As more announcements for this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) are released, the upcoming event is going to mark an important milestone for True Romance and Boyhood star Patricia Arquette. As first reported by THR, the Award-winning actor’s feature film directorial debut, Gonzo Girl, is set to premiere at TIFF 2023. The movie will kick off the Discovery sidebar, which will include several other exciting features throughout the event.
Patricia Arquette's first feature at the helm stars Camila Morrone as aspiring writer Alley Russo, who begins working for the gonzo journalist Walker Reade – played by Willem Dafoe. As Alley tries to navigate life in her new boss’s world, she works to help him finish his highly anticipated novel by any means necessary. The film is inspired by a true story and set in Aspen, Colorado in 1992, and was written by Rebecca Thomas and Jessica Caldwell. Arquette also stars alongside Camila Morrone in the film as Claudia.
From Taika Waititi to Elliot Page: More Feature Announcements for TIFF 2023
The announcement is not the only TIFF update to be excited about today. Writer and director Billy Luther’s indigenous coming of age drama, Frybread Face and Me, will also premiere at TIFF. The film, which tells the story of two Navajo cousins, is executive produced by award-winning writer/director Taika Waititi.
Elliot Page’s ‘Backstop’ will also join Gonzo Girl as part of the TIFF’s Discovery lineup. Starring Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs), the film is a queer cheerleading drama directed by D.W Waterson. Other films taking part in the line-up include Farhad Delaram’s Achilles and Sara Summa’s Arthur&Diana.
A24 are ready to showcase their upcoming (NSFW) musical
Adding something a little different to the festival is A24, the production company known for hits such as The Whale, Uncut Gems and The Northman. The production company will be bring Larry Charles’ Dicks: The Musical to TIFF, which will have its world premiere at the event and will open the festival's Midnight Madness.
The unconventional musical follows two businessmen who discover that they’re long-lost identical twins, leading the duo to try and reunite their estranged parents. Director Larry Charles is best known as the director of Borat, but he has also written for popular comedy series such as Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The A24 film stars Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp as the long-lost twins, with musical heavyweights Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Megan Thee Stallion and Bowen Yang also part of the cast.
Midnight Madness also includes horror movie Hell of a Summer (co-directed by Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard) as well as Saudi Arabian film NAGA, and Harmony Korine’s action movie ‘Aggro Dr1ft’ starring Travis Scott. Seven of the ten feature films chosen will be making their world and international premieres at Midnight Madness.
The 48th Toronto International FIlm Festival will run from September 7 - 17, 2023. You can find the complete line up for the festival's Discovery and Midnight Madness below.
TIFF 2023: Discovery Complete Lineup
- Achilles Farhad Delaram | Iran/Germany/France World Premiere
- After the Fire Mehdi Fikri | France World Premiere
- A Match (Sthal). Jayant Digambar Somalkar | India World Premiere
- Andragogy Wregas Bhanuteja | Indonesia/Singapore World Premiere
- An Endless Sunday Alain Parroni | Italy/Germany/Ireland International Premiere
- Arthur&Diana Sara Summa | Germany World Premiere
- Backspot D.W. Waterson | Canada World Premiere
- Frybread Face and Me Billy Luther | USA International Premiere
- Gonzo Girl Patricia Arquette | USA World Premiere
- Hajjan Abu Bakr Shawky | Saudi Arabia/Egypt/Jordan World Premiere
- How to Have Sex Molly Manning Walker | United Kingdom North American Premiere
- I Don’t Know Who You Are M. H. Murray | Canada World Premiere
- La Suprema Felipe Holguín Caro | Colombia World Premiere
Midnight Madness Complete Lineup
- Boy Kills World Moritz Mohr | Germany/South Africa/USA World Premiere
- Dicks: The Musical Larry Charles | USA World Premiere
- Hell of a Summer Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk | USA/Canada World Premiere
- KILL Nikhil Nagesh Bhat | India World Premiere
- NAGA Meshal Aljaser | Saudi Arabia World Premiere
- Riddle of Fire Weston Razooli | USA North American Premiere
- Sleep Jason Yu | South Korea North American Premiere
- When Evil Lurks Demián Rugna | Argentina World Premiere
- Working Class Goes to Hell Mladen Đorđević | Serbia World Premiere