Ben Wheatley’s high octane action thriller Free Fire kicks off the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section tonight, the first of five Film4 backed films to screen at the festival:

FREE FIRE

World Premiere / Midnight Madness Opening Night 

Massachusetts, late ‘70s. Justine (Brie Larson) has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley) and a gang led by Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and Ord (Armie Hammer) who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues. Wheatley’s first US-set action picture is executive produced by Martin Scorsese.

Director Ben Wheatley

Cast Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Noah Taylor

Writers Amy Jump & Ben Wheatley, Producer Andrew Starke

Production Company Rook Films, Sales agent Protagonist Pictures

** Confirmed for European Premiere as Closing Night of 2016 London Film Festival **

TRESPASS AGAINST US

World Premiere / Special Presentation

Three generations of the Cutler family live as notorious outlaws in Britain’s richest countryside. They spend their time hunting, looting and tormenting the police. In the midst of it all, Chad (Michael Fassbender) finds himself torn between respect for his father (Brendan Gleeson) and a desire for a better life for his children. With the law cracking down on his clan, the decision might not be his to make... Music for the film is an original score from The Chemical Brothers.

Director Adam Smith

Cast Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Lyndsey Marshal, Rory Kinnear, Sean Harris,

Killian Scott

Writer Alastair Siddons, Producers Andrea Calderwood, Gail Egan, Alastair Siddons

Production Company Potboiler Productions, Sales agent Protagonist Pictures

THE OATH

World Premiere / Special Presentation

Kormákur plays the part of a father, who sets off on a mission to try to pull his daughter away from the world of drugs and petty crime, only to discover that danger can be found where you least expect it.

Director Baltasar Kormákur

Cast Baltasar Kormákur, Hera Hilmar, Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Margret Bjarnadottir

Writers Ólafur Egill Egilsson & Baltasar Kormákur

Producer Magnus Viðar Sigurðsson

Production Company RVK Studios, Sales agent XYZ Films

AMERICAN HONEY

North American Premiere / Special Presentation

Star (Sasha Lane), a teenage girl from a troubled home runs away with a travelling sales crew that drives across the American mid-west selling magazine subscriptions door to door. Finding her feet in this gang of teenagers, one of whom is Jake (Shia LaBeouf), she soon gets into the group’s lifestyle of hard partying, law-bending and young love.

Writer / Director Andrea Arnold

Cast Shia LaBeouf, Sasha Lane, Riley Keough

Producers Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Thomas Benski, Lucas Ochoa

Production Companies Parts & Labor, Pulse Films, Sales agent Protagonist Pictures

** Jury Prize winner at 2016 Cannes Film Festival; A24will release in the US on 30th September and Focus Features release in the UK on 14th October **

UNA

Canadian Premiere / Special Presentation

When a young woman unexpectedly arrives at an older man’s workplace, looking for answers, the secrets of the past threaten to unravel his new life. Their confrontation will uncover buried memories and unspeakable desires. It will shake them both to the core.

Director Benedict Andrews

Cast Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed

Writer David Harrower, based on his own play BLACKBIRD

Producers Jean Doumanian, Patrick Daly, Maya Amsellem

Production Company & Sales agent WestEnd Films

Other exciting projects coming soon from Film4’s slate include:

BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK (Director: Ang Lee)

Cast Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin

** Confirmed for World Premiere at New York Film Festival on October 14, prior to US release by Sony Pictures Entertainment on November 11 **

T2 (Danny Boyle)

Cast Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner

** Confirmed for release on 27 January, 2017 in the UK and 3 February, 2017 in the US, by Sony Pictures Entertainment **

Currently in post-production:

HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES (John Cameron Mitchell)

JOURNEYMAN (Paddy Considine)

OLD BOYS (Toby MacDonald)

ROOM 915 (short, Katie Mitchell)

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (Martin McDonagh)

DARK RIVER (Clio Barnard)

BEAST (Michael Pearce)

Currently in production:

LEAN ON PETE (Andrew Haigh)

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (Lynne Ramsay)

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Future productions include:

MARY MAGDALENE (Garth Davis)

AMERICAN ANIMALS (Bart Layton)

PETERLOO (Mike Leigh)

Other recent projects include:

HIGH-RISE (Ben Wheatley)

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR (Susanna White)

ROOM (Lenny Abrahamson)

CAROL (Todd Hayes)

AMY (Asif Kapadia)

45 YEARS (Andrew Haigh)

EX MACHINA (Alex Garland)

Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division, which develops and co-finances films and has an established track record for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking. Film4 has developed and/or co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years - Academy Award®-winners such as Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Asif Kapadia’s Amy, Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, in addition to critically-acclaimed award-winners such as Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Shane Meadows’ This is England, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, Yann Demange’s 71, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.