In the Toronto Star, Ho Anderson reports on a controversial festival doc about the killing of a cat:

Toronto International Film Festival organizers have no intention of pulling a controversial film from the 2004 program, despite the outcry from local animal-rights activists.

The 90-minute documentary examines the videotaped killing of a stray cat named Kensington at the hands of Jesse Power, Anthony Wennekers and Matt Kaczorowski in 2001.

Palm Pictures has acquired the Spanlish-language film "Cronicas," which will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Festival. The crime/suspense thriller, directed by Sebastián Cordero, stars John Leguizamo as a Miami based journalist who travels to Ecuador to cover a series of murders. It will be released in theaters next year.

Canadian-based THINKFilm has announced a deal to release Niels Mueller's "The Assassination of Richard Nixon. The film stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle and Jack Thompson and will screen as a special presentation at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival next month and open in theaters at the end of December to qualify for awards consideration.

Tandem magazine < ahef="http://www.tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4343">reports on Italian films that will screen at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival:

Carlo Mazzacurati's An Italian Romance will make its international premiere as a gala at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. "Beautifully photographed and richly sensual, the film deftly captures all the possible intensity of romance," said festival co-director Noah Cowan at a press conference this week unveiling the remainder of films.

Producer Robert Evans ("The Godfather," "Chinatown") will be presented the Leadership Award at the Best Buddies Gala Evening held during the annual Toronto International Film Festival. Evans will be honored at the September 13th event, recognizing "those who have repeatedly led the way in their field and made a significant contribution to humanity."

Festival board member and gala co-chair, Barry Avrich, commented, "Robert Evans embodies a creativity and passion for life that inspires all of us to be leaders and make ambitions a reality. The award reflects the ultimate triumph over adversity and that is Robert Evans."

A report on anime in Toronto:

The Toronto International Film Festival appears set to host the North American premiere of Steamboy on Saturday, September 18 at 6:30 PM. They will also show Ghost in the Shell - Innocence at some point during the festival, however a screening date has not been set. The festival runs from September 9th to September 18th. Innocence has already screened in North America, with a semi-public screening at the DreamWorks' Campanile Theater in Hollywood this past Tuesday (August 24th).

The Hindustan Times reports:

Two Indian films will be showcased at the Toronto International Film Festival where 328 films from some 40 countries will be screened. The festival would unveil two Indian films - Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Chased by Dreams and the other is Hari Om from India, reported hollywoodreporter.com.

Each year festival organizers unveil a full list of filmmakers and celebs expected to attend the annual event. This year's lists include some 400 notables who will make the trek to Toronto. Add in the entourages for each of the VIP's listed below (including publicists, assistants, grooming and styling professionals, drivers, pets, family, and assorted friends, not to mention spouses or significant others) and you've got quite a party...

Get a peak at the complete list below.

CBC News in Canada weighs in with a report from today's press conference in Toronto:

Almost a third of the films at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival will be world premieres and the stars will be out to promote them, organizers boasted at the final pre-festival announcement ceremony at City Hall Tuesday.

"Filmmakers and distributors have just decided that we're the first place they want their films shown," Noah Cowan, co-director of the popular film festival, said at the outdoor announcement.

The stats from today's press conference in Toronto:

328 Films: Features – 253; Shorts – 75  (339 Total: Features – 254; Shorts – 85 in 2003)

207 Features that are world, international, or North American premieres: 100, 26, and 81 respectively (184: 63 world; 17 international; 104 North American in 2003)

82% Feature Films that are world, international, or North American premieres (73% in 2003)

indieWIRE's report on the lineup, including the complete lists of films in all sections, was posted earlier today.

More facts and figures are below...

Katherine Ashenburg weighs in on the latest sites and eats in Toronto, for the New York Times:

Just a year ago, the Rolling Stones came to town for a celebratory Toronto's-back-in-business concert and announced that the city was "a gas." This summer, their optimism seems justified. Tourists are returning, and taxi drivers and hoteliers are happier...Tourists or not, it's been a lively year. Toronto is in an architectural ferment, with a new Opera House going up, and additions or renovations - or both - moving along at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario. At the Royal Ontario, the makeover is designed by Daniel Liebeskind, while Frank Gehry, a native son, is directing the Art Gallery of Ontario's redesign.

The Melbourne Herald Sun in Australia looks at the new Australian film, "The Oyster Farmer," which will screen in Toronto:

The Oyster Farmer is the debut feature film from director Anna Reeves, who also wrote the screenplay, and tells the story of a young man who stumbles into a community of eccentrics on the Hawkesbury River in NSW. It stars recent NIDA graduate Alex O'Lachlan in his first leading role, along with fellow newcomer Diana Glenn, and Kerry Armstrong, David Field, Jack Thompson and local oyster farmers.

The London Free Press, via Canoe, surveys films at the Toronto fest:

The "international" portion of the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival was strengthened yesterday with the addition of films in the Visions program. Among the newly announced titles for the festival, which runs Sept. 9 to 18, are two major British entries. Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs intercuts between a London couple's explicit sexcapades and live music footage of bands such as Super Furry Animals and Primal Scream. Marc Evans' Trauma is a psychological thriller starring Colin Firth as an accident survivor haunted by visions of his dead wife.

Nine other titles were added to Visions, including two from established French directors who are veterans of the filmfest: Claire Denis offers L'Intrus, an experimental film that tells its story through visual and aural impressions, and the ever- controversial Catherine Breillat returns with Anatomie de L'Enfer, which pushes the envelope on what is considered sexual and sensual about women's bodies in Western culture.

Kathimerini, the English language newspaper of Greece, takes a look at four Greek films that will screen at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival:

Four Greek films will be presented at next month's Toronto International Film Festival, one of North America's most renowned, along with the Sundance Festival. The four films have been slotted into three categories. Two of the country's most celebrated directors, Theo Angelopoulos and Pantelis Voulgaris, will have screenings of their latest work in the festival's "Masters" category. Angelopoulos, a top prize-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, will take to Toronto "The Weeping Meadow," the first part of a trilogy.

Canadian Press reports on the latest from Toronto:

Like a summer-long striptease, organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival have been unveiling tantalizing lists of titles to be screened at the 2004 edition of the fest next month. On Tuesday, a series of foreign films that will make their world or North American premieres was announced for three of the festival's thematic programs, Discovery, Visions and Wavelengths.

Organizers recently unveiled a series of posters for this year's fest. Catch a view of the images, created by Echo Advertising & Marketing (and even download a copy), on the official fest site. An image of one of the posters is available on the right in the blog sidebar.

Celeb-spotting is always a popular pastime for locals and paparazzi who converge on Yorkville hotspots in Toronto. Pete Howell from the Toronto Star weighs in with an early list of notables expected in T-dot for this year's festival. Over at the Globe and Mail, Alexandra Gill offers a few names as well.