Toronto: Charlie Hebdo, Malala Yousafzai Docs Join Lineup

The Toronto Film Festival has booked a world premiere for Je Suis Charlie, French father-and-son directors Emmanuel Leconte and Daniel Leconte‘s documentary about the 11 victims of the terrorist attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Fest organizers, unveiling their documentary, Midnight Madness and Vanguard section lineups on Tuesday, also booked a world bow for two-time Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple‘s Miss Sharon Jones!, about R&B queen Sharon Jones. And there’s international premieres for Amazing Grace, a documentary about a 1972 Aretha Franklin session, Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim’s Malala Yousafzai documentary, He Named Me Malala, earlier acquired by Fox Searchlight, and Australian director Gillian Armstrong‘s Women He’s Undressed, about legendary Hollywood costume designer Orry-Kelly, which bowed in Sydney.

Other world bows for music-themed docs in Toronto include Morgan Neville‘s The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble; German Kral‘s Our Last Tango, about Argentinian tango masters; and Kahlil Joseph‘s The Reflektor Tapes, which profiles the Reflektor album by indie rockers Arcade Fire.

Elsewhere, the festival will host North American premieres for Frederick Wiseman‘s In Jackson Heights, about the Queens neighborhood, and Amy Berg‘s Janis: Little Girl Blue, a profile of legendary rocker Janis Joplin. Toronto also booked a host of docs about international issues, including P.S. Jerusalem, Danae Elon‘s film about Jerusalem and Elon’s late father, Amos Elon, and Evgeny Afineevsky‘s Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.

The festival earlier announced bookings for Michael Moore‘s Where to Invade Next, Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard‘s Gauntanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr and Avi Lewis‘ This Changes Everything. Elsewhere, the Midnight Madness program will open with Jeremy Saulnier‘s siege shocker Green Room, starring Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots, and close with Todd Strauss-Schulson‘s The Final Girls, which stars Malin Akerman and American Horror Story‘s Taissa Farmiga.

The action and horror film sidebar also unveiled world premieres for Sean Byrne‘s The Devil’s Candy, which stars Ethan Embry; Nick Simon‘s The Girl in the Photographs, executive produced by Wes Craven; Joe Begos‘ The Mind’s Eye, a “psychokinetic thriller” that stars Graham Skipper; and Southbound, five tales of terror told by Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence.

There’s also an international premiere for Hong Kong director Pou-Soi Cheang‘s SPL 2 — A Time For Consequences and a North American bow for Japanese gonzo filmmaker Takashi Miike‘s Yakuza Apocalypse. Toronto’s Masters of Cinema sidebar also announced an international premiere for Marco Bellocchio‘s Blood of My Blood and North American bows for Wim Wenders‘ Everything Will Be Fine, Iranian director Jafar Panahi‘s Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Arturo Ripstein‘s Bleak Street, Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s Cemetery of Splendor and Amos Gitai‘s Rabin, The Last Day.

And the TIFF Cinematheque section will feature both 35mm prints and digital restorations of classic films, including Barbara Kopple‘s Harlan County USA, which screened at the first Toronto festival in 1976; Marcel Ophuls’ The Memory of Justice; Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers; and Kelly Reichardt’s River of Grass.

Elsewhere, the Vanguard program has world premieres for Evolution, by French director Lucile Hadzihalilovic; Osgood Perkins‘ February; Harrison Atkins‘ Lace Crater; starring Lindsay Burdge and Peter Vack; and a North American premiere for Gaspar Noe’s Love.

More lineup announcements will be made in the coming weeks. The 40th edition of the Toronto Film Festival is set to run from Sept. 10-20.

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