Tiff: celebrities attend Toronto International Film Festival opening weekend

Jessica Chastain, Julianne Moore and Benedict Cumberbatch among stars in attendance at the Canadian festival's opening screenings

Julianne Moore attends the 'Dear Evan Hansen' premiere on the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival, taking place from September 10 to 18. AFP

Jessica Chastain poses at the premiere of 'The Forgiven' during the Toronto International Film Festival. Reuters

Benedict Cumberbatch attends 'The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain' premiere during the festival. AFP

Amandla Stenberg poses on the red carpet at the 'Dear Evan Hansen' premiere on the opening night of Tiff 2021. AFP

Rebecca Ferguson attends the 'Dune' premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival. AFP

Josh O'Connor at the 'Mothering Sunday' premiere during Tiff. Reuters

Singer Dionne Warwick, subject of the documentary 'Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over' poses at its premiere at Tiff. AP

Co-head of Tiff, Cameron Bailey, arrives for the premiere of 'Dune'. AFP

Denis Villeneuve attends the 'Dune' premiere during the festival. AFP

Rebeca Huntt at the 'Beba' photo call during the festival. AFP

Alison Pill and Mare Winningham attend the 'All My Puny Sorrows' premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. AFP

Mourad Zaoui at the 'The Forgiven' premiere at Tiff. AP

Isaac Hagy at the 'Montana Story' photo call during Tiff. AFP

Gilbert Owuor attends the 'Montana Story' photo call during the Toronto International Film Festival. AFP

Dave Wooley at the 'Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over' premiere at the festival. AFP

Alanis Obomsawin and Jessica Chastain attend the 2021 Tiff Tribute Awards press conference in Toronto, Canada. AFP

Krysty Wilson-Cairns and Edgar Wright arrive for the premiere of 'Last Night in Soho' during Tiff. AFP

Liam Diaz, Catherine Hernandez, Anna Claire Beitel and Essence Fox attend the 'Scarborough' premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. AP

Brooklyn Letexier-Hart attends the 'Night Raiders' premiere during the festival. AFP

Tara Woodbury and Danis Goulet at the 'Night Raiders' premiere during Tiff. AFP

Violet Nelson attends the 'Night Raiders' premiere during the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. Reuters

Elizabeth Karlsen, Eva Husson, Josh O'Connor and Michael Barker attend the 'Mothering Sunday' premiere during the festival. AFP

Ava Hudson attends the 'Mothering Sunday' premiere during the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. AP

Liz Kate attends the 'Dear Evan Hansen' premiere on the opening night of Tiff. AFP

Danny Pino attends the 'Dear Evan Hansen' premiere on the opening night of Tiff 2021. AFP

Nik Dodani and Julianne Moore at the 'Dear Evan Hansen' premiere on the opening night of Tiff 2021. AFP

Ben Platt attends the 'Dear Evan Hansen' premiere on the opening night of Tiff 2021. AP

The Toronto International Film Festival has kicked off, with a host of global celebrities flocking to the city in Ontario, Canada for its opening weekend.

Jessica Chastain was in town for the premiere of The Forgiven, a dark comic thriller on Saturday, and Julianne Moore attended the opening night premiere of Dear Evan Hansen, along with co-stars Amandla Stenberg, Danny Pino, Nik Dodani and Ben Platt.

American singer Dionne Warwick walked the red carpet for the premiere of Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, a documentary about her life, directed by Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner.

From across the pond, British stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Josh O'Connor and Edgar Wright represented their projects, The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain, Mothering Sunday and Last Night in Soho, respectively.

Tiff 2021 is due to run until Saturday, having kicked off last Thursday. The festival may not be back to its full pre-pandemic proportions, but organisers promise a "significantly bigger" schedule with 100-plus films, following its 2020 hybrid event which showed only 50.

Dear Evan Hansen, starring Platt and Moore and directed by Stephen Chbosky, opened the event on Thursday.

“There was no question that Dear Evan Hansen was the ideal film to launch the festival this year,” says Cameron Bailey, artistic director and co-head of Tiff. “This film is ultimately about healing, forgiveness and reaffirms how connected and essential we all are to one another.

"We couldn’t think of a more important idea to celebrate this year as we come together once again to share the power and joy of cinema in theatres together. We could not have asked for a more ideal festival, or audience, or moment to premiere our film.”

There will be seven Arab films screened at the festival this year: Huda’s Salon, Trumpets in the Sky, Farha, Beity, The Devil's Drivers, The Gravedigger’s Wife and Costa Brava, Lebanon.