After looking at the best fall 2013 films we’ve already seen and our 20 most-anticipated of the season, it’s time to turn our attention to those festival titles we’re anticipating that either don’t have distribution or, preferably, are only awaiting a release. Looking back at last year’s rundown, it’s sad to note that every single one we listed wasn’t released until this year (if at all), so we can likely expect the same fate for the majority of what’s below — but it doesn’t stop us from being hopeful. Featuring directorial debuts — both in a general capacity and in the live-action realm — short works, documentaries, the last work of a retired master and much more, check out the rundown below and let us know what you’re most looking forward to in the comments.
Attila Marcel (Sylvain Chomet)
After crafting some of the finest offerings the animation genre can lay claim to, The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist director Sylvain Chomet is turning to live-action for the first time. Premiering at TIFF, the official synopsis reveals that Attila Marcel will follow “a mute, sweet-natured man-child whose reawakened childhood memories unleash marvellous musical fantasies.” With stylistic comparisons to Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati already being tossed about, our interest is more than piqued, so we can only hope acquisition follows soon after. – Jordan R.
Devil’s Knot (Atom Egoyan)
Having been the subject of four documentaries at this point (the Paradise Lost trilogy and last year’s West of Memphis), the trial, imprisonment, and eventual release of the West Memphis Three has been the kind of real-life narrative that even cinema couldn’t dream up — so, of course, it seems natural that a dramatization would finally materialize at some point. Behind the camera is Atom Egoyan, who, while seeming to have lost his touch, at least has the advantage of similarities between this and his most acclaimed film, The Sweet Hereafter: a small-town community’s reaction to a tragedy involving children, including all the legal ramifications and reveals about (surprise) evil hiding beneath even the most innocent of surfaces. Here’s hoping for a return to form. – Ethan V.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her (Ned Benson)
A title that deserves its placement solely for the mystery of its construction and execution. As led by Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, the two-film two-hander, sight unseen, has uncommon potential to explore a married couple’s struggles with the sort of thoroughness unseen in the medium nowadays — and, even if helmer Ned Benson doesn’t manage to execute the drama, his two stars are sure to give their roles some weighty emotional pull. Now, there’s just the matter of how you give both films a proper theatrical outlet in such short time. Don’t ask me. – Nick N.
The Double (Richard Ayoade)
Richard Ayoade’s Submarine was among the most tonally confident, formally muscular debuts we’ve seen in the past several years, and if the young writer-director was still undergoing some sort of learning process on that title, the riches we may receive from The Double are as enticing as it gets. Jesse Eisenberg’s controlled neurosis plays against itself in this adaptation of a Fyodor Dostoevsky novella, the high-concept detailings of which — he’s seeing his own double! — may breed a bit of necessary separation from the aforementioned first picture. How does it get better? Rounding out the cast with Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Yasmin Paige, and Noah Taylor — the latter two making The Double a partial Submarine reunion — is certainly nice. – Nick N.
Enemy (Denis Villeneuve)
While Denis Villeneuve‘s already acclaimed Prisoners will enjoy a wide release this September, it won’t be until TIFF that we actually see the film he shot between the Oscar-nominated Incendies and that aforementioned drama. His first collaboration with Jake Gyllenhaal, Enemy features a double dose of the actor, as he finds his doppelganger and his life changes forever. Also starring Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) and Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis), we can’t wait to see this adaptation of José Saramago’s novel. – Jordan R.
Horns (Alexandre Aja)
After the Harry Potter series wrapped, Daniel Radcliffe tried his hand at horror films with the minor hit The Woman In Black. He returns to the genre with Alexandre Aja’s adaptation of a Joe Hill novel, Horns, itself a supernatural thriller centered on a man who suddenly sprouts demon-like horns from his head after the mysterious death of his girlfriend (Juno Temple). The role is certainly a departure for Radcliffe — especially when compared to his portrayal of a young Allen Ginsberg in the upcoming Kill Your Darlings — but considering the film’s dark comedy leanings, the risk could work to his favor. We’ll find out soon enough when Horns makes its world premiere at TIFF. – Amanda W.
Joe (David Gordon Green)
Having returned to the independent arena this summer with Prince Avalanche, David Gordon Green continues that streak with an adaptation of Larry Brown‘s novel, Joe. Featuring a bearded Nicolas Cage as an ex-convict and a gun-toting Tye Sheridan (the The Tree of Life star that recently surprised us in Mud) whom he protects, the film recently premiered at Venice to strong reviews. It’s wishful thinking we’ll see this one by year’s end, but, regardless of when it hits, we’re excited. – Jordan R.
Life of Crime (Daniel Schechter)
This crime caper comes to the Toronto International Film Festival on a sad note, as the author of the work it’s based on, Elmore Leonard, recently passed away. Featuring characters made famous by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown, Life of Crime features Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, and John Hawkes as we follow “ex-cons whose plan to kidnap a real estate developer’s wife doesn’t go quite as smoothly as expected.” With no distribution yet, we imagine this one won’t land until 2014, but stay tuned for our take out of TIFF. – Jordan R.
Locke (Steven Knight)
After laying relatively low the last few years, Eastern Promises writer Steven Knight is having a major 2013. His directorial debut, the Jason Statham-led Redemption, landed earlier this summer (our review), and we recently saw the release of his latest scripted work, Closed Circuit (our review). He just debuted a sophomore directing feature at Venice, titled Locke. Starring Tom Hardy and The Lone Ranger‘s Ruth Wilson — produced by Joe Wright, too — it’s a film set in real-time as we follow the Bronson star, playing a “man whose life begins to unravel after receiving a phone call.” The reviews were strong out of its premiere, so hopefully we see it soon. – Jordan R.
Manakamana (Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez)
One of the finest films of the year is Leviathan, an immersive, stunning look at the lives of fishermen that lets us peer into the vast abyss of their surroundings. Although its widest release this spring was in a mere five theaters, it’ll be arriving on Blu-ray very soon — and, now, filmmakers involved with that project will have another title on the fall festival circuit. Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez‘s TIFF- and NYFF-bound Manakamana also comes from Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Laboratory, with Leviathan hemers Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel serving as producers. Following eleven rides on a cable car in Nepal, where visitors come to visit the Manakamana Temple, it looks to be another extraordinary documentary. – Jordan R.
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt)
Though Night Moves is only her fifth film, Kelly Reichardt has formed a point of view that, while of a piece with certain minimalist trends running throughout the festival circuit, is wholly her own. Of course, America being her primary concern: whether seen through the present (Wendy & Lucy) or the past (Meek’s Cutoff), the former overt in its contemporary concerns while the latter more allegorical. The premise of her newest — the moral decision faced by environmentalists of whether or not to blow up a hydroelectric dam — sounds completely up her alley and, thus, likely to reveal more about the helmer’s troubled relationship with her own country. – Ethan V.
The Railway Man (Jonathan Teplitzky)
After helming the overlooked Burning Man, director Jonathan Teplitzky looks to be getting much more attention for his next work, the World War II drama The Railway Man. The film is based on the life of Eric Lomax (Colin Firth), a man who found himself the victim of torture on the part of interrogators in a Japanese POW camp during World War II. War Horse star Jeremy Irvine plays a younger Firth in flashback scenes and after years of haunted memories, his wife, Patti (Nicole Kidman), staged a reunion with one of his captors, played by Hiroyuki Sanada. Set for a TIFF premiere tomorrow, we expect this one to get snatched up quickly, hopefully for a release later this year. – Jordan R.
Redemption (Miguel Gomes)
After crafting last year’s highly acclaimed Tabu, director Miguel Gomes returns to the festival circuit, in short form. Clocking in at 26 minutes, Redemption, according to the official synopsis, “muses with characteristic humour and melancholia upon small-scale, perversely prescient moments of human fallibility in this witty and affecting found-footage film.” While we can’t imagine this will be a highly sought-after pick-up for major distributors, we hope it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. – Jordan R.
Tim’s Vermeer (Teller)
This one recently entered our radar, after reviews at Telluride pegged it as one of the finest films of the festival. After entertaining audiences for years, Penn & Teller have now embarked on their feature debut, with the former producing and the latter directing. Following Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, “whose photo-realistic paintings predated the invention of the camera by 150 years” Sony Pictures Classics picked up Tim’s Vermeer with intentions to release it in 2014, but perhaps the hunt for awards will change their mind. – Jordan R.
Tom at the Farm (Xavier Dolan)
Following his drama Laurence Anyways clocking in at almost three hours, the young Xavier Dolan returns to the festival circuit with Tom at the Farm, a stripped down 95-minute psychological thriller. Based on an original play, the project centers on “a grief-stricken young ad copywriter who visits his dead lover’s parents — only to get drawn into a savage game rooted in the rural family’s dark past.” After strong reviews out of Venice, hopefully this one will see distribution and a release soon. – Jordan R.
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
Like many other notable ’90s music video directors (Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek), Jonathan Glazer’s feature film is work is marked by large gaps between each new effort — his last, the very divisive Birth, in particular having come out nearly a decade ago. And while Glazer’s style, endlessly slick but difficult to parse in terms of an original voice — the Kubrick influences of Birth almost going beyond homage, and rather piggybacking — if, at least, given the benefit of the doubt, seems to possibly be evolving with such a delay. Hopefully, from hollow perfectionist and imitator to an original voice. – Ethan V.
Visitors (Godfrey Reggio)
Following some public appraisal this past fall, thanks to the Criterion release of his Qatsi trilogy, filmmaker Godfrey Reggio is back on the scene with Visitors — a mysterious, long-developing documentary that will finally make a public appearance at TIFF. Presented by Steven Soderbergh, we truly only have the festival description to go on, which says the film “offers an experience of technology and transcendental emotionality, taking viewers to the moon and back to confront them with themselves.” With a new Phillip Glass score, we can’t wait to see what’s in store. – Jordan R.
The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)
The film world experienced a sad bit of news when Studio Ghibli co-founder and anime pioneer Hayao Miyazaki recently announced plans to retire from writing and directing. Before he bows out, however, the 72-year-old filmmaker leaves with one of his most personal works. Partly inspired by his own manga, the 72-year-old filmmaker tells the story of Jirō Horikoshi, who designed the Zero Fighter plane used in the Pearl Harbor attack – the fact that Miyazaki’s father worked on World War II planes makes his connection to the material all the more significant. Audiences will surely savor this masterfully crafted, beautiful feature, even if the experience proves somewhat bittersweet. Disney acquired the film for a domestic release, so looking at their usual pattern, perhaps it’s a pipe dream that’ll get released by year’s end, but one can dream. – Amanda W.
You are Here (Matthew Weiner)
After six brilliant seasons of Mad Men went in the bag — its final run of episodes now only half-a-year away — creator Matthew Weiner’s first motion picture will be ready to debut. The item in question is… a comedy starring Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis, and Amy Poehler. Well, if it wasn’t what you were expecting, good: his AMC series is as concerned with identification and shifting social fabrics as much as it cares to handle matters of advertising and fashion, so the laugh-strewn story of a man inheriting a hefty financial gain from his father’s passing does not necessarily need to play out “as is.” An opportunity to discover what else might be happening with You Are Here is among the more commercially promising of this year — so long as we get to see it in 2013, that is. – Nick N.
The Zero Theorem (Terry Gilliam)
Is there ever a reason not to be excited — or, at least, intrigued — by the prospect of a new film from Terry Gilliam? Every bit the directorial equivalent of Don Quixote — the figure he tried, in vain, for years to bring to the screen — Gilliam has an idiosyncratic viewfinder on modern human life, always delivering something that demands to be seen, whether or not you ultimately enjoy it. Typically brought down by any number of out-of-the-blue attacks on his productions, Gilliam has sallied forth and delivered The Zero Thereom with very little fanfare or documented heartburn. With Christoph Waltz’s bald head leading the charge through a screwy, existential dark comedy, the crazed wizard of visually lavish cinema has seemingly pulled out all the stops and given us his undiluted vision. In many ways, Zero looks to be a companion piece to Gilliam’s masterwork, Brazil. Of course, early reviews have been divided, but when hasn’t that been the case when Terry is concerned? – Nathan B.
What festival titles do you hope will get released this year?
Continue to our top 20 fall festival films we’ve already seen >>