Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt opening screening of Toronto film fest
The Toronto film festival, the largest in North America, kicked off in earnest on Thursday with Ben Stiller’s family movie Nutcrackers as a handful of proPalestinian protesters disrupted the opening night screening.
The four demonstrators chanted slogans in the Princess of Wales Theatre against the Royal Bank of Canada, a festival sponsor that has faced criticism over its investment in firms with links to Israel, as the war in Gaza drags on.
Other audience members booed and festival CEO Cameron Bailey continued his introduction before security escorted the protesters out and the screening of the film, Stiller’s first in seven years, proceeded.
The brief protest provided a political jolt at the start of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), a 10-day extravaganza of Oscar bait movies and A-list glamour.
This year marks a return to normal for the event, after twin strikes by actors and writers kept top talent from promoting their work there last year. Though the 2023 line-up of films was starry, the red carpets were not, in line with union protocols.
This time around, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman are just some of the bold-faced names expected in Canada’s biggest city to unveil new projects.
Moviegoers warmly greeted Stiller, who introduced Nutcrackers alongside director David Gordon Green.
The holiday-set comedy tells the story of a Chicago real estate developer who must care for his four orphaned
nd nephews after the death of his sister and her husband.
Also on the festival’s packed schedule of world premieres is Ron Howard’s super-secret Eden, a survival film set in the Galapagos islands,
and The Wild Robot, the latest from DreamWorks Animation.
Fresh off the Venice success of her portrayal of opera legend Maria Callas in Maria, Jolie comes to Toronto with her latest directorial effort − Without Blood, a tale of early 20th-century family and revenge starring Hayek.
In all, there are a whopping 278 films on the slate.
John and Springsteen will be in town with new documentaries about their epic careers – and they are just some of the recording industry royalty expected to hit the
red carpet. Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams, Paul Anka and singer, producer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams are also due to appear at screenings of new films about their personal and professional lives.
And there is a crop of inspirational true-story sports dramas on the schedule, including Unstoppable, about a college wrestler (Jharrel Jerome) without a right leg who dreamed of going pro. Lopez co-stars as the boy’s mother.
The event runs from through September 15. (AFP)