Toronto Film Festival selects “Dalíland” as the closing film

Director Mary Harron’s ‘Dalíland’, a film about the influential surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, has its world premiere as the closing film of the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.

The film premieres at Roy Thomson Hall on Saturday September 17th.

Ben Kingsley plays Salvador Dalí in Dalíland, who tells the story of his strange and fascinating marriage to his wife Gala as their seemingly unbreakable bond begins to crumble. Set in 1973 in New York and Spain, the story is told from the point of view of James, a young assistant keen to make his mark in the art world and helping the eccentric and erratic Dalí prepare for a major gallery show.

“We are delighted to present Mary Harron’s ‘Dalíland’ as this year’s closing film,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF. “We couldn’t be prouder that Harron is a Canadian who has brought her unique explorations of iconic eccentrics to the world stage. Depicting the torrid relationship between Salvador Dalí and his partner Gala, Harron remains interesting and compelling in cinema.”

The cast includes Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Christopher Briney, Rupert Graves, Alexander Beyer, Andreja Pejic, Mark McKenna, Zachary Gemein-Seckel, Avital Lvova and Suki Waterhouse. John C. Walsh wrote the screenplay for the film, which was produced by Edward R. Pressman of Pressman Films, David Sacks of David O. Sacks Productions, Daniel Brunt, Chris Curling of Zephyr Films and Sam Pressman.

Other films premiering at TIFF include Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical epic The Woman King, Rian Johnson’s crime thriller Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale The Fabelmans. Harry Styles-directed drama My Policeman and Billy Eichner’s romantic comedy Bros.

TIFF takes place from September 8th to 18th.