No stranger to controversy, the Montreal World Film Festival will screen the world premiere of Karla – the hotly debated feature, formerly known as Deadly – about convicted killer Karla Homolka.

The film, directed by Joel Bender (Vlad), recounts Homolka and husband Paul Bernardo’s sex slayings in the 1990s and, sight unseen, has drawn criticism amid concerns that it exploits the memory of their three victims.

Festival founder/director Serge Losique appeared on CTV’s Canada AM the morning after the announcement, defending the WFF selection.

‘When we pick a movie we think mostly about the artistic value of the movie,’ he said. When pressed about WFF sponsor Air Canada not sanctioning or wanting to be associated with the film, Losique would not comment. Air Canada has traditionally been among the largest corporate sponsors of the festival, pledging its partnership even after Telefilm Canada and SODEC recently switched their support to the upstart New Montreal FilmFest.

Karla stars Laura Prepon (That ’70s Show) as Homolka, with Misha Collins (24) playing Bernardo. The film is produced by Quantum Entertainment out of L.A.

Gilliam, Hanson in with TIFF

The titles are rolling out quickly from the Toronto International Film Festival, with the announcement of three gala presentations and several world premiere screenings for the fest’s 30th edition.

Curtis Hanson (8 Mile) will screen his new feature In Her Shoes. The dramatic comedy, about sisters with little in common, stars Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette (The Hours) and Shirley MacLaine.

Also debuting is Pride & Prejudice from director Joe Wright (The End). Based on the classic novel by Jane Austen, this adaptation stars Keira Knightley (King Arthur), Jena Malone (Saved!) and Donald Sutherland.

Proof, another gala, reunites Shakespeare in Love director John Madden with star Gwyneth Paltrow in an adaptation of David Auburn’s stage drama about a woman who is torn between caring for her aging father, her sister’s whims and a suitor. Anthony Hopkins costars.

Recently announced TIFF world premieres include: Terry Gilliam’s Canada/U.K. coproduction Tideland, starring Jeff Bridges; David Ayer’s directorial debut Harsh Times, with Christian Bale (Batman Begins) and Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives); Little Fish from Australia’s Rowan Woods, starring Cate Blanchett (The Aviator); Joshua Michael Stern’s first feature, Neverwas, starring Aaron Eckhart (Suspect Zero) and Nick Nolte; Sorry, Haters by Jeff Stanzler, starring Robin Wright Penn (Unbreakable); Lorene Machado’s Bam Bam and Celeste, written by and starring stand-up comic Margaret Cho; Danis Tanovic’s L’Enfer with Emmanuelle Béart (Histoire de Marie et Julien); and the U.K. mockumentary Brothers of the Head from directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe.

Adam Rapp’s Winter Passing, starring Ed Harris and Will Ferrell, will screen as a special presentation.

The fest also announced five new titles by black filmmakers, part of its celebration of international black cinema featured in several TIFF programs.

Slow Burn by director Wayne Beach (writer of The Art of War) will screen as a special presentation. Another U.S. offering, Shadowboxer from Lee Daniels (producer of Monster’s Ball), will be included in the Contemporary World Cinema program. Both directorial debuts will screen as world premieres.

Also announced for World Cinema, South Africa’s Tsotsi by Gavin Hood (The Storekeeper) will run as a North American premiere. In TIFF’s Visions, another South African offering, Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon from director Khalo Matabane (Story of a Beautiful Country), will screen along with the Cameroon/France coproduction Les Saignantes by Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Quartier Mozart). TIFF runs Sept. 8-17.

New Klapisch opens New Montreal

The North American premiere of French filmmaker Cédric Klapisch’s romantic comedy Les Poupées russes will open the first New Montreal FilmFest on Sept. 18.

FilmFest, produced by L’Équipe Spectra, will also premiere Quebec actor Luc Picard’s directorial debut L’Audition. Picard (Le Collectionneur) wrote and stars in the comedy, produced by Cité-Amérique’s Luc Martineau and Lorraine Richard.

Veteran French filmmaker Claude Lelouch (Un homme et une femme) will unveil his new drama Le Courage d’aimer, while Joyeux Noël from France’s Christian Carion will make its North American debut.

The festival will also present French director Michel Deville with its Iris Hommage lifetime achievement award for his career that began in 1958 with Une balle dans le canon. Deville’s 1988 feature La Lectrice won the Grand Prix des Amériques at the Montreal World Film Festival.

Finkleman plays Ottawa

More than 150 titles, with 109 in competition, comprise the lineup for this year’s Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Organizers received nearly 1,900 entries from 64 countries, including 315 from Canada, of which 20 homegrown films will screen and compete. They include the shorts The Skateboarder by Patrick Jenkins (Kidsworks) and Surly Squirrel by Peter Lepeniotis (Dinosaur); the experimental/abstract short films Curse of the Voodoo Child by Steven Woloshen (Snip) and cNote from Chris Hinton (2002 OIAF best narrative short film winner with Flux); and the almost entirely animated episode of Ken Finkleman’s CBC comedy series The Newsroom, which aired at last season’s end, competing in the television series for adults heat.

Awards will be presented in feature film, short film, student, and commissioned film categories. OIAF runs Sept. 21-25.