Damon, Bullock lead stars descending on Toronto for 40th film festival

By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The 40th Toronto International
Film Festival will play host to a star-studded roster of top
filmmakers and movie stars next month, including Ridley Scott,
Matt Damon, Sandra Bullock and Johnny Depp.
The festival, a frequent launch pad for Oscar contenders,
will showcase 289 feature films and more than 100 shorts from 71
countries from Sept. 10 to Sept. 20, including 132 world
premieres.
Director Scott and cast members of the highly anticipated
space film, "The Martian," are expected to be in Toronto for the
film's world premiere. Damon plays an astronaut fighting for
survival on Mars after being presumed dead and left behind
following a brutal storm.
Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton plan to be on hand for the
world premiere of David Gordon Green's "Our Brand is Crisis," a
film about rival American political strategists working to fix a
Bolivian presidential election.
Returning favorites, director Jean-Marc Vallée and Jake
Gyllenhaal, will present the festival opener, "Demolition,"
while Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth will promote the world
premiere of Australian film, "The Dressmaker," directed by
Jocelyn Moorhouse.
Helen Mirren and Bryan Cranston are expected to be in town
for the world premiere of Jay Roach's biopic "Trumbo", about
Hollywood blacklist victim Dalton Trumbo, while Michael Moore
returns to the big screen with the first screening of "Where to
Invade Next."
Others expected in Toronto include: Cary Fukunaga and Idris
Elba for "Beasts of No Nation"; Tom Hooper and Eddie Redmayne
for "The Danish Girl"; Denis Villeneuve, Emily Blunt and Benicio
Del Toro for "Sicario."
The Toronto event, ranked among the world's top film
festivals, has grown dramatically from its launch in 1976, when
some 80 films screened in five theaters.
The festival's top prize, the People's Choice Award, is
voted on by festival attendees. Six of the last seven audience
favorites became Best Picture Oscar nominees or winners,
including "Slumdog Millionaire," "The King's Speech" and "12
Years a Slave."
This year's festival also includes a new juried program, as
well as a new section that will showcase a selection of
television shows from around the world.