Antichrist, White Ribbon round out TIFF lineup

Larsvon Trier's controversial film Antichrist and Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning drama The White Ribbon join the final batch of films added to this year's Toronto International Film Festival lineup, organizers announced Thursday.

Von Trier's provocative and graphically violent horror tale follows a couple who retreat into isolation to deal with the death of their child, while Haneke's black-and-white drama revolves around strange incidents occurring in a small German town just before the start of the First World War.

Both films, making their North American premieres, will be featured as part of TIFF's Masters program this September.

The more than 300 films in the spotlight this year are "a really diverse selectionjust a really good lineup from all over the world," TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey told CBC News on Thursday.

"Geographically it's an interesting year because we've got some real hot spots that we were able to find as we were roving around the world finding movies," he said, singling out Australia, the Middle East and Israeli metropolis Tel Aviv, featured in the festival's inaugural City to City program, which will spotlight one urban centre annually.

Famous faces

Antichrist star Willem Dafoe is among the more than 500 film world celebrities set to descend on Toronto this year.

Other notables expected in town include:

• Filmmakers like Werner Herzog, Steven Soderbergh, Jane Campion, Atom Egoyan, Joel and Ethan Coen, Jean-Marc Valle, Michael Moore, George A. Romero, Johnnie To and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
• Actors such as George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Michael Douglas, Viggo Mortensen, Demi Moore, Michael Sheen, Mads Mikkelsen, Liam Neeson, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Naomi Watts.
• Famous figures accompanying films, including talk show mogul Oprah Winfrey, author and poet Sapphire, native activist Sacheen Littlefeather, and rap star Snoop Dogg.

Overall, the internationally renowned festival has increased the total number of films featured this year to 335 from last year's 312 screened across 18 different programs.

The final addition of several dozen titles includes:

• German director Margarethe von Trotta's Vision, about Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th-century Benedictine nun and scholar who was also an accomplished composer, author, physician, linguist, counsellor and naturalist.
• Future-set French-German-Canadian-Belgian production Mr. Nobody, from director Jaco Van Dormael, starring Jared Leto as the last mortal living on Earth. Canadian Sarah Polley is also part of the cast.
• Bran Nue Dae, Rachel Perkins' film adaptation of Australia's hit stage musical exploring young love and aboriginal identity.
• My Year Without Sex, Sarah Watt's Australian comedy following a working class family as they struggle to survive hardship.
• Pema Tseden's The Search, billed as the first film ever shot entirely in Tibet by a local crew and in the Tibetan language. Itexplores Tibet's disappearing culture and offers a portrait of the region today.

There are 73 Canadian films set to screen:29 features and 44 shorts.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 10-19, opening with the Charles Darwin biopic Creation.