TIFF List: Toronto’s Complete 2009 Lineup

A scene from Oliver Parker’s “Dorian Gray.”

Dorian Gray 
Oliver Parker, United Kingdom World Premiere
In Victorian London, the handsome Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic and cunning Lord Wotton (Colin Firth). Immersed in the hedonistic pleasures of the city, Dorian vows he would give anything to keep his youth and beauty - even his soul. Based on the Oscar Wilde novel, “Dorian Gray” examines the destructive power of beauty, the blind pursuit of pleasure and the darkness that can result from both.

Get Low 
Aaron Schneider, USA World Premiere
Inspired by the true story of Felix “Bush” Breazeale, this stately frontier drama stars Robert Duvall as a backwoods eccentric who stages his own funeral—while still alive. Ten thousand people arrive to hear him speak and to learn why this local legend exiled himself 40 years ago to the foothills of Eastern Tennessee. Set in the early 1930s, Get Low is a story of mystery and discovery that speaks of timeless things. Can we know who we are? Should we judge anyone? Is there redemption for those of us lost in the dark catacombs of our past? Also starring Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black.

I, Don Giovanni
Carlos Saura, Austria/Italy/Spain World Premiere
Venice 1763 - writer Lorenzo da Ponte is leading a pleasure-seeking life. He was originally a priest but his numerous affairs force him to be exiled to Vienna. Supported by his friend and mentor Giacomo Casanova, da Ponte is introduced to the Emperor’s favourite composer, Salieri, and a newcomer named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Seeing an opportunity to undermine Mozart’s ascension, Salieri tricks Mozart into hiring this unknown libertine as his librettist. But da Ponte’s own nature and sentimental wanderings in Vienna will nurture his inspiration and lead to one of Mozart’s most bold and powerful compositions: Don Giovanni.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Terry Gilliam, United Kingdom/Canada, North American Premiere
This fantastical morality tale tells the story of Dr. Parnassus and his travelling show, the extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’. Blessed with the remarkable gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr. Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. An inveterate gambler, thousands of years ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, and won immortality. Centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on the condition that when his daughter reached her sixteenth birthday, she would become the property of Mr. Nick.

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits
Don Roos, USA World Premiere
Emilia Woolf (Natalie Portman) is a Harvard law school graduate and a newlywed, having just married Jack, her high-powered New York lawyer boss (Scott Cohen). Her life takes an unexpected turn when the couple loses their newborn daughter. Emilia struggles through her grief to connect with her precocious new stepson William (Charlie Tahan), overcome a rift in her relationship with her father caused by his infidelity, and cope with the constant interferences of Jack’s angry, jealous ex-wife (Lisa Kudrow). An adaptation of an Ayelet Waldman novel, this tearful and terrific tale by writer-director Don Roos proves that even with a pursuit like love, nothing is impossible.

Max Manus 
Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, Norway/Denmark/Germany North American Premiere
The film is based on the true story of Norway’s most colourful resistance fighter Max Manus, and follows him from the outbreak of World War II until the summer of peace in 1945. After fighting against the Russians during the Winter War in Finland, Max returns to a German-occupied Norway. He joins the active resistance movement, and becomes one of the most important members of the so-called “Oslo Gang”, famous for their spectacular raids against German ships in Oslo harbour.

The Men Who Stare at Goats
Grant Heslov, USA North American Premiere
Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (Academy Award(R) winner George Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. When the programme’s founder, Bill Django (Oscar(R) nominee Jeff Bridges), goes missing, Cassady’s mission is to find him in this quirky dark comedy, inspired by a real story.

Micmacs
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France World Premiere
Is it better to live with a bullet lodged in your brain, even if it means you might drop dead any time or would you rather have the bullet taken out and live the rest of your life as a vegetable? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Is scrap metal worth more than landmines? Can you get drunk from eating waffles? Can a woman fit inside a refrigerator? What is the human cannonball world record? Micmacs, a fantastical comedy from the world class director of Amelie and Delicatessen, answers these questions and way more.

Mother and Child
Rodrigo Garcia, USA World Premiere
This moving drama follows the story of three women (Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington) and the power of the unbreakable bond between mother and child. From writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (Nine Lives), executive producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel) and producers Lisa Falcone and Julie Lynn, the film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Shareeka Epps, Cherry Jones and S. Epatha Merkerson.

Phantom Pain
Matthias Emcke, Germany International Premiere
Marc (Til Schweiger) is a passionate cyclist and urban slacker who avoids work and responsibility. Marc’s life changes from one moment to the next when he suffers a life-changing accident. He can either wallow in self-pity or tackle the beast called life with the help of love and willpower. Phantom Pain is a thought-provoking, yet light and upbeat look at a man who’s forced to turn his life around.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Rebecca Miller, USA North American Premiere
From all outward appearances, Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) leads a charmed existence. An anchor of feminine serenity, she is the devoted wife of an accomplished publisher (Alan Arkin) 30 years her senior, the proud mother of two grown children, a trusted friend and confidant. But as Pippa dutifully follows her husband to a new life in a staid Connecticut retirement community, her idyllic world and the persona she has built over the course of her marriage will be put to the ultimate test. Adapted from writer-director Rebecca Miller’s novel of the same name, “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” presents the complex portrait of the many lives behind a single name.

Mo’Nique in a scene from Lee Daniels’ “Precious.” Image courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival.

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire 
Lee Daniels, USA Canadian Premiere
Lee Daniels’s Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire is a vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome. Set in 1987 Harlem, it is the story of Claireece “Precious” Jones, an illiterate African-American teenager who is pregnant for the second time by her absent father and abused by a poisonously angry mother. Despite her experiences, Precious has a latent understanding that other possibilities exist for her, and jumps at the chance to enroll in an alternative school. There she encounters Ms. Rain, a teacher who will start her on a journey from pain and powerlessness to self-respect and determination. The film stars Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz and introduces Gabourey Sidibe.

What’s Your Raashee?
Ashutosh Gowariker, India World Premiere
What’s Your Raashee? is a romantic comedy about a young man who has always wanted to marry for love. When he suddenly is told that he must find his dream girl within ten days in order to save his family from utter ruin, he discovers that finding her is even hard when it has to happen in a hurry.  The film is based on the Gujarati novel, Kimball Ravenswood, by Madhu Rye and stars Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra.

The Young Victoria (Closing Night Gala)
Jean-Marc Vallée, UK North American Premiere
The Young Victoria is set in the period from 1836, the year before Victoria ascended the throne, to 1840, the year she married Prince Albert, and revises the widely held picture of Queen Victoria as an elderly widow dressed in black. In addition to being a love story and family drama, the film explores the idea of instant celebrity – one minute Victoria is living under virtual house arrest, the next she is the most famous woman in the world.

Masters

Air Doll
Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan North American Premiere This compelling tale of a blow-up doll that becomes a real person and abandons her status of mere sex object comes to life with the superb performance of Korean actress Bae Doo-na.

Antichrist
Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/France/Italy North American Premiere
This is a groundbreaking, deeply disturbing and graphic nightmare vision about gender relations from one of the most important and influential directors of the last 30 years. The film is a break from von Trier’s previous work in terms of aesthetics, resembling a Japanese horror movie re-imagined by Andrei Tarkovsky. Antichrist features unforgettable and courageous performances by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe.

Carmel
Amos Gitai, Israel/France/Italy World Premiere
History in the Middle East is a complex mix of the present and the past. Then, there is also the personal and Gitai is uniquely placed to reflect on his own past as a soldier and as the father of a young man caught up in the present conflicts that engulf the region.

La Donation
Bernard Emond, Canada                                                                                      
North American Premiere
Dr. Rainville, an aging country doctor with a deep attachment to his patients, is about to retire and is looking for a successor. Jeanne Dion, an emergency room doctor from Montreal, agrees to go to Normetal to replace him for a few weeks, with no plans for an extended stay. When Dr. Rainville suddenly dies, Jeanne must decide if she’ll take over the job, and its inherent responsibilities, for the long-term.

A scene from Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist.” Image courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl
Manoel de Oliveira, France/Portugal/Spain North American Premiere Famed filmmaker Oliveira, who celebrates his 101st birthday this year, tells the tale of Macario’s obsession with the enticing blond he spies from his window. Little does he know that she will end up stealing much more than his heart.

Les Herbes Folles 
Alain Resnais, France North American Premiere From modernist master Alain Resnais comes a romantic adventure based around the simple act of losing a wallet.

Honeymoons
Goran Paskaljevic, Serbia/Albania/Italy North American Premiere Two young married couples take off and travel abroad to the promised lands of better opportunities, but hope collapses when their expectations disappear into thin air and their dreams turn into nightmares.

Hotel Atlantico
Suzana Amaral, Brazil World Premiere
Enigmatic and perturbing, Suzana Amaral’s Hotel Atlantico takes us on a mysterious journey through Brazil’s southern landscapes. The film follows an unnamed actor as he wanders into new experiences, living life in the moment.

Melody for a Street Organ 
Kira Muratova, Ukraine North American Premiere
Two young orphan siblings travel to Moscow in search of their missing father. Scared of being separated and sent to orphanages, they hope to reunite with the last link of their shattered family.

Le Refuge
Francois Ozon, France World Premiere
The French master returns with this unsettling tale of a rich, beautiful young woman who finds herself pregnant after her boyfriend dies of an overdose. Retreating to a seaside home, she is joined by his brother.

Vincere
Marco Bellocchio, Italy North American Premiere
This fictionalized portrait of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini concentrates on his youthful years before he rose to power in Italy. It uncovers the details of his first marriage and the child he had with a passionate woman whom he later totally disowned and abandoned.

Vision
Margarethe von Trotta, Germany Canadian Premiere
One of the major auteurs to emerge from the New German Cinema, Margarethe von Trotta returns to the Festival with Vision, a study of the remarkable Hildegard von Bingen, the Benedictine nun who emerged as a Renaissance woman before there was a Renaissance.

A scene from Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon.” Image courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.

White Material
Claire Denis, France North American Premiere
A family of French expatriates living in an African country where they own a coffee plantation find that their livelihood is threatened by the outbreak of civil war. They struggle to keep their lives together in the face of rival factions fighting for power and gun-toting child soldiers who have no sympathy for their plight.

The White Ribbon
Michael Haneke, Germany/Austria/France/Italy North American Premiere
In Protestant Northern Germany on the eve of World War I, strange incidents begin to occur in a village community and increasingly take the form of a ritual of punishment. This latest work from Michael Haneke won the Palme d’Or for best film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Window
Buddhadeb Dasgupta, India World Premiere
When Bimal decides to give something back to his alma mater, he chooses to replace the broken window of his favourite classroom. Plans to pay for this gesture go awry and he cannot bear to tell his fiancee.

Midnight Madness

Jennifer’s Body
Karyn Kusama, USA World Premiere
Jennifer’s Body tells the story of small-town high-school student Jennifer (Megan Fox) who is possessed by a hungry demon and transitions from being “high school evil”—gorgeous (and doesn’t she know it), stuck up and ultra-attitudinal—to the real deal: evil/evil. The glittering beauty becomes a pale and sickly creature jonesing for a meaty snack, and guys who never stood a chance with the heartless babe take on new lustre in the light of her insatiable appetite. Meanwhile, Jennifer’s best friend, Needy (Amanda Seyfried), long relegated to living in Jennifer’s shadow, must step-up to protect the town’s young men, including her nerdy boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons). Written and executive produced by Oscar(R)-winner Diablo Cody (Juno).

A Town Called Panic
Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar, Belgium/Luxembourg/France North American Premiere
An outlandish animation style captures the absurd wit and surreal adventures of plastic toys Cowboy, Indian and Horse.

Bitch Slap 
Rick Jacobson, USA World Premiere
In this campy action comedy from the creators of Xena and Hercules, three hot-blooded women try to uncover some booty in the desert using feminine charms, fists and machine guns.

Daybreakers 
Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, Australia/USA World Premiere
Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill star in this sci-fi horror about a future populated by vampires where humans are the minority.

A scene from Karyn Kusama’s “Jennifer’s Body.” Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight.

George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead 
George A. Romero, Canada World Premiere
Master director George A. Romero returns to his world of the undead, this time pitting two feuding clans in the middle of the fallout of a zombie epidemic.

The Loved Ones 
Sean Byrne, Australia International Premiere
A troubled teen’s prom dreams are shattered by a series of painful events that take place under the mirrored disco ball, involving syringes, nails, power drills and a secret admirer in this wild mash-up of Pretty in Pink and Misery.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning 
Tony Jaa, Thailand Canadian Premiere
Martial-arts superstar Tony Jaa stars in and directs this epic tale of revenge set hundreds of years in the past. Featuring a huge cast and hordes of elephants, this prequel takes Jaa’s skills to the next level, showcasing him as a master of a wide range of martial-arts styles - while proving him to be a promising director as well.

[REC] 2
Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza, Spain North American Premiere
In the follow-up to the acclaimed [REC], a SWAT team enters the old apartment to control an epidemic with terrifying results.

Solomon Kane 
Michael J. Bassett, United Kingdom World Premiere
From Robert E. Howard, the legendary creator of Conan, comes this tale of a savage mercenary in sixteeth-century Century England who owes the devil his soul and seeks to redeem himself by fighting evil.

Symbol
Hitoshi Matsumoto, Japan International Premiere
Japanese comedy superstar Hitoshi Matsumoto (DAINIPPONJIN) stars in and directs this absurd and outlandish comedy about a man trying to escape a unique dilemma.

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What Toronto World Premiere Excites You The Most?

	Atom Egoyan's "Chloe"
	Francois Ozon's "Le Refuge"
	Karyn Kusama's "Jennifer's Body"
	Harmony Korine's "Trash Humpers"
	Drew Barrymore's "Whip It"
	Niki Caro's "The Vinter's Luck"
	Joel Coen and Ethan Coen's "A Serious Man"
	Jason Reitman's "Up In The Air"
	Other

Read & React: TIFF List: Toronto’s Complete 2009 Lineup