TIFF 2023 Announces First International Title is Ladj Ly’s ‘Les Indésirables’

The Toronto Interenational Film Festival continues to tease out its 2023 slate. Today, TIFF has announced their first international title, which is Ladj Ly‘s Les Indésirables. This comes on the heels of TIFF revealing that Taika Waititi will be taking his new movie Next Goal Wins to the festival. Look for more news out of Toronto as the summer continues, before the full lineup for the fest is revealed in August.

Here is the press release:

TIFF is thrilled to announce the first international title to make its World Premiere at TIFF 2023. Ladj Ly, the acclaimed French filmmaker behind Les Misérables, will be returning to Toronto to present his latest film, Les Indésirables, at the 48th edition of the Festival. Ly’s debut feature, Les Misérables, was an Official Selection and North American premiere at the 2019 Festival, received the Jury Prize at Cannes, was nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes as well as several César awards, among others, and ultimately earned an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature. With Les Indésirables, Ly continues to push artistic boundaries, offering audiences a thought-provoking cinematic experience.

“We are honoured to showcase Ladj Ly’s remarkable talent once again with the World Premiere of his latest work, Les Indésirables,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF. “This deeply personal film beautifully captures the struggles and aspirations of a community, reflecting Ly’s unparalleled storytelling skills.”

Set in the suburbs on the outskirts of Paris, Les Indésirables is a timely tale of revolution, which beautifully captures a pivotal moment in history. Les Indésirables stars Alexis Manenti, Jeanne Balibar, Steve Tientcheu, Anta Diaw, and Aristote Luyindula. After the sudden death of a town’s mayor, Pierre (Manenti), an idealistic young doctor, is appointed to replace him. He intends to continue the policy of his predecessor, who dreamed of rehabilitating this working-class neighbourhood. Haby (Diaw), a young French woman of Malian origin living in one of the dilapidated tower blocks, refuses to see her family driven out of the neighbourhood where she grew up. Les Indésirables is a Goodfellas film as well as a sales title for TIFF.

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.