Toronto Film Festival Lineup: ‘Beautiful Boy’, ‘Ben Is Back’, ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, ‘Widows’ Among World Premieres

UPDATED with full list, more detail: The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled a rich roster of Gala and Special Presentations screenings for the 2018 edition that runs September 6-16. Among the world premieres are Felix Van Groeningen’s addiction drama Beautiful Boy from Amazon and based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, with Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet starring.

Also in the world premiere mix are Steve McQueen’s female-fronted thriller Widows from Fox; Peter Hedges’ mother-son story and Julia Roberts-starrer Ben Is Back, which LD Entertainment, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions are releasing domestically December 7; Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight follow-up If Beale Street Could Talk from Annapurna; Dan Fogelman’s romantic drama Life Itself; and Claire Denis’ High Life.

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Oscar Clues & Heavy Dramas Dominate Toronto Film Festival Lineup: Analysis

A key pillar in the launch of awards season, Toronto is the first of the three early fall shows to reveal — although it kicks off after both Venice and Telluride (Venice announces tomorrow, and Telluride does not officially announce its lineup until the Friday before its Labor Day weekend run).

Of the 17 Galas and 30 Special Presentations unveiled today, this first announcement includes 21 world premieres, seven international premieres, eight North American premieres and 11 Canadian premieres.

International premieres, whose billing suggests they could turn up in Telluride, include Jason Reitman’s Gary Hart story The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman as the 1980s presidential candidate.

Two films already confirmed for Venice, Damien Chazelle’s First Man and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born, will travel from the Lido to Canada.

There are also a handful of titles that bowed in Cannes including Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum, Eva Husson’s Girls of the Sun and Matteo Garrone’s Dogman.

The selection announced today includes 13 features directed by women.

Piers Handling, CEO and director of TIFF, said, “We have an exceptional selection of films this year that will excite festival audiences from all walks of life. Today’s lineup showcases beloved auteurs alongside fresh voices in filmmaking, including numerous female powerhouses. The sweeping range in cinematic storytelling from around the world is a testament to the uniqueness of the films that are being made.”

He added, “Every September we invite the whole film world to Toronto, one of the most diverse, movie-mad cities in the world. I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to put together a lineup of Galas and Special Presentations that reflects Toronto’s spirit of inclusive, passionate engagement with film. We can’t wait to unveil these films for our audience.”

Toronto yesterday canceled its planned press conference for this morning in the wake of Sunday night’s shooting in the city that killed two and wounded at least 13, and said it stands “with our fellow Torontonians in condemnation of this violence.”

Deadline’s Pete Hammond will be back later with analysis.

Here’s the full list of titles announced today:

GALAS 2018

Beautiful Boy
Felix van Groeningen
USA
World Premiere

Everybody Knows
Asghar Farhadi
Spain/France/Italy
North American Premiere

First Man
Damien Chazelle
USA
Canadian Premiere

Galveston
Mélanie Laurent
USA
Canadian Premiere

The Hate U Give
George Tillman, Jr
USA
World Premiere

Hidden Man
Jiang Wen
China
International Premiere

High Life
Claire Denis
Germany/France/Poland/United Kingdom
World Premiere

Husband Material
Anurag Kashyap
India
World Premiere

The Kindergarten Teacher
Sara Colangelo
USA
Canadian Premiere

The Land of Steady Habits
Nicole Holofcener
USA
World Premiere

Life Itself
Dan Fogelman
USA
World Premiere

The Public
Emilio Estevez
USA
World Premiere

Red Joan
Sir Trevor Nunn
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Shadow
Zhang Yimou,
China
North American Premiere

A Star is Born
Bradley Cooper
USA
North American Premiere

What They Had
Elizabeth Chomko
USA
International Premiere

Widows
Steve McQueen
United Kingdom/USA
World Premiere

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2018

Mouthpiece (Opening Film)
Patricia Rozema
Canada
World Premiere

Ben Is Back
Peter Hedges
USA
World Premiere

Burning
Lee Chang-dong
South Korea
North American Premiere

Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Marielle Heller
USA
International Premiere

Capernaum
Nadine Labaki
Lebanon
North American Premiere

Cold War
Paweł Pawlikowski
Poland/United Kingdom/France
Canadian Premiere

Colette
Wash Westmoreland
United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere

Dogman
Matteo Garrone
Italy/France
Canadian Premiere

The Front Runner
Jason Reitman
USA
International Premiere

Giant Little Ones
Keith Behrman
Canada
World Premiere

Girls of the Sun
Eva Husson
France
International Premiere

Hotel Mumbai
Anthony Maras
Australia
World Premiere

The Hummingbird Project
Kim Nguyen
Canada
World Premiere

If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins
USA
World Premiere

Manto
Nandita Das
India
North American Premiere

Maya
Mia Hansen-Løve
France
World Premiere

Monsters And Men
Reinaldo Marcus Green
USA
Canadian Premiere

Non-Fiction
Olivier Assayas
France
Canadian Premiere

The Old Man & The Gun
David Lowery
USA
International Premiere

Papi Chulo
John Butler
Ireland
World Premiere

Roma
Alfonso Cuarón
Mexico/USA
Canadian Premiere

Shoplifters (Closing Film)
Hirokazu Kore-eda
Japan
Canadian Premiere

The Sisters Brothers
Jacques Audiard
USA/France/Romania/Spain
North American Premiere

Sunset
László Nemes
Hungary/France
North American Premiere

Through Black Spruce
Don McKellar
Canada
World Premiere

The Wedding Guest
Michael Winterbottom
United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Weekend
Stella Meghie
USA
World Premiere