Sydney Sweeney was among the Hollywood stars who arrived early on day two of the Toronto International Film Festival Friday, ahead of the world premiere of David Michôd’s biographical sports drama Christy, starring Sweeney as pioneering women’s boxer Christy Martin.
TIFF is expected to welcome a wave of stars including Angelina Jolie, Keanu Reeves and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson over its 11 days.
The Lost Bus, director Paul Greengrass’s docudrama about the struggle to bring a bus full of children to safety during California’s deadly 2018 fires, is bringing more Hollywood star power ahead of its 9:30 p.m. ET screening, with Matthew McConaughey, America Ferrera, Jamie Lee Curtis and Yul Vazquez expected to hit the red carpet.
The festival kicked off Thursday with the premiere of John Candy: I Like Me, a documentary celebrating the late Canadian comedic actor, which saw members of Candy’s family appear alongside B.C.-born executive producer Ryan Reynolds and director Colin Hanks.
WATCH | Boxing legend says viewers will see new side of Sydney Sweeney:
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke before the film to celebrate Candy’s legacy.
British pop star Charli XCX, who arrived Thursday to promote her starring role in Erupcja, was later spotted partying at a Toronto nightclub.
Steve, Palestine 36 among Friday premieres
Actor Cillian Murphy was expected on the red carpet Friday for the 5:30 p.m. ET premiere of Steve, a drama from director Tim Mielants, in which Murphy plays the head of a reform school for teenage boys in an adaptation of Max Porter’s 2023 novella Shy.
The film kicks off TIFF’s Platform, a juried competitive program for “artistically ambitious” cinema.
Other notable Friday premieres include South Korean writer-director Byun Sung-hyun’s action thriller Good News, Nicholas Hynter’s period drama The Choral and Toronto filmmaker Clement Virgo’s drama Steal Away.
Some used the red carpet to make political statements Friday.
The cast of Palestine 36, Annemarie Jacir’s film about life in a rapidly evolving 1930s Palestine, arrived wearing Palestinian insignia, with actor Karim Daoud Anaya holding up a camera soaked in fake blood and actor Zaid Ghazal posing for photos with the words “Stop the genocide” on his hands, in reference to the war in Gaza.
Free sushi and open-air movies
Some found creative, even tasty ways to promote their TIFF films.
A 60-foot-long sushi bar took over the northwest corner of King and John streets starting at 5 p.m. ET Friday, for one night only, to mark the world premiere of the documentary Still Single. The film follows Masaki Saito, Canada’s only chef to hold two Michelin stars, who grew up in rural Japan and lives in Toronto.
More than a dozen chefs from Saito’s MSSM restaurant were tapped to serve up free gourmet sushi for festivalgoers.
Friday also saw the launch of the Rogers TIFF 50 Timescape installation in Yorkville, with multimedia installations and archival content celebrating 50 years of cinema.
WATCH | John Candy documentary’s Thursday premiere:
The John Candy film Uncle Buck will screen at Cinema Park at 10 p.m. ET as part of the ongoing TIFF Festival Street, a pedestrian-only zone on King Street West that runs through Sunday.
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