Toronto is awash with A-list celebrities, with Toronto Film Festival officially getting underway.
Toronto is awash with A-list celebrities, with the Film Festival officially getting underway. Now in its 31st year, the popular festival has become one of the city's pre-eminent cultural events.
During the 10-day event, more than 37 feature titles will be showing at various venues. A whopping 352 films from 61 countries will screen in total. Established directors can test their latest work before a film-loving audience, the festival also provides first-time filmmakers a chance to build a name.
Controversial filmmakers Michael Moore, John Waters and John Cameron Mitchell will be among the participants of the festival's Maverick program, during which prominent filmmakers discuss their latest works, their oeuvres and topical issues.
Over 500 international stars and special guests are expected to attend, including Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lopez, Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks and Sharon Stone. Organizers say the global star power is unprecedented in the festival's 31 years.
Toronto Film Festival, which runs until Sept. 16, opens with a gala presentation of The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a Canadian-Danish co-production from Nunavut filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and his Montreal-based co-producer, Norman Cohn. The festival ends with the world premiere of “Amazing Grace,” based on the story of 18th-century British abolitionist William Wilberforce and his campaign to end the slave trade.
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