Dolphin’s 42West prepares for fall festival season

42West will represent several feature films and filmmakers at 2025’s Toronto International Film Festival, marking the festival’s 50th anniversary. For the landmark year, 42West is representing seven film campaigns, five of which are seeking North American distribution out of the festival, and five filmmakers across different genres and mediums. 42West’s film slate includes five titles seeking acquisition: Dolphin’s Youngblood, a remake of the 1986 sports classic directed by Academy Award nominee Hubert Davis and starring Blair Underwood, will seek acquisition out of the festival with its world premiere. From Oscar winner director Aneil Karia, Hamlet, is a contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic, starring Academy Award winner Riz Ahmed, Art Malik, Sheeba Chadha, Joe Alwyn, Mordfydd Clark, and Timothy Spall. The documentary Powwow People from director Sky Hopinka brings viewers into a First Nations powwow in true cinematic fashion. Retreat from filmmaker Ted Evans is a groundbreaking thriller set at an isolated retreat for deaf individuals. The film will be presented with a combination of live ASL captioning and open captioning at all its showings. 42West client Anne Zander, a member of the cast, will attend the festival on behalf of the film. Nick Davis’ You Had to Be There dives into the 1972 Canadian production of Godspell, which was the launch platform for many big names including 42West client Eugene Levy (who will attend the festival on behalf of the film), Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, and Jayne Eastwood. Feature length films with distribution from the 42West slate include: Sony Pictures Classics’ Nuremberg from writer/director James Vanderbilt stars Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, and Leo Woodall. 42West client Bradley Fischer is among the producers. The film is making its world premiere at the festival. GKIDS’ Little Amelie or the Character Of Rain debuts at TIFF with its North American premiere following an Audience Award win at Annecy. Filmmakers and actors represented by 42West with titles at the festival include: Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You screens at TIFF following its acclaimed debut at Sundance and Berlin Film Festival win for Rose Byrne. A24 will release the film in theaters on October 10, and it will also make its New York premiere at the New York Film Festival this fall. The film also stars longtime client Conan O’Brien in a standout supporting performance. Bryan Fuller makes his feature-length directorial debut with the whimsical thriller Dust Bunny starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sigourney Weaver, and David Dastmalchian. Roadside Attractions will release the film theatrically on December 5. Dan Levy produces the new ABC News/Hulu documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, which takes a look at Sarah MacLachlan’s iconic all-female concert tour. Producer Ashley Schlaifer’s Train Dreams makes its Canadian premiere at the festival ahead of its launch on Netflix this November. Miramax’s Roofman starring Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, LaKeith Stanfield and Peter Dinklage will make its world premiere at the festival ahead of its wide theatrical release from Paramount Pictures on October 10. Lena Gora will also attend the festival; she co-wrote and stars in the highly-anticipated Erupcja, from director Pete Ohs. In addition to Toronto, 42West also had a major presence at the recent Venice International Film Festival, where client Alexander Payne served as Jury President for the prestigious competition, and the Telluride Film Festival, where clients Scott Cooper and producers Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Eric Robinson of The Gotham Group debuted their new film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White as the iconic musician. The film will also play at the upcoming New York Film Festival in advance of its October 24 theatrical release from 20th Century Studios. The Telluride slate also included the aforementioned Hamlet and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, plus Oliver Hermanus’ historical romantic drama The History of Sound and Ethan Hawke’s documentary Highway 99: A Double Album, a musical travelogue that chronicles the epic, American story of one of our greatest musical voices, Merle Haggard. The New York Film Festival will also include the World Premiere of client Rebecca Miller’s upcoming documentary series Mr. Scorsese, a five-part portrait of yet another longtime 42West director, Martin Scorsese. The series will premiere on Apple TV+ on October 17.