The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival has announced its lineup of Canadian features and shorts, including new work from directors Xavier Dolan and Sarah Polley and the debut of David Cronenberg's son, Brandon Cronenberg.
The Canadian films were added to the Special Presentations, Discovery, Contemporary World Cinema, Vanguard, Masters and TIFF Docs sections.
Also read: Toronto Film Festival to Open With Sci-Fi Thriller 'Looper'
Among the films announced at a press conference on Wednesday is "Antiviral" (left), the debut of Brandon Cronenberg and a film whose subject matter hearkens back to the creepiest early films of its director's father, David Cronenberg. It features a clinic that caters to obsessed fans by selling viruses harvested from sick celebrities.
"Laurence Anyways" is the third film from Dolan, whose first two films – "I Killed My Mother" and "Heartbeats" – made him the enfant terrible of Canadian cinema.
"Stories We Tell" was written and directed by actress-turned-director Polley ("Away From Her," "Take This Waltz"), and features Polley interviewing a family of storytellers who offer contradictory answers to the same questions.
Other films include Kate Melville's "Picture Day," Bruce Sweeney's "The Crimes of Mike Recket" and Rob Stewart's documentary "Revolution."
Also read: Toronto Film Fest Adds 70+ Docs, Midnight Movies, New Works by Ken Burns, Alex Gibney
TIFF also announced 44 Canadian films in its Short Cuts Canada program of short films. Drawn from 700 submissions, the shorts include "Bydlo," an interpretation of a section from Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition"; "Keep a Modest Head," in which director Deco Dawson visualizes the childhood memories of French Surrealist Jean Benoit; and "Shit Girls Say," a new episode in a popular YouTube series from filmmakers Graydon Sheppard and Kyle Humphrey.
The complete list of short films can be seen at the TIFF website.
In addition, the festival chose four young Canadian actors to participate in the TIFF Rising Stars program, a series of public events and industry meetings: Charlie Carrick, a British television and stage actor who lives in Canada; Connor Jessup, who stars in the 2012 TIFF selection "Blackbird"; Tatiana Maslany, who won a Sundance award for "Grown Up Movie Star" in 2010; and Charlotte Sullivan, a Toronto-born actress who played Marilyn Monroe in the miniseries "The Kennedys."
Finally, the festival announced the participants in its Talent Lab, Telefilm Canada Pitch This! and Producers Lab Toronto programs. Additional information is available at tiff.net.
TIFF's Mavericks, Future Projections and NextWave programs have yet to be announced.
The Canadian additions to TIFF programming:
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
"Antiviral," Brandon Cronenberg
"Inch'Allah," Anais Barbeau-Lavalette
"Laurence Anyways," Xavier Dolan
"Liverpool," Manon Briand
"Rebelle," Kim Nguyen
"Still," Michael McGowan
"Stories We Tell," Sarah Polley
DISCOVERY
"Blackbird," Jason Buxton
"Krivina," Igor Drljaca
"Picture Day," Kate Melville
"Tower," Kazik Radwanski
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA
"Camion," Rafael Ouellet
"The Crimes of Mike Recket," Bruce Sweeney
"Home Again," Sudz Sutherland
"My Awkward Sexual Adventure," Sean Garrity
"The Lesser Blessed," Anita Doron
VANGUARD
"I Declare War," Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson
MASTERS
"Tout ce que tu possedes" ("All That You Possess"), Bernard Emond
TIFF DOCS
"Revolution," Rob Stewart