Halle Berry To Keynote 2020 Toronto Film Festival

With her directorial debut 'Bruised' scheduled to premiere at the 2020 Toronto Film Festival, Halle Berry will also participate in a candid conversation entitled 'In Conversation with Halle Berry', which will happen virtually on Friday, September 11th.

Halle Berry is set to take part in a candid conversation as part of the Toronto Film Festival's In Conversation With... series, organizers said Monday.

On Sept. 11, the Oscar winner will appear virtually as Berry discusses her feature directorial debut, the MMA drama Bruised, which will have a world premiere in Toronto. Berry will also star in the feature as a disgraced MMA fighter, Jackie "Justice."

Toronto organizers also announced that Canadian documentary and TV drama director Tracey Deer will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award, presented by L'Oréal Paris and supported by MGM, at the 2020 TIFF Tribute Awards on Sept. 15. Deer is bringing her debut narrative feature, Beans, to Toronto for a world premiere.

Ahead of TIFF, sales outfit WaZabi Films picked up the world rights, excluding Canada, to Deer’s Beans, about a Mohawk girl on the cusp of adolescence who must grow up fast and become her own kind of warrior during an armed stand-off known as the 1990 Oka Crisis.

And the Toronto fest named as its 2020 TIFF Rising Stars Sheila Atim (Bruised), Rainbow Dickerson (Beans), Tanya Maniktala (A Suitable Boy) and Madeleine Sims-Fewer (Violation).

Earlier, Toronto tapped Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins and directors Chloe Zhao and Mira Nair for tributes at its upcoming 20th edition. TIFF's online plans also include industry conference sessions, networking events and digital showcases of film titles by national cinema agencies.

Planning for a first-time online industry conference follows the physical edition of the Toronto Film Festival, set to run Sept. 10 to 19, being sharply reduced in size and scope due to the coronavirus pandemic.

TIFF plans to screen around 50 film titles during its first five days in physical theaters, and at drive-in and outdoor cinema venues. Toronto will also host virtual red carpets, press conferences and industry events amid the COVID-19 outbreak.