World premieres from TerryGilliam and Danis Tanovic are among nine new titles unveiled for the 30th TorontoInternational Film Festival (Sept 8-17).
Tideland (Can-UK), Terry Gilliam's second feature this yearafter Brothers Grimm, is scheduled to play in the Masters section.
Janet McTeer, BrendanFletcher, Jeff Bridges, and Jennifer Tilly star in the tale of Jeliza-Rose(Jodelle Ferland), a young girl who uses her imagination to escape the harshrealities of real life. The premiere marks the first time that a Gilliam featurehas enjoyed a festival premiere since Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas competedin Cannes in 1998.
Director Danis Tanvoic, whowon the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2001 with No Man's Land, returnswith L'Enfer (Fr-It-Bel-Jap) in Special Presentations.
Written by KrzysztofPiesiewicz, who developed the feature as part of a trilogy with Polish legendKrzysztof Kieslowski, the drama casts Emmanuelle Beart, Karin Viarid and MarieGillain as three sisters whose lives are changed by an act of violence duringtheir childhood.
Little Fish (Aus), which opened the Melbourne International FilmFestival last week, is set to make its international premiere in SpecialPresentations.
Rowan Woods' second featurefollows Tracy (Cate Blanchett), a recovered heroin addict struggling to put hertroubled past behind her as she tries to move on in life. Other top Australiannames among the cast include Hugo Weaving as the one-time partner of Tracy'smother; and Sam Neill as his lover.
Film-makers Keith Fulton andLouis Pepe - who scored a hit with Lost In La Mancha, their 2002documentary about Gilliam's ill-fated The Man Who Killed Don Quixote - enjoy a world premiere with mockumentary BrothersOf The Head (UK) in the Visions sidebar.
Two conjoined twins (Lukeand Harry Treadaway) are plucked from obscurity in the 1970s by a musicpromoter to become the seminal link between "classic" rock and punk.
Two US film-makers also seetheir debut features world premiere at Toronto.
Neverwas (US), from writer/director Joshua Stern, has beenadded to Special Presentations. Co-financed and co-produced by Sidney KimmelEntertainment, the film follows Zach (Aaron Eckhart), a psychiatrist whoreturns to work at the mental institution where his father (Nick Nolte) wascommitted years earlier. Other cast include Sir Ian McKellen, Brittany Murphyand Alan Cumming.
And David Ayer, who scriptedTraining Day, SWAT and U571, makes his directorial debut with HarshTimes (US) in Special Presentations.
Unemployed friends Jim(Christian Bale), a war veteran, and Mike (Freddy Rodriguez), a computerprogrammer search for excitement and adventure through the streets of SouthCentral LA, only to unwittingly bring down their own destruction. DesperateHousewives' actress Eva Longoria also stars.
Other American film-makersset for world premieres at Toronto includeAdam Rapp, whose WinterPassing (US) follows a young woman (Zooey Deschanel) returning home to herfather, a reclusive novelist played by Ed Harris. Focus Features holds USrights on the drama, which also stars Will Ferrell as an eccentric handyman.
Produced by the Yari FilmGroup, which world premiered Paul Haggis' Crash at last year's Toronto,the feature plays in Special Presentations.
Jeff Stanzler's SorryHaters (US), which examines the anxieties of post 9/11 America, has beenadded to Discovery.
An Arab cab driver (playedby Abdel Kechiche) picks up a troubled professional woman (Robin Wright Penn)in New York City only to develop a relationship with unexpected results overthe course of several days.
Comedian Margaret Cho writesand stars in Lorene Lorene Machado's Bam Bam And Celeste (US), whichfeatures in the Discovery sidebar.
Best friends Bam Bam (BruceDaniels) and Celeste (Cho) journey across Middle America in the hopes ofbecoming contestants on a reality-TV makeover show.
Further additions to thefestival, which runs from Sept 8 to 17, are scheduled to be announced on August2 and August 28.
See links below for previousstories on Toronto premieres.
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