Toronto film festival 2013: the best of the line-up - in pictures

The Fifth Estate: Opening night at the 38th Toronto film festival is about egos, secrets and godawful wigs. Bad barnet number one goes to Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange in this fictionalised account of the WikiLeaks saga, based partly on Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding's book about the controversy Photograph: The Weinstein Company

August: Osage County: Ropey-do number two comes courtesy of Meryl Streep (pictured with co-star Julia Roberts). She's the pill-chomping matriach at the centre of a comedy drama based on the Pulitzer-winning play by Tracy Letts (who also wrote Killer Joe, a critical hit at Toronto two years ago). Surrounding her are Roberts as her cynical daughter, Sam Shepard as her wastrel husband and Benedict Cumberbatch as "Little" Charlie Aiken. Toronto's developing a reputation for setting Oscar contenders off on the long road to the Academy Awards. Streep's on top form, the mighty Weinsteins are in its corner. You'll be hearing about August: Osage County from now until next February Photograph: Toronto film festival

The Double: Richard Ayoade's directorial follow-up to Submarine adapts Fyodor Dostoevsky's head-spinning novel into a modern-day parable about workplace alienation. Jesse Eisenberg (pictured) stars as the office drone who starts to question his sanity when asked to work side-by-side with his doppelganger. Ayaode, Eisenberg, weighty Russian literature. Nevermind the Justice League. Here's your true geek nirvana Photograph: PR

Twelve Years a Slave: Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in Steve McQueen's drama based on Solomon Northup's autobiography. Northup was a free black man who was sold into slavery, worked in Louisiana plantations for a dozen years and then wrote about his experiences after winning his freedom. Huge heft in the cast list here: McQueen regular Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis, Brad Pitt and - back again - Benedict Cumberbatch Photograph: PR

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom: Idris Elba (pictured) is apparently on Oscar-courting form as Nelson Mandela in Justin Chadwick's biopic of South Africa's first democratically elected president. No word yet as to how Chadwick makes a drama out of Mandela's nearly 30 years in prison, but expect this to play well with the Toronto audience. Argo showed they have a taste for political drama, especially when they know the happy-ish ending's in sight Photograph: PR

Labor Day: Toronto native Jason Reitman's new film has Kate Winslet as a depressed single mum who picks up a dangerous crook (Josh Brolin) while on a drive with her teenager son. Reitman's a fave of the fest - all of his films, bar Young Adult, have premiered in T-dot - but it will be interesting to see how this more serious drama plays for fans of his trademark bite Photograph: PR

Dallas Buyers Club: Matthew McConaughey (pictured) shed the pounds and the last of his pretty boy reputation to play out the real-life drama of Ron Woodroof, a HIV-AIDS patient who took on the Food and Drug Administration by creating a black market for illegal alternative therapies, selling to the eponymous group of fellow sufferers Photograph: Toronto film festival

Can A Song Save Your Life?: Romantic drama in which Keira Knightley plays Gretta, a young New Yorker who gets over the heartbreak of being dumped by writing songs with a new chum - a scruffy, lovable record producer played by - who else? - Mark Ruffalo Photograph: Andrew Schwartz/Toronto film festival

Supermensch The Legend of Shep Gordon: Talent manager, mate of Alice Cooper, inventor of the term "celebrity chef", Shep Gordon has the kind of personality that should make for a big, brash documentary. You could it make it more fun by throwing an equally gregarious director into the ring with him. Someone like Mike Myers, say. That's who've they've got?! No way! Photograph: PR

Le Weekend: Roger Michell directs a drama about a long-married couple who travel to Paris to remind themselves of their honeymoon. Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan star as Mr and Mrs, Jeff Goldblum's on hand the help them rediscover the spark. Le words are provided by Michell's long-term collaborator Hanif Kureishi Photograph: Nicola Dove/Nicola Dove

One Chance: Time for a sing-song as James Corden (pictured) takes on the story of Britain's Got Talent warbler Paul Potts, the winner of the talent show's first series in 2007. Corden will play Potts from his humble beginnings as the Herald in Bath Opera's version of Puccini's Turandot, to the heady days of getting shouted at by Simon Cowell on live television Photograph: Toronto film festival

Devil's Knot: The West Memphis Three's story, as dramatised by Atom Egoyan. Adapted from a well-regarded non-fiction book on the case, the film has already been called "garbage" by Damien Echols, one of the three men imprisoned for the killing of three young boys, then freed after a massive popular protest helped to secure their release. Colin Firth plays Ron Lax, the PI who worked for the three men. Reese Witherspoon (pictured) is Pamela Hobbs, mother of one of the victims Photograph: Toronto film festival

You Are Here: Owen Wilson's a womanising weatherman. Zach Galifianakis is his kooky best mate. We'll leave it to first-time writer/director Matthew Weiner to add nuance to that double drop of typecasting. He can do it too - he's the guy behind Mad Men and some of the best bits of The Sopranos Photograph: Toronto film festival

Visitors: Godfrey Reggio - director of the avant garde documentaries Naqoyqatsi and Koyaanisqatsi - will enlist the help of Steven Soderbergh and Philip Glass to present his latest majestically beautiful head-scratcher. Soderbergh's said Reggio's dealing with big themes, but has neglected to mention what they are. If his back catalogue's anything to go by expect Visitors to be equal parts awe and eh? Photograph: Toronto Film Festival

Starred Up: Director David Mackenzie (pictured) brings some rough and tumble to Toronto with a prison drama about a young con running wild in his first few months after transfer from juvenile detention to big boys' prison. Nev - a lieutenant for the joint's kingpin - is told to put the young buck in his place. The twist? Nev's the wild one's dad Photograph: Aidan Monaghan/PR

Quai d'Orsay: French veteran Bertrand Tavernier takes on his country's political class with a satire about a fictional foreign minister swaggering across the world stage armed with his mantra: legitimacy, lucidity and efficacy. Raphaël Personnaz plays the speechwriter hired to put a decent spin on the message Photograph: Toronto film festival

The Invisible Woman: Ralph Fiennes (pictured) follows-up his contemporary take on Coriolanus with his second directorial effort - an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's book about Charles Dickens's relationship with his mistress Nelly Ternan (played by Felicity Jones). Fiennes stars, alongside Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas and Tom Hollander as Dickens's best bud, Wilkie Collins Photograph: David Appleby/Toronto film festival

Hateship, Loveship: Kristen Wiig's nanny is flung headlong towards a recovering alcoholic (Guy Pearce) by his manipulative teenage daughter (Hailee Steinfeld) in this comedy drama. Toronto's favourite themes - addiction, reconciliation, cutesy rebellion - are all there. This might as well come doused in maple syrup Photograph: Toronto film festival

Half a Yellow Sun: Chiwetel Ejiofor again, plonked this time into the Biafran War and made to walk the long, slow path to Nigerian independence. Thandie Newton (pictured), Joseph Mawle and Anika Noni Rose co-star, but watch out in particular for John Boyega, the star turn in Joe Cornish's Attack the Block, now making strides into the serious stuff Photograph: Toronto film festival

The Art of Steal: Jay Baruchel (pictured second from right) plays motorbike daredevil Crunch Calhoun, a second-rate stuntman looking to turn the page on his petrolhead days by stealing a valuable book. Matt Dillon, Kurt Russell and Terence Stamp rev their engines in the background Photograph: Toronto film festival