French cinema at the 47th Toronto Film Festival

01 SEPTEMBER 2022

Fifty-one French film productions or coproductions (compared to 34 last year) will be presented in all sections of the 47th edition of the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), the largest film festival and film market in North America, which will take place in the Canadian metropolis from September 8 through 18, 2022. This French presence sets a record, representing 20% of all films presented.

For its 47th edition, the great cinema event that is TIFF will present the world premiere of several highly anticipated French films: Winter Boy by Christophe Honoré, Carmen, the debut feature by Benjamin Millepied, Hawa by Maïmouna Doucouré, The Gravity by Cédric Ido, and Alam by Firas Khoury, to mention just a few.

Winter Boy

And like every year, TIFF will also be the occasion to offer their North American premiere to many films discovered at Cannes (One Fine Morning by Mia Hansen-Løve, Paris Memories by Alice Winocour, Return to Seoul by Davy Chou, Falcon Lake by Charlotte Le Bon, The Worst Ones by Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka, Pacifiction by Albert Serra, and De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor) or Venice a few days earlier (Saint Omer by Alice Diop, Other People's Children by Rebecca Zlotowski, and The Origin of Evil by Sébastien Marnier).

The Origin of Evil

Among the large French artistic delegation expected in Toronto, at this stage we can mention (subject to change) Alice Winocour, Maïmouna Doucouré, Cédric Ido, Christian Carion, Dany Boon, Mia Hansen-Løve, Léa Seydoux, Rebecca Zlotowski, Alice Diop, Davy Chou, Ji-min Park, Pierre Földes, Lise Akoka, Christophe Honoré, Albert Serra, Benoît Magimel, Benjamin Millepied, Sébastien Lifshitz, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Bérénice Bejo, Maryam Touzani, Charlotte Le Bon, and Youssef Chebbi.

Unifrance in Toronto

As with the pre-Covid editions, Unifrance is providing its members with a dedicated space at the Film Market, which is taking place at the Hyatt Hotel. Sixteen French exporters will be present at the Unifrance stand this year.

The French exporters at the Unifrance stand

On Saturday, September 10, Unifrance will hold its traditional French Night, bringing together the teams of the selected French films, producers, exporters, distributors, and international professionals. Unifrance will also host several dinners with French artists to encourage networking with North American professionals and journalists.

In addition, Unifrance is taking part in the breakfast organized by Telefilm Canada, TIFF, and the Ambassade de France in Canada around the new Franco-Canadian coproduction treaty signed in Cannes. On this occasion, three French producers will present a project for which they are looking for a Canadian partner. They are Maeva Savinien (Urban Group), Laurence Lascary (DACP), and William Jéhannin (UFO Production).

In the continuity of the Cannes Critics Lab initiated by Unifrance, a partnership has been set up with the TIFF Media Inclusion Initiative. The four emerging critics (Juan Barquin, Ryan Coleman, Alexandria Slater, and Aramide Tinubu, photo below) will be able to participate in the festival and in workshops focusing on film criticism thanks to a grant from TIFF.

And finally, for the first time Unifrance is supporting a French director selected for the TIFF Filmmaker's Lab, a training program that brings together 20 international directors and screenwriters developing their first feature film.
French-Lebanese director Isabelle Metacaff will participate in the prestigious program with her film project May You Outlive Us, which will be produced by the French company Tabo Tabo Films.

Unifrance's presence at TIFF is supported by the French government, CNC, Institut Français, PROCIREP, "Choose France" label, BNP Paribas and Variety.