TIFF Unveils World Premieres For Jenna Ortega Pic ‘Finestkind’, Awkwafina & Sandra Oh Comedy ‘Quiz Lady’; Announces Centerpiece Program

Anthony D'Alessandro
·6 min read
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The Toronto Film Festival on Thursday revealed its Centerpiece program lineup that includes the Cannes Film Festival-winning Wim Wenders movie Perfect Days. The festival also revealed another couple of star-driven world premieres including Paramount’s Finestkind starring Jenna Ortega, Ben Foster and Tommy Lee Jones and 20th Century Studios/Hulu’s comedy Quiz Lady starring Awkwafina, Sandra Oh and Will Ferrell.

Finestkind comes from Oscar winner Brian Helgeland and follows two brothers who are pulled into a deal with an organized crime syndicate in Boston. The pic is playing as one of TIFF’s galas.

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Quiz Lady follows a brilliant but tightly wound, game-show-obsessed woman Anne (Awkwafina) and her estranged, train-wreck of a sister Jenny (Oh) who must work together to help cover their mother’s gambling debts. When Anne’s beloved dog is kidnapped, they set out on a wild cross-country trek to get the cash the only way they know how: by turning Anne into a bona-fide game show champion. The movie, which also stars Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale and Ferrell, is directed by Jessica Yu and written by Jen D’Angelo. The producers are Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Maggie Haskins, Itay Reiss, D’Angelo, Awkwafina and Oh, with Alex Brown and Erika Hampson serving as EPs. The pic drops on Hulu on November 3.

Also on the gala screenings list is the Indian coming-of-age comedy Thank You For Coming from Karan Boolani. Pic is from the minds behind the Bollywood hit Veere di Wedding, Ektaa R. Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor. Pic will premiere on September 15 in Roy Thomson Hall and marks the only Hindi movie with a gala premiere at the fest this year. The movie starring Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Dolly Singh and Kusha Kapila is a fresh take on love and life in the modern world. It hits theaters worldwide on October 6.

In total there are 47 movies across 45 countries in the Centerpiece program, which was previously known as the Contemporary World Cinema section. Other notables playing in the sidebar include Close Your Eyes by Víctor Erice, Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki, and Green Border by Agnieszka Holland.

Also in Centerpiece, there’s the Charlie Plummer-starring National Anthem from music video director Luke Gilford, who is making his feature directorial debut here. The movie follows a 21-year-old construction worker in New Mexico who joins a community of queer rodeo performers in search of their own version of the American dream. The pic made its world premiere at SXSW.

“We are very excited to present the new Centrepiece program, a cinematic journey that transcends boundaries and embraces the art of human experience,” said Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer. “The rebranding of the TIFF program, formerly Contemporary World Cinema, is a reflection of the Festival’s vision to provide an elevated platform for international cinema, acclaimed titles from festivals around the globe, highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents, and the latest work of influential filmmaking luminaries.”

Perfect Days won Kôji Yakusho Best Actor at Cannes. In addition, the movie received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

Deadline still has yet to hear which independent movies with U.S. stars at TIFF will be granted interim agreements by SAG-AFTRA and allow their casts to promote.

Here’s the lineup:

CENTREPIECE PROGRAMME 2023

100 Yards Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng | China
International Premiere

About Dry Grasses (Kuru Otlar Üstüne) Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey/France/Germany/Sweden
North American Premiere
Luminaries

A Happy Day Hisham Zaman | Norway/Denmark
World Premiere

A Ravaging Wind (El Viento Que Arrasa) Paula Hernández | Argentina/Uruguay
World Premiere

A Road to A Village (गाउ आएको बाटो) Nabin Subba | Nepal
World Premiere

Banel & Adama (Banel e Adama) Ramata-Toulaye Sy | France/Senegal/Mali
North American Premiere

Chuck Chuck Baby Janis Pugh | United Kingdom
International Premiere

City of Wind (сэр сэр салхи) Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | France/Mongolia/Portugal/Netherlands/Qatar/Germany
North American Premiere

Close Your Eyes (Cerrar Los Ojos) Víctor Erice | Spain/Argentina
North American Premiere
Luminaries

Death of a Whistleblower Ian Gabriel | South Africa
World Premiere

Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet lehdet) Aki Kaurismäki | Finland/Germany
Canadian Premiere
Luminaries

Fitting In Molly McGlynn | Canada
Canadian Premiere
Sloan Science on Film Showcase, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Green Border (Zielona Granica) Agnieszka Holland | Poland/Czech Republic/France/Belgium
North American Premiere
Luminaries

Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning | Canada
Canadian Premiere

Holiday Edoardo Gabbriellini | Italy
World Premiere

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Ariane Louis-Seize | Canada
North American Premiere

I Do Not Come To You By Chance Ishaya Bako | Nigeria
World Premiere

In Flames Zarrar Kahn | Canada/Pakistan
North American Premiere

Inshallah a Boy (Inshallah Walad) Amjad Al Rasheed | Jordan/France/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/Egypt
North American Premiere

Irena’s Vow Louise Archambault | Canada/Poland
World Premiere

Je’vida Katja Gauriloff | Finland
Canadian Premiere

Kanaval Henri Pardo | Canada/Luxembourg
World Premiere

Limbo Ivan Sen | Australia
North American Premiere

Lost Ladies (Laapataa Ladies) Kiran Rao | India
World Premiere

Mountains Monica Sorelle | USA
International Premiere

National Anthem Luke Gilford | USA
International Premiere

Perfect Days Wim Wenders | Japan
Canadian Premiere

Robot Dreams Pablo Berger | Spain/France
North American Premiere

Shadow of Fire Shinya Tsukamoto | Japan
North American Premiere

Shayda Noora Niasari | Australia
Canadian Premiere

Sira Apolline Traoré | Burkina Faso/Senegal/France/Germany
North American Premiere

Snow Leopard (Xue Bao) Pema Tseden | China
North American Premiere

Sweet Dreams Ena Sendijarević | Netherlands/ Sweden/ Indonesia/France
North American Premiere

The Breaking Ice Anthony Chen | China
North American Premiere

The Delinquents Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina/Brazil/Luxembourg/Chile
North American Premiere

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed Joanna Arnow | USA
North American Premiere

The Monk and the Gun Pawo Choyning Dorji | Bhutan/France/USA/Taiwan
International Premiere

The Nature of Love (Simple Comme Sylvain) Monia Chokri | Canada/France
North American Premiere

The Reeds (Son Hasat) Cemil Ağacıkoğlu | Turkey/Bulgaria
World Premiere

The Settlers (Los Colonos) Felipe Gálvez Haberle | Chile/Argentina/France/Denmark/United Kingdom/Taiwan/Sweden/Germany
North American Premiere

The Teachers’ Lounge Ilker Çatak | Germany
North American Premiere

They Shot the Piano Player (Dispararon Al Pianista) Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal | Spain/France
Canadian Premiere

Toll (Pedágio) Carolina Markowicz | Brazil/Portugal
World Premiere

Upon Open Sky (A Cielo Abierto) Mariana Arriaga, Santiago Arriaga | Mexico/Spain
North American Premiere

We Grown Now Minhal Baig | USA
World Premiere

Woodland (WALD) Elisabeth Scharang | Austria
World Premiere

Your Mother’s Son (Anak Ka Ng Ina Mo) Jun Robles Lana | Philippines
World Premiere

GALAS

A Normal Family Hur Jin-ho | South Korea
World Premiere

Finestkind Brian Helgeland | USA
World Premiere

Smugglers Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea
North American Premiere

Thank You For Coming Karan Boolani | India
World Premiere

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Daddio Christy Hall | United States
International Premiere

El Sabor de la Navidad Alejandro Lozano | Mexico 
World Premiere

Evil Does Not Exist Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | Japan
North American Premiere

Quiz Lady Jessica Yu | USA
World Premiere

Ru Charles-Olivier Michaud | Canada
World Premiere

The Movie Teller Lone Scherfig | Spain/France/Chile
World Premiere

The Promised Land Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark/Germany/Sweden
Canadian Premiere

DOCUMENTARY

I am Sirat A collaboration between Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja | Canada
World Premiere

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