Advertisement
Culture

TIFF 2012: 17 galas, 45 special presentations and a lot of star power at this year’s festival

TIFF 2012: 17 galas, 45 special presentations and a lot of star power at this year’s festival

This morning, TIFF CEO Piers Handling and Artistic Director Cameron Bailey announced TIFF 2012’s opening night gala, galas and special presentations. The big surprise? Genre film Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, is opening the festival, and not Midnight’s Children as some had hoped. It appears that TIFF is continuing to have fun by “mixing things up,” evidenced by the fact that in the last two years, TIFF has opened with hockey musical Score: The Musical (2010) and U2 rock doc From The Sky Down (2011). But besides the surprising opening night gala, there’s a lot to be excited about, including the star power that could be coming through Toronto this September.

Jump to: Opening Night Gala | Galas | Special Presentations

Opening Night Gala

Looper (U.S.) Director: Rian Johnson Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis

Galas

A Royal Affair (Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic and Germany) Director: Nikolai Arcel Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander

Advertisement

Argo (U.S.) Director: Ben Affleck Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston

The Company You Keep (U.S.) Director: Robert Redford Starring: Robert Redford, Shia LaBoeuf

Dangerous Liaisons (China) Director: Hur Jin-ho Starring: Cecelia Cheung, Dong-gun Jang, Zhang Ziyi

English Vinglish (India) Director: Gauri Shinde Starring: Sridevi

Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (U.S. and France) Director: Shola Lynch Starring: Angela Davis

Great Expectations (U.K.) Director: Mike Newell Starring: Holliday Grainger, Ralph Fiennes

Advertisement

Hyde Park on Hudson (U.K.) Director: Roger Michell Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney

Inescapable (Canada) Director: Ruba Nadda Starring: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei

Jayne Mansfield’s Car (U.S. and Russia) Director: Billy Bob Thornton Starring: Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon

Love, Marilyn (U.S.) Director: Liz Garbus Featuring: Elizabeth Banks, Lindsay Lohan, Evan Rachel Wood, Ben Foster, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, Ellen Burstyn, Adrien Brody, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close

Midnight’s Children (Canada and U.K.) Director: Deepa Mehta Starring: Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Ronit Roy

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (U.S.) Director: Mira Nair Starring: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Liev Schreiber

Advertisement

Silver Linings Playbook (U.S.) Director: David O. Russell Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker

Thermae Romae (Japan) Director: Hideki Takeuchi Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Aya Ueto

Twice Born (Italy, Spain and Croatia) Director: Sergio Castellitto Starring: Penelope Cruz, Emile Hirsch

UPDATE: On August 14, TIFF announced three additional galas:

Song for Marion (UK) Director: Paul Andrew Williams Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arterton

Emperor (Japan/USA) Director: Peter Webber Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox

Advertisement

What Maisie Knew (USA) Director: Scott McGehee and David Siegel Starring: Joanna Vanderham, Onata Aprile, Alexander Skarsgård, Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan

Click to see the 45 special presentations at TIFF 2012 »

Special Presentations

A Few Hours of Spring (France) Director: Stéphane Brizé Starring: Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Seigner

Anna Karenina (U.K.) Director: Joe Wright Starring: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

At Any Price (U.K. and U.S.)| Director: Ramin Bahrani Starring: Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron

The Attack (France) Director: Ziad Doueiri Starring: Ali Suliman, Evgenia Dodena, Reymond Amsalem

Advertisement

Byzantium (U.K.) Director: Neil Jordan Starring: Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley, Saoirse Ronan

Capital (France) Director: Costa-Gavras Starring: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne

Caught in the Web (Japan and China) Director: Chen Kaige Starring: Mark Chao, Chen Hong, Gao Yuanyuan

Cloud Atlas (U.S.) Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski Starring: Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant

The Deep (Iceland and Norway) Director: Baltasar Kormákur Starring: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jóhann G. Jóhannsson

Dormant Beauty (Italy and France) Director: Marco Bellocchio Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Toni Servillo, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Riondino, Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Brenno Placido, Fabrizio Falco

Advertisement

Dreams for Sale (Japan) Director: Nishikawa Miwa Starring: Matsu Takako, Abe Sadavo and Tanaka Lena

End Of Watch (U.S.) Director: David Ayer Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña

Everybody Has A Plan (Argentina) Director: Ana Piterbarg Starring: Viggo Mortensen

Foxfire (France and Canada) Director: Laurent Cantet Starring: Ali Liebert, Tamara Hope

Frances Ha (U.S.) Director: Noah Baumbach Starring: Greta Gerwig

Ginger and Rosa (U.K.) Director: Sally Potter Starring: Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks, Annette Bening, Alessandro Nivola

Advertisement

Hannah Arendt (Germany) Director: Margarethe von Trotta Starring: Janet McTeer, Barbara Sukowa

The Hunt (Denmark) Director: Thomas Vinterberg Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp

The Iceman (U.S.) Director: Ariel Vromen Starring: Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, David Schwimmer, Michael Shannon, Ray Liotta

Imogene (U.S.) Directors: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman Starring: Annette Bening, Matt Dillon, Darren Criss, Kristen Wiig

The Impossible (Spain and U.S.) Director: J.A. Bayona Starring: Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Ewan McGregor

In the House (France) Director: François Ozon Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas

Advertisement

Kon-Tiki (United Kingdom, Norway and Denmark) Directors: Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg

The Last Supper (China) Director: Lu Chuan

A Late Quartet (U.S.) Director: Yaron Zilberman Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener

A Liar’s Autobiography—The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman (United Kingdom) Directors: Ben Timlett, Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson, Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland, Philip Bulcock

Lore (Australia, U.K. and Germany) Director: Cate Shortland Starring: Saskia Rosendahl and Kai Malina

Advertisement

Mister Pip (New Zealand) Director: Andrew Adamson Starring: Hugh Laurie

Much Ado About Nothing (U.S.) Director: Joss Whedon Starring: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg, Jillian Morgese, Nathan Fillion, Spencer Treat Clark and Riki Lindhome

No (Chile and U.S.) Director: Pablo Larrain Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal

Outrage Beyond (Japan) Director: Takeshi Kitano

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (U.S.) Director: Stephen Chbosky Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Nina Dobrev, Melanie Lynskey, Paull Rudd and Dylan McDermott

The Place Beyond the Pines (U.S.) Director: Derek Cianfrance Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes

Advertisement

Quartet (U.S.) Director: Dustin Hoffman Starring: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins

Reality (Italy and France) Director: Matteo Garrone Starring: Aniello Arena, Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone, Nello Iorio and Nunzi Schiano

Rust and Bone (France and Belgium) Director: Jacques Audiard Starring: Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts

The Sapphires (Australia) Director: Wayne Blair Starring: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell

The Sessions (U.S.) Director: Ben Lewin Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy

Tai Chi 0 (China) Director: Stephen Fung

Advertisement

Thanks for Sharing (U.S.) Director: Stuart Blumberg Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad and Joely Richardson

The Time Being (U.S.) Director: Nena Cicin-Sain Starring: Wes Bentley and Frank Langella

To The Wonder (U.S.) Director: Terrence Malick Starring: Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams Venus and Serena (U.S.) Director: Maiken Baird Starring: Venus and Serena Williams

Writers (U.S.) Director: Josh Boone Starring: Liana Liberato, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins and Kristen Bell

Zaytoun (U.K. and Israel) Director: Eran Riklis Starring: Stephen Dorff

Advertisement

UPDATE: On August 14, TIFF announced 18 additional special presentations:

Arthur Newman (USA) Director: Dante Ariola Starring: Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Anne Heche

Bad 25 (USA) Director: Spike Lee Interviewees include: Mariah Carey, L.A. Reid and Sheryl Crow

Disconnect (USA) Director: Henry Alex Rubin Starring: Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård and Max Theriot, as well as Jonah Bobo, Colin Ford and Haley Ramm.

Do Not Disturb (France) Director: Yvan Attal Starring: François Cluzet and Charlotte Gainsbourg

Greetings from Tim Buckley (USA) Director: Dan Algrant Starring: Imogen Poots and Penn Badgley

Advertisement

Lines of Wellington (Portugal) Director: Valeria Sarmiento Starring: John Malkovich, Nuno Lopes, Soraia Chaves, Marisa Paredes and Victoria Guerra

Love is All You Need (Denmark) Director: Susanne Bier Starring: Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm

On The Road (France/Brazil) Director: Walter Salles Starring: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst

Passion (France/Germany) Director: Brian De Palma Starring: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Karoline Herfurth and Paul Anderson

Rhino Season (Iraqi Kurdistan/Turkey) Director: Bahman Ghobadi, Starring: Behrouz Vossoughi, Monica Bellucci and Yilmaz Erdoğan

Spring Breakers (USA) Director: Harmony Korine Starring: Selena Gomez, James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens and Heather Morris

Advertisement

The Master (USA) Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Starring: Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Dern

The Paperboy (USA) Director: Lee Daniels Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, David Oyelowo and Zac Efron

The Son Did It (Italy/France) Director: Daniele Ciprì Starring: Toni Servillo, Giselda Volodi, Alfredo Castro and Fabrizio Falco

The Suicide Shop (France/Belgium/Canada) Director: Patrice Leconte Starring: Bernard Alane, Isabelle Spade, Kacey Mottet Klein, Isabelle Giami and Laurent Gendron

Thérèse Desqueyroux (France) Director: Claude Miller Starring: Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier

White Elephant (Argentina/Spain) Director: Pablo Trapero Starring: Martina Gusman, Ricardo Darin and Jérémie Renier

Advertisement

Yellow (USA) Director: Nick Cassavetes Starring: Sienna Miller, Gena Rowlands, Ray Liotta, David Morse, Lucy Punch, Max Theoriot, Riley Keough, Daveigh Chase, Heather Wahlquist and Melanie Griffith

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

Quality Trash: Meet director Ron Oliver, Hallmark’s king of schmaltz
Deep Dives

Quality Trash: Meet director Ron Oliver, Hallmark’s king of schmaltz