A scene from The Hunter
Well over half of the gala and special presentation films that were announced on July 26 are world premieres. Here is the list:
11 Flowers | Director: Wang Xiaoshuai
Wang Han, an 11-year-old boy in the province of Ghizhou, is confronted by a runaway murderer hiding in the woods. The wounded man persuades Wang Han to help him out. Both frightened and fascinated, Wang Han and his friends promise to keep the man's whereabouts secret from the police even when strange things begin happening at school. Starring Liu Wenqing, Wang Jinchun and Yen Ni.
50/50 | Director: Jonathan Levine
50/50 is a funny, touching and original story of friendship, love, and survival starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard and Anjelica Huston.
360 | Director: Fernando Meirelles
Inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's classic La Ronde, in 360, director Fernando Meirelles and screenwriter Peter Morgan combine a modern and dynamic roundelay of original stories into one, linking characters: from different cities and countries in a vivid, suspenseful and deeply moving tale of love in the 21st century. Starring Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz and Ben Foster.
Albert Nobbs | Director: Rodrigo Garcia
A witty Irish-set period drama about the lives of staff at Dublin's most luxurious hotel: the illegitimate child of a maid, a beautiful couples impossible love, and Albert …a woman who pretends to be a man to survive. Starring Glenn Close.
Americano | Director: Mathieu Demy
When Mathieu was little, his name was Martin and he lived in Los Angeles. Martin grew up and lives in Paris. When he loses his mother back in California, Martin must return to the city of his childhood to deal with the formalities surrounding his inheritance. Unable to face up to his mom's death, Martin takes off to Tijuana on the trail of Lola, a Mexican woman he used to know, and who held a special place in his mother's life. Starring Salma Hayek and Géraldine Chaplin.
Anonymous | Director: Roland Emmerich
Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? Starring David Thewlis and Vanessa Redgrave.
A Better Life | Director: Cédric Khan
Yann, a cook, and Nadia, a waitress and mother of nine-year-old child, decide to risk everything on the purchase of a restaurant. With plenty of talent, energy, love and dreams, but no finances of their own, they find themselves forced into a jungle of financing and bank loans that quickly overwhelms them. Starring Guillaume Canet, Leïla Bekhti and Slimane Ketthabi.
Butter | Director: Jim Field Smith
Set in the highly competitive world of championship butter carving, Butter blends social commentary, outrageous comedy and heartfelt drama in telling the story of the ambitious Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner), the self-anointed First Lady of Butter Carving. Also stars Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Yara Shahidi and Hugh Jackman.
Burning Man | Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Why is Tom behaving so badly? Six women and an eight-year-old boy are fighting, in very different ways, to help. But for Tom, it seems, there are no rules. Burning Man is the reckless, provocative and moving story of a father and son's journey back to happiness. Starring Matthew Goode and Rachel Griffiths.
Countdown | Director: Huh Jong-ho
Jeon Do-youn plays a beautiful ex-con who, after being released from prison, tries to make some quick cash by manipulating a heartless debt collector.
The Deep Blue Sea | Director: Terence Davies
Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale). To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot, Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston), with whom she has fallen passionately in love.
The Descendants | Director: Alexander Payne
Set in Hawaii, The Descendants is a sometimes humourous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.
Elles | Director: Malgoska Szumowska
Anne (Juliette Binoche), a well-off Paris-based mother of two and investigative journalist for ELLE, is writing an article about university student prostitution. Her meetings with two fiercely independent young women, Alicja (Joanna Kulig) and Charlotte (Anaïs Demoustier), are profound and unsettling, moving her to question her most intimate convictions about money, family and sex.
The Eye of the Storm | Director: Fred Schepisi
In the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park, two nurses, a housekeeper and a solicitor attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son and daughter convene at her deathbed. But in dying, as in living, Mrs. Hunter remains a powerful force on those who surround her. Starring Geoffrey Rush and Charlotte Rampling.
Friends With Kids | Director: Jennifer Westfeldt
Friends With Kids is a poignant ensemble comedy about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. There are big laughs and unexpected emotional truths as the last two singles in the group, out of step with their married pals, resolve to have a kid together ... and date other people. Starring Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph and Edward Burns.
A Happy Event | Director: Rémi Bezancon
A Happy Event breaks the taboo of pregnancy through the tragicomic diary of a young woman who becomes a mother. Starring Louise Bourgoin.
Hick | Director: Derick Martini
Tired of fending for herself and her mother's penchant for hard-drinking men and barroom drama, 13-year-old Luli hits the road on her own, heading west to realize her dream of becoming a superstar. Among her travels she meets Eddie, a drifter with a chip on his shoulder, and Glenda, a troubled but spirited woman who takes Luli under her wing. Luli's quick wit, some help from Glenda, the mercurial Eddie, and her colourful daydreams help protect her from the incredibly unpredictable band of characters she encounters on her journey. Starring Blake Lively, Chloe Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Juliette Lewis, Eddie Redmayne and Rory Culkin.
The Hunter | Director: Daniel Nettheim
Based on the acclaimed novel by Julia Leigh, The Hunter is a powerful psychological drama that tells the story of Martin (Willem Dafoe), a mercenary sent from Europe by an anonymous biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a dramatic hunt for the last Tasmanian Tiger. Against his wishes, Martin's only option is to stay at a base camp house with the despondent wife and spirited children of a missing zoologist. Also stars Frances O'Connor and Sam Neill.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Directors: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
This is the story of one man searching for the meaning of life while running to the store to buy wood glue. A series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life . . . and if he's lucky, pick up the wood glue as well. Starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon.
The Lady | Director Luc Besson
The Lady is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband, Michael Aris. It is also the story of the peaceful quest of the woman who is at the core of Burma's democracy movement. Starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis.
Like Crazy | Director: Drake Doremus
Jacob, an American, and Anna, who is British, meet at college in Los Angeles and fall madly in love. But when Anna returns to London, the couple is forced into a long-distance relationship. Their perfect love is tested, and youth, trust, and geography become their biggest enemies. Starring Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones.
Machine Gun Preacher | Director: Marc Forster
This inspirational true story, Machine Gun Preacher is about Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the saviour of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children. Starring Gerard Butler.
Moneyball | Director: Bennett Miller
Based on a true story, Moneyball stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland As and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball's conventional wisdom is wrong. The onetime jock teams with Ivy League grad Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) in an unlikely partnership, recruiting bargain players that the scouts call flawed, but all of whom have an ability to get on base, score runs, and win games.
The Oranges | Director: Julian Farino
The Ostroff and Walling families are best friends and neighbours, living across the street from each other on Orange Drive. Prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Leighton Meester) returns home for Thanksgiving dinner after a five-year absence, newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen). Rather than developing an interest in the successful son of her neighbours, Toby Walling (Adam Brody), which would please both families, it's her parents. best friend David Walling (Hugh Laurie) that captures Nina's attention.
Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding | Director: Bruce Beresford
The film is a comedy about an uptight New York City lawyer who takes her two spirited teenagers to her hippie mother's farmhouse in the countryside for a family vacation. What was meant to be a weekend getaway quickly turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets, and self-discovery. Starring Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Chace Crawford and Elizabeth Olsen.
Pearl Jam Twenty | Director: Cameron Crowe
Pearl Jam Twenty chronicles the years leading up to the band's formation, the chaos that ensued soon after their rise to mega-stardom, their step back from centre stage, and the creation of a trusted circle that would surround them – giving way to a work culture that would sustain them. The film is carved from over 1,200 hours of rarely seen and never-before seen footage spanning the band's career.
Rampart | Director: Oren Moverman
A genre-bending, 1990s Los Angeles police family drama, Rampart explores the dark soul and romantic misadventures of a never-changing LAPD cop (Woody Harrelson) whose past is finally catching up with him in the wake of a department-wide corruption scandal. Also stars Brie Larson, Sammy Boyarsky, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Ice Cube, Ben Foster, Ned Beatty and Robin Wright.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen | Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Stuffy government fisheries scientist Fred is asked by a fishing-obsessed Arab Sheik to do the seemingly impossible – introduce British salmon to the wadis of the Yemen. Despite considerable trepidation, Fred is finally won over by the charismatic Sheik, who reveals that fishing brings him closer to God, and he hopes it will have the same effect on his countrymen. Starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.
Take this Waltz | Director: Sarah Polley
Swelteringly hot, bright and colourful like a bowl of fruit, Take this Waltz leads us laughing through the familiar, but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves. Starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen and Luke Kirby.
Ten Year | Director: Jamie Linden
Ten Year focuses on a group of friends – married and unmarried, successful and unsuccessful, happy and unhappy – as they return home on the night of their high school reunion. It stars a large ensemble cast that includes Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Anthony Mackie and Chris Pratt.
Trishna | Director: Michael Winterbottom
Based on Thomas Hardy.s novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the film is set in contemporary India and tells the tragic love story between the son of a wealthy property developer and the daughter of a rickshaw driver. Starring Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed.
Twixt | Director: Francis Ford Coppola
A writer with a career in decline arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. Starring Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning and Ben Chaplin.
Where Do We Go Now? | Director: Nadine Labaki
Set against the backdrop of a war-torn country, Where Do We Go Now? tells the heart-warming tale of a group of women's determination to protect their isolated, mine-encircled community from the pervasive and divisive outside forces that threaten to destroy it from within. Starring Kevin Abboud and Julian Farhat.
Woman in the Fifth | Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
American writer Tom Ricks comes to Paris desperate to put his life together again and win back the love of his estranged wife and daughter. When things don't go according to plan, he ends up in a shady hotel in the suburbs, having to work as a night guard to make ends meet. Then Margit, a beautiful, mysterious stranger walks into his life and things start looking up. Their passionate and intense relationship triggers a string of inexplicable events . . . as if an obscure power is taking control of his life. Starring Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas.