New films from Kenneth Branagh and Edgar Wright have been announced as part of this year’s Toronto film festival.
The festival, which is typically seen as a major launchpad for films aiming for Oscars, will return to an in-person iteration this year after last year’s was mostly online as a result of the pandemic.
Branagh’s new film Belfast, which he directed and wrote, is a semi-autobiographical tale about a working-class family in the late 60s starring Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench. “It’s about coming home – a dramatic journey of excitement, emotion and humour,” Branagh said.
Wright’s eagerly anticipated thriller Last Night in Soho is the story of a young woman who encounters a portal that takes her to 1960s London. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie and the late Diana Rigg.
“I always like to gravitate towards making a film in genres I miss, and there’s a certain type of psychological horror film that you got more in the 60s and 70s that have something of an operatic nature,” Wright said to Empire. “I’m using that kind of visual grammar.”
The two films were announced as part of a limited initial lineup consisting of just nine titles. Other premieres include The Starling, a drama starring Melissa McCarthy, and Lakewood, a thriller starring Naomi Watts. There will also be documentaries about the singers Dionne Warwick and Alanis Morissette.
While in-person screenings and events will return, a digital component will remain for those unable to physically attend. “We are confident in our planning for a return to in-person screenings as part of Tiff as both the province and country accelerate vaccination rollout,” said Peter Nord, the festival’s consultative partner on health and safety for the pandemic.
“Canada’s first-dose immunization rate has surpassed the US, and recently reached the best rates in the world.”
Next month sees a return for the Cannes film festival with major premieres including Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and Sean Penn’s Flag Day while this year’s Venice film festival is set to see the first screening of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.
