Toronto Film Festival

Helen Hunt didn't know what to expect when she got to the Toronto Film Festival last September. There with "Then She Found Me," her feature directing, co-writing and producing debut -- she also stars, but she's done that before -- she learned that it was screening at a 2,000-seat theater. So far, so good. Until the film started, out of focus. "Not like filmmaker-picky out of focus," she emphasizes over breakfast recently.

Director Jonathan Demme's first fictional feature in nearly five years, "Rachel Getting Married" captures the anxieties of family dynamics and the difficulties of emotional closure. The film is shot in a loose, documentary-like way, and the rangy, exploratory visual style and therapy-infused dialogue caused it to be among the most talked-about films coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival, where it had its North American premiere earlier this month.

TORONTO -- A glance at the program at the Toronto International Film Festival reveals two prevailing themes at this year's event: The A-list is getting longer, and the films are getting more political. Already a magnet for stars because of its reputation as an unofficial kickoff for the Oscars race and because of its ability to build buzz for fall and winter releases, the red carpet at the Toronto festival has been getting more crowded each passing year.

When "Mother of Tears: The Third Mother" has its world premiere Thursday as the opening night film of the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival -- the same slot that unleashed "Borat" last year -- it will complete a trilogy of films that stretches back some 30 years for Italian director Dario Argento.

TORONTO -- When Susan Sarandon first met with the filmmaker behind "Emotional Arithmetic," the film that closes the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, the subject of the Hollywood blacklist naturally came up. "It was a connective something," said director Paolo Barzman.

A British cable network plans to broadcast a controversial new film that depicts the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush. The head of More4 says it will air "Death of a President," by British filmmaker Gabriel Range, on Oct. 9. The film makes its premiere at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10. So far, no one has picked up the rights to show the 90-minute movie in the U.S.

\o7This column explores the intersection of celebrity and politics. \f7* Noah Cowan, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival, makes no apologies: The festival, which started Thursday, will be one of the most controversial in its 31-year history. And that's the way Cowan believes it should be. "We're in a period now in American cinema when I think the aftermath of Sept.

The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off Thursday and already, Canada's largest city is awash with celebrities, Oscar predictions and political controversy. The paparazzi are primed for the red carpet arrivals of A-list stars including Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt and Russell Crowe. Several hyped films, including a remake of the classic "All the King's Men" and a Robert F. Kennedy biopic, are expected to begin their long push toward the Academy Awards.

Tickets were scalped for as much as six times face value, some going for more than $100. Michael Moore called it the best movie he's seen all year. Hollywood superagent Ari Emmanuel was in attendance. A throng of more than 500 people chanted "Borat!" And the faux-Kazakh journalist himself played up the hype, coming down the red carpet on a horse cart pulled by six women in peasant costume.