The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced its official lineup for this year’s upcoming edition, which is set to hold in-person and digital screenings. The festival revealed that its schedule will be led in part by a special presentation of Dune, the anticipated screen adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel of the same name.
Dune, which was directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Denis Villeneuve, features an ensemble cast, including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem. The epic drama will screen in IMAX at TIFF after it has its world premiere at this summer’s Venice Film Festival. The movie, which was originally scheduled to be released last year, before its unveiling was delayed by COVID-19, will now be distributed by Warner Bros. in theaters and on HBO Max on October 1.
TIFF has also announced that it will screen Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller, Last Night in Soho, which stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith and the late Diana Rigg in her final film appearance. Focus Features will release the drama in theaters in October.
Other movies that are scheduled to play during this year’s TIFF include Kenneth Branagh’s period drama, Belfast, which stars Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan; Eric Warin and Tahir Rana’s animated feature, Charlotte; Philip Noyce’s thriller, Lakewood, which stars Naomi Watts; and Theodore Melfi’s dramedy, The Starling, which stars Melissa McCarthy and will subsequently stream on Netflix.
A couple of music documentaries have also already been confirmed to play during the festival, including Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner’s Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over. Alison Klayman’s Jagged, which was produced by HBO, chronicles the life of Canadian singer-songwriter, Alanis Morissette, including the production of her iconic, Grammy Award-winning album, Jagged Little Pill.
Two other movies that will play at TIFF, following their premiere earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, include Danis Goulet’s dystopian sci-fi drama, Night Raiders, which features a primarily Indigenous cast. Portrait of a Lady on Fire‘s writer-director, Céline Sciamma’s latest scribing-helming effort, the coming-of-age fable, Petite Maman, is also slated to screen at TIFF.
“We are so proud of the calibre of the films and the diversity of the stories we will be presenting this year,” Joana Vicente, TIFF executive director and co-head, said in a statement. “It is so powerful to be able to share these films with Festival-goers in theatres.”
TIFF plans to screen over 100 movies during this year’s edition, which is scheduled to run between September 9-18. TIFF’s first official 2021 programming announcement also promises movie fans that it will return to in-person screenings at some of its signature venues, including the Bell Lightbox theater, Roy Thomson Hall and the Princess of Wales Theatre.
The festival will also include drive-in and outdoor screenings in Toronto, and – for the first time in its 46-year history – screenings at venues all across Canada. Digital screenings will be available to the general public in Canada, while a program of talks and Q&As will be available online worldwide.