Toronto International Film Festival

Slumdog Millionaire ended up the top dog.

The 2008 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival wrapped today, with the Bombay-based movie about a teen one question away from the grand prize on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire scoring the fest's biggest kudo, the People's Choice Award, capping a 10-day cinema orgy that featured Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston deftly avoiding each other, Roger Ebert bonked by a fellow film critic and, perhaps most shockingly, Mickey Rourke continued to solidify his place on the Oscar map.

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Laura Bickford Productions

Steven Soderbergh's Che will be coming soon to a theater near you. Be sure to pack accordingly.

In one of the higher profile deals of the week, IFC Films leaves the Toronto International Film Festival with North American distribution rights to the the 4 1/2-hour, two-part Benicio Del Toro-starring biopic.

Though trimmed less than Che Guevera's beard from its even longer version at Cannes, the epic will get one-week runs in New York in Los Angeles to qualify for Oscar consideration before going wider in January. A DVD version will be available through IFC's exclusive deal with Blockbuster.

Soderbergh is "one of the most visionary American directors at work" today, gushed IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring. "Che is nothing less than the film event of the year...Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro, who gives an incredible soulful performance, have humanized [Guevera] and given audiences around the world something that will be discussed for years to come."

Possibly because it will take years to watch the entire film.

At the gala party for Che at Toronto's Greenhouse space, a low-key Del Toro said this was his "toughest role."

Also making the scene in Toronto:

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Lionsgate

Bill Maher isn't monkeying around when it comes to politically incorrect humor, or his favorite subject—the Almighty.

His new documentary, Religulous, which had its world premiere Saturday night at the Toronto Film Festival, is predictably making waves for its satirical musings on the world's three main religions.

And then there's the poster.

The one-sheet, which will adorn theaters outside the U.S., shows a trio of chimps dressed as a rabbi, the pope and an Islamic cleric.

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George Pimentel/Getty Images

 • Jennifer Aniston (Management) couldn't manage her feelings towards Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading). She canceled reservations in one hotel she considered too close to him and relocated to premises further away. Aniston's privacy was also protected by her main PR man Stephen Huvane, who spread his jacket in front of her to block any underwear shots during her limo exit.

• The premiere of Burn After Reading turned the normally cool Toronto crowd into a blazing mob of young girls hot for Pitt, who signed autographs on any material offered. The Bradulation overwhelmed costar Tilda Swinton, who felt compelled to apologize to the crowd: "I'm sorry I'm not Brad!"

• MIA from the Burn After Reading screamathon was Pitt BFF George Clooney, in Milan filming a Japanese commerical for Honda.

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Jeff Vespa/Getty Images

• Kevin Smith figures there's one thing wrong with bringing a movie to the Toronto Film Fest: The audiences are way too polite.

"In Toronto, nobody turns their nose up at almost anything," said Smith, in town to hype his latest comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

"If you tank in Toronto, then something's seriously wrong with that movie."

• Brad Pitt's promotion of his latest film, the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, brings him in town for one overlapping day with his ex-missus, Jennifer Aniston, whose Management, is also in the festival. Sources tell E! News their respective handlers worked overtime to find luxury hotels at opposite ends of the city, but the former pair checked into accommodations within walking distance of each other. Avoiding each other will apparently take management by both sides.

Despite this, a survey found 51 percent of Canadians want to see Brad and Jen together again.

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Miramax

The Toronto Film Festival doesn't often lack the vision thing. And then came Blindness.

The Fernando Meirelles film based on Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago's acclaimed novel, which garnered mixed reviews at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, made its North American debut Saturday at the Elgin Theatre. And judging by audience reaction, the Toronto gala was something of a repeat performance.

Before the screening, the director, who vaulted to the international ranks on the strength of such hits as City of God and The Constant Gardener, introduced stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal and the mostly Canadian supporting cast.

Shortly afterward, those in attendance were treated to a two-hour post-apocalyptic nightmare. Festival goers checking their BlackBerries has become a sad fact of screenings. But the number of flashing smartphones seemed unusually high. The theater was dark but didn't disguise the dozen-plus audience members exiting mid-movie.

One film generating extremely positive buzz is first-time helmer Nicholas Fackler's holiday romance, Lovely, Still. The film, about an elderly bachelor (Martin Landau) who falls in love with a new neighbor (Ellen Burstyn) has been playing to sold-out crowds. Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks costar.

We caught up with Scott and Banks at one the hottest (and hardest-to-get-into) parties in town, a bash thrown by Creative Artists Agency at the rooftop bar of the Park Hyatt Hotel.

Here are some party highlights:

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