Comedy and drama dominate Toronto

Brad Pitt and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston are both expected

Comedy and drama films will feature prominently at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival, organisers have announced.

Unveiling 312 films to be shown at the 10-day September festival, co-director Cameron Bailey said there was a shift towards films about relationships.

Last year's festival featured a number of political and war themed films.

Stars including Brad Pitt, ex-wife Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney are all expected.

Other actors appearing at the festival, which starts on 4 September, include Sir Ben Kingsley and Keira Knightley.

It's movies that are about more the domestic sphere, more about relationships between characters, family relationships and less about the whole political sweep of what's going on in the world Cameron Bailey Toronto International Film Festival

Some 249 feature films and 63 short films from 64 countries will be showcased at the festival this year, including 116 world premieres.

Mr Bailey said movies at this year's festival would be more inward-looking than last year's.

"It's movies that are about more the domestic sphere, more about relationships between characters, family relationships and less about the whole political sweep of what's going on in the world," he said.

The festival is opening with Canadian film-maker Paul Gross's World War I film Passchendaele which tells the story of two brothers fighting in the disastrous battle.

Other highlights include Burn After Reading by the Coen brothers whose No Country For Old Men won four Oscars this year.

The film stars Pitt, Clooney and John Malkovich.

Unknown rival

Gavin O'Connor's police drama Pride And Glory, starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell, is also hotly anticipated.

The range of British films screening at Toronto this year, from documentary to contemporary realism, fantasy, comedy and period drama, highlights the incredible breadth of film-making talent Lenny Crooks UK Film Council

Another festival highlight will be The Other Man, which stars Liam Neeson as a man who finds out that his wife is receiving e-mails and text messages from an unknown rival played by Antonio Banderas.

Some 25 films being shown at Toronto are British.

They include Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary, a behind-the-scenes look at the Junior Eurovision Contest.

The Duchess, which stars Keira Knightley as Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, will also be shown.

The UK Film Council's Lenny Crooks said: "The range of British films screening at Toronto this year, from documentary to contemporary realism, fantasy, comedy and period drama, highlights the incredible breadth of film-making talent."

The Toronto International Film Festival is North America's biggest and ranks with Cannes, Venice, Sundance and Berlin in its influence.