waititi, and Chloé Zhao who all went on to receive Oscar wins.

“It’s a true thrill to acknowledge Pedro Almodóvar as the distinguished recipient of the Jeff Skoll Impact Media Award for 2023,” stated TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. “Pedro has been coming to TIFF for years and...

Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee will be feted at TIFF 2023.

Both auteurs were announced as the first Tribute Award recipients for this year’s festival, with the fifth annual fundraising gala taking place Sunday, September 10. TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey confirmed that Almodóvar will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media presented by Participant, and Spike Lee will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award.

The Tribute Awards are presented by Bulgari, with the celebration hosted by the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

The Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media recognizes leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema, with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Alanis Obomsawin, and Mira Nair previously earning the award.

“It’s a true thrill to acknowledge Pedro Almodóvar as the distinguished recipient of the Jeff Skoll Impact Media Award for 2023,” Bailey said. “Pedro has been coming to TIFF for years and each time is better than the time before.

Previous winners have included Mira Nair and Martin Scorsese.

Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee have been named as the recipients of the Tribute Awards at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The awards, now in their fifth year, will be presented on September 10, the first Sunday of the festival’s September 7-17 run.

Almodovar, whose Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown won TIFF’s People’s Choice award in 1988, will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, presented by Participant. The award recognises “leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema” and past recipients have included Buffy Sainte-Marie,...

HBO’s The Last of Us from creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann was named program of the year at the Rockie Awards gala at the Banff World Media Festival on Tuesday night.

The first season of the post-apocalyptic hit was shot in Alberta. Jason Loftus’ Canadian documentary Eternal Spring picked up the Grand Jury Prize for the highest-scoring project in the Rockies program.

“This is a culmination of a lot of work we’ve done related to human rights in China,” Loftus said as he accepted a trophy for the animated documentary about Falun Gong practitioners in China persecuted for their activism.

The Buffalo Rock Award went to the Star Trek franchise for its endurance with global fans.

In other prize-giving, The Office star Craig Robinson received the Peter Ustinov Comedy Award. Robinson, who is also executive producer and star of Peacock’s Killing It, hosted the Rockie Awards at the Banff festival.

HBO’s “The Last of Us” took home the program of the year award at the 44th Banff World Media Festival. The series was awarded at the 2023 Rockie Award Gala on Tuesday evening alongside other individuals, programs, films and media outlets. The event is held annually in Banff, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies.

Craig Robinson, actor and producer with credits on programs like “The Office,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Killing It,” was awarded with the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award. Robinson was also the host of the festival’s flagship awards program.

The Grand Jury Prize was awarded to “Eternal Spring” and the Buffalo Rock Award went to “Star Trek” for its legacy in TV programming.

As previously announced, Garcell Beauvais of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” was presented with the Inclusion Award presented by A+E. The award recognizes individuals whose work promote diversity and inclusivity in media. Alanis Obomsawin...

World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the creative force behind the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, are set to receive The Hollywood Reporter’s Impact Award at the Banff World Media Festival.

To honor the duo’s achievements, THR editorial director Nekesa Mumbi Moody will present the award to Bailey and Barbato, whose reality TV and other content credits over three decades include Party Monster, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Pam: Girl on the Loose, Being Chaz, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, #CandidlyNicole, I Am Britney Jean and Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes.

The World of Wonder creatives will also participate in a keynote conversation in Banff led by Moody that is likely to touch on their long collaboration with RuPaul, the face of the Drag Race franchise, and their subscription-based streaming platform Wow Presents Plus, among other career milestones.

Banff’s Impact Award is given each year...

Restructuring

Multinational cinema operator Cineworld‘s proposed restructuring now has the backing of most of its lenders, the company said on Thursday.

The restructuring, which was announced in April, “now has the support of lenders holding and controlling approximately 99% of the legacy facilities and at least 69% of the outstanding indebtedness under the debtor-in-possession facility of Cineworld and certain of its subsidiaries,” the group said in a statement.

Cineworld Group and its subsidiaries had commenced Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court in September 2022. The group now expects to emerge from the Chapter 11 cases in July and will continue to operate its cinemas as usual without interruption, it said.

The lenders have also agreed to amended and restated versions of the restructuring support agreement and the backstop commitment agreement, which were filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Cineworld owns the Regal cinema chain and is the second largest movie theater operator in the world.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAnna May Wong in Piccadilly.Trailblazing film star Anna May Wong will be the first Asian American to appear on US currency. Wong, whose legacy is overviewed in this Guardian article by Pamela Hutchinson, will be the face of more than 300 million quarters.Alice Diop has won the Prix Jean Vigo, an award given to a French director each year since 1951, for her first fiction feature Saint Omer. Earlier this year, the film won won two awards at the Venice Film Festival and was selected as the French entry for Best International Film at the 2023 Oscars.Paweł Pawlikowski’s next feature—tentatively titled The Island—will be led by Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara. Per Variety, they play an American couple who “turn their backs on civilization to build a secluded paradise,” until a...

Academy Award winner Buffy Sainte-Marie (An Officer and a Gentleman) has been set as the latest honoree of the TIFF Tribute Awards, which return to an in-person gala fundraiser during the 47th edition of the Toronto Film Festival, at Royal York Hotel on September 11th. TIFF also announced today that its gala will feature a musical performance by songwriter, poet, filmmaker and artist Mustafa. Presenters confirmed for the event include Darren Aronofsky, Olivia Colman, Sam Hunter, Sarah Polley and Jason Reitman, with more names to be announced in the coming days, alongside TIFF Rising Stars Natalia Aranguren, Gabriel Labelle, Isaiah Lehtinen, Carmen Madonia, Thuso Mbedu, Joshua Odjick, Aaron Pierre, Choi Seung-yoon and Ty Simpkins.

Sainte-Marie will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, recognizing leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Past recipients in the category include Alanis Obomsawin in 2021 and Mira Nair in 2020.

Sainte-Marie is an Indigenous Canadian-American singer-songwriter composer,...

Above: Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991)In her essay “On Criticism,” Abby Sun notes: “Film festivals are equally sites of inclusion and exclusion, of abundance and scarcity. In fact, they thrive off these paradoxes.” This seems to be the case at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where an ongoing tension between commercial aspirations and professed values tends to yield more breadth than depth. Once called the Festival of Festivals, TIFF started out in 1976 as a showcase of the best titles from other international film festivals. A bit of borrowing from earlier fests like Berlinale and Cannes continues to this day. At the same time, overlapping dates with fall rivals like Venice and Telluride—and the New York Film Festival following closely behind—charge TIFF with the competitive urgency to premiere A-list titles first. In the last few years, the presentation of the TIFF People’s Choice Award to the most...

Winner has earned Oscar best picture nomination in last 11 years.

Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast has won the 2021 TIFF People’s Choice audience award in a boost to its award season prospects.

Winners of the award have gone on to garner a best picture Oscar nomination in the past 11 years with last year’s Nomadland and some years prior Green Book and Slumdog Millionaire winning the ultimate prize. Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Jude Hill, Judi Dench and Ciarin Hinds star in Northern Ireland-born Branagh’s childhood memoir set during the onset of The Troubles.

‘Belfast’: Review

Scarborough from Shasha Nakhai...

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical, black-and-white drama Belfast claimed the TIFF People’s Choice Award on Saturday night, affirming its status as a major player to contend with in the 2022 Oscars race.

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and Benedict Cumberbatch were also big winners at the TIFF Tribute Awards ceremony, which wrapped up the 46th edition of the festival, claiming its Actor Awards.

The TIFF Ebert Director Award went to Dune‘s Denis Villeneuve, with musician Dionne Warwick (subject of the doc Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over) receiving a Special Tribute Award. Other major titles recognized in Toronto tonight included The Rescue—the latest doc from Free Solo helmers Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi—and Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane.

“2021 brought an exceptional selection of films that excited Festival audiences around the world,...

Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night. The prize is often considered a bellwether for the Academy Awards, as the winner for the past nine years has gone on to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination. This includes last year’s winner “Nomadland,” which went on to win Best Picture. See the full list of the 2021 TIFF winners below.

The People’s Choice Award winner based on votes, as revealed during the ceremony, was between “The Power of the Dog,” “Belfast,” and “Scarborough.”

Alongside the announcement of the People’s Choice Award, prizes were doled out to “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” star Jessica Chastain (TIFF Tribute Actor Award supported by the Tory Family), “The Power of the Dog” star Benedict Cumberbatch (TIFF Tribute Actor Award), “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve (TIFF Ebert Director Award), filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin (Jeff...

The 2021 crop of the Toronto Film Festival’s Tribute Awards honorees gathered on Saturday to discuss their cinematic achievements and indulge in some responsible human contact.

This year’s recipients — including Jessica Chastain, Benedict Cumberbatch, Denis Villeneuve, Alanis Obomsawin, Ari Wegner, Danis Goulet and Dionne Warwick — sat for a press conference moderated by Variety at premiere festival venue Roy Thomson Hall.

Chastain, who took the TIFF Tribute Actor Award for a prolific decade on screen thus far, saw the conference as a homecoming.

“I came here ten years ago with a movie called ‘Take Shelter.’ It was the beginning of my career. It’s become an incredible festival to visit over the years. I’ve also shot six movies in Canada, two in Montreal, so I kind of feel like I’m Canadian if you guys will have me,” said the actor and producer, who is unveiling her new film...

Benedict Cumberbatch is enjoying a rigorous fall festival workout. The British actor started at Venice with the world premiere of western “The Power of the Dog,” in which he’s earning raves as a volatile cattle rancher in Montana, followed by a tribute to its writer/director Jane Campion at Telluride, and now he’s getting his own Tribute Actor Award at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (September 9-18).

Every year, the festival anoints a chosen few award winners who tend to go on to win Oscars, including Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”), Roger Deakins (“Blade Runner 2049”), and director Chloé Zhao, whose “Nomadland,” like “Jojo Rabbit” and “Green Book,” went on to win the coveted People’s Choice award, often an Oscar Best Picture bellwether.

Also accepting a Tribute Actor Award is Jessica Chastain, who also went to Venice, and then flew...

Benedict Cumberbatch is enjoying a rigorous fall festival workout. The British actor started at Venice with the world premiere of western “The Power of the Dog,” in which he’s earning raves as a volatile cattle rancher in Montana, followed by a tribute to its writer/director Jane Campion at Telluride, and now he’s getting his own Tribute Actor Award at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (September 9-18).

Every year, the festival anoints a chosen few award winners who tend to go on to win Oscars, including Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”), Roger Deakins (“Blade Runner 2049”), and director Chloé Zhao, whose “Nomadland,” like “Jojo Rabbit” and “Green Book,” went on to win the coveted People’s Choice award, often an Oscar Best Picture bellwether.

Also accepting a Tribute Actor Award is Jessica Chastain, who also went to Venice, and then flew...

TIFF Ebert Director Award

Denis Villeneuve

Filmmaker

When French-Canadian filmmaker Villeneuve made his breakthrough — 2010’s film, “Incendies,” which was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar — the world took notice.

“‘Incendies’ was the first film where I was finally able to make cinema the way I had always dreamt of,” he says, “That is when I was truly born as a filmmaker.”

His latest, “Dune,” bowed in Venice and screens at the Toronto festival. It his theaters Oct. 22.

Villeneuve earned a reputation for his keen attention to detail and unique approach towards cinematography, which often relies on a thematic color palette, intentional use of light and a voyeuristic style, owed largely to his collaborations with the legendary Dp Roger Deakins. “Working with Roger on three movies has been the most intense and profound film school ever.

“How blessed I was to have the privilege to work with so many great artists in front and behind the camera.

Director Steven Soderbergh is making a special, surprise appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), by debuting a brand new, never-before-seen movie.

TIFF co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey announced the world premiere screening on Thursday, explaining that the event was programmed in “top secret collaboration with Soderbergh,” with details of the mystery screening, including ticket availability, to be revealed at a later date.

The Oscar-winning director’s most recent movie, “No Sudden Move,” led by Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro, debuted in July on HBO Max.

“It wouldn’t be TIFF if we didn’t have a surprise element to tease out — and this year it’s coming from a TIFF friend, Steven Soderbergh,” Vicente and Bailey said, in a statement announcing the special event.

“We are inspired by the excitement and anticipation we can already feel in the city,” their statement continued. “It has been a challenging time for everyone,...

The Toronto Film Festival will honor cinematographer Ari Wegner with the Variety Artisan Award at this year’s Tribute Awards, co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey announced.

Each year, the award recognizes a creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment. The Tribute Awards will be broadcast on the final day of the festival, Saturday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. Et on CTV. They will also be streamed to a global audience by Variety, the exclusive trade media partner of the event.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins and composer Terence Blanchard are previous recipients of the award.

Wegner has worked on both television and film projects, and her career started to take off with Zia Mandviwalla’s “Night Shift,” which screened in Cannes in 2021. She has also shot “The Girlfriend Experience,” “True History of the Kelly Gang,” “In Fabric,” “Stray,” “Ruin” and “Lady Macbeth.”

Most recently,...

The Toronto International Film Festival announced that Dionne Warwick and Danis Goulet will be honored at the TIFF Tribute Awards on Sept. 18.

Warwick, the famed singer of “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Walk on By,” will receive the Special Tribute Award. She is the subject of “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” a new documentary by Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner that will premiere at TIFF in the TIFF Docs section.

Goulet, who directed “Night Raiders,” a Taika Waititi-backed science fiction film about a Cree woman resisting a military government, will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award presented by L’Oréal Paris and supported by MGM. “Night Raiders” will have its North American premiere at the festival, screening as a gala presentation.

“We are excited to be announcing a music industry icon, alongside an exceptional emerging talent,” said Joana Vicente, executive director and co-head of TIFF. “A legend in her own right,...

The Imitation Game Oscar nominee will be receiving this year’s TIFF Tribute Actor Award at the fest’s 46th edition. Benedict Cumberbatch has two movies at this year’s TIFF: Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, directed by Jane Campion, and Amazon Studios’ The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, directed by Will Sharpe — both of which will have their Canadian premieres at the fest.

In addition to being an Academy Award nominee, Cumberbatch won an Emmy Award for playing the role of Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock and a BAFTA for his role in Patrick Melrose.

“Benedict has portrayed some of the most memorable characters screened at TIFF, whether it was Alan Turing in The Imitation Game or Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate; he also has an uncanny ability to take on interesting, complex roles and make them his own in films such as 12 Years a Slave...

British star has two films in festival: The Power Of The Dog and The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain.

Benedict Cumberbatch will receive the TIFF Tribute Actor Award at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Cumberbatch has two films that receive their Canadian premieres at the festival: Jane Campion’s western The Power Of The Dog for Netflix and Will Sharpe’s The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain at Amazon Studios.

The British star’s credits include Sherlock, The Imitation Game, the Doctor Strange films,Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, 12 Years A Slave, and The Fifth Estate.

Previous...

The Toronto International Film Festival announced on Thursday that Emmy and BAFTA winner Benedict Cumberbatch will be the second actor honored with the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, receiving it alongside the previously announced Jessica Chastain.

Cumberbatch is set to appear on the big screen at this year’s TIFF in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and Will Sharpe’s “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” which will respectively be released by Netflix and Amazon Studios. Both films will be making their Canadian premieres at the Toronto festival.

“Benedict has portrayed some of the most memorable characters screened at TIFF, whether it was Alan Turing

in ‘The Imitation Game’ or Julian Assange in ‘The Fifth Estate'; he also has an uncanny ability to take on

interesting, complex roles and make them his own in films such as ’12 Years a Slave’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, all of which screened at the Festival,...

“Spencer,” Pablo Larraín’s film starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, has been added to the lineup for the Toronto International Film Festival as one of the Special Event screenings.

TIFF also on Wednesday announced special screenings for “Dune” in IMAX, Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero” and the Tilda Swinton film “Memoria,” all of which have been making the festival rounds.

Among other additions to the festival, TIFF unveiled the full lineup for its 2021 Platform Competition and the Short Cuts program and announced Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) will lead the Platform Competition section’s jury.

“I am honoured to be named president of the Platform jury at TIFF this year and to be a part of TIFF with

Encounter,” Ahmed said in a statement. “TIFF has always been a festival that showcases bold and daring cinema on a global stage. Its commitment to celebrating small independent films, like ‘Sound of Metal,...

The Toronto Film Festival has set the competition lineup for its Platforms program, naming Riz Ahmed as head of the jury.

Sound of Metal, which starred Ahmed in an Oscar-nominated performance, had its world premiere in the 2019 Platforms competition at Toronto.

Festival organizers also announced special events, including multiple Imax screenings of Dune and a 75th anniversary commemoration of the first NBA game, which was played in Toronto in 1946. Other special events include screenings of two Cannes prize-winners, Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria, plus Pablo Larraín’s Venice-bound, Kristen Stewart-starring Spencer. Also unveiled was a slate of 38 short films and a retrospective dedicated to Abenaki filmmaker and activist Alanis Obomsawin.

“It’s a pleasure for TIFF to provide the Platform program as a stage that celebrates brilliant filmmakers. We’re certain that TIFF audiences will be pleasantly surprised with their unique approach to cinematic expression,...

Ahmed also stars in Michael Pearce’s ‘Encounter’ in the festival.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has selected eight features for its Platform section, for which UK actor and filmmaker Riz Ahmed will head the jury.

The Platform selection includes Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig, produced by France’s Petit Film, Belgium’s Frakas Productions and the UK’s Anti-Worlds, with backing from Film4 and the BFI.

Set in Europe in the mid-20th century, the film is about a man who is hired to look after a reclusive girl whose teeth are made of ice.

Also in the Platform...

The Toronto International Film Festival has revealed that Jessica Chastain, star and producer of “The Eyes Of Tammy Faye,” will receive the Tribute Actor Award at the festival’s 46th edition this year.

“Jessica has brought to life such strong and inspiring roles for women, from the films that have screened at TIFF such as ‘The Debt,’ ‘Take Shelter,’ ‘The Martian,’ ‘Crimson Peak’ and ‘Molly’s Game,’ to the upcoming world premiere of ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ at the Festival – she is one of the most respected actors of her generation,” said Joana Vicente, executive director and co-head of TIFF. “Her recent portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker is a testament to her exceptional onscreen presence and talent.”

Chastain’s latest project, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” chronicles the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker,...

Jessica Chastain will receive this year’s TIFF Tribute Actor Award, TIFF co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey announced on Thursday.

The 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards will take place during the 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, from Sept. 9-18.

“Jessica has brought to life such strong and inspiring roles for women, from the films that have screened at TIFF such as ‘The Debt,’ ‘Take Shelter,’ ‘The Martian,’ ‘Crimson Peak’ and ‘Molly’s Game,’ to the upcoming World Premiere of ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ at the festival,” Vicente said. “She is one of the most respected actors of her generation. Her recent portrayal of Tammy Faye is a testament to her exceptional onscreen presence and talent.”

Previous recipients of the TIFF Tribute Actor Award include Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet and Sir Anthony Hopkins. TIFF also recently announced that activist Alanis Obomsawin and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve would receive Tribute Awards.

The Toronto Film Festival said Thursday that Dune director Denis Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award and documentary filmmaker/activist Alanis Obomsawin the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media as part of the fest’s 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards. The annual awards will be presented during the run of the festival, which runs September 9-18.

The TIFF Tribute Awards, which were created in 2019, recognize the film industry’s outstanding contributors and their achievements and are the festival’s largest annual fundraiser to support its year-round programs. The ceremony is broadcast nationally in Canada by CTV.

The French-Canadian Villeneuve’s credits include Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Sicario, Enemy, Prisoners and Incendies, with his next film Dune arriving in October.

“There is no question Denis is an accomplished and outstanding filmmaker,” TIFF co-head Cameron Bailey said. “He has a wonderful body of work and operates at an incredible level of excellence on the world stage.

P&i screenings remain available online on TIFF Digital Cinema Pro for those unable to travel.

TIFF heads have added Scotiabank Theatre Toronto to the list of in-person venues for the first five days of the festival to accommodate a select number of additional public and press and industry screenings.

The move comes after the Canadian government announced it will relax entry restrictions for all fully vaccinated visitors by September 7. The festival runs September 9-18.

Press and industry screenings will remain available online on TIFF Digital Cinema Pro for press and industry unable to travel. The Industry Conference will continue...

Filmmaker and Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve and documentary filmmaker, writer, singer and activist Alanis Obomsawin are the first two announced honorees for the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. Set to be honored at the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards, Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award, while Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.

Cameron Bailey, artistic director and co-head of TIFF, said, in part, “Denis Villeneuve’s many films… are a testament to [his] boundless ability for authentic, passionate storytelling. There is no question Denis is an accomplished and outstanding filmmaker. It is wonderful to be celebrating his career at this time.”

Villeneuve has an eclectic body of work with a wide range of genres and themes, including “Arrival” (2016), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for best director, and “Incendies” (2010), which picked up a nom for foreign language film. His other screen credits include “Blade Runner 2049,...

The fall award season is starting up. Last year, eventual Oscar winners Sir Anthony Hopkins (Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father”) and Chloé Zhao (Searchlight’s “Nomadland”), as well as nominated composer Terence Blanchard (“Da 5 Bloods”) started their Oscar campaigns at the (hybrid) Toronto International Film Festival’s second annual Tribute Awards fundraiser. The year before, TIFF’s first Awards Gala honored such eventual Oscar winners as Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) and Joaquin Phoenix (“The Joker”).

So with the final format of the 46th edition of the Toronto festival still up in the air, Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey, Co-Heads of TIFF, announced that they will present the TIFF Ebert Director Award to French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, whose long-delayed space epic “Dune” will debut at Venice before screening at TIFF.

“The TIFF Ebert Director Award recognizes filmmakers who have exemplified greatness in their career,” said Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head,...

Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and documentary filmmaker, writer and singer Alanis Obomsawin are the first honorees to be announced for the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards, Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey, co-heads of TIFF, announced on Thursday.

Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, while Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award. The TIFF Tribute Awards will take place during the 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.

The awards honor the film industry's contributors and their achievements, and also serves as the festival's largest annual fundraiser to support its year-round programmes. This year, the event will raise funds for TIFF's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and will support a safe return to cinemas. Bell Media Studios will co-produce and will be broadcast nationally by CTV.

In 2020, the TIFF Tribute Awards honored Mira Nair, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Chloe Zhao, Terence Blanchard and Tracey Deer.

The fall award season is starting up. Last year, eventual Oscar winners Sir Anthony Hopkins (Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father”) and Chloé Zhao (Searchlight’s “Nomadland”), as well as nominated composer Terence Blanchard (“Da 5 Bloods”) started their Oscar campaigns at the (hybrid) Toronto International Film Festival’s second annual Tribute Awards fundraiser. The year before, TIFF’s first Awards Gala honored such eventual Oscar winners as Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) and Joaquin Phoenix (“The Joker”).

So with the final format of the 46th edition of the Toronto festival still up in the air, Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey, Co-Heads of TIFF, announced that they will present the TIFF Ebert Director Award to French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, whose long-delayed space epic “Dune” will debut at Venice before screening at TIFF.

“The TIFF Ebert Director Award recognizes filmmakers who have exemplified greatness in their career,” said Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head,...

The Toronto Film Festival is set to honor Dune director Denis Villeneuve and Indigenous filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin at its upcoming 46th edition.

Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award at the third annual TIFF Tribute Awards, while veteran doc maker Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.

Dune, Villeneuve’s reboot of the sci-fi classic, and starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin, will have its world premiere out-of-competition at the Venice Film Festival, before shifting to Toronto and Montreal for special event screenings at Imax theaters in both cities.

Toronto will also offer a ...

The Toronto Film Festival is set to honor Dune director Denis Villeneuve and Indigenous filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin at its upcoming 46th edition.

Villeneuve will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award at the third annual TIFF Tribute Awards, while veteran doc maker Obomsawin will be honored with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.

Dune, Villeneuve’s reboot of the sci-fi classic, and starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin, will have its world premiere out-of-competition at the Venice Film Festival, before shifting to Toronto and Montreal for special event screenings at Imax theaters in both cities.

Toronto will also offer a ...

With streaming dominating the industry — and suddenly becoming the “new normal” in a changing world — IndieWire is taking a closer look at the news cycle, breaking down what really matters to provide a clear picture of what companies are winning the streaming wars, and how they’re pulling ahead.

By looking at trends and the latest developments, Streaming Wars Report: Indie Edition offers a snapshot of what’s happening overall and day-to-day in streaming for the indie set. Check out the latest Streaming Wars Report for updates to the bigger players in the industry.

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Do you like scary movies? Come October, it seems as if everyone is a horror fan, cuddling up for another “spooky season” of thrills, chills, and the surprisingly enduring family classic or two, and a recent look at the viewing numbers and audience preference indicates that Halloween-centric films remain big business during autumn.

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The Toronto Film Festival has revealed further details about its 2020 edition, which will be a hybrid physical and digital event with a streamlined lineup.

All industry engagement will be online, including press and industry screenings and the festival’s Industry Conference, taking place September 10-15.

The online screenings will be hosted on a professional version of TIFF’s digital screening platform, developed by Shift72. National promotional agencies will be offered sections on the platform to promote films, talent and initiatives in lieu of a physical Industry Centre.

Film professionals can register for one of two pass options: the Digital Pro Pass is designed for distributors, exhibitors, sales agents, talent agents, producers and writer-directors, while the Digital Talks Pass is designed for new filmmakers, actors, students and scholars.

Registration for the Digital Talks Pass opens Monday, July 27. Industry delegates can register for the early-bird rate until Friday.

The Industry Conference will...

As George Romero first discovered — and hordes of other filmmakers have since refined — zombies are a fun and effective vehicle for addressing the most intractable anxieties of the modern world; even bone-deep social ills have a funny way of seeming more digestible when explored through a story about people rabidly eating each other’s entrails. , Jeff Barnaby’s “Blood Quantum” may bite off more human flesh than it can chew, but this hopeful modern howl against the indignities suffered by Canada’s indigenous population (the Mi’gMaq in particular) is still a credit to its genre. It may not be a great zombie movie, but it’s a uniquely powerful reminder of why zombie movies are great.

“Blood Quantum,” a term referring to the genocidal American practice of determining indigeneity by measuring the percentage of a person’s native heritage, sets the stage with what might be the single gnarliest...

Jeremy Irons previously announced to lead seven-person jury.

The Berlin International Film Festival (February 20 – March 1) has revealed its competition juries, including director Kenneth Lonergan, actress Bérénice Bejo and filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho.

The seven-person jury also includes German producer Bettina Brokemper, Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, and Italian actor Luca Marinelli.

Lonergan is the Oscar-winning writer-director of Manchester By The Sea while Argentine-French star Bejo is perhaps best-known for her performance in Academy Award-winner The Artist. Brazil’s Mendonça Filho won the jury prize at last year’s Cannes with Bacurau.

Jeremy Irons was announced last month as president of the jury for the 70th edition,...

The 70th Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled its juries.

Joining president Jeremy Irons on the international jury is actress Bérénice Bejo (Argentina / France), producer Bettina Brokemper (Germany), director Annemarie Jacir (Palestine), plawright and director Kenneth Lonergan (USA), actor Luca Marinelli (Italy) and film critic and director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil).

They will award prizes including the Golden and the Silver Bears to the 18 films in this year’s Competition line up.

Berlin dropped one of its awards, the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer prize, which goes to a film that “opens new perspectives on cinematic art”, after Nazi collaborator accusations emerged against its namesake in German press this week. No word yet on whether the prize will be reintroduced with a new moniker.

The festival’s new competitive section Encounters will see Dominga Sotomayor (Chile), Eva Trobisch (Germany) and Shôzô Ichiyama (Japan) award three prizes: Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSLate last month, we were saddened by the death of Jean Douchet, whose criticism as co-editor-in-chief of Cahiers du cinéma and as a mentor figure for many in the French film community was invaluable. Recommended VIEWINGKino Lorber's first trailer for Kantemir Balagov's Beanpole, which follows the bond between two women in post-wwii Leningrad. Read Ela Bittencourt's Close-Up on the film, which received its online premiere in the UK on Mubi earlier this fall. Corneliu Porumboiu's The Whistlers, a crime thriller about a cop, a mob in the Canary Islands, and El Siblo, an intricate indigenous language that involves whistling. Recommended READINGMichael Cimino and Robert De Niro on the set of The Deer HunterThe Guardian has published an excerpt of One Shot: The Making of The Deer Hunter, which includes exclusive photos from Robert De Niro's personal collection.