The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the initial lineup of films playing in the Gala and Special Presentations sections for 2019, and it is packed. As some expected, Joker will be playing at TIFF, where the Todd Phillips film will have its North American premiere (likely after debuting at Venice). In terms of world premieres, TIFF 2019 has The Goldfinch, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Hustlers, and Harriet, as well as Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out.

As if that wasn’t enough, the festival will also play host to Steven Soderbergh’s new star-studded Netflix movie The Laundromat, the buzzworthy Michael B. Jordan drama Just Mercy, the new Safdie Brothers film Uncut Gems, and the Christian Bale-Matt Damon drama Ford v Ferrari. The closing night film has been announced as director Marjane Satraipi’s (The Voices) Marie Curie biopic Radioactive, starring Rosamund Pike.

This is an absolutely stacked lineup, even for TIFF, and I can’t wait to see these aforementioned films and many, many more. Of the Gala films announced today, 50% are directed or co-directed by women—a record for the programme.

TIFF is always a pretty significant waypoint on the road to the Oscar race, elevating the awards campaigns for films like Roma, The Shape of Water, and La La Land in past years. But beyond the Oscar aspect, TIFF is also just a great place to see great movies.

As always, you can expect Collider to be at this year’s TIFF in full force, so check back often throughout the festival for reviews, interviews, awards coverage, and much more.

Check out the TIFF 2019 Gala and Special Presentations lineup below. The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5-15th.

GALAS 2019

• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Marielle Heller | USA (World Premiere)
• Abominable Jill Culton | USA(World Premiere)
• American Woman Semi Chellas | Canada (Canadian Premiere)
• Blackbird Roger Michell | United Kingdom (World Premiere)
• Clemency Chinonye Chukwu | USA (International Premiere)
• Ford v Ferrari James Mangold | USA (Canadian Premiere)
• The Goldfinch John Crowley | USA (World Premiere)
• Harriet Kasi Lemmons | USA (World Premiere)

• 

  Hustlers Lorene Scafaria | USA (World Premiere)
• Joker Todd Phillips | USA (North American Premiere)
• Just Mercy Destin Daniel Cretton | USA (World Premiere) *Opening Night Film*
• Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band Daniel Roher | Canada (World Premiere)
• Ordinary Love Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn | United Kingdom (World Premiere) *Closing Night Film*
• Radioactive Marjane Satrapi | United Kingdom (World Premiere)
• The Sky Is Pink Shonali Bose | India (World Premiere)
• The Song of Names François Girard | Canada (World Premiere)
• True History of the Kelly Gang Justin Kurzel | Australia (World Premiere)
• Western Stars Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen | USA (World Premiere)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2019

• A Herdade Tiago Guedes | Portugal (North American Premiere)
• Bad Education Cory Finley | USA (World Premiere)
• Coming Home Again Wayne Wang | USA/South Korea (World Premiere)
• Dolemite Is My Name Craig Brewer | USA (World Premiere)
• Ema Pablo Larraín | Chile (North American Premiere)
• Endings, Beginnings Drake Doremus | USA (World Premiere)
• Frankie Ira Sachs | France/Portugal (North American Premiere)
• The Friend Gabriela Cowperthwaite | USA (World Premiere)
• Greed Michael Winterbottom | United Kingdom (World Premiere)
• Guest of Honour Atom Egoyan | Canada (North American Premiere)
• Heroic Losers (La odisea de los giles) Sebastian Borensztein | Argentina/Spain (International Premiere)
• Honey Boy Alma Har’el | USA (International Premiere)
• Hope Gap William Nicholson | United Kingdom (World Premiere)
• How to Build a Girl Coky Giedroyc | United Kingdom (World Premiere) *Opening Special Presentations Film*
• I Am Woman Unjoo Moon | Australia (World Premiere)

• 

  Jojo Rabbit Taika Waititi | USA (World Premiere)
• Judy Rupert Goold | United Kingdom (Canadian Premiere)
• Knives Out Rian Johnson | USA (World Premiere)
• La Belle Époque Nicolas Bedos | France (North American Premiere)
• The Laundromat Steven Soderbergh | USA (North American Premiere)
• The Lighthouse Robert Eggers | USA (North American Premiere)
• Marriage Story Noah Baumbach | USA (Canadian Premiere)
• Military Wives Peter Cattaneo | United Kingdom (World Premiere)
• Motherless Brooklyn Edward Norton | USA (International Premiere)
• No.7 Cherry Lane Yonfan | Hong Kong (North American Premiere)
• The Other Lamb Malgorzata Szumowska | Belgium/Ireland/USA (World Premiere)
• Pain and Glory Pedro Almodóvar | Spain (Canadian Premiere)
• The Painted Bird Václav Marhoul | Czech Republic/Ukraine/Slovakia (North American Premiere)
• Parasite (Gisaengchung) Bong Joon-ho | South Korea (Canadian Premiere)
• Pelican Blood (Pelikanblut) Katrin Gebbe | Germany/Bulgaria (North American Premiere)
• The Personal History of David Copperfield Armando Iannucci | United Kingdom (World Premiere)
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) Céline Sciamma | France (Canadian Premiere)
• The Report Scott Z. Burns | USA (International Premiere)
• Saturday Fiction (Lan Xin Da Ju Yuan) Lou Ye | China (North American Premiere)
• The Two Popes Fernando Meirelles | USA/United Kingdom/Italy/Argentina (Canadian Premiere)
• Uncut Gems Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie | USA (International Premiere)
• Weathering With You Makoto Shinkai | Japan (North American Premiere)
• While at War (Mientras Dure La Guerra) Alejandro Amenábar | Spain/Argentina (World Premiere)