David Hare's British spy film "Page Eight" will serve as closing-night film of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, which also announced a new slate of galas and special presentations on Tuesday, including the Winnie Mandela biopic "Winnie," Marc Forster's "Machine Gun Preacher" and Joel Schumacher's home-invasion drama "Trespass," with Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage.
The new galas and special presentations added more than two dozen notable films to a TIFF lineup that was already notably strong and deep, while the festival also announced several dozen more additions to its more adventurous sidebars.
"Page Eight," with Bill Nighy (left), Rachel Weisz, Ralph Fiennes and Judy Davis, will close the festival on September 18. "Machine Gun Preacher," "Tresspass" and "Winnie" will have their gala world premieres in Toronto, as will "The Awakening," a British thriller; "Hysteria," a comedy about the doctor who invented the first electro-mechanical vibrator; and "Killer Elite," an action film with Jason Statham, Robert De Niro and Clive Owen.
TIFF special presentations will include Whit Stillman's "Damsels in Distress," Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights," Gianni Amelio's Camus adaptation "The First Man," Agnieszka Holland's "In Darkness," Julia Leigh's controversial Cannes entry "Sleeping Beauty," and "Violet & Daisy," the directorial debut from "Precious" screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher.
The festival also announced a number of additions to other programs:
Contemporary World Cinema: 51 films were added to the lineup, which will feature 18 world premieres. The selection includes new films from Karim Ainouz, Ole Christian Madsen, Cristian Jimenez, Sion Sono and Andrey Zvyagintsev. It also includes the Cannes favorite "Footnote," from Joseph Cedar; "Juan of the Dead," a zombie movie set in Cuba; "Always Brando," the chronicle of a film that Tunisian director Ridha Behi planned to make with Marlon Brando and Tunisian Brando lookalike Anis Raache; and two different films titled "Michael," one from Indian director Ribhu Dasgupta and one from Austrian Markus Schleinzer.
Visions: 18 films were added to the lineup of challenging international films, including "ALPS" from "Dogtooth" director Yorgos Lanthimos. Other directors represented include Amir Naderi, Bertrand Bonello and Julia Loktev.
Wavelength: The five programs, an annual collection of international avant garde film and video work, will feature the work of artists including Mark Lewis, Ben Rivers and Tacita Dean; filmmakers represented include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Rose Lowder, James Benning and Nathaniel Dorsky. The program will also feature works by a number of Canadian artists and filmmakers, as well as a collaboration with Toronto's Wavelength music series.
Future Projections: the citywide program of moving-image artworks will feature work from David Lynch; James Franco and Gus Van Sant; and Mr. Brainwash, the subject of Banksy's "Exit Through the Gift Shop." Other artists include Eve Sussman, Gregory Crewdson, Nicholas and Sheila Pye, Duane Hopkins, David Rokeby, Ben Rivers, Elle Flanders and Tamira Sawatzky, and David Lamelas.
