Toronto Film Festival: Awards season kicks off as Hollywood stars arrive

Image source, Getty Images

The Toronto Interna tional Film Festival (Tiff) opens later, marking a return to normal after two disrupted years due to the pandemic.

Expectations are high for the this year's festival after it was suspended or held virtually in 2020 and 2021.

Fall festivals mark the start of awards season and often indicate which films could compete for the Oscars.

The Swimmers, written by British playwright Jack Thorne, will officially open the proceedings on Thursday.

It follows the story of two Syrian sisters who fled the country by boat and had to push and pull their canoe through the water for hours after the engine failed.

Other festival highlights include the Knives Out Glass sequel Onion and a film about the discovery of the skeleton of Richard III in a Leicester car park - The L ost King.

Elsewhere, Steven Spielberg will present his autobiographical film The Fabelmans - marking the the legendary director's first time bringing a film to Toronto - and Brendan Fraser is trying to continue his awards streak with The Whale.

Olivia Colman will appear in an ode to cinema directed by Sir Sam Mendes, Empire of Light, while In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson will try to re - creating their previous chemistry in The Banshees of Inisherin.

Two of the biggest stars at Tiff this year are primarily musicians: Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.< /p>