TIFF 2024: Festival kicks off boasting big names in movies and music

The Toronto International Film Festival returns in full force today after navigating several years of pandemic-related challenges and industry disruptions.

Filmmaker Kazik Radwanski says the comeback is much needed after COVID-19 and Hollywood strikes hit the film business hard and dulled the star power of previous festivals.

The Toronto native, whose dramedy “Matt & Mara” makes its North American debut at the festival, says TIFF is important for the city’s culture, identity and global recognition.

More than 270 films are set to light up screens as the 49th edition of the festival returns to form, including buzzy movies such as Sean Baker’s tragicomic sex-worker love story “Anora,” Marielle Heller’s Amy Adams-starring horror comedy “Nightbitch,” and Pamela Anderson’s Hollywood comeback “The Last Showgirl.”

A-listers expected to attend this year’s event include Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Bill Murray, Bruce Springsteen, Nicole Kidman and Adam Driver.

“Nutcrackers,” David Gordon Green’s dramedy starring Ben Stiller, will open the festival, while Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut “The Deb” will close it.

“[TIFF] puts Toronto on a world stage and it’s really invaluable for making people take cinema seriously in the city,” Radwanski said.

Meanwhile, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams and Toronto filmmaker David Cronenberg are among the stars set to be recognized at the TIFF Tribute Awards.

Some of the most recognizable names in music also have films at this year’s TIFF. Many of them are traditional documentaries while others take extreme liberties with reality.

One of the most unorthodox is “Better Man,” a tongue-in-cheek retelling of U.K. pop star Robbie Williams’ rise to fame, where he’s played by a computer-generated monkey. There’s also “Piece by Piece,” a take on the life of Pharrell Williams told through Lego animation.

An incredible tale of online deception plays out in “Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara,” where the Calgary pop sisters recall the shocking turn of events that saw an impostor use message boards to trick their most loyal fans.

“Elton John: Never Too Late” tells of the English performer’s rise to fame through the lens of his Toronto-born husband David Furnish, who co-directs the documentary, while “Takin’ Care of Business” explores the story of Winnipeg boy Randy Bachman of the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

And then there’s “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” a thorough, four-episode look at the Kingston, Ont., band that went from beloved hometown act to legendary Canadian artists with their final concert tour as Gord Downie battled terminal brain cancer.

The Hip documentary, presented by Prime Video, is a nearly four-and-a-half-hour journey through a treasure trove of archival footage and fresh interviews with the band, their friends and others who witnessed their rise.

Drummer Johnny Fay said Amazon’s streaming service jumped on board the project after other distributors had passed on the idea.

“It is a big ask, four hours? People are fragmented. They don’t listen to a whole song any more,” he said. “They were very interested in letting us tell our story. They didn’t interfere.”

The festival will be a new experience for Ottawa-born music legend Paul Anka, who flies into the city for the premiere of “Paul Anka: His Way” on Tuesday.

The authorized documentary races through the “My Way” songwriter’s prolific career, which included being taken under the wing of the Rat Pack and even starring in several Hollywood movies.

Yet Anka said he’s never been to the Toronto film festival, which led him to seek advice from his son-in-law, actor Jason Bateman.

“I said, ‘What’s the vibe going to be?’ They said, ‘Oh it’s fun, they’re very warm and yada yada yada,” Anka said on the phone from Los Angeles.

“It’s just an honest effort about the life I’ve lived, and I’m coming back to where it all started.”

TIFF runs until Sept. 15.

With files from David Friend

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.