2021 Toronto International Film Festival: ‘Dune,’ ‘Belfast,’ ‘Last Night in Soho,’ Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged’ among official selection [TIFF]

Erik Anderson June 23, 2021

The 46th Edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will take place September 9–18, 2021

The Toronto International Film Festival announced the first set of films that will appear at this year’s festival including Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast starring Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench, Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, HBO’s Alanis Morissette documentary Jagged and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune in a special screening.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will kick off on September 9 with 10 days of international and Canadian cinema with over 100 films in its Official Selection, events featuring industry guests, and TIFF’s Industry Conference. Recognized as the world’s largest public film festival, TIFF is poised to bring the theatrical experience back to life and continue its reputation as both a leader in amplifying under-represented cinematic voices and a bellwether for programming award-winning films from around the globe.

The first twelve films announced as part of the the Festival’s Official Selection for 2021 are: Le Bal des Folles directed by Mélanie Laurent (France) from Amazon Studios, Benediction, directed by Terence Davies (United Kingdom) from Bankside Films, Belfast, from director Kenneth Branagh (United Kingdom) from Focus Features, Charlotte, directed by Eric Warin and Tahir Rana (Canada/Belgium/France) from Elevation Pictures and MK2 Mile End, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, directed by Dave Wooley, David Heilbroner (USA), The Guilty by director Antoine Fuqua (USA) from Netflix, HBO’s Jagged, documentary on iconic Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, directed by Alison Klayman (USA), Lakewood, directed by Philip Noyce (Canada), Last Night in Soho, directed by Edgar Wright (United Kingdom) from Focus Features, Night Raiders, directed by Danis Goulet (Canada/New Zealand) from Elevation Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films, Petite Maman, directed by Céline Sciamma (France) from Elevation Pictures and NEON and The Starling by director Theodore Melfi (USA) from Netflix.

The rest of the lineup of over 100 films will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Festival’s Gala and Special Presentations presented by Visa, will be announced on July 20. Films selected for TIFF’s programmes — Contemporary World Cinema presented by Sun Life, Discovery, TIFF Docs presented by A&E Indie Films, Midnight Madness, Primetime, and Wavelengths — will be announced July 28. TIFF Short Cuts and the Platform Programme will be announced August 11.

Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will screen as a World Exclusive IMAX Special Event at the Cinesphere Theatre at Ontario Place. The film, based on Frank Herbert’s seminal novel and featuring an impressive all-star ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson and Charlotte Rampling, will be showcased in Toronto and Montreal, in partnership with Warner Bros. Canada and venue partner Cineplex. Dune, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is in theaters nationwide this October.

The Festival’s public digital experience is presented by Bell, with film screenings on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox
available across Canada. In Conversation With…talks and interactive Q&A sessions with actors and creators will
be hosted on TIFF Bell Digital Talks, available worldwide. To increase the accessibility of the Festival, all films
screened digitally will be closed-captioned.

The 46th edition will return to in-person screenings at some of its most prominent venues, including TIFF’s signature Bell Lightbox theater, Roy Thomson Hall and Princess of Wales Theatre.

“Canada’s first-dose immunization rate has surpassed the U.S., and recently reached the best rates in the world,” said Dr. Peter Nord, TIFF’s consultative partner on health and safety for the pandemic. “As of today in Toronto, more than 75% of adults have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 25% have received their second dose. We fully anticipate that by the time the festival arrives, all Ontarians will have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. Public health indicators, such as hospitalizations, ICU occupancy, and case rates indicate that we’re on the right — and safe — path to fully reopening. In addition, audiences will confidently be able to enjoy in-cinema screenings by maintaining a safe physical distance and wearing a mask.”

“We are so proud of the calibre of the films and the diversity of the stories we will be presenting this year,” said Joana Vicente, TIFF Executive Director and Co-Head. “It is so powerful to be able to share these films with Festival-goers in theatres. And while the world is definitely moving towards a degree of normalcy, many of our industry and press colleagues may not be able to travel across international borders. In response, we have brought back the TIFF Digital Cinema Pro platform that will host Press & Industry screenings, the Industry Conference, press conferences, as well as the TIFF Industry Selects market. We believe that digital access is an important part of providing accessibility to audiences and will be vital to the future of film festivals. This inclusivity across all our offerings helps to ensure that, no matter where you are located, you can participate in the Festival.”

Dune photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.