Toronto, A Year Later

The Toronto International Film Festival had a sad intermission last year. The Sept. 11 attacks divided the 10-day event in two: a happy gathering of the cinema spirits, followed by a mournful, distracted coda. This year Toronto was back to being North America's largest, nicest movie convention. Between parties, one film reminded us of what we've learned in a year. Others offered pickings from the banquet of world cinema. --By Richard Corliss

11'09"01--September 11

Eleven directors of international repute each made a film intended to be precisely 11 min., 9 sec. and one frame long. Some were poignant (Sean Penn's, on...