Move over Reitmans.
The father and son team who are usual home-country heroes at the Toronto Film Festival may have competition this year from fellow famous Canadians, the Sutherlands. Donald and Kiefer’s father-and-son Western “Forsaken” gets a top shelf timeslot, but it may be younger brother Rossif Sutherland who emerges as the festival darling.
Rossif, a 36-year-old Princeton grad who does not do Cuervo commercials like his “24” actor sibling, stars in two exotic foreign locale thrillers, “Hyena Road” and “River.”
In addition to the Sutherlands, the flow of talent in and around TIFF will be strong end to end.
To orient you towards the social scene in Toronto, here are the top invites and parties at TIFF 2015 from The Party Report’s Mikey Glazer.
Bungalow 8
Thompson Hotel, Saturday and Sunday of opening weekend, 11 p.m.-late.
This is the spot. Amy Sacco and our old friend from L.A. Grace Fernandez reissue the festival favorite. A few years ago, Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender celebrated the early returns for “12 Years a Slave” here, asking Amy & Co. to open up for a private celebration a night early.
*White Tie Alert*
Diana Ross Performs at Heidi Klum and James Franco‘s AMBI Gala Supporting Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Four Seasons Hotel, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.
24 hours before the NFL and TIFF kick-off on the same night, a big bash precedes the official festivities. Martin Short hosts and Diana Ross will sing (yes, sing) at this white tie fundraiser, so pack an additional set of festival formals. Mischa Barton and Michael Madsen are also on the host committee, and behind the scenes, Toronto (and Canada’s) hookup to Hollywood Shinan Govani is helping raise the bucks.
Soho House and Grey Goose’s Revolving Door of Awesome, throughout the festival
192 Adelaide St West
There is not actually a revolving door a the Toronto Soho, but the private club will churn film heavyweights, awards contenders, and the faces that line the cover photo at the top of this column (see above).
It’s a hot corner at Adelaide and University. Your L.A. or NYC membership is valid up north, but not for the private party rooms. Here is what you will be missing upstairs (or in some cases, downstairs.)
Soho and Grey Goose host the after- party for Saturday night’s main event “Miss You Already” (Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, directed by Catherine Hardwicke).
Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams will toast to “Spotlight,” the ripped from the headlines “urgent procedural” of the Boston Globe’s investigation of child molestation within the Massachusetts Catholic Church, on Monday, Sept. 14. It’s a subject that warrants a bone dry martini or four.
Also on the opening Monday, Susan Sarandon‘s turn as “The Meddler,” a doting mom in L.A. getting on with J.K. Simmons will celebrate. It’s Lorene Scafaria‘s new film, who debuted “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” which landed at TIFF back in 2008.
Bag on head or not, Shia LaBeouf‘s “Man Down” will head here after headlining Tuesday night in Roy Thompson Hall. Kate Mara is also in the post-apocalypse drama, but she should be enroute to L.A. shortly after for next Thursday’s premiere of Comedy Central 80’s cartoon, “Moonbeam City”.
After the festival belches out the first wave of industry back to L.A., the hot cast of Lena Dunham, Diane Kruger and “Walking Dead’s” Norman Reedus will keep the block hot when they celebrate “Sky” on Wednesday, Sept. 16. In a nod more Cannes than Ontario, Chanel co-hosts this for their spokesperson Kruger.
Nikki Beach
Spoke Club, 600 King St West
For the 7th year in a row, Nikki Beach is popping up inside the Spoke Club (set your Uber accordingly), taking over several floors and the rooftop from Thursday-Sunday.
Patria
478 King St. West, throughout the festival
“The Theory of Everything” started its run to the Oscars with a hot party here last year. The year before, Harvey hustled here, making an overnight deal for what became “Begin Again.” It’s also a “Feed Your Boss” level restaurant the other 51 weeks of the year for assistants in the T.O.
On Friday, September 11, Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul‘s moralistic killer drone drama “Eye in the Sky,” will take over the Spanish eatery.
The next night, Elle Fanning, her on-screen mom Naomi Watts, and on-screen grandmother Susan Sarandon will party for “About Ray,” a timely teenage gender identity story. As Audi gears up back here in L.A. as a Television Academy partner for the Emmys, their Canadian counterparts will be hosting these bashes.
HFPA and InStyle TIFF Party
Windsor Arms Hotel, Saturday, Sept. 12
If you are invited, go. This is a must hit. It is the rare cross-film, cross-studio, talent and filmmaker gathering from the people who know how to throw a great bash, the Hollywood Foreign Press. Frank Rea designed the night, and the invite suggests it will be heavy on Swarovski crystals.
“Trumbo”
Private location withheld by request, Saturday, Sept. 12
Bryan Cranston has the buzz for his eponymous portrayal of the Hollywood blacklist victim, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. The U.S and Canadian distributors (Bleecker Street and EOne, respectively) along with Hudson Bay are tag-teaming this bash on Saturday night.
Participant Media
Sunday night, Sept. 13
Patria, 478 King St. West
Participant is a socially conscious company, but they also have socially superlative parties. (Peruse back through prior Party Report columns for the goods.) They will celebrate all five of their festival entries while many of us are at a Rosh Hashanah Shofar concert.
Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult: “Equals”
LDN HSE (pronounced “London House”), Sunday night, Sept. 13
Kristen Stewart could still draw a buzz if she were to make the trip, which is ironic since the film is about an emotionless dystopia. Director Drake Doremus‘ (“Like Crazy”) feature is not a British production, though Knight Commander of the British Empire Ridley Scott is a producer.
The LDN HSE is an alliance of Film London, British Film Commission and “This is Great Britain.”
*Property Brothers Bash*
Technically: “The Producer’s Ball” Benefitting TIFF
The Royal Ontario Museum, Friday, Sept. 11, 9:30 p.m.
These guys wear kilts to the Emmys. They also throw this event to honor their off-camera decision making colleagues — producers. The HGTV stars have a production company with a third rarely seen Scott brother, and donate proceeds from this annual event directly to TIFF.
Credit Suisse and Tina Brown Honor Jeremy Irons
Four Seasons, Wednesday, Sept. 16
This invite only gathering of 250 is a dinner and conversation with Tina the night before Irons and Dev Patel‘s “The Man Who Knew Infinity” premieres at Roy Thompson Hall. Expect to see a lot of Jeremy Irons around the festival.
“The Final Girls”
Trump Hotel, Friday, Sept. 18
“The Final Girls” is almost the “final” film of the festival. As Emmy weekend will already be mid-tempo back in L.A. this film about the trope of the final teen beauty surviving to the end of classic horror films will party at a now-loaded locale — the Trump hotel.
For additional bookings, updates, and to send invites, contact the columnist Mikey Glazer here.