5 things you need to know about TIFF's opening day
Taylor Simmons | CBC News | Posted: September 7, 2017 1:00 PM | Last Updated: September 7, 2017
Tennis, rapping and beach films are all available in the city Thursday
The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival begins today. Here are five things you should know:
1. Tennis Fever
The festival's opening film is Borg/McEnroe, a look at the famous tennis rivalry between Björn Borg and John McEnroe at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships. The film's stars, Shia LaBeouf, Sverrir Gudnason and Stellan Skarsgård, are all expected on the Roy Thomson Hall red carpet.
Hot off his appearance at the U.S. Open, Canadian teen tennis phenom Denis Shapovalov, who's from Vaughan, is also expected to be there.
Call Me by Your Name, a rom-dram featuring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, will also be playing at Ryerson Theatre.
2. Festival Street Road Closures
"Festival Street" will return for another year and shut down a portion of King Street West for TIFF's opening weekend.
King Street West will be closed in both directions between Peter Street and University Avenue starting on Thursday at 10 a.m. It will reopen on Monday, Sept. 11 at 6 a.m.
TIFF runs from Sept. 7 to 17.
3. Rap Battle
Added to this year's Festival Street is a live rap battle between Toronto rapper Alex Larsen, aka Kid Twist, and Madness. That gets going at 8:30 p.m Thursday.
The battle is being used to promote the film, Bodied, a look at the sport of battle rapping, written by Larsen and produced by Eminem. It's the Midnight Madness opener at Ryerson Theatre Thursday night at 11:59 p.m.
Fun fact: The film's director, Joseph Khan, also directed the new Taylor Swift music video, Look What You Made Me Do.
4. Tickets?
They're still available here!
Need help deciding? Check out these 13 movies with major buzz.
5. TIFF not your thing?
Have no fear, the sixth annual Toronto Beaches Film Festival is also beginning Thursday at the Beach United Church Performance Hall.
The films each have a "beach-related" theme, and many are making their Canadian debut, according to the website.