With 345 works in 50 languages on display, the festival offered a bracing display of the human riches to be discovered through a camera lens. It was a vibrant reminder there are movies for everyone.

        The sprawling cornucopia of films forced festival-goers to spread themselves thin, making it tough for any one to rank as an overwhelming favorite, only because there was no single film that everyone had a chance to see.

        Rather than one or two winners, the festival yielded a strong contingent of winning movies that will roll out in theaters over the next year.

        Documentaries again provided some of the most compelling, exciting and flat-out entertaining movies in the lineup. Highlights include:

        Bowling For Columbine, from maverick Michael Moore (Roger and Me), a heartfelt, funny, tragic and surprising look at violence in America, inspired by the horrific murders at Columbine High School (Release date TBA).

        Spellbound, Jeff Blitz's engrossing look at the obsessive world of championship spelling-bee competitors (TBA).

        Standing in The Shadows of Motown, a joyous, high-energy musical tour through the history of the Funk Brothers, the overlooked house band behind some of the greatest American pop music of all time (limited release Nov. 15).

Crime scenes

        Criminal capers also showed they have lost none of their power to entice audiences into a vicarious walk on the wild side:

        The Good Thief, Neil Jordan's sly, literate reworking of the classic French noir thriller Bob le flambeur, this time starring Nick Nolte as a ruined crook in for one last grab at the brass ring (March 13).

        8 Women, a merry murder mystery from French wunderkind Francois Ozon (Under The Sand), starring Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert and other fabulous Gallic females, (limited release Oct. 8).

        Welcome to Collinwood, (limited release Oct. 4) produced in Cleveland by George Clooney's film company, with a memorable lead performance from Sam Rockwell, who will also star in Mr. Clooney's directing debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

        The young and the desperate remained a perennial source of dramatic intensity, in such film as:

        Curtis Hanson's urgent journey through Eminem-world, 8 Mile (opening Nov. 8).

        Scottish actor Peter Mullan's (My Name Is Joe) directing debut The Magdelene Sisters, a tragic tale of religion and repression, (TBA).

        Rabbit-Proof Fence, the wrenching story of kidnapped Australian aboriginal girls from director Philip Noyce (limited release Nov. 29).

        Better Luck Tomorrow, newcomer Justin Lin's wise-cracking take on Asian-American kids who defy their bookworm stereotypes, (TBA).

        The Emperor's Club, a heartfelt meditation on the meaning of character set in a tony private school, from Michael Hoffman (Nov. 22).

Shock waves

        Shock value never goes out of style, as evidenced by:

        Ken Park, a graphic tale of teen sexuality from Larry Clark and Harmony Korine (TBA).

        Irreversible, featuring a horrific nine-minute rape scene, from French iconoclast Gasper Noe (TBA).

        Public Toilet on the subject of defecation, from self-described “freak” Hong Kong director Fruit Chan (TBA).

        Glossy Hollywood movies held their own as well with:

        Frida, the biography of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, directed by stage artist Julie Taymor and starring Salma Hayek, who spent years pressing to get the movie made, (opening Oct. 25).

        Punch-Drunk Love, an uncommon love story starring Adam Sandler from Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia) (Oct. 18).

        Moonlight Mile, a tragic drama featuring a gripping performance by Jake Gylenhall (Sept. 27).

        Participants dove enthusiastically into conversations about the issues shaping the industry, from censorship to high-tech production. No topic commanded more attention than corporate domination of the movie-making industry, and the attendant emphasis on marketing. From high-dollar movie stars to independent filmmakers scrambling, festival guests talked continually about the challenge of getting original works into theaters.

        Dustin Hoffman, star of the Disney-sponsored drama Moonlight Mile, decried the current “McDonald's era,” when studios pressure filmmakers to make movies as familiar as fast food.

        Said actress Tilda Swinton (Teknolust), “We live in a climate where people need guarantees, ... but there are no guarantees. It can all crash. The fact is, it is terribly difficult for people to crash because they're crashing with other people's money. Then it's very difficult to ever work again.”

        For all the time spent on such issues, talk inevitably turned back to the movies themselves. The questions “What have you seen?” and “What have you liked?” opened almost any conversation.

        Ironically, the movie that ultimately generated the most talk was not on the Toronto schedule at all.

        My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a light-hearted comedy made for about $5 million, is on target to cross the $100 million box-office mark this weekend, to the delight and envy of industry insiders.

        Based on a play by Winnipeg native Nia Vardalos, who also stars in the movie, it was shot in Toronto (standing in for Chicago), a source of bragging rights for members of the booming “Hollywood North” film community.

        Despite occasional carping from contrarian critics like Canadian National Post columnist Jonathan Kay, who dismissed it as “monoculturalist claptrap,” the movie has struck a chord with audiences around the globe.

        Among international deal-makers and film buyers in Toronto hunting for next year's entertainments, Greek Wedding was the mantra repeated every day in hotel corridors, meeting rooms, coffee shops and waiting lines.

        A Los Angeles-based film booker for international exhibitors, who asked to be identified only as “Kelly,” said she and her peers are all on the hunt for the same thing. “We all want to find a gem,” she said. “We all want to find the next Greek Wedding.”

        E-mail: mmcgurk@enquirer.com

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