In my mind, there are three true starts to Oscar season. First, if you're a relatively casual viewer, the Golden Globe nominations in early December. Second, if you know a little more to watch out for, the NBR Awards a few days earlier. Third, if you've been doing this for a while and know when the rumor mill really kicks into high gear, is the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. It's big, it's glitzy, it's the most important festival in North America, and perhaps most importantly, it's open to the public. We love it always.
The 46th Toronto International Film Festival is being held in person and virtually from September 9th through 18th. Films premiering at the festival include:
Colin in Black & White (pilot episode), Ava DuVernay
Dear Evan Hansen, Stephen Chbosky
The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Michael Showalter
The Forgiven, John Michael McDonagh
The Good House, Maya Forbes & Wally Wolodarsky
The Guilty, Antoine Fuqua
The Humans, Stephen Karam
Lakewood, Phillip Noyce
The Mad Woman's Ball, Mélanie Laurent
Montana Story, Scott McGehee & David Siegel
The Starling, Theodore Melfi
The Survivor, Barry Levinson
Untitled Steven Soderbergh film, Steven Soderbergh
Plus many, many more not listed. Happy watching!
Based on the wording of the submission guidelines they've now posted on the site, they are currently expecting the festival to be a hybrid again of some in-person/drive-in screenings and digital screenings. Likely similar to last year's festival if Toronto is in a good place in August/September, although nothing has been finalized yet and things can obviously change quickly.
https://tiff.net/submissions
Early-bird deadline: March 26, 2021
Standard deadline for Shorts: May 14, 2021
Standard deadline for Features, Primetime and Wavelengths: May 28, 2021
