I still think of it as “The Festival Of Festivals”

Toronto’s Opener Has 9/11 Insight
“Ararat,” the controversial new film by Atom Egoyan, will kick off the opening-night gala at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 5-14.
“Ararat,” Egoyan’s third festival opener, recounts the 1915-17 mass killing of 1.3 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
In a statement read by actor David Alpay, one of the film’s stars, Egoyan, who has Armenian heritage, said “Ararat” is a meditation on a new reality since the last festival ó a reference to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“I am convinced … that the film will provide the opening-night audience with an emotionally loaded event,” said the 41-year-old-director, whose movie credits include “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Felicia’s Journey.”
“Ararat” has been the subject of criticism and even threats of protests from Turkish groups that insist an Armenian genocide never happened or that its extent has been exaggerated.
David Cronenberg’s “Spider,” which stars Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson and Gabriel Byrne, will have its North American premiere and a gala presentation.
Other films on the festival’s lineup, announced Tuesday, include the world premiere of Peter Kosminsky’s “White Oleander,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Renee Zellweger; “Moonlight Mile,” a world premiere from writer-director Brad Silberling, with Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter; and “Chihwaseon,” a South Korean film about the life of a famous and passionate 19-century Korean artist.