Barbaros Gökdemir wrote – The race is heating up: Towards the Venice and Toronto festivals!

The film world was in a state of flurry this week following the announcement of the highly anticipated selections for the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals. As we know, the year's major festivals—Sundance, Berlinale, and Cannes—have passed us by, leaving only these two major film events, where ambitious films will be showcased, on the horizon. We can already tell that August and September will be busy with new films, premieres, and premieres, but both selections point to a packed schedule. Making a mark on the festival scene this year won't be easy for any film.

When we look at the distribution of festivals throughout the year, I consider these two festivals to be the last exit before the bridge. Films featured at these festivals are released later in the year than those shown at Sundance or Cannes. Consequently, they have less time to campaign and gain visibility to secure nominations at the Academy Awards ceremony in March next year. On the other hand, I can also see that this situation doesn't significantly impact ambitious Western cinema—more North American, for example. I can also see that many productions from major stars and directors choose these two festivals every year, turning them into important destinations.

For example, this year Venice is hosting new works by Kathryn Bigelow, Yorgos Lanthimos, Noah Baumbach, and Jim Jarmusch, while Toronto looks set to invigorate the cinema world with new films from directors like Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, and Chloe Zhao.

We'll all witness how the new films, red carpet appearances, premieres, and controversial statements from stars at these festivals will garner global media coverage. And in the coming months, we'll also see which films will rise or fall short in the Academy race, and which festivals will host the most nominations.

For now, let's focus on the selections offered by Venice and Toronto.

This year's 82nd edition of the festival will take place from August 27 to September 9. American director Alexander Payne chairs the festival's main competition jury. He is joined by directors such as French director Stephane Brizé, Italian director Maura Delpero, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, and Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, as well as Brazilian director Fernanda Torres and Chinese director Zhao Tao. The jury chair for the festival's "Orrizonti" selection is French director Julia Ducournau, whose new film " Alpha" was in this year's main competition at Cannes.

There are a total of 21 films in the Venice main competition program (Venezia 82), and there are many that excite me. For example, The Smashing Machine , Bennie Safdie's first solo film since his collaboration with his older brother Josh Safdie, is also on the list. Frankly, I'm quite curious about the kind of cinema he'll usher in.

Renowned French director François Ozon is also on the list with his adaptation of L'Étranger – The Stranger , arguably one of the most important works of French literature. Two important contemporary Hungarian directors will also be appearing in Venice. Ildikó Enyedi, who made a splash in world cinema with her 2017 film On Body and Soul , with Silent Friend , and László Nemes, who achieved great success with his 2015 film Son of Saul , with Orphan , are among the most talked-about names at the festival. Alongside these names, French director Olivier Assayas, South Korean Chan-wook Park, and Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania are also among those poised to raise the bar.

The festival's "Orrizonti" selection features a total of 19 films. While no Turkish production is being screened at Venice this year, it's worth noting that Turkey is one of the production partners for Iranian director Ali Asgari's Komedie Elahi , which is included in this selection.

Another notable feature of the festival, in my opinion, is the non-fiction selection screened out of competition. It's not hard to imagine that prominent contemporary directors like Werner Herzog, Sofia Coppola, Alexandr Sokurov, and Tsai Ming-liang will push the boundaries of cinematic art in Venice with their new works.

It's disappointing that we didn't see a production from Turkey in the Venice Film Festival selection this year. Last year, Murat Fıratoğlu's "One of the Days Hemme Died" competed in the festival's Orrizonti section and won the Special Jury Prize.

This year, the 50th edition of Toronto will take place from September 4th to 14th. The festival has five sections: "Discovery," "Gala Screenings," "Midnight Madness," "Platform," and "Special Screenings."

Happily, the "Discovery" section, which positions itself as the future of world cinema and directors to watch out for, also features a production from Turkey. Director Seyhmus Altun's film, "Aldığımızı Nefes" (The Breath We Take), will make its world premiere in this selection. The selection consists of 23 films in total.

The festival's Gala Screenings section also features exciting productions. I'm particularly curious about Fuze , written by Ben Hopkins, known for his 2008 film "Sunday: A Trading Tale, " who also lived in Turkey for many years, and directed by the acclaimed British director David Mackenzie. It's worth noting that some of the film was shot in Istanbul.

Among the interesting productions in this selection are Palestine 36 , directed by Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir; Glenrothan , the directorial debut of famous actor Brian Cox, whom we know from the TV series Succession ; and Driver's Ed, the new film by director Bobby Farrelly, whom we remember from the famous 1990s comedy Ah Mary Vah Mary .

The festival's special screening section features Sacrifice, the new film by French director Romain Gavras, who made waves with his 2022 Netflix film Athena. The film is particularly notable for its star-studded cast, including Chris Evans, Anya-Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, and John Malkovich. The same selection also includes "Three Goodbyes," by Isabel Coixet, the Spanish director of my beloved 2017 film The Bookshop .

What can we say just by looking at the announced lists of these two festivals?

Frankly, I think Venice's program has a stronger pool of directors, at least from my perspective. Similarly, Venice seems to have a better-designed program in terms of the diversity of the country's cinema. A closer look at Toronto's list reveals that many of the films shown at Cannes have their North American premieres. Because these aren't premieres, they won't generate the same excitement, and in terms of originality, Venice is in a better position, I think.

But both festivals hold a significant place in world cinema. Toronto's most important advantage is its broader appeal to North America. In this respect, it also holds a significant place for the Academy Awards.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, we'll continue to discuss the films screening at these festivals more towards the end of the year and into the winter months. That's for sure.

On the other hand, another thing I'm curious about is what the political language of these festivals will be, and whether they will hold a mirror up to the painful days the world is going through...

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, especially in the last two weeks, and the inability of babies and children to access basic food needs for their development, hunger and health crises are on everyone's agenda, and they are also occupying the political scene in America.

But unfortunately, we can also see that the discussions are often shallow and far beyond solving the problem.

We hope that at least the entertainment and film world will not remain silent on this issue and that they will play a small part in ending the crisis in these days when a great human drama is taking place.