Four docs are selected as TIFF Gala Presentations in 2024. These include world premieres of three blockbuster music docs; Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band by Thom Zimny; Elton John: Never Too Late by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, and Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe by Cosima Spender. The fourth documentary is Josh Greenbaum’s Will & Harper, which receives its Canadian premiere, having world-premiered at Sundance.
TIFF will publish its complete program for 2024 on August 13.
“This Special Presentations section can be compared to one of those large, luxury variety boxes of chocolates that you get over the holidays,” said Special Presentations Lead Programmer Jane Schoettle. “There’s a vast array to choose from and you know you’re always going to find something good, but there’s three or four that you pick out as your favorites, and you end up loving them.”
The logline for Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe reads how director Cosima Spender follows blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli “beyond the stage and into his private life.”
“It’s always a privilege to be invited into someone else’s world,” Spender said in a statement in 2023. “When that person is Andrea Bocelli, it’s an opportunity to delve into a landscape of sounds, memories, and opera that are entirely unique to him. Andrea and I instantly recognized each other thanks to the simple fact: we were born and grew up in the same rural Tuscan region. This meant an immediate understanding of sense of humor, attitude to life, and a shared attachment to the land we come from.”
Elton John: Never Too Late, a co-production between Disney+ and Rocket Pictures and directed by R. J. Cutler and David Furnish, profiles Elton John on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert tour, also integrating historic performance footage, excerpts from his private journals, and personal footage of his family life behind the scenes. “With candid interviews and newly revealed archival footage, co-directors R.J. Cutler and David Furnish (Sir Elton John’s husband) paint a riveting and highly intimate portrait of a musical icon and trailblazer,” the synopsis reads.
In Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band by Thom Zimny, the eponymous rocker (aka The Boss) narrates this evocative look at his band’s career, teaming up with long-time collaborator Thom Zimny “to investigate the singular alchemy that produced such a tight-knit and enduring group.”
Springsteen’s website writes how he and The E Street Band “offer the most in-depth look ever at the creation of their legendary live performances in the new documentary featuring unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to their 2023-2024 world tour…Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band opens a new door to Springsteen’s creative process for fans around the world, sharing fly-on-the-wall footage of band rehearsals and special moments backstage — as well as hearing from Springsteen himself.”
Will & Harper by Josh Greenbaum is described by TIFF as a “heartfelt documentary…[that] follows Saturday Night Live alumni and close friends Will Ferrell and Harper Steele as they traverse the US by car following Steele’s announcement of her transition.” The synopsis reads how, approximately 30 years ago, Will Ferrell and Harper Steele became close collaborators, with Steele writing many of Ferrell’s most iconic characters and sketches. Their professional and creative partnership evolved into a decades-long friendship. When Ferrell found out his dear friend was coming out as a trans woman, the two embarked on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage in their relationship.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5 – 15, 2024.
