This morning, TIFF CEO Piers Handling and Artistic Director Cameron Bailey announced TIFF 2012’s opening night gala, galas and special presentations. The big surprise? Genre film Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, is opening the festival, and not Midnight’s Children as some had hoped. It appears that TIFF is continuing to have fun by “mixing things up,” evidenced by the fact that in the last two years, TIFF has opened with hockey musical Score: The Musical (2010) and U2 rock doc From The Sky Down (2011). But besides the surprising opening night gala, there’s a lot to be excited about, including the star power that could be coming through Toronto this September.
Jump to: Opening Night Gala | Galas | Special Presentations
Opening Night Gala
Looper (U.S.) Director: Rian Johnson Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis
Galas
A Royal Affair (Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic and Germany) Director: Nikolai Arcel Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander
Argo (U.S.) Director: Ben Affleck Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston
The Company You Keep (U.S.) Director: Robert Redford Starring: Robert Redford, Shia LaBoeuf
Dangerous Liaisons (China) Director: Hur Jin-ho Starring: Cecelia Cheung, Dong-gun Jang, Zhang Ziyi
English Vinglish (India) Director: Gauri Shinde Starring: Sridevi
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (U.S. and France) Director: Shola Lynch Starring: Angela Davis
Great Expectations (U.K.) Director: Mike Newell Starring: Holliday Grainger, Ralph Fiennes
Hyde Park on Hudson (U.K.) Director: Roger Michell Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney
Inescapable (Canada) Director: Ruba Nadda Starring: Alexander Siddig, Marisa Tomei
Jayne Mansfield’s Car (U.S. and Russia) Director: Billy Bob Thornton Starring: Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon
Love, Marilyn (U.S.) Director: Liz Garbus Featuring: Elizabeth Banks, Lindsay Lohan, Evan Rachel Wood, Ben Foster, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti, Ellen Burstyn, Adrien Brody, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close
Midnight’s Children (Canada and U.K.) Director: Deepa Mehta Starring: Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Ronit Roy
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (U.S.) Director: Mira Nair Starring: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Liev Schreiber
Silver Linings Playbook (U.S.) Director: David O. Russell Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker
Thermae Romae (Japan) Director: Hideki Takeuchi Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Aya Ueto
Twice Born (Italy, Spain and Croatia) Director: Sergio Castellitto Starring: Penelope Cruz, Emile Hirsch
UPDATE: On August 14, TIFF announced three additional galas:
Song for Marion (UK) Director: Paul Andrew Williams Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arterton
Emperor (Japan/USA) Director: Peter Webber Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox
What Maisie Knew (USA) Director: Scott McGehee and David Siegel Starring: Joanna Vanderham, Onata Aprile, Alexander Skarsgård, Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan
Special Presentations
A Few Hours of Spring (France) Director: Stéphane Brizé Starring: Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Seigner
Anna Karenina (U.K.) Director: Joe Wright Starring: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
At Any Price (U.K. and U.S.)| Director: Ramin Bahrani Starring: Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron
The Attack (France) Director: Ziad Doueiri Starring: Ali Suliman, Evgenia Dodena, Reymond Amsalem
Byzantium (U.K.) Director: Neil Jordan Starring: Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley, Saoirse Ronan
Capital (France) Director: Costa-Gavras Starring: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne
Caught in the Web (Japan and China) Director: Chen Kaige Starring: Mark Chao, Chen Hong, Gao Yuanyuan
Cloud Atlas (U.S.) Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski Starring: Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant
The Deep (Iceland and Norway) Director: Baltasar Kormákur Starring: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jóhann G. Jóhannsson
Dormant Beauty (Italy and France) Director: Marco Bellocchio Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Toni Servillo, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Riondino, Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Brenno Placido, Fabrizio Falco
Dreams for Sale (Japan) Director: Nishikawa Miwa Starring: Matsu Takako, Abe Sadavo and Tanaka Lena
End Of Watch (U.S.) Director: David Ayer Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña
Everybody Has A Plan (Argentina) Director: Ana Piterbarg Starring: Viggo Mortensen
Foxfire (France and Canada) Director: Laurent Cantet Starring: Ali Liebert, Tamara Hope
Frances Ha (U.S.) Director: Noah Baumbach Starring: Greta Gerwig
Ginger and Rosa (U.K.) Director: Sally Potter Starring: Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks, Annette Bening, Alessandro Nivola
Hannah Arendt (Germany) Director: Margarethe von Trotta Starring: Janet McTeer, Barbara Sukowa
The Hunt (Denmark) Director: Thomas Vinterberg Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp
The Iceman (U.S.) Director: Ariel Vromen Starring: Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, David Schwimmer, Michael Shannon, Ray Liotta
Imogene (U.S.) Directors: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman Starring: Annette Bening, Matt Dillon, Darren Criss, Kristen Wiig
The Impossible (Spain and U.S.) Director: J.A. Bayona Starring: Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Ewan McGregor
In the House (France) Director: François Ozon Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas
Kon-Tiki (United Kingdom, Norway and Denmark) Directors: Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg
The Last Supper (China) Director: Lu Chuan
A Late Quartet (U.S.) Director: Yaron Zilberman Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener
A Liar’s Autobiography—The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman (United Kingdom) Directors: Ben Timlett, Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson, Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland, Philip Bulcock
Lore (Australia, U.K. and Germany) Director: Cate Shortland Starring: Saskia Rosendahl and Kai Malina
Mister Pip (New Zealand) Director: Andrew Adamson Starring: Hugh Laurie
Much Ado About Nothing (U.S.) Director: Joss Whedon Starring: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg, Jillian Morgese, Nathan Fillion, Spencer Treat Clark and Riki Lindhome
No (Chile and U.S.) Director: Pablo Larrain Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal
Outrage Beyond (Japan) Director: Takeshi Kitano
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (U.S.) Director: Stephen Chbosky Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Nina Dobrev, Melanie Lynskey, Paull Rudd and Dylan McDermott
The Place Beyond the Pines (U.S.) Director: Derek Cianfrance Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes
Quartet (U.S.) Director: Dustin Hoffman Starring: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins
Reality (Italy and France) Director: Matteo Garrone Starring: Aniello Arena, Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone, Nello Iorio and Nunzi Schiano
Rust and Bone (France and Belgium) Director: Jacques Audiard Starring: Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts
The Sapphires (Australia) Director: Wayne Blair Starring: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell
The Sessions (U.S.) Director: Ben Lewin Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy
Tai Chi 0 (China) Director: Stephen Fung
Thanks for Sharing (U.S.) Director: Stuart Blumberg Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad and Joely Richardson
The Time Being (U.S.) Director: Nena Cicin-Sain Starring: Wes Bentley and Frank Langella
To The Wonder (U.S.) Director: Terrence Malick Starring: Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams Venus and Serena (U.S.) Director: Maiken Baird Starring: Venus and Serena Williams
Writers (U.S.) Director: Josh Boone Starring: Liana Liberato, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins and Kristen Bell
Zaytoun (U.K. and Israel) Director: Eran Riklis Starring: Stephen Dorff
UPDATE: On August 14, TIFF announced 18 additional special presentations:
Arthur Newman (USA) Director: Dante Ariola Starring: Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Anne Heche
Bad 25 (USA) Director: Spike Lee Interviewees include: Mariah Carey, L.A. Reid and Sheryl Crow
Disconnect (USA) Director: Henry Alex Rubin Starring: Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård and Max Theriot, as well as Jonah Bobo, Colin Ford and Haley Ramm.
Do Not Disturb (France) Director: Yvan Attal Starring: François Cluzet and Charlotte Gainsbourg
Greetings from Tim Buckley (USA) Director: Dan Algrant Starring: Imogen Poots and Penn Badgley
Lines of Wellington (Portugal) Director: Valeria Sarmiento Starring: John Malkovich, Nuno Lopes, Soraia Chaves, Marisa Paredes and Victoria Guerra
Love is All You Need (Denmark) Director: Susanne Bier Starring: Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm
On The Road (France/Brazil) Director: Walter Salles Starring: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst
Passion (France/Germany) Director: Brian De Palma Starring: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Karoline Herfurth and Paul Anderson
Rhino Season (Iraqi Kurdistan/Turkey) Director: Bahman Ghobadi, Starring: Behrouz Vossoughi, Monica Bellucci and Yilmaz Erdoğan
Spring Breakers (USA) Director: Harmony Korine Starring: Selena Gomez, James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens and Heather Morris
The Master (USA) Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Starring: Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Dern
The Paperboy (USA) Director: Lee Daniels Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, David Oyelowo and Zac Efron
The Son Did It (Italy/France) Director: Daniele Ciprì Starring: Toni Servillo, Giselda Volodi, Alfredo Castro and Fabrizio Falco
The Suicide Shop (France/Belgium/Canada) Director: Patrice Leconte Starring: Bernard Alane, Isabelle Spade, Kacey Mottet Klein, Isabelle Giami and Laurent Gendron
Thérèse Desqueyroux (France) Director: Claude Miller Starring: Audrey Tautou, Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier
White Elephant (Argentina/Spain) Director: Pablo Trapero Starring: Martina Gusman, Ricardo Darin and Jérémie Renier
Yellow (USA) Director: Nick Cassavetes Starring: Sienna Miller, Gena Rowlands, Ray Liotta, David Morse, Lucy Punch, Max Theoriot, Riley Keough, Daveigh Chase, Heather Wahlquist and Melanie Griffith
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