46th Toronto International Film Festival Official Selection and Special Presentations

Dates: Thursday, 9 Sep 2021 – Saturday, 18 Sep 2021

Location: Toronto, TIFF Bell Lightbox 

The 46th annual Toronto International Film Festival begins on September 9 to 18, 2021. And following the strict protocol for the control and prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it will be a "hybrid" of physical and digital screenings of both the official selection and special presentations and for other programmes.

The opening film is "Dear Evan Hansen" by Stephen Chbosky, an  adaptation of the Tony-winning musical of the same title.

“This film is ultimately about healing, forgiveness, and reaffirms how connected and essential we all are to one another. We couldn’t think of a more important idea to celebrate this year as we come together once again to share the power and joy of cinema in theaters together," said Cameron Bailey, the Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF.

The closing film is "One Second" by Zhang Yimou.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA

Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Wen Shipei)

The Box (La Caja) (Lorenzo Vigas)

Costa Brava, Lebanon (Costa Brava) (Mounia Akl)

The Daughter (La Hija) (Manuel Martín Cuenca)

The Hill Where the Lionesses Roar (Luaneshat e kodrës) (Luàna Bajrami)

Întregalde (Radu Muntean)

Kicking Blood (Blaine Thurier)

La Soga 2 (Manny Perez)

Maria Chapdelaine (Sébastien Pilote)

Medusa (Anita Rocha da Silveira)

Murina (Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović)

Nobody Has to Know (Bouli Lanners)

The Odd-Job Men (Sis dies corrents) (Neus Ballús)

The Other Tom (El otro Tom) (Rodrigo Plá)

OUT OF SYNC (Tres) (Juanjo Giménez)

Terrorizers (Ho Wi Ding)

Unclenching The Fists (Kira Kovalenko)

Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas) (Edwin)

The Wheel (Steve Pink)

Whether the Weather is Fine (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon) (Carlo Francisco Manatad)

DISCOVERY

Aloners (Hong Sung-eun)

Anatolian Leopard (Anadolu Leoparı) (Emre Kayış)

A Banquet (Ruth Paxton)

Dug Dug (Ritwik Pareek)

As In Heaven (Du som er i himlen) (Tea Lindeburg)

Farha (Darin J. Sallam)

The Game (Ana Lazarevic)

Learn To Swim (Thyrone Tommy)

Lo Invisible (Javier Andrade)

Paka (River of Blood) (Nithin Lukose)

Quickening (Haya Waseem)

Scarborough (Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson)

Snakehead (Evan Jackson Leong)

To Kill The Beast (Agustina San Martín)

Tug of War (Vuta N’Kuvute) (Amil Shivj)i

Wildhood (Bretten Hannam)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Ali & Ava (Clio Barnard)

 All My Puny Sorrows (Michael McGowan)

Benediction (Terence Davies)

Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve)

Charlotte (Eric Warin, Tahir Rana)

Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over (Dave Wooley, David Heilbroner)

Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

Encounter (Michael Pearce)

 The Guilty (Antoine Fuqua)

I’m Your Man (Maria Schrader)

Inexorable (Fabrice du Welz)

Lakewood (Phillip Noyce)

 The Middle Man (Bent Hamer)

Official Competition (Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat)

Paris, 13th District (Jacques Audiard)

Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)

The Starling (Theodore Melfi)

The Story of My Wife (Ildikó Enyedi)

Three Stories (Nanni Moretti)

Violet (Justine Bateman)

The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)

GALA PRESENTATIONS

Opening Night Film: Dear Evan Hansen (Stephen Chbosky)

Closing Night Film: One Second (Zhang Yimou)

Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)

Clifford the Big Red Dog (Walt Becker)

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Will Sharpe)

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Michael Showalter)

Jagged (Alison Klayman)

Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright)

The Mad Women’s Ball (Mélanie Laurent)

Night Raiders (Danis Goulet)

The Survivor (Barry Levinson)

Chad and Morocco in Official Selection of the 74th Annual Cannes Film Festival

Chad and Morocco in Official Selection of the 74th Annual Cannes Film Festival

Two films by African filmmakers are in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or, the most coveted award of the annual Cannes Film Festival in France 

In competition is "Lingui,” by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who was the  Minister of Tourism, Culture and Crafts of Chad from February 5, 2017 to February 8, 2018. He is well known for his award winning films, including "Bye, Bye Africa", winner of the Best Film Prize at the 1999: annual Venice Film Festival; "Daratt", winner of the Special Jury Prize at the  2006 annual Venice Film Festival and the Yennenga bronze stallion and Best Photo Award at 2007 FESPACO; "A Screaming Man", winner of the Jury Prize at the 2010 annual Cannes Festival and the Robert Bresson Prize at the Venice Film Festival (awarded by the Catholic Church).

The second film is "Casablanca Beats" (Hauts et forts) by Nabil Ayouch, the first by a Moroccan filmmaker to qualify for the competition of the Official Selection of the annual Cannes Film Festival. The  74th annual Cannes Film Festival, is from July 6 to 17, 2021.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor, NOLLYWOOD MIRROR ® Series.

Official Selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival

Official Selection of 2021 Cannes Film Festival

The 74th annual  Cannes Film Festival will take place from July 6-17, 2021 in France, celebrating the triumph of the human spirit over the unforeseen circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unbreakable vision of the cinema. 

French director Leos Carax's long-awaited musical film Annette will serve as the opening film of the festival. The Official Selection is scheduled to be announced June 3, 2021. Americana actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster, will be awarded the Honorary Palme d'Or.

COMPETITION

“Ahed’s Knee” OR “Ha’berech,” Nadav Lapid (Israel) 

“Annette,” Leos Carax (France) — OPENING FILM

"Benedetta,” Paul Verihoeven (Netherlands) 

“Bergman Island,” Mia Hansen-Løve (France) 

“Casablanca Beats,” Nabil Ayouch (Morocco) 

“Compartment No. 6” OR “Hytti Nro 6,” Juho Kuosmanen (Finland) 

“Drive My Car,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (France) 

“Everything Went Fine” OR “Tout s’est bien passé,” Francois Ozon (France) “Flag Day,” Sean Penn (U.S.) 

“France,” Bruno Dumont (France)

 “The French Dispatch,” Wes Anderson (U.S.) 

“A Hero,” Asghar Farhadi (Iran) 

“La fracture,” Catherine Corsini (France) 

“Lingui,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad) 

 “Memoria,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) 

 “Nitram,” Justin Kurzel (Australia) “Paris, 13th District” OR “Les Olympiades,” Jacques Audiard (France) “Petrov’s Flu,” Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia) 

“Red Rocket,” Sean Baker (U.S.) 

 “The Restless” OR “Les Intranquilles,” Joachim Lafosse (Belgium) 

 “The Story of My Wife,” Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary) 

 “Three Floors” OR “Tre Piani,” Nanni Moretti (Italy) 

 “Titane,” Julia Ducournau (France) “The Worst Person in the World,” Joachim Trier (Norway) 

UN CERTAIN REGARD 

“After Yang,” Kogonada (U.S.) 

 “Blue Bayou,” Justin Chon (U.S.) “Bonne Mère,” Hafsia Herzi (France) “Commitment Hasan,” Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey) 

“Freda,” Gessica Généus (Haiti) 

“Gaey Wa’r,” Na Jiazuo (China) 

"Great Freedom,” Sebastian Meise (Austria) 

“House Arrest” OR “Delo,” Alexey German Jr. (Russia) 

“The Innocents,” Eskil Vogt (Norway) “La Civil,” Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania-Belgium) 

“Lamb,” Valdimar Jóhansson (Iceland) “Let There Be Morning,” Eran Kolirin (Israel) 

“Moneyboys,“ C.B. Yi (Austria) “Noche de Fuego,” Tatiana Huezo (Mexico) 

“Rehana Maryam Noor,” Abdullah Mohammad Saad (Bangladesh) “Unclenching the Fists,” Kira Kovalenko (Russia) 

“Un Monde,” Laura Wandel (Belgium) “Women Do Cry,” Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria) OUT OF COMPETITION “Aline, the Voice of Love,” Valerie Lemercier (France) “Bac Nord,” Cédric Jimenez (France) “Emergency Declaration,” Han Jae-Rim (S. Korea “Peaceful” OR “De son vivant,” Emmanuelle Bercot (France) “Stillwater,” Tom McCarthy (U.S.) 

"The Velvet Underground,” Todd Haynes (U.S.) 

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS 

“Bloody Oranges,” Jean-Christophe Meurisse (France) 

SPECIAL SCREENINGS 

“Babi Yar. Context,” Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine) 

“Black Notebooks,” Shlomi Elkabetz (Israel) 

“H6,” Yé Yé (France)

"Mariner of the Mountains” OR “O Marinheiro das Montanhas,” Karim Aïnouz (Brazil) 

“The Year of the Everlasting Storm,” Jafar Panahi (Iran), Anthony Chen (Singapore), Malik Vitthal (U.S.), Laura Poitras (U.S.), Dominga Sotomayor (Chile), David Lowery (U.S.) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) 

CANNES PREMIERE

“Cow,” Andrea Arnold (U.K.) “Deception” OR “Tromperie,” Arnaud Desplechin (France) 

“Evolution,” Kornél Mundruczo (Hungary) 

"Hold Me Tight,” Mathieu Amalric (France) 

“In Front of Your Face,” Hong Sang-soo (S. Korea) 

"Jane by Charlotte,” Charlotte Gainsbourg (France) 

"JFK Revisted: Through the Looking Glass,” Oliver Stone (U.S.) 

"Love Songs for Tough Guys,” Samuel Benchetrit (France) 

"Mothering Sunday,” Eva Husson (France) 

“Val,” Ting Poo and Leo Scott (U.S.)

Nigerians Report News Video Coverage of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival

Official Selection 2009 Cannes Film Festival

• À L'ORIGINE (IN THE BEGINNING) directed by Xavier GIANNOLI
• ANTICHRIST directed by Lars VON TRIER
• BAK-JWI (THIRST) directed by PARK Chan-Wook
• BRIGHT STAR directed by Jane CAMPION
• CHUN FENG CHEN ZUI DE YE WAN (Spring Fever) directed by LOU Ye
• DAS WEISSE BAND (THE WHITE RIBBON) directed by Michael HANEKE
• ENTER THE VOID directed by Gaspar NOÉ
• FISH TANK directed by Andrea ARNOLD
• INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) directed by Quentin TARANTINO
• KINATAY directed by Brillante MENDOZA
• LES HERBES FOLLES (WILD GRASS) directed by Alain RESNAIS
• LOOKING FOR ERIC directed by Ken LOACH
• LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS (BROKEN EMBRACES) directed by Pedro ALMODÓVAR
• MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO directed by Isabel COIXET
• TAKING WOODSTOCK directed by Ang LEE
• THE TIME THAT REMAINS directed by Elia SULEIMAN
• UN PROPHÈTE (A PROPHET) directed by Jacques AUDIARD
• VENGEANCE directed by Johnnie TO
• VINCERE directed by Marco BELLOCCHIO
• VISAGE (FACE) directed by TSAI Ming-Liang

Members of the Jury


President of the Jury is French actress, Isabelle Huppert.