What's missing?

You may have noticed something is missing from the TIFF press releases this year. The film descriptions are missing that drum roll of hype that typically follows the sprawling list of stars. Give up? It's that there is absolutely no mention of whether a film is having its World Premiere, International Premiere or North American Premiere at the festival. These types of titles that accompany most films are what have typically helped festivals build prestige, pride and publicity. They help festivals define themselves and stand out amongst their competition. Apparently TIFF no longer believes this is effective. Or, it’s quite possible that, in this strange overlapping festival universe, that Venice and Telluride are stealing their thunder. Both festivals have the ability to show the same films, just days earlier. Granted, distinguishing an International premiere from a North American premiere is strictly for the PR/marketing professionals and rarely resonates with the general festival going audience. But what does this say about the TIFF? Does festival director Noah Cowan have a bigger picture in mind for the festival, or is this simply a ploy to prevent the appearance of eating leftovers?

Since Venice (which is similar to Cannes - both are considered “competitive” festivals, unlike Toronto) runs Aug. 29-Sept 8., many films will screen there prior to playing in Toronto. Take a look below for their complete list, just released Thursday:


64TH ANNUAL VENICE FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITION

Opening Film: "Atonement," Joe Wright, (U.K-U.S.)

"The Darjeeling Limited," Wes Anderson (U.S.)
"Sleuth," Kenneth Branagh (U.K.-U.S.)
"This Is Chaos, " Youssef Chahine (Egypt)
"Redacted," Brian De Palma (U.S.)
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Andrew Dominik (U.S.)
"Nessuna qualita agli eroi," Paolo Franchi (Italy)
"Michael Clayton," Tony Gilroy (U.S.)
"Nightwatching," Peter Greenaway (Canada-France-Germany-Poland-Netherlands-U.K.)
"En la cuidad de Sylvia," Pilae Lopez De Ayala, Xavier Lafitte (Spain)
"In the Valley of Elah," Paul Haggis (U.S.)
"I'm Not There," Todd Haynes (U.S)
"The Sun Also Rises," Jiang Wen (China-Hong Kong)
"Help Me Eros," Lee Kang Sheng (Taiwan)
"La Graine et le mullet," Abdellatif Kechiche (France)
"Lust, Caution," Ang Lee (U.S.- Taiwan)
"It's a Free World." Ken Loach (U.K.-Italy-Germany-Spain )
"L'ora di punta," Vincenzo Marra (Italy)
"Sukiyaki Western Django," Takashi Miike (Japan)
"12," Nikita Mikhalkov (Russia)
"Il dolce e l'amaro," Andrea Porporati (Italy)
"Les Amours d'Astree et de Celadon," Eric Rohmer (France-Italy-Spain)

OUT OF COMPETITION - VENICE MASTERS
"Cassandra's Dream," Woody Allen (U.K.-U.S)
"Cleopatra," Julio Bressane (Brazil)
"La Fille coupee en deux," Claude Chabrol (France)
"Beyond the Years," Im Kwon Taek (South Korea)
"Glory to the Filmmaker," Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
"Cristovao Colombo-O enigma," Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal-France)

VENETIAN NIGHTS - OPENING AND CLOSING FILMS
"For a Fistful of Dollars," Sergio Leone (Italy-Spain-Germany) (as part of Spaghetti Westerns retro)
"Blood Brothers," Alexi Tan (Taiwan-China-Hong Kong)
"REC," Paco Blaza and Jaume Balaguero (Spain)

VENETIAN NIGHTS
"Far North," Asif Kapadia (U.K.-France)
"The Hunting Party," Richard Shepard (U.S.-Croatia-Bosnia)
"The Nanny Diaries," Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini (U.S.)
"Nocturna," Adria Garcia, Victor Maldonado (Spain-France)

HORIZONS
"Sad Vacation," Shinji Aoyama (Japan)
"Mal nascida," Joao Canijo (Portugal)
"Searchers 2.0," Alex Cox (U.K.)
"Medee Miracle," Tonino De Bernardi (Italy)
"Cochochi," Laura Amelia Guzman, Israel Cardenas (Mexico-U.K.-Canada)
"With the Girl of Black Soil," Jeon Soo-il (South Korea-France)
"L'Histoire de Richard O," Damien Odoul (France)
"Autumn Ball," Veiko Ounpuu (Estonia)
"The Silence Before Bach," Pere Portabella (Spain)
"Exodus," Penny Woolcock (U.K.)
"The Obscure," Lu Yue (China)

HORIZONS DOC
"Dust," Hartmut Bitomsky (Germany)
"Madri," Barbara Cupisti (Italy)
"Death in the Land of Encantos," Lav Diaz (Philippines)
"Man From Plains," Jonathan Demme (U.S.)
"L'Aimee," Arnaud Desplechin (France)
"Umbrella," Du Haibin (China)
"Andarilho," Cao Guimares (Brazil)
"Useless," Jia Zhangke (China)
"Il Passaggio delle linea," Pietro Marcello (Italy)
"Anabazys," Joel Pizzini, Paloma Rocha (Brazil)
"Berlin," Julian Schnabel (U.S.)

OUT-OF-COMPETITION SPECIAL EVENT
"Hotel Chevalier," Wes Anderson (U.S.)

SPECIAL EVENTS - BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI: GOLDEN LION FOR THE 75TH
"La Via del petrolio," Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy)
"Spider's Stratagem," Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy)

SPECIAL EVENTS - TIM BURTON: GOLDEN LION FOR CAREER ACHIEVEMENT 2007
"Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D," Tim Burton and Henry Selick (U.S.)