CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - CONTROVERSIAL DARWIN BIOPIC TO OPEN TORONTO FESTIVAL

CONTROVERSIAL DARWIN BIOPIC TO OPEN TORONTO FESTIVAL

Creation , a film virtually certain to provoke massive controversy when it is released, has been selected to open the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10. The Jon Amiel film about the life of Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution continues to be challenged by religious conservatives, stars Jeremy Thomas in the role of Darwin. (2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.) "The tension between faith and reason is prominent in contemporary culture, and this intimate look at Darwin puts a human face on a man whose theory remains controversial to this day," festival director Piers Handling said in a statement. The festival will also feature another biopic, Jan Campion's Bright Star, about the life of 19th-century poet John Keats that was well received at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

15/07/2009