A collection of this year’s weirdest and most terrifying genre movies are gearing up to scare audiences next month at one of the world’s leading festivals, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The Canadian festival has announced the 10 eclectic features that will make up 2019’s Midnight Madness lineup. This year’s program is set to bring in a new generation of formidable genre filmmakers amidst veteran Midnight mavericks, who are collectively pushing boundaries. The diverse storytellers are bringing both experimental and quintessential genre thrills that are guaranteed to please the loyal late-night audience in Ontario’s capital city.
“This year’s selections challenge the traditional parameters of genre and shock cinema, but — most excitingly— half of the lineup’s wicked provocations are courtesy of filmmakers making their feature-film debut,” said Peter Kuplowsky, the Lead Programmer for Midnight Madness. “I’m delighted to welcome midnight movie institutions like Takashi Miike and Richard Stanley back to the section, and even more ecstatic to have the privilege to introduce so many transgressive, innovative and galvanizing new voices. The tide is high, and be it a Mi’gmaq reserve, a Hassidic neighborhood or a Ugandan village, more communities are getting opportunities to share their myths and monsters. I know this year’s lineup will exhilarate Midnight audiences come September.”
TIFF’s Midnight Madness is set to welcome new genre filmmakers in their feature debuts, including Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s dystopian sci-fi movie, ‘The Platform;’ Rose Glass’s unnerving psychological thriller, ‘Saint Maud,’ starring Morfydd Clark (‘Love & Friendship’) and Jennifer Ehle (‘Zero Dark Thirty’); Andrew Patterson’s paranormal period piece, ‘The Vast of Night,’ which won the audience award for Best Narrative Feature at Slamdance and features breakout performances by Jake Horowitz and Sierra McCormick; and KeithThomas’ supernatural horror film, ‘The Vigil.’
Other highlights from this year’s selection include Richard Stanley’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, ‘Color Out of Space,’ which stars Nicolas Cage and signals the director’s return to the Midnight Madness lineup after 29 years; Joko Anwar’s
‘Gundala,’ which is based on the Indonesian superhero comic books by Harya “Hasmi” Suraminata; and Takashi Miike’s Japanese action-comedy, ‘First Love.’ The program will close with the World Premiere of the international version of Isaac Nabwana’s gonzo action flick, ‘Crazy World,’ which is a celebration of the Ugandan film movement Wakaliwood. Other films screenings that will run as part of the Midnight Madness program include the Midnight Madness Opening Film, ‘Blood Quantum,’ as well as the World Premiere of ‘The Twentieth Century.’
The 44th festival will be held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theater between September 5-15, 2019. For more information about TIFF and Midnight Madness, visit the program’s page on the festival’s website, as well as the festival’s Facebook page.
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