Three festivals, one race

Every autumn Venice, Telluride and Toronto start the Oscar campaign. Stars land in Italy, Colorado and Ontario hoping the road ends on the Dolby Theatre stage.

Venice starts on the water

On September 2 the quiet island of Lido fills with Kate and Rooney Mara, Robert Pattinson, George Clooney and Susan Sarandon, arriving by boat and eyeing the Golden Lion.

Telluride skips the contest

The four day Colorado festival opens September 4 and hands out no prizes. Special guests are revealed the day of, which is half the appeal.

Toronto brings the star power

TIFF launches September 10 on Lake Ontario, with Cate Blanchett, Channing Tatum, Michelle Yeoh, Helen Mirren and Seth Rogen all expected on the ground.

Courteney Cox directs a heist

Evil Genius casts Patricia Arquette and David Harbour as Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Bill Rothstein, the clumsy pair behind the Pizza Bomber bank robbery.

Woman Unknown takes the Lion

May El-Toukhy won Venice's Golden Lion for her story of a nanny with a secret as Nazi forces occupy Denmark. Star Mathilde Arcel took the Volpi Cup for best actress.

Malkovich wins by video

John Malkovich took Best Actor at Venice for Wild Horse Nine and had already left town, so he accepted remotely. Venice acting prizes rarely move the Oscar needle, but this one might.

Cody Fern's directing debut

Sarah Paulson and Naomi Watts worked the Toronto carpet for the world premiere of Closing Night, the first film from their American Horror Story co-star.

Mike Leigh keeps it short

He opened the Canadian premiere of Tender Loving Care by mocking directors who ramble before a screening. The film leans on a knockout turn from Kate O'Flynn.

“taken out back and shot”

LISA fills Roy Thomson Hall

Always Lalisa follows the BLACKPINK star through a solo album, Coachella prep and five months shooting The White Lotus. Mike White spends his interview calling her Thailand's Princess Diana.

Everybody wants Taron Egerton

Vanity Fair went into the premiere of Everybody Wants to Fuck Me asking whether the title held up. The verdict afterward: it absolutely does, but not for the reason you would guess.

An old school crowd pleaser

The Julia Set stars Chase Infiniti as a math whiz stuck with a terrible boyfriend. The room broke into applause mid film, which makes it an early People's Choice contender.

Toronto never starts on time

Screenings run fifteen to forty minutes behind. Black Sunflowers began a half hour late with guests penned in the lobby, and every film carries ten minutes of sponsor reels.

“If you're still in line, stay in line! The movie might not have even begun.”

Herzog's twin sisters oddity

Bucking Fasterd has Kate and Rooney Mara as sisters who dress alike, love the same man and tunnel through a mountain in unison. The dedication to David Lynch united the room more than the film did.

Missing stars dim the carpet

Clarissa, a Lagos set take on Mrs. Dalloway, played warmly, but Sophie Okonedo skipped it and Mark Ruffalo missed Being Heumann. The whole fest feels lighter on wattage this year.

Fjord gets a cold welcome

The Palme d'Or winner, about a religious couple accused of abusing their children in liberal Norway, is landing badly in Toronto. Sebastian Stan turned up to it with a shaved head.

“I just know the discourse around this movie is going to be terrible.”

The Rogens make Babies

Lauren Miller Rogen wrote and directed Babies after 21 years of fielding the same question. Seth Rogen stars opposite Anna Kendrick as a couple weighing what their family will look like.

“You don't exist as part of a couple, or, honestly, even a woman who gets up in age, without getting that question.”

Being Heumann opens the fest

Siân Heder's opening night film covers the 1977 sit in where disabled activists held a San Francisco federal building for nearly a month until the law was enforced.

“I don't want to make a biopic about you. I wanna make Dog Day Afternoon.”