Toronto Film Festival 2014 Lineup Unveiled: One Latin American Film On Initial Slate
The Toronto Film Festival has announced its festival slate, but very few Latin American films made the cut.
The festival is known for being one of the most important events in the industry and one where many artists showcase their features. A number of Latin American films have been featured at the festival, including the Argentina Oscar winner "The Secret in Their Eyes" and Chile's Oscar nominee "No." Alfonso Cuaron also showcased his feature "Gravity" last year.
For a number of years the Latin American industry has grown, but it is still not as widely represented at the festival circuit. Actors have also been relegated to small roles and at times stereotypical ones. Just this past year at Cannes, the festival only played three Latin American films in all their sidebars, while 2013's New York Film Festival only had one Latin American film. On the other hand, Sundance named Chile's "To Kill a Man" the Grandy Jury winner for World Cinema. Sundance also showcased Argentine director Natalia Smirnoff's "Lock Charmer."
This year TIFF has only announced one Latin American film on the slate. The film is entitled "Wild Tales." That feature is a co-production between Argentina and Spain and was produced by legendary director Pedro Almodovar. However, this is not a world premiere, as the film already screened at the Cannes Film Festival where it received rave reviews. Shortly after its Cannes premiere, the feature obtained domestic distribution through Sony Pictures Classics, and there is a chance the film will represent Argentina at the Oscars this upcoming January. The film stars Ricardo Darin and Dario Grandinetti and is directed by first time filmmaker Damian Szifron.
However, there are a number of films that will feature Latin American stars. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who has been a fixture at Toronto over the years, will appear in Jon Stewart's directorial debut "Rosewater." The film tells the story of a journalist who is detained in Iran for more than 100 days and brutally interrogated in prison. Open Road has acquired rights to the feature and Bernal is already obtaining buzz for Academy Awards.
Puerto Rican actor John Ortiz will be featured in "The Drop." The film will be released by Fox Searchlight and tells the story of Bob Saginowski, who finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood's past. The feature is already garnering Oscar buzz, and it also stars James Gandolfini in his last role, as well as Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace.
While the festival has yet to announce the complete slate, it is odd to see Alejandro González Inarritu's "Birdman" left out. The feature will open at the Venice Film Festival and will close the New York Film Festival. There is no word on whether it will play at Telluride but most films that play Venice go to Toronto. Inarritu has been a festival favorite for a number of years and played his Oscar nominee "Babel" at Toronto back in 2006.
The Oscar Isaacs starrer "A Most Violent Year" was also surprisingly left out. For months there was speculation that the J.C Chandor's film would play at the festival and would be a huge Oscar contender. However, last year Chandor skipped Toronto in favor of New York and as a result this may not be as big a surprise. Like Inarritu's film, it could be announced at later time. Perhaps the film will make its world premiere at Venice and later Toronto.
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