Julia Roberts TV Series ‘Homecoming’ to World Premiere at Toronto Film Festival

Festival also announces TIFF Industry Conference, with participants including Taika Waititi, Werner Herzog, Dr. Stacy L. Smith and Sergei Loznitsa

Homecoming Julia Roberts
"Homecoming" / Amazon

The Amazon series “Homecoming,” starring Julia Roberts and directed by “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail, will have its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.

“Homecoming,” a psychological thriller created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, is one of the five series that will be included in the festival’s Primetime program, which is devoted to TV from around the world.

Also included in the Toronto Primetime program: “Sorry for Your Loss,” a Facebook Watch series created by Kit Steinkellner and directed by James Ponsoldt, Jessica Yu and Allison Anders; the French sci-fi series “Ad Vitam,” directed by Thomas Cailley; the Asian horror anthology series “Folklore: A Mother’s Love & Pob,” from showrunner Eric Khoo; and Daniel Syrkin’s Israeli comedy “Stockholm.”

Toronto also announced some of the participants in its TIFF Industry Conference, a six-day event that will include panels, workshops and master classes.

The TIFF Master Classes will include interviews with New Zealand director and comedian Taika Waititi, Canadian filmmaker Tantoo Cardinal and Chinese actor-director Jiang Wen.

The TIFF Moguls program will include a panel on equity in film criticism that will feature inclusion rider author Dr. Stacy L. Smith and African American Film Critics Association president Gil Robertson, with moderator Franklin Leonard.

Other speakers will include producer Nina Yang Bongiovi, National Association of Theatre Owners CEO John Fithian, Oscar-winning production designer Paul Austerberry and directors Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier.

Among the participants in the 10th anniversary program of the TIFF Doc Conference will be directors Werner Herzog, Sergei Loznitsa and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril.

The TIFF Industry Conference will take place from September 7 through 12, while the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival will run from September 6 through 16.

The TIFF Primetime program:

“Ad Vitam,” France, 2 episodes
Director: Thomas Cailley

“Folklore: A Mother’s Love & Pob,” Indonesia/Thailand/Singapore, 2 episodes
Showrunner: Eric Khoo
Directors: Joko Anwar, Pen-ek Ratanaruang

“Homecoming,” USA, 4 episodes
Showrunners: Eli Horowitz, Micah Bloomberg
Director: Sam Esmail

“Sorry For Your Loss,” USA, 4 episodes
Showrunner: Lizzy Weiss
Creator: Kit Steinkellner
Directors: James Ponsoldt, Jessica Yu, Allison Anders

“Stockholm,” Israel, 4 episodes
Writer: Noa Yedlin
Director: Daniel Syrkin

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