25 Toronto film festival and market titles to entice buyers

With at least two hungry fresh US buyers joining the ranks in the form of Black Bear and Row K, the hope is that more business might get done on the ground than in recent years.

Then again, this has become a common refrain. Check the TIFF website for the full list of screenings.

Festival selections

& Sons (UK-Can)
Special Presentations
Dir: Pablo Trapero
Genre: Drama
Cast: Billy Nighy, George MacKay, Noah Jupe, Johnny Flynn, Anna Geslevorá, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton
Synopsis: A reclusive author tries to reconnect with his grown-up sons in Argentinian veteran Trapero’s first English-language narrative feature.
Sales: Bankside Films (international): UTA Independent Film Group, CAA Media Finance (US co-rep)

Barrio Triste (Col-US)
Centrepiece
Dir: Stillz
Genre: Drama
Cast: Juan Pablo Baena, Samuel Velazquez, Tomas Tinoco Higuita,
Synopsis: Medellin, Colombia, 1987. Teen outcasts steal a camera to document their lives.
Sales: Magnify (international); UTA Independent Film Group (North America)
*North American premiere. World premiere was in Venice.

California Schemin’ (UK-US)
Special Presentations
Dir: James McAvoy
Genre: Drama
Cast: Samuel Bottomley, Seamus McLean Ross
Synopsis: Based on the true story of Scottish rappers who fraudulent US personas and hoodwink the UK hip-hop industry.
Sales: Bankside Films (international); UTA Independent Film Group (US)

The Captive (Sp-It)
Special Presentations
Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
Genre: Adventure
Cast: Julio Peña Fernández, Alessandro Borghi
Synopsis: Reimagining the life of Miguel de Cervantes, from captured soldier to world-famous author of Don Quixote.
Sales: Global Constellation (worldwide)

Carolina Caroline (US)
Centrepiece
Dir: Adam Carter Rehmeier
Genre: Crime drama
Cast: Samara Weaving, Kyle Gallner, Jon Gries, Kyra Sedgwick
Synopsis: A youthful woman and a con artist leave a trail of crime and passion in the Southeast.
Sales: UTA Independent Film Group (worldwide)

The Christophers (US-UK)
Special Presentations
Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Comedy drama
Cast: Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel
Synopsis: Children of a once-famous artist hire a forger to complete unfinished canvases for their inheritance.
Sales: CAA Media Finance (worldwide)

Christy (US)
Special Presentations
Dir: David Michôd
Genre: Boxing biopic
Cast: Sydney Sweeney
Synopsis: A biopic of trailblazing boxer Christy Martin in the 1990s.
Sales: Black Bear (international); UTA Independent Film Group, AC Independent, Black Bear (US co-rep)

Couture (US-Fra)
Special Presentations
Dir: Alice Winocour
Genre: Drama
Cast: Angelina Jolie
Synopsis: Fashion industry drama.
Sales: HanWay Films (international); UTA Independent Film Group (US). 

Driver’s Ed (US)
Gala Presentations
Dir: Bobby Farrelly
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Sam Nivola, Sophie Telegadis, Mohana Krishnan
Synopsis: High-school teens go on an unauthorised road trip to support a senior win back his love.
Sales: AGC International (international); AGC, UTA Independent Film Group (US co-rep)

Fuze
Gala Presentations
Dir. David Mackenzie
Genre: Mystery thriller
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington
Synopsis: Bank robbers plan a heist after an unexploded Second World War bomb forces an evacuation in Central London.
Sales: Anton (international); WME Independent, UTA Media Finance (US co-rep)

Hamlet (UK)
Centrepiece
Dir: Aneil Karia
Genre: Drama
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Morfydd Clark, Joe Alywn, Timothy Spall
Synopsis: Modern take on Shakespearean classic about the procrastinating prince.
Sales: WME Independent, CAA Media Finance (co-rep)

I Swear
Centrepiece
Dir. Kirk Jones
Genre: Biopic
Cast: Robert Aramayo, Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson
Synopsis: John Davidson learns to live with Tourette Syndrome and becomes a trailblazing advocate.
Sales: Bankside Films (worldwide)

The Last Viking (Den-Swe)
Centrepiece
Dir: Anders Thomas Jensen
Genre: Dark comedy
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Synopsis: An ex-con must work with his psychologically-challenged sibling to find some buried loot.
Sales: TrustNordisk
*North American premiere. World premiere was in Venice.

Motor City (US)
Centrepiece
Dir. Potsy Ponciroli
Genre: Action
Cast: Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber, Shailene Woodley
Synopsis: After he was framed by a gangster and sent to prison, a working-class romantic returns for revenge.
Sales: Black Bear (international); WME Independent, Stampede (US co-rep)
*North American premiere. World premiere was in Venice. 

Normal (US-Can)
Midnight Madness
Dir: Ben Wheatley
Genre: Action thriller
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Lena Headey
Synopsis: A substitute sheriff in a compact town discovers dim secrets about the community after a bank robbery.
Sales: WME Independent

Poetic License (US)
Special Presentations
Dir: Maude Apatow
Genre: Coming-of-age comedy
Cast: Leslie Mann, Cooper Hoffman, Benjamin Hung, Nico Parker
Synopsis: Two besties vie for the attention of an attractive middle-aged mother auditing their college poetry workshop.
Sales: WME Independent (worldwide)

Sacrifice (UK-Gre)
Special Presentations
Dir: Romain Gavras
Genre: Satirical thriller
Cast: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Charli xcx
Synopsis: A movie star gets taken hostage by eco-warriors during a charity gala.
Sales: Rocket Science (international); CAA Media Finance (US)

The Testament Of Ann Lee (US)
Special Presentations
Dir. Mona Fastvold
Genre: Biopic
Cast: Amanda Seyfried
Synopsis: Centres on the founder of the Shaker Movement, the 18th-century Quaker spin-off.
Sales: Charades (international); CAA Media Finance (US)
*North American premiere. World premiere was in Venice.

Market screenings, sales titles, and packages

Babies
Dir: Lauren Miller Rogen
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen
Synopsis: A couple on the fence about parenting host newly-divorced friend and her three-year-old.
Sales: AGC Studios, CAA Media Finance (worldwide co-rep)

Cliffhanger
Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra
Genre: Action
Cast: Lily James, Pierce Brosnan
Synopsis: Inspired by the 1993 Sylvester Stallone thriller, a haunted climber (James) must save her family after they are kidnapped along with a billionaire client. Stallone is not involved in the project.
Sales: Rocket Science (international); CAA Media Finance (China & US)

Fleur
Dir: Ellie Foumbi
Genre: Drama
Cast: Halle Berry
Synopsis: New York housewife flees to Paris after 30 years of marriage, where she reinvents herself as an upscale escort and dominatrix.
Sales: AGC International (international); UTA Independent Film Group, WME Independent (US co-rep)

In The Hands Of Dante
Dir: Julian Schnabel
Genre: Crime mystery
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, Jason Momoa
Synopsis: Venice out-of-competition world premiere centres on a manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s poem The Divine Comedy as it makes its way from a priest to a mob boss in New York City.
Sales: WME Independent, CAA Media Finance (co-rep)

Kockroach
Dir: Matt Ross
Genre: Crime thriller
Cast: Channing Tatum, Oscar Isaac, Zazie Beetz
Synopsis: Mysterious stranger takes on New York’s criminal elite.
Sales: Black Bear (international); CAA Media Finance, Range Select (US co-rep)

Late Fame
Dir: Kent Jones
Genre: Drama
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee, Edmund Donovan
Synopsis: Poet who has worked most of his life at a post office becomes the focus of youthful admirers.
Sales: mk2 Films (international); UTA Independent Film Group, WME Independent, Cinetic (North America co-rep)

The Young People
Dir: Osgood Perkins
Genre: Horror
Cast: Lola Tung, Nico Parker
Synopsis: N/A
Sales: Neon International (worldwide)