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10 must-sees at the Venice and Toronto film festivals

A couple of months ago I received an email from Peter Cowie, the voice of countless Criterion Collection commentary tracks and the world's foremost expert on Ingmar Bergman.

Would I be interested in attending the 72nd Venice Film Festival to sit on a panel and discuss three films from the Biennale College, the festival's higher education training workshop for the development and production of microbudget feature-length films? The San Francisco Chronicle's critic, Mick LaSalle, recommended me.

Uh, yes. I would be interested in that. And Mick, you're now in my will.

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So I head to Venice for the start of the festival Wednesday. I'll see the three films presented by the College: Baby Bump, from Poland; the Japanese-Italian co-production Blanka; and The Fits, from the U.S.

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I'll also get an early look at other films, many of them coming soon to a theater near you. I might even hop into a gondola and try to find that evil dwarf that terrorized Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie in Don't Look Now. Then I'll fly to Toronto for my usual swing through the Toronto International Film Festival.

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I can't complain. What I can do is break down 10 films on my must-see list between the two festivals. Venice and Toronto (along with Telluride) mark the start of the annual festival season, when Oscar contenders start bucking for position.

I'll send a steady stream of impressions from abroad. You can keep up with my travels and viewings on our Movies page, in the Arts & Life print section and on my Twitter feed.

Ciao.

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Must-see films at the festivals

Here's my list for Venice and Toronto festival viewing, with Dallas opening dates if available.

Beasts of No Nation

Cary Fukunaga, who directed the stellar first season of True Detective, directs Idris Elba in this drama about a child soldier in an unnamed African civil war. (In Dallas theaters Oct. 16)

Black Mass

Johnny Depp stars as notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger, who was also the basis of Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed. (Sept. 18)

The Danish Girl

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Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne stars as artist and transgender pioneer Lili Elbe. Another Oscar winner, Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), directs. (December)

Everest

The opening film of the Venice fest captures the harrowing 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster, also the subject of Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air. Josh Brolin plays a survivor, Dallas' own Dr. Beck Weathers. (Sept. 18)

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Hitchcock/Truffaut

Kent Jones, a longtime stalwart at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, directs this documentary breaking down François Truffaut's weeklong 1962 interview with Alfred Hitchcock.

Janis

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This is Amy Berg's documentary on Port Arthur legend Janis Joplin, narrated by Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power.

Legend

Tom Hardy times two: The Mad Max star plays gangster twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray, rulers of the 1960s London underworld who were also the subjects of the 1990 film The Krays. (Oct. 2)

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Miss Sharon Jones!

Another singer doc. This one chronicles a tough year in the life of soul sensation Sharon Jones. Two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple directs.

Rabin, the Last Day

Israeli auteur Amos Gitai directs this dramatic investigation into the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

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Youth

Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty was a hit of the 2013 Toronto festival. Here he directs Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as a couple of old lions nearing the end. (Dec. 4)