Toronto International Film Festival Announces Its Complete Line-Up of 352 Films From 61 Countries

Organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival today announced final programming details, including the complete line-up of films for the 31st Festival running September 7 - 16, 2006. At this year's Festival, 352 films from 61 countries will screen, including 261 features, 91 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 62 of which are feature directorial debuts. Limited Festival Passes and Coupon Books are available until August 25, offering outstanding deals available to filmgoers of all ages. Advance tickets for Festival films are available September 6. For more information and to purchase tickets call 416-968-FILM, click bell.ca/filmfest or visit one of two Box Office locations: the Festival HQ Box Office, located on the Main Floor of Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor Street West (North Entrance) and, opening August 29, the Festival Box Office at College Park, 444 Yonge Street (South Entrance, market level). The Festival's programme book and Official Film Schedule are available August 29.

Today's announcements include eight Gala Presentations, including the world premiere of Michael Apted's AMAZING GRACE, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rufus Sewell, Youssou N'Dour, Ciaran Hinds, Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, and Albert Finney, as the Closing Night Film; Ridley Scott's A GOOD YEAR, a world premiere starring Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, and Abbie Cornish; Anthony Minghella's BREAKING AND ENTERING, a world premiere starring Jude Law, Martin Freeman, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, and Rafi Gavron; Patrice Leconte's MON MEILLEUR AMI, a world premiere starring Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon, and Julie Gayet; Douglas McGrath's INFAMOUS, a North American premiere starring Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Juliet Stevenson, Sigourney Weaver, John Benjamin Hickey, and Lee Pace; Paul Verhoeven's BLACK BOOK, a North American premiere starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman and Halina Reijn; Feng Xiaogang's THE BANQUET, a North American premiere starring Ziyi Zhang and Daniel Wu; and Susanne Bier's AFTER THE WEDDING, a North American premiere starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, and Rolf Lassgård. Gala tickets on sale Saturday, August 26 at 10 a.m.

A blockbuster Mavericks features up close and personal conversations with Michael Moore, John Waters, John Cameron Mitchell, Karan Johar, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherji, and Amitabh Bachchan. The Festival also announces five presentations in its Dialogues: Talking with Pictures programme. Presenters Bruce Weber, Albert Maysles, Perry Henzell, Costa Gavras, and Christine Vachon will showcase films that have inspired them or mark a significant period in their careers.

Wavelengths spotlights 27 films and videos in five programmes and features internationally renowned visual artists working in film and video - evidence of the persistent convergence between film and art. The programme features new work from such celebrated artists as Abbas Kiarostami, Mika Taanila, Jay Rosenblatt, Nathaniel Dorsky, Christoph Girardet, and Matthias Müller.

Thirteen titles, consisting of five world premieres and seven North American premieres, round out this year's edition of Masters, which will include Goran Paskaljevic's THE OPTIMISTS; Volker Schlöndorff's STRIKE; Alain Resnais' CŒURS; Benoît Jacquot's L'INTOUCHABLE; Gianni Amelio's THE MISSING STAR; and Robert Guédiguian's LE VOYAGE EN ARMÉNIE.

Fifteen films have been added to Visions for a complete line-up of 31 films from 25 countries, including Gabriel Range's D.O.A.P.; Jem Cohen's BUILDING A BROKEN MOUSETRAP, NYC WEIGHTS AND MEASURES and BLESSED ARE THE DREAMS OF MEN; Jay Anania's DAY ON FIRE; Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth's KHADAK; Manoel de Oliveira's BELLE TOUJOURS; Katsuhiro Otomo's BUGMASTER; Olivier Masset-Depasse's CAGES; Nuri Bilge Ceylan's CLIMATES; Pedro Costa's COLOSSAL YOUTH; Julia Loktev's DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT; Pavel Lounguine's THE ISLAND; Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's ZIDANE: UN PORTRAIT DU XXIème SIÈCLE; and So Yong Kim's IN BETWEEN DAYS.

With eleven titles announced today, the full Special Presentations line-up features 39 films from 15 countries, including Ann Hui's THE POSTMODERN LIFE OF MY AUNT; Mira Nair's THE NAMESAKE; Hong Sang-soo's WOMAN ON THE BEACH; Emanuele Crialese's GOLDEN DOOR; Todd Field's LITTLE CHILDREN; Johnnie To's EXILED; Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's THE LIVES OF OTHERS; Joachim Lafosse's NUE PROPRIÉTÉ; PARIS JE T'AIME; Santiago Amigorena's QUELQUES JOURS EN SEPTEMBRE; and Marc Evans' SNOW CAKE.

Contemporary World Cinema features 60 titles, including 19 world, 4 international and 32 North American premieres from a total of 40 countries, including today's announcements of Alejandro Gomez Monteverde's BELLA; Mel Chionglo's TWILIGHT DANCERS; Dror Shaul's SWEET MUD; Cate Shortland's THE SILENCE; Jeffrey Jeturian's THE BET COLLECTOR; and Chris Kraus' FOUR MINUTES.

The North American premiere of THE HOTTEST STATE, written and directed by Ethan Hawke, joins the 12 films already announced in the new Festival programme, Vanguard.

Seven titles join Real to Reel for a complete programme featuring 34 titles from 18 countries, 28 of which will see a world, international or North American premiere, including James Stern and Adam Del Deo's …SO GOES THE NATION; Rob Stewart's SHARKWATER; Adrian Grenier's SHOT IN THE DARK; Jia Zhangke's DONG; Ron Mann's TALES OF THE RAT FINK; Amy Berg's DELIVER US FROM EVIL; and Sadik Ahmed's TANJU MIAH.

New this year, to ensure that audiences of all ages can be part of the Festival experience, TIFF has significantly increased the number of films submitted for classification. Film classifications appear in the Official Film Schedule on August 29 and will be updated on the Festival website. Additionally, the films in Sprockets Family Zone each have specific age recommendations, from age four to age 11. Films without classification are restricted to those 18 years and older.

In addition to these titles, two previously announced films - Alejandro González Iñárritu's BABEL, a North American premiere starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael García Bernal; and PENELOPE, a world premiere starring Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, Catherine O'Hara, Richard E. Grant, James McAvoy, and Peter Dinklage - will now screen as Gala Presentations.