The Toronto International Film Festival is set to test whether the indie cinema business has rebounded amid the pandemic by screening 10 movies, including Steve Buscemi’s The Listener and Bill Pohlad’s Dreamin’ Wild, for buyers outside of its official selection.
International buyers will get an exclusive look via the new TIFF Industry Selects program at Buscemi’s latest film that stars Tessa Thompson as a young helpline volunteer amid the COVID-19 crisis, supporting people during their darkest hours.
Toronto is also teeing up Focus Features’ Dreamin’ Wild, which stars Casey Affleck and Zooey Deschanel in a musical biopic about the real-life story of musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson, whose family leveraged their farm in the 1970s to produce the brothers’ record Dreamin’ Wild.
Other acquisition titles for industry eyes only at TIFF include Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean, which stars Rosy McEwen; Icelandic director Hilmar Oddsson’s Driving Mum; the Hayley Law-starring genre pic Door Mouse by director Avan Jogia that was shot in northern Ontario; and Lofty Nathan’s Harka from Tunisia.
Toronto is also looking to spark possible bidding wars for Laura Mora’s Kings of the World; Kasia Roslaniec’s Salt Lake; and Iranian director Arian Vazirdaftari’s Without Her. Each of the ten titles will have an in-person screening during the festival for accredited buyers and industry professionals only.
“We’re delighted to present these director-driven and audience-engaging sales titles from around the world to international buyers who rely on our festival to strengthen their upcoming film slate,” Geoff Macnaughton, senior director, industry and theatrical at TIFF, said in a statement.
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