TORONTO — The Young Victoria, a look at the turbulent early years of Queen Victoria’s rule by Quebec director Jean-Marc Vallee, will close the Toronto International Film Festival next month.
“We’re delighted to close the festival with such a gorgeous film that completely reinvents our image of Queen Victoria,” festival CEO Piers Handling said in a statement as the Canadian slate of films was announced.
Vallee’s last movie, C.R.A.Z.Y., won the award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2005 festival.
The Young Victoria stars Emily Blunt, who plays the queen, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong and Thomas Kretschmann. It was produced by Graham King, Martin Scorsese, Tim Headington and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
The festival also announced that Atom Egoyan’s thriller Chloe will have its world premiere at this year’s event, which runs Sept. 10-19.
Based on the French film Nathalie, it stars Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. Neeson was working on the film in Toronto earlier this year when his wife, Natasha Richardson, died following a ski accident near Montreal.
Toronto actor Don McKellar, meanwhile, will also make an appearance at the fest, starring in Dilip Mehta’s Cooking With Stella as a chef in New Delhi. The film was written by his sister, director Deepa Mehta.
And Ottawa-raised actress Sandra Oh will appear alongside Woody Harrelson in the super-hero flick, Defendor.
Also coming to TIFF is the North American premiere of the Terry Gilliam-directed The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, featuring the late Heath Ledger in his last role. It was shot in Vancouver and also stars Christopher Plummer.
Suck, directed by Robert Stefaniuk, will also screen at the fest. It’s a rock ’n’ roll vampire comedy that includes cameos by Alice Cooper, Alex Lifeson of Rush, Moby, Iggy Pop, Carole Pope and Henry Rollins.
Other Canadian titles include Cairo Time directed by Ruba Nadda, the documentary Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel from Brigitte Berman, J’ai Tue Ma Mere Xavier Dolan directed by Xavier Dolan, and The Trotsky directed by Jacob Tierney.
Bucking tradition, this year’s festival will open with the British film Creation, rather than with a Canadian production.