Venice and Toronto: This odd couple of film festivals sits back-to-back each year, giving headaches to everyone from distributors to artistic directors.

The oldest major film festival (established 1932), picturesque Venice showcases movies from all over the world. The emphasis is on arthouse, European and Italian cinema, but major Hollywood stars also walk its red carpet. Like Cannes and Berlin, its formal selections include only films premiering at the festival.

Set downtown, Toronto is younger (established 1976) and hip. It’s the most attended North American film festival, emphasizing American titles, mainstream and Indie, as well as world cinema and documentaries. Considered a good platform to launch North American campaigns for movies, Toronto doesn’t require all showcased movies to be premiering or offer a prestigious prize like Venice’s Golden Lion, though it does offer a People’s Choice Award.

Which festival better reflects your tastes? Check the 5 highlights of each below before you decide – you might be surprised.

Venice: September 2-12 2009

1. What do Takeshi Kitano, Agnès Varda, Abbas Kiarostami and Sylvester Stallone have in common?

Nothing. But the festival has decided differently, and during the closing ceremony will honor Stallone with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award, previously awarded to the directors mentioned above.

The award is dedicated to a filmmaker who has made his/her mark on contemporary cinema. This event will highlight two of Stallone’s works. The festival will show first footage of the upcoming all-(B)-star-cast The Expendables, the new action thriller Stallone wrote, directs and stars in, alongside Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and… Dolph Lundgren!! If that’s not enough, it will also reveal Rambo – Director’s Cut. No, that’s not a joke…

2. The Road

One of the most intriguing films premiering at Venice this year (and also one of the contestants for the Golden Lion award) is John Hillcoat’s The Road. It’s already attracted a lot of Oscar talk, and no wonder when you look at some of the names involved. It’s based on a novel by Cormack McCarthy, who was also behind the 2007 Oscar winner No Country for Old Men. It stars the acclaimed Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings, History of Violence) alongside an all-star cast including Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall.

Take a look at the gloomy, lyrical trailer – will this one live up to expectations?

3. Metropia

The opening film of the International Critics’ Week is an intriguing Scandinavian production from director Tarik Saleh. With background in animation and short movies, and two documentaries under his belt, he brings to the screen an animated tale of future dystopia, four years in the works. Selah is not well-known outside Sweden, but the voices he cast contribute to the anticipation: Juliette Lewis and Vincent Gallo, both no strangers to original and experimental movies, Veterans Stellan Skarsgård and Udo Kier, and Alexander Skarsgård – the rising star of Generation Kill and True Blood, and soon the lead in the remake to Straw Dogs.

The story and teaser trailer promise a rather bizarre, unique take on the theme. Same for the animation style.

4. Capitalism: A Love Story

Another contender for the Golden Lion is Michael Moore’s new film, which has of course already created controversy. Dealing with the recent financial crisis and the government transition between Bush and Obama, the movie’s marketing tagline is “Capitalism is Evil.”

According to Moore, this will be his last documentary in the next couple of years, as he is now working on two feature films. So for all his documentary fans, this might be a last opportunity in a while. As for the (majority) others, they can sigh and say, Thank god! We’ve had just about enough of self-righteous, manipulative criticism, even if justified…

5. Another decision of the festival managers that might have surprised several people is granting the honorary lifetime achievements Golden Lion award to John Lasseter and the Pixar directors. Previous winners of this award include David Lynch, Clint Eastwood, Stanley Kubrick and Woody Allen. So there’s Venice’s answer to all those who still think animation is just for kids.

Get full line up and additional info here.

Toronto: September 10-19, 2009

1. TIFF is among the top 5 film festivals in the world, but this year it may have even greater importance.
The economical crisis has had a grave effect on film productions. According to Film Releases, 40% less films were produced for the upcoming awards season. Some movie distributors still have major gaps between film releases. Toronto might be a last chance for those distributors to fill their schedules.

Viewers and distributors alike should pay attention to relatively small, independent films. Last year, films like The Wrestler and Slumdog Millionaire screened at Toronto and eventually dominated the awards season.

2. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

TIFF features the North American premiere of a film that’s interesting for several reasons. It’s Terry Gilliam’s new feature, and even though this director was responsible for several disappointments in recent years (Tideland, The Brothers Grimm), his fans still hope he’ll return to the glory days of Twelve Monkeys and Brazil. Maybe this time he will.

Even more interesting, this is Heath Ledger’s last performance. He died during the shooting of the film, and Gilliam altered the script so several actors could play the same character. Ledger’s replacements are no less than Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

The trailer is mesmerizing, and taking into account how Ledger’s tragic death added to his previous film’s success, I think we can expect an interesting experience.

3. This year’s controversy surrounds TIFF’s new City to City program, which will present a tribute to a selected city each year. The first city in the program is Tel Aviv, in honor of its 100th birthday. The program includes 10 films, both old and contemporary, by Israeli masters like Uri Zohar and Assi Dayan.

But the program was quick to receive criticism and protests from filmmakers with anti-Israel politics, including Jane Fonda, Danny Glover and Naomi Klein. Several filmmakers announced that they would withdraw their films from the festival.

So far the TIFF management stands behind their decision. Cameron Bailey, programmer of City to City, said, “As a festival that values debate and the exchange of cultures, we will continue to screen the best films we can find from around the world. This is our contribution to expanding our audiences’ experience of this art form and the worlds it represents.”

It will be interesting to follow the controversy and see where it leads until the festival opens. It will be even more interesting to check out the movies in the program, at least for those who appreciate filmmaking, wherever it comes from.

4. Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire

This film premiered at the last Sundance Film Festival and won three awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for best drama. But since then it’s remained quite out of the spotlight.

This could be a classic case of a small independent film that receives attention at Toronto, later becoming a leading candidate in the awards season and Oscar race. Although we admit it’s a rare case.

It’s based on the novel “Push,” about a black Harlem teenager impregnated by her father and abused by her mother. The incredibly harsh narrative - based on a true story - impressed many, and two dominant African-American entertainment figures, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, decided to give it promotional assistance.

The Toronto Film Festival gives extra value via a public reading with the author in an event hosted by the director.

5. Agora

Another intriguing film in its North American premiere is Alejandro Amenabar’s new feature. This acclaimed writer/director, who brought us Open Your Eyes (1997) and the Oscar-winning The Sea Inside (2004) returns to direct his first feature film since 2004. This time it’s a historical epic, set in Roman Egypt in 369 CE and dealing with the tension between paganism and Christianity as an impossible love triangle unfolds. Rachel Weisz stars as Hypatia, a legendary Philosopher and mathematician.

The trailer reveals a highly stylized film in which every minor detail is carefully mastered. Even if the film doesn’t rise to the level of Amenabar’s previous features, we can at least expect an eye-pleasing experience.

Get full line up and additional info here.

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