Bill Gates, Bruce Springsteen, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Michael Moore are among the guests who will engage in onstage discussions at the Toronto International Film Festival, the festival announced on Tuesday.
TIFF also announced more than 100 additions to its film lineup, including new films from directors Tom Tykwer, Hong Sangsoo, Vincent Gallo, Gregg Araki, Gareth Edwards, Catherine Breillat, Ken Loach and Jerzy Skolimowski.
The announcements included new films in TIFF’s Visions and Vanguard programs, 27 debuts in its Discovery series, ten films in the festival’s Masters program, and 45 new titles in its Contemporary World Cinema program.
The Mavericks program of onstage discussions will feature directors Apichatpong Weerasethakul (“Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”), Kelly Reichardt (“Meek’s Cutoff”) and Ken Loach and Paul Laverty (“Route Irish”) in conversation with Michael Moore; a panel on education with Bill Gates, Geoffrey Canada, “Waiting for ‘Superman’” director and producer Davis Guggenheim and Lesley Chilcott; a conversation with actor/director Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Jack Goes Boating,” pictured); professional basketball player Steve Nash, presenting his directorial debut with the documentary “Into the Wind”; and Bruce Springsteen, who will be interviewed about the new documentary “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town” by actor Edward Norton.
The Contemporary World Cinema lineup will include 45 international films, including Brent Hamer’s “Home for Christmas,” Peter Mullan’s “Neds,” Koen Mortier’s “22nd of May,” Iciar Bollain’s “Even the Rain” and Kim Tae-Yong’s “Late Autumn.”
The Visions lineup, devoted to “films from around the world by filmmakers who push the boundaries and challenge notions of mainstream cinema,” will include “The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu” by Andrei Ujica, “Moscow 11:19:31” by composer Michael Nyman; “Promises Written in Water” by Vincent Gallo; and “Brownian Movement” by Nanouk Leopold.
The Vanguard program, which chooses films that are “young and irreverent, always on the cutting edge,” will include “Pia Marais’ “At Ellen’s Age,” Tetsuya Naakashima’s “Confessions,” Adam Wingard’s “A Horrible Way to Die,” Gregg Araki’s “Kaboom” and Gareth Edwards’ “Monsters.”
The Discovery program, devoted to “up-and-coming filmmakers” from around the world, will include Oscar nominee Juanita Wilson’s “As If I Am Not There,” Max Winkleer’s “Ceremony,” with Uma Thurman, Abe Sylvia’s “Dirty Girl” with William H. Macy and Dwight Yoakam, and Julio Hernandez Cordon’s “Marimbas from Hell.”
The Masters program, made up of 13 films “from the world’s greatest filmmakers,” announced new work from Takashi Miike (“13 Assassins”), Jerzy Skolimowski (“Essential Killing”), Catherine Breillat (“The Sleeping Beauty”) and Ken Loach (“Route Irish”), among others.
TIFF also announced that guests at the festival will include Clint Eastwood, Danny Boyle, Robert Redford, Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, David Schwimmer, Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Hilary Swank, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman, Edward Norton and Bill Murray.
The complete Toronto lineup and schedule is available at tiff.net. [WARNING: As of Tuesday morning, the TIFF website appeared to be overloaded and was working sporadically at best.)
Individual press releases:
