‘The Woman King,’ Historical Epic With Viola Davis, to Premiere at Toronto Film Festival

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe Match Factory will launch sales on the debut film by Ehab Tarabieh, “The Taste of Apples Is Red,” at the Toronto Film Festival, where the film will be premiering in the Discovery section. Tarabieh’s previous short films have won several prizes, including Best Short Film at Doha Tribeca Festival for “The Forgotten” (2012) and a nomination for a European Academy Award for “Smile and the World Will Smile Back” (2015).

Wilson Chapman editorGet ready to crank up that polka music. “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” the upcoming Roku original film starring Daniel Radcliffe as the beloved parody musician, will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.The film will screen Sept. 8, TIFF’s opening night, as the first film in the festival’s annual Midnight Madness programming series.

Wilson Chapman editor“Emily,” a biopic starring Emma Mackey as “Wuthering Heights” writer Emily Brontë, will have its world premiere through Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform program, the festival announced Wednesday.Platform, which was established in 2015 and is named after the 2000 film by Jia Zhang-ke, screens eight to 12 films from a diverse range of global filmmakers with rising careers. After the screenings, the Platform Prize, an award of $20,000 CAD, is given to one film selected by an international jury.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe Locarno Film Festival’s artistic director, Giona A. Nazzaro, has rejected calls to ban Leon Prudovsky’s “My Neighbor, Adolf,” which world premieres Aug. 4 in Locarno’s Piazza Grande, after a controversy was sparked regarding its funding.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

The Toronto International Film Festival is back this year.

“The Swimmers”, a movie about two sisters fleeing Syria, will be the opening night gala presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Sanaa Lathan’s On the Come Up will be hitting Paramount+ on Friday, September 23 in U.S., Canada, Italy and later in the year in offshore territories.

Sally El Hosaini’s Netflix movie The Swimmers will be making its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival as the opening-night film on September 8 at Roy Thomson Hall.

Naman Ramachandran Sally El Hosaini’s refugee drama “The Swimmers” will open the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.The film follows the journey made by swimming sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini who fled as refugees from war-torn Syria all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.In 2015, after their house was destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, the Mardini sisters decided to flee the country. They made their way to Lebanon and then Turkey, where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece by dinghy.

In a nice change of pace, the Toronto International Film Festival has announced many of its world premieres over the past few weeks instead of one traditional deluge. There is Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans,” Michael Grandage’s “My Policeman” with Harry Styles, Clement Virgo’s “Brother,” “Bros” written and starring Billy Eichner, Sanaa Lathan’s “On The Come Up,” and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” with Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu.

Video: Kevin Feige open to Ryan Gosling playing Ghost Rider (Cover Video)IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jason Momoa involved in motorcycle accidentKeke Palmer shuts down Zendaya comparisonsKevin Feige unveils roadmap to Avengers: Secret Wars at Comic-ConEurovision 2023 will be held in the UKKate Moss explains decision to testify in Johnny Depp defamation trialVictoria Beckham channels Spice Girls days during karaoke nightMichelle Pfeiffer reacts to Britney Spears calling her 'a freaking God'Hailey Bieber wins copyright lawsuit over skincare line nameKate Moss felt 'sick and angry' over 2005 drug scandalBrad Pitt ordered to give documents to Angelina Jolie in legal battle over French wineryJason Momoa involved in motorcycle accidentTV's highest-paid stars' salaries revealedPat Benatar will no longer sing 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' because of gun violenceNEWS OF THE WEEK: Anya Taylor-Joy reportedly marries boyfriend Malcolm in secretNEWS OF THE WEEK: Chrissy Teigen celebrates one year of sobrietyNEWS OF THE WEEK: Sylvester Stallone slams Rocky producer Irwin Winkler over ownership rights "I am honoured and thrilled that Don't Worry Darling will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival," she began, reports Deadline. "When we dreamed of making this movie, we imagined Venice as our ultimate goal, and we can hardly believe it's really happening! "From our cast - led by the formidable Florence Pugh and Harry Styles - to the design of this world and the kinetic cinematography, the film was crafted for viewing in the collective setting of the theatrical experience.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaChinonye Chukwu’s “Till” will world premiere at the 60th New York Film Festival.The announcement comes on what would have been the late Emmett Till’s 81st birthday, as the country is remembering the impact that Till’s 1955 abduction, torture and lynching had in drawing attention to the brutality and persecution of African Americans in the United States. “Till” stars Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till Mobley and Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till.

Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans, the director’s semi-autobiographical movie based on his own family and upbringing, will world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. The 47th edition of TIFF runs September 8-18.

Manori Ravindran International EditorThe Belfast Film Festival has named Variety film critic Jessica Kiang and Rose Baker as its new programmers, and has also launched an inaugural feature competition.Kiang and Baker will serve as the creative leads for this year’s BFF, which runs from Nov. 3-12.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“My Policeman,” a historical drama with Harry Styles,” will have its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The move signals that the Amazon Studios release has some awards season ambitions. Styles is also appearing in “Don’t Worry Darling,” another Oscar hopeful that is hitting theaters this fall after working the festival circuit.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA marathon screening of all three “Infernal Affairs” films has been announced for the much delayed 46th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.The three films, all restored and upgraded to 4K digital prints, lead off a six- film section of Chinese-language restored classics at the festival.The HKIFF was this year postponed from its usual March-April slot to August, due to the fifth wave of the COVID pandemic which closed Hong Kong cinemas for the first months of 2022. It will now take place from Aug.

Sure, we’re only halfway through summer, but it’s time to start looking ahead to the fall and film festival season. Specifically, we have to start thinking about the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) because it appears that we’re starting to see what a couple of the big premieres are going to be at this year’s event.

The Gina Prince-Bythewood directed TriStar Pictures and eOne title, The Woman King, will be making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Bros,” one of the first romantic comedies from a major studio to feature an almost entirely 2SLGBTQIA+ cast, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.The film stars Billy Eichner of “Billy on the Street” fame. Eichner wrote the script for “Bros” with Nicholas Stoller, who also directs. Stoller also directed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” and, like those films, “Bros” is produced by Judd Apatow.