Toronto fest to fete Arcand, Cronenberg pics (Reuters)

The latest work from veteran Canadian directors Cronenberg and Arcand -- whose film closed Cannes this year -- will receive galas at Roy Thomson Hall.

Unveiling the Canadian contingent in Toronto, festival organizers said they have booked Francois Girard's Keira Knightley-starring period drama "Silk" from Picturehouse and New Line International, Roger Spottiswoode's Rwandan drama "Shake Hands With the Devil" and Clement Virgo's boxing tale "Poor Boy's Game," starring Danny Glover, for Special Presentations slots.

Also joining the Special Presentations program is Adam Vollick's "Here Is What Is," a portrait of famed record producer Daniel Lanois, and Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg," billed as a "docu-fantasia" about the filmmaker's hometown.

Canadian films unspooling as part of Toronto's Contemporary World Cinema section include Leonard Farlinger's "All Hat"; Bruce Sweeney's "American Venus," starring Rebecca De Mornay; Bernard Emond's "Contre Toute Esperance," which will also screen at the Locarno festival; and Carl Bessai's "Normal," starring Carrie-Anne Moss.

Also joining the World Cinema party is Laurie Lynd's "Breakfast With Scot," Denis Cote's "Nos Vies Privees" and Kari Skogland's "The Stone Angel," the big-screen adaptation of the classic Margaret Laurence novel, starring Ellen Burstyn.

First-time Canadian filmmakers getting their titles into Toronto's Canada First! sidebar include Martin Gero's "Young People F---ing," Richie Mehta's "Amal," Stephane Lafleur's "Continental" and Robert Cuffley's "Walk All Over Me."

Among the high-profile Canadian films overlooked by Toronto programmers in their Tuesday announcement are veteran documentary maker Stuart Samuel's "27," a music-driven portrait of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, and Paolo Barzman's "Emotional Arithmetic," a Quebec-Ontario co-production toplined by Gabriel Byrne, Roy Dupuis, Christopher Plummer, Susan Sarandon and Max von Sydow.

Canadian documentaries that did make it into the festival's Real to Reel sidebar include Peter Raymont's "A Promise to the Dead," a portrait of Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman; Suroosh Alvi and Eddy Moretti's "Heavy Metal in Baghdad," a film about Iraq's only heavy metal band; and John Zaritsky's "The Wild Horse Redemption."

Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa's "Fugitive Pieces" was earlier announced as the opening night film at the Toronto festival, which is set to run September 6-15.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter