Toronto Film Fest Offers Digital Movie Rentals Amid Pandemic

Jordan Moreau Movie fans who are missing the big screen experience with their friends can get their fix at an Alamo Drafthouse.For just $150, guests can invite up to 30 of their friends to rent out an entire Alamo Drafthouse theater in certain locations. There are more than 40 movie options to choose from, ranging from family fare to classic dramas to big-budget action movies.The “Your Own Private Alamo” program launched this week, and fans can book their spot on the company’s website.

The Mumbai Film Festival is postponing its 22nd edition to 2021 as India continues to grapple with a worsening outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The 2020 edition of the New York Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock, it was announced today. Lovers Rock is part of McQueen's Small Axe anthology of five original films, which will premiere on BBC One later this year and on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.

Host, a new movie that's available to stream on horror-focused streaming service Shudder. Host was shot and produced remotely while under quarantine, and it takes place entirely on Zoom, the video chat app that's become the essential mode of communication for work and keeping in touch with groups of friends.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaFemale filmmakers are behind nearly half of the films that will screen at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, representing a high-water mark for the annual celebration of the best in movies and pushing the gathering tantalizingly close to achieving gender parity.The lineup includes new works by ​Roseanne Liang​ (“Shadow In The Cloud​”), Tracey Deer​ (“Beans”), Sonia Kennebeck​ (“Enemies of the State”), Chloé Zhao​ (“Nomadland”), as well as the feature

Also Read: 'The French Dispatch,' 'Soul' Make the Cannes 2020 Lineup As Festival Reveals the Movies It Would Have ShownAs previously announced, Spike Lee’s film “David Byrne’s American Utopia,” a document of Byrne’s Broadway show, will be the opening-night film on Sept. 10.

Also Read: 'The French Dispatch,' 'Soul' Make the Cannes 2020 Lineup As Festival Reveals the Movies It Would Have ShownAs befits a film that was going to premiere at a festival that was canceled, “Nadia, Butterfly” is set at an Olympic Games that didn’t happen.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorIn an introduction to the Venice Film Festival lineup announced this morning in Rome, Alberto Barbera, commented, “The winter of our dismay turned into a springtime of anxiety, and then slipped slowly into a summer marked by uncertainty and fear over a fraught future.” The fest’s director later spoke with Deadline about the process — and challenges — leading up to today’s unveiling of what’s to come at the first major

Also Read: Fall Film Festivals Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York Team Up With 'United Platform'Based on journalist Jessica Bruder’s 2017 nonfiction book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century,” the film follows Fern (McDormand), a woman who, after the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.

There are some big changes coming to the release schedule for upcoming Disney movies amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThe Toronto Film Festival has revealed further details about its 2020 edition, which will be a hybrid physical and digital event with a streamlined lineup.All industry engagement will be online, including press and industry screenings and the festival’s Industry Conference, taking place September 10–15.The online screenings will be hosted on a professional version of TIFF’s digital screening platform, developed by Shift72.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorWarner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin News Editor, Online“Bill & Ted Face the Music” has shifted its release plans, and instead will debut on premium video on demand and in select movie theaters on Sept. 1 as coronavirus cases spike across the country.The announcement comes following the news that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has been taken off release calendars, though its still expected to launch in 2020.

Geena Davis' Bentonville Film Festival has unveiled plans for a hybrid online-physical model for its 6th edition, with 80 percent of its 68 competition selections— including narrative features, documentaries and episodic projects— coming from women directors. The seven-day Arkansas event, backed by Walmart and Coca Cola, will also take place from August 10 to 16 after being delayed from its original April 29 to May 2 date by the coronavirus pandemic.

The inaugural rePRO Film Festival with a spotlight on movies about reproductive healthcare and rights is set to open with Erika Cohn's Belly of the Beast, a documentary about forced sterilizations in California's women's prisons. Cohn's legal probe of illegal healthcare procedures— often targeting women of color— will launch the virtual August 12 to 16 showcase of films about reproductive health care and activism, including access to abortion and sexual education.

HBO's Spike Lee–directed filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia Broadway stage play is set to open the virtual Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10, fest organizers said on Tuesday (July 22). David Byrne's American Utopia features the Talking Heads frontman and 11 musical artists from around the world performing songs from the 2018 album American Utopia, as well as songs from Byrne's Talking Heads and solo catalog.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThe Toronto Film Festival is to open with Spike Lee’s filmed version of David Byrne’s hit Broadway show, American Utopia.TIFF will this year be a mix of physical and online screenings with a much-reduced industry presence due to coronavirus.American Utopia hit Broadway in the fall of 2019 and was a hot-ticket through February of 2020. Lee shot the production during its Hudson Theatre run and the concert film will debut on HBO this fall.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“American Utopia,” a filmed-version of David Byrne’s hit Broadway show, will be the opening night presentation of the 45th Toronto International Film Festival. This edition of the annual Canadian gathering for film lovers is unlike any of the previous 44 iterations.

Pete Hammond Awards Columnist/Chief Film CriticKate Winslet is the first honoree to be announced by Joana Vincente and Cameron Bailey, Co-Heads of TIFF.