Just as fashionable people won't wear white shoes after Labor Day, the movies of fall also take a turn for the dark and dramatic.

And the indicators of that seriousness come early, with a quartet of film festivals — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — that launch the annual campaign for Academy Awards contenders that will hit U.S. theaters before the end of the year.

At Venice last week, the audience gave a standing ovation to "Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky's psychological drama starring Natalie Portman as a prima ballerina under extreme stress. After one screening, some critics put Portman at the top of the Oscar contenders for Best Actress.

Also getting positive responses at Venice, according to various reports, were Julian Schnabel's Israeli/Palestinian drama "Miral," Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere" and Casey Affleck's quasi-documentary about Joaquin Phoenix, "I'm Still Here." The big finale at Venice is also much anticipated: Julie Taymor's gender-bending version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," with Helen Mirren in the lead.

At the Labor Day Weekend festival in Telluride, Colo., "Black Swan" (shown in an unannounced sneak preview) got a strong response — but nothing compared with the reaction to Danny Boyle's "127 Hours."

Boyle's film (another Telluride "sneak" — the official North American premiere is at the Toronto International Film Festival, which started on Thursday, Sept. 9) depicts the harrowing ordeal of rock climber Aron Ralston, who was pinned by a boulder in a Utah slot canyon and eventually cut off part of his right arm.

According to the website www.Cinematical.com, paramedics were called to each of two "127 Hours" screenings — once for a man who passed out, another for a woman who suffered an apparent panic attack. These incidents will only enhance the movie's rep for intensity, particularly in the scene where Ralston (played by James Franco) cuts off his arm.

But it's the Toronto International Film Festival, North America's largest film event, that's sure to generate tons of buzz for potential Oscar contenders. Here are some of the titles that are unrolling in Toronto this week:

"The Conspirator" • Director Robert Redford's post-Civil War drama starring Robin Wright Penn as Mary Seuratt, the boarding-house proprietor who provided lodging for John Wilkes Booth and the men who conspired to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.

"Conviction" • A true-life story about a high-school dropout (Hilary Swank) who pushes herself through law school so she can defend her brother (Sam Rockwell) in prison.

"Hereafter" • A supernatural story directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard.

"The Illusionist" • A hit at Cannes, this animated tale by Sylvain Chomet (who made "The Triplets of Belville") takes an unproduced Jacques Tati script to tell the story of a down-and-out magician.

"The King's Speech" • Colin Firth stars as King George VI, thrust onto the throne when his brother abdicates. The movie depicts how George battled a stammer to inspire Great Britain during World War II.

"Never Let Me Go" • Mark Romanek ("One Hour Photo") adapts Kazuo Ishiguro's novel about a mysterious boarding school.

"What's Wrong With Virginia?" • The directorial debut of screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Oscar winner for "Milk"), starring Jennifer Connelly as an unstable woman who is mother to the illegitimate son of the town's Mormon sheriff (Ed Harris).

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