Ning Hao talks about new film

New film brings Zhang home

Meanwhile, TIFF's CEO Piers Handling said they were considering the idea of engaging with China much more seriously and taking some of TIFF's programming to China.

"We're doing a lot more work in China. I was there myself twice in the last six months going to Shanghai and Beijing, talking to many representatives in the film industry, visited the opening night of the Beijing Film Festival," he said. "So we're just engaging with China much more seriously and we're also thinking very seriously about taking some of our programming to China."

This year's festival will also get a slight makeover. TIFF will be taking their mission to engage the public to a new level. For the first four opening days, organizers are planning to close off a portion of Toronto's busy downtown street for a brand new street festival which will include free programming, pop-up performances and an outdoor stage.

While the opening night film is still unknown, Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos, starring Kate Winslet and Stanley Tucci, was announced as the closing-night gala.

The festival, which was founded in 1976, now is seen as one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

Organizers are expected to unveil more of its lineup in the next few weeks for the 39th festival, which runs on Sept 4-14.