TIFF's Midnight Madness lineup always leans into the weird, and this year, it's even more explicit about it.
鈥淲eird: The Al Yankovic Story,鈥 a Roku Channel original that charts the comedic musician's rise to fame and 鈥渄epraved lifestyle,鈥 is among 54 new titles the Toronto International Film Festival announced on Thursday, including those in its Discovery and Wavelength programs.
The Daniel Radcliffe-starring film, which pokes fun at the traditional rock star biopic in much the same way Yankovic parodies their songs, will open the Midnight Madness program.
Curator Peter Kuplowsky described the project as 鈥渕ade in the great Midnight movie tradition of challenging conventions and forging one's own path.鈥
The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna and Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey.
鈥淭his year, fans of the weird and the wicked will be spending most of their TIFF living in a Midnight Madness paradise,鈥 Kuplowsky said in a press release.
Midnight Madness typically features unconventional genre films, and also includes 鈥淧earl,鈥 the prequel to the slasher flick 鈥淴鈥 that debuted earlier this year.
鈥淭he People's Joker,鈥 a film that reimagines 2019's 鈥淛oker鈥 as a queer coming-of-age story about a trans woman working in comedy, will also debut as part of the lineup.
The 24-film Discovery program also features a bevy of LGBTQ2S+ stories.
It opens with 鈥淭he Inspection,鈥 about a gay, homeless youth who joins the marine corps in the era of 鈥渄on't ask, don't tell.鈥
It also includes the Canadian movies 鈥淪omething You Said Last Night,鈥 about an unemployed trans woman in her mid-twenties on a family vacation in cottage country; 鈥淧ussy,鈥 the story of three teens and the queer nightlife scene; and 鈥淩osie,鈥 about a found family raising a young orphan.
The Wavelengths lineup of 鈥渘on-commercial and non-conforming work鈥 includes 鈥淐oncrete Valley,鈥 from Antoine Bourges.
Portuguese writer-director Joaeo Pedro Rodrigues's 鈥淲ill-o'-the-Wisp,鈥 a homoerotic musical fantasy, will also screen as part of the Wavelengths program in its North American premiere. It debuted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
On Wednesday, TIFF also announced its Platform lineup, the festival's competitive program that 鈥渃hampions bold directorial visions.鈥
All 10 films in the program will have their world premieres at TIFF.
They include the Canadian movies 鈥淩iceboy Sleeps,鈥 from writer-director Anthony Shim and 鈥淰iking,鈥 from Quebecois filmmaker Stephane Lafleur.
U.K. director Frances O'Connor's 鈥淓mily,鈥 which stars Emma Mackey as the middle Bronte sister, will open the lineup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2022.
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