Two films from India have secured a place in the list of 63 films selected for the Gala and Special Presentations sections of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2024). The films are All We Imagine As Light, directed by Payal Kapadia, which won the Grand Prix at the recent Cannes Film Festival, and Superboys of Malegaon, directed by Reema Kagti.

The films showcased in the Gala and Special Presentations programmes are considered to be the best out of all submissions of the year, as evaluated by the organisers.

All We Imagine As Light, featuring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon, and Azees Nedumangad in prominent roles, has production collaborations from European countries including France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The film, also written by Payal, tells the story of two Malayali nurses living in Mumbai. A Night of Knowing Nothing, Payal’s first documentary film, had its world premiere at TIFF 2021 and bagged the Amplify Voices Award.

In Reema Kagti’s Hindi documentary film Superboys of Malegaon, the main roles are played by Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, and Shashank Arora. The screenplay for the film, which tells the story of amateur filmmaker Nasir Shaikh and a few of his enthusiastic friends in Malegaon, a small town in Maharashtra, is written by Varun Grover.

Films by renowned directors such as David Cronenberg, Jacques Audiard, Angelina Jolie, Gia Coppola, Morgan Neville, Cosima Spender, Uberto Pasolini, David Gordon Green, Mike Flanagan, and Woo Min-Ho also feature in the main film list.

TIFF 2024, which will run from September 5 to September 15, will see the announcement of over 300 more films. The film festival attracts an audience of around 5,00,000, more than 2,000 volunteers, and around 1,500 media professionals from various parts of the world.