2011 Toronto International Film Festival Unveils a Spectacular Selection of Galas and Special Presentations

I don’t know where to begin considering the number of names I could drop that will be featured at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival as this morning the fest unveiled a selection of films in the 2011 Galas and Special Presentations programs. I’ll begin by saying of the 10 Galas and 43 Special Presentations you are looking at 31 world premieres and you can add one more with the addition of the fest’s opening night film, Davis Guggenheim’s U2 documentary From the Sky Down.

Directors making their world premieres at the festival include Bruce Beresford, Luc Besson, Remi Bezancon, Cameron Crowe, Terence Davies, Mathieu Demy, Jay and Mark Duplass, Roland Emmerich, Julian Farino, Jim Field Smith, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Foster, Rodrigo Garcia, Lasse Hallstrom, Huh Jong-ho, Cedric Khan, Jonathan Levine, Jamie Linden, Derick Martini, Fernando Meirelles, Bennett Miller, Oren Moverman, Daniel Nettheim, Pawel Pawlikowski, Alexander Payne, Sarah Polley, Malgoska Szumowska, Jonathan Teplitzky, Jennifer Westfeldt, Michael Winterbottom and Wang Xiaoshuai. And the best part about that list, it’s not even the tip of the iceberg.

As I speculated yesterday all three September releases I mentioned will be in attendance with the inclusion of Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher, Bennett Miller’s Moneyball and 50/50 from Jonathan Levine. Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus and Alexander Payne’s The Descendants are also included as are Jennifer Westfeldt’s Friends with Kids and Sarah Polley’s Take this Waltz.

Of the films expected to land at Venice, plenty of those made the list as well, though I am sad to see Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, though I won’t count it out until after the entire selection is unveiled. Films such as William Friedkin’s Killer Joe, Steve McQueen’s Shame, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Poulet aux prunes (Chicken With Plums), George Clooney’s The Ides of March, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Dark Horse from Todd Solondz and Madonna’s W.E. are all included. But wait, there’s more.

Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close will premiere, as will Jim Field Smith’s Butter starring Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Rob Corddry, Ashley Greene, Ty Burrell, Alicia Silverstone, Hugh Jackman and Olivia Wilde.

Luc Besson’s The Lady starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis will be on hand as will Bruce Beresford’s Peace, Love and Misunderstanding, which stars Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Chace Crawford and Sundance breakout actress Elizabeth Olsen, whose Martha Marcy May Marlene is among the Special Presentations (read my review from Cannes here).

As a matter of fact, along with Martha Marcy May Marlene, several films I saw at Cannes will be screened, which will thankfully clear my plate slightly, films such as Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist, Nanni Moretti’s We Have a Pope, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin and Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, though depending on timing I just might have to watch that one again.

The list continues on from there including Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt, Oren Moverman’s Rampart, Julian Farino’s The Oranges, Sundance hit Like Crazy, Oscar hopeful The Eye of the Storm, Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous which apparently features potential Oscar turns from Rhys Ifans and Vanessa Redgrave and Fernando Meirelles’ 360 starring Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz and Ben Foster.

I have added as many as I can to the database on the site so click on the linked titles for synopsis and cast information. This is just the start of my Toronto Film Festival coverage and you can track all of my coverage right here. The fest begins on September 8 and runs through the 18, I will be on the ground in Toronto covering as many of the films below as I can so stay tuned.

For now, have a look, click around and see what stands out to you.

Opening Night Film