As a slew of Oscar hopefuls and certified A-listers head to the Toronto Film Festival, the red carpets and Hollywood social circuit is along for the ride. For the next week, Drake’s hometown will earn its nickname, “Hollywood North.”
As the TIFF social circuit peaks on the opening weekend, this cross-studio, cross-film mashup over champagne and flashbulbs rules the social circuit.
Moving beyond the inherent gloss of getting Nicole Kidman, Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, James Franco, Brie Larson, Elisabeth Moss and more Oscar contenders for the Class of 2018 together for the first time, the HFPA will also do what it does best (besides throwing a great party): give out awards.
HFPA members will bestow voted awards on two short films from TIFF’s Canadian Top Ten Section.
AT&T and DirecTV Restaurant and Lounge at Momofuku Saturday Sept. 9 – Tuesday, Sept. 12
Momofuku Toronto
This private hospitality space was a hit at the Village at the Lift at Sundance. Now, it comes to Toronto offering talent and tastemakers hosted seated lunches and a select group of film parties. Film soirees with Alicia Vikander, Emma Roberts, Ellen Page and “Westworld” star Evan Rachel Wood are on the docket.
“Breath” Party Marben
Sunday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m.
“The Mentalist,” Simon Baker, makes his directorial feature film debut.
“Call Me By Your Name” Nordstrom Supper Supper Suite at STK Toronto
Thursday, Sept. 7, 10 p.m.
Jessica Chastain, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Rachel McAdams and Diane Kruger are amongst the names expected poolside. The host is trying to shed the festival trope of stuffy junket rooms. Instead, this rooftop complex is known for killer views above King Street West.
IMDb Dinner and STARmeter Award Party Brassaii Restaurant Monday, Sept. 11
Film nerd heaven returns for its unofficial quarterly film festival meet-up. At each IMDb festival dinner, leading film critics, analysts, and a few on-screen talents converge at founder Col Needham’s events to comprise a muscular guest list. Landing after the busy opening weekend, there will be lots of fresh cinema to carve up.
The Creative Coalition’s Spotlight Initiative Awards Nordstrom Supper Supper Suite at STK Toronto
Saturday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.
Zach Quinto, Jason Biggs and Julianne Nicholson are slated to present awards to talent at the festival, including the team behind “Who We Are Now.”
12 Hottest TIFF Movies for Sale, From 'Hostiles' to Tonya Harding Drama (Photos)
Though it's not as robust as the annual Sundance Film Festival market or populous as Cannes' Marche du Film, TIFF is a pedigreed springboard for solid indies. Here are this year's hottest films for sale.
"I, Tonya" [UTA / CAA / Miramax] Arguably the hottest title for sale at TIFF 2017, producer-star dynamo Margot Robbie offers up a drama about U.S. Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding and her notorious involvement in the beating of teammate Nancy Kerrigan before the 1994 Olympics. Buyers are dying to see this one.
TIFF
"The Children Act" [CAA / FilmNation] Richard Eyre’s drama has an attractive cast in the firebrand Emma Thompson (who wouldn’t buy this movie simply for the joy of watching her promote it?) and Stanley Tucci, reunited after the recent box office smash “Beauty and the Beast.” The film is an adaptation of Ian McEwan’s same-named novel, about a British judge asked to intervene when a minor refuses a blood transfusion over his religious beliefs.
TIFF
"The Cured" [WME] High-brow horror is hard to do, but a category critics and select audiences adore for delivering chills without the tackier conventions of the genre. “The Cured” would certainly check that box, thanks to a clever and unsettling premise: A portion of the population became zombies but were cured. They suffer extreme judgment in a recovering society for, well, eating other people.
TIFF
"Hostiles" [CAA / WME] Christian Bale reunites with his "Out of the Furnace" director Scott Cooper for this gritty Western -- already putting Bale in the Oscar conversation after an earlier festival debut. Rosamund Pike, Ben Foster and Jesse Plemmons co-star.
TIFF
"Submergence" [UTA] Perhaps the dreamiest trio at TIFF, auteur Wim Wenders will offer up a romance between Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy. The former plays a deep-sea researcher, the latter a water engineer, attempting to connect across continents and oceans while a civil war rages.
TIFF
"Mom and Dad" [CAA / XYZ] Giving a fabulous middle finger to helicopter parents, Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair star in writer-director Brian Taylor's super-dark comedy about a 24-hour hysteria that sees parents attempt violence against their own children.
TIFF
"Papillon" [CAA] Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek star in a remake of the 1973 thriller that starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman -- where two men plot an escape from a prison island.
TIFF
"Three Christs" [CAA / Highland Film Group] Jon Avnet sets about the ambitious task of creating both a black comedy and a film that gets mental illness right. Richard Gere stars as a doctor treating three paranoid schizophrenics (Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins, Bradley Whitford) who all believe they are Jesus Christ.
TIFF
"My Days of Mercy" [UTA / WME] This politically charged gay love story pits Kate Mara and Ellen Page against each other on two sides of a capital punishment debate. It also brings them together romantically. Trivia: The official TIFF festival guide labels Page a "powerhouse Canadian," which just makes us smile.
TIFF
"Eating Animals" [CAA] Natalie Portman produces this well-received doc about the horrors of meat consumption based on a memoir by Jonathan Safran Foer.
TIFF
"Marrowbone" [CAA / Lionsgate] Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez makes his directorial debut in a buzzy, supernatural thriller about four children orphaned by the loss of their mother. The lost brood take refuge in an abandoned house only to find sinister forces lurking there.
TIFF
"Woman Walks Ahead" [CAA] Jessica Chastain and Michael Greyeyes lead this substantive drama about New York artist Catherine Weldon, who became the trusted confidante of legendary Sioux chief Sitting Bull.
TIFF
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Toronto film market has awards bait, high-brow horror and sweaty Charlie Hunnam
Though it's not as robust as the annual Sundance Film Festival market or populous as Cannes' Marche du Film, TIFF is a pedigreed springboard for solid indies. Here are this year's hottest films for sale.