TIFF Announces World Premiere of Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils at the 48th Edition of the Festival #TIFF2023
The opera-inspired film stars Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O’Brien and Vinessa Antoine
Special Avant-premieĚre screening, in partnership with the Canadian Opera Company, to take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on September 8
“First look” image also released
TORONTO — TIFF is delighted to announce that legendary filmmaker Atom Egoyan returns to the festival with the World Premiere of his latest work Seven Veils. The film stars Amanda Seyfried with Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O’Brien, and Vinessa Antoine. Also featured are Ambur Braid as Salome and Michael Kupfer-Radecky as John the Baptist, who both starred in the Canadian Opera Company’s most recent production of Salome, also directed by Egoyan, from which the film was inspired.
Prior to its TIFF World Premiere screening on Sunday, September 10, at the historic Princess of Wales Theatre Visa Screening Room, a special avant-premieĚre of the film will be presented in partnership with the Canadian Opera Company on Friday, September 8, at 7pm at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
“We are honoured to premiere Atom Egoyan’s extraordinary film at this year’s festival,” stated Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF. “Egoyan’s cinematic works are unmatched and we’re excited to bring Seven Veils to our TIFF audiences and to the city of Toronto, his home.”
Seven Veils is Egoyan’s 18th film to premiere at TIFF. The Academy Award®–nominated filmmaker reunites with Seyfried (Chloe), who plays Jeanine, an earnest theatre director, tasked with remounting her former mentor’s most famous work, the opera Salome. Haunted by dark and disturbing memories from her past, Jeanine allows her repressed trauma to colour the present as she re-enters the opera world after so many years away. Egoyan first directed Salome for the Canadian Opera Company in 1996 and returned earlier this year to revive the production on stage.
“Amanda is a phenomenal actress, and here she brilliantly plays a woman dealing with complex and explosive relationships in her past, present and future,” stated Egoyan. “To have the world premiere of this film at TIFF and to be partnering with The Canadian Opera Company really brings my two great passions together in such a beautiful way.”
“Atom’s production of Salome electrified the stage when it debuted in 1996 and has evolved with each remounting,” stated producer Niv Fichman, Rhombus Media. “The opera explores themes that resonate through Atom’s body of work, and Seven Veils is an exciting and provocative next step in this ongoing evolution.”
Seven Veils is an Elevation Pictures and XYZ Films presentation, produced by Rhombus Media and Ego Film Arts, with the participation of Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates, in association with IPR.VC, Cinetic Media, Crave, and the Canadian Opera Company. XYZ Films is handling world sales. Elevation Pictures will distribute the film in Canada.
More Festival details will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for TIFF 2023 go on sale to TIFF Members by level beginning on August 18. For more details visit tiff.net/join. The full Festival schedule will be released in August.
Tickets for the avant-premieĚre screening of Seven Veils at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts will be available from August 15, 2023, and can be purchased online at coc.ca or by calling the Four Seasons Centre Box Office at 416-363-8231. Single tickets range from $75 to $100, with a VIP Experience available for $250 that includes Grand Ring and Premium Orchestra, as well as an invitation to an exclusive reception immediately following the screening. TIFF Members will receive a 20% discount on tickets to this special event.
