NAZIS, CULTS AND SYDNEY SWEENEY: HOLLYWOOD HEADS TO 50TH TORONTO FEST

The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday, with Hollywood stars Russell Crowe, Sydney Sweeney and Daniel Craig bringing hotly anticipated world premieres to the 50th edition of North America’s biggest movie event.

- ANDREW MARSZAL

Though lacking the historic glamour of Cannes or Venice, TIFF dwarfs rival festivals for sheer scale and is a key launchpad for Oscars campaigns, luring A-listers, critics and giant public audiences for 11 days of red-carpet galas.

On this anniversary year, Matthew McConaughey, Paul Mescal, Angelina Jolie and Anya Taylor-Joy will all hit the screenings and soirees in Canada, while French directors Romain Gavras, Claire Denis and Arnaud Desplechin bring an added European flair.

Among the world premieres, Crowe gives what organisers describe as a nuanced and eerily charismatic performance as Nazi Hermann Goering on trial in historical drama Nuremberg, opposite fellow Oscar-winner Rami Malek.

"The unexpected part of this performance is you don't expect to be disarmed by this person, who you know has done horrible things," said TIFF director of programming Robyn Citizen. “And then, through the course of the movie, you are.”

Sweeney aims to pivot from her recent jeans ad controversy to Academy Award contender with Christy, a gritty, raw biopic of US female boxing pioneer Christy Martin.