Break out the Evening Gowns: Special Presentations & Gala Titles at TIFF'09

Evening gowns, or hard hats because the announcement today has heavy hitters added to this years line up at TIFF'09. First and foremost I'm thrilled to hear that Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It is headed to TIFF, I wrote about it last week and since then the trailer has been released and it looks like roller derby loads of fun. Speaking of trailers, just yesterday Screen Rant shared the trailer for Dorian Gray and now it is revealed it will be at TIFF, how mysteriously delicious! The UK film is directed by Oliver Parker, stars Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray and Colin Firth as Lord Wotton and is included in the Gala programme.

We can welcome back many familiar names to the festival with lots of returning directors such as Werner Herzog with Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans a remake of the 1992 film, Pedro Almodóvar returns with new film Broken Embraces and Michael Moore with previously-untitled-now-revealed film Capitalism, A Love Story (which over at Apple Trailers currently still says "Michael Moore The New Movie"). It is thrilling to hear that Ian Fitzgibbon is back at the festival this year with Perrier's Bounty starring Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent and Jodie Whittaker. After seeing th dark and comedic A Film with Me in It from Ian Fitzgibbon last year at TIFF, I'm certainly game to see more of his work.

Let's take a look at the new titles added today, along with the Special Presentations titles added last week and films previously announced including the opening night selection: Creation.

Gala

Creation **Opening Night Selection**
Dir: Jon Amiel
Cast: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly
UK

Dorian Gray
Dir: Oliver Parker
Cast: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth
United Kingdom

Get Low
Dir: Aaron Schneider
Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black
USA

Max Manus
Dir: Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
Norway/Denmark/Germany

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Dir: Lee Daniels
USA

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Dir: Rebecca Miller
Cast: Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin
USA

Special Presentation

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Dir: Werner Herzog
Cast: Nicolas Cage
USA

The Boys Are Back
Dir: Scott Hicks
Cast: Clive Owen
Australia/United Kingdom

Bright Star
Dir: Jane Campion
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish
United Kingdom/Australia

Broken Embraces
Dir: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Lluís Homar, Penélope Cruz
Spain

Capitalism: A Love Story
Dir: Michael Moore
USA

City of Life and Death
Dir: Lu Chuan
China

Cracks
Dir: Jordan Scott
Cast: Eva Green
Ireland/United Kingdom

An Education
Dir: Lone Scherfig
United Kingdom

The Front Line
Dir: Renato De Maria
Italy

Glorious 39
Dir: Stephen Poliakoff
United Kingdom

Harry Brown
Dir: Daniel Barber
Cast: Michael Caine
United Kingdom

Hadewijch
Dir: Bruno Dumont
France

The Informant!
Dir: Steven Soderbergh
Cast:Matt Damon,
USA

The Invention of Lying
Dir: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
USA

Kamui
Dir: Yoichi Sai
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama
Japan

Leaves of Grass
Dir: Tim Blake Nelson
USA

Life During Wartime
Dir: Todd Solondz
Cast: Allison Janney, Ciarán Hinds
USA

London River
Dir: Rachid Bouchareb,
United Kingdom/France/Algeria

Mao's Last Dancer
Dir: Bruce Beresford
Australia/USA/China

Moloch Tropical
Dir: Raoul Peck
Haiti/France

Mother
Dir: Bong Joon-ho
South Korea

Ondine
Dir: Neil Jordan
Cast: Colin Farrell, Alison Barry, Alicja Bachleda
Ireland/USA

Partir
Dir: Catherine Corsini
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi López
France

Perrier's Bounty
Dir: Ian Fitzgibbon
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson, Jodie Whittaker
Ireland/United Kingdom

A Prophet
Dir: Jacques Audiard
France

Scheherazade Tell Me a Story
Dir: Yousry Nasrallah
Egypt

The Secret of Their Eyes
Dir: Juan José Campanella
Argentina/Spain

A Serious Man
Dir: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
USA

Solitary Man
Dirs: Brian Koppelman and David Levien
Cast: Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer
USA

Triage
Dir: Danis Tanovic
Cast: Colin Farrell
Ireland/Spain

Valhalla Rising
Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast: Mad Mikkelsen
Denmark/United Kingdom

Vengeance
Dir: Johnnie To
Cast: Johnny Hallyday
Hong Kong/France

The Vintner's Luck
Dir: Niki Caro
New Zealand/France

Whip It
Dir: Drew Barrymore
Cast: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Zoe Bell, Drew Barrymore
USA

Women Without Men
Dir: Shirin Neshat
Germany/France/Austria

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 - 19, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.