Word: toronto
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Toronto always announces the return of serious films to the movie calendar. Again this year, the festival tackles tough subjects like Iraq and Iran, corporate and personal betrayal. Here, in alphabetical order, are 10 films generating lots of pre-festival buzz. Some of them may win Oscars, others will tank. And, no doubt, a movie on nobody's radar before the festival will still be the word-of-mouth...
...BODY OF WAR It happens that Sept. 11 always falls in the middle of the Festival, and Toronto has lately scheduled political films on that solemn anniversary. This documentary, co-directed by pioneer U.S. talk-show host Phil Donahue, traces the postwar life of Iraq vet Tomas Young, paralyzed by a bullet to the spine, and the congressional debate over the occupation...
...audience's feeling about a film at Toronto can become infectious, creating a festival fever and inducing the captive Hollywood press corps to spread the word. "It's an amazing platform," says Ray. A star who works the Toronto party circuit, as Jamie Foxx did tirelessly in 2004 for Ray and as Penélope Cruz did last year for Volver, gets favorable media coverage simply by being available and photogenic. Even a screw-up, like the broken projector at last year's midnight Borat screening, can be a buzz-builder if the celeb plays it right. Sacha Baron Cohen...
...Despite the crowds of industry, press and movie lovers who descend on it, Toronto manages to remain a working city during the festival. This is in stark contrast to the resort towns the other major festivals swallow whole. When festival goers bundle up to make their way down Main Street in Park City, Utah, during Sundance in January, they're not just protecting against the cold, but also against the teeming horde in search of a hot cup of coffee in one of Park City's crowded cafés. Toronto, with its easy public transportation, crisp weather and metropolis...
...Since Hollywood discovered its Oscar-minting potential in the 1990s, Toronto has grown in stature and glitz, but it hasn't forgotten where it comes from. This year, along with Reese Witherspoon's Rendition and Sean Penn's Into the Wild, the festival will also highlight hundreds of Canadian films and international offerings that will probably never see the inside of a multiplex. Unless, of course, Toronto's enthusiastic crowds tip Hollywood off to something it missed...