Toronto: Special presentations

12 Years A Slave (US)

Dir Steve McQueen

Shame and Hunger both attracted awards attention and artist/director McQueen’s larger-scale third film is eagerly anticipated. With a hot cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti, 12 Years A Slave tells the true story of Solomon Northup, a freeman kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Fox Searchlight releases the film in the US, while eOne has UK rights.

Contact Summit/Lionsgate, internationalsales@lionsgate.com

All Is By My Side (UK-Ire)

Dir John Ridley

Outkast frontman André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in a story that focuses on the legendary guitarist’s formative time in London in 1966. Imogen Poots, Hayley Atwell, Ruth Negga and Adrian Lester also star in this UK-Ireland co-production between Darko Entertainment, Subotica Entertainment and Matador Pictures.

International contact Content Media, harry.white@contentmediacorp.com; US contact CAA, caa.com

Attila Marcel (Fr)

Dir Sylvain Chomet

After drawing acclaim for his animation work - including Oscar nominations for The Illusionist and Belleville Rendez-Vous - Chomet makes his live-action debut. The story follows thirty-something pianist Paul, who leads a reclusive life with his aunts in Paris until he meets the eccentric Madame Proust.

Contact Pathé International, sales@patheinternational.com

Bad Words (US)

Dir Jason Bateman

The directorial debut of actor Bateman - who also stars - Bad Words is a comedy about a 40-year-old who dominates a national children’s spelling bee after discovering a loophole in the rules, forming an unlikely friendship on the way. Allison Janney, Philip Baker Hall, Kathryn Hahn and Rohan Chand also star.

Contact CAA, caa.com

Belle (UK)

Dir Amma Asante

Asante, who won a Bafta in 2005 for A Way Of Life, returns with this story of a mixed-race woman living in aristocratic English society in the late 1700s. Gugu Mbatha-Raw takes the lead role in a cast that includes Tom Wilkinson, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, Matthew Goode, Tom Felton, Miranda Richardson and Emily Watson. Fox Searchlight has already snapped up most worldwide rights including North America and the UK from Bankside Films. The Iron Lady’s Damian Jones produces.

Contact Fox Searchlight, foxsearchlight.com

Can A Song Save Your Life (US)

Dir John Carney

A music-themed drama about an undiscovered singer from the director of breakout hit Once. Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Catherine Keener star alongside musicians Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def).

International contact Exclusive Media, awalton@exclusivemedia.com; US contact CAA, caa.com; UTA, unitedtalent.com

Cannibal (Sp-Rom-Rus-Fr)

Dir Manuel Martin Cuenca

This hotly anticipated Spanish feature follows a tailor who is a secret cannibal. He feels no remorse until he falls for a potential victim. Antonio de la Torre and Olimpia Melinte star.

Contact Film Factory, info@filmfactory.es

Dallas Buyers Club (US)

Dir Jean-Marc Vallée

Focus Features picked up this drama from the director of C.R.A.Z.Y. earlier this year for the US and Latin America. It tells the true story of Ron Woodroof, who found himself in a life-or-death battle with the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies after being diagnosed as HIV positive. Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto star. Voltage has closed a range of deals, including to TF1 for France and eOne for the UK.

Contact Voltage Pictures, sales@voltagepictures.com

Devil’s Knot (US)

Dir Atom Egoyan

Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth star in this true mystery about the killing of three children in a small town. Devil’s Knot is produced by Worldview Entertainment and has sold well for The Weinstein Company.

International contact The Weinstein Company, international@weinsteinco.com; US contact CAA, caa.com; WME, wma.com

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him; and Her (US)

Dir Ned Benson

This ambitious two-feature love story shows a couple’s hardships through the differing perspectives of the woman and the man. Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy play the leads. Benson makes his feature directorial debut on the films, which are said to work as a double feature or standalone films.

Contact Myriad Pictures, info@myriadpictures.com

Dom Hemingway (UK)

Dir Richard Shepard

Jude Law plays a larger-than-life safecracker who is drawn back to a life of crime after 12 years in prison. Richard E Grant, Demian Bichir and Emilia Clarke co-star in RPC’s comedy from The Matador director Shepard. Fox Searchlight will distribute in multiple territories including North America.

Contact HanWay Films, info@hanwayfilms.com

The Double (UK)

Dir Richard Ayoade

Ayoade’s comedy follow-up to 2010 Toronto premiere Submarine centres on a man who is driven mad by his more confident and charismatic doppelganger. Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn and Noah Taylor star. StudioCanal has UK rights, Mars distributes in France and D Films has Canadian rights.

Contact Protagonist Pictures, info@protagonistpictures.com

Enemy (Can-Sp)

Dir Denis Villeneuve

Villeneuve’s follow-up to Oscar-nominated Incendies is a thriller based on Jose Saramago’s novel The Double (adapted by Javier Gullon). Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent and Isabella Rossellini lead the cast in the story of a university lecturer who meets his doppelganger. Niv Fichman and Miguel Angel Faura produce. Villeneuve also has the Warner Bros project Prisoners world premiering at TIFF, also starring Gyllenhaal.

International contact Pathé International, sales@patheinternational.com; US contact WME, wma.com

Enough Said (US)

Dir Nicole Holofcener

A sharp rom-com from the director of Please Give and Friends With Money about a divorcée juggling relationships with a new friend and a new love interest - who happens to be the new friend’s ex. Enough Said stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Catherine Keener and James Gandolfini in one of his last screen roles.

Contact Fox Searchlight, foxsearchlight.com

The F Word (Can-Ire)

Dir Michael Dowse

FUBAR and Goon director Dowse offers a romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. eOne has already sold the film to several major territories. Elan Mastai wrote the script, about a man and woman who meet as friends and struggle to define their relationship. The film shot in Dublin and Toronto.

International contact eOne, international.eonefilms.com; US contact UTA, unitedtalent.com

The Face Of Love (US)

Dir Arie Posin

Posin’s second feature - after The Chumscrubber - follows a woman who falls in love with a man who looks just like her dead husband. Annette Bening and Ed Harris star alongside Robin Williams, Jess Weixler and Amy Brenneman. Posin also wrote the script and Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn produced the romantic drama for Mockingbird Pictures. IFC Films has US rights.

Contact Exclusive Media, info@exclusivemedia.com

Fading Gigolo (US)

Dir John Turturro

Woody Allen plays a bookstore owner who convinces his assistant (Turturro) that he could make a fortune as a professional gigolo. Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis and Liev Schreiber also star. Turturro says the film is a cross between Broadway Danny Rose and Midnight Cowboy. Turturro picked up a Camera d’Or in Cannes for his 1992 directorial debut Mac. Antidote Films’ Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Cinetic Media’s Bart Walker produce alongside QED’s Bill Block, Paul Hanson, Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine.

Contact QED International, info@qedintl.com

Felony (Aus)

Dir Matthew Saville

Australian star Joel Edgerton wrote, produces and also stars in this film about three detectives who become embroiled in a tense struggle after a tragic accident that leaves a child in a critical condition. The film, which also stars Tom Wilkinson, Jai Courtney and Melissa George, is produced by Goalpost Pictures, Blue Tongue Films and Benaroya Pictures.

International contact The Solution Entertainment Group, lisa@thesolutionent.com; US contact CAA, caa.com

The Finishers (Bel-Fr)

Dir Nils Tavernier

Tavernier’s second directorial feature drama follows a father and his son, who has cerebral palsy, as they prepare for a triathlon. Jacques Gamblin, who won the Berlin Silver Bear for his role in Nils’ father Bertrand Tavernier’s Safe Conduct, stars alongside Alexandra Lamy and Fabien Héraud. Nils Tavernier co-wrote with Pierre Leyssieux and Laurent Bertoni and Nord-Ouest Films produce.

Contact Pathé, sales@patheinternational.com

For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (Bos & Herz)

Dir Jasmila Zbanic

An Australian tourist discovers the silent legacy of wartime atrocities when she arrives in a seemingly idyllic small town on the border of Bosnia and Serbia. Zbanic’s 2006 drama Grbavica played in Toronto after picking up Berlin’s Golden Bear.

Contact MPM Film, info@mpmfilm.com

Going Away (Fr)

Dir Nicole Garcia

The latest film from French actress-director Garcia follows two unlikely friends - a school teacher and a lonely boy - as they embark on a weekend motorcycle trip to see the boy’s mother. Louise Bourgoin (The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-Sec) stars alongside Dominique Sanda and Pierre Rochefort.

Contact Wild Bunch, wildbunch.biz

Half Of A Yellow Sun (UK-Nigeria)

Dir Biyi Bandele

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton are among the cast in this Andrea Calderwood-produced drama about four intersecting lives during the struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria. Novelist and playwright Bandele makes his feature debut on his adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s acclaimed novel.

Contact Metro International, will.machin@ealingmetro.com

Hateship Loveship (US)

Dir Liza Johnson

With a cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, Nick Nolte, Hailee Steinfeld and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hateship Loveship is based on a short story by Canadian author Alice Munro and follows a teenage girl who fools her nanny into thinking her father is attracted to her. Johnson’s Return premiered at Cannes in 2011.

International contact The Weinstein Company, international@weinsteinco.com; US contact UTA, unitedtalent.com

How I Live Now (UK)

Dir Kevin Macdonald

Based on Meg Rosoff’s multi-award-winning novel, Oscar-winning director Macdonald’s latest narrative feature revolves around a group of teenagers, played by Saoirse Ronan, George MacKay and Harley Bird, who try to find a place of safety in the countryside when a contemporary world war breaks out. Magnolia, which also distributed Macdonald’s Bob Marley documentary Marley, has snapped up US rights.

Contact Protagonist Pictures, info@protagonistpictures.com

The Husband (Can)

Dir Bruce McDonald

Canadian maverick McDonald offers a black comedy about a disgruntled ad-man (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) who must deal with his rage towards his wife’s young lover. The film was formerly titled Baby, How’d We Ever Get This Way.

Contact Scythia Films, scythiafilms.com

Ida (Pol)

Dir Pawel Pawlikowski

Poland-born director Pawlikowski - acclaimed for English-language films such as My Summer Of Love - makes his first Polish-language feature. Set in the early 1960s in communist Poland, Ida tells the story of a young woman who has to choose between the Catholic faith that saved her life during the Holocaust and the identity with which she was born.

Contact Opus Film, opusfilm.com

The Invisible Woman (UK)

Dir Ralph Fiennes

Fiennes directs and stars as novelist Charles Dickens in his follow-up to directorial debut Coriolanus. Felicity Jones stars as Dickens’ secret lover, Nelly Ternan. Sony Pictures Classics acquired US rights during Berlin.

Contact WestEnd Films, info@westendfilms.com

Labor Day (US)

Dir Jason Reitman

The much-anticipated feature from Canada-born Reitman centres on a 13-year-old boy and his reclusive mother who discover the stranger they take in is an escaped convict. Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and Gattlin Griffith star. Reitman has previously screened Thank You For Smoking, Juno and Up In The Air in Toronto.

Contact Paramount Pictures, paramount.com

The Last Of Robin Hood (US)

Dirs Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

Killer Films and Big Indie Pictures team up on this biopic charting the final days of Errol Flynn. Kevin Kline stars as the Hollywood legend alongside Susan Sarandon and Dakota Fanning. Glatzer and Westmoreland’s Quinceanera (2006) was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.

Contact Cinetic, info@cineticmedia.com

Le Weekend (UK)

Dir Roger Michell

The latest collaboration between director Michell and writer Hanif Kureishi (The Mother, Venus), Le Weekend tells the story of a couple who visit Paris to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary as their relationship reaches a key point. Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan and Jeff Goldblum star. Embankment Films has sold the film to more than 20 territories, including to Music Box Films for the US.

Contact Embankment Films, mv@embankmentfilms.com

The Liberator (Ven-Sp)

Dir Alberto Arvelo

Edgar Ramirez plays iconic Venezuelan leader Simon Bolivar, who had a key role in Latin America’s fight for independence from the Spanish Empire. Arvelo’s 2001 drama A House With A View Of The Sea was popular on the festival circuit. Writer Timothy J Sexton co-wrote 2006 thriller Children Of Men.

Contact Mundial, mundialsales.com

Love Is The Perfect Crime (Fr-Switz)

Dir Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu

Mathieu Amalric stars as a forty-something literature professor with a penchant for affairs in the Larrieu brothers’ adaptation of Philippe Djian’s novel. Maïwenn, Karin Viard, Xavier Beauvois and Denis Podalydes co-star in the romance-noir. The writer-director duo previously directed Cannes 2005 comedy To Paint Or Make Love and 2009 sci-fi Happy End.

Contact Gaumont, abuhl@gaumont.fr

Lucky Them (US)

Dir Megan Griffiths

Eden director Griffiths returns with the story of a music journalist assigned to track down her ex-boyfriend. Toni Collette, Ahna O’Reilly and Thomas Haden Church star in the comedy written by Emily Wachtel and Huck Botko. Wachtel, Amy Hobby and Adam Gibbs produce; Joanne Woodward, Peer Pedersen and Linda Pizzuti Henry are executive producers.

Contact Cinetic, info@cineticmedia.com

Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (S Afr)

Dir Justin Chadwick

Idris Elba stars as Nelson Mandela in producer Anant Singh’s long-gestating biopic, which charts the icon’s journey from his childhood in a rural village, through 27 years in prison and his eventual inauguration as president. Naomie Harris plays Winnie Mandela. TWC has US rights and eOne has Canadian rights to the much-anticipated drama written by Bill Nicholson. Pathé closed a number of key deals in Cannes.

Contact Pathé International, sales@patheinternational.com

One Chance (US)

Dir David Frankel

James Corden stars as Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts in this biopic about an amateur opera singer who becomes a phenomenon. Simon Cowell is a producer of the film, which is directed by The Devil Wears Prada’s Frankel. The cast also includes Julie Walters, Mackenzie Crook and Colm Meaney.

Contact The Weinstein Company, international@weinsteinco.com

Prisoners (US)

Dir Denis Villeneuve

Canadian director Villeneuve’s Incendies was Oscar nominated in the foreign-language category in 2011. The English-language Prisoners stars Hugh Jackman as a father searching for his missing daughter. Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello, Viola Davis and Terrence Howard also star. Warner Bros releases in the US. Villeneuve also has Enemy in Special Presentations.

Contact Summit Lionsgate/Warner Bros Pictures International, internationalsales@lionsgate.com

Quai d’Orsay (Fr)

Dir Bertrand Tavernier

The latest from veteran French director Tavernier, whose credits include The Princess Of Montpensier, is a comic political satire based on a graphic novel. Starring Thierry Lhermitte, Raphael Personnaz and Niels Arestrup, the story follows the minister of foreign affairs and a young graduate who starts work at the ministry.

Contact Pathé International, sales@patheinternational.com

Singing Women (Fr-Ger-Tur)

Dir Reha Erdem

Turkish auteur Erdem (Times And Winds) presents this genre-defying film about an unlikely group of oppressed women who are united by their energy and faith. They sing songs of rebellion and life. Erdem worked on the film at the same time he was making Berlinale premiere Jin.

Contact Atlantik Film, atlantikfilm.com

Starred Up (UK)

Dir David Mackenzie

A troubled and explosively violent teenager is transferred to adult prison where he finally meets his match, his father. Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn lead the cast in Young Adam and Hallam Foe director Mackenzie’s uncompromising drama produced by Sigma Films and backed by Film4.

Contact Independent, mail@independentfilmcompany.com

Sunshine On Leith (UK)

Dir Dexter Fletcher

After the well-received Wild Bill, actor-turned-director Fletcher returns with this crowdpleasing Scottish story, adapted from the stage musical of the same name and based on the songs of The Proclaimers. It centres on two brothers who struggle with normal life in Edinburgh after serving in Afghanistan. DNA and Black Camel Pictures produce and the cast includes Peter Mullan, Jane Horrocks and George MacKay. The film is financed by Entertainment Film Distributors (which has UK rights), the BFI Film Fund and Creative Scotland.

Contact Focus Features International, focusfeatures.com

Therese (US)

Dir Charlie Stratton

This romantic thriller is adapted from Emile Zola’s 1867 classic novel, Thérese Raquin. Elizabeth Olsen plays a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage to her cousin (Tom Felton), before she embarks on a doomed affair with his friend (Oscar Isaac). The cast also includes Jessica Lange as Therese’s aunt. Stratton is a TV director and former actor making his feature directorial debut. Producer Mickey Liddell’s LD Entertainment will distribute in the US.

Contact Exclusive Media, info@exclusivemedia.com

Third Person (Bel)

Dir Paul Haggis

The latest from Oscar winner Haggis (Crash) follows the interrelated stories of three couples in Rome, New York and Paris. With a cast that includes Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, James Franco, Olivia Wilde, Maria Bello and Kim Basinger, the film has been sold to more than 20 territories by Belgium’s Corsan, which also financed the film.

Contact Corsan World Sales, pascal@corsanworldsales.com

Those Happy Years (It)

Dir Daniele Luchetti

Set in Rome, this comedy drama follows an artist who finds his world turned upside down. Cattleya and Rai Cinema produced. Italian writer-director Luchetti’s Il Portaborse and La Nostra Vita both screened in Competition at Cannes.

Contact Celluloid Dreams, info@celluloid-dreams.com

Violette (Fr-Bel)

Dir Martin Provost

This biopic of French writer Violette Leduc and her intense lifelong friendship with Simone de Beauvoir stars Emmanuelle Devos and Sandrine Kiberlain. TS Productions and Climax Films produced. Provost’s past films include the award-winning Séraphine.

Contact Doc & Film International, sales@docandfilm.com

Visitors (US)

Dir Godfrey Reggio

The fourth collaboration between Reggio and Philip Glass after the Qatsi trilogy, Visitors took seven years to make and explores humanity’s trancelike relationship with technology. Cinedigm has picked up North American rights, while Submarine Entertainment handles international. The film screens at TIFF with live accompaniment by members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Contact Submarine Entertainment, dk@submarine.com; dan@submarine.com

Watermark (Can)

Dirs Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky

Photographer Burtynsky and film-maker Baichwal reunite after their acclaimed documentary Manufactured Landscapes to present this new feature documentary about the ways humanity has shaped water, and how water has shaped humanity. The project shot in 10 countries. Mongrel Media will release in Canada; a book and iPad app will also be launched alongside the film.

Contact eOne International, international.eonefilms.com

You Are Here (US)

Dir Matthew Weiner

Mad Men creator Weiner makes his feature directorial debut with this comedy. Steve (Owen Wilson) and Ben (Zach Galifianakis) are friends who return to Ben’s childhood home to seek an inheritance from his late father. But they encounter Ben’s strong-willed sister (Amy Poehler) and a gorgeous young widow (Laura Ramsey). The film is a long-gestating passion project for Weiner.

International contact Lionsgate, lionsgate.com; US contacts CAA, caa.com; ICM, icmtalent.com