Toronto unveils new city section, announces first programme selections

As is tradition, the festival has first unveiled hits from the festival circuit (Cannes, Berlin and beyond) that will screen at TIFF. The selections include films by Manoel de Oliveira, Alain Resnais, Andrea Arnold, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Corneliu Porumboiu and Hong Sang-soo (see full list below).

Meanwhile, the Festival has started a new section, City To City, which will “explore the evolving urban experience while presenting the best films from and about a selected city.” The first year’s spotlight city will be Tel Aviv, celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Ten films will be announced later this summer and TIFF is also planning a public forum for film-makers and thinkers from Tel Aviv and Toronto.

“Cities are, almost by definition, cinematic,” said Cameron Bailey, TIFF co-director. “By 2025, two-thirds of us will lead urban lives. We need to take a moment to think about what it means to live in these large and growing communities, with increasingly diverse and multicultural populations, and to consider how a city’s identity is perpetually in flux.”

Confirmed selections for TIFF 2009, by section. All films below will be North American premieres at TIFF.

MASTERS
Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl by Manoel de Oliveira (France/Portugal/Spain)

Les Herbes Folles by Alain Resnais (France)

Air Doll by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan)

VISIONS

Face by Tsai Ming-liang (France/Taiwan/The Netherlands/Belgium)

Independencia by Raya Martin (France)

Irène by Alain Cavalier (France)

Karaoke by Chris Chong Chan Fui (Malaysia)

Nymph by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thailand)

To Die Like a Man by João Pedro Rodrigues (Portugal/France)

VANGUARD

Fish Tank by Andrea Arnold (UK)

DISCOVERY
Gigante by Adrian Biniez (Uruguay/Germany/Argentina/The Netherlands)

The Happiest Girl in the World by Radu Jude (Romania/The Netherlands)

Kelin by Ermek Tursunov (Kazakhstan)

La Pivellina by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Austria/Italy)

Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton (Australia)

Should I Really Do It by Ismail Necmi (Turkey)

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
Eyes Wide Open by Haim Tabakman (Israel)

Huacho by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras (Chile)

Like You Know It All by Hong Sang-soo (Republic of Korea)

Lourdes by Jessica Hausner (Austria/France/Germany)

Men on the Bridge by Asli Özge (Germany/Turkey/The Netherlands)

My Year Without Sex by Sarah Watt (Australia)

Police, Adjective by Corneliu Porumboiu (Romania)

The Time that Remains by Elia Suleiman (France/Belgium/Italy)

The Wind Journeys by Ciro Guerra (Colombia)

The festival has also announced a new box office locatoin at Nathan Phillips Square in addition to Roy Thomson Hall. Other new customer initiatives at this year’s festival include availability of repeat gala screenings to ticket package-holders, changes to single-ticket sales, and programmes and advance order books available a week earlier.

The festival website (tiff.net/the festival) will go live on June 23.