TIFF 12 for '12 Preview: The Best From Other Fests

My goodness has it ever been a week of fun filled previews from the Toronto International Film Festival. We started things off with a look the big boys with The Big Launches. The weekend brought us genre hits in The Fantastic Side of Things and Asian cinema with Pacific Rim Offerings. We started off the week with a look at 12 hot docs with Big Screen Reality and yesterday featured some of the smaller guys hoping to break out in The Films That Could. Now we bring you our final formal 12 for '12 before the festival begins: a look at some of the high profile films that come to TIFF via other stops on the festival circuit. Enjoy!
ANTIVIRAL
Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, makes his directorial debut with this sci-fi celebrity satire that received good buzz from its Cannes Un Certain Regard debut. IFC is planning a release soon.
Clip | Trailer | Review by Brian Clark | Brandon Cronenberg Interview by Jason Gorber


THE HUNT
Hailed as a difficult film with an incredible performance from Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Vinterberg's child molestation accusation drama won Mikkelsen the Best Actor award at Cannes. Magnolia has US rights to the film.
Trailer


NO
Taking home the Art Cinema Award from Cannes's Directors' Fortnight as well as garnering the most buzz out of that sidebar, Pablo Larrain's exploration of the Chilean revolution through its 1980s advertising campaign is striking both for its stylish use of 80s video, and its performance from lead Gael Garcia Bernal. Look for a release from Sony Pictures Classics sometime soon.
Review by Eric D Snider


ON THE ROAD
Walter Salles's (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) big cast (Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Riley, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen) Keruac-daptation of one of America's most revered novels has received a bit of trimming since its generally well received Cannes premiere. IFC plans to roll out the film December 21st.
Clips | Review by Ryland Aldrich


AMOUR
Michael Haneke went back to back at Cannes with his Palme d'Or win this year after his 2009 prize for THE WHITE RIBBON. That movie ended up as Germany's slightly controversial submission for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (Haneke is Austrian). AMOUR is in French, so it will be interesting to see if any funny business takes place when this year's Oscar submission list gets announced in a month or so. Sony Pictures Classics has snapped up the film for US distribution beginning December 19th.


REALITY
Matteo Garrone's follow-up to his acclaimed GOMORRAH is this fantastic look at a middle-class family, heavily affected by the dreams of reality television stardom. Oscilloscope has picked up the film for release stateside.
Review by Ryland Aldrich


REBELLE (aka WAR WITCH)
No one can agree on the title of Kim Nguyen's African child soldier drama, but everyone seems to like it. The film won a special mention prize and the Silver Bear for Rachel Mwanza's performance at Berlin, and then another Best Actress award alongside the Best Narrative Feature prize at Tribeca. Tribeca Films will be releasing the film as well.
Review by Christopher Bourne


RUST AND BONE
Jacques Audiard's much anticipated follow-up to A PROPHET wasn't quite the homerun at Cannes some were expecting, even though the performances by Marion Cotillard and BULLHEAD's Matthias Schoenaerts were pretty universally praised. Sony Pictures Classics will bring the film to screens on November 16th after another festival stop or two.
Trailer | Review by Brian Clark


THE SESSIONS (aka THE SURROGATE)
From THE SURROGATE to SIX SESSIONS to just THE SESSIONS, Ben Lewin's tale of a quadriplegic's quest to lose his virginity was one of the darlings at Sundance, winning the Dramatic Audience Award, a Special Jury prize for acting, and making a big money sale to Fox Searchlight who will drop the movies in theaters beginning October 26th.


THE WE AND THE I
Michel Gondry's story of high schoolers on a bus ride home from their last day of school didn't exactly impress at Cannes. It's still looking for a North American home.
Clip


THE PAPERBOY
One of the more divisive films at Cannes was Lee Daniels's PRECIOUS follow-up that stars Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, David Oyelowo, and a much buzzed about bladder emptying Nicole Kidman. Millenium will be releasing the film (a fitting home) in limited release October 5th.
Trailer


BEYOND THE HILLS
Romanian Cristian Mungui won scores of both fans and detractors with 2007's 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS. From the response at Cannes where this film won the Best Screenplay and Best Actress(es) for Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutu, it seems those divisions are just as prevalent as before. Sundance Selects will bring the film to the fans side of the equation in America this year.

Just a few other fest faves worth noting, Ava DuVernay Sundance Directing prize winning MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which will be coming to theaters from Participant soon, Ulrich Seidl's fascinating Cannes African sex tourism drama PARADISE: LOVE, and Liang Ying's Chinese/South Korean co-production that took home the Best Director prize at Locarno, WHEN NIGHT FALLS will all be making a stop at TIFF too.

Holy hell, TIFF starts tomorrow! We'll be back in the morning to raise the curtain with our top picks!