David Gordon Green's "Nutcrackers" to kick off the proceedings; Rebel Wilson's "The Deb" will wrap the fest
The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival will kick off with David Gordon Green’s Nutcrackers starring Ben Stiller on September 5, and close with Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut The Deb on September 15, both making their world premiere at Roy Thomson Hall as part of the Gala program.
“This year’s festival is shaping up to be a star-studded event with highly anticipated films that reflect the world around us with humor and empathy, like our opening and closing night selections, Nutcrackers and The Deb,” said Anita Lee, chief programming officer, TIFF. “TIFF aims to showcase both returning and first-time directors to the festival on a big stage, and we are excited for fans to experience these two films–and the many diverse works premiering in between.”
Nutcrackers follows strait-laced and work-obsessed Mike (portrayed by Stiller) as he is suddenly thrust into being a caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews. Meanwhile The Deb is an original musical comedy about two teenage cousins who dig deep to find self-acceptance and a date to the Debutante Ball in a small country town in Australia.
Film details (in alphabetical order):
The Deb | Rebel Wilson | Australia
World Premiere | Gala
Sales Title – Rights Available (WME)
Nutcrackers | David Gordon Green | USA
World Premiere | Gala
Sales Title – Rights Available (UTA Independent Film Group)
More festival details will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for TIFF ’24 go on sale to TIFF members by level beginning on Friday, August 16. The full festival schedule will be released on Tuesday, August 13.
Lois Lipman’s “First We Bombed New Mexico” Tells Story of Downwinders From 1st Atomic Test
It was the summer of 1945 when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, killing thousands of people as waves of destructive energy obliterated two cites. It was a decisive move that helped bring about the end of World War II, but survivors and the generations that followed were left to grapple with sickness from radiation exposure.
At the time, U.S. President Harry Truman called it "the greatest scientific gamble in history," saying the rain of ruin from the air would usher in a new concept of force and power. What he didn't mention was that the federal government had already tested this new force on U.S. soil.
Just weeks earlier in southern New Mexico, the early morning sky erupted with an incredible flash of light. Windows rattled hundreds of miles away and a trail of fallout stretched to the East Coast.
Ash from the Trinity Test rained down for days. Children played in it, thinking it was snow. It covered fresh laundry that was hanging out to dry. It contaminated crops, singed livestock and found its way into cisterns used for drinking water.
The story of New Mexico's downwinders — the survivors of the world's first atomic blast and those who helped mine the uranium needed for the nation's arsenal — is little known. But that's changing as the documentary "First We Bombed New Mexico" racks up awards from film festivals across the United States.
It's now screening in the northern New Mexico community of Los Alamos as part of the Oppenheimer Film Festival. It marks a rare chance for the once secret city that has long celebrated the scientific discoveries of J. Robert Oppenheimer — the father of the atomic bomb — to contemplate another more painful piece of the nation's nuclear legacy.
The film, directed and... Read More