Acclaimed directors Paul Haggis, Brian De Palma, Mary Harron and Phillip Noyce will be among the powerhouse guests at this year's Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab.

Now in its third year, the intensive four-day artistic development program provides free-of-charge workshops and networking opportunities for emerging Canadian filmmakers.

Academy-Award winning director and writer Haggis is best known for his work on Crash and Million Dollar Baby; Harron for her work as esteemed writer and director of The Notorious Bettie Page; De Palma for his work at the helm of Mission: Impossible and Scarface; and Noyce as the renowned Australian director, writer and producer known for directing The Quiet American and Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Celebrated author Michael Ondaatje, whose book The English Patient was made into an Oscar-winning film will also return as a lab governor, along with esteemed Australian producer Jan Chapman who produced and directed The Piano, actor and playwright Don McKellar and British filmmaker Sally Potter, who is known for Orlando and The Tango Lesson.

"We're thrilled to announce this year's Talent Lab Governors, guests and participants," Kelley Alexander, director of Industry Initiatives said in announcing the lineup.

"This will be a wonderful experience for these talented filmmakers who will have the opportunity to build their networks in a creative environment, and learn from some of the most esteemed filmmakers and artists the world has to offer."

Twenty-two budding writers, directors and producers from Montreal, the Toronto area and Vancouver area were selected for the program, which runs from September 6 to 9, after answering a call for submissions across the country.

The program has been successful because it works on two fronts, Alexander told CTV.ca

"There is cross-generational learning that is achieved between our visiting special guests, who act as people who are transferring their knowledge and experience to the filmmakers," she said.

But there are also new relationships being forged between the participants, she said.

"We see them going on to work and collaborate on feature films together. It's a very, very interesting developmental trajectory that you can follow," she said.

The Talent Lab was borne of a dialogue among industry professionals, Alexander said.

"It was something we all wanted to do when we were thinking of how an initiative could help support and establish and promote emerging talent in Canada, and we knew that we had the contacts and relationships to bring the best kind of learning to the emerging filmmakers," she said.

Indeed, that was one of the main reasons that Richie Mehta applied for the program.

"It's not just a festival trying to fulfill its obligation of industry support and get funding, they're really taking an interest in trying to help us create a network," said Mehta, a participant from Mississauga, Ont.

Mehta, who is set to travel to India in September to work on his first feature film, applied to the Talent Lab because he saw it as the chance to inject himself with "an inspirational boost before I go."

The timing is ideal not only because it comes before his travels to India, said the 27-year-old filmmaker, but because the festival is a launching pad for up-and-coming talent.

"You have to pay and attention to what's happening in the city, there are so many opportunities, so many people to meet, it's like harnessing some of that opportunity, putting it into a room and throwing young (filmmakers) in there to see what happens," he said.

"It's ideal because you would not get Brian De Palma on a regular day in the year, but he's here because he has his own things to do and he's going to give his time."

Also back at the Talent Lab this year is the MotoFilm Project, which provides Talent Lab participants with video-capture cellphones to experiment first-hand with mobile movie filmmaking.

In addition to the return of the MotoFilm Project, trailers featuring some of the mobile films created by 2005 Talent Lab filmmakers will be featured during this year's festival.