The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the first selections in its two highest-profile programs, Gala and Special Presentations. The 46th edition of the fest will include offerings from Mia Hansen-Løve, Céline Sciamma, and Danis Goulet, among others.
So far, 11 Gala titles have been unveiled, and three are helmed by women, or about 27 percent of the slate. The program includes Goulet’s “Night Raiders,” a dystopian sci-fi story about a Cree woman, Mélanie Laurent’s “The Mad Women’s Ball” (“Le Bal des folles”), a portrait of a woman who is institutionalized in a Paris asylum and plotting her escape, and Alison Klayman’s “Jagged,” a documentary about iconic Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette.
Twenty-one films are currently set to screen in the Special Presentations lineup, and six of them are directed by women, accounting for about 29 percent of the program. Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island,” the story of an American couple who visit a Swedish island to work on screenplays for their respective upcoming films, will make its International Premiere in the section. Céline Sciamma’s “Petite Maman” and Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava” are also part of the slate. The former is a drama about an eight-year-old girl who loses her beloved grandmother and the latter is romance that focuses on a single mother and teaching assistant’s romance with a DJ/landlord.
TIFF runs from September 9-18. Check out all of the women-directed titles screening in the Gala and Special Presentations programs, including Ildikó Enyedi’s latest, below. Overall, 28 percent of the features are directed by women. List adapted from TIFF.
GALA PRESENTATIONS 2021
*previously announced
*Jagged Alison Klayman | USA
World Premiere
*The Mad Women’s Ball (Le Bal des folles) Mélanie Laurent | France
World Premiere
*Night Raiders Danis Goulet | Canada/New Zealand
North American Premiere
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2021
*previously announced
Ali & Ava Clio Barnard | United Kingdom
North American Premiere
Bergman Island Mia Hansen-Løve | France
International Premiere
I’m Your Man Maria Schrader | Germany
North American Premiere
*Petite Maman Céline Sciamma | France
Canadian Premiere
The Story of My Wife Ildikó Enyedi | Hungary/Germany/Italy/France
North American Premiere
Violet Justine Bateman | USA
International Premiere
