Opening Film Announced

The press release isn't available on the TIFF site yet, but Eugene Hernandez announced the following at Indiewire:

Canadian filmmaker Paul Gross' Passchendaele will open the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival with its world premiere on September 4, 2008. Set during World War I, the film follows a wounded Canadian solider who falls in love on the homefront and then returns to the battlefield for the third battle of Ypres, also knows as "Passchendaele." Co-produced by Niv Fichman, Frank Siracusa and Francis Damberger, the film stars filmmaker Gross, Caroline Dhavernas, Gil Bellows and Joe Dinicol.

Gross, a renowned Canadian film and theatre actor, is perhaps best known to American audiences for his television roles, on Canadian exports Due South and Slings and Arrows. "Paul Gross is an inspiring Canadian and a leader in our industry," said new festival co-director Cameron Bailey, in a statement. "By paying tribute to our nation's heroes - including his own grandfather, an Alberta veteran of Passchendaele - Gross uses the visceral charge of movies to contribute a foundation chapter to our national history. While never ignoring the horrifying truths of this or any war, Passchendaele stands as truly epic storytelling from western Canada."

Edit: Here is the official release