Toronto On Top

Everyone’s been predicting it for years, of course, but it now seems to be a fact that the Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off this week, has established itself as the most important event of its kind in North America. Mark Caro says that TIFF has achieved that perfect blend of celebrity glitter and outsider ambition, functioning simultaneously as Hollywood’s sneak preview clearinghouse and as the most promising location for unknown filmmakers to display their wares.