The exceptional presence of French films (33 majority French productions all categories combined) at this year's Toronto International Film Festival attracted French professionals, sales agents and producers, along with actors and directors, who came to meet distributors from Canada, America, and further afield. The Toronto International Film Festival is today the strategic gateway for French film artists and professionals. The group of actors and directors of the films presented at the beginning of the festival - Juliette Binoche, Salma Havek (who came with Mathieu Demy, in town to present his film), Jean Dujardin, Philippe Torreton, Tomer Sisley, Tahar Rahim, Marjane Satrapi and Winshluss, Mathieu Kassovitz, Mia Hansen-Love, Bruno Dumont, Bertrand Bonello, and Ismael Ferroukhi, among others - were all on hand to prove the force of current French cinema.

The appeal of which is undeniable: the People's Choice Award went to the French-Lebanese coproduction by Nadine Labaki, Where Do We Go Now?.