I'm not afraid to admit it: I'm a huge fan of Woody Allen's films. The popular yet eccentric director has had his fair share of duds recently, but any man that includes movies like Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters as part of his filmography is undoubtedly talented.

Which is why I'm extremely excited with the new announcement that Allen's newest film, Cassandra's Dream, will be screening as a gala presentation during this year's Toronto International Film Festival. For those Torontonians for whom the festival is more about star power than cinema, Allen's new movie stars Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson, and Ewan McGregor, so its inclusion in TIFF is bound to draw some big names to Toronto in September.

Speaking of celebrities, the other gala announced today, Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, features performances by Evan Rachel Wood, Eddie Izzard, and Bono in a movie about turmoil and love in the 1960s set to a backdrop of music by The Beatles. No word yet on whether the U2 frontman will be visiting Toronto for the festival, but he has been known to enjoy spending time in Canada, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Earlier this week, the TIFF group also announced new additions to Real to Reel — including Scott Hicks' portrait of celebrated composer Philip Glass, the highly anticipated new documentary by Werner Herzog about Antarctica, and Kevin McDonald's profile of one-time Gestapo commander Klaus Barbie — and eight new titles in Vanguard, including Gus Van Sant's newest film, Paranoid Park, and Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal's directorial debut, Déficit.

(Photo: Woody Allen by idealterna.)