TIFF Remains a Launchpad Even as the Festival Blurs the Line Between Fandom and Industry
Every September the Toronto International Film Festival effectively borrows the sparkle from Tinseltown for Hollywood North’s cinephiles, casting the streets as a sprawling show business set where celebrity sightings rival the actual screenings and backroom wheeling and dealing. Despite intense debates over the shifting atmosphere, the massive crowds, high-profile premieres and rapid hype cycles confirm Toronto remains a significant cultural touchstone for the awards season.
Walking down King Street West during TIFF requires answering one persistent question from the pedestrians navigating past the barricades. People asked me “Who are you waiting for?” roughly 50 times a day (conservatively), trying to figure out which famous faces were about to appear, my camera likely drawing extra attention. The downtown core becomes a festival fantasy where celebrity hunting mirrors children at Disneyland collecting mascot signatures. Crowds swarm certain hot spots where a star might emerge, creating a random parade of thrilling celebrity sightings, without anyone knowing exactly who will be coming or going. Between the constant chorus of “Who, who, who?” echoing down the block, sounding less like eager fans and more like Margot Robbie demanding “What are you, an owl?” in The Wolf of Wall Street, it becomes nearly impossible not to view the entire weekend through a cinematic lens.
The celebrity presence is as integral to the experience as the films themselves. Blue Jays fans pass by in flutters of blue on the way to the game at the nearby Rogers Centre, looking on with a bemused realization that the cinematic circus has entirely taken over downtown, although there is certainly plenty of crossover between the two crowds. Long-time attendees openly chided how much branded activations had eaten up the footprint, noting that the weekend’s consistently longest line was a sprawling queue of people waiting for a small ramen ration from the Nongshim Ramyun pop-up booth.
TIFF social media feeds filled with internal jokes debating the merits of wearing press credentials on the public bus. Harrowing horror stories of disastrous Q&As circulated wildly, characterized by audience members asking cringe-inducing questions and openly criticizing endings to a director’s face. Festivalgoers practically begged for a new system, suggesting submitted questions ahead of time after watching overzealous fans awkwardly grill the directors. These faux pas left the film press with their jaws firmly on the floor. While some of this is far less glamorous than you might imagine from an episode of Entourage, for 10 days, Toronto serves as the ultimate Hollywood stand-in.
A viral social media post by critic Scott Menzel sparked widespread discussion during the week by claiming he had been attending for 17 years and this was the first time the vibe felt entirely off. Observers noted the atmosphere felt more like a market than a traditional celebration this year. The replies debated everything from high ticket prices to reserved seating policies, questioning whether it had lost its balance as a showcase for the people. The reality that an annual gathering generates enough passion for locals and critics to fiercely debate its logistics speaks volumes. It is a pretty impressive starting point for a city’s language and knowledge around film, no doubt grown out of the influential institution itself. Toronto continues to be a massive cornerstone and a vital launching pad where prestige projects dictate the upcoming awards season, serving as the very place where campaigns launch and acquisitions get made.
The festival does not strictly happen online though. It happens in the screenings and in the street with the people where the city itself merges effortlessly with the event. Ashley Dela Cruz, who previously lived in Toronto and returned specifically to visit for the festival, perfectly captured this sentiment. Having previously worked behind the scenes as a red carpet representative doing public relations for two years, this marked her first time actually attending the film festival purely as a fan. Wearing Hello Kitty ears en route to the Toronto Blue Jays theme night, she unprompted backed up the premise that the festival makes Toronto an incredibly exciting place to be. “It lights up the entire city of Toronto, it is the absolute best time to be here,” she explained. She managed to catch four movies in two days, summing up the nature of the festival thusly: “the real beauty of the festival is accidentally bumping into a director at afternoon tea right before seeing their film.”
The structure of the festival facilitates this intentional game of fanship. Theaters hosting screenings cluster closely together alongside bustling interview spaces and an active industry market. Hotels like the Bisha become hotspots for spotting VIPs ducking in for interviews between reservations at trendy 44th-floor restaurant kost. This environment attracts different types of devotees, ranging from casual onlookers to aggressive autograph hunters. While fans wait to greet talent and take selfies, others are seeking signatures to sell. That reality occasionally boils over, like the overeager autograph seeker who attempted a goal-line dive over a crowd of people to reach a poster for Javier Bardem to sign, effectively shutting down the interaction before rushing away.
Talent could easily use the back doors to avoid the chaos. They often do choose the rear exits, making these public walks a deliberate part of the festival dance. It is almost like no one knows what they are there for. Fans do not always know who is walking by. Celebrities sometimes look like deers in headlights. Even the most seasoned veterans, like Antonio Banderas, seemed pretty overwhelmed by the gauntlet. Many still take advantage of the laid-back atmosphere in Toronto. While a lot of talent is strictly shuttled around in black vans with heavy security between official events, Chris Rock seemed to quell the madness by walking down the street to sign a stray hawker’s Madagascar poster and taking a quick selfie.
Taking a street-level view provides a front-row seat to the hype machine. People waiting in line desperately want to be the first to witness a monumental premiere, hoping for a Cannes-style Pulp Fiction moment (even though the in-the-moment reaction to that film was mostly confusion regarding the timeline and aversion to the violence; it did win somewhat controversially, naturally, given that was an entirely different festival during a different era). Proximity to the stars seems to inflate initial festival reactions exponentially before the general public can weigh in. The immediate aftermath of the I Play Rocky premiere at this TIFF serves as a perfect example. The initial word on the street heralded the film as an absolute Oscar shoo-in. Everyone woke up the next morning to realize the movie was sitting at 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes after mere self-reflection. The same phenomenon occurred with Civil War back in 2024 at South by Southwest. Festivalgoers initially compared it to Apocalypse Now, supposedly in league with the greatest movies of all time. I agreed with a fan on the street, having this exact same conversation, that it was a plenty entertaining movie, yet it simply did not belong in that legendary echelon. It was incredibly fun having this constant flow of conversation about films on the street with random strangers.
The buzziest premieres anchored the week and generated endless conversation. Babies emerged as a major talking point. Featuring Seth Rogen, Issa Rae, Anna Kendrick and Ed Helms, the project navigated complex personal dynamics. Lauren Miller Rogen wrote, directed and produced the film, with Anna Kendrick playing a fictionalized version of herself married to her real-life husband Seth Rogen. This mirrored the Rogens’ own headline-making interviews during the press tour, where they openly discussed their decision not to have children. Rogen actually created a viral moment of his own when he stepped out of his car in front of the Fairmont hotel to openly complain about the gridlocked traffic. Given his transition from stoner comedy icon to the powerhouse behind The Studio, he represents modern Hollywood more than anyone these days.
Expectations were equally high for Chris Rock’s Misty Green, a project he wrote, directed and starred in to skewer the entertainment industry. The film stars Rosalind Eleazar as a struggling actress navigating Hollywood’s cruel economics. The celebratory red carpet featured a surprise appearance by Kevin Hart, who skipped the formal press line entirely just to grab a drink and support Rock. The premiere also boasted the recently elusive Daniel Kaluuya and Anna Kendrick, who pulled impressive double duty on the red carpet for the day.
Bunker served as another massive focal point, premiering at Roy Thomson Hall. The intense thriller boasted a heavyweight cast including Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Paul Dano, Stephen Graham and Patrick Schwarzenegger. The intense anticipation surrounding Bardem resulted in a chaotic scene earlier in the week involving autograph seekers outside the venue.
The highly anticipated Love of Your Life brought a different kind of energy. Margaret Qualley charmed the crowds at the premiere, gracefully navigating press questions regarding heartbreak following her split with Jack Antonoff. She notably left the theater after her post-screening Q&A with her dog happily in tow. Patrick Schwarzenegger helped draw some of the deepest crowds of the festival to this premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on the final night the street festival section was open.
Jesse Eisenberg and Julianne Moore drew widespread acclaim for their much-discussed cinematic collaboration in The Debut, adding serious comedic weight to the schedule. Eisenberg wrote and directed the film, which features Moore delivering a showstopping performance as a bored New Jersey housewife discovering a passion for a local community theater musical under an intense director played by Paul Giamatti.
Sibling duo Rooney and Kate Mara generated significant buzz for their anticipated on-screen pairing in Bucking Fastard. Directed by Werner Herzog, the eccentric courtroom drama features the sisters playing strange twins who speak in exact unison and share the same dreams. Orlando Bloom made a heavily publicized return to the festival circuit as their shared lover, meeting strong audience reception despite some wildly divisive reactions to the film’s meandering narrative.
The international market flexed its muscles with Paradise Lost, a highly anticipated Korean psychological thriller. Director Yeon Sang-ho brought his tense project to town alongside lead stars Kim Hyun-joo and Bae Hyeon-seong, exploring a mother confronted by her presumed-dead son. The premiere thrilled the dedicated fans who crowded the theater in adoration.
Action cinema fans gravitated toward Drifter. Star Sung Kang from the Fast and Furious franchise directed and starred in the independent feature, playing a solitary racetrack custodian exploring the underground world of professional drifting. Kang promoted the highly advertised car film alongside a fleet of souped-up vehicles parked outside the premiere, later keeping the momentum going by throwing out the first pitch at a Blue Jays game.
Lisa from Blackpink essentially shifted the entire center of gravity of the festival. Her documentary, Always Lalisa, directed by Sue Kim, dominated the focus of the weekend. Her arrival was a massive cultural event, setting off pure pandemonium and bringing out screaming fans when she dropped into a screening to surprise the audience.
The cinematic circus eventually culminated in the awards presentation, ringing the opening bell for the next six months of Oscar campaigning. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s Spanish queer drama La Bola Negra captured the coveted People’s Choice Award, establishing itself early on as a leading contender among chatter on the street. The festival crowd’s vocal preference for Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky may have helped push it into a runner-up position, while ensuring Siân Heder’s Being Heumann will now maintain a sharp focus in any upcoming awards discussions. On the international side, Theja Rio’s Angh took the Platform Prize for a striking look at cultural erasure in 1960s Nagaland. The famously dedicated late-night crowds handed Matthew Rankin’s Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney the Midnight Madness crown. These final selections demonstrate how the fans wandering King Street can ultimately dictate the films the industry will be discussing for the rest of the year.
As the festival continues to evolve, it remains a major draw that is highly influential to the industry and the Canadian film world. While waiting outside a venue for Margaret Qualley, a woman approached the barricade and asked me when Will Smith was coming out. I told her I was fairly certain he was not in attendance this year. She replied with a highly skeptical “Yeah, sure,” offered a knowing wink, and wandered off into the Toronto night to continue her hunt.
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