Arrival and La La Land among new movies shown at Toronto film festival

Richard Gere returns to the big screen with “Norman: the Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer,” a drama which gets its international premiere today at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2016 along with Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival.”

Gere, 67, stars in the new drama by Joseph Cedar, the director and writer of “Footnote” (2011), alongside Michael Sheen, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Steve Buscemi and Hank Azaria.

Cedar’s drama focuses on Gere’s character: a New Yorker with all the connections in the city that allow him to always find the right person to fix any situation.

Another film that has its premiere today in Toronto is “Arrival,” the latest production from Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (“Prisoners” 2013, “Sicario” 2015.)

The movie, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker, has already premiered at the Venice Film Festival and tells the story of the mysterious arrival on Earth of several alien space ships.

During the media and industry screening, the science fiction film received a standing ovation, something unusual at the TIFF’s screening for professionals in the industry.

Today, the film’s two main stars participated in a press conference in which they expressed their admiration for Villeneuve, who was unable to attend the event because he is shooting Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” sequel in Europe.

Amy Adams, who portrays a linguistic expert who has the impossible task of communicating with the aliens, said Villeneuve “is so much fun and has so much passion and so much love for what he does.”

Jeremy Renner, who plays a theoretical physicist in the film, praised Villeneuve for always paying a lot of attention to his actors.

Following a highly praised opening at the Venice Film Festival, “La La Land,” starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and directed by Damien Chazelle (“Whiplash,” 2014), will also screen at the TIFF today.

Since its premiere in Venice, Chazelle’s musical has been compared to Gene Kelly’s classic musical “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952.)