Another TIFF Announcement- Maybe "Mommy"/Turkey Nominates "Sleep"/Son of a Gun?

Hello on a Thursday in August!

ANOTHER TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENT-MAYBE "MOMMY"

The Toronto International Film Festival announced a slew of Canadian titles yesterday that have been added across many of the different sections that the fest features.  There was a film here and there that piqued my interest in terms of Telluride potential but none to the point that I'm ready to declare any of the films announced yesterday as Telluride likely.

Take a look at the new films announced here via Indie Wire:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto-international-film-festival-reveals-slate-of-canadian-features-and-short-films-20140806

The Playlist looked at the same list yesterday and they claim that Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" (which played well at Cannes in May and is being distributed in the U.S. by Roadside Attractions) by being a "Toronto" premiere "suggests that it'll be going to Telluride to make its North American debut".

The Playlist post is here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/xavier-dolans-mommy-leads-canadian-line-up-of-new-tiff-2014-announcements-20140806

So, "Mommy" is a maybe.


TURKEY NOMINATES "WINTER SLEEP"

Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Winter Sleep" has been chosen by Turkey to be its entrant for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film.  "Winter Sleep" has not been announced for Toronto and may or may not make its way to Telluride.  I'd say it's about a 50/50 shot at this point.

Recent history suggest those odds are about right as five Palme winners since 2004 have not appeared at T-ride.  Adopt Films is distributing the film for the U.S. which may tilt the odds somewhat toward a Telluride play.  Adopt has been at T-ride for two consecutive years with "Bethlehem" and "Barbara"...so perhaps.

Here's the story of its choice for Oscar competition from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-turkey-nominates-winter-sleep-723703


SON OF A GUN?

Ewan MacGregor in "Son of a Gun" via The Playlist

Increasingly it seems unlikely that J.C. Chandor's "A Most Violent Year" will make the Telluride lineup.  This would leave distrib A24 without a presence at Telluride after having been there for two straight years with "Ginger and Rosa" and "Under the Skin".  I have been thinking for a few months that "Violent Year" was very, very likely but with the news yesterday from HitFix's Kris Tapley that editing is still going on, it looks like the A24 steak could be done.

Unless...

The Playlist dropped the first images from Julius Avery's "Son of a Gun" starring Ewan MacGregor yesterday.  "Son" is described as "an Aussie crime drama".

So, maybe A24 subs this in for the Chandor...

Here's The Playlist story:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/first-look-ewan-mcgregor-alicia-vikander-in-crime-drama-son-of-a-gun-20140806

Frankly, I'm urging J.C. to get "Violent Year" done and T-ride to slide it in...