Toronto comes alive with stars, premieres and buzzing crowds

Toronto has once again transformed into the center of the cinematic universe. Long queues stretch outside theatres, cameras flash along the red carpet and crowds crane their necks just for a glimpse of their favorite stars. Filmmakers, actors, producers, industry professionals and cinephiles from all around the world have converged in this Canadian city. With world premieres, star appearances and lively discussions, downtown Toronto seems to belong entirely to film for the next few days.

Against this festive backdrop, the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has officially raised its curtain on Thursday. The festival kicked off with the world premiere of Oscar-winning filmmaker Siân Heder’s ‘Being Heumann’. The festival will run until 20 September, with 293 films in its official selection.

The opening-night film tells the story of Judy Heumann, the pioneering American disability rights activist whose work helped transform the movement for equal rights for people with disabilities.

British actress Ruth Madeley steps into the role of Judy, with Mark Ruffalo starring alongside her as Joseph Califano Jr., the then-US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. ‘Being Heumann’ marks Heder’s return to feature filmmaking after her Oscar-winning CODA.

Heder was joined at the premiere by Madeley, Dylan O’Brien, Daniel Durant, Ray Fisher, Madeline Delp, Russell Harvard, Roberta Colindrez, Jon Beavers, Will Brill and a large group from the film’s cast and creative team.

Speaking to Reuters on the red carpet, Heder said Heumann’s work was ultimately about "making invisible people visible." For her, Heumann’s activism was not simply about bringing attention to people who had long been overlooked but about achieving meaningful change and genuine inclusion.

In 1977, she Heumann famously led more than 100 people with disabilities in a sit-in at a federal building in San Francisco. The protest lasted 26 days, becoming the longest occupation of a federal building in US history. That historic stand pressured the administration into signing rthe regulations enforcing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a landmark moment in the American disability rights movement.

Madeley told Reuters that Heumann is widely remembered as a formidable activist but portraying her also offered an opportunity to reveal her wit, joy and vibrant personality.

According to the organisers, festival attendees and international media reports suggests TIFF was in full swing from its opening day. From early afternoon well past midnight, venues buzzed with back-to-back premieres, with stars on red carpets and audiences gathering at venues across the city.

The Discovery programme opened at 5:30 PM local time with the world premiere of ‘Stuffed’, the feature debut from British director Theo Rhys, who adapted his acclaimed 2021 short film of the same name. Jodie Comer and Harry Melling lead the cast.

Rhys brings together an unlikely combination of love, death and taxidermy. At the centre of the story is Araminta, a taxidermist who dreams of preserving a human body. Bernie, a lonely man haunted by the dread of aging, volunteers to become her specimen. But as the plan develops, an unexpected bond takes root between them. Blending horror, dark comedy, romance and musical elements, Stuffed had already generated intense curiosity ahead of its premiere.

Later that evening, TIFF Lightbox hosted the world premiere of ‘Rapinoe’, a documentary about US football star Megan Rapinoe directed by Rebeca Huntt. Huntt, whose breakout film Beba screened at TIFF in 2021, moves beyond the conventions of a traditional sports biography to explore Rapinoe’s personal life, values and public activism. Rapinoe was selected to open the TIFF Docs programme.

Rapinoe herself attended the premiere. A two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner with the United States, she is as well known off the pitch for advocating equal pay, LGBTQ rights and social justice.

As the night fell, more high-profile premieres followed. Ben Shirinian’s ‘The Housewife’ had its world premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre at 8:45 pm. Starring Naomi Watts, Tye Sheridan, Luke Evans and Michael Imperioli, the film is set in New York in 1964.

Another major title on the opening-day programme was Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film screened in Toronto at 9:30 pm. Starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, the drama follows a Romanian-Norwegian family living in Norway as Mungiu explores the friction between rigid religious beliefs, liberal social values, parenting, and state intervention.

Other films on the first-day programme included Nyla Innuksuk’s In the Heart of the South and Below.

The day ended on a very different note. At 11:59 pm, Joshua Giuliano’s River had its world premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, launching TIFF’s popular Midnight Madness programme. Starring Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe, Max Mattern and Dane DiLiegro, the film is a slasher.

The opening day then offered a glimpse of TIFF’s extraordinary range, from the disability rights story of Being Heumann to the horror-musical Stuffed, from a documentary on Megan Rapinoe to Palme d’Or winner Fjord, before ending with the midnight slasher River.

TIFF is not relying on star power alone this year. Chief Programming Officer Anita Lee told Reuters that younger audiences are increasingly interested in international and global films beyond mainstream Hollywood fare. The festival’s programme reflects that changing appetite.

Among the anticipated titles is Peter Farrelly’s ‘I Play Rocky’, which follows the young Sylvester Stallone and his struggle to bring Rocky to the screen.

Chris Rock’s Misty Green is another film attracting attention. The Associated Press has identified its star Rosalind Eleazar as one of the performers to watch as the awards season begins to take shape.

The programme also includes Prima Facie, starring Cynthia Erivo, Hur Jin-ho’s ‘The Assassin(s)’ and a wide range of independent films from around the world. Alongside its star-driven premieres, TIFF is once again giving considerable space to emerging filmmakers and stories outside the Hollywood mainstream.

One of the biggest additions this year is TIFF: The Market. While buying, selling and discussions around new projects have long taken place around the festival, TIFF has for the first time turned that activity into a dedicated, full-scale content market.

The seven-day event began on 10 September and runs through 16 September, with the Metro Toronto Convention Centre serving as its main hub.

The market goes beyond feature films, bringing television series and other forms of screen content into the conversation. Producers, distributors, sales agents, buyers, financiers, filmmakers and technology companies from around the world are being brought together under one roof.

Film rights sales, financing for projects in development, finding international co-production partners and securing global distribution are among the key areas of business. The programme also includes market screenings, meetings, networking opportunities and spaces where buyers and sellers can connect directly.

The scale is significant. According to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the market features 120 exhibition spaces, along with discussion stages, business lounges, an innovation zone and facilities for market screenings. A total of 650 screening slots have been set aside. By June, more than 130 buyers from 49 countries had confirmed their participation.

According to festival information, more than 6,000 film industry delegates are attending TIFF this year. So while audiences watch films and stars walk the red carpet, another side of the festival is unfolding behind the scenes, where rights are being negotiated, projects financed and future films discussed. TIFF: The Market brings that business dimension into sharper focus.

Bangladesh also has a significant presence at this year’s festival. Rubaiyat Hossain’s The Difficult Bride has been selected for TIFF’s Centrepiece programme and will have its North American premiere in Toronto.

A co-production between France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway and Germany, the film previously screened in the Orizzonti section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. It became the first Bangladeshi feature film to be selected for the Venice section.

Set in Dhaka, The Difficult Bride centres on Zaineen, a young woman preparing for her wedding. Amid beauty rituals and the weight of family and social expectations, her body begins to react in unexpected ways. Home remedies, social pressure and haunting visions add to her ordeal as the film explores the conflict between a woman’s body and autonomy and the expectations imposed upon her.

Zaineen Chowdhury Karim plays the lead role. The cast also includes Rikita Nondine Shimu, Sunerah Binte Kamal, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Dameer Khan, Saberi Alam, Shatabdi Wadud and Mohammed Bari.

The Difficult Bride has three scheduled screenings in Toronto. The first takes place at 4:00 pm on 16 September at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 4, followed by a second screening at the same venue at 10:00 pm on 17 September. The third is scheduled for 12:15 pm on 19 September at Scotiabank Theatre Cinema 7.

For now, Toronto belongs to the cinema. More major premieres and star appearances are expected before the festival concludes on 20 September. As the final days approach, attention will increasingly turn to the awards, particularly the audience-voted People’s Choice Award.

The prize has long been closely watched because many of its past winners have gone on to become major contenders during the Academy Awards season. By the time the curtain falls on TIFF, one question will therefore matter more than most, which film will win over Toronto audiences this year?