Regarded as the most important film festival after Cannes, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has become the launching pad for the best of international, Hollywood and Canadian cinema – and the 35th annual event kicks off tomorrow.
More than 330 flicks from 59 countries will be shown. Festivities get underway with the premiere of a home-grown movie called Score: A Hockey Musical, starring Noah Reid and Olivia Newton-John. Two other highly-anticipated Canadian productions is Barney’s Version, based on the Mordecai Richler novel and starring Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman, as well as the documentary Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie.
Clint Eastwood's thriller Hereafter with Matt Damon is also on the bill, as well as The Way, produced by Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful with Javier Bardem, The Whistler Blower with Rachel Weisz, and Black Swan co-starring Natalie Portman.
A number of A-listers will be participating in TIFF’s Mavericks programme, which gives audiences access to notable guests from the film world as they share tales from their latest projects. This year, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Davis Guggenheim, singer Bruce Springsteen, athlete Steve Nash, and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates are amongst the participants, and the moderators include Edward Norton, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore and co-host of the morning show “Canada AM,” Seamus O’Regan.
“This is our largest Mavericks programme yet,” said Thom Powers, Toronto International Film Festival Mavericks programmer. “TIFF Mavericks sessions present a rare opportunity for audiences to hear from remarkable international newsmakers in person, and we’re thrilled to welcome such a wide variety of talent this year.”
The festival runs until September 19th. Visit http://tiff.net for more info.
Toronto International Film Fest is back
TIFF welcomes some of film's biggest and brightest.
