Even distribution companies that weren't buying movies this weekend were active with events to launch their new films. Bashes from Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics were among the biggest, but Focus Features and The Weinstein Company also joined the party. Friday night's celebration at Opus for Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" gave guests a chance to salute Lee a few hours before he hopped on a jet to Italy to receive the Golden Lion where his film won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. At the same time, TWC celebrated Anton Corbijn's "Control," acquired in Cannes, at a bash that drew staffers from rival companies for 80's music, Stella Artois, and cocktails inside Variety and AMC's Film Lounge, while the following night the company toasted its acquisition of "Boy A" with a private dinner at Pangaea. Meanwhile, nearby on the same night Picturehouse celebrated Sergei Bodrov's "Mongol" with supper at Prego and 24 hours earlier they toasted Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage at Flow on the fest's first Friday, the exact same night that they celebrated Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labryinth" one year ago in Toronto.

At Michelle's on Saturday night for Sony Pictures Classics' biggest annual bash yet, company heads Michael Barker and Tom Bernard worked the restaurant introducing journalists, critics and bloggers from across to U.S. to filmmakers and talent from around the world during a cocktail/dinner party that stretched to four hours. "Persepolis," "The Band's Visit," "Jane Austen Book Club," "The Counterfeiters" and "My Kid Could Paint That," "Brick Lane," "Sleuth," "When Did You Last See Your Father," and "Jimmy Carter Man From Plains" were in the spotlight. Meanwhile, downtown at the The Boiler House, Fox Searchlight gathered their own talent from "Juno," "The Savages" and "Under The Same Moon" (La Misma Luna) for a sprawling, outdoor, four-hour fiesta of their own.

Capping the busy night, Miramax threw a dinner on Saturday to celebrate the Coen Brothers' latest film, "No Country For Old Men," where Joel Coen and Ethan Coen were joined by cast members Jarvier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, and Woody Harrelson at the swanky Bymark. Numerous other celebs either joined the Coens or dropped in to wish them well, including: Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Eddie Vedder, Clive Owen, and Emily Mortimer, many of whom joined Penn outside the restaurant for a smoke break, causing one fellow attendee to comment upon the sight of seeing so many big names clustered together, "What is this, a Vanity Fair Oscar party?" The film is so good that such a quip may just bode well for the directing duo. [James Israel contributed to this article.]

[Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker with "Persepolis" vocal star Chiara Mastroianni. Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]