TIFF 2023: Patricia Arquette’s ‘Gonzo Girl’ Discovery Opening Night, Midnight Madness To Fire Up With Larry Charles’ ‘Dicks: The Musical’

Anthony D'Alessandro and Valerie Complex

3 August 2023 at 10:00 am·4-min read

The Toronto Film Festival pulled the curtain off its lineup for this year’s Discovery and Midnight Madness sections with notable titles respectively teeing off both programs’ opening nights: Patricia Arquette’s Gonzo Girl and Borat director Larry Charles’ Dicks: The Musical from A24.

The Midnight Madness section counts 10 features, seven of which are world premieres. The Discovery lineup, which primarily boasts world and international premieres, includes 26 titles. Notably, 13 female filmmakers representing 50% of the total program are featured in this year’s Discovery; that lineup is known for being a window to contemporary world cinema with first and second movies from frosh filmmakers. With Midnight Madness films, it’s anything goes.

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“We’re excited to be showcasing new voices, audacious vision, and genre-bending cinema,” said Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer. “TIFF’s Discovery and Midnight Madness programs for 2023 will once again prove to be the ultimate destination for tastemakers and experience seekers.”

Gonzo Girl is set in 1992 in Aspen, CO, and inspired by a true story. Pic follows Alley Russo (Camila Morrone), an aspiring writer who takes on an assistant job to the iconoclast and founder of gonzo journalism Walker Reade (Willem Dafoe). She is thrown headfirst into his psychedelic, drug-fueled world that blurs the boundaries between co-dependence and addiction. Witnessing her literary hero’s fading glory, she falls deeper into his chaotic world and tries to help him finish his long-awaited novel – by any means necessary. Script is by Rebecca Thomas and Jessica Caldwell. WME and Gersh are handling sales.

Dicks: The Musical, due out on September 29 in theaters, follows two self-obsessed businessmen (writers Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp) who discover they’re long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric divorced parents. Pic stars Megan Thee Stallion, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally and Bowen Yang as God. Music is by Karl Saint Lucy with an original score by Lucy and Marius de Vries.

Last year repped TIFF’s second return-to-person without masks post-Covid and the Midnight section kicked off with Roku’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story which ended up being a true, riotous crowd-pleaser. Other notables in the Midnight section this year is Finn Wolfhard’s second feature as director, Hell of a Summer, and Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft.

Here are the full lineups:

MIDNIGHT MADNESS
“Sides will be split — both figuratively and literally (on screen) — as Midnight Madness returns to the Royal Alexandra Theatre with another stimulating concoction of unpredictable shock and ‘y’arr!’ cinema,” said Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International Programmer, Midnight Madness. “Featuring two timely satiric provocations from Saudi Arabia (NAGA) and Serbia (Working Class Goes to Hell) — nations that are making their section debut — this year’s madness infectiously ignites with 11 o’clock numbers that go all the way to midnight courtesy of Larry Charles’ bonkers and bawdy Dicks: The Musical. A menagerie of tastes will be sated, so bottoms up!”

Aggro Dr1ft Harmony Korine | USA
North American Premiere

Boy Kills World Moritz Mohr | Germany/South Africa/USA
World Premiere

Opening Night
Dicks: The Musical Larry Charles | USA
World Premiere

Hell of a Summer Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk | USA/Canada
World Premiere

Kill Nikhil Nagesh Bhat | India
World Premiere

Naga Meshal Aljaser | Saudi Arabia
World Premiere

Closing Film
Riddle of Fire Weston Razooli | USA
North American Premiere

Sleep Jason Yu | South Korea
North American Premiere

When Evil Lurks Demián Rugna | Argentina
World Premiere

Working Class Goes to Hell Mladen Đorđević | Serbia
World Premiere

DISCOVERY
“The Discovery section, which is curated by a brilliant team of international programmers, is an integral part of TIFF,” stated Dorota Lech, TIFF Lead Programmer, Discovery, & International Programmer for Central, Eastern, & Southern Europe, the Caucasus, Iran, & Turkey. “It is a bold and exciting showcase of cinema and emerging talent from around the world, and we are honoured to highlight new and distinctive voices from artists creating their first or second feature on our global stage. This year’s programme of 26 titles includes films from 25 countries, accounting for international co-productions and local talent.”

Achilles Farhad Delaram | Iran/Germany/France
World Premiere

After the Fire Mehdi Fikri | France
World Premiere

A Match (Sthal) Jayant Digambar Somalkar | India
World Premiere

Andragogy Wregas Bhanuteja | Indonesia/Singapore
World Premiere

An Endless Sunday Alain Parroni | Italy/Germany/Ireland
International Premiere

Arthur&Diana Sara Summa | Germany
World Premiere

Backspot D.W. Waterson | Canada
World Premiere

Frybread Face and Me Billy Luther | USA
International Premiere

Opening Film
Gonzo Girl Patricia Arquette | USA
World Premiere

Hajjan Abu Bakr Shawky | Saudi Arabia/Egypt/Jordan
World Premiere

How to Have Sex Molly Manning Walker | United Kingdom
North American Premiere

I Don’t Know Who You Are M. H. Murray | Canada
World Premiere

La Suprema Felipe Holguín Caro | Colombia
World Premiere

Mandoob Ali Kalthami | Saudi Arabia
World Premiere

Mimang Kim Taeyang | South Korea
World Premiere

Seagrass Meredith Hama-Brown | Canada
World Premiere

Solitude Ninna Pálmadóttir | Iceland/Slovakia/France
World Premiere

Tautuktavuk (What We See) Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk | Canada
World Premiere

The Teacher Farah Nabulsi | United Kingdom/Palestine/Qatar
World Premiere

The Tundra Within Me (Eallugierdi) Sara Margrethe Oskal | Norway
World Premiere

The Queen of My Dreams Fawzia Mirza | Canada
World Premiere

Valentina or the Serenity (Valentina o la serenidad) Ángeles Cruz | Mexico
World Premiere

Widow Clicquot Thomas Napper | France
World Premiere

Wild Woman Alán González | Cuba
World Premiere

Without Air Katalin Moldovai | Hungary
World Premiere

Yellow Bus Wendy Bednarz | United Arab Emirates
World Premiere

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