New ‘Knives Out' mystery and Clement Virgo thriller ‘Steal Away' among TIFF premieres
'Steal Away,' directed by Virgo, stars Angourie Rice and Mallori Johnson as two teenage girls whose intense bond shatters the illusions of their sheltered world.
The Canadian-Belgian co-production is the Toronto filmmaker's followup to his acclaimed 2022 drama 'Brother.'
It's inspired by the 2017 book 'Steal Away Home,' which tells the true story of Cecelia Reynolds, a 15-year-old slave who fled to Canada.
'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,' written and directed by Johnson, sees Daniel Craig reprise his role as Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc. It's touted as his most dangerous case yet, alongside a cast that includes Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin and Mila Kunis.
They're among 11 official selections announced by TIFF Wednesday, including Nicholas Hytner's First World War dramedy 'The Choral' and Agnieszka Holland's Franz Kafka biopic 'Franz.'
TIFF runs from Sept. 4 to 14 and will open with 'John Candy: I Like Me,' a documentary on the late Canadian comic.
Other special presentations announced by TIFF include 'Rental Family' from Japanese writer/director Mitsuyo Miyazaki (also known as Hikari), which stars Brendan Fraser as a struggling actor in Tokyo who starts working for a company that rents him out for stand-in roles in clients' lives.
Paul Greengrass's survival drama 'The Lost Bus,' inspired by true events, stars Matthew McConaughey as a bus driver who must steer a bus full of children to safety through the 2018 Camp Fire, which became known as the deadliest fire in California history.
Derek Cianfrance's dramedy 'Roofman,' starring Channing Tatum, tells the true story of fugitive Jeffrey Manchester, a former U.S. Army Ranger who robbed McDonald's restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs and evaded the police for six months by living inside of a Toys 'R' Us store.
Neeraj Ghaywan's 'Homebound,' meanwhile, follows two childhood friends in a northern Indian village whose goal of joining the police force is jeopardized as growing disillusionment strains their bond.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Photographer's eerie lookalike inspired a search for world's best dopplegängers
Over the last 25 years, French-Canadian photographer François Brunelle has traveled the world photographing around 250 pairs of doppelgängers. Doppelgängers, which translates from German to 'double walker,' originally meant ghostly counterparts of a living person. In folklore and literature, encountering someone who could be your twin has traditionally been viewed as a bad omen. But in modern usage, the term often describes two unrelated people who closely resemble each other. This concept is the focus of Brunelle's photography series, 'I'm Not a Lookalike!' The inspiration for the project came from his own lookalike: Mr. Bean, who is played by British actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson. After being told for years that he looked like the character, Brunelle watched an episode that included a scene he called 'awkward' to see his doppelgänger in. 'I said, 'Oh my God, it looks like me, and he's taking a bath!'' said Brunelle, who felt like he was watching himself on TV. Upon realizing he couldn't be the only lookalike, Brunelle started photographing doppelgängers together. Some of the pairs he captured didn't see the resemblance, 'which can be quite surprising (and entertaining) at times,' Brunelle admitted via email to USA TODAY. He started his project in Montréal with lookalikes he knew in Canada. As media coverage grew and word spread on social media, he received thousands of messages from people worldwide. Many of the doppelgängers he photographed know each other in real life and were made aware of their resemblance to each other after being told by others, like Ester Scholten and Agnes Loonstra. In 2013, Loonstra was approached by a man on a train in the Netherlands. He mistakenly thought she was one of his university students, Scholten, and encouraged Loonstra to reach out to her. Meanwhile, Scholten learned about this encounter from her professor. Out of curiosity, Loonstra decided to find Scholten on Facebook. Scholten shared a translation of the first message she ever received from Loonstra with USA TODAY. 'Hi Ester, probably a bit of an unexpected message, but recently I was approached on the train by a man, and he thought I was you! After some confusion, he said he was a teacher of yours and asked me if I was a girl from Arnhem. Very funny, apparently, he was so amazed by the resemblance (in his eyes) that he insisted I should google you because we seemed so alike. Haha! So here we are... Do you see the same resemblance? 🙂 maybe the ginger hair, bangs and almond-shaped eyes? 🙂' Scholten felt like she was seeing herself when she saw photos of Loonstra on Facebook. 'Even our mouths look somewhat similar. So strange!' Scholten wrote back in her messages to Loonstra. They both found their resemblance surprising because they felt their features were so distinctive that they thought they were unique. The two decided it would be fun to meet, and when they did, they realized it wasn't only their looks that were similar. 'There were a few moments during that first encounter that were almost terrifying, such as the moment we both pulled up a chair to put our feet on and the moment we laughed at the exact same time and discovered the way we laugh is so similar,' Scholten said. Loonstra was 25 and Scholten was 30 when they met on May 4, 2013. At the time, Loonstra was part of an a cappella group that had rehearsals in Scholten's hometown. People waved at her, thinking she was Scholten. 'People I knew told me I had been rude for not saying anything when I passed them,' Scholten said. So Loonstra began waving back at the strangers, followed by a text to Scholten to let her know. From their very first meeting, a friendship was born as they discovered they shared love for the same music, literature and what Scholten calls their "intense' love of cats. 'About half of all our WhatsApp conversations are about cats,' she said. 'We are proud crazy cat ladies.' From that love came the inspiration for a book they published together titled 'Crazy Cat Lady,' combining Loonstra's skills as an illustrator and Scholten's knack for writing. It was picked up by Workman Publishing in New York and has been released worldwide in English and translated to Spanish, German, Finnish, and even Loonstra and Scholten's native language, Dutch. Agnes also played a special role in Ester's wedding as her maid of honor. 'I see Agnes like the little sister I never had,' Scholten said. Although they don't live in the same part of the Netherlands, they try to see each other at least once a month. Loonstra reached out to Brunelle after hearing about his project from several people who sent it to her. Loonstra and Scholten were later included in a study by the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Barcelona with other doppelgängers photographed by Brunelle that confirmed they and the other lookalikes were not related. Of the 32 pairs studied, researchers found that the lookalikes share similar DNA variations, particularly concerning genes involved in forming facial features. There were also similarities in height and weight. The study's lead researcher, Manel Esteller, called it 'coincidences of genetics that happen purely by chance,' and does not mean the pairs are related. Despite the study's findings, Loonstra and Scholten are still frequently asked by strangers if they are biologically related, and sometimes, to keep things simple, they just say yes. Brunelle's website features a callout for lookalikes, and he also created pages on Instagram and Facebook for the project. Brunelle plans to release a book this year featuring about 100 photos of the pairs he's photographed, along with a short story from either the subject or his perspective. He shared a few of those stories with USA TODAY. Roniel Tessler and Garrett Levenbrook | New York City, 2013 "I was born in New York, and Roniel in Washington, D.C. Roniel's friends met me at the University of Michigan four years ago and mistook me for him. They then put us in touch, and we discovered we lived near each other. We have remained good friends ever since." ‒ Levenbrook Beatriz Nogueira and Bruna Soares Da Costa | Lisbon, Portugal , 2015 "I work in human resources, and Beatriz is a student. We were both born in Portugal and have been friends since childhood. We first realized we were look-alikes when people started mixing us up. My own father saw a photo of Beatriz and was convinced it was me! I think we look more alike in profile than face-on. We are similar not just physically, but in personality too. And here is a fun detail, I recently discovered we're both left-handed!" ‒ Soares Da Costa Karen Chu and Ashlee Wong | Culver City, California, 2013 "I am a nursing student, while Ashlee is a registered nurse. Most non-Asian people think all Chinese look alike, but that is far from the truth. I consider myself lucky to have met Ashlee, my 'sister' at a traditional Chinese dance performance. Although many people think we look very similar, Ashlee is definitely shorter." - Chu
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' director Ian Bonhôte learned that ‘strength lies in you'
'When do you get to make a Superman film?,' asks Ian Bonhôte speaking about his work on Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. He adds, 'it was an opportunity we couldn't miss. Playing with the Superman idea, concept and visuals was an amazing opportunity.' Watch our full interview above with Bonhôte joining our Gold Derby "Meet the Experts" directors panel. Bonhôte co-wrote and co-directed the documentary with long-time collaborator Peter Ettedgui. The film explores both Christopher Reeve's rise to fame as Superman and the aftermath of a riding accident that left him with a high-level spinal cord injury. The film effectively uses footage of Reeve's Superman films to weave the story together. Bonhôte explains they used this as a 'metaphor of him as a superhero' and that 'after the accident, there's this tragically amazing metaphor of pure strength which you can't find on earth. He has to be an alien, and someone who lost all strength. We felt that trying to tell the story, always coming back to his life as Superman.' More from Gold Derby Neon sets Oscar path for latest Cannes winner 'The Secret Agent': Everything to know about the thriller TIFF reveals its compelling documentary slate featuring Paula Deen, champion whistlers and balloonists An example of Reeve finding his strength again was a scene in the film where he teaches his son Will to ride a bike even though he was paralyzed. Bonhôte says, 'He talked him through it. What Chris shows us through the film is that a voice, an intelligence, a conviction, a vision is more important than loads of movement.' Earlier this year, the HBO Max film won the BAFTA, PGA, and Gold Derby Film Award for Best Documentary Feature. More recently, Bonhôte and Ettedgui have been nominated for Emmys this summer in the documentary/nonfiction directing category and the nonfiction writing category. Bonhôte reflects on what made Reeve strong, 'For the first 40 or so years of his life, he represented virility and this very strong American masculinity. He embodied beauty, sport, strength, intelligence. What happened after the accident, counted more on his voice, still his intelligence and, as his children say, his piercing blue eyes. So I think strength lies in you, in what you believe in, your ethos, what you stand for and what you do with your life.' This article and video are presented by HBO Max. Best of Gold Derby 'Australian Survivor vs. The World' premiere date and cast photos: 'King' George Mladenov, Cirie Fields, Parvati Shallow … 'Five new life forms from distant planets': Everything to know about 'Alien: Earth' as new trailer drops Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Click here to read the full article. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
TV Directors roundtable: ‘Adolescence,' ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,' ‘The Pitt,' ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story'
What's the greatest joy in directing an Emmy-nominated project? How do directors get the best out of actors? And what's similar between making a documentary, drama series, and late night variety show? These were some of the topics discussed by four top television directors when they recently joined Gold Derby's special 'Meet the Experts' roundtable. Our guests are (Adolescence), (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), (The Pitt), and (Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story). Watch our full group panel above. Click on each name above to view that person's individual interview. More from Gold Derby TIFF reveals its compelling documentary slate featuring Paula Deen, champion whistlers and balloonists 'Deliciously twisted,' 'murderously enjoyable': 'Wednesday' Season 2 reviews surpass Season 1 by double digits Bonhôte says that the most important thing when directing is that 'the story needs to be extremely emotional. We need to have a narrative and emotional arc as strong as possible. That's the base of everything.' Pennolino agrees and says, 'You've gotta be able to tap into something inside people and make them walk away and either cry or be elated or inspired or a zombie. That's the whole purpose of what we do. Yeah, emotion is everything.' Marsalis reflects, 'It's interesting, like, I'm not a writer, right? I'm a director. I have done most of my work coming onto existing shows. Sometimes beggars can't be choosers. And I keep joking being nominated for an Emmy is one step away from homelessness for me. I just want to make something entertaining that doesn't cause destruction in this world. But then also there's that magical storytelling part of our jobs.' With past work in front of the camera, Barantini appreciates how actors can enhance a scene. He explains, 'Sometimes an actor will do something completely different and it will have an immediate effect on you. And it might not have been what you're looking for, but it might be better. That is so joyful and terrifying.' Marsalis adds, 'You have your script and then, when you choose an actor for a job, it becomes something else. Because it's a living, breathing organism if you're doing it right.' Barantini replies, 'I always say to actors, look, did you believe that? Because if you didn't, the audience won't believe it either.' Bonhôte admits, 'It's very different for me in a sense. In documentaries, the films have to have like an impact in the world. I think some of the shows you guys are discussing do that as well, which is very strong. But, we talk about laws of the issues of the world. We use Christopher Reeve as a magnet to talk about disability.' Pennolino reflects 'As a director there's so much magic that has to happen. We do these occasional enders that have moving parts, and explosions, and giraffes coming from the ceilings, and all kinds of craziness. And a lot of times I'll have an A-list camera person that's available that I've worked on other projects and I'll be like, 'nah, just not gonna play well in this sandbox.'' Barantini admits, 'We live in a world where it's terrifying and I think we watch TV to ultimately be entertained. To make something heartfelt which can be sad with hope at the end means we're onto a winner. That's what always drives me.' This article and video are presented by Netflix and HBO Max. Best of Gold Derby 'Australian Survivor vs. The World' premiere date and cast photos: 'King' George Mladenov, Cirie Fields, Parvati Shallow … 'Five new life forms from distant planets': Everything to know about 'Alien: Earth' as new trailer drops Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Click here to read the full article. Solve the daily Crossword
