Zombies walk among us… again! OK, it’s not so strange to see the dead walk on screen, but there’ll be nothing cute about the reanimated mofos in Pontypool, Bruce McDonald’s long-awaited adaptation of Tony Burgess’ hallucinatory horror novel Pontypool Changes Everything. The movie was among those announced Tuesday at the Royal York as the Toronto International Film Festival (running Sept. 4-13) unveiled its slate of homegrown selections. We’re also stoked about Toronto Stories, a production that collects GTA-centric shorts by Sook-Yin Lee, Aaron Woodley, Sudz Sutherland and David Weaver, and films by Quebec faves Philippe Falardeau (It’s Not Me, I Swear!), Rodrigue Jean (Lost Song) and Lea Pool (Maman est chez la coiffeur).

Canada First opens with Edison and Leo, the country’s first stop-motion animated feature and the handiwork of Rhinoceros Eyes animator Neil Burns. Among the other newbies to the fest are Randall Cole (his Slamdance opener Real Time) and Warren Sonoda (Cooper’s Camera, a comedy starring Daily Show power couple Jason Jones and Samantha Bee).

The new guard looks set to outshine the vets, who are in short supply this time ‘round even if Deepa Mehta (Heaven on Earth) and Atom Egoyan (Adoration) are represented in Special Presentation slots. Joining Paul Gross’ WWI epic Passchendaele among the galas are Kari Skogland’s Fifty Dead Men Walking, an IRA thriller starring the newly ubiquitous Jim Sturgess, and Michael McGowan’s One Week, which we hope doesn’t involve Joshua Jackson and Liane Balaban in an adaptation of the Barenaked Ladies song.

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Enlivening what was to be a slow week for kung-fu mastery, the legendary Gordon Liu arrives to inspire many gestures of veneration. The star of Shaw Brothers extravaganzas like The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Kill Bill is on hand for a screening of his 1978 classic Heroes of the East at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex) July 19 at 2:30pm. It’s free but fans would be wise to reserve a spot by going to www.utoronto.ca/ai. And, as always, beware of flying guillotines. 

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