Industry types hitting the 22nd annual Toronto International Film Festival circuit will find a new contingent of pan-European Association members, a new venue to access a screenplay catalogue, and workshops targeting first-time indie filmmaking added to the Rogers Industry Centre lineup, as well as the introduction of a new screening program.

Representatives of 17 member countries of the recently established pan-European Association will have a presence at the Industry Centre as part of the new European Film Promotion e.v. The group is mandated to create greater marketing opportunities for European film worldwide.

From the Canadian Film Centre, the Ultra Indie Experience hosts a series of workshops profiling successful emerging filmmakers and the business side of independent filmmaking.

The Writers Guild of America in association with the Canadian equivalent is hosting a coffee house where scripts from the festival’s screening list can be perused and screenwriters will hold 50-minute chat sessions.

This year, 45 one-hour micro-meetings will be offered. The list of participating industry execs is still being firmed up.

Jim Burt, creative head of movies and miniseries at cbc, and National Screen Institute executive director Jan Miller will head up the pitching workshop where up to 12 participants will test the waters on their projects.

Building on the success of the Special Presentations program which profiles acclaimed directors, a new addition The Masters, showcasing established, high-profile international directors, is being introduced to the screening portion of the festival.

The festival gala lineup will include 18 films, some of which have been announced. Adaptations of novels are a common theme among the selected films.

On the heels of its Cannes sweep, Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, adapted from Russell Banks’ novel, will have its Canadian premiere as the opening night gala. Gilles MacKinnon’s wwi drama Regeneration, starring Jonathan Pryce and based on the novel by Pat Barker, is also on the gala slate. MacKinnon directed Trojan Eddie, which played at the 1996 festival.

Based on the Virginia Woolfe novel, Mrs. Dalloway from Dutch filmmaker Marleen Gorris, director of the Academy Award-winning Antonia’s Line, will make its world premiere at tiff.

L.A. Confidential, the Kim Basinger/Kevin Spacey film that garnered much praise at Cannes, will be screened for the first time in North America, as will Vera Belmont’s Marquise, a 17th century romantic drama starring Sophie Marceau (Anna Karenina, Braveheart) as an aspiring actress in King Louis xiv’s court.

The Directors’ Spotlight will shine on French filmmaker Benoit Jacquot whose nine features include an adaptation of Henry James’ Wings of the Dove, and will present the North American premiere of his latest film, Le Septieme Ciel.

The National Cinema Programme will focus on Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria. Entitled Home Truths: Balkan Cinema, the slate includes Emir Kusturica’s 1995 Cannes Palme D’Or-winning Underground and films by Romania’s Lucian Pintilie and Yugoslavia’s Srdjan Dragojevic.

Two programs which debuted in 1996, Discovery, spotlighting first films from hot new directors, and Real to Reel, a selection of cutting-edge documentaries, return to the festival lineup.

The Rogers Industry Website is located at www.rogers.com/ filmbiz.