Drew Barrymore: To headline Toronto film fest

Drew Barrymore: To headline Toronto film fest

The 34th Toronto International Film Festival that will be held next month welcomes actress Drew Barrymore along a line of other hi profile Hollywood celebrities. Also talk show host Oprah Winfrey and director Michael Moore are included amongst 500 celebrities who are expected to attend the fest. On Thursday the organizers made the announcement.

The festival, which runs from September 10 to 19, decides to showcase 271 feature films and 64 shorts from 64 countries, including 95 world premieres.

Drew Barrymore will make her directorial debut with "Whip It," that is set in the world of roller derby, starring Ellen Page, who won acclaim for role opposite Michael Cera in the 2007 hit "Juno."

American filmmaker Michael Moore marks the 20th anniversary of his debut film "Roger and Me," which won the film festival's People's Choice award in 1989, with a new documentary: "Capitalism, a love story."

Director Sir Ridley Scott is expected to attend to support daughter Jordan Scott's feature film debut "Cracks." He also has taken responsibility of producing the movie.

Oprah Winfrey will be on hand to promote Lee Daniels' film "Precious," about an abused African-American girl in Harlem in 1987 dreaming of a better life, starring Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz.

Among the other celebrities scheduled to attend are Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, George Clooney,  Colin Farrell, Michael Douglas, Sir Michael Caine, Michael Sheen, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, David Duchovny and Viggo Mortensen.

The Toronto International Film Festival, the biggest in North America, is main event for Oscar-conscious studios and distributors, and is attended by a sizable contingent of North American media.

However the moviegoers who bought over 470,000 tickets for the event in 2008 awarded an audience prize for best motion picture to Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire."