Toronto Film Festival Adds ‘Transparent’ Premiere, Conversations With Jonathan Demme and Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Five TV shows will debut in the Primetime section, while Demme, Isaacs and others will highlight the TIFF Industry Conference

Transparent Amazon Jeffrey Tambor

The Emmy-winning series “Transparent” will premiere the first three episodes of its new season at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the festival’s Primetime program, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.

The section, which was launched in Toronto last year, is devoted to adventurous television programming. “The new nimbleness of storytelling formats and multiple viewing platforms has sparked an unprecedented level of innovation and experimentation in the TV world, inspiring an explosion of narratives and new ways of connecting with global audiences,” said TIFF Primetime programmer Michael Lerman in a statement announcing the lineup.

The festival also announced its TIFF Industry Conference slate, which will include appearances by directors Jonathan Demme, Steve James, Mira Nair and Raoul Peck, actors Sandra Oh and Freida Pinto, producer Michael London, Weinstein Company COO David Glasser and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

In Toronto’s Primetime section, Jill Soloway‘s “Transparent” will present the world premiere of the first three episodes from Season 3. TIFF will also showcase two episodes of the British series “Black Mirror,” in which Bryce Dallas Howard, Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw star in stand-alone episodes about contemporary technology and the paranoia it creates.

Other programs in the section are “Tuko Macho,” a Kenyan crime thriller about a terrorist cell, and “Wasteland,” a Czech mystery miniseries set in a small coal-mining village.

The final entry, which was previously announced, is “nirvanna the band the show,” Matt Johnson’s adaptation of his web series about a struggling Canadian rock band.

The TIFF Industry Conference, a seven-day event that takes place during the film festival, will include Moguls conversations with Cheryl Boone Isaacs, David Glasser and Olsberg-SPI Chairman Jonathan Olsberg.

Guests in Toronto’s Master Class section include directors Doug Liman, Mira Nair and Feng Xiaogang, along with a performance from Canadian composer Mark Korven.

The Dialogues program will include panels about Brexit’s influence on the UK film industry, European co-productions, online monetizing and marketing, gender and diversity problems and the relationship between Hollywood and China.

The TIFF Doc Conference is a day-long event that will include a keynote conversation entitled “Race and History” with director Raoul Peck, along with other panels about the intersection of VR and documentary filmmaking, the editing of Werner Herzog‘s films and the investigation of true-crime stories.

Panels will also be devoted to director Jonathan Demme, who is at the festival with his performance film “Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids,” and Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), who brings his new film “ABACUS: Small Enough to Jail” to TIFF.

Another series of panels will be devoted to short films.

The 2016 Toronto International Film Festival will run from Sept. 8-18.

The new programs:

PRIMETIME

“Black Mirror,” created by Charlie Brooker; directed by Owen Harris and Joe Wright, United Kingdom/South Africa (World Premiere)
The Festival presents two “Black Mirror” episodes: “San Junipero” and “Nosedive.”

“Transparent,” created by Jill Soloway; directed by Jill Soloway and Silas Howard, USA (World Premiere)
The Festival presents “Transparent” Season 3, Episodes 1, 2 and 3.

“Tuko Macho,” created and directed by Jim Chuchu, Kenya
The Festival presents two episodes of “Tuko Macho.”

“Wasteland” (“Pustina”), created by Štěpán Hulík; directed by Ivan Zachariáš and Alice Nellis, Czech Republic (World Premiere)
The Festival presents all eight episodes of the miniseries “Wasteland.”

Previously announced:
“nirvanna the band the show,” created by Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, Canada (World Premiere)
The Festival presents three episodes from season 1 of “nirvanna the band the show.”

TIFF INDUSTRY CONFERENCE PROGRAMMING

MOGULS
Onstage conversations with:
Cheryl Boone Isaacs (President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences)
David Glasser (President & COO, The Weinstein Company)
Jonathan Olsberg (Chairman, Olsberg-SPI)

MASTER CLASS
Guests include:
Doug Liman (“Invisible”)
Mira Nair (“Queen Of Katwe”)
Feng Xiaogang (“I Am Not Madame Bovary”)
Mark Korven (“The Witch”) with a live musical performance

THE GUARDIAN TIFF TALKS
Q&A sessions with some of the most notable actors and directors at the festival, interviewed by The Guardian’s editorial team.

DIALOGUES
Brexit & UK Film Industry: What Happens Now?
Panelists:
• Isabel Davis (Head of International, British Film Institute)
• Kattie Kotok (EVP – US Productions, British Film Commission)
• Robbie Allen (Senior Screen Executive, Creative Scotland)
• Jeremy Kay (US Editor, Screen Daily) – Moderator

Evolving borders: Co-Productions & Europe
Panelists:
• Roberto Olla (Executive Director, Eurimages)
• Ilann Girard (CEO, Arsam Inc.)
• Claudia Steffen (Producer and Managing Director, Pandora Film Produktion GmbH)
• James Hickey (Chief Executive, Irish Film Board)
• Laufey Guojónsdóttir (Director, Icelandic Film Center)
• James Weyman (Producer, Barn 12 Inc.) – Moderator

Know Your Film: New Online Tools for Monetizing and Marketing
Panelists:
• Rene Bastian (CEO, Cinelytic)
• Sajid Qureshi (CEO, Showbizzee)
• Nick Soares (CEO, GoDigital Inc.)
• Stephen Follows (Producer & Researcher, Catsnake) – Moderator

Women at the Helm: Because it’s 2016!
Panelists:
• Anna Serner, (CEO, Swedish Film Institute)
• Carolle Brabant (Executive Director, Telefilm)
Freida Pinto (Board Member, We Do It Together)
• Sally Caplan (Head of Production, Screen Australia)
• Stephen Follows (Producer & Researcher, Catsnake)
• Rina Fraticelli (Executive Director, Women In View) – Moderator

Diversify! Where Untapped Talent Meets Opportunity
Panelists:
• Tamir Muhammad (Director, Content & Artist Development, Time Warner Inc.)
• Peter Knegt (Producer, CBC Arts)
• Moira Griffin (Senior Manager of Diversity Initiatives, Sundance Institute)

Where Do All the Indies Go?
Panelists:
• Tom Alexander ( Director, Theatrical Releasing, Mongrel Media)
• Clare Binns (Programming and Acquisitions Director, Picturehouse)
• Olivier Gauthier-Mercier (Director, Distribution Sales, Elevation Pictures)
• Fred Joubaud (Director, International Sales & Digital Acquisitions, Tricon Films & Television)

The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem
Panelists:
• Caroline Suh (Director, Executive Producer, “The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem”)
• Stacy Smith, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, University of Southern California)
• Laura Michalchyshyn (Executive Producer, “The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem”)
• Stacey Offman (Executive Producer, “The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem”)
• Heather Webb (Executive Director, WIFT-TORONTO) – Moderator

The Dream Team: Directors, Casting Directors, and Actors
Panelists:
• Tamara Hunter (Vice President of Casting, Sony Pictures)
• Onur Tukel (Director/Writer, “Catfight”)
Sandra Oh (Talent, “Catfight”)
• Stephanie Holbrook (Casting Director, Stephanie Holbrook Casting)

Unconventional Voices
Panelists:
• Dash Shaw (Director/Writer, “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea”)
• Onur Tukel (Director/Writer, “Catfight”)
• Rachel Lambert (Director/Writer, “In The Radiant City”)

Nigerian Cinema 2016: At the Forefront
Panelists:
• Mo Abudu (Producer, “The Wedding Party”)
• Funa Maduka (Content Strategist)
• Tope Oshin (Director / Producer, Sunbow Productions NG)
• Wendy Mitchell (Programme Manager, Film Team, British Council)
• Aboubakar S. Sanogo (Assistant Professor Film Studies, Carleton University)

Pathways and Protocols – Collaborating with Indigenous Communities
Panelists:
• Zacharias Kunuk (Director, “Maliglutit” /(“Searchers”))
• Jonathan Frantz (Producer, “Maliglutit” /(“Searchers”))
• Penny Smallacombe (Head of Indigenous, Screen Australia)
• Jason Ryle (Artistic Director, imagineNATIVE)
• Jesse Wente (Director Film Programmes, TIFF)

East Finances West: China & North America
Panelists:
• George Nolfi (Director, “Birth of The Dragon”)
•  Michael London (Producer, “Birth of The Dragon”)
• Hong Pang (CEO, Kylin Pictures)
• Johnny Ma (Director/Writer, “Old Stone”)
• Patrick Frater (Asia Editor, Variety)
• James H. Pang (CEO, Kylin Pictures)

VR/360: Creative Concept Meets Practical Design
Panelists:
• Thomas Wallner (Founder / CEO, DEEP Inc.)
• Aaron Weintraub (Senior Visual Effect Supervisor, Mr X Inc.)
• Ryan Cummins (Virtual Reality Supervisor, Legend)
• Randall Okita (Director, Lockpicker Productions)

VR/360: Mapping Sustainable Business Models
Panelists:
• David Dexter (Operations and Business Development Lead, Sheridan College | SIRT)
• Will Maurer, (VP, Business Development, 2D VFX & VR, Legend)
• Wendy Bernfeld (Founder/Managing Director, Rights’ Stuff Bv) – Moderator

DOC CONFERENCE

Race and History: A Conversation with Raoul Peck

Filming in Exile
“In Exile” Director Tin Win Naing, and Producers Yasmin C. Rams and Rodney Charles

Documentary Meets Virtual Reality
VR experts J. Lee Williams (President, Occupied VR), Ana Serrano (Chief Digital Officer, CFC), Sebastian Sylwan (Visual Effects and Digital Media Technology Executive, Felix & Paul Studio), and Nyla Innuksuk (Partner, Pinnguaq Productions)

Editing with Herzog: A Conversation with Joe Bini

Documenting In Real Time: A Conversation with Steve James

Cinematic Storytelling in the Mobile and Social Age
Great Big Story Executive Producer Courtney Coupe, Creative Director Ben Whitla, and Director of Content/Development Matt Drake

The Art of Performance: A Conversation with Jonathan Demme

Inside True Crime

SHORT CUTS DIALOGUES

SHORT CUTS The Journey of a Short Film – Year One
Panelists:
• Martin Edralin (Director, “Emma”)
• Benoit Blanchard (Sales Agent, UNIFRANCE)
• Ania Trzebiatowska (Manager of Acquisitions, Visit Films)
• Inga Diev (General Manager, Ouat Media)
• Amotz Zakai (VP Management, Echo Lake Entertainment)

SHORT CUTS Case Studies: Transitioning to Features
Panelists:
• Ashley McKenzie (Director, “Werewolf”)
• Kevan Funk (Director, “Hello Destroyer”)

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