'Demolition'
with Jake Gyllenhaal to launch 40th Toronto film
festival
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[July 29, 2015]
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO (Reuters) - The
Toronto International Film Festival will kick off its
40th year with the world premiere of Canadian director
Jean-Marc Vallee's "Demolition", starring Jake
Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts, organizers said on Tuesday.
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The festival, a frequent launch pad for Oscar contenders,
announced some 50 of the hundreds of films it will showcase
between Sept. 10 and 20.
"Demolition" follows the unraveling of a successful investment
banker after the death of his wife. It is the latest from Vallee,
who won wide acclaim with his "Dallas Buyers Club".
Other movies making their world premieres include Ridley Scott's
"The Martian", starring Matt Damon, and Stephen Frears' "The
Program", with Ben Foster and Dustin Hoffman, which tracks the
rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.
Making his return to screen after more than five years is
Oscar-winning documentary director Michael Moore with "Where to
Invade Next".
Peter Sollett's "Freeheld", starring Julianne Moore and Ellen
Page, is based on the true story of a lesbian couple's struggle
for equal rights after one is diagnosed with cancer and wishes
to leave her pension to her partner.
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Organizers said they have tweaked last year's controversial
format of excluding films during Toronto's high-profile opening
weekend that have already been screened at the more intimate,
industry-focused Telluride festival.
This year the limitation is that films shown at the three
red-carpet venues during the first four days must be world or
North American premieres. This allows moviegoers to catch buzzy
films already shown elsewhere at other venues during the opening
days.
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"We've been consulting with filmmakers and film companies over the
last several months," said Artistic Director Cameron Bailey. "We've
come up with what we think is the best approach, and everyone that
we've talked to in the film community has been happy with it."
The Toronto event, ranked among the world's top film festivals, has
grown dramatically from its launch in 1976, when some 80 films
screened in five theaters. It was Canada's only major film festival
then. Today, some 350 films are showcased in more than 25 theaters.
The festival's top prize, the People's Choice Award, is voted on by
festival attendees. The 1999 winner, "American Beauty", was the
first to eventually win a Best Picture Oscar, and helped the
festival generate greater attention. Six of the last seven audience
favorites became Best Picture nominees or winners, including "Slumdog
Millionaire", "The King's Speech" and "12 Years a Slave".
(Editing by Peter Galloway)
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