The Toronto International Film Festival is kicking off. Here are 5 things to look for this year

AP Film Writer

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto International Film Festival is the clean-up hitter of the fall festival circuit. Coming on the heels of Venice and Telluride, Toronto tends to pull together many of the top films from those festivals, as well as a whole bunch more. But it’s been a few years since TIFF was quite itself. The pandemic stretched across several editions and, last year, the actors strike left Toronto’s red carpets unusually bare. This year’s festival, running through Sept. 15, is opening Thursday with the premiere of David Gordon Green’s “Nutcrackers,” starring Ben Stiller as a workaholic forced to care for his rural Ohio nephews.