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2024 Toronto International Film Festival
49th edition of Canadian film festival From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 5–15, 2024.[1]
The festival opened with David Gordon Green's film Nutcrackers, and closed with Rebel Wilson's directorial debut film The Deb.[2]
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Key programming announcements
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The first programming announcements were released on June 18, 2024.[3] A second batch of films was announced on July 9,[4] and the opening and closing galas were announced on July 16.[2] Full program announcements began on July 22, with the gala and special presentations lineups announced that day and several other programs announced over the course of that week.[5] The full festival schedule, including numerous late additions, was announced on August 13.[6] In addition to new and current films, the schedule included anniversary special event screenings of Damien Chazelle's Whiplash and Mina Shum's Double Happiness.[7]
Nutcrackers marked the first time that an acquisitions title not already attached to a commercial distributor opened the festival since Creation launched the 2009 edition.[8] Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail linked this choice to the festival's announcement earlier in the year that it plans to launch a full film market in 2026, suggesting that it signaled an effort by the festival to play an active role in helping the film to secure a distribution deal and thus demonstrate the business case for the market project.[8]
The choice of The Deb as closing film was effectively leaked a few days earlier than the official announcement, when Wilson posted a video to her Instagram account to accuse the film's producers of having tried to block the film's premiere at TIFF.[9]
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Awards
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Tribute Awards
The TIFF Tribute Awards recipients included David Cronenberg as recipient of the Norman Jewison Award, and Amy Adams as a recipient of the performer award.[10] Actor Jharrel Jerome was also honoured in the performance category, and actress Zhao Tao received a special tribute award.[11]
Cate Blanchett was the recipient of the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award for women who have made a positive difference in the film industry.[12] Angelina Jolie was the recipient of the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.[13]
Mike Leigh received the Director Award, Camille Dalmais and Clément Ducol received the Variety Artisan Award, and Durga Chew-Bose received the Emerging Talent Award.[14]
Regular awards
Awards for films, including the People's Choice Award, were announced at the conclusion of the festival.[15] The awards program included a return of the Best Canadian Discovery Award, previously presented by the festival as "Best Canadian First Feature" until being discontinued after the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[16]
Award juries
- Platform: Atom Egoyan, Hur Jin-ho, Jane Schoenbrun[17]
- Best Canadian Feature Film and Best Canadian Discovery: Estrella Araiza, Chelsea McMullan, Randall Okita[16]
- Short Cuts: Luis De Filippis, Micah Kernan, Shane Smith[16]
- NETPAC: Hannah Fisher, Vilsoni Hereniko, Kerri Sakamoto[16]
- FIPRESCI: Li Cheuk-to, Pierre-Simon Gutman, Azadeh Jafari, Saffron Maeve, Wilfred Okiche[16]
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Events
In Conversation with... events were held featuring Cate Blanchett, Zoe Saldaña, Steven Soderbergh, and Hyun Bin and Lee Dong-wook.[18]
Official selections
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Galas
The following films were selected to the Gala Presentations section:[5]
Special Presentations
The following films were selected to the Special Presentations section:[5]
Special Events
Centrepiece
The Centrepiece program was announced on August 6.[19]
TIFF Docs
Documentaries were announced on August 7.[20] One late addition, Alexis Bloom's The Bibi Files, was added to the program just a few days before the festival opened.[21]
The film Russians at War was pulled from the festival following protests accusing it of being Russian propaganda whitewashing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a characterization which the film's producers and TIFF organizers denied.[22] According to CEO Cameron Bailey, "In emails and phone calls, TIFF staff received hundreds of instances of verbal abuse. Our staff also received threats of violence, including threats of sexual violence."[23] TIFF subsequently proceeded with a screening on September 17, outside of the festival dates.[24]
Discovery
The Discovery program lineup was announced on July 24.[25]
Platform
The Platform Prize program lineup was announced on July 23.[17] The jury comprised filmmakers Atom Egoyan, Hur Jin-ho and Jane Schoenbrun.[17]
Midnight Madness
The Midnight Madness program lineup was announced on July 25.[26]
Primetime
Primetime selections were announced on August 9.[27]
The public premiere of The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal was followed by a public singalong of the Tragically Hip songs "Ahead by a Century", "Bobcaygeon" and "Grace, Too", led by Choir! Choir! Choir!, as part of the Festival Street activities.[28]
Short Cuts
Short Cuts selections were announced on August 9.[29]
Wavelengths
Wavelengths selections were announced on August 8.[30]
TIFF Classics
Classics selections were announced on August 8.[30]
Festival Street
Free outdoor screenings of classic films with thematic or production connections to films in the main festival program at David Pecaut Square.
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Film market
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With the launch of a full film market having been announced for 2026, the 2024 festival included a larger selection than previous years of films that were screened for film buyers and all industry professionals at the festival, but not open to the general public.[31] This included a mixture of films that had yet to be released at all, and films that had already been released in other countries but had not yet secured distribution in North America.
Industry Selects
Market Screenings
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Canada's Top Ten
The festival's annual Canada's Top Ten list, selecting the ten best Canadian feature and short films of the year, was announced on January 8, 2025.[32]
Feature films
- 40 Acres — R. T. Thorne
- Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story — Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
- Can I Get a Witness? — Ann Marie Fleming
- Matt and Mara — Kazik Radwanski
- Paying for It — Sook-Yin Lee
- Rumours — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
- Seeds — Kaniehtiio Horn
- Shepherds (Bergers) — Sophie Deraspe
- The Shrouds — David Cronenberg
- Universal Language — Matthew Rankin
Short films
- Are You Scared to Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? — Bec Pecaut
- EarthWorm — Phillip Barker
- Inkwo for When the Starving Return — Amanda Strong
- Julian and the Wind — Connor Jessup
- Maybe Elephants — Torill Kove
- Mercenaire — Pier-Philippe Chevigny
- On a Sunday at Eleven — Alicia K. Harris
- One Day This Kid — Alexander Farah
- perfectly a strangeness — Alison McAlpine
- Who Loves the Sun — Arshia Shakiba
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References
External links
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