Three Filmstiftung-backed productions at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival
- Special Presentations: world premiere of "The Middle Man" by Bent Hamer / "Lingui – The Sacred Bonds" by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.
- Special Events: "Spencer" by Pablo Larraín, with Kristen Stewart, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall
- Toronto International Film Festival, September 9-18, 2021
Three Filmstiftung-backed productions have been invited to the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (tiff), including one as a world premiere: "The Middle Man" by Bent Hamer. The renowned Norwegian director will show his film in the Special Presentations section where there will also be a screening of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s "Lingui – The Sacred Bonds" which had its world premiere in Cannes. Pablo Larraín will show the Lady Di drama "Spencer", with Kristen Stewart in the lead role, in the Special Events section following on from this week’s world premiere in competition at Venice.
Special Presentations
"The Middle Man" (World Premiere).
In his feature film "The Middle Man" (screenplay: Bent Hamer; production: Pandora Film in co-production with Bulbul Film, Norway; distribution: Pandora), director Bent Hamer takes a bizarre, absurd, and yet humorous look at contemporary USA. The feature film, based on the novel "Sluk" by Lars Saabye Christensen, stars Tuva Novotny and Pål Sverre Hagen, and was shot in Cologne, Solingen and Duisburg, among other locations.
"Lingui – The Sacred Bonds"
The multi-award-winning author Mahamat-Saleh Haroun directed and also wrote the screenplay for the drama "Lingui – The Sacred Bonds" (production: Made in Germany Filmproduktion; distribution: Déja-vu Filmverleih), which is set in Islamic Chad and focuses on the fate of a single mother whose 15-year-old daughter also becomes unintentionally pregnant after being raped.
Special Events
"Spencer"
Director Pablo Larraín’s "Spencer" (screenplay: Steven Knight; production: Komplizen Film; distribution: DCM) centres on the last Christmas Princess Diana spent together with the British Royal Family on the Sandringham estate in 1991. The film stars Kristen Stewart and was shot in North Rhine-Westphalia at Schloß Nordkirchen (Coesfeld district) and in Dülmen.
About the festival
Founded in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival is one of the world’s most popular film festivals with around half a million visitors and considered to be a barometer for the upcoming Academy Awards. This year, it will take place from September 9 to 18 – with almost 200 films being shown in cinemas, at open-air venues, drive-ins as well as digitally.
For more information about the festival: www.tiff.net
For more information: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Tanja Guess, Tel.: +49 211-93050-23,