TIFF 2021: Films starring Kirsten Dunst, Steven Yeun and Sigourney Weaver heading to festival

Movies starring Kirsten Dunst, Steven Yeun, Keira Knightley, Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline are heading to this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

On Wednesday, organizers revealed a fresh slate of titles set to play September’s fest from its Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery programs, plus newly announced Gala and Special Presentation selections.

Newly added highlights for TIFF’s 46th edition, which runs Sept. 9-18, include the buzzy indie drama The Humans starring Yeun and Richard Jenkins; the Christmas-set Silent Night starring Knightley and Lily-Rose Depp; the romance The Good House starring Weaver and her old Dave co-star Kline; and the Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons and Dunst-led western drama The Power of the Dog, which marks Oscar-winning director Jane Campion’s first film in a dozen years.

Hotly tipped premieres in the Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery program include the Tim Roth-starring Sundown, from Mexican director Michel Franco, who made waves at last year’s festival with the polarizing dystopia thriller New Order; Indonesian filmmaker Edwin’s martial-arts romance Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash; and Spanish filmmaker Juanjo Gimenez’s hearing-loss drama Out of Sync.

“TIFF Programmers continue discovering compelling and diverse stories from around the globe,” Diana Sanchez, senior director of film for TIFF, said in a statement. “TIFF is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black and Indigenous filmmakers and filmmakers of colour, emerging Canadian talent, and powerful storytellers who identify as women, and we are eager for festival-goers to experience this lineup that showcases these unique perspectives.”

Newly added Canadian titles include Blaine Thurier’s Kicking Blood, an “ultra-modern spin on the vampire genre”; Sébastien Pilote’s adaptation of Louis Hémon’s 1913 novel Maria Chapdelaine, set in rural Quebec; Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson’s drama Scarborough, which focuses on a trio of children in a low-income Toronto neighbourhood; Haya Waseem’s character study Quickening; Thyrone Tommy’s feature debut Learn to Swim, about a romance between two musicians; and Bretten Hannam’s English- and Mi’kmaw-language road-trip drama Wildhood.

Organizers also announced Wednesday the addition of a new program, TIFF Rewind, in which filmmakers and performers will host a series of free digital talks revisiting memorable premieres from past editions of the fest. Titles include TIFF regular Antoine Fuqua discussing Training Day and Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara recalling their time making Best in Show.

Still, this year’s program is so far absent of some of the year’s most anticipated movies, including films that will premiere at fall festivals in Venice (Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, Pedro Almodovar’s Madres Paralelas) and New York (Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth). This could change, though, as the festival has yet to unveil its Platform, Midnight Madness, Docs, Primetime, Wavelength and Short Cuts programs.

TIFF is set to screen about 100 feature-length film selections this year, twice the number of movies that played the festival last September. “Almost every title” selected, according to TIFF executive director and co-head Joana Vicente, will receive both in-cinema and digital screenings. Venues this year include the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Scotiabank Cineplex, Roy Thomson Hall, Princess of Wales Theatre, Cinesphere, Skyline Drive-In, Lakeside Drive-In and West Island Open Air Cinema.

Single tickets for in-person and digital screenings go on sale Sept. 4 for TIFF members, and Sept. 6 for the public.

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