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Fest organizers announced British Writer/director David Hare's "Page Eight" will close TIFF with a Roy Thomson gala after a debut at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Hare's spy thriller stars Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes and Judy Davis.
As Toronto continued Tuesday to set its Roy Thomson lineup with another eight galas unveiled, French director Christophe Honoré's "The Beloved" was given a high-profile gala here after a Cannes bow for the 1960s Paris and contemporary London drama that stars the real-life mother and daughter Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni.
And Jennifer Hudson and Terence Howard will walk the red carpet with director Darrell J. Roodt into Roy Thomson Hall for a world premiere of "Winnie," the Canada/South African co-produced biopic about Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela.
Toronto also booked Roy Thomson Hall slots for "The Awakening," from British director "Nick Murphy," a psychological thriller that stars Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton, and director Tanya Wexler's "Hysteria," a romantic comedy top-lined by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Rupert Everett and Felicity Jones.
There's also star-driven world debuts for Gary McKendry's "Killer Elite," a globe-trotting action film starring Jason Statham, Robert De Niro and Clive Owen set for a September 23 theatrical release; Marc Forster's Machine Gun Preacher," which stars Gerard Butler in the true-life role of criminal-turned-kidnapped child saver Sam Childers; and Joel Schumacher's "Trespass," which stars Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman.
Another 18 titles were added to the Special Presentations sidebar Tuesday, including Italian director Ermanno Olmi's "The Cardboard Village," which stars Michael Lonsdale and Rutger Hauer; U.S. filmmaker Whit Stillman's "Damsels in Distress," the Greta Gerwig-starring comedy that will close Venice; and Irish writer/director Ian FitzGibbon's "Death of a Superhero," which stars Andy Serkis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster and is based on Anthony McCarten's novel.
There's also world bows for "The First Man," by Italian director Gianni Amelio, an adaptation of Albert Camus' autobiographical last novel; Agnieszka Holland's "In Darkness," a Holocaust drama starring Robert Wieçkiewicz and Benno Fürmann already picked up by Sony Pictures Classics; and "Intruders," by Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and starring Clive Owen.
Toronto also booked a North American premiere in the Special Presentations sidebar for Hong Kong director Johnnie To's "Life Without Principle," a drama about three characters in desperate need of money that will screen in competition in Venice.
Also Toronto-bound for a North American debut is "Low Life," by French directors Nicolas Klotz and Elisabeth Perceval, which just screened in Locarno, while there's a world premiere for Indian director Pankaj Kapur's "Mausam" (Seasons of Love), a turbulent love story starring Shahid Kapur, Sonam A Kapoor and Anupam Kher.
Other world premieres: Anne Fontaine's "My Worst Nightmare," starring Isabelle Huppert; fellow French director Mathieu Kassovitz' "Rebellion," and U.S. director Geoffrey Fletcher's "Violet & Daisy," a film about two girls and some guns that stars Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel and James Gandolfini.
Toronto also booked North American bows for Hong Kong director Ann Hui's "A Simple Life," which reunites Asian screen star Andy Lau with his godmother Deanie Ip as they perform together in front of the movie camera for the first time in 23 years, and Australian director Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty," which stars Emily Browning and Rachael Blake.
Fest programmers also gave an international premiere to "Terraferma," from Italian director Emanuele Crialese; and North American bows to Philippe Garrel's "That Summer," which stars Monica Belluci and the French director's son, Louis Garrel; the epic film "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," from Taiwanese director Wei Te-Sheng; and Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights," which stars James Howson and Kaya Scodelario.
Toronto's Contemporary World Cinema section added another 51 titles, including world bows for the latest films by Nancy Savoca, Xiaolu Guo and Nacho Vigalondo.
And there's North American bows for new films by directors Andrey Zvyagintsev, Gerardo Naranjo, Sono Sion, Asghar Farhadi, Karim Ainouz, Ole Christian Madsen and Cristián Jiménez.
U.S. director Joshua Marston will bring "The Forgiveness of Blood," an Albanian family feud drama to Toronto after a Berlin bow; and French director Vincent Garenq will bring the justice drama "Presume Coupable" (Guilty) after a Venice debut.
And there's world premieres for Italian director Stefano Chiantini's "Islands;" "Juan of the Dead," by director Alejandro Brugués, about a zombie outbreak in Cuba; "Always Brando," by Tunisian director Ridha Béhi, and "Blood of my Blood," by Portuguese director João Canijo.
The Future Projections sidebar of moving image installation includes a collaboration by James Franco and Gus Van Sant, entitled "Memories of Idaho (1991; 2010 and 2011)," and artworks by Peter Lynch, Nicholas and Sheila Pye, Mr. Brainwash and David Lamelas.
And the Visions program of avant-garde films includes a North American premiere for Julia Loktev's "The Loneliest Planet," and an international premiere for Debbie Tucker Green's "Random."
The Toronto International Film Festival is set to run from September 8 to 18.
– The Hollywood Reporter