Some of cinemas biggest names are heading to the Toronto Film Festival, after a lack luster Venice, as the thirty third festival got underway last night.
Founded in 1976 Toronto has become one of the top festivals on the film calendar attracting big named stars and directors, but unlike Venice, Cannes and Berlin Toronto do not award any jury prizes.
This year Toronto will screen 312 film from sixty four different countries with 116 of those screenings being world premieres, but opening night belonged to Canadian filmmaker Paul Goss.
His new film Passchendaele opened the festival keeping the tradition of shining the spotlight on Canada on the opening night.
The romance/war picture follows a sergeant from the 10th Battalion wounded in Calgary during the First World War who becomes involved with a nurse of half-German origin.
When he rejoins his Battalion he promises to look out for the nurse's younger brother who has been sent to France to fight.
But Canada won't have it all their own way as Hollywood, in form of Brad Pitt and George Clooney amongst others, will descend on the festival.
Last year Toronto acted as a preview to the autumn film season screening Michael Clayton and The Assassination of Jess James by the Coward Robert Ford as well as introducing audiences to Oscar nominees Atonement and the eventual Best Picture winner No COuntry For Old Men.
Stephen Soderbergh's epic Che, a biopic of Che Guevarra, will be screened and is already shrouded in an Oscar buzz as is Nothing but the Truth, starring Kate Beckinsale, which is getting an Oscar friendly release in December.
Two of this week's new releases in the UK The Duchess and Guy Ritchie's fifth film RocknRolla will get their moment in the spotlight as will The Brothers Bloom, which wowed Sundance audiences, and Miracle at Se Anna from Spike Lee.
While screening movies with potential Academy Award success this year is a very good year for comedies at Toronto Film Festival as the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading gets it's second screening in as many weeks.
There are thirty comedies on show altogether including a new film from Seth Rogan 'Zack and Miri Make A Porno' and Anne Fontaine's 'La Fille de Monaco'.
Today sees RocknRolla, Archilles and the Tortoise and Snow all get their screenings. The festival runs through to the 13th September.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw