The series adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s Faithless from Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) will debut in competition as part of the Primetime & Short Cuts line up at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list.
The series will screen on Wednesday 11th September at TIFF before hitting SVT and ARTE France in 2025. Fremantle is handling international sales on the series. We shared the first look at the project and interviewed Alfredson back in February. You can check that out here.
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Billed as a “searing tale of love and betrayal,” the project is a six-part TV series based on the 2000 feature Faithless, which Ingmar Bergman penned for his former partner Liv Ullmann. The original film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and starred Lena Endre and Erland Josephson. The entire series is directed by Alfredson from scripts adapted by Norwegian writer Sara Johnsen.
The official synopsis reads: Faithless is a love triangle story told across two time periods about passion and betrayal. In the present day, the renowned director David Howard, 73, is reunited with his former great love, actress Marianne Vogler, 75. Their encounter forces them to confront the painful repercussions of their past relationship, not only for themselves but also for their families. 40 years prior a young David and Marianne find themselves entwined in a passionate love affair, which they must keep a secret as Marianne is married to David’s best friend, Markus.
The series is produced by Miso Film (The Investigation) and features a predominantly Scandinavian cast. Young David is portrayed by Gustav Lindh (Queen of Hearts). The older David is played by Jesper Christensen (James Bond, Exit, Nymphomaniac). Frida Gustavsson (Vikings, The Witcher) stars as the young Marianne, while Lena Endre (Millennium, Acquitted, Kingsman) takes on the role of the older Marianne. Markus is portrayed by German-Swedish actor August Wittgenstein (The Crown, Das Boot, Ku’damm).
This year’s Primetime lineup features eight new series, five of which are world premieres. The other debut titles are Janicza Bravo’s The Listeners, Mike Downie’s The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, Courtney Montour and Tanya Talaga’s The Knowing, and Dylan River’s Thou Shalt Not Steal. The other non-debut titles include Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer, Thomas Vinterberg’s Families Like Ours, and Joe Wright’s M. Son of the Century, which all arrive following debuts in Venice.
“As a proud filmmaker, to have our work selected by the Toronto International Film Festival is an incredibly humbling moment for a dream project over 20 years in the making,” Alfredson said of today’s announcement.
“With Faithless I wanted to explore how we learn to tolerate what we once couldn’t tolerate. I wanted to tell a story about the remarkable power of love to grant mercy and forgiveness. Screenwriter Sara Johnsen has made a fantastic and entirely unique interpretation of Ingmar Bergman’s text, and I have had the opportunity to work with a cast of some of the finest actors we have in Scandinavia.”
The Toronto Film Festival runs September 5 — 15.
| Primetime (in alphabetical order) |
| Disclaimer Alfonso Cuarón | United Kingdom Canadian Premiere Faithless Tomas Alfredson, Sara Johnsen | Sweden World Premiere Families Like Ours Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark/France/Sweden/Czech Republic/Belgium/Norway/Germany North American Premiere M. Son of the Century Joe Wright | Italy/France North American Premiere The Knowing Courtney Montour, Tanya Talaga | Canada World Premiere The Listeners Janicza Bravo, Jordan Tannahill | United Kingdom World Premiere The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal Mike Downie | Canada World Premiere Thou Shalt Not Steal Dylan River | Australia World Premiere |
| Short Cuts Programme 1 |
| Deck 5B Malin Ingrid Johansson | Sweden World Premiere Silent Panorama Nicolas Piret | Belgium North American Premiere Fantas Halima Elkhatabi | Canada World Premiere Amarela André Hayato Saito | Brazil North American Premiere Maybe Elephants Torill Kove | Norway/Canada North American Premiere Sauna Day Anna Hints, Tushar Prakash | Estonia North American Premiere welima’q shalan joudry | Canada World Premiere Julian and the Wind Connor Jessup | Canada World Premiere |
| Short Cuts Programme 2 |
| Percebes Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves | Portugal/France North American Premiere Fuck Me Anette Sidor | Sweden/Norway World Premiere One Day This Kid Alexander Farah | Canada World Premiere Every Other Weekend Mick Robertson, Margaret Rose | Canada World Premiere Mercenaire Pier-Philippe Chevigny | Canada World Premiere perfectly a strangeness Alison McAlpine | Canada North American Premiere The Yellow Maika Monroe, Simone Faoro | USA World Premiere |
| Short Cuts Programme 3 |
| Serve the Country Fabián Velasco, Miloš Mitrović | Canada World Premiere Who Loves the Sun Arshia Shakiba | Canada North American Premiere The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent Nebojša Slijepčević | Croatia/France/Bulgaria/Slovenia North American Premiere Inkwo for When the Starving Return Amanda Strong | Canada World Premiere Masterpiece Mommy Dorothy Sing Zhang | United Kingdom/China World Premiere Loser Baby Dakota Johnson | USA World Premiere |
| Short Cuts Programme 4 |
| A Son & a Father Andrés Ramírez Pulido | France/Colombia North American Premiere On a Sunday at Eleven Alicia K. Harris | Canada World Premiere Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? Bec Pecaut | Canada World Premiere On The Way Samir Karahoda | Kosovo North American Premiere Out for Ice Cream Rachel Samson | Canada World Premiere The Best Ian Bawa | Canada World Premiere Wrecked a Bunch of Cars, Had a Good Time James P. Gannon, Matt Ferrin | USA World Premiere |
| Short Cuts Programme 5 |
| Solemates James Rathbone, Mike Feswick | Canada World Premiere Quota Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins, Marieke Blaauw | Netherlands World Premiere Vox Humana Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan | Philippines/USA/Singapore World Premiere The Wolf Theodore Ushev | Canada North American Premiere Aïda Neither Elisa Gilmour | France World Premiere Alazar Beza Hailu Lemma | Ethiopia/France/Canada North American Premiere |
| Short Cuts Programme 6 |
| The Cost of Hugging Louis Bhose | United Kingdom North American Premiere Marion Joe Weiland, Finn Constantine | France/United Kingdom North American Premiere La Voix des Sirènes Gianluigi Toccafondo | France/Italy North American Premiere After Sunday Omolola Ajao | Canada World Premiere Anotc ota ickwaparin akosiin Catherine Boivin | Canada World Premiere Before They Joined Us Arshile Khanjian Egoyan | Canada World Premiere Tenderness Helen Lee | Canada/South Korea World Premiere |
| Strange Cuts Programme |
| Gender Reveal Mo Matton | Canada North American Premiere The Sunset Special 2 Nicolas Gebbe | Germany North American Premiere The Beguiling ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby | USA World Premiere Don’t F*ck With Ba Sally Tran | USA International Premiere Stomach Bug Matty Crawford | United Kingdom World Premiere Never Have I Ever Joyce A. Nashawati | France World Premiere Screening prior to the Centrepiece selection When the Light Breaks: O Rúnar Rúnarsson | Iceland/Sweden North American Premiere |