Sudbury, ON isn’t the first town that comes to mind when someone utters the words ‘film festival.’ Then again, neither was Park City, UT once upon a time. But Cinefest Sudbury, now in its 15th year (running Sept. 15-21), is really hitting its stride and has attracted some of the biggest films on the international festival circuit.

Cinefest received 234 film entries, whittled down to about 100 films and videos of all lengths and genres for this year’s edition.

The opening-night gala is Deepa Mehta’s highly touted The Republic of Love, and the festival will wrap with Sophia Coppola’s sophomore directorial effort Lost in Translation, starring Bill Murray.

Other galas confirmed for the festival include Rosenstrasse from German director Margarethe von Trotta, Denys Arcand’s The Barbarian Invasions, Robert Benton’s The Human Stain, and Manna from Heaven from directors Gabrielle and Maria Burton.

Cinefest executive director Tammy Frick says it has been an exceptionally strong year for Canadian films. She says the festival always opens with a Canuck pic and Mehta is a festival favorite; her Bollywood/Hollywood opened last year’s festival.

The Canadian Special Presentations program includes docs Go Further by Ron Mann and The Last Round from Joseph Blasioli. Feature films include Belleville Rendez-Vous by Sylvain Chomet (a Canada/France/Belgium copro), Falling Angels from Scott Smith, My Life Without Me by Isabel Coixet (a Canada/Spain copro), La Grande Seduction by Jean-Francois Pouliot and The Snow Walker from Charles Martin Smith.

International special presentations include Alejandro Agresti’s Valentin, Anne Fontaine’s Nathalie…, Wayne Kramer’s The Cooler, Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent and Richard Linklater’s The School of Rock.

Films that made the Features Canada program include Luck (Peter Wellington), Nothing (Vincenzo Natali), Love, Sex and Eating the Bones (Sudz Sutherland), The Bread Maker (Anita McGee), Hollywood North (Peter O’Brian), Touch and Go (Scott Simpson), and The Saddest Music in the World (Guy Maddin).

Featured in the It’s All True: Feature Documentaries program are B.C. filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming’s The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam, George Hickenlooper’s Mayor of the Sunset Strip and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, from Irish directors Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Brian.

Alanis Obomsawin’s Our Nationhood and Gil Cardinal’s Totem will screen in the Aboriginal Perspectives program.

American Splendor, Crime Spree, L’Homme du train, Margarette’s Feast, Shaolin Soccer and Swimming Pool are featured in the World Cinema program.

-www.cinefest.com