TIFF 2016 adds Leo DiCaprio's The Turning Point, Blair Witch sequel
Docs on The Stooges, Jane Jacobs, Amanda Knox among newest additions
Leonardo DiCaprio's climate change documentary The Turning Point will join films examining Amanda Knox, The Stooges and Jane Jacobs at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, which has also added the Blair Witch sequel and star-studded late-70s crime thriller Free Fire to its bill.
Organizers shared more details about this fall's programming on Tuesday, outlining a fresh batch of titles set for the festival's diverse documentary, thrilling Midnight Madness, boundary-pushing Vanguard and international short film lineups.
DiCaprio teams with Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor Fisher Stevens for The Turning Point, a call to action about what society must do to combat climate change and protect endangered species, ecosystems and native communities worldwide.
- DiCaprio's Oscar speech cringe-worthy for some advocates of climate change action
- Leonardo DiCaprio rips Big Oil 'greed' at Davos business leaders forum
Other notable doc titles include:
- The 6th Beatle: the story of early Beatles promoter Sam Leach, the fellow working-class Liverpudlian who championed the group before being replaced by Brian Epstein.
- Amanda Knox: a fresh exploration into the case of the American twice convicted and twice acquitted of killing her British roommate in Italy.
- Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary: the story of the innovative jazz legend.
- Citizen Jane: Battle of the City: a portrait of the legendary urban activist, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday this year.
- Gimme Danger: Jim Jarmusch's chronicle of seminal rock band The Stooges.
- Into the Inferno: Werner Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer's examination of volcanos around the globe.
Free Fire — the anticipated crime thriller starring Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley and Armie Hammer — will open Midnight Madness, the festival's program of high-octane, over-the-top genre and horror films.
Its lineup will also include Adam Wingard's sequel film Blair Witch, the Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe crime thriller Dog Eat Dog, and Morgan Spurlock's "horror documentary" Rats.
The cult favourite program will close with an epic Japanese horror movie match-up in Sadako vs. Kayako, which pits the demonic villains of The Ring and The Grudge against each other.
TIFF's Vanguard program includes several titles with prominent casts, including:
- The Bad Batch, described as "a savage dystopian cannibal fairy tale" and starring Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey.
- Buster's Mal Heart, starring Rami Malek of Mr. Robot fame.
- Secondary school tale My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, by comic writer/artist Dash Shaw and starring John Cameron Mitchell, Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, Maya Rudolph and Susan Sarandon.
TIFF also revealed the classic films to be revisited in this year's Cinematheque program, including screenings to mark the 30th anniversary of Jonathan Demme's cult comedy Something Wild, the 10th anniversary of Guillermo del Toro's evocative monster tale Pan's Labyrinth and the western One-Eyed Jacks, Marlon Brando's sole film as a director.
The 2016 Toronto International film Festival takes place Sept. 8-18.