Toronto Film Fest films seek buyers

TORONTO, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The Toronto Film Festival is featuring high-profile films even though the market for art films is slow, a report says.

ThinkFilm's "10 Items or Less," starring Morgan Freeman, which debuted Monday, is being released to theaters late this year or early 2007, but will be available two weeks later on broadband, Daily Variety reported.

ThinkFilm's U.S. head Mark Urman said many filmmakers are resistant to downloading, but an advantage is people can see the films more quickly.

Films boasting celebrities are in demand, including "El Cantante" with Jennifer Lopez and "Bonneville" with Joan Allen, Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates. "Volver" by Pedro Almodóvar and "Pan's Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro are much anticipated, Variety said.

Michael Moore's "Sicko" and "The Great '04 Slacker Uprising" -- featuring an appearance by the director -- are expected to create news headlines.

"Death of a President" -- which depicts the imaginary assassination of U.S. President George W. Bush, and is scheduled to run on Britain's Channel 4 -- does not yet have a North American distributor.

"Infamous," another film about Truman Capote, and "The Killer Within," a documentary about student Bob Bechtel's rampage at Swarthmore in the 1950s, will get notice, Daily Variety said.

Studio executives were encouraged by a bidding war that ensued at Sundance last year over "Little Miss Sunshine."