TORONTO -- At my very first Toronto International Film Festival party, I exerted much effort attempting to ferret out director Margarethe von Trotta, going so far as to ask a momentarily idle Piers Handling if she was, indeed, in the house.

"Oh, yes, she's around here somewhere. Wonderful lady," I remember him saying to me.

"Like, on this floor? I really need her autograph to get me in good with this girl..." I remember replying. Is it my imagination, or has Mr. Handling given me a sidelong stare for this every time I've seen him since?

One of the prime movers of the German New Wave, Ms. Von Trotta returns to the TIFF this year with Rosenstrasse, a drama about a Jewish woman retracing her mother's troubled Berlin past. It along with Jane Campion's characteristically provocative-sounding In the Cut, starring Meg Ryan against type as an English professor caught up in a sexual obsession while a killer stalks her New York neighbourhood, are the latest films to be announced as Gala presentations.-BC

SKEDDED THUS FAR (new entries in previously-listed programs highlighted)

Program	Title	Director
Perspective Canada	A PROBLEM WITH FEAR	Gary Burns
	20H 17, RUE DARLING	Bernard Émond
	THE BREAD MAKER	Anita McGee
	THE CORPORATION	Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott
	EMILE	Carl Bessai
	FALLING ANGELS	Scott Smith
	FLYERMAN	Jeff Stephenson and Jason Tan
	GAZ BAR BLUES	Louis Bélanger
	HOLLYWOOD NORTH	Peter O'Brian
	IMITATIONS OF LIFE	Mike Hoolboom
	LOVE, SEX, AND EATING THE BONES	Sudz Sutherland
	THE MAGICAL LIFE OF LONG TACK SAM	Ann Marie Fleming
	NOTHING	Vincenzo Natali
	ON THE CORNER	Nathaniel Geary
	PROTEUS	John Greyson
	TOTEM	Gil Cardinal
	TWIST	Jacob Tierney
Canadian Open Vault	THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ	Ted Kotcheff
Canadian Retrospective: Nell Shipman	BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY
	A BEAR, A BOY, AND A DOG
	THE GRUB STAKE
	THE LIGHT ON LOOKOUT
	SOMETHING NEW
	THE STORY OF MR. HOBBS
	TRAIL OF THE NORTH WIND
	WHITE WATER
Gala	THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (LES INVASIONS BARBARES)	Denys Arcand
	THE COMPANY	Robert Altman
	DOGVILLE	Lars von Trier
	MAMBO ITALIANO	Émile Gaudreault
	THE REPUBLIC OF LOVE	Deepa Mehta
	ROSENSTRASSE	Margarethe von Trotta
	IN THE CUT	Jane Campion
Masters	CASA DE LOS BABYS	John Sayles
	DYING AT GRACE	Allan King
Contemporary World Cinema	OSAMA	Sedigh Barmak
	PROSTI	Erik Matti
	KITCHEN STORIES	Bent Hamer
	THE MOTHER	Roger Michell
	YOUNG ADAM	David Mackenzie
	DEPUIS QU’OTAR EST PARTI	Julie Bertuccelli
	THE PRINCIPLES OF LUST	Penny Woolcock
	STORMY WEATHER	Solveig Anspach
	SHARA	Naomi Kawase
	NÓI ALBINOI	Dagur Kari
	SANSA	Siegfried
	INTERMISSION	John Crowley III
National Cinema Spotlight (Vida Novo: The New Brazilian Cinema)	CARANDIRU	Hector Babenco
	THE STORY TELLERS	Eliane Caffé
	BUS 174	José Padilha
	THE MAN OF THE YEAR	José Henrique Fonseca
	MARGARETTE’S FEAST	Renato Falcão
Special Presentations	THE MERRY WIDOW	Erich von Stroheim (featuring a live score conducted by Berndt Heller)
	THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD	Guy Maddin

FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH... The Toronto International Film Festival Box Office opens at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 14. At this time, VISA cardholders may order Passes, Coupon Books, VIACOM Gala Passes, VISA Screening Room Passes, and Festival Programme Books either securely online, by fax or by phone. On July 21, the Box Office opens for walk-up sales. Also available is the Globetrotter pass for those who want a complete introduction to the best of world cinema. The Festival Box Office is located at: College Park, Market Level, 444 Yonge Street.