Dozens of international selections join TIFF lineup

The Toronto International Film Festival has announced the addition of dozens of titles, including the latest works by some of the world's best-known cinematic names.

Seventy-three titles will join a variety of festival programs next month, organizers said Wednesday.

"Our commitment to promoting international voices has never been stronger," co-director Noah Cowan said in a statement.

The abundance of international titles from nearly 40 countries speaks "to the diversity of the city of Toronto," Cowan said.

"In seeing ourselves reflected in films from other countries, we see how the art of filmmaking unites us all."

Two films from Asia join the growing list of gala presentations at the festival Sept. 6-15: Blood Brothers, a crime thriller set in 1930s Shanghai and produced by hit director John Woo, and The Last Lear, a film-world drama in which Bollywood giant Amitabh Bachchan takes on his first English-speaking leading role in his more than 40-year career.

Other new additions to TIFF's lineups include:

• Chacun son cinéma: The compilation of short films celebrating the cinema that the Cannes Film Festival commissioned from more than 30 contemporary directors for its 60th anniversary this year.
• Lust, Caution:Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's espionage thriller set in Second World War-era Shanghai.
• Mad Detective:A new police thriller from hit Hong Kong filmmaking duo Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai.
• Mongol: A feature about the early life of Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan.
• Persepolis:Agraphic novel-inspired animated film and coming-of-age tale about a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, andwinner of a 2007 Cannes Jury Prize.
• Fados: Alook at the evolution of the Portuguese urban folk music genre of fado.
• Glory to the Filmmaker:A film from Japanese actor, filmmaker, comedian, TV host and visual artist Takeshi Kitano in which he portrays himself, on a quest to score a new box office hit after distancing himself from the gangster films that have been his mainstay.
• Battle for Haditha:U.K. filmmaker Nick Broomfield explores the killings of 24 unarmed Iraqi citizens in 2005, after U.S. marines swept through the area following a bombing.
• California Dreamin' (Endless): Late filmmaker Cristian Nemescu's debut and final feature about a corrupt Romanian man's attempt to profit from a NATO train carrying military equipment during the war in Kosovo; also winner of the 2007 Un Certain Regard program at Cannes.
• Erik Nietzsche The Early Years:Danish director Jacob Thuesen's take on the semi-autobiographical story penned (under pseudonym) by Lars von Trier about a shy and inexperienced young man who wants to be a filmmaker.
• 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days: Winner of the prestigious 2007 Palme d'Or at Cannes, the film follows two schoolmates who must navigate a desperate situation after one decides to seek an abortion.