TIFF 2016: The 4 Things You Gotta Know About This Year's Festival

The 41st annual fest kicks off tomorrow night

By Marc Malkin Sep 07, 2016 11:00 AMTags
Chris Pratt, Gina Rodriquez, Scarlett Johanson, Ryan Gosling Getty Images

We're heading to Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival.

The 41st annual fest kicks off tomorrow night with the premiere of The Magnificent Seven with Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington.

What follows are 10 days of more red carpets, parties and celeb sightings galore.

Here, I give you five things you have to know about this year's festival.

1. The A List: From the opening night premiere of The Magnificent Seven to the closing film The Edge of Seventeen with Hailee Steinfeld, this year's TIFF promises to be star-studded as ever. Other big bold-faced names we'll be seeing—and chatting with!—include Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Taraji P. Henson, Anne Hathaway, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Timberlake, Brie Larson, Mark Wahlberg, Kate Hudson, Amy Adams, Gina Rodriguez, Lupita Nyong'o, Nicole Kidman, Uzo Aduba, Jennifer Garner, John Legend, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Natalie Portman, Octavia Spencer, Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Hudson, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Jeremy Renner and Miles Teller.

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2015 Toronto Film Festival: Star Sightings

2. Oscar Buzz: Films at TIFF that are already generating heat for the upcoming awards season are Queen of Katwe, Lion, The Bleeder, Loving, Nocturnal Animals, Snowden, ArrivalLa La Land and Manchester By the Sea. The Birth of a Nation will also be shown, but controversy surrounding its director and star Nate Parker has dimmed the drama's awards future.

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Christopher Polk/Getty Images

3. Music Man: Pharrell performs a free concert on Festival Street on Sept. 10 in support of the upcoming Hidden Figures, the real-life drama about the three female African American scientists who played key roles in NASA winning the Space Race against the Soviet Union.

4. Party Time: A celebrity's calendar at TIFF isn't limited to red carpets—there are press conferences, photo calls, dinner parties, cocktail soirées and more events to attend. The hottest bash every year is InStyle magazine and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's annual celebration with MaxMara at the Windsor Arms Hotel. Last year's guest list included Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Olsen, Michael Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Naomi Watts, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan and Benicio Del Toro. Can't wait to see who attends this year.

And don't forget to watch E! News at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. and check E! Online all day long for our exclusive scoop from TIFF.