TORONTO -- Oscar-nominated Quebec director Philippe Falardeau will celebrate the world premiere of his new movie "The Good Lie" at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

The fact-based drama stars Reese Witherspoon as a straight-talking American who helps four Sudanese refugees and is Falardeau's first film since 2011's "Monsieur Lazhar," which was shortlisted for an Academy Award.

The first wave of titles to screen at the annual movie marathon were announced this morning at a news conference.

Witherspoon will have two high-profile projects screening at the festival. She also stars in "Wild," the latest entry from Quebec director Jean-Marc Vallee based on the bestselling memoir by Cheryl Strayed.

Other world premieres bound for Toronto include the chess flick "Pawn Sacrifice," starring Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky; the Denzel Washington thriller "The Equalizer"; and the indie custody saga "Black and White," which re-teams Kevin Costner with "Upside of Anger" director Mike Binder and also stars Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.

In addition, festival audiences will get a first look at the Jake Gyllenhaal action flick "Nightcrawler" and the Steven Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything," which stars Eddie Redmayne as the famed scientist and Felicity Jones as his wife.

Another buzzed-about festival-bound title is director Bennett Miller's "Foxcatcher," which casts Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo in a based-on-a-true-story tale about the strange relationship between a multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 4 to 14.

David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" will have its North American premiere at the festival after screening at Cannes earlier this year.

Other titles revealed Tuesday include: "The Riot Club," from director Lone Scherfig, who made a splash at the fest a few years back with the Carey Mulligan standout "An Education"; the tart family comedy "This is Where I Leave You," which is directed by Montreal-born Shawn Levy ("A Night At the Museum") and features Jason Bateman and Tina Fey; and "Still Alice," which stars Kristen Stewart and Julianne Moore and is based on the popular Lisa Genova novel about a professor battling Alzheimer's.

Festival favourite Jason Reitman, meanwhile, will screen "Men, Women & Children" in Toronto, while "The Squid and the Whale" helmer Noah Baumbach will reveal his new feature "While We're Young," starring Amanda Seyfried, Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts.

In addition, Oscar-winning "Rain Man" director Barry Levinson will unveil his latest effort, "The Humbling," which is based on a Philip Roth novel and stars Al Pacino.

And the closing film will be "A Little Chaos," from director Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet, Stanley Tucci and Rickman himself.

The festival's full Canadian slate of films is to be revealed in early August. The opening night movie and the celeb guest list have yet to be announced.