The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, September 5 - 15, 2019) has announced the final titles for its 44th edition and will feature a number of high-profile German actors: Nina Hoss in two films, Sandra Hüller, Daniel Brühl, August Diehl and others. MY ZOE by Julie Delpy, CUNNINGHAM by Alla Kovgan and THE AUDITION by Ina Weisse will have their world premieres at the biggest festival in North America. Other films by German directors will have their North American premiere in Toronto after having previously premiered at the festivals in Berlin, Cannes or Venice.
Julie Delpy will be showing her latest film MY ZOE (DE/FR), as a world premiere in the TIFF Platform competitive section. The French director's drama presents a divorced mother trying to protect her daughter at all costs after an unexpected tragedy. The star cast is led by Delpy, Daniel Brühl, Gemma Arterton, and Richard Armitage, supported by outstanding German actors Jördis Triebel, Nicolette Krebitz and Nina Kunzendorf.
Ina Weisse's second feature film THE AUDITION (DE/FR) (
trailer) will be beginning its festival journey in the Discovery section at Toronto:
Anna Bronsky (Nina Hoss) works as a violin teacher at a music conservatory. Against her colleagues' wishes, she manages to get a pupil accepted whom she regards to be a great talent. She is absolutely dedicated as she starts preparing Alexander for the intermediate examination – and, by doing so, she not only neglects son Jonas, but also increasingly distances herself from her husband. Her colleague Christian, with whom she has an affair, talks her into playing in a quintet. When they play at a concert together, Anna is unable to withstand the pressure and breaks down. She drives her pupil Alexander to peak performance. But, on the day of the decisive intermediate examination, a major catastrophe occurs.
THE AUDITION will screen in San Sebastian's competition after the TIFF premiere.
PELICAN BLOOD (DE/BG) by Katrin Gebbe, starring Nina Hoss, will receive a Special Presentation. Gebbe's film is opening the Orizzonti sidebar at the Venice International Film Festival on 28 August.
The co-production
GUNS AKIMBO by Jason Lei Howden (DE/NZ), with Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe in the lead, has been programmed as a world premiere in the Special Presentations sidebar as well.
Alla Kovgan's documentary film CUNNINGHAM (DE/US/FR) about the exceptional dancer and choreographer of the same name celebrates its world premiere at TIFF Docs. The film, a 3-D experience, brings the legendary choreographies of Merce Cunningham – as danced by the last members of his famous company – back to life again.
The Wavelengths section is dedicated to "daring, visionary and autonomous voices".
Thomas Heise's much-acclaimed associative documentary HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME (DE/AT) has been programmed there. It was successful at the Berlinale and just won the
German Documentary Award. The short film NIMIC by Yorgos Lanthimos (DE/GB/US) is being shown in the Short Cuts section following its Locarno premiere. THE RAFT by Sylvain Cruiziat about the latest installation by performance artist Vittoria Hopkins is also being shown there as a world premiere. Berlinale winner Angela Schanelec will present her film I WAS AT HOME, BUT... (DE/RS) in the Masters section. This is also where festival-goers can see award-winning director
Terrence Malick's drama A HIDDEN LIFE (US/DE), a reflection on the life of Franz Jägerstätter, which had its world premiere in Cannes. And don't miss Berlinale Golden Bear winner SYNONYMS' North American premiere!
German Film critic Frédéric Jaeger is part of the FIPRESCI Jury, which selects the winning films for the critics awards in the sections Discovery and Special Presentations.
Not German productions but certainly of interest will be Justine Triet's Special Presentation SIBYL starring Sandra Hüller (TONI ERDMANN) as well as Alice Winocour's PROXIMA alongside Lars Eidinger, Eva Green and Matt Dillon. I will run to the world premiere of Taika Waititi's much anticipated Hitler parody JOJO RABBIT with high expectations and anxiety. The inimitable and ever prolific Udo Kier will appear in the comedy drama THE BAREFOOT EMPEROR as well as THE PAINTED BIRD, alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Harvey Keitel.
All of the German films and co-productions in Toronto 2019 can be found
here.
Watch this space for TIFF ticket raffles! Micro reviews to follow on Twitter during the festival.
source: German Films
image: THE AUDITION, courtesy TIFF
