Published by: World Tibet Network News Sunday - September 14, 1997

TORONTO, Sept 13 (Reuter) - The Toronto International film festival closed off on Saturday with the world debut of the potentially controversial epic "Seven Years in Tibet" starring Brad Pitt.

The film tells the story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer played by Pitt who become a tutor to the Dalai Lama after the Second World War forced Harrer to flee to Tibet.

The film's producers earlier this year made changes to the movie when German media revealed Harrer had been a member of the Nazi party and accepted an invitation to become a sports trainer with the party's elite SS unit.

"This element just enhances the story in a sense. It's certainly nothing that bothered me. I think it's there in the script as it is," Pitt told a news conference.

The film follows the transformation of Harrer from an egotistical and selfish adventure seeker to more enlightened individual.

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud, who also made "The Name of the Rose" and "Quest for Fire", said he had always suspected Harrer's involvement with the Nazis was not fully known. Because of this, he said the film as he'd envisaged it required few changes when the news came out.

"What was a revelation to a lot of people was just a confirmation for me of strong suspicion," Annaud said.

Distributor Columbia TriStar Pictures is not that concerned about the film's portrayal of Harrer's Nazi links, one production executive told Reuters. He said the portrayal of China's invasion of Tibet is actually of equal or greater concern.

"We've know that there were a couple of hot buttons in this movie. Certainly the Nazis were one and the Chinese are going to be another," said John Jacobs, president of worldwide marketing for Mandalay Entertainment, which produced the film.

Pitt and Annaud have already been banned from China because of the film and Annaud said Chinese pressure on India forced him to shoot the movie in Argentina. Last year, China was reported to have also put pressure on Walt Disney Corp not to produce "Kundun", a Martin Scorsese film about the Dalai Lama's life.

The industry side of the Toronto festival ended on a high note on Saturday as the value of distribution deals reached during the week set a record. Organizers estimated at least C$12 million ($8.52 million) has been spent by distributors to acquire films, led by October Film's purchase of Robert Duvall's "The Apostle".

The creation of a new international film festival for children was also announced on Saturday. Toronto International Film Festival Director Piers Handling said the first annual children's festival would be held in April and run for five days.

While Toronto festival officially ends on Saturday awards will not be handed out until early afternoon on Sunday.