Toronto International Film Festival organizers on Monday started planning for a homage to French director Alain Corneau after he died Sunday night in Paris ahead of a September 11 screening of his last movie, <i>Love Crimes</i>, at TIFF.

“Alain Corneau was a superb director who brought films to the Toronto festival on a number of occasions,” Piers Handling, director and CEO of the Toronto festival, told <i>Playback Daily</i>.

“He made a number of classic films over the years, was a true friend of ours and we mourn his passing.” Handling, who programmed a host of Corneau’s films into Toronto over the years, added.

Fest organizers said they will honor Corneau, who died after a long battle with cancer, at next Saturday night¹s screening at the Winter Garden Theatre, but added final details are still to be worked out.

The psychological thriller, which stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier, was released theatrically in France two weeks ago, and has yet to snag a U.S. distributor.