The films are not a part of the prestigious ‘Competition Category’ of the festival, the oldest in the world, but will play in two of the sidebars, ‘Midnight Movies’ and ‘Horizons’ in the ten day extravaganza that will begin on September 12.

Anurag Kashyap, who is a member of this year’s international jury will showcase two of his films, ‘Dev D’ and ‘Gulaal’ in the Midnight category along with Mehra’s ‘Delhi-6′. ‘The Man’s Woman and Other Stories’ by Amit Dutta will be part of ‘Horizons’ section.

“I am very happy, I am on the jury and two of my films are being showcased. So this is like triple whammy for me. I am really happy and proud,” Kashyap told PTI.

‘Dev D’, a modern romantic take-off on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s classic novel, ‘Devdas’ was one of the first hits of 2009 and won critical as well as commercial sucess.

More recently in 2002, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’ premiered at Cannes, implying the West’s strange obsession with this story of love, loss and defeatism, though Kashyap’s version is a far more cheerful, even rebellious look at the tragic hero.

Kashyap’s other film ‘Gulaal’, on the other hand is a brutal study of student politics ,caste rivalries and regional pride set in modern day Rajasthan. The film released in 2009, garnered critical acclaim as well as audience appreciation.

Also on the ‘Midnight Movies’ section, ‘Delhi-6′ shot in the lanes and by-lanes of the old city tries to grapple with a host of issues that still bother India: untouchability, superstition, communal rift, middle class dreams and urban malaise.

Prominent names which are a part of the ‘Competition Category’ announced on Thursday are Michael Moore’s ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’, designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut ‘The Single Man’ starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore and Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’.

Oscar winner Ang Lee is to chair this year’s Venice jury, which will decide on the eight main prizes,including the Golden Lion for Best Film, the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor and Actress, the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Special Jury Prize.

Das, 39, would have a tenure of three years. Her predecessor Nafisa Ali had resigned a few months back to contest Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow.

The actress, who created waves with her roles in films like Deepa Mehta’s Fire (1996) and Water (1998), Bawander (2000) and Amaar Bhuvan (2002) and has bagged several national and international awards, has acted in movies in several languages including Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and English.

She made her directorial debut in 2008 with Firaaq based on the aftermath of the Gujarat riots that won critical acclaim in various international film festivals.

An alumnus of Delhi School of Social Work, she is the daughter of renowned painter Jatin Das and writer Varsha Das.

“I have never said that I am a maker of art films. I am very much in the mainstream,” Adoor, a six-time National Award winner director-producer, told reporters here.

He was interacting with media after the preview of his latest film Oru Pennum Randanum (titled Climate for Crime in English).

Some works with the ‘art film’ tag got rejected by the audience which prevented people from going to theatres to see films of ‘art directors.’ “But I expect my audience to love my films the way I love them. And I am getting very good response,” he said.

The four chapters of Oru Pennum Randanum, based on short stories of renowned litterateur Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai, narrate independent stories connected with a recurring theme of crime.

Starting from simple, parable-like tales about ordinary people, the narrative slowly takes on questions of love, loyalty and morality leading to complex issues of life, he said.

Adoor said he did not want it to be called a period film confined to an isolated village in Kerala, as its theme was beyond time and place. “Thakazhi placed his characters in a specific period to make the work more genuine and authentic.”

Announcing this here, festival co-director Cameron Bailey said they have decided to take “a different route” this year by giving the opening slot to a foreign film.

The last time the Toronto film festival was opened with a foreign film was in 1996 when the American “Fly Away Home” opened the film show.

“Creation” is directed by Jon Amiel and features real-life couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Darwin and his wife Emma. A mixture of ghost story, psychological thriller and love story, the film delves into Darwin’s scientific beliefs and his wife’s religion.

Bettany has starred in hits such as “The Da Vinci Code”, “Wimbledon”, and “A Beautiful Mind”, while Connelly has featured in “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “A Beautiful Mind”.

“We are honoured to open the festival with Jon Amiel’s latest feature,” said Bailey.

“By telling a story on many levels, weaving scenes from past and present, this depiction of Darwin promises to deeply move audiences by drawing them into the conflicted mind of a man who presented a concept that changed the world.

“This was the one we felt really sets the tone for the kind of conversation we hope will happen around the film festival.”

Piers Handling, CEO of the festival, said: “The tension between faith and reason is prominent in contemporary culture and this intimate look at Darwin puts a human face on a man whose theory remains controversial to this day.

“We are pleased to open the festival with such an impassioned look at Charles Darwin, especially on the year marking the 200th anniversary of his birth.”

Two US films — “Get Low” by Aaron Schneider and “The Invention of Lying” by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson — will also have their world premiere at the festival.

Started in 1976, the Toronto film festival has become the biggest audience-based film show in the world.

“Bollywood has reached stagnancy over the years with repetitive story lines, songs, stunts, etc. Even the so-called ‘new films’ are predictable. As a result, I feel that regional films are getting more attention,” Madhusudhanan said.in an e-mail interview.

“The recent commercial trends clearly show that Bollywood ventures are by and large a failure,” he added.

Talking about “Bioscope”, he said: “This is a film about movies and how moving images came into the lives of ordinary people living in remote parts of the country.”

Made in 2008, “Bioscope” starred Walter Wagner, Murugan, Ramgopal Bajaj, Nedumbram Gopi, Bharathan Njarakkal, T.V. Gangadharan, Mekha Rajan, Kuttiyedathi Vilasini, Nilamboor Ayesha and Anusha Mohan. Though it has travelled to several international film festivals and won awards, it has not yet been commercially released.

Asked if he would like to direct a Hindi film, Madhusudhanan said: “If Bollywood is ready to support a completely new vision in cinema, I will certainly make films for Bollywood. I would not compromise on the quality of production and artistic freedom.”

Born in Kerala, Madhusudhanan has made many experimental short films like “Razor, Blood And Other Tales”, “History Is A Silent Film” and “Self Portrait” among others.

His “Bioscope” won five Kerala State Film Awards and also bagged international awards like the Best Cinematography Award at SAIFF (South Asian International Film Festival), New York, a Special Mention at the International Jury Mannheim-Heidelberg and the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury Award for Best Asian Film.

The director believes that awards popularise a film.

“The main advantage of awards is that the film will reach wider audiences. It is, of course, always a very nice feeling that your work is recognised,” he said.

After “Bioscope”, Madhusudhanan is making a film that is being supported by the India Foundation for the Arts. He is also working on a Malayalam project based on a Buddhist story.

Apart from filmmaking, he has a keen interest in art. He studied painting at the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram.

“I still practise art and have had several shows in India and abroad in the recent past. I got attracted to the film medium through my studies of painting and the visual medium. From the time I can remember, I wanted to be an artist. I do not remember the time when I did not draw. And quite frankly, I have had no other ambition in my life,” he said.

“The Road to Sangam,” received standing ovations at the Cannes Film Festival and the just concluded Ahmedabad Film Festival for its moving depiction about an ordinary Muslim mechanic’s internal tussle between truth and adherence to diktats of his community’s leaders.

Set in Allahabad, the film features versatile actor Paresh Rawal and the seasoned Om Puri.

The debut directorial venture of Amit Rai also has Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Tushar Gandhi, playing himself. It is set to be screened in theatres on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.

“A few years ago there was a small news snippet on TV about a Muslim mechanic rebuilding the engine of the car that carried Gandhiji’s ashes to the Sangam caught my attention.

“There was also another news item about an urn containing Gandhiji’s ashes being found in a bank vault in Orissa. These two stories caught my attention and something started growing inside me,” says Rai who linked the two to make a film.

The film, which bagged the State government award for best film for 2008, would be screened thrice at the festival, a release from the Director’s office said here on Wednesday.

Munich will be the 6th major film festival to screen the film. Adoor has been invited to present the film at the festival and also interact with the auidence, the release said.

Haneke beat off competition from French director Jacques Audiard’s ‘A Prophet’, Jane Campion’s period drama ‘Bright Star’, Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Broken Embraces’ and Quentin Tarantino’s World War II film ‘Inglorious Basterds’ to win the top prize last night in a gala award ceremony.

The Austrian helmer, who had won the best director prize at Cannes in 2005 for his French film ‘Cache’ (Hidden), examines themes of communal guilt, distrust and punishment among residents of a small German village on the eve of First World War through his brilliantly crafted 20th century drama.

His previous credits include ‘The Piano Teacher’, ‘Code Unknown’ and ‘Hidden’.

“Sometimes my wife asks me a very feminine question: ‘Are you happy? That is very hard to answer. But today is a moment in my life where I can say I am very happy and I am thinking of you too,” Haneke said while accepting the award.

‘The White Ribbon’ also won France’s Education Ministry prize, which means that it would be recommended to teachers across the country as a study material.

French director Jacques Audiard, who was a favourite to win Palme d’Or, mananged to scoop runner-up Grand Prix award for his gripping prison story ‘A Prophet’.

The Jury, led by French actress Isabelle Huppert, including Indian actress Sharmila Tagore, Hollywood’s Robin Wright Penn, Italy’s Asia Argento and Taiwan’s Shu Qi, handed out the Best Director trophy to Brillante Mendoza from the Philippines for ‘Kinatay’, a story based on kidnap, rape and murder incidents.

The Jury Prize was shared by Andrea Arnold’s teen story of ‘Fish Tank’ from Britain and Park Chan-wook’s vampire tale of ‘Thirst’ from South Korea.

The enfant terrible of Chinese cinema, Lou Ye, won the Best Screenplay Award for his tale of marital discord and homosexual love story ‘Spring Fever’.

Banned by Beijing from making movies for six years after his 2006 controversial ‘Summer Palace’, Lou made ‘Spring Fever’ secretly in Nanjing and also got it selected for the Festival’s top Competition slot.

Austrian TV actor Christoph Waltz won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of the ruthless, sarcastic, comic Nazi colonel Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s World War II saga, ‘Inglorious Basterds’.

Critics widely agreed that the 52-year-old outshone a star cast that included Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger or rising Irish star Michael Fassbender.

British star Charlotte Gainsbourg won the best actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as a grieving mother in Danish film-maker Lars von Trier controversial Gothic drama ‘Antichrist’.

The 37-year-old actress beat off competition from Penelope Cruz and Abbie Cornish.

Gainsbourg received her award at the festival’s Palme d’Or ceremony from Willem Dafoe, who plays her husband in ‘Antichrist’.

Directed by Danish film-maker Lars von Trier, the film explores a couple’s emotional crisis after the death of their only child and how they enter a never-ending spiral of sexual and physical abuse.

The Camera d’Or for the Best Debut Feature went to’Samson and Delilah’ by aboriginal director Warwick Thornton.

The film revolves around the love story of a young couple in a troubled indigenous community.

Audiard’s A Prophet has topped various critics polls, making it a favourite to win the coveted trophy. The film revolves around the mesmerising tale of a young French-Arab man, who learns to survive in the prison.

A Prophet narrowly edged past the other 19 contenders but it is not easy to predict what the jury led by Isabella Huppert, which also includes actor Sharmila Tagore, will ultimately put its finger on.

France had won the Palme last year with its docu-drama A Class.

The other frontrunners amongst the lot are filmmakers Pedro Almodovar, Ken Loach, Jane Campion, Michael Haneke and Jacques Audiard.

New Zealand’s director Jane Campion has also received a favourable review for her period piece, Bright Star.

The director, who won her first Palme d’Or in 1993 for The Piano, has brought alive the 19th century England in her film, which traces the love story between a young Keats and his Hamstead neighbour, Fanny Brawne.

Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces may not be as fantastical as the Spanish director’s last work, Volver but it is in the list of probables to clinch the top honours.
 

Hilton flew to the city to promote a film she once tried to stop being shown, Guardian online reported

‘Paris, Not France’ was made three years ago by director Adria Petty, daughter of singer Tom Petty.

Shot while Hilton was recording her first album, ‘Paris’, it has only been screened once before, at the Toronto
Film Festival in 2006.

Hilton was reportedly worried about how she was portrayed but last week agreed for it to be shown with only
one cut.

The film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last year, where William Morris Independent agency was selling it
but, because of potential objections about distribution from the Hilton camp, it had not been screened since.

But after getting a thumbs up from Hilton, the company is selling international rights of the film at the Cannes Film
Festival.