Toronto film festival celebrates 50th edition with star-studded premieres and global flair

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) kicks off Thursday, celebrating its 50th anniversary with a packed lineup of world premieres, Hollywood heavyweights, and international auteurs, reaffirming its status as North America’s largest and most influential movie event.

While lacking the historical prestige of Cannes or Venice, TIFF stands apart for its sheer scale and reach, drawing an estimated 400,000 attendees annually. The 11-day festival is a major launching pad for awards season and a magnet for A-list talent, critics, and audiences alike.

This year’s red carpet will see appearances from Russell Crowe, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Craig, Matthew McConaughey, Paul Mescal, Angelina Jolie, and Anya Taylor-Joy. The festival also welcomes acclaimed French directors including Romain Gavras, Claire Denis, and Arnaud Desplechin, adding European depth to the lineup.

Big premieres and Oscar contenders

Russell Crowe stars as Nazi leader Hermann Goering in the historical courtroom drama Nuremberg, opposite Rami Malek. TIFF programming director Robyn Citizen describes Crowe’s performance as “nuanced and eerily charismatic,” challenging viewers’ expectations of a known villain.

Sydney Sweeney looks to make a dramatic turn in Christy, a raw biopic of pioneering female boxer Christy Martin. After recent controversies, Citizen believes the film could re-establish her reputation as a serious actor.

Matthew McConaughey leads The Lost Bus, a harrowing true story of a schoolchildren rescue during California wildfires, while Daniel Craig returns in Netflix’s Knives Out sequel Wake Up Dead Man, tackling a new locked-room murder mystery.

Josh Brolin plays a charismatic cult leader in the political satire Wake Up Dead Man, which Citizen describes as timely and “fun in a classical way.”

French auteurs and global cinema

A wave of French cinema is set to grace TIFF, with Matt Dillon starring in Claire Denis’ The Fence, and Charlotte Rampling headlining Arnaud Desplechin’s romantic drama Two Pianos. Angelina Jolie teams up with Alice Winocour for Paris fashion film Couture.

In Romain Gavras’s Sacrifice, Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans star in a celebrity-studded satire about climate activism and fame.

The comedy lineup also brings big names: Keanu Reeves plays a bumbling angel in Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune, Channing Tatum stars as a fugitive living inside a Toys R Us in Roofman, and Brendan Fraser plays a lonely Tokyo-based actor hired to impersonate family members at events in Rental Family.

Shakespeare, Frankenstein, and Elvis

TIFF will also showcase films fresh from the Telluride and Venice festivals, including Hamnet, a Shakespeare adaptation by Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao starring Paul Mescal as the Bard and Jessie Buckley as his wife Agnes.

Colin Farrell stars in Edward Berger’s Macao-set thriller Ballad of a Small Player, while Guillermo del Toro debuts his reimagining of Frankenstein.

J Balvin makes his acting debut in Little Lorraine, playing a 1980s cop on the trail of drug smugglers in remote Nova Scotia. Pop star Charli XCX features in both Sacrifice and Polish drama Erupcja.

Rounding out the program is Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, which showcases newly uncovered archival footage of the King.

TIFF runs from September 5 to 14, promising an eclectic mix of red-carpet glitz, thought-provoking cinema, and international storytelling to mark its milestone 50th edition.