The Toronto International Film Festival has announced that "Babel", the latest film by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 Grams), will make its North American premiere as a Special Presentation at the Festival.

The film, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal, tells the story of four groups of people whose worlds collide after an unfortunate accident in the Morrocan desert.

The film was screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. Inarritu garnered the award for Best Director at Cannes for the film. The film is has already received some early Oscar buzz for both Inarritu and Pitt.

Speculation is also rampant about whether the film's screening means that Pitt will be attending the Toronto Film Festival, after he missed the Cannes screening because of the impending birth of daughter Shiloh.

Will the Jolie-Pitt juggernaut make another stop in Canada? (Daughter Shiloh is rumoured to have been a by-product of their last trip here when Pitt was in Alberta filming "The Assassination of Jesse James".) Stay tuned for all the details, as part of our ongoing coverage of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.

The TIFF runs from September 7 to 16, 2006.