2008 Toronto International Film Festival

The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008. The opening night gala was the World War I romantic epic Passchendaele from Canadian director Paul Gross.

About the 2008 Festival
The 2008 festival was heavy on Canadian fare as well as featuring prominent indie films and worldwide as well as North American debuts including: Adoration directed by Canada's own Atom Egoyan, Appaloosa the second film from Ed Harris (who directed Pollock), Blindness from screenwriter-director, Fernando Meirelles, Iraq war thriller The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and veteran filmmaker Barbet Schroeder's Inju, la bête dans l'ombre. Scheduled is The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (directed by Jodie Markell), based on a "rediscovered" Tennessee Williams screenplay. TIFF screened 312 films from 64 countries. These include 249 features, most of which were North American and/or world premieres.

Neil Burger (director of The Illusionist) world premiered The Lucky Ones a character study of U.S. soldiers on an unplanned road trip, starring Tim Robbins.

Also featured was Me and Orson Welles helmed by American "slacker" Richard Linklater, the Spike Lee-directed World War II film, Miracle at St. Anna as well as the Jonathan Demme directed film Rachel Getting Married. Other festival highlights are screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's first film, Synecdoche, New York, a slice of experimental filmmaker James Benning's Americana RR was featured in the "Wavelengths" avant-garde showcase, the four-hour-long Steven Soderbergh epic Che (playing in two parts), as well as The Wrestler lensed by Darren Aronofsky. The Brits are also well represented with Happy-Go-Lucky directed by Mike Leigh and Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle.

Despite showing fewer films than last year, among the 249 features, 116 are premieres and 61 are first features. Films from as many as 64 countries were screened, with more than 340,000 admissions expected.

"Canadian Open Vault", which always highlights a restored Canadian film, focused on Quebec filmmaker François Girard's 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould made in 1993.

Actors Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Benicio del Toro, Ethan Hawke, Laura Linney and film directors Julian Schnabel, Kathryn Bigelow and Steven Soderbergh are among the celebs the festival has invited on its 500-plus guest list, thus completing its lineup.

The festival closed on September 13, 2008 with the North American premiere of Stone of Destiny written and directed by Charles Martin Smith, the true story of four Glasgow university students who try to restore the 300-pound Stone of Scone to its rightful Scottish home.

With the film Fifty Dead Men Walking, Rose McGowan expressed support for the cause of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), with the reports of her comments being released into the media on September 11, 2008. After starring in Fifty Dead Men Walking, she was quoted as saying "I imagine had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100% have been in the IRA. My heart just broke for the cause. Violence is not to be played out daily and provide an answer to problems, but I understand it." Her comments were attacked by the original author Martin McCartlend. McCartland had general objections against the film, but approved of an out of court settlement, believed to be in the region of £20,000 (US$35,000 in summer 2008).

North American premieres

 * Aide-toi et le ciel t'aidera by François Dupeyron
 * Adoration by Atom Egoyan
 * Appaloosa by Ed Harris
 * Un Barrage center le pacifique by Rithy Panh
 * Blindness by Fernando Meirelles
 * The Brothers Bloom by Rian Johnson
 * Un conte de Noël by Arnaud Desplechin
 * Disgrace by Steve Jacobs
 * Il Divo by Paolo Sorrentino
 * The Duchess by Saul Dibb
 * Easy Virtue by Stephen Elliott
 * Fifty Dead Men Walking by Kari Skogland
 * Food, Inc. by Robert Kenner
 * Genova by Michael Winterbottom
 * Gomorrah by Matteo Garrone
 * Good by Vincente Amorim
 * The Good, the Bad, the Weird by Kim Jee-woon
 * Heaven on Earth by Deepa Mehta
 * The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow
 * Is There Anybody There? by John Crowley
 * It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!) by Philippe Falardeau
 * The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond by Jodie Markell
 * The Lucky Ones by Neil Burger
 * Management by Stephen Belber
 * Me and Orson Welles by Richard Linklater
 * Miracle at St. Anna by Spike Lee
 * Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Peter Sollett
 * O' Horten by Bent Hamer
 * One Week by Michael McGowan
 * The Other Man by Richard Eyre
 * Pedro by Nicholas Oceano
 * Pride and Glory by Gavin O'Connor
 * Rachel Getting Married by Jonathan Demme
 * The Secret Life of Bees by Gina Prince-Bythewood
 * Stone of Destiny by Charles Martin Smith
 * Synecdoche, New York by Charlie Kaufman
 * The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky
 * Zack and Miri Make a Porno by Kevin Smith

Special presentations

 * Ashes of Time Redux by Wong Kar-wai
 * Empty Nest by Daniel Burman
 * Every Little Step by James Stern and Adam Del Deo
 * La Fille de Monaco by Anne Fontaine
 * Kanchivaram by Priyadarshan
 * Ghost Town by David Koepp
 * Happy-Go-Lucky by Mike Leigh
 * I've Loved You So Long by Philippe Claudel
 * New York, I Love You
 * Religulous by Larry Charles
 * RocknRolla by Guy Ritchie
 * Unspoken by Fien Troch
 * Waltz with Bashir by Ari Folman

Other films to be screened

 * $9.99 by Tatia Rosenthal
 * Burn After Reading by Coen brothers
 * Che by Steven Soderbergh
 * The Class by Laurent Cantet
 * Daytime Drinking by Young-seok Noh
 * Dean Spanley by Toa Fraser
 * Gigantic by Matt Aselton
 * Hunger by Steve McQueen
 * Inju, la bête dans l'ombre by Barbet Schroeder
 * Last Stop 174 by Bruno Barreto
 * Lovely, Still by Nik Fackler
 * Lymelife by Derick Martini and Steve Martini
 * Nothing But the Truth by Rod Lurie
 * Public Enemy No. One by Jean-François Richet
 * Singh Is Kinng by Anees Bazmee
 * Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle
 * Snow by Aida Begić
 * The Stoning of Soraya M. by Cyrus Nowrasteh
 * Tulpan by Sergey Dvortsevoy
 * Who Do You Love? by Jerry Zaks
 * What Doesn't Kill You by Brian Goodman
 * Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin by Max Färberböck
 * A Year in Winter by Caroline Link

Masters program

 * 24 City by Jia Zhangke
 * Adam Resurrected by Paul Schrader
 * Everlasting Moments by Jan Troell
 * Four Nights With Anna by Jerzy Skolimowski
 * Of Time and the City by Terence Davies
 * Lorna's Silence by Dardenne brothers
 * Three Monkeys by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
 * Tokyo Sonata by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Vanguard and visions

 * Afterwards by Gilles Bourdos
 * Uncertainty by Scott McGehee and David Siegel
 * Universalove by Thomas Woschitz
 * Tears For Sale by Uroš Stojanović
 * Vinyan by Fabrice du Welz

Midnight Madness

 * Acolytes by Jon Hewitt
 * The Burrowers by J. T. Petty
 * Chocolate by Prachya Pinkaew
 * Deadgirl by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel
 * Detroit Metal City by Toshio Lee
 * Eden Log by Franck Vestiel
 * JCVD by Mabrouk El Mechri
 * Martyrs by Pascal Laugier
 * Not Quite Hollywood by Mark Hartley
 * Sexykiller by Miguel Marti

Sprockets (family fare)

 * Bridge to Terabithia by Gábor Csupó
 * Disco Worms by Thomas Borch Nielsen
 * Krabat by Marco Kreuzpaintner
 * Mia and the Migoo (Mia et le Migou) by Jacques-Rémy Girerd
 * The Secret of Moonacre by Gábor Csupó

Wavelengths (avant-garde showcase)

 * Behind Me (Derrière moi) by Rafaël Ouellet
 * Le Genou d'Artemide by Jean-Marie Straub
 * Pontypool by Bruce McDonald
 * RR by James Benning
 * The Secret History of the Dividing Line by David Gatten
 * When It Was Blue by Jennifer Reeves
 * Winter by Nathaniel Dorsky
 * Sarabande by Nathaniel Dorsky
 * Horizontal Boundaries by Pat O' Neill
 * Dig by Robert Todd
 * Garden/ing by Eriko Sonoda
 * Black and White Trypps Number Three by Ben Russell
 * Public Domain by Jim Jennings
 * Optra Field III-VI by T. Marie
 * Refraction Series by Chris Gehman
 * Suspension  by Vanessa O' Neill

Contemporary world cinema

 * 33 Scenes From Life by Małgorzata Szumowska
 * Five Dollars a Day by Nigel Cole
 * Acne by Federico Veiroj
 * The Country Teacher by Bohdan Sláma
 * Delta by Kornél Mundruczó
 * Fear Me Not by Kristian Levring
 * Flame & Citron by Ole Christian Madsen
 * El Greco by Yannis Smaragdis
 * Knitting by Yin Lichuan
 * Linha de Passe by Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas
 * Lion's Den by Pablo Trapero
 * Lost Song by Rodrigue Jean
 * Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's (Maman est chez le coiffeur) by Léa Pool
 * Middle of Nowhere by John Stockwell
 * Mothers & Daughters by Carl Bessai
 * My Mother, My Bride and I by Hans Steinbichler
 * The Narrows by François Velle
 * A No-Hit No-Run Summer (Un été sans point ni coup sûr) by Francis Leclerc
 * Patrik, Age 1.5 by Ella Lemhagen
 * Pandora's Box by Yeşim Ustaoğlu
 * Restless by Amos Kollek
 * Revanche by Götz Spielmann
 * Skin by Anthony Fabian
 * Summer Hours (L'Heure d'été) by Olivier Assayas
 * Teza by Haile Gerima
 * Three Wise Men by Mika Kaurismäki
 * Toronto Stories by David Weaver, Sudz Sutherland, Aaron Woodley and Sook-Yin Lee
 * Two-Legged Horse by Samira Makhmalbaf
 * White Night Wedding by Baltasar Kormákur

Canada First

 * Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain) by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu
 * Borderline by Lyne Charlebois
 * Control Alt Delete by Cameron Labine
 * Coopers' Camera by Warren P. Sonoda
 * Down to the Dirt by Justin Simms
 * Edison and Leo by Neil Burns
 * Nurse.Fighter.Boy by Charles Officer
 * Only by Ingrid Veninger and Simon Reynolds
 * Real Time by Randall Cole
 * When Life Was Good by Terry Miles

Short Cuts Canada

 * 106 by Candice Day
 * The Amendment by Kevin Papatie
 * Beyond the Walls (La Battue) by Guy Édoin
 * Forty Men for the Yukon by Tony Massil
 * Green Door by Semi Chellas
 * Hers at Last by Helen Lee
 * How Are You? by Susan Coyne and Martha Burns
 * Next Floor by Denis Villeneuve
 * Passages by Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
 * Pat's First Kiss by Pat Mills
 * Pudge by Annie Bradley
 * Spoiled by Sherry White
 * The Workout by Sami Khan

The Real to Reel (docu program)

 * Blind Loves by Juraj Lehotsky
 * Examined Life by Astra Taylor
 * The Memories of Angels (La mémoire des anges) by Luc Bourdon
 * Paris, Not France by Adria Petty
 * The Real Shaolin by Alexander Sebastien Lee
 * Under Rich Earth by Malcolm Rogge
 * 7915 KM by Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Canada's Top Ten
TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list, its national critics and festival programmers poll of the ten best feature and short films of the year, was released in December 2008.

Feature films

 * Adoration — Atom Egoyan
 * Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain) — Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
 * Fifty Dead Men Walking — Kari Skogland
 * Heaven on Earth — Deepa Mehta
 * It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure) — Philippe Falardeau
 * Lost Song — Rodrigue Jean
 * Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's (Maman est chez le coiffeur) — Léa Pool
 * The Memories of Angels (La Memoire des anges) — Luc Bourdon
 * The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) — Benoît Pilon
 * Pontypool — Bruce McDonald

Short films

 * Beyond the Walls (La Battue) — Guy Édoin
 * Block B — Chris Chong Chan Fui
 * Drux Flux — Theodore Ushev
 * Ghosts and Gravel Roads — Mike Rollo
 * Green Door — Semi Chellas
 * My Name Is Victor Gazon (Mon nom est Victor Gazon) — Patrick Gazé
 * Next Floor — Denis Villeneuve
 * Nikamowin (Song) — Kevin Lee Burton
 * Passages — Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
 * Princess Margaret Blvd. — Kazik Radwanski