The Sapphires Selected For Toronto

On the eve of its Australian premiere, the much anticipated new Australian film The Sapphires has just been selected for inclusion in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival this September.

Running from Thursday 6 September – Sunday 16, the Canadian festival draws close to 290,000 people to their screening throughout its duration and is regarded by certain film media to be among the more prestigious world events. The schedule, including when The Sapphires will screen, will be released Tuesday 21 August.

The film is already making a bit of a stir in the overseas market, with a triumphant screening at the Cannes International Film Festival earlier in the year, after which the cast and crew present received an enormous standing ovation.

Directed by Wayne Blair and starring some of Australia's biggest names in film and music – including Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy and Miranda Tapsell – the film (based on a Tony Briggs penned play) follows a group of young singers from a remote Aboriginal mission in the late-1960s, who are plucked from obscurity by a kind manager and end up being given the opportunity to entertain American troops in Vietnam.

The soundtrack to the film, which is very Mauboy heavy, is out on Friday. The film itself opens Thursday 9 August.