TIFF 2017 to Feature ‘The Shape of Water’, ‘MudBound’, ‘Long Time Running’, and ‘Mother!’

Posted in Festival Coverage, TIFF 17 by - July 26, 2017
TIFF 2017 to Feature ‘The Shape of Water’, ‘MudBound’, ‘Long Time Running’, and ‘Mother!’

The Toronto International Film Festival (aka TIFF) has announced the first slate of Galas and Special Presentation titles that will be screening at this year’s festival. While TIFF has yet to announce which film will be opening the festival on September 7th, they did reveal that C’est la vie! by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, the directors behind the 2011 hit Intouchables, has been given the closing night spot.

Some of the many highlights screening at the festival will include Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, Susanna White’s Woman Walks Ahead, Aleaxander Payne’s Downsizing, and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!, which stars Jennifer Lawrence. Two-high profile sports biopics, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Battle of the Sexes, which explores the legendary tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and Craig Gillespie’s I, Tanya, featuring Margo Robbie playing U.S. Olympic skater Tanya Harding, also made the cut. Fans of The Tragically Hip fans will be especially excited to see Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier’s documentary Long Time Running as part of the list.

Other notable titles in the lineup that are sure to stir up award season talk include Cannes Palme D’or winner Ruben Östlund’s The Square, Dee Rees’ highly anticipated MudBound, David Gordon Green’s Stronger, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, Andy Serkis’ directorial debut Breathe, George Clooney’s Suburbicon and Hany Abu-Assad The Mountain Between Us, starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet.

This year marks an interesting turning point in the iconic film festivals lengthy history. After showcasing 296 feature films last year, questions started to arise, most notably in a pointed Variety article, as to whether or not the festival had gotten too big? Always willing to make changes when needed, TIFF announced early this year that it was striving for a leaner and more focused festival for the 2017 edition. This included downsizing it lineup by 20% and eliminating programmes such as Vanguard and City to City.

Though the festival may be slimmer, it clearly has not thrown away its star-studded threads just yet.

 

The full list is below.

 

    Galas

 

• Breathe, directed by Andy Serkis (United Kingdom).
• The Catcher Was A Spy, directed by Ben Lewin (US).
• Darkest Hour, directed by Joe Wright (United Kingdom).
• Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, directed by Paul McGuigan (United Kingdom).
• Kings, directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (France/Belgium).
• Long Time Running, directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier (Canada).
• Mary Shelley, directed by Haifaa Al Mansour (Ireland/United Kingdom/Luxembourg/US).
• The Mountain Between Us, directed by Hany Abu-Assad (US).
• Mudbound, directed by Dee Rees (US).
• Stronger, directed by David Gordon Green (US).
• The Wife, directed by Bjorn Runge (United Kingdom/Sweden).
• Woman Walks Ahead, directed by Susanna White (US).

 

    Special Presentations

 

• Battle of the Sexes, directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (US).
• BPM (Beats Per Minute), directed by Robin Campillo (France).
• The Brawler, directed by Anurag Kashyap (India).
• The Breadwinner, directed by Nora Twomey (Canada/Ireland/Luxembourg).
• Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino (Italy/France).
• Catch the Wind, directed by Gael Morel (France).
• The Children Act, directed by Richard Eyre (United Kingdom).
• Disobedience, directed by Sebastian Lelio (United Kingdom).
• Downsizing, directed by Alexander Payne (US).
• A Fantastic Woman, directed by Sebastian Lelio (Chile).
• First They Killed My Father, directed by Angelina Jolie (Cambodia).
• The Guardians, directed by Xavier Beauvois (France).
• Hostiles, directed by Scott Cooper (US).
• The Hungry, directed by Bornila Chatterjee (India).
• I, Tonya, directed by Craig Gillespie (US).
• mother!, directed by Darren Aronofsky (US).
• Novitiate, directed by Maggie Betts (US).
• Omerta, directed by Hansal Mehta (India).
• Plonger, directed by Mélanie Laurent (France).
• The Price of Success, directed by Teddy Lussi-Modeste (France).
• Professor Marston & the Wonder Women, directed by Angela Robinson (US).
• The Rider, directed by Chloé Zhao (US).
• A Season in France, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (France).
• The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del Toro (US).
• Sheikh Jackson, directed by Amr Salama (Egypt).
• The Square, directed by Ruben Östlund (Sweden).
• Submergence, directed by Wim Wenders (France/Germany/Spain).
• Suburbicon, directed by George Clooney (US).
• Thelma, directed by Joachim Trier (Norway/Sweden/France/Denmark).
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (directed by Martin McDonagh (US).
• Victoria and Abdul, directed by Stephen Frears (United Kingdom)

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Courtney is a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic and the founder of Cinema Axis. He can frequently be heard discussing film as co-host of Frameline on Radio Regent. Courtney has contributed to several publications including Leornard Maltin, That Shelf, Black Girl Nerds, and Comix Asylum Magazine. He also celebrates diversity in cinema as co-hosts of the Changing Reels podcast and is a member of the Online Film Critics Society.
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