Borg/McEnroe Set To Open Toronto Film Festival
The world premiere of Borg/McEnroe will take place at the Roy Thomson Hall on September 7th when it opens the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival (7 – 17 September).
Directed by Janus Metz (True Detective) and written by Ronnie Sandahl (Svenskjävel), Borg/McEnroe tells the story of tennis star Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason) and his rivalry with John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf),
Between 1978 and 1981, Borg and McEnroe met in fourteen matches and won seven each, but the 1980 Wimbledon final became the stuff of legend, and is considered to be one of the greatest tennis matches of all time.
Having lost the opening set to McEnroe, Borg took the next two, and had two championship points in hand in the fourth set. However, McEnroe drew level in a 34 point tiebreaker, which he won 18–16. Borg finally prevailed and took the fifth set, giving him a fifth consecutive Wimbledon singles title.
Artistic Director of TIFF, Cameron Bailey, said: “Janus Metz’s Armadillo is a gripping war documentary that took home the Critics Week Grand Prize at Cannes. Amazingly, Metz brings that same urgent tension to Borg/McEnroe.”
“The on-court scenes have the dynamism of a street battle, and the drama peels back layers from what we know about both players. This was more than a simple conflict pitting an icy European against an impulsive American. Audiences are in for one hell of a showdown.”
Borg/McEnroe also stars Stellan Skarsgard as coach Lennart Bergelin, and Tuva Novotny (Dag) as Mariana Simionescu.