Cate Shortland established herself as a serious filmmaker with her impressive feature debut, Somersault, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004.  Her second film, the visually stunning Lore, which opens February 8^th, follows the harrowing journey of a fourteen-year-old German girl (Saskia Rosendahl) who leads her four siblings across a war-torn Germany after her Nazi parents are imprisoned by the victorious Allies at the end of World War II.  When she meets a mysterious young refugee, Thomas (Kai Malina), she must put her trust in the very person she was always taught to hate in order to survive.

Shortland talked to me about the challenges of making a film that delves into gray areas and raises questions about every concept we have of family, love and friendship.  She discussed the book that inspired the film, her collaboration with screenwriter Robin Mukherjee, portraying the characters with objectivity while also giving them a sense of humanity, researching the historical era, and creating the look and visual language of the film.  She also revealed how the film affected her personally, her reaction to Lore being selected as Australia’s official Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film, and her upcoming project — a love story set in Bali.  Hit the jump to read more.

The adaptation of the IDW graphic novel Lore now has a director.  The story, from author T.P. Louise and illustrator Ashley Wood, follows an ancient line of protectors known as Shepherds who defend our world against dangerous mythological beasts.  When the property was first acquired back in 2010, its producers were hoping to kickstart a Men in Black-style franchise with the film adaptation.  It appears that exact wish might come to fruition as Barry Sonnenfeld—who helmed all three Men in Black films—is now in talks to direct Lore.

Hit the jump for more on the project.

The line-up for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has been announced and it is a doozy.  The festival will play host to some of the year’s biggest world premieres including Rian Johnson‘s Looper (which will be the festival’s opening night film), The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer‘s Cloud Atlas, Ben Affleck‘s Argo, David O. Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook, Derek Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond the Pines, Joss Whedon‘s Much Ado About Nothing, Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, and Neil Jordan‘s Byzantium.  Films making their International/North American debuts (which means that they’ll like show up at the Venice Film Festival first) include Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder, Joe Wright‘s Anna Karenina, Robert Redford‘s The Company You Keep, and Billy Bob Thornton‘s Jayne Mansfield’s Car.

Hit the jump for the first wave of announced films.  The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 – 16th.

It’s been a while since we reported on the adaptation of the graphic novel, Lore, but the addition of star Dwayne Johnson makes it relevant again.  The graphic novel by husband-and-wife team,  T.P. Louise (author) and Ashley Wood (illustrator), follows an ancient line of protectors known as Shepherds who defend our world against dangerous mythological beasts. We previously reported that scribes Cory Goodman (Priest) and Jeremy Lott had signed on to pen the adaptation with producers looking to turn the property into a franchise similar to Men in Black. Now, it looks like Warner Bros. will be the lucky studio to try.  THR reports they’ve picked up the adapted screenplay and underlying rights to the source for seven figures.  Hit the jump to check out the synopsis for Lore, as well as news on another recent six-figure acquisition for Warner Bros.

Following Comic-Con 2009, the husband-and-wife comic book team of Ashley Wood (illustrator) and T.P. Louise (author) sold the rights to their World War Robot to mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer.  Not ones to break tradition, the week after SDCC 2010 brings news that their mythological creature graphic novel Lore is likewise on a path to the big screen.  According to Heat Vision, Cory Goodman (Priest) and Jeremy Lott have signed on to write the screenplay.

The producers are reportedly hoping to kickstart a Men in Black-style franchise, swapping mythological beings for those of an extraterrestrial nature.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis.