73 new titles from around the globe

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced an absolute slew of new titles from multiple categories. Galas, Special Presentations, Masters, Visions, Vanguard as well as the Contemporary World Cinema programs all have new additions from countries around the globe. The list is quite expansive and will most likely be the last significant press release prior to the complete film lineup, to be announced this coming Tuesday (Aug. 21st). Below is a list of titles by country, courtesy the TIFF press release. Click here to read it in full with complete film descriptions.

Argentina
THE PAST Hector Babenco, Argentina/Brazil Masters

Australia
UNFINISHED SKY Peter Duncan, Australia Contemporary World Cinema

Austria
LOVE COMES LATELY Jan Schütte, Germany/Austria/USA Special Presentations
RECLAIM YOUR BRAIN Hans Weingartner, Germany/Austria Special Presentations
THE COUNTERFEITERS Stefan Ruzowitzky, Austria/Germany Contemporary World Cinema
FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE Antonin Svoboda, Austria Contemporary World Cinema

Bangladesh
ON THE WINGS OF DREAMS Golam Rabbany Biplob, Bangladesh Contemporary World Cinema

Belgium
ANGEL François Ozon, France/UK/Belgium Special Presentations
L'AMOUR CACHÉ Alessandro Capone, Italy/Luxembourg/Belgium Visions

Brazil
THE PAST Hector Babenco, Argentina/Brazil Masters

China
BLOOD BROTHERS Alexi Tan, Taiwan/China/Hong Kong Gala Presentation
THE SUN ALSO RISES Jiang Wen, China Special Presentations

Czech Republic
EMPTIES Jan Sverák, Czech Republic Contemporary World Cinema

Denmark
ERIK NIETZSCHE THE EARLY YEARS Jacob Thuesen, Denmark Contemporary World Cinema
JUST LIKE HOME Lone Scherfig, Denmark Contemporary World Cinema

Egypt
CHAOS Youssef Chahine and Youssef Khaled, Egypt/France Masters

France
ANGEL François Ozon, France/UK/Belgium Special Presentations
CHACUN SON CINÉMA Various, France Special Presentations
PERSEPOLIS Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, France Special Presentations
LES AMOURS D'ASTRÉE ET DE CÉLADON Eric Rohmer, France Masters
CHAOS Youssef Chahine and Youssef Khaled, Egypt/France Masters
DÉSENGAGEMENT Amos Gitai, Israel/France/Germany/Italy Masters
LA FILLE COUPÉE EN DEUX Claude Chabrol, France/Germany Masters
AVANT QUE J'OUBLIE Jacques Nolot, France Contemporary World Cinema
THE BAND'S VISIT Eran Kolirin, Israel/France Contemporary World Cinema
DANS LA VIE Philippe Faucon, France Contemporary World Cinema
L'ENNEMI INTIME Florent Siri, France Contemporary World Cinema
JELLYFISH Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, Israel/France Contemporary World Cinema
THE SECRETS Avi Nesher, Israel/France Contemporary World Cinema
SON OF RAMBOW Garth Jennings, France/UK Contemporary World Cinema
UNE VIEILLE MAÎTRESSE Catherine Breillat, France Contemporary World Cinema
MISTER LONELY Harmony Korine, UK/France/Ireland/USA Vanguard

Germany
LOVE COMES LATELY Jan Schütte, Germany/Austria/USA Special Presentations
MONGOL Sergei Bodrov, Germany/Kazakhstan/Mongolia/Russia Special Presentations
RECLAIM YOUR BRAIN Hans Weingartner, Germany/Austria Special Presentations
DÉSENGAGEMENT Amos Gitai, Israel/France/Germany/Italy Masters
LA FILLE COUPÉE EN DEUX Claude Chabrol, France/Germany Masters
IT'S A FREE WORLD… Ken Loach, UK/Italy/Germany/Spain Masters
THE COUNTERFEITERS Stefan Ruzowitzky, Austria/Germany Contemporary World Cinema
JAR CITY Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland/Germany Contemporary World Cinema
MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD Daniele Luchetti, Italy/France Contemporary World Cinema
THE TRAP Srdan Golubovic, Serbia/Germany/Hungary Contemporary World Cinema

Hong Kong
BLOOD BROTHERS Alexi Tan, Taiwan/China/Hong Kong Gala Presentation
MAD DETECTIVE Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai, Hong Kong Special Presentations
THE EXODUS Pang Ho-cheung, Hong Kong Vanguard

Hungary
THE TRAP Srdan Golubovic, Serbia/Germany/Hungary Contemporary World Cinema

Iceland
JAR CITY Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland/Germany Contemporary World Cinema

India
THE LAST LEAR Rituparno Ghosh, India Gala Presentation
FOUR WOMEN Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India Masters
THE VOYEURS Buddhadeb Dasgupta, India Masters

Iran
UNFINISHED STORIES Pourya Azarbayjani, Iran Contemporary World Cinema

Ireland
GARAGE Lenny Abrahamson, Ireland Contemporary World Cinema
KINGS Tom Collins, Ireland/UK Contemporary World Cinema
MISTER LONELY Harmony Korine, UK/France/Ireland/USA Vanguard

Israel
DÉSENGAGEMENT Amos Gitai, Israel/France/Germany/Italy Masters
THE BAND'S VISIT Eran Kolirin, Israel/France Contemporary World Cinema
JELLYFISH Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, Israel/France Contemporary World Cinema
THE SECRETS Avi Nesher, Israel/France Contemporary World Cinema

Italy
DÉSENGAGEMENT Amos Gitai, Israel/France/Germany/Italy Masters
IT'S A FREE WORLD… Ken Loach, UK/Italy/Germany/Spain Masters
DAYS AND CLOUDS Silvio Soldini, Italy/Switzerland Contemporary World Cinema
MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD Daniele Luchetti, Italy/France Contemporary World Cinema
L'ORA DI PUNTA Vincenzo Marra, Italy Contemporary World Cinema
L'AMOUR CACHÉ Alessandro Capone, Italy/Luxembourg/Belgium Visions

Japan
GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER! Takeshi Kitano, Japan Masters
A GENTLE BREEZE IN THE VILLAGE Nobuhiro Yamashita, Japan Contemporary World Cinema
SAD VACATION Aoyama Shinji, Japan Vanguard

Kazakhstan
MONGOL Sergei Bodrov, Germany/Kazakhstan/Mongolia/Russia Special Presentations

Luxembourg
L'AMOUR CACHÉ Alessandro Capone, Italy/Luxembourg/Belgium Visions

Republic of Macedonia
SHADOWS Milcho Manchevski, Republic of Macedonia Special Presentations

Mongolia
MONGOL Sergei Bodrov, Germany/Kazakhstan/Mongolia/Russia Special Presentations

Netherlands
WOLFSBERGEN Nanouk Leopold, Netherlands Contemporary World Cinema

Norway
GONE WITH THE WOMAN Petter Næss, Norway Contemporary World Cinema

Philippines
PHILIPPINE SCIENCE Auraeus Solito, Philippines Contemporary World Cinema
SLINGSHOT Brillante Mendoza, Philippines Contemporary World Cinema

Portugal
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, THE ENIGMA Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal Masters

Romania
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (ENDLESS) Cristian Nemescu, Romania Contemporary World Cinema
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS Cristian Mungiu, Romania Visions

Russia
MONGOL Sergei Bodrov, Germany/Kazakhstan/Mongolia/Russia Special Presentations

Serbia
THE TRAP Srdan Golubovic, Serbia/Germany/Hungary Contemporary World Cinema

South Korea
BEYOND THE YEARS Im Kwon-taek, South Korea Masters
HAPPINESS Hur Jin-ho, South Korea Contemporary World Cinema

Spain
FADOS Carlos Saura, Spain Masters
IT'S A FREE WORLD… Ken Loach, UK/Italy/Germany/Spain Masters
CHAOTIC ANA Julio Medem, Spain Special Presentations
BARCELONA (A MAP) Ventura Pons, Spain Contemporary World Cinema

Sweden
TO LOVE SOMEONE Åke Sandgren, Sweden Contemporary World Cinema

Switzerland
DAYS AND CLOUDS Silvio Soldini, Italy/Switzerland Contemporary World Cinema

Taiwan
BLOOD BROTHERS Alexi Tan, Taiwan/China/Hong Kong Gala Presentation
LUST, CAUTION Ang Lee, Taiwan Special Presentations

United Kingdom
ANGEL François Ozon, France/UK/Belgium Special Presentations
IT'S A FREE WORLD… Ken Loach, UK/Italy/Germany/Spain Masters
BATTLE FOR HADITHA Nick Broomfield, UK Contemporary World Cinema
BRICK LANE Sarah Gavron, UK Contemporary World Cinema
KINGS Tom Collins, Ireland/UK Contemporary World Cinema
RUN, FAT BOY, RUN David Schwimmer, UK Contemporary World Cinema
SON OF RAMBOW Garth Jennings, France/UK Contemporary World Cinema
BOY A John Crowley, UK Vanguard
MISTER LONELY Harmony Korine, UK/France/Ireland/USA Vanguard

Uruguay
THE POPE'S TOILET Enrique Fernandes and César Charlone, Uruguay Contemporary World Cinema

USA
LOVE COMES LATELY Jan Schütte, Germany/Austria/USA Special Presentations
CHOP SHOP Ramin Bahrani, USA Contemporary World Cinema
KING OF CALIFORNIA Mike Cahill, USA Contemporary World Cinema
STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING Andrew Wagner, USA Contemporary World Cinema
NEW YORK CITY SERENADE Frank Whaley, USA Contemporary World Cinema
MISTER LONELY Harmony Korine, UK/France/Ireland/USA Vanguard
SMILEY FACE Gregg Araki, USA Vanguard
WHITE LIES, BLACK SHEEP James Spooner, USA Vanguard

Discoveries

Thirteen titles have been added to the Toronto International Film Festival lineup under the Discovery program, a showcase for new and emerging filmmakers. Past years have brought us the fine film THE MAGDALENE SISTERS as well as one of my personal favorites, WHALE RIDER. It should also be noted that these films are eligible for the DIESEL Discovery Award. The winning filmmaker will walk away with a cash prize of $10,000 as determined by 1000 members from the international media. At first glance, this looks to be a promising year for the program with some very intriqing films. Of personal interest are FROZEN, THE PASSAGE, and WITH YOUR PERMISSION. Who knows what gems will be found...
Below is a complete list of the newly added titles from the TIFF press release:

THE BABYSITTERS David Ross, USA
Sixteen-year-old Shirley (Katherine Waterston) turns her babysitting service into a call girl ring for married men after she begins an affair with a customer. Writer David Ross' (THE WOODS) directorial debut stars John Leguizamo, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O'Hare and Andy Comeau.

BLIND Tamar van den Dop, Netherlands/Belgium/Bulgaria
Marie (Halina Reijn) a young albino woman struggling with her looks finds love with a blind man named Ruben (Joren Seldenslachts). Marie becomes disheartened when she discovers that surgery may repair Ruben's eyesight. A period piece, BLIND is a touching portrait of how blind love can be.

COCHOCHI Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, Mexico/UK/Canada
After returning home from elementary boarding school, two brothers Tony (Luis Antonio Lerma Batista) and Evaristo (Evaristo Lerma Batista) are sent to deliver a package to a far community in La Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico, by their grandfather. Without permission, the brothers take the family horse but lose the horse and one another after making a wrong turn. They each then embark on a separate adventure, leading them to discover a new world.

CORROBOREE Ben Hackworth, Australia
A dying theatre director hires a young man named Conor (Conor O'Hanlon) to visit him in a meditation retreat and perform scenes from the director's life. Following a tape of instructions, the young man must visit different rooms over the weekend and in these rooms, encounters five actresses who portray key women in the director's life. As the final scenes unfold, Conor must decide whether the performance has gone too far.

FROZEN Shivajee Chandrabhushan, India
Lasya (Gauri), a girl in her late teens, lives with her father Karma (Danny Denzongpa) and younger brother Chomo (Angchuk) in a remote village, somewhere in the mountains of the northern Himalayas. The family's quiet life is disturbed when the army moves into the village in search of the enemy but instead they find a frozen body. Director Shivajee Chandrabhushan strips away excess to reveal a simple succession of telling moments that build to a remarkable final image.

I AM FROM TITOV VELES Teona Strugar Mitevska, Macedonia
A social drama, I AM FROM TITOV VELES is the story of three sisters living in Veles, a small industrial town in Macedonia, searching for a better life. With painful honesty, writer/director Teona Strugar Mitevska follows the sisters as they struggle with themselves, their dissolving family and difficult relationships.

KING OF THE HILL Gonzalo LGpez-Gallego, Spain
While travelling through an isolated area in Spain, Quim (Leonardo Sbaraglia) meets Bea, a young woman (María Valverde), at a stop at a gas station. After a brief encounter, Bea steals his wallet, and takes off. Quim pursues her on an unmarked road, but during the chase, he is suddenly shot and wounded by a sniper. As he searches for safe cover, he eventually finds Bea, who has also been mysteriously shot at. With a small cast and few locations, director Gonzalo LGpez-Gallego (OVER THE RAINBOW, NOMADS) keeps the tension high throughout this thrilling and surprising film.

LA ZONA Rodrigo Plà, Spain/Mexico
Three youths from the slums break into one of the houses of The Zone, an exclusive residential neighbourhood in Mexico City. Miguel (Alan Chávez), one of the intruders, survives the botched burglary and escapes deeper into The Zone. Alejandro (Daniel Tovar), a young boy celebrating his birthday, discovers Miguel but makes a difficult decision to protect him from The Zone residents who want to carry out justice themselves.

THE PASSAGE Mark Heller, USA
During a trip to Morocco, Luke (Stephen Dorff) meets and falls in love with Zahra (Sarai Givaty) a beautiful local. After discovering that their forbidden romance could cost them their lives, the couple leaves the confines of the city for the Atlas Mountains. However, they soon discover that being miles away from anywhere leaves them unprotected and without a place to hide.

ROMING Jirí Vejdelek, Czech Republic/Romania/Slovakia
A slapstick road-movie, ROMING traces the misadventures of Romany community members, Jura (Vítezslav Holub), his father Roman (Marián Labuda), and an old family friend Stano (Bolek Polívka) as they journey in a broken truck from northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Slovakia. More than just a comedy, this film is a portrait of a nomadic culture searching for identity and acceptance.

SEPTEMBER Peter Carstairs, Australia
A coming-of-age story set in the Australian wheat-belt in 1968, SEPTEMBER tells the story of two 16-year-old boys, Ed (Xavier Samuel) and Paddy (Clarence John Ryan) - one white and one Aboriginal - as the social and political climate of the time threatens to fracture their close friendship, especially with the arrival of a new girl in town.

WITH YOUR PERMISSION Paprika Steen, Denmark/Sweden
Paprika Steen's (AFTERMATH) second feature film, WITH YOUR PERMISSION, is a dark and twisted comedy on marital discord. Jan (Lars Brygmann) and Bente (Sidse Babett Knudsen) are in an unhappy marriage. Upon insistence of his boss, Jan goes into therapy where he meets two mechanics willing to get rid of Bente. Everyone's lives take an unexpected turn when the two hitmen meet Bente and take a liking to her.

THE WORLD UNSEEN Shamim Sarif, UK/South Africa
Free-spirited Amina (Sheetal Sheth) and the married Miriam (Lisa Ray) fall in love in the 1950's apartheid South Africa and set in motion a chain of events that changes both women forever. THE WORLD UNSEEN, is a captivating drama, based on a highly acclaimed awarding-winning novel of the same title by director Shamim Sarif.

The Visions program

Last year, a selection in the TIFF Visions program - a program highlighting films that utilize experimental or innovative techniques to aid in storytelling - became an overnight sensation after its initial screening. The film was TEN CANOES. It told the story of how an aborigine tribe, while building canoes, taught another tribe member the virtues and dangers of lust, jealousy, pride and revenge through elaborate ancestral stories. It was beautifully shot, utilized native environments, an all-Aboriginal cast, and was filmed in both black and white as well as color. It was the first feature in an Australian Aboriginal language and celebrated the power of the spoken word.

After the screening, the public quickly raved about its powerful imagery and its ability to resonate across cultures and generations. But then word got out that the print was not complete and was not intended to be seen as is. What could have been missing?

Subtitles.

It lacked a translated soundtrack, but the film left an impact through its strong visual and narrative techniques, and was clearly at home in the Visions program. What can we expect from the program this year? The director of TEN CANOES, Rolf de Heer, is back again this year with DR PLONK, a black and white silent comedy set in 1907, about a scientist determined to prove the world will end in 2008, and creates a time machine in order to gather the proof. It appears lightning will not strike twice as there will be no audio to translate.

The festival also announced an additional 12 films to the program this week. All of which will be eligible for the Artistic Innovation Award, now in it’s second year. Click here to read descriptions of each new title at TIFF web site.

2 official, 2 unofficial TIFF announcements

The big TIFF07 news this week is that Woody Allen’s newest feature, CASSANDRA’S DREAM, will premiere at the festival as a Gala presentation. The film stars Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, and Ewan McGregor and will no doubt be on many critc's must see lists as the festival countdown continues. The festival describes the film as "...a powerful and thrilling story about two brothers (Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell) who are desperate to better their troubled lives. One is a chronic gambler up to his ears in debt; the other is a young man in love with a beautiful actress (newcomer Hayley Atwell) whom he has just recently met. Their lives gradually become entangled as a result of a sinister situation with intense and unfortunate results."

It seems that there are 2 types of filmgoers; the kind that adores the filmmaker that brought us the films ANNIE HALL and MANHATTAN, and those that will respond to this announcement with a shrug of the shoulders and the click of a mouse. So depending on the camp you’re in, this announcement may or may not have the resonance a press release like this tends to garner. Either way, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise considering its appearance in Venice days earlier.

The other title that was “officially” announced this week is the film ACROSS THE UNIVERSE from Julie Taymor. This will also be screening as a Gala presentation and unfortunately, seems to have been overshadowed by the above announcement. The film is a romantic musical set in the 1960’s and follows the story of two lovers as they explore the challenges and changes of the turbulent times, all to the soundtrack of “30 revolutionary, generation-defining songs”. As the current list stands, this looks like one of the more intriquing Gala releases.

Two more titles were also added to the festival roster recently, albeit unofficially. Outside sources report that Ang Lee’s World War II-era espionage thriller LUST, CAUTION will have an official screening, as well as Shinji Aoyama's SAD VACATION. SAD VACATION will be a part of the Vanguard program, while the program for LUST, CAUTION has yet to be confirmed. While these have not been officially announced by the festival, expect to see a press release with these titles soon.

DVD releases for 7/31/07

The last time we saw Simon Pegg, he was a lumbering, slow moving, disheveled couch potato, flinging records and beer bottles at lumbering, slow moving, disheveled zombies. His wonderful fondness and understanding for all things undead gave the film SHAUN OF THE DEAD a silly, relaxed sense of humor while staying true to it's genre. Simon Pegg's newest venture, HOT FUZZ, out now on DVD, is another affectionate homage to the genre film, but this time he takes on the buddy-cop film. Expect the same dry wit you've come to expect from the rising Brit writing team of Pegg and Edgar Wright, but instead of scares, expect guns, explosions and most of all, a thoroughly entertaining 2 hours for any couch potato.

Other notable releases this week include:

300

Everything’s Gone Green

The Darwin Awards

Encounter Point