Despite offerings from two of Canadian filmmaking’s most recognizable names – Atom Egoyan and David Cronenberg – Deepa Mehta’s Water will open the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.

The controversial new feature about impoverished widows in 1930s India best exemplifies what fest-goers will want to see on opening night, says festival director Piers Handling.

‘Deepa has had a long association with the festival, and it felt right in terms of a moment for her to step into the opening-night slot,’ says Handling. ‘Water is a strong and powerful piece of work; it’s very well made. You’re looking for that type of film to put in front of your opening-night audience, to send the festival off on that kind of note.’

The announcement came as a surprise to some who expected either Cronenberg’s A History of Violence or Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies to kick off the 30th edition of the festival, running Sept. 8-17. Both films screened at Cannes this year, and since Egoyan’s last four films opened TIFF, many assumed he would once again get the nod. Water is the third installment in Mehta’s elemental trilogy, which includes previous titles Fire (1996) and Earth (1998), both of which premiered at TIFF. The film was shot in Sri Lanka last year, after an earlier shoot in India was met with a storm of political and religious protest.

At the press conference Mehta commented, ‘I’m pleased that Water will premiere here at home… now we’ll just have to figure out what to wear.’

Water will make its world premiere at TIFF Sept. 8, and will mark the second time a female director’s work has opened the festival (Patricia Rozema’s I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing which opened the fest in 1987.

Handling and TIFF codirector Noah Cowan expect a strong year for Canadian films, noting the Canadian selection committee is still poring over the entries.

‘There is constant energy from new Canadian filmmakers on the scene,’ says Handling. ‘You’ve got the top-tier Canadian filmmakers like Cronenberg, Egoyan and Mehta all making films this year, but Canadian filmmakers traveling below our radar are always coming forward with strong work.’

A number of non-Canadian films have also been announced in the Masters, Visions and Contemporary World Cinema programs.

In the Masters program, Cannes Palme d’Or winner L’Enfant, from directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, will receive its North American premiere at TIFF, as will Caché by Michael Haneke, who won this year’s best director award at Cannes.

Buddhadev Dasgupta’s Kaalpurush will make its world premiere at the fest, Ang Lee’s Calgary-shot Brokeback Mountain and Lars von Trier’s Manderlay will screen as North American debuts.

The Visions program is highlighted by the world premiere of Jamie Babbit’s The Quiet, while world premieres of Shooting Dogs (Michael Caton-Jones), Twelve and Holding (Michael Cuesta), 7 Virgins (Alberto Rodriguez) and Sunflower (Zhang Yang) are on tap for the Contemporary World Cinema program.

Special presentations include Shopgirl (Anand Tucker) and Thank You for Smoking (Jason Reitman).

Meanwhile, TIFF has also put out a call for submissions for its Talent Lab and Pitch This! programs.

To qualify for the second year of Talent Lab – where successful applicants learn from respected film professionals over four days – applicants need one feature or two shorts to their credit.

For Pitch This!, now in its sixth year, six selected finalists will pitch their films to a panel in a bid for a $10,000 development prize.

-www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/2005