UPDATE (Sept 6): Drake has cancelled his appearance at TIFF, citing a scheduling issue. “Monsters And Men is a project very close to Drake’s heart but due to scheduling commitments on his current tour he unfortunately will not be able to attend and introduce the film at TIFF. He wishes the film the utmost success and feels strongly about its ability to positively inspire dialogue.”
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Drake will attend the Toronto International Film Festival this year to introduce Monsters And Men, a film about police violence.
His September 6 appearance at TIFF Bell Lightbox, along with the filmmakers and cast, marks the Toronto rapper’s second consecutive appearance at the festival after he walked the red carpet for The Carter Effect last year.
Drake executive produced Monsters And Men, which is the debut film by American writer/director Reinaldo Marcus Green and is about the consequences three men face following the police shooting of a Black man in Brooklyn.
The cast includes BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington as well as Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Anthony Ramos. Drake partnered with distributor NEON on the film, which won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Other special events to look out for at TIFF this year include a live reading of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club by Canadian filmmaker Jason Reitman. The cast will be announced soon.
There will also be a behind-the-scenes look of the new How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World movie with director Dean DeBlois and producer Brad Lewis as well as a sneak preview of La La Land director Damien Chazelle’s drama First Man at Ontario Place Cinesphere.
TIFF has also announced its 2018 In Conversation With program of actors with films playing at the festival. This year’s guests are What They Had actor Hilary Swank, Green Book’s Mahershala Ali, and Maggie Gyllenhaal who appears in The Kindergarten Teacher.
cultureintern@nowtoronto.com | @OliviaaBednar
