Hot off the presses… 

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, starring Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela and Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela, in a film directed by Justin Chadwick, which highlights Mandela’s early life, education and 27 years in prison, will make its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Also making their World Premieres (the festival is making its announcement as I type this) are: Amma Asante’s Belle, Biyi Bandele’s Half Of A Yellow Sun, and Richard Ayoade’s The Double.

Asante’s Belle is a period drama about the trials and tribulations of a mixed-race girl, in the 1700s. It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Miranda Richardson, Tom Wilkinson, Sarah Gadon, Sam Claflin, and Matthew Goode. 

The story takes place in the 1780s, and is based on a true story – specifically, the true story of Dido Belle, a mixed-race woman raised as an aristocrat in 18th-century England. It follows Belle, adopted into an aristocratic family, who faces class and color prejudices. As she blossoms into a young woman, she develops a relationship with a vicar’s son who is an advocate for slave emancipation. 

Mbatha-Raw is of course playing the lead role. 

Ayoade’s The Double is a modern today adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s 1846 novel The Double, and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn and Rade Serbedzija.

And Bandele’s Half Of A Yellow Sun is a film adaptation of celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Orange Prize-winning novel, Half Of A Yellow Sun. Bandele’s feature film directorial debut stars Thandie Newton, John Boyega, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anika Noni Rose, Joseph Mawle and Genevieve Nnaji.

Throw in the World Premiere of 12 Years A Slave, and TIFF will be the festival to attend this fall! I won’t be there personally, but I’m sure someone will and we’ll get some coverage.

More to come I’m sure, so stay tuned…