Redgrave film to close Toronto fest

A movie starring Vanessa Redgrave as a terminally ill choir singer will close this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Organisers have revealed that Redgrave's Song For Marion will be the finale piece at this year's event, one of the key cinema gatherings that kick off Hollywood's autumn movie line-up and Academy Awards season.

Spike Lee's documentary Bad 25, marking the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad, is another highlight. The film features footage shot by Jackson himself, along with interviews with music stars such as Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Sheryl Crow and producer LA Reid.

Toronto planners announced dozens of other films for the festival's 11-day run, among them Peter Webber's Emperor, starring Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur in the aftermath of Japan's defeat in World War II.

Dante Ariola's Arthur Newman, a romance with Colin Firth and Emily Blunt centred on a former golf hot shot who became a notorious choker on the pro circuit, will also feature, as will Brian De Palma's Passion, an erotic thriller featuring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.

Other Toronto highlights include The Paperboy, starring Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, Spring Breakers with James Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, and The Master, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Among previously announced films at Toronto are the opening-night premiere Looper, a sci-fi thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt.

Along with the Venice and Telluride festivals that precede it, Toronto typically is a prime launch spot for many Oscar contenders. Among past Oscar winners that played the Toronto festival were The King's Speech, The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire and Crash.

The festival runs from September 6 to 16.