Benedict Cumberbatch: Julian Assange biopic The Fifth Estate to open 2013 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival

NATIONAL POST

David Rockne Corrigan | 13/07/23

Last Updated: 13/07/23 2:31 PM ET

@rocknecorrigan

Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate, the film about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, will open the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The film, starring Daniel Brühl and Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange, follows the story of WikiLeaks, the website dedicated to exposing government corruption and abuses of power.

“Information is the potent currency of our time, and we’ve found a film that charts just how volatile it can be,” said Cameron Bailey, artistic director of TIFF. “With The Fifth Estate, this yera’s festival kicks off with an electric, timely drama that promises to get people talking. We’re thrilled to welcome Bill Condon back to Toronto with another terrific film.”

The Fifth Estate follows the story of Julian Assange and his partner Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Brühl) as they team up to become underground watchdogs, and the eventual consequences of exposing state secrets and corporate crimes.

Director Condon was last at the festival in 2004, with his film Kinsey, starring Liam Neeson. His first TIFF film was Sister, Sister in 1987.

“On behalf of the cast and filmmaking team, we are really honoured to open the festival,” said Condon. “Toronto has such enthusiastic audiences and I look forward to sharing the film with them.”

The Fifth Estate is based on the book Inside WikiLeaks, by Domscheit-Berg, as well as WikiLeaks by David Leigh and Luke Harding. It will be have its North American release on October 18.


READ MORE HERE: http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/07/23/julian-assange-biopic-the-fifth-estate-to-open-2013-edition-of-the-toronto-international-film-festival/