Justin Kelly directs “Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy” and the film also features Diane Kruger, Jim Sturgess, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Courtney Love. The festival runs from Sept. 6 to 16.
The Hollywood Reporter : TIFF also Tuesday said it will close Sept. 16 with a first look at Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, the Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern-starrer from director Justin Kelly. The Toronto International Film Festival, which will make additional lineup announcements in the next week, is set to run Sept. 6-16.
Deadline : Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy will close this year’s Festival. From director Justin Kelly, Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy is based on one of the most famous literary gambits in American history. Adapted from the memoir Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy by Savannah Knoop, the film promises a boundary-breaking Closing Night Gala bursting with intrigue.
“With Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, Justin Kelly brings to the screen a truly unbelievable story that captivated a nation,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “The storytelling is powerful and the characters are vivid, really evoking the idea that you have to see it to believe it.”
“I am beyond honored that my film Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy will premiere at TIFF as the Closing Night Film,” said Justin Kelly, director of Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy. “I can’t wait for people to see the fascinating true story behind JT LeRoy, brought to life via incredible performances by a total dream cast.” This captivating true story goes beyond the headlines to reveal the most compelling literary hoax of our generation. Laura Albert (Laura Dern) is an author who writes under a fictionalized persona, a disenfranchised young queer man named JT LeRoy. When her debut novel becomes a bestseller and JT becomes the darling of the literary world, she comes up with a unique solution to preserve her anonymity while giving life to her nom-de-plume. Enter her boyfriend’s androgynous sister, Savannah Knoop (Kristen Stewart), who connects with Laura’s punk, feminist, outsider universe and agrees to be JT in the public eye.
Together, they embark on a wild ride of double lives, infiltrating the Hollywood and literary elite — and discovering who they are in the process. Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy is a film by Elevated Films, The Fyzz Facility, Ingenious Media, Aquarius Content, Fortitude International, Sobini Films, Thirty Three Productions, LBI Entertainment, and Buffalo Gal Pictures. It is produced by Patrick Walmsley, Julie Yorn, Thor Bradwell, Gary Pearl, Cassian Elwes, Giri Tharan, Mark Amin, and Dave Hansen. It stars Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Diane Kruger, Jim Sturgess, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Courtney Love, James Jagger, and Dave Brown.
Indiewire : “Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy” is not the first movie to star indie darlings Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern, but it is the first one to feature them sharing the screen together. The two actresses appeared in different segments of Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 drama “Certain Women,” which became the filmmaker’s highest grossing movie to date thanks to their star power. Now Dern and Stewart have teamed up for “Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy,” world premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.
“Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy” is the latest from writer-director Justin Kelly, the filmmaker behind “King Cobra” and “I Am Michael.” The film is a true story drama featuring Dern as Laura Albert, who became a literary sensation under the name JT Leroy. Albert recruited her sister-in-law Savannah Knoop (Stewart) to play Leroy in public appearances.
The film is based on Knoop’s 2008 tell-all memoir “Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy.” Albert and her alter-ego Leroy were the subject of Jeff Feuerzeig’s acclaimed 2016 documentary “Author: The JT LeRoy Story,” which tracked the rise of Leroy and how the fake person became a celebrity obsession.
TIFF.net : In this captivating true story, a young woman (Kristen Stewart) spends years playing the public role of Jeremiah “Terminator” LeRoy, an enigmatic and celebrated literary persona created by her sister-in-law (Laura Dern).
108 minutes – World Premiere – Closing Night.
Press Release : https://t.co/qWrYu2Hp7q
