Toronto rolls out red carpet for annual film fest

Last Updated: Thursday, September 6, 2007 | 9:27 AM ET

CBC News

The cinema world's spotlight turns to Toronto Thursday as the city kicks off its annual film festival, with movies about war, conflict, politics and music among the most anticipated titles.

Fugitive Pieces stars Robert Kay, right, as a young Polish boy whose family is killed by the Nazis. A kind Greek man, portrayed by Rade Sherbedgia, finds and eventually raises him.
(Alex Dukay/Maximum Films)

Canadian director Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces, which holds the Toronto International Film Festival's coveted opening night gala slot, is among the host of offerings this year that explore war and its consequences.

Based on the bestselling Anne Michaels novel, the drama moves forward from the Second World War and follows a young Polish man haunted by childhood images of his family's slaughter at the hands of the Nazis.

Paolo Barzman's Emotional Arithmetic, the TIFF closing night gala, also tells the story of victims of the Second World War, starring Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne and the legendary Max von Sydow as former internment camp survivors who reunite decades later.

More recent conflicts are also explored in films like Canadian director Paul Haggis's In the Valley of Elah, about a young soldier's mysterious disappearance after returning from Iraq and the documentary Darfur Now, which looks at six individuals taking action to end the conflict in the African country.

Films highlighting and exploring contemporary political and social climate are also drawing early festival buzz, including Gavin Hood's Rendition, starring Reese Witherspoon as an American investigating the disappearance of her Egyptian-born engineer husband, provocateur Michael Moore's 2004 election documentary Captain Mike Across America and Man from Plains, Jonathan Demme's documentary about former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

George Clooney will be among the celebrities in Toronto promoting their latest film projects.
(Getty Images)

The themes of conflict and politics also spill over into related events being held in Toronto, including an installation about Darfur at the Royal Ontario Museum and a panel conversation uniting actor and activist Don Cheadle with the subjects of the documentary Darfur Now.

The annual One X One fundraiser in support of global children's charities will be among the celebrity-studded parties taking place over the next 10 days, with many expecting Ocean's Eleven stars Cheadle, George Clooney and Brad Pitt to attend and help out their co-star Matt Damon, who is hosting this year's event.

Also expected in Toronto are film celebrities hailing from around the world, include Amitabh Bachchan, George A. Romero, Gael Garcia Bernal, Monica Bellucci, Sean Penn, Tony Leung and Roger Ebert.

Eastern Promises, the latest film from David Cronenberg, left, reunites the Canadian director with actor Viggo Mortensen, right.
(Canadian Press)

TIFF will also feature a host of music-related titles this year, including the much anticipated Daniel Lanois documentary Here Is What Is, stage and film director Julie Taymor's fanciful movie musical Across the Universe, Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan docudrama I'm Not There as well as documentaries about The Who and Lou Reed.

Other anticipated films on the festival's 349 film lineup include:

• David Cronenberg's London underworld crime thriller Eastern Promises. 
• L'Âge des Ténèbres, the latest from Denys Arcand.
• Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream.
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age, featuring Cate Blanchett once again as Queen Elizabeth I.
• No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy's novel.

Festival highlights will also include a panel discussion featuring Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, a special tribute to Ingmar Bergman and presentation of his The Virgin Spring and a ceremony honouring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich for his contribution to film preservation.

The Toronto International Film Festival continues through Sept. 15.