Toronto International Film Festival 2016
This is a list of movies from TIFF 2016 which I have seen, using my TIFF interest list as the source and listed in chronological viewing order. I saw titles #1-11 before the festival in other locations and #12-44 in Toronto itself.
Note that some titles are playing both TIFF and The London Film Festival so I saved them for London, including La La Land (2016), Lion (2016), A United Kingdom (2016), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Moonlight (2016) and Free Fire (2016).
Note that some titles are playing both TIFF and The London Film Festival so I saved them for London, including La La Land (2016), Lion (2016), A United Kingdom (2016), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Moonlight (2016) and Free Fire (2016).
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74 titles
- DirectorNate ParkerStarsNate ParkerArmie HammerPenelope Ann MillerNat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising.Seen at Sundance 2016
- DirectorKelly ReichardtStarsMichelle WilliamsKristen StewartLaura DernThe lives of three women intersect in small-town America, where each is imperfectly blazing a trail.Seen at Sundance 2016
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDave JohnsHayley SquiresSharon PercyAfter surviving a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight bureaucratic forces to receive Employment and Support Allowance.Seen at Cannes 2016
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsKim Min-heeHa Jung-wooCho Jin-woongA woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.Seen at Cannes 2016
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsKristen StewartLars EidingerSigrid BouazizA personal shopper in Paris refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.Seen at Cannes 2016
- DirectorJeff NicholsStarsRuth NeggaJoel EdgertonWill DaltonThe story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision.Seen at Cannes 2016
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsSasha LaneShia LaBeoufRiley KeoughA teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.Seen at Cannes 2016
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsEmma SuárezAdriana UgarteDaniel GraoAfter a casual encounter, a brokenhearted woman decides to confront her life and the most important events involving her estranged daughter.Seen at Cannes 2016
- DirectorKenneth LonerganStarsCasey AffleckMichelle WilliamsKyle ChandlerA depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.Seen via Amazon Studios
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsAdam DriverGolshifteh FarahaniNellieA quiet observation of the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.Seen via Amazon Studios
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsFares FaresTrine DyrholmUlrich ThomsenA story about the clash between personal desires, solidarity and tolerance in a Danish commune in the 1970s.Seen in the UK (on VoD)
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsIsabelle HuppertLaurent LafitteAnne ConsignyA successful businesswoman gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse as she tracks down the unknown man who raped her.
- DirectorJulia DucournauStarsGarance MarillierElla RumpfRabah Nait OufellaA young woman, studying to be a vet, develops a craving for human flesh.
- DirectorAntoine FuquaStarsDenzel WashingtonChris PrattEthan HawkeSeven gunmen from a variety of backgrounds are brought together by a vengeful young widow to protect her town from the private army of a destructive industrialist.
- DirectorJordan RobertsStarsVera FarmigaMarton CsokasJacob TremblayA family in emotional turmoil is taken by surprise in this quirky adventure where an eccentric 8-year-old American boy, Wes, has an existential epiphany - He believes that he is in fact a Mongolian goat herder.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsAmy AdamsJeremy RennerForest WhitakerA linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
- DirectorColm McCarthyStarsSennia NanuaFisayo AkinadeDominique TipperA scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.
- DirectorEwan McGregorStarsEwan McGregorJennifer ConnellyDakota FanningAn All-American college star and his beauty queen wife watch their seemingly perfect life fall apart as their daughter joins the turmoil of '60s America.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsLewis MacDougallSigourney WeaverFelicity JonesConor, a twelve-year-old boy, encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsIsabelle HuppertAndré MarconRoman KolinkaA philosophy teacher soldiers through the death of her mother, losing her book deal, and dealing with a husband who is cheating on her.
- DirectorMira NairStarsMadina NalwangaDavid OyelowoLupita Nyong'oA Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
- DirectorLone ScherfigStarsGemma ArtertonSam ClaflinBill NighyA former secretary, newly appointed as a scriptwriter for propaganda films, joins the cast and crew of a major production while the Blitz rages around them.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsNatalie PortmanPeter SarsgaardGreta GerwigFollowing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.
- DirectorBenedict AndrewsStarsRuby StokesRooney MaraRiz AhmedWhen a young woman unexpectedly arrives at her much-older former lover's workplace, looking for answers, the secrets of their dark past threaten to unravel his new life. What follows is an emotional and unflinching excavation of inappropriate love, with shattering consequences.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsRachel WeiszTom WilkinsonTimothy SpallAcclaimed writer and historian Deborah E. Lipstadt must battle for historical truth to prove the Holocaust actually occurred when David Irving, a renowned denier, sues her for libel.
- DirectorMartin KoolhovenStarsGuy PearceDakota FanningEmilia JonesFrom the moment the new Reverend climbs the pulpit, Liz knows that she and her family are in great danger.
- DirectorPeter BergStarsMark WahlbergKurt RussellDouglas M. GriffinA dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.
- DirectorDavid LeveauxStarsLily JamesJai CourtneyChristopher PlummerA German soldier tries to determine if the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the home of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland during the onset of World War II, but falls for a young Jewish Dutch woman during his investigation.
- DirectorRobin SwicordStarsBryan CranstonJennifer GarnerVictoria BrunoA lawyer on the edge of madness decides to disassociate himself from his own life.
- DirectorVikram GandhiStarsDevon TerrellAnya Taylor-JoyJason MitchellA look into the early life of U.S. President Barack Obama.
- DirectorBen YoungerStarsMiles TellerAaron EckhartKatey SagalThe inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza who, after a near fatal car crash which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sports' most incredible comebacks.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittShailene WoodleyMelissa LeoThe NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.
- DirectorNacho VigalondoStarsAnne HathawayJason SudeikisAustin StowellGloria is an out-of-work party girl forced to leave her life in New York City and move back home. When reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, she gradually comes to the realization that she is somehow connected to this phenomenon.
- DirectorArnaud des PallièresStarsAdèle HaenelAdèle ExarchopoulosSolène RigotA young woman moves to Paris with a disastrous past. When she becomes a woman and thinks she's finally free from her past's shadows, some characters show up and she gets the chance to become a unique heroine.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsVeronica FerresMichael ShannonGael García BernalA scientist blames the head of a large company for an ecological disaster in South America. But when a volcano begins to show signs of erupting, they must unite to avoid a disaster.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsBlake LivelyJason ClarkeAhna O'ReillyA blind woman's relationship with her husband changes when she regains her sight and discovers disturbing details about themselves.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsWoody HarrelsonMichael Stahl-DavidRichard JenkinsLyndon B. Johnson aligns himself with John F. Kennedy, rises to the Presidency, and deals with the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.
- DirectorNick CannonStarsNick CannonCollie BuddzCamille DavisA young man from Brooklyn gets caught up in Jamaica's lively Dancehall music scene.
- DirectorNoel ClarkeStarsNoel ClarkeArnold OcengRed MadrellSam is facing up to the new world. He realizes it also comes with new problems and new challenges and which will require old friends to help him survive new dangers.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsPierre NineyPaula BeerErnst StötznerIn the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.
- DirectorKelly Fremon CraigStarsHailee SteinfeldHaley Lu RichardsonBlake JennerHigh-school life gets even more unbearable for Nadine when her best friend, Krista, starts dating her older brother.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsTheo JamesRooney MaraLaurence O'FuarainA woman keeps a diary of her extended stay at a mental hospital.
- DirectorAlex LehmannStarsMark DuplassSarah PaulsonClu GulagerMeeting by chance when they return to their tiny California hometown, two former high-school sweethearts reflect on their shared past.
- DirectorWilliam OldroydStarsFlorence PughCosmo JarvisPaul HiltonIn 19th-century rural England, a young bride who has been sold into marriage discovers an unstoppable desire within herself as she enters into an affair with a worker on her estate.
- DirectorMahmoud SabbaghStarsHisham FageehFatima AlBanawiSami HifnyA middle-class man meets a girl from a rich family, and the two begin dating in a society where such unions are frowned upon.
- DirectorAmma AsanteStarsDavid OyelowoRosamund PikeTom FeltonThe story of King Seretse Khama of Botswana and how his loving but controversial marriage to a British white woman, Ruth Williams, put his kingdom into political and diplomatic turmoil.
- DirectorKatell QuillévéréStarsTahar RahimEmmanuelle SeignerAnne DorvalA single devastating event intertwines inextricably the lives of an unfortunate teenager, a weary woman with a critical degenerative heart condition and a team of compassionate doctors; all perfect strangers, perfectly interconnected.
- DirectorBarry JenkinsStarsMahershala AliNaomie HarrisTrevante RhodesA young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingEmma StoneRosemarie DeWittWhile navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.
- DirectorMaren AdeStarsSandra HüllerPeter SimonischekMichael WittenbornA practical joking father tries to reconnect with his hard working daughter by creating an outrageous alter ego and posing as her CEO's life coach.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsEmma BellSara VertongenRose WilliamsThe story of American poet Emily Dickinson from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist.
- DirectorGarth DavisStarsDev PatelNicole KidmanRooney MaraA five-year-old Indian boy is adopted by an Australian couple after getting lost hundreds of kilometers from home. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
- DirectorXavier DolanStarsGaspard UllielMarion CotillardLéa SeydouxLouis (Gaspard Ulliel), a terminally ill writer, returns home after a long absence to tell his family that he is dying.
- DirectorPete TravisStarsRiz AhmedBillie PiperJames Krishna FloydIn the teeming, multicultural metropolis of modern-day London, a seemingly straightforward missing-person case launches a down-at-heel private eye into a dangerous world of religious fanaticism and political intrigue.
- DirectorTom FordStarsAmy AdamsJake GyllenhaalMichael ShannonA wealthy art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a symbolic revenge tale.
- DirectorAdam SmithStarsMichael FassbenderBrendan GleesonLyndsey MarshalA man looks to find a way to escape the criminal ways of his outlaw family.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsSharlto CopleyBrie LarsonArmie HammerSet in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs turns into a shoot-out and a game of survival.
- DirectorHope Dickson LeachStarsEllie KendrickDavid TroughtonJack HoldenSomerset, October 2014. When Clover Catto (Ellie Kendrick) receives a call telling her that her younger brother Harry (Joe Blakemore) is dead, she must return to her family farm and face the man she hasn't spoken to in years: her father Aubrey (David Troughton). She is shocked to discover her home changed forever by the devastating floods that destroyed the area six months earlier, and Aubrey a tormented shadow of his former self. As she learns what has been going on in her long absence she and her father forge a new understanding, but can it withstand the troubles that they face on the ravaged farm as well as the truth of what drove Harry to take his own life?
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalLuis GneccoMercedes MoránAn inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party.
- DirectorGarth JenningsChristophe LourdeletStarsMatthew McConaugheyReese WitherspoonSeth MacFarlaneIn a city of humanoid animals, a hustling theater impresario's attempt to save his theater with a singing competition becomes grander than he anticipates even as its finalists find that their lives will never be the same.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsNicolas CageWillem DafoeChristopher Matthew CookA crew of ex-cons are hired by a Cleveland mafioso to kidnap the baby of a rival mobster.
- DirectorAntonio CamposStarsRebecca HallMichael C. HallTracy LettsThe story of Christine Chubbuck, a 1970s TV reporter struggling with depression and professional frustrations as she tries to advance her career.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsShahab HosseiniTaraneh AlidoostiMina SadatiWhile Ranaa and Emad, a married couple, are participating in a production of "Death of a Salesman," she is assaulted in their new home, which leaves him determined to find the perpetrator over his wife's traumatized objections.
- DirectorAlice LoweStarsAlice LoweDan Renton SkinnerJo HartleyWidow Ruth is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to be guided by her unborn baby, she embarks on a homicidal rampage, dispatching anyone who stands in her way.
- DirectorTerry GeorgeStarsOscar IsaacCharlotte Le BonChristian BaleSet during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated Ana, and Chris - a renowned American journalist based in Paris.
- DirectorPhilippe FalardeauStarsLiev SchreiberElisabeth MossRon PerlmanA drama inspired by the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who had a once-in-a-lifetime bout with Muhammad Ali that would inspire the film Rocky (1976).
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsJohn Gallagher Jr.Tony GoldwynAdria ArjonaIn a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company's intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.
- DirectorJuan Carlos MedinaStarsDouglas BoothOlivia CookeSam ReidIn Victorian London, a Scotland Yard inspector hunts down the sadistic killer behind a series of gory, Jack the Ripper-Like murders.
- DirectorGerard BarrettStarsChloë Grace MoretzThomas MannRichard ArmitageA young, capable professional cannot explain her newly erratic behavior.
- DirectorAisling WalshStarsSally HawkinsEthan HawkeZachary BennettAn arthritic Nova Scotia woman works as a housekeeper while she hones her skills as an artist and eventually becomes a beloved figure in the community.
- DirectorJoseph CedarStarsRichard GereLior AshkenaziMichael SheenNorman Oppenheimer is a small time operator who befriends a young politician at a low point in his life. Three years later, when the politician becomes an influential world leader, Norman's life dramatically changes for better and worse.
- DirectorAndré ØvredalStarsBrian CoxEmile HirschOphelia LovibondA father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the cause of death of a young woman who was apparently harboring dark secrets.
- DirectorAna Lily AmirpourStarsSuki WaterhouseJason MomoaJayda FinkIn a desert dystopia, a young woman is kidnapped by cannibals.
- DirectorAdam WingardStarsJames Allen McCuneCallie HernandezCorbin ReidAfter discovering a video showing what he believes to be his vanished sister Heather, James and a group of friends head to the forest believed to be inhabited by the Blair Witch.