Toronto film fest titles reflect current affairs, from race to U.S. presidency

TORONTO – The Toronto International Film Festival kicks off Thursday by diving into the past while also reflecting the present.

Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the 1960 western “The Magnificent Seven” makes its world premiere to open the 11-day fest. It offers a contemporary, relevant take on the genre with a multicultural cast not usually seen in westerns.

With stars including Denzel Washington and South Korea’s Lee Byung-hun among the seven gunslingers, the film speaks to one of the much-discussed elements of cinema today — diversity.

“In a funny way, this is a strong metaphor for what’s going on in America right now,” says Piers Handling, director and CEO of TIFF.

“As so many great westerns do, they speak to the present, even though they’re set in the past, and I think this is a microcosm of America — the stresses it’s undergoing right now, a community under duress, and a group of people very multi-ethnic coming together to save this community.”

Then there are the political biopics which bring to mind the current U.S. presidential election. “Barry” looks at U.S. President Barack Obama’s college days in New York City, “Jackie” stars Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy before and after the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, and “LBJ” stars Woody Harrelson as U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson.

“In one way, movies are always of the moment, they’re always products of the time they’re made in,” says TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey. “But it feels like this year, filmmakers are going a little deeper in terms of exploring the volatility of what’s happening around us right now.

“There’s so much change happening, there’s so much instability in the world, people are asking big questions maybe about how we get along with each other — and we see that in the film.”

Several other big films also look back while reflecting on the ongoing topic of racial tensions. “The Birth of a Nation” looks at a slave rebellion, “A United Kingdom” and “Loving” feature interracial couples, and “Queen of Katwe” profiles a Ugandan chess champion.

“This is, I think, a part of overall larger conversations that we’re having about shifts in the culture and I think especially about audience expectations,” says Bailey.

“I think now, more than ever, audiences are looking to see their own experiences, their own histories reflected back at them from the movie screen. And so I think we are beginning to see more films by and about people of African descent, of Asian descent, of Arab descent and of LGBT identity.”

Also relevant to the times is Oliver Stone’s “Snowden.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in the real-life political thriller that reflects the growing issue of online privacy.

And don’t forget Leonardo DiCaprio’s climate-change doc “Before the Flood.”

“The Birth of a Nation” has been overshadowed lately by a 17-year-old rape allegation involving director/writer/star Nate Parker, who was acquitted in the case. TIFF still plans to screen the film and a press conference with the talent is scheduled.

“It played in Sundance, was exceptionally well reviewed, it’s a very, very important subject, obviously,” says Handling.

“So based on the quality of the film and what it’s dealing with, we obviously had no problems in terms of selecting the film.”

Other much-anticipated titles include “La La Land,” a song-and-dance romance starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Quebec director Denis Villeneuve delves into sci-fi with the aliens drama “Arrival.” Actor Ewan McGregor makes his directorial debut on “American Pastoral.” And Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman star in the true orphan story “Lion.”

Nearly 400 films from 83 countries are in the lineup, which closes with “The Edge of Seventeen.”

Almost 140 of the films are world premieres while most have already made their debuts at other fests.

“I don’t lay all my stress on world premieres, to be honest,” says Handling. “It’s a crowded fall season. Venice and Telluride are just before us, they get some key films. We’re happy to share the films with them. It’s important I think that the festivals are co-operative, work with each other.”

Going to TIFF after premiering at another fest still has great value, notes Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, director of the new Netflix series “The Get Down.”

“‘Strictly Ballroom’ was discovered at Cannes but it was discovered by America at the Toronto film festival,” he says. “That is a great festival and it’s a festival that says, ‘You’ve arrived.’ You get embraced there, you’ve arrived in North America, you’ve arrived in this part of the world.”

Winning the TIFF People’s Choice Award also gets distributors “very excited,” he adds.

“They go, ‘Oh, audiences actually respond to this movie.’ That’s very meaningful.”

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Werner Herzog, who will be at TIFF with “Salt and Fire,” says the fest has been a good launching pad for his films.

“I prefer festivals where there’s a market attached, meaning that there’s real business transaction done, real distributors acquiring a film and then distributing your film in theatres — and Toronto is very, very good for that.”