French films at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival

01 SEPTEMBER 2021

Remaining in line with last year's festival, the upcoming 46th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), to be held from September 9 through 18, continues to respond to the international health crisis by limiting the number of invited guests. Nonetheless, these restrictions will not stop French cinema from presenting a selection of over 30 films (including minority-French productions and short films) by established directors and new talents.

Thirty-four French productions and coproductions (an increase over twenty-six titles last year) will be showcased at the 2021 edition of North America's largest film festival.

The Official Selection will feature a large number of French films that were first discovered this year at major festivals (such as at Cannes in the case of France, Titane, Lingui - The Sacred Bonds, Bergman Island, and Ahed's Knee; at Berlin for Petite Maman; and at Locarno for After Blue (Paradis Sale)). The film Arthur Rambo by Laurent Cantet and the Amazon production The Mad Women's Ball by Mélanie Laurent will have their premiere screenings at this year's edition of TIFF.

In addition to Laurent Cantet and the crew from the film The Gravedigger's Wife, only very few artists are confirmed as festival guests at this stage, although there will be presentations scheduled and Q&A will be recorded for all the French films presented, and UniFrance will maintain contact with North American buyers.

Finally, the Industry Selects section, with a slate of exclusively online "screenings" aimed at film buyers and distributors, will be continued this year. This section was created last year to make up for the reduction in the number of films screened in theaters at the event and to give greater visibility to the professional aspect of the festival. The French films in this year's Industry Selects section are: My Night by Antoinette Boulat, 10,000 Nights in the Jungle by Arthur Harari, and A Tale of Love and Desire by Leyla Bouzid, as well as the minority-French coproductions America latina by Damiano D'Innocenzo and Fabio D'Innocenzo, and Domingo by Raúl López Echeverría.

UniFrance at TIFF

To keep our contact with foreign buyers, UniFrance is setting up a virtual pavilion on the TIFF website. Accessible from the start of the festival to accredited participants, this virtual stand will shine a spotlight on the French films in the festival program and the companies handling their international sales.