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Toronto film fest adds to lineup

 

 
 
 
 
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in Hysteria.
 

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in Hysteria.

Photograph by: TIFF , handout

A film about the invention of the vibrator starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, a biopic about Winnie Mandela starring Jennifer Hudson, and artwork by James Franco are among the latest offerings at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

TIFF announced more additions to its lineup Tuesday, including its closing night film: Page Eight. The spy thriller starring Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes is directed by acclaimed British playwright David Hare.

"Everyone here who saw it loved it, whether those people were hard-core cinephiles or casual filmgoers, whether they knew about political intrigue or the spy world. It was a really engaging movie," says Cameron Bailey, co-director of TIFF.

In Winnie, Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard play Winnie and Nelson Mandela in their quest to free South Africa from apartheid. Meanwhile, in Hysteria, Hugh Dancy and Rupert Everett play a doctor and scientist in a quest to free women from so-called hysteria. The romantic comedy set in Victorian-era England is about how Dr. Mortimer Granville (Dancy) invented the world's first electro-mechanical vibrator as a medical treatment.

Free art displays will also be available to the public at TIFF Bell Lightbox during the festival, including moving-image artwork by Franco and filmmaker Gus Van Sant. Their creation, Memories of Idaho, is a meditation on Van Sant's 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho. The piece includes a feature-length reassembling of the film with excised scenes and alternative takes from the original shoot.

The first film Bailey tweeted about Tuesday morning was Mausam (Seasons of Love). The Bollywood film, starring Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Anupam Kher, will have its world premiere at the festival.

"People have been dying to get confirmation that it was at the festival," Bailey says. "That got a lot of response, nine and a half hours away in India."

Tuesday's announcement brings the final number of galas to 20 and special presentations to 67. TIFF's final additions will be unveiled next week in anticipation of the festival's Sept. 8-18 run.

Some highlights of Tuesday's announcement:

• Killer Elite, directed by Gary McKendry: Based on a true story, Jason Statham plays an ex-special-ops agent who must rescue his mentor (Robert De Niro) by racing around the world and killing three assassins. The killers are led by an evil mastermind played by Clive Owen.

• Trespass, directed by Joel Schumacher: Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman star as a wealthy husband and wife who become victims of a vicious home invasion.

• Violet & Daisy, directed by Geoffrey Fletcher: Fletcher, who won an Oscar for adapting Precious, wrote and directed this whimsical and violent story of two young assassins journeying through New York. It stars Alexis Bledel and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan as the title characters.

• Play, directed by Ruben Ostlund: Based on real cases of bullying, the film follows a group of boys in Gothenburg, Sweden, who robbed other children between 2006 and 2008.

• Footnote, directed by Joseph Cedar: This film chronicles the rivalry between a father and son, both professors in the Talmud department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

• Juan of the Dead, directed by Alejandro Brugues: A zombie outbreak hits Cuba on the anniversary of the revolution, leaving Juan and his friends to battle the undead who, according to government reports, are unruly Americans trying to undermine the regime.

• Heleno, directed by Jose Henrique Fonseca: Fonseca explores the life of Heleno de Freitas (1920-1959), a controversial and mythological Brazilian football player.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in Hysteria.
 

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in Hysteria.

Photograph by: TIFF, handout

 
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in Hysteria.
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