TIFF'09 - First Set of Film Titles Released and New Programme: City to City

We begin to see the festival take its shape as the first list for films for TIFF'09 have been released, collected and described as the "Best of the Festival Circuit". These 24 titles are allNorth American Premieres and when drilled down to programmes we have 8 Contemporary World Cinema, 6 Discovery, 3 Masters, 1 Vanguard and 6 Visions.

We have many interesting titles to mull over but there are a couple that stood out like shining stars including Hirokazu Kore-eda's Air Doll as a part of the Masters programme. After seeing Hirokazu Kore-eda's film Still Walking / Aruitemo aruitemo last year it was certainly a stand out and I'll be happy to see any of his work, ever. Another film to look forward to is Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Nymph from the Visions programme. The description sounds a little simliar, although possibly a fantasitcal setting, to Ploy but I missed that at it's recent TIFF appearance. But after seeing the beautiful Last Life in the Universe, the first full length film I had seen of Pen-ek Ratanaruang I was blown away by its sensitive beauty alongside a deep darkness. Quite the shift in content but not tone from the shorts Total Bangkok and Luminous Sounds / Seang-Sawang both of which capture and portray people in their own context so aptly.

We have one title released from the Vanguard program, which always shows film that pushes boundries and the description of Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold (Red Road) holds true to that. This UK film is a love story about a violent daughter who desires her mothers boyfriend. Yep, that will push buttons, boundries and a lot more.

Brief descriptions of the 24 films released can be found here.

A new programme is also being released this year called City to City. It will be an annual programme focusing on a city through screenings and debate. It's first year the spotlight will be on Tel Aviv which this year is celebrating its 100 birthday. This programme will have it's own ticket package which includes one ticket to each premiere screening - and they have shared the dates! 2 screenings per night from September Sept 13 - 17, 2009. Read more about the new program here.

List of 24 Film Titles Released

Contemporary World Cinema (8)

Eyes Wide Open
Dir: Haim Tabakman
Israel

Huacho
Dir: Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
Chile/France/Germany

Like You Know It All
Dir: Hong Sang-Soo
Republic of Korea

Lourdes
Dir: Jessica Hausner
Austria

Men on the Bridge
Dir: Asli Özge
Germany/Turkey/The Netherlands

Police, Adjective
Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania

The Time that Remains
Dir: Elia Suleiman
Belgium

The Wind Journeys
Dir: Ciro Guerra
Colombia/Germany/Argentina/The Netherlands

Discovery (6)

Gigante
Dir: Adrian Biniez
Uruguay/Germany/Argentina/The Netherlands

Kelin
Dir: Ermek Tursunov
Kazakhstan

La Pivellina
Dir: Tizza Covi |Rainer Frimmel
Austria

Samson & Delilah
Dir: Warwick Thornton
Australia

Should I Really Do It
Dir: Ismail Necmi
Turkey

The Happiest Girl in the World
Dir: Radu Jude
The Netherlands

Masters (3)

Air Doll
Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Bae Doo-na
Japan

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl
Dir: Manoel de Oliveira
Portugal

Les Herbes Folles
Dir: Alain Resnais
France

Vanguard (1)

Fish Tank
Dir: Andrea Arnold
United Kingdom

Visions (6)

Face
Dir: Tsai Ming-Liang
Belgium

Independencia
Dir: Raya Martin
France

Irène
Dir: Alain Cavalier
France

Karaoke
Dir: Chris Chong Chan Fui
Malaysia

Nymph
Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Thailand

To Die Like a Man
Dir: Joäo Pedro Rodrigues
Portugal/France

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