The Toronto International Film Festival will be much more “International†than “Toronto†this year because, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, many screenings, including all press and industry screenings, will be entirely virtual. On July 31, TIFF announced its 2020 programming slate, which has been reduced from the usual hundreds of films to 50 new features. The Spike Lee–directed film David Byrne’s American Utopia will be the opening-night presentation on September 10, and the festival will close with a screening of Mira Nair’s six-part drama series adaptation of the novel A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. Also in the lineup are new films from Werner Herzog, Chloe Zhao, and Frederick Wiseman and directorial debuts from Halle Berry and Regina King. “We began this year planning for a 45th festival much like our previous editions,†said the festival’s artistic director, Cameron Bailey, in a statement on its website, “but along the way we had to rethink just about everything. This year’s lineup reflects that tumult. The names you already know are doing brand new things this year, and there’s a whole crop of exciting new names to discover. We’re thankful to every filmmaker and company that joined us on this adventure, and we can’t wait to share these brilliant films with our audiences.†The Toronto International Film Festival will run from September 10 to September 19, and the schedule will be released on August 25.
180 Degree Rule, directed by Farnoosh Samadi
76 Days, directed by Hao Wu, Anonymous, Weixi Chen
Ammonite, directed by Francis Lee
Another Round (Druk), directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Bandar Band, directed by Manijeh Hekmat
Beans, directed by Tracey Deer
Beginning (Dasatskisi), directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili
The Best Is Yet to Come (Bu Zhi Bu Xiu), directed by Wang Jing
Bruised, directed by Halle Berry
City Hall, directed by Frederick Wiseman
Concrete Cowboy, directed by Ricky Staub
David Byrne’s American Utopia, directed by Spike Lee
The Disciple, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane
Enemies of the State, directed by Sonia Kennebeck
Falling, directed by Viggo Mortensen
The Father, directed by Florian Zeller
Fauna, directed by Nicolás Pereda
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds, directed by Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer
Gaza Mon Amour, directed by Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Get the Hell Out (Tao Chu Li Fa Yuan), directed by I-Fan Wang
Good Joe Bell, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
I Care A Lot, directed by J Blakeson
Inconvenient Indian, directed by Michelle Latimer
The Inheritance, directed by Ephraim Asili
Lift Like a Girl (Ash Ya Captain), directed by Mayye Zayed
Limbo, directed by Ben Sharrock
Memory House (Casa de Antiguidades), directed by João Paulo Miranda Maria
MLK/FBI, directed by Sam Pollard
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, directed by Joel Bakan, Jennifer Abbott
New Order (Nuevo Orden), directed by Michel Franco
Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois), directed by Philippe Lacôte
Nomadland, directed by Chloé Zhao
No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt
Notturno, directed by Gianfranco Rosi
One Night in Miami, directed by Regina King
Penguin Bloom, directed by Glendyn Ivin
Pieces of a Woman, directed by Kornél Mundruczó
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Felkészülés Meghatározatlan Ideig Tartó Együttlétre), directed by Lili Horvát
Quo Vadis, Aïda?, directed by Jasmila Žbanić
Shadow In the Cloud, directed by Roseanne Liang
Shiva Baby, directed by Emma Seligman
Spring Blossom, directed by Suzanne Lindon
A Suitable Boy, directed by Mira Nair
Summer of 85 (Été 85), directed by François Ozon
The Third Day, directed by Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly
Trickster, directed by Michelle Latimer
True Mothers (Asa Ga Kuru), directed by Naomi Kawase