Toronto International Film Festival Picks Up U.K. Titles from Venice 2024 Lineup

The back-to-back International Film Festivals in Venice and Toronto mark the start of what is referred to as "awards season" in Hollywood. From superhero movies attempting to play themselves as more than they are to obscure foreign language debuts, these two events are where everyone rolls out what they see as their best chance to get nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, or an Oscar (or better yet, all three). For Anglophiles, these festivals are an essential part of the calendar because, for all that Brexit smashed the economy like a two-ton elephant, the U.K. is still regarded as a leading cultural institution; films made in the country or starring the BBC's A-list line up of actors, are regularly featured at these events, in hopes of garnering good press.

However, this year's Venice Film Festival lineup, initially announced in July 2024, is surprisingly light on the U.K. titles, which is why we here at Telly Visions decided not to cover it right away. That turned out to be the correct choice, as the final wave of Toronto Festival (TIFF) additions contained the North American premieres of nearly all of them. Except for Joker: Folie à Deux, everything that is debuting in competition at Venice will also be at Toronto, and outside of competition, there is very little in the way of British fare. AppleTV+ will screen the first four episodes of Disclaimer; Venice will also debut the dystopian future set Samantha Morton-Naomi Ackie-starrer 2073 and a John Lennon-Yoko Ono documentary.

Meanwhile, TIFF's additions include the highly anticipated Jason Isaacs-Gillian Anderson film The Salt Path, initially planned for the West End before it was decided to convert the project into a movie. It will also premiere William Tell, the 14th-century-set action-adventure epic with an all-star cast, and On Swift Horses, adapted from the Shannon Pufahl novel and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi.

In Competition

• The Brutalist (Director Brady Corbet; Main Cast: Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy) UK
• Harvest (Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari; Main Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling, Rosy McEwen, Arinzé Kene, Thalissa Teixeira, Frank Dillane) UK/Germany/Greece/France/USA 

Non-UK films starring British talent:

• The Room Next Door (Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Main Cast: Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore) Spain
• Queer (Director: Luca Guadagnino; Main Cast: Daniel Craig, Lesley Manville) Italy/USA
• The Order (Director: Justin Kurzel; Main Cast: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult) Canada
• Babygirl (Director: Halina Reijn; Main Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sophie Wilde, Esther McGregor) USA
• Joker: Folie à Deux (Director: Todd Phillips; Main Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Zazie Beetz) USA 

Out of Competition

• 2073 (Director: Asif Kapadia; Main Cast: Samantha Morton, Naomi Ackie, Hector Hewer) UK
• One to One: John & Yoko (Director: Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards) UK - Documentary
• Disclaimer Chapters 1-4 (Director: Alfonso Cuarón; Main Cast: Cate Blanchett, Sacha Baron Cohen, Lesley Manville, Louis Partridge, Indira Varma, Kodi Smit-McPhee) UK/USA - TV Series 

Gala

• Megalopolis (Director: Francis Ford Coppola; Main Cast: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kathryn Hunter) USA
• William Tell (Director: Nick Hamm; Main Cast: Claes Bang, Connor Swindells, Ellie Bamber, Jonah Hauer-King, Rafe Spall, Emily Beecham, Jonathan Pryce, Ben Kingsley, Solly McLeod) Italy/UK

Special Presentations

• The Salt Path (Director: Marianne Elliott; Main Cast: Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs) UK
• On Swift Horses (Director: Daniel Minahan; Main cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter) USA
• The Brutalist (Director Brady Corbet; Main Cast: Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy) UK
• Queer (Director: Luca Guadagnino; Main Cast: Daniel Craig, Lesley Manville) Italy/USA
• The Room Next Door (Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Main Cast: Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore) Spain
• Babygirl (Director: Halina Reijn; Main Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sophie Wilde, Esther McGregor) USA

Previously Announced for TIFF, also at Venice:

• Harvest (Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari; Main Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling, Rosy McEwen, Arinzé Kene, Thalissa Teixeira, Frank Dillane) UK/Germany/Greece/France/USA 
• The Order (Director: Justin Kurzel; Main Cast: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult) Canada

The 81st Venice International Film Festival runs from Wednesday, August 28, to Saturday, September 7, 2024. The 49th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5 to 15, 2024.