Toronto film festival organisers are predicting Whiplash director Damien Chazelle’s new musical, La La Land, will be a major awards contender.
The film, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is part of this year’s lineup after a world premiere at the Venice film festival.
“La La Land is very strong, and it’s been getting a lot of attention in terms of its awards prospects,” said festival programmer Cameron Bailey. “I think it’s delightful and will do well.”
Festival CEO Piers Handling also said he believes La La Land will “rise to the top of the list”. Other films tipped by the pair include the gay drama Moonlight, which Bailey said will “become one of the top films of the year” and the Amy Adams thriller Arrival, which Handling called “a very feminist sci-fi film” that will surprise audiences.
But the film on the Toronto lineup that has got most people talking is the slavery drama The Birth of a Nation. The film, which premiered at Sundance in January, is making headlines after actor, writer and director Nate Parker’s rape accusation came to light, along with the suicide of his accuser.
Parker is expected to do press throughout the Toronto festival. Handling hopes the focus of interviews will be directed back to the movie. “It’s really sad in a way, because the film was extremely well-received in Sundance, and they held it for Toronto, hoping for a very strong awards launch into the season and now conversation has turned away from the film,” he said. “I don’t know whether two and a half weeks from now, when we screen [it], the conversation will have returned to the film or not. That’s impossible to predict at this stage of the game.”
Bailey said: “I think what we want at our festival every year is for people to pay attention to the films and then have whatever debate about the films that they choose to,. We don’t limit that conversation. We want people to express every possible view they may have about the film, so we hope it is about the films more than other things.”
There will also be a more diverse set of film-makers showcased in Toronto after recent festivals were criticised for failing to provide varied opportunities. “We’ve got our strongest representation of films directed by women,” said Bailey, noting that close to 30% of the films in the festival’s overall selection are in this category. “Not only are they directed by women,” he said, “but they’re telling very powerful stories about women that haven’t been seen on screen nearly enough.”
This year’s event comes months after increased security in Cannes due to concern about possible terrorist attacks. Handling says security plans have been reviewed in Toronto.
“Over the years, we have heightened our security, mostly behind the scenes, so the public do not notice,” he said. “This year, we did a revisit of our entire security plan from top to bottom. We’re very involved with all levels of police in the Toronto area, and we’re very aware of potential terrorist attacks. There will be bag checks in some cinemas and dogs on festival street.”
The Toronto film festival runs from 8-18 September.
