Tonight marks the beginn
The festivities kick off with a bang tonight with the Western remake The Magnificent Seven premiering at Roy Thomson Hall at 8 p.m. If you're looking to sneak a peek or grab photos of the star-studded premiere, the red carpet begins at 6:45 p.m. Director Antoine Fuqua and his all-star cast including Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-Hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, Peter Sarsgaard, and Luke Grimes will all be on hand to hobnob with the droves of avid fans and media.
The evening isn't even close to finishing yet -- grab a cab to catch the Canadian premiere of the Nigerian romantic comedy The Wedding Party at the Visa Screening Room at Elgin Theatre. While the film screens at 9 p.m., Kemi Adetiba, the director, producer Mo Abudu, along with stars Richard Mofe-Damijo, Banky W., Iretiola Doyle, Sola Sobowale, Adesua Etomi, Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama, Zainab Balogun, and Beverly Naya will all be there at 8:15 p.m. to walk the red carpet. And there's a bonus: A-list actor David Oyelowo and Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri are special guests!
If you're a fan of famed Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, hop back over to King Street for 8:45 p.m. where he and stars Fan Bingbing, Guo Tao, and Dong Chenpeng will be premiering the contemporary fable I Am Not Madame Bovary at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
TIFF's jam-packed opening night ends at the Ryerson Theatre with the crime drama Free Fire, directed by Ben Wheatley, and starring Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Sam Riley, Noah Taylor and Michael Smiley, who will all be red-carpet ready starting at at 11:15 p.m.
TIFF runs from tonight (Thursday, September 8) until Sunday, September 18.
~Shelby Morton