Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’ Scores Lengthy TIFF Standing Ovation, Director Insists He’s Not Retiring

Clayton Davis Not every race is what it seems, and so it goes with the first category decision of the season. Variety has confirmed Michelle Williams’ work as the piano-playing mother in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” will be campaigned for the Oscars in best actress, instead of supporting as many pundits had speculated. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, won the prestigious People’s Choice Award and became the undisputed frontrunner in the early days of the awards season. One of the highlights of the cast was Williams’ turn as Mitzi Fabelman, a lover of the arts who serves as an inspiration for her filmmaking son Sammy (played by newcomer Gabrielle LaBelle).

Is any race for a nomination in this category moot? Has Steven Spielberg already won it for his personal, Hollywood industry-friendly drama “The Fabelmans”? Possibly, but not probably. The Director’s branch of the Academy has become one of the most international of all the branches.

arrivederci the week before that. So, at this point, critics and pundits have viewed just about every Oscar hopeful.There are just two holdovers that could crash the Hollywood hootenanny: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” out Nov.

the first Oscar front runner of 2022 in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans following the film’s win of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. And now Spielberg himself has spoken out in thanks to all those that have supported his film. It’s somewhat surprising that Steven Spielberg had never previously entered a film he directed into the competition of TIFF,  but he certainly had a memorable experience the first time.

The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival came to an end on Sunday and with it the announcement of its always-hyped People’s Choice Award. And it was no surprise that Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” took the prize voted on by festival moviegoers.

Steven Spielberg is enjoying another triumph, with his quasi-autobiographical drama “The Fabelmans” earning this year’s People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival came to an end on Sunday and with it the announcement of its always-hyped People’s Choice Award. And it was no surprise that Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” took the prize voted on by festival moviegoers.

The People’s Choice Award from the just wrapped 2022 Toronto International Film Festival has gone to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans.  First Runner Up is Canada’s own Sarah Polley’s Women Talking. And Second Runner Up was Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The Documentary Award went to Black Ice, and the Midnight Madness winner was Weird: The Al Yankovich Story             .

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age story “The Fabelmans” took home the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award, providing a major boost to its awards season chances. TIFF’s People’s Choice Award is one of the most reliable predictors of eventual Oscar success.

Marcus Mumford released “Cannibal,” the lead-off song for his first solo album, he was very much declaring a different set of lyrical as well as musical intentions. But for most of the press and public, the focus immediately got put on peripheral matters. Like: Did the existence of a solo project mean Mumford and Sons were breaking up? Had tension over one of the band members leaving last year amid controversy forced a fissure in the group? And then, on the lighter side, hey, how about that Steven Spielberg clip for “Cannibal,” the first music video the filmmaker had ever done? All good, reasonable questions… and all of them burying the lead, as it were. But when Brandi Carlile, who co-wrote and sings on the new album’s final track, “How,” publicly praised him for his bravery and described the album — “Self-Titled” — as “a trust fall,” something more seemed to be afoot than the very modest amount of courage it might take for a star frontman to go solo. And then Mumford went public in confirming what fans who’d listened carefully to “Cannibal” had already figured out: that it was a song addressing someone who sexually abused him in his childhood. The rest of “Self-Titled,” which arrives this weekend, is not so strictly focused on that particular trauma as “Cannibal” and “How” are, but they all touch on points in a lifelong series of reconciliations that will strike deep chords in any listeners who may be on the same journey from horror to healing.

Toronto Film Festival returned in spectacular fashion after two years of virtual premieres or limited capacity screenings. The parties were packed (which may lead to COVID outbreaks down the road, but… that’s showbiz?), the red carpets were glittering and the atmosphere was electric, bordering on euphoric, as director Rian Johnson’s acclaimed sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story,” Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” and the Harry Styles-led romantic drama “My Policeman” debuted to blockbuster-starved audiences in Canada. Hollywood seemed eager to make up for lost time. So, as the curtain comes down on TIFF, here’s a look back at the major trends and takeaways from the 10-day festival.

TORONTO – Venice, Telluride, and TIFF have pretty much come and gone, and, as such, the Oscar race is slightly more clear than it was just two weeks ago. Sure, there are a number of major players yet to show their wares such as Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” James Cameron’s “Avatar 2,” David O.

TORONTO – Venice, Telluride, and TIFF have pretty much come and gone, and, as such, the Oscar race is slightly more clear than it was just two weeks ago. Sure, there are a number of major players yet to show their wares such as Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” James Cameron’s “Avatar 2,” David O.

Jordan Peele’s third feature, “Nope,” focuses on a group of characters (played by Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea and Michael Wincott) attempting to track down an unidentified flying object spotted in the air around the Agua Dulce desert. Many of the film’s scenes take place in the dead of night, but as Peele describes it, the majority of them weren’t filmed at night. Instead, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot most of the scenes during the day using some innovative technological approaches “I haven’t wanted to ruin the illusion, but I’ll ruin it for you today,” Peele said at a Toronto International Film Festival Q&A on Sept. 12. “The night shots, for the most part, were shot in the day, which is due to a technological and strategic thing that [Hoytema] brought to the table. ”

Of all the directors making TIFF debuts this year, none are more revered or accomplished than Steven Spielberg. The highest-grossing director of all time normally premieres his films in late fall.

Today at TIFF, months before its Christmas Day theatrical opening, Oscar-winning filmmaker Damien Chazelle came to show off the trailer of his Hollywood period opus, Babylon. It will drop tom’w. The pic is still in post.

Brendan Fraser fought back tears as “The Whale” received a passionate standing ovation at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere on Sunday. The crowd stood for roughly five minutes until festival organizers quieted the applause to begin a question and answer session with Fraser, director Darren Aronofsky, writer Samuel D. Hunter and cast members Sadie Sink and Ty Simpkins. The reception was one of the strongest yet at this year’s festival, a gathering that has already included the premieres of Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” TIFF was set to be a big festival for Fraser even before “The Whale” screened to huge acclaim. The actor is receiving the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance at the 2022 festival, with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey saying, “Brendan Fraser gives a performance of staggering depth, power, and nuance in ‘The Whale.’ This former Torontonian has been an action star, a screen comic, and a romantic lead. We’re thrilled to welcome him home as the actor behind one of the finest performances of the year.”

Steven Spielberg has described his semi-autobiographical picture The Fabelmans, delving into the teenage experiences that led him into filmmaking, as the most “daunting” project of his six-decade, blockbuster filmmaking career.

My favorite Toronto premiere memory was the one where eventual Best Picture winner Spotlight played to a raucous crowd reaction at the Princess of Wales Theatre, the emotion ratcheted up even further when the Boston Globe journalists who cracked the Catholic Church pedophile scandals took the stage and stood next to the actors who played them onscreen. It has been several years since TIFF has been able to show why this is such a special festival, because of the Covid epidemic and Canada’s protective lockdown of its borders. Last night marked a turning point for TIFF as a preeminent showcase for awards season movies, with the back to back Princess of Wales Theatre world premieres of Netflix’s Rian Johnson-directed Knives Out sequel Glass Onion, followed by the premiere of Amblin/Universal’s Steven Spielberg love letter to his family and a movie camera, The Fabelmans. Both of these films land squarely in the awards conversation.