Riz Ahmed to Act as Head Jury of TIFF 2021; Villeneuve’s 'Dune' to Get Special IMAX Event
‘Dune’ will be the first film to play outside the province of Ontario as part of the festival.
As we’re slowly gearing up for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, which will be taking place September 9th to the 18th of this year, both virtually and in-person, the festival announced today its lineup for their Platforms program, whilst naming Riz Ahmed as head of the jury. The Platform prize, introduced in 2015, recognizes films of “high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision,” with international films being screened through a jury. The Academy Award-nominated “Sound of Metal” actor will head the jury, with other jurors to be announced at a later date.
On his nomination as a head juror, Riz Ahmed expressed that he is “am honored to be named president of the Platform jury at TIFF this year and to be a part of TIFF with Encounter. TIFF has always been a festival that showcases bold and daring cinema on a global stage. Its commitment to celebrating small independent films, like Sound of Metal, has had such a significant impact on my career and many others. I’m looking forward to watching all of this year’s selections and working alongside my fellow jury members.”
Additionally, TIFF has also announced its lineup of special event screenings, comprised of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s highly anticipated “Memoria”, Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer”, Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero”, “NBA Films For Fans Created with OLG”, and finally, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune”, which was previously announced. Dune will be playing in a world-exclusive special IMAX screening at the Cinesphere in Toronto on September 11th, 12th, and the 18th and at the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto on September 13th.
And for the first time ever, TIFF will be screening a film outside of the province of Ontario, with the Special IMAX Event of ‘Dune’ extending itself to the province of Québec, home of director Denis Villeneuve. The film will play at Montreal’s iconic IMAX theatre at the Cinéma Banque Scotia on September 12th, with the full schedule (and times) announced on August 24th. For the Montreal screening, proof of full vaccination will be required to attend, per the provincial government’s rules, which announced yesterday that a vaccine passport system would be implemented in non-essential public indoor spaces as of September 1st, which includes festivals and movie theaters. No details on proof of vaccination have been known for in-person Toronto screenings, with TIFF closely monitoring the epidemiological situation in the province of Ontario.
Individual tickets for in-person and digital screenings will go on sale on September 4th for members, and September 6th for non-members.