(Above: Moritz Bleibtreu and Woody Harrelson play lovers in The Walker)

The Toronto Film Festival has become one of the biggest and most significant in the world in terms of deals and distribution. The fest recently announced its lineup, and it features some gay-related and gay-interest films in the bunch.

A Jihad for Love, by Parvez Sharma, is the first feature-length examination of the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims, whose lifestyles conflict with strict Islamic teachings.

Angel, directed by acclaimed queer(ish) filmmaker François Ozon, takes place in England, 1905. Angel Deverell is a gifted young writer who dreams of success, fame and love. But what will happen if all her dreams come true? The film stars Romola Garai, Lucy Russel, Michael Fassbender, Sam Neill and frequent collaborator Charlotte Rampling.

Barcelona (A Map) comes from director Ventura Pons, and according to the festival notes, "Incest, homosexuality and adultery are intertwined in the lives of six characters who come together in an old apartment in the heart of Barcelona." Nice to see homosexuality mentioned in such good company as incest and adultery, isn't it?

Chacun Son Cinema (Various directors): The Toronto International Film Festival is honoured to be showing this Cannes Film Festival favourite. More than 30 of the most distinguished contemporary filmmakers – including Canadians David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan as well as David Lynch, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Roman Polanski, Gus Van Sant, Lars von Trier, and Wong Kar Wai – celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cannes with short films inspired by the cinephile’s place of worship: the movie theatre.

Lust, Caution, while not gay, is the latest film from Ang Lee. Following his Academy Award™ win for Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee returns with an erotic espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai, in which a young woman (Tang Wei) gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure (the dashing Tony Leung from Happy Together and In the Mood for Love). Also starring Chui Wai, Joan Chen and Wang Leehom.

The Past follows the twists and turns in the life of Rimini (Hot 100 vet Gael García Bernal). After his divorce, he survives a string of relationships, loses his livelihood as a translator, becomes entangled in a child custody battle, lands in jail and recovers his ability to fall in love.

Smiley Face is the latest comedy from gay director Gregg Araki. (And by all accounts it actually already opened here in the States earlier this year, which is odd.) Jane F (Anna Faris), unsuccessful slacker actress, is having a bad day. Her misadventures begin when she treats herself to a batch of cupcakes left unattended by her psycho roommate (Danny Masterson) that prove not as innocent as they appear. Soon she is trying to cross town so she can repay an unforgiving drug dealer (Adam Brody), attend an audition, and somehow replace the precious cupcakes.

The Walker is the American Gigolo follow-up from Paul Schrader, starring Woody Harrelson as the titular hustler, who is in this incarnation a high-end society escort in Washington, DC (and this time around, gay). Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, Willem Defoe, Ned Beatty, Moritz Bleibtreu and Mary Beth Hurt also appear.