The Toronto International Film Festival kicks off tomorrow and there's plenty of British acting and directing talent to watch out for at the festival.
Free Fire
The 2016 Toronto International Film festival has put together another exciting film programme that shows off acting and directing talent from around the world.
However, it's the Brits that we are focusing on as we take a look at some of the films you cannot afford to miss.
- Ben Wheatley - Free Fire
Ben Wheatley has already had a successful 2016 with High-Rise and now he is back in the director's chair with his latest film Free Fire.
Sadly, Free Fire will not be released in the UK until March next year but the film will receive its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival over the coming ten days.
As well as being in the director's chair, Wheatley has teamed up with Amy Jump, who has been a long-time collaborator of the director, to pen the film's screenplay.
The director has brought together an impressive cast as Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Jack Reynor, and Sam Riley are all on board.
Justine (Larson) has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Murphy & Smiley) and a gang led by Vernon (Copley) and Ord (Hammer) who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart-stopping game of survival ensues.
Free Fire is a film we will be seeing a lot of during the autumn festival season and will close the BFI London Film Festival later this year.
- Noel Clarke - Brotherhood
Noel Clarke is an actor, writer, and filmmaker and is back in the director's chair with Brotherhood, which follows on from the success of Kidulthood and Adulthood.
It was back in 2006 when Kidulthood was released with Adulthood following two years later. Brotherhood is the third and final film in the series and will receive its international premiere at the festival.
Brotherhood is the fourth feature film of Clarke's career and comes two years after the Anomaly. The movie also sees him on writing duties and he will reprise the central role of Sam Peel.
The director has brought together a great cast as Ashley Thomas, Olivia Chenery, Nick Nevern, Steven Cree, and David Ajala are just some of the names that are on board.
Brotherhood follows Sam as he faces up to the new world after Adulthood and realizes it also comes with new problems and new challenges. Sam knows that to survive he must face his issues head on, and knows he will require old friends to help him survive new dangers.
Clarke is one of the most exciting British filmmakers around and I am looking forward to seeing him bring this film series to a close.
- Ken Loach - I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach was the toast of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year when I, Daniel Blake won the prestigious Palme d'Or - he becomes one of a handful of filmmakers to win this prize twice.
Now I, Daniel Blake is heading to Toronto and is set to be one of the dramas that cannot be missed as it gets its North American premiere.
Paul Laverty, who wrote the screenplay for other Loach films such as Jimmy' Hall and The Angel's Share, has once again penned the script.
Dave Johns takes on the title role of Daniel Blake and is joined on the cast list by Hayley Squires, Dylan McKiernan, Briana Shann, and Mick Laffey.
Daniel Blake (59) has worked as a joiner most of his life in Newcastle. Now, for the first time ever, he needs help from the State. He crosses paths with single mother Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan.
Katie's only chance to escape a one-roomed homeless hostel in London has been to accept a flat in a city she doesn't know, some 300 miles away. Daniel and Katie find themselves in no man's land, caught on the barbed wire of welfare bureaucracy as played out against the rhetoric of 'striver and skiver' in modern-day Britain.
Loach has always delivered films with a rich story and interesting and complex characters... I, Daniel Blake looks set to continue that fine tradition.
- Ewan McGregor - American Pastoral
Every year we see a whole host of actors make the leap into the director's chair for the first time... and in 2016, it is the turn of Ewan McGregor.
Yes, McGregor is turning filmmaker with his new project American Pastoral, which is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Philip Roth. The novel has been adapted into a screenplay by John Romano.
As well as being in the director's chair for the film, McGregor is set to take on the central role of Seymour "Swede" Levov and is joined on the cast list by Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Rupert Evans, and David Strathairn.
American Pastoral follows a family whose seemingly idyllic existence is shattered by the social and political turmoil of the 1960s. Seymour 'Swede' Levov (McGregor), a once legendary high school athlete who is now a successful businessman married to Dawn (Connelly), a former beauty queen, but turmoil brews beneath the polished veneer of Swede's life.
When his beloved teenage daughter, Merry (Fanning), disappears after being accused of committing a violent act, Swede dedicates himself to finding her and reuniting his family. What he discovers shakes him to the core, forcing him to look beneath the surface and confront the chaos that is shaping the world around him.
It is always exciting to watch an actor make the jump into filmmaking and I cannot wait to see what McGregor delivers. The film will receive its world premiere at the festival.
- Andrea Arnold - American Honey
Andrea Arnold is one of the best female directors around and she is back with her latest film American Honey, which has already been playing well on the festival circuit this year.
American Honey is the fourth feature film for Arnold and comes after enjoying success with Red Road, Fish, Tank, and Wuthering Heights in recent years.
As well as being in the director's chair, Arnold has also penned the film's screenplay. American Honey played at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year but screening at Toronto would be the film's North American premiere.
Arnold has a knack for uncovering new acting talent... and she has done it again with her latest film project. The movie sees Sasha Lane take on the central role of Star and it will mark her acting debut.
Shia LaBeouf will star alongside Lane and take on the role of Jake. McCaul Lombardi, Arielle Holmes, Crystal Ice, Veronica Ezell, and Chad Cox are just some of the other names that are on board.
American Honey is the tale of Star (Lane), an adolescent girl from a troubled home, who runs away with a traveling sales crew who drive across the American Midwest selling subscriptions door to door. Finding her feet in this gang of teenagers, one of whom is Jake (Shia LaBeouf), she soon gets into the group's lifestyle of hard-partying nights, law-bending days, and young love.
The movie is set to hit the big screen here in the UK in the middle of October.
- David Oyelowo - Queen of Katwe & A United Kingdom
David Oyelowo is one of the British actors to watch out for at Toronto with two film projects on the programme; Queen of Katwe and A United Kingdom.
Queen of Katwe is based on the true events and the book by Tim Crothers and marks the return of Mira Nair to the director's chair.
The film follows a young girl from Uganda who trains to become a world chess champion and Oyelowo's character helps her on her journey.
The actor is joined on the cast list by Lupita Nyong'o, Madina Nalwanga, Ntare Mwine, and Maurice Kirya. The movie will receive its world premiere at the festival.
A United Kingdom is another film that will receive its world premiere, before going to open the BFI London Film Festival later this year.
The movie will mark the return of Amma Asante to the director's chair for her first feature since the success of Belle back in 2014. A United Kingdom will be the third feature film of Asante's filmmaking career and could well be her biggest success to date.
The film tells the true story of Seretse Khama, King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1947 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments.
Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike take on the central roles of Seretse and Ruth and are joined on the cast list by Jack Lowden, Terry Pheto, Vusi Kunene, Jack Davenport, and Tom Felton.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from 8th - 18th September.
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